Resource dependence theory has been widely applied to explain interindustry acquisitions, but little is known about how external and internal dependence conditions affect the divestiture of formerly ...acquired subunits. We argue that subunit divestiture may be a strategic response to mutual dependence and subunit power following acquisition. Our results, based on a sample of divested subunits by U.S. public firms, show that mutual dependence and increased subunit power both reduce the hazard of subunit divestiture. However, the negative effect of mutual dependence diminishes to the extent that subunit power increases, suggesting that increased subunit power may shift away from the mutual-dependence logic. We discuss the implications of these findings to advance the theory of interindustry divestiture.
The authors review the progress of three rapidly growing macro management literatures—in technology innovation, entrepreneurship, and strategic management—that have in common the use of a ...“demand-side” research perspective. Demand-side research looks downstream from the focal firm, toward product markets and consumers, to explain and predict those managerial decisions that increase value creation within a value system. Typical characteristics of demand-side, macro-level management research include clearly distinguishing value creation from value capture, emphasizing product markets as key sources of value-creation strategies for firms, viewing consumer preferences as dynamic and sometimes latent, and recognizing that managers’ differing decisions in response to consumer heterogeneity contribute to firm heterogeneity and, ultimately, value creation. The authors review recent demand-side findings showing that strategies based on consumer heterogeneity can result in competitive advantage even if the firm holds only obsolete or mundane resources, these advantages can be sustainable without resource- or ability-based barriers to imitation, successful innovations can be consumer driven rather than resource or technology driven, and consumer knowledge can play a key role in entrepreneurial idea discovery. These seemingly counterintuitive findings from demand-side research indicate the promise of future demand-side work for generating new knowledge useful to scholars and managers. The authors suggest directions for future demand-side research based on their review. What’s more, the research they review represents a start—but only a start—toward integrated theories that could attend to both the demand side and the producer side of the value creation equation.
This paper analyzes some salient factors affecting the internationalization speed of digital innovations by tracking international penetrations of 127 apps at Apple's app store. Although apps are ...globally available via online platforms, their international penetration is still subject to cultural, administrative, geographic, and economic (CAGE) distances that act as user adoption barriers to impede app internationalization. App developers may overcome these barriers by employing the demand-side strategies of engaging users in value co-creation. We contribute to an improved understanding of internationalization process in a digital context and also extend demand-side perspective to inform international entrepreneurship research.
•Cross-national distance impedes app internationalization even in cyberspace.•App developers may partly overcome distance by engaging users in value co-creation.
Cantharidin (CTD) is a compound of mylabris with antitumor activity, and CTD can potentially cause toxicity, especially hepatotoxicity. The classical Traditional Chinese Medicine prescription ...Shuganning injection (SGNI) exerts notable anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective effects. However, the protective property and mechanism of SGNI against CTD-induced liver injury (CTD-DILI) have not yet been elucidated. To investigate the effective compounds, potential targets, and molecular mechanism of SGNI against CTD-DILI, network pharmacology combined with experiments were performed. This study found that SGNI could act with 62 core therapeutic targets, regulate multiple biological processes such as apoptosis, and oxidative stress, and influence apoptotic and p53 signaling pathways to treat CTD-DILI. Subsequently, HepaRG cell experiments demonstrated that SGNI pretreatment significantly increased the levels of GSH-Px and SOD, inhibiting the apoptosis induced by CTD. In vivo, according to H&E staining, SGNI can reduce the degeneration of hepatocytes and cytoplasmic vacuolation in mice exposed to CTD. Western blot analysis results indicated that SGNI pretreatment significantly suppressed the expressions of Caspase-3 and Bax while increasing the expression of Bcl-2. In conclusion, SGNI acted as a protective agent against CTD-DILI by inhibiting apoptosis.
Gut-associated microbes can influence insect health and fitness. Understanding the structure of bacterial communities provides valuable insights on how different species may be selected and their ...functional characteristics in their hosts. The neutral model is powerful in predicting the structure of microbial communities, but its application in insects remains rare. Here, we examined the contribution of neutral processes to the gut-associated bacterial communities in
caterpillars collected from different maize varieties at four locations. The gut-associated bacteria can be assigned to 37 Phyla, 119 orders, and 515 genera, with each individual gut containing 17-75% of the OTUs and 19-79% of the genera in the pooled samples of each population. The distribution patterns of most (75.59-83.74%) bacterial taxa were in good agreement with the neutral expectations. Of the remaining OTUs, some were detected in more individual hosts than would be predicted by the neutral model (i.e., above-partition), and others were detected in fewer individual hosts than predicted by the neutral model (i.e., below-partition). The bacterial taxa in the above-partitions were potentially selected by the caterpillar hosts, while the bacteria in the below-partitions may be preferentially eliminated by the hosts. Moreover, the gut-associated microbiota seemed to vary between maize varieties and locations, so ecological parameters outside hosts can affect the bacterial communities. Therefore, the structure of gut microbiota in the
caterpillar was mainly determined by stochastic processes, and the bacteria in the above-partition warrant further investigation for their potential roles in the caterpillar host.
Granting of exclusive rights is an important consideration for firms using licensing as a mode of entry into foreign markets, as exclusive contracts reduce licensors' flexibility in a given market ...during the term of the agreement. By granting exclusivity to a licensee with greater technological potential, the exchange partners can increase the potential transactional value of the licensing agreement. At the same time, a licensee with strong technological potential will increase the threat of transactional hazards due to underinvestment and rent appropriation. In this paper, we develop and empirically test a model that evaluates the balancing of transactional value and transaction costs in exclusive licensing. In particular, we identify the conditions under which exclusive contracts are likely to be granted to foreign licensees with strong technological potential. Empirical results from a multilevel model, based on 375 international licensing agreements of US firms in high-technology industries during 1995-2008, show that licensees with a stronger technological potential are more likely to be granted exclusive rights in countries with strong intellectual property rights protection, and in industries with a high rate of technological change; but are less likely to be granted exclusive rights when there is a high degree of overlap between licensor and licensee products.
In this study, the anti-inflammatory effects and mechanisms of baicalin on LPS-induced NLRP3 inflammatory pathway were investigated in piglet mononuclear phagocytes (control, LPS stimulation, LPS ...stimulation + 12.5 µg/ml baicalin, LPS stimulation + 25 µg/ml baicalin, LPS stimulation + 50 µg/ml baicalin and LPS stimulation + 100 µg/ml baicalin). The levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), the secretion levels of IL-1β, IL-18 and TNF-α, mRNA expression levels of IL-1β, IL-18, TNF-α and NLRP3, as well as the protein levels of cleaved caspase-1 p20 were significantly increased after LPS-challenge in vitro. However, LPS stimulation did not influence apoptosis-associated speck-like protein and caspase-1 mRNA levels, which are also components of the NLRP3 inflammasome. Baicalin at 50 µg/ml and 100 µg/ml could inhibit the production of ROS, TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-18, and down-regulate mRNA expression of IL-1β, IL-18, TNF-α and NLRP3, as well as expression of cleaved caspase-1 p20. These results showed that the anti-inflammatory effects of baicalin occurred via the regulation of the release of ROS and mRNA expression of NLRP3. The anti-inflammatory activity of baicalin could be related to the suppression of NLRP3 inflammasome pathway under LPS stimulation.
The burgeoning of ibusiness firms in the modern digital economy challenges the received internationalization theory. Given that ibusinesses such as social networking sites create value by providing a ...digital platform for users to interact with one another, we employ a user-network perspective and externalization logic, suggesting that ibusinesses’ internationalization process depends critically on users’ collective interactions, instead of being solely driven by firms’ market commitments, as noted by the Uppsala model. However, ibusinesses may suffer from liabilities of outsidership due to the boundedness of international network effects. Drawing on social network theory, we demonstrate that such liabilities can be mitigated by first diffusing the ibusiness platform in countries with higher clout. Our analysis using a unique dataset of mobile ibusiness platforms finds empirical support for the hypotheses. We discuss theoretical implications for the network approach of the Uppsala model in the digital era.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to expand the understanding of the process by which organizational routines emerge in entrepreneurial ventures. The emphasis is on the role of management and ...interaction in shaping shared schemata among members of the enterprise.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a longitudinal interpretive and exploratory case study based on semi-structured interviews, archival material and naturalistic observation at a startup enterprise in China.
Findings
Focusing on the process through which shared schemata emerge to lay the foundation for routines in new firms, the authors find shared schemata emerge through a three-stage process: individual schemata emergence, partially shared schemata emergence and organizationally shared schemata emergence. Analogical transfer, strong foundational leadership and horizontal interaction among employees facilitate the development of individual schemata and their evolution into the shared schemata underlying organizational routines.
Research limitations/implications
This paper contributes to the understanding of routine formation in entrepreneurial ventures by creating a framework of the stages of development of organizational routines, as well as the role management plays in each stage. This contribution fits within the emergent field of microfoundations, linking individual actions and cognition to organizational outcomes and adding to this the contribution of social interaction.
Practical implications
Managers in new Chinese enterprises could benefit from understanding the importance of routinization and the managerial approaches which facilitate routine formation. This will increase the likelihood of firm survival as well as the competitive strength of the firm.
Originality/value
To date, there has been little research on how routines arise in entrepreneurial ventures, and none on explicitly the role for management and interaction in fostering routinization.
With the understanding that innovation and high technology industries are essential for sustained economic development, government R&D subsidies have become ubiquitous. However, existing studies on ...the impact of R&D subsidies have found mixed or conflicting results. Insights from resource dependence theory (RDT) and the Attention‐Based View (ABV) help account for these discrepancies. This study of Chinese high technology firms using the Innovation‐Oriented Firms Database from the Ministry of Science and Technology, finds an inverted U‐shaped relationship between R&D subsidies and innovation performance. The article shows that high government resource dependency, expressed through high percentage of R&D spending coming from government subsidies, diverts attention resources in recipient firms and results in declining innovation performance. The article then tests the impacts of different managerial responses on the dependency‐innovation relationship and find that technology alliances and employee feedback systems mitigate these negative effects. These findings have implications for government innovation policies and firm‐level responses to those policies: government subsidy policies have limits to their effectiveness and firms have strategic options for capitalizing on government resources without sacrificing innovativeness.
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