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1 – 10 of over 65000Henry F.L. Chung and Mia Hsiao-Wen Ho
Given the contradictory findings of standardization/adaptation of marketing strategy in explaining export performance in the extant research, this study aims to examine the…
Abstract
Purpose
Given the contradictory findings of standardization/adaptation of marketing strategy in explaining export performance in the extant research, this study aims to examine the contingent effects of managerial ties and born global orientation in the standardized advertising-export performance conceptualization.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used two-respondent method in the survey research by a sample of 155 exporting firms operating in the industrial marketing based in Australia and New Zealand and applied hierarchical regression analysis to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The findings demonstrate that standardized advertising has a significant effect on export performance and this relationship is positively moderated by business ties. Such effect is particularly enhanced for born global firms (than nonborn global firms). However, political ties negatively influence the impact of standardized advertising on performance and such effect is stronger for born global firms.
Research limitations/implications
A broader perspective of contingent variables should be included to examine the underlying relationship between standardized advertising and export performance in capturing the dynamism in international marketing contexts, such as institutional frameworks or sociocultural environments in host countries.
Practical implications
Standardized advertising is critical for born global firms’ export performance as it can increase efficiency and speed up internationalization processes. Such positive impact of standardized advertising on export performance is further enhanced if born global firms allocate resources to develop strong business ties with host country partners instead of building political ties with host country governments, because smooth business networking can facilitate standardized advertising on industrial marketing, yet justifiable political relations require intricate negotiations that often prolong internationalization progress.
Originality/value
This study incorporates managerial ties and born global orientation as contingent factors in fixing the theoretic interlock between standardization advertising strategy and export firm performance.
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Dong Liu, Beilei Dang and Yapu Zhao
Managerial ties (i.e. business ties and political ties) could help manufacturers conduct learning ambidexterity by providing external resources. However, the resource management…
Abstract
Purpose
Managerial ties (i.e. business ties and political ties) could help manufacturers conduct learning ambidexterity by providing external resources. However, the resource management perspective claims that merely accessing external resources does not guarantee learning ambidexterity. As manufacturers utilize their resources by implementing services, this study aims to investigate how the impact of managerial ties on learning ambidexterity depends on human resource service practices (i.e. manager service support and employee service rewards).
Design/methodology/approach
This study collected data from 150 high-tech manufacturing firms through a survey-based questionnaire, which was completed by two managers in one firm. The ordinary least squares regression was employed to test the research model and hypotheses.
Findings
Business ties hurt learning ambidexterity when manager service support is high, whereas business ties benefit learning ambidexterity when employee service rewards are high. Similar findings are not applied to political ties.
Research limitations/implications
The authors did not examine the mechanism underlying the effect of managerial ties on learning ambidexterity. The non-significant findings on political ties suggest potential mediators for future research. Another limitation is that the study’s data are only from China. Manager ties are also important in other developing countries like Turkey. More data from other countries are needed to test the generalization of the authors’ findings.
Practical implications
First, managers should focus on business ties more than political ties when learning ambidexterity is important to their firms. Second, managers should reward service-oriented employees.
Originality/value
The study enriches the literature on investigating the impact of managerial ties on learning ambidexterity. The authors also contribute to the literature by examining servitization as a service context. Prior studies mainly examine servitization as a driver of firm performance. The findings suggest that servitization as a business context can affect other business activities.
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The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has created disruptions across the supply chain that are beyond the resources of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to effectively deal with…
Abstract
Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has created disruptions across the supply chain that are beyond the resources of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to effectively deal with. This study aims to examine the idea that top managers' business and political ties can play direct roles in enhancing SCR in SMEs during COVID-19 by providing access to valuable resources. The study further investigates integrative capability as an underlying mechanism through which the effects of business and political ties can be transformed into enhanced SCR.
Design/methodology/approach
Responses from 217 SMEs in the country of Jordan were received via an online survey. The measurement and structural models were tested using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique.
Findings
The study found that business and political ties are positively related to SCR. However, integrative capability fully mediates the relationship between business ties and SCR, whereas it partially mediates the relationship between political ties and SCR.
Research limitations/implications
The study examined only the direct and indirect impacts of business and political ties on SCR. It could be extended by exploring the conditions under which they influence SCR.
Originality/value
The study explicates the role of top managers' business and political ties on improving SCR in a developing country context. It further examines the mediating role of integrative capability in the relationships between business and political ties and SCR.
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Adnan Ali, Xu Jiang and Afzaal Ali
The purpose of this study is to examine how social ties (i.e. business ties and political ties) affect the adoption of green innovation in the context of emerging economies…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine how social ties (i.e. business ties and political ties) affect the adoption of green innovation in the context of emerging economies, separately and comparatively. In addition, this study also seeks to examine how absorptive capacity shapes the relationships between social ties and the adoption of green innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
A theoretical model with hypothesized relationships is proposed and tested using regression in SPSS. This study’s sample consists of a dataset covering 272 Chinese firms (based on a total of 544 respondents) operating in various industries with two key informants in each firm.
Findings
The authors find that business ties and political ties both facilitate the adoption of green innovation, whereas business ties influence the adoption more strongly than political ties do. This study’s findings also show that absorptive capacity strengthens the positive relationships between the two types of social ties and the adoption of green innovation.
Originality/value
Although scholarship has amply documented the role that social ties play in influencing corporate performance, few studies have considered how and under what conditions these ties can impact the adoption of green innovation. Overall, the authors add value to the environmental management and social capital literature by providing novel insights into the differential roles that business ties and political ties play in the adoption of green innovation under the influence of absorptive capacity.
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Jiangfeng Ye, Yunqiao Wu, Bin Hao and Zusheng Chen
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between two types of informal ties and radical innovation in the context of China’s university spin-offs and the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between two types of informal ties and radical innovation in the context of China’s university spin-offs and the moderating roles of knowledge breadth and depth in such relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic review of literature on informal ties, internal knowledge base and radical innovation provides the theoretical foundation of the research framework and hypotheses. Using a sample of 158 China’s university spin-offs, the authors conduct a regression analysis on the theoretical framework and hypotheses.
Findings
The results show that business and university ties are positively related to radical innovation. Moreover, the effects of business and university ties on radical innovation are contingent on knowledge breadth and depth in opposite ways. In particular, the positive effect of business ties on radical innovation depends significantly on internal knowledge depth rather than on knowledge breadth, and the positive effect of university ties on radical innovation will be affected by internal knowledge breadth rather than knowledge depth.
Practical implications
Managers of university spin-offs must examine informal ties they already have and identify their nature, content and embedded advantages and promptly adjust their strategy of informal ties to adapt to their firms’ internal knowledge base.
Originality/value
This study highlights the positive role of managers’ personal connections with different external parties in facilitating radical innovation and advances the understanding of informal ties by proposing that the effects of informal ties on radical innovation are contingent on a firm’s internal knowledge base in the context of China’s university spin-offs.
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Hai Guo, Jintong Tang and Zelong Wei
By integrating the resource management perspective and the optimal distinctiveness perspective, the purpose of this paper is to explain how firms configure their managerial ties…
Abstract
Purpose
By integrating the resource management perspective and the optimal distinctiveness perspective, the purpose of this paper is to explain how firms configure their managerial ties and competences to identify entrepreneurial opportunities.
Design/methodology/approach
Using survey data collected from 238 firms in a transition economy, this paper tests a model of firms’ exploration and exploitation competences under which managerial ties promote or constrain opportunity discovery.
Findings
The paper finds that managerial ties are positively related to opportunity discovery. More importantly, competence exploration strengthens the impact of business ties on opportunity discovery, whereas it weakens the impact of political ties. On the contrary, competence exploitation strengthens the effect of political ties on opportunity discovery, whereas it weakens the impact of business ties.
Originality/value
First, the findings enrich the social network perspective of opportunity recognition by linking managerial social ties to opportunity discovery in the context of a transition economy. Second, this paper adds to current understanding of the resource management perspective and the optimal distinctiveness perspective by exploring the fit between different managerial ties (business ties vs political ties) and different competences (exploration vs exploitation) in contributing to opportunity discovery.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among taking a prospector local-market focus, managerial ties (business ties and political ties) and performance in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among taking a prospector local-market focus, managerial ties (business ties and political ties) and performance in the Chinese market.
Design/methodology/approach
This study, using a sample of 371 Taiwanese subsidiaries of multinational corporations (MNCs) in China, applies regression analyses to investigate the following questions: does taking a prospector local-market focus negatively impact performance? Do managerial ties (business ties and political ties) positively impact performance? Do these managerial ties positively moderate the effect of the taking a prospector local-market focus on performance?
Findings
Taking a prospector local-market focus negatively impacts the performance of MNC subsidiaries. Business ties positively impact the performance of MNC subsidiaries, as do political ties. Finally, the impact of a prospector local-market focus on performance is positively moderated by business ties.
Practical implications
The Chinese market is still a guanxi exchange business system and political connections usually require significant investment in exchange for advantageous market conditions. Thus, political ties must be carefully considered by MNC subsidiaries when they employ a prospector local-market focus in the Chinese business environment.
Originality/value
First, this study clarifies the key relationship between the strategic choice of taking a prospector local-market focus and performance of MNC subsidiaries in the Chinese market. Second, it identifies the moderating role of managerial ties (political and business ties) in influencing the relationship between a prospector local-market focus and subsidiary.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating effect of networking ties on the relationship between customer orientation and firm performance.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating effect of networking ties on the relationship between customer orientation and firm performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted a survey approach to collect data from 251 respondents in the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality in the Free State province, South Africa. Scales for data collection were operationalised from prior studies. A hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine the moderating effect of networking ties on the relationship between customer orientation and firm performance.
Findings
The results showed that customer orientation had a significant positive association with firm performance, thus supporting the existing calls for examining the unique contributions of customer orientation to firm performance. Furthermore, this study hypothesised that business, political, and social network ties positively moderated this association. However, the results showed that only business and social network ties had a positive and significant moderating effect, with the influence of customer orientation on firm performance being more pronounced for firms with high as opposed to low business and social network ties. Nevertheless, all the three types of network ties showed a positive and significant direct relationship with firm performance, thus supporting the consolidated literature on the positive impact of network ties on firm performance.
Practical implications
The practical implications are twofold. First, it encourages business owners to develop a customer-oriented approach as a key strategic objective in their pursuit for optimal business performance. Second, business owners and managers should increasingly exploit their business and social network ties to accumulate vital resources for effectively exploiting their customer-oriented capabilities as a means to improve their performance.
Originality/value
Even though customer orientation is a valuable internal strategic capability, its benefit on firm performance might be limited in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) when the businesses are unable to respond quickly to customer needs. This is more common when the SME is faced with resource limitations required for exploiting the new market opportunities. However, this study showed that SMEs can mitigate this issue by depending on their business and social network ties for valuable resources to effectively exploit opportunities that emerge from identified customer needs.
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Laura D'hont, Rachel Doern and Juan Bautista Delgado García
The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential influence of friendship on entrepreneurial teams (ETs) and on venture formation and development. The theoretical framework is…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential influence of friendship on entrepreneurial teams (ETs) and on venture formation and development. The theoretical framework is built on the literature around friendship ties, the interaction of friendship ties and professional ties, and ETs.
Design/methodology/approach
Taking an interpretative methodological approach, the authors carried out qualitative interviews with ten business founders in Paris, France.
Findings
The authors identified different four profiles or types of ETs according to how friendship ties interact with professional ties among team members, which the authors designate as “fusion” and “separation”, and describe the orientation of this interaction, which the authors label as “affective” or “strategic”. These profiles affect the emergence of the idea and the choice of members in the formation of teams. They also shape the functioning of teams in terms of decision-making processes, recruitment and investment.
Research limitations/implications
The findings underline the difficulties of studying friendship in ETs empirically and recommend longitudinal approaches for further research.
Practical implications
Findings offer insights in to why and how ETs based on friendship ties approach the pre-launch, launch and development phases of businesses as well as in to the interactions between professional and friendship ties, which is helpful to both practitioners and academics. The authors also discuss the consequences and implications of the different team types in terms of their risks and strategies for mitigating these risks.
Originality/value
This is one of the first empirical studies to examine how friendship and professional ties may combine and evolve in ETs, and their influence on the entrepreneurial process as it relates to venture formation and development.
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Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the role of network in affecting private firms’ internationalization decision. Specifically, it investigates the way that business ties, political ties and status influence an internationalization decision.
Design/methodology/approach
On the basis of the survey data collected from Chinese private firms, this study distinguishes business ties from political ties and introduces network status. Binary logistic regression is used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
Results show that private firms that have business ties are more likely to internationalize, whereas private firms that have political ties are less likely to internationalize. High-status private firms are more likely to internationalize. Political ties negatively moderate the relationship between business ties and internationalization. High-status firms with political ties are more likely to internationalize.
Originality/value
This study provides theoretical and practical contributions. Results complement previous research on social networks in the context of Chinese private firms and have implications for managers who exert effort to internationalize their firms.
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