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on Economics of Strategic Management |
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Issue of 2008‒08‒06
six papers chosen by Joao Jose de Matos Ferreira University of the Beira Interior |
| By: | Dermot Leahy (Economics Finance and Accounting, National University of Ireland, Maynooth); Catia Montagna (University of Dundee and Leverhulme Centre for Research on Globalisation and Economic Policy, University of Nottingham) |
| Abstract: | We study how competitive pressure influences the make-or-buy decision that oligopolistic firms face between producing an intermediate component in-house or purchasing it from a domestic supplier. We model outsourcing as a bilateral relationship in which the supplier undertakes relationship-specific investments. A home and foreign firm compete in the home market. Firms’ mode of operation decision depends on cost and strategic considerations. Competitive pressure increases firms’ incentive to outsource. Consumer gains from trade liberalisation are enhanced when it leads to less outsourcing. |
| Keywords: | Outsourcing, Vertical Integration, Trade Liberalisation, Oligopoly |
| JEL: | F12 L13 L14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:may:mayecw:n1901107.pdf&r=cse |
| By: | Onetti Alberto (Department of Economics, University of Insubria, Italy); Odorici Vincenza (Business Administration Department , University of Bologna, Italy); Presutti Manuela (Business Administration Department , University of Bologna, Italy) |
| Abstract: | Using qualitative methodology, we aim to understand how serial entrepreneurs can foster the development of born-global ventures. We consider a born-global start-up as the final stage of the learning process for a serial entrepreneur, advancing propositions regarding the importance of prior entrepreneurial experience – in terms of knowledge acquisition, identification and exploitation of opportunities, social networks development – for bornglobal venture creation and growth. We verify that the serial entrepreneur’s previous entrepreneurial experiences could substitute for the lack of knowledge, opportunity recognition and social networks of a born-global start-up. Thus, we recognize the necessity of a shift in the unit of analysis, from born-global start-up to a global serial entrepreneur. Moreover, we suggest to follow a dynamic approach when the born-global start-up issue is discussed since we expect that the entrepreneur’s learning process evolves over time in relation to their quality of previous experiences. |
| Keywords: | born-global, international new ventures, entrepreneurship, serial entrepreneur, internationalization, social network, entrepreneurial experience, opportunity identification, opportunity exploration, longitudinal case study. |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ins:quaeco:qf0801&r=cse |
| By: | Hulsink, W.; Elfring, T.; Stam, W. (Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), RSM Erasmus University) |
| Abstract: | Social networks matter in the innovation processes of young and small firms, since ‘innovation does not exist in a vacuum (Van De Ven, 1986: 601).’ The contacts a firm has could both generate advantages for further innovation and growth, and disadvantages leading to inertia and stagnation. In the first case the existing social network or the new business contact provides opportunities furthering eventual success, in the second case, the existing network or the new business contacts turns out to have a constraining or even detrimental effect on performance. The search and use of social capital is driven by goal-specificity: it only includes those ties that help the actor in the attainment of particular goals. Most of the research so far has been deliberately or unwillingly one-sided, by for instance only looking at entrepreneurial firms in dynamic industries (or more specifically, start-ups in the high-tech industries). Or selective attention has been paid to either the internal sources or the external contacts to trigger innovation. And when a conclusive study has been conducted into investigating both the effect of internal and external ties on innovation, the sample often includes large and established companies and managers (instead of entrepreneurs and smaller firms, as what we are interested in). The main line of reasoning in this paper is as follows. In the first section we discuss the key network concepts, such as, social capital, relational embeddedness (strong and weak ties), structural embeddedness (i.e. structural holes). Section two deals with innovation and the central role of knowledge in the discovery and realisation of innovations. Social networks and its potential for knowledge brokering appear to be important and therefore the last section focuses on the relationship between particular network characteristics and innovation. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship;innovation;social capital;networking;small- and medium-sized firms;James Dyson |
| Date: | 2008–07–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:eureri:1765012873&r=cse |
| By: | Graeme Snooks |
| Abstract: | This essay attempts to quantify and explain the economic performance of Australia from the first European settlement to the present, and beyond. A general dynamic theory – the ‘dynamic-strategy’ theory – has been employed to provide a new interpretation of ‘dynamics Downunder’. It is shown, among other things, that the bold attempt from the 1910s to the 1960s to turn aside from the traditional development policy of exogenously driven natural-resource exploitation in order to embark on an endogenously determined dynamic process, has broken down during the course of the present generation. This was mainly due to a failure of ‘strategic leadership’ on the part of recent Australian governments that have, quite rightly, dismantled the framework of protection, but have failed to replace it with the infrastructure of strategically relevant technological ideas. Once again Australia’s economic prosperity depends heavily on the fluctuating fortunes of the global economy. While in the nineteenth century this took the form of reliance on the prosperity of Britain, today it centres on the continuing growth of Japan and China. This critical problem has been exacerbated by the misconceived policy of inflation targeting that is damaging the central endogenous dynamic mechanism. What then of the future? It all depends on whether strategic leadership can ever be rediscovered, and a new dynamic economic strategy be adopted. |
| Keywords: | long-run dynamics, dynamic-strategy theory, inflation targeting, strategic leadership, strategic demand. |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:auu:wpaper:002&r=cse |
| By: | Schiffer, Eva; Waale, Douglas |
| Abstract: | "Believing that complex problems call for complex solutions and that stakeholders should have a say in policies that concern them, policymakers have strongly promoted the development of forums and organizations made up of many stakeholders to address complex governance issues such as water management. Both developing and developed countries have instituted multistakeholder water governance bodies on local, national, and international levels. However, while the belief is strong that these integrated bodies should improve governance, how and to what extent that actually happens is still unclear, not only because of the complexity of the matter but also due to a lack of appropriate research tools for the analysis of complex governance systems. This paper presents an innovative empirical research tool—Net-Map—developed to better understand multistakeholder governance by gathering in-depth information about governance networks, goals of actors, and their power and influence. Researchers and implementers alike can use Net-Map to collect qualitative and quantitative information in a structured and comparable way. It can be used both as a research tool and as an instrument for organizational development and strategic network planning. A case study on the development of a multistakeholder water governance body in northern Ghana illustrates the application of this research method. The method can be used on many different levels, from the community, to national or even international levels. Net-Map merges characteristics of two existing methods, namely social network analysis and the power mapping tool. Using a participatory approach, interviewees and interviewers together draw a network map of the actors involved in the policy arena and characterize the different kinds of links between the actors. They then add “influence towers,” made of checkers pieces, to transfer the abstract concepts of power and influence into a three-dimensional form. Finally, the interviewee assesses the goal orientation of the different actors (for example, developmental versus environmental or pro versus con a certain intervention). The tool provides an influence network map of the governance situation as well as qualitative and quantitative data about the perceived power and influence of the actors. While the data lend themselves to complex quantitative analysis, this paper mainly focuses on the use of the tool for the purpose of mapping and organizational development. The paper explores how the mapping process itself also stimulates a structured in-depth discussion of crucial issues and ways forward. In Ghana, the method has proven to be interculturally applicable and easy to apply and adapt. Interviewees were excited about their own learning processes throughout the interview. Implicit understanding and concepts were visualized and made explicit so that group members could understand where they agree and differ in their perception of the governance arena." from Author's Abstract |
| Keywords: | Water governance, Social network analysis, Net-Map, Research methodology, Multi-stakeholder governance, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:772&r=cse |
| By: | Tanya Araújo; Francisco Louçã |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ise:isegwp:wp342008&r=cse |