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The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact that PhD scientists serving on the board of directors of firms conducting hard science have on the R&D-based innovative performance of the firm.

The research hypotheses are built upon extant theory, and they are tested using two-stage least squared regression that control for the endogenous nature of board composition. Results are robust to alternative specifications.

This analysis shows that firms with higher numbers of PhD scientists on the board generate superior innovative output and more efficient monitoring; PhD board members with denser professional networks are more valuable as board members.

This paper provides practical advice to innovative firms on how to create a governance process that simultaneously improves monitoring and boosts the innovative performance.

This study is the first one to suggest that innovative firms can improve R&D monitoring and boost innovative output at the same time, and the first to investigate the role that PhD scientists can serve on the board of firms engaging in hard science.

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether the strength of corporate governance influences the firm’s ability to retain their key knowledge workers or inventors.

This paper links agency and innovation theory to develop the hypotheses. Agency theory predicts that the interests of employees are counter to those of firm owners. The authors predict that as shareholder power grows as corporate governance strengthens, inventors who are highly productive, and those who pursue risky but valuable exploratory innovation will leave the firm. Given prior scholarship in innovation theory establishing the critical contributions that new knowledge creation and exploratory innovation make to firms’ competitive advantage, the authors consider whether stronger firm-level corporate governance leads to the erosion of the firm’s competitive advantage. The hypotheses are empirically tested using generalized least squares estimation on a data set that combines data on firms, their patents and the governance provisions these firms adopt.

Using a 10-year sample of publicly traded US firms, the authors find that stronger corporate governance erodes the very foundation of a firm’s innovation capabilities. Stronger corporate governance reduces management job security, which makes managers more risk-averse. This heightened “managerial myopia” results in increased departures of highly valuable inventors employed by the firm. The authors show that these departing inventors are more productive inventors than those who remain and engage in more exploratory R&D than the remaining inventors at the firm.

The findings raise questions on the appropriateness of the adoption of governance provisions strengthening shareholder rights in firms pursuing innovation.

Many observers agree that the recommendations from academic research are not followed by real world organizations, and that business researchers rarely consult practitioners when formulating research questions. Calls are increasing to make management research more relevant for business managers. This paper aims to seek to capitalize upon this opportunity by going straight to managers on the front line and asking them about their most pressing problems.

The authors surveyed over 350 Chief Executive Officers of large, medium and small‐cap US firms. The authors asked these executives to describe the most important strategic problem facing their firms, to identify the fundamental source of the problem, and to identify the best response to this problem.

Executives tell us that their most common strategic problems relate to threats from new technology, and new competitors. Further, respondents believe that the most important threats originate outside the firm.

The survey can help to align the interests of academic researchers and business practitioners. Future case study research can explore the most effective tactics in use to deal with the most important strategic problems.

Both practitioners and researchers should consider this paper's findings. Business executives can gain insights on the key concerns of their US peers in today's market. Management researchers and educators can consider using the findings of this survey to formulate new, more pragmatic research questions, and to make management curriculum more relevant to today's managers.

Economic clusters are global centers of excellence in particular industries or technologies. They consist of interlinked companies, specialized suppliers, support services, and relevant institutional actors in a specific field. Multinational enterprise (MNE) R&D strategy with regard to economic clusters is impacted by two contradictory forces. MNEs locating their R&D activities within economic clusters can benefit by availing of specialized resources and by capturing location-specific tacit knowledge. However, the risks of knowledge leakage can lead to adverse selection whereby clusters attract underperforming firms that have much to gain and little to lose. Further, general disagreement exists on the measurement of performance within economic clusters. We review the literature, assess the evidence, and suggest areas for productive future research.

This chapter revolves around a Zoom conversation between Tim Martindell and Cheryl Craig to which Chestin T. Auzenne-Curl added field-based evidence and reflective comments. The exchange between Martindell and Craig had to do with how Tim facilitated the Writers in the Schools (WITS) writers in conjunction with Tina and Maryann who led the WITS Collaborative. The embedded snapshots and excerpts stemmed from the field notes we accumulated during the life of the project. The conversation discusses some of the fine points of facilitation as well as the boundary areas where what unfolds fringes on the unknown. Near the end, hope for the future is discussed.

Building on the Chinese guanxi perspective, the purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical model that explains the indirect effects of social support from friends on social commerce intentions, as mediated through the relational aspects that potential buyers develop with sellers.

Hypotheses are tested with partial least squares (PLS)-graph applied to data collected via a survey of social media users (n=511). SPSS and PLS-graph are the statistical analysis tools used in this study.

Relationship exists in social commerce interactions and its quality can be captured by swift guanxi and trust. These swift relationships matter as they drive users’ behavioral intentions on social commerce sites. The informational and social support people receive from friends helps in improving the relationship quality and can indirectly influence user behaviors on these sites.

This study has relied on a convenient sampling and this may limit the generalizability of the findings. Future research should employ broader and more random sampling techniques to re-validate and extend the findings.

The interpersonal aspect of relationship quality has received little attention in the social commerce literature. This study develops a theoretical model that explains consumers’ intention in social commerce. The findings reveal the mechanisms through which different types of social support indirectly influence social commerce intentions. They provide a unique glimpse into consumer behavior in Chinese settings, in which the guanxi aspect of relationship quality highly matters.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the viewpoints of two leaders in bridging the world of the arts and the world of business in order to enhance organizational success. Harvey Seifter from the Arts and Business Council and Tim Stockil, formerly a director of Creative Development for Arts & Business in the UK, discuss the history, development and current status of the relationships between businesspeople and artists.

The author conducted separate interviews with Seifter and Stockil and summarizes their perspectives.

The relationship between business and arts has changed from business sponsorship of the arts to include the application of knowledge and expertise in the creative process to the solutions of business problems. The scope of artistic skills and arts‐based applications is wide ranging and impacts culture change in organizations. The interviewees explain how skills utilized by artists such as team building, feedback and rehearsing contribute to success. They examine the barriers, such as concern for ROI and risk avoidance, impacting the transference of artistic knowledge to business endeavors. Stockil and Seifter conclude by examining the role of creativity in shaping the future of business.

The paper should be of interest to corporate executives, organizational development professionals and human performance improvement specialists who are seeking new approaches to solving workplace issues.

This paper describes insights from two of the primary leaders in building bridges between business and the arts. It provides descriptions and case studies that illustrate the creative application of artistic skills and processes to solving organizational problems.