Purpose - The aim of this paper is to present the results of a study examining the role played by academic entrepreneurs in science-based companies grown in university incubators. The authors aim to ...address whether the presence of academic entrepreneurs improves economic and financial performances. Moreover, the authors aim to verify whether different levels of involvement of academic entrepreneurs (i.e. shareholder, member of board of director) can contribute to different levels of financial performance.Design methodology approach - The research was carried out on a sample of science-based companies originating predominantly from Northern Italy, which had graduated from the Turin Polytechnic Incubator, called I3P. Data about the presence of academic entrepreneurs were obtained by interviewing the Incubator's CEO, while companies' financial performance was assessed by financial ratios analysis. A multiple linear regression model was developed to test the relationship between presence of academic entrepreneurs and financial performance, while controlling for the life cycle stage and the industry of the companies.Findings - The results of the statistical analysis show that there is a negative relationship between the presence of academic entrepreneurs and the overall financial performance of the incubator's graduated companies. However, there is a positive relationship between a deep involvement of academic entrepreneurs (acting both as shareholders and as directors) and financial performance.Originality value - Given the current debate about the different conditions under which university involvement provides advantages or disadvantages for newly created firms, this study provides empirical evidence about the presence and the role played by academic entrepreneurs on science-based companies by focusing on their financial outcomes. Also, little literature has addressed the performance of academic ventures after their graduation from incubators, and as such, the evidence is based on the performance after the companies' graduation from the incubator.
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to assess the relationship between the foresight of managers and firm performance.Design methodology approach - An evolutionary perspective is deployed to ...specify the presumed relationship between managerial foresight and firm performance measures. A positive relationship between managerial foresight and firm performance is proposed. The hypothesis is tested through Spearman's rho, on Swedish managers, and firms in the computer programming industry. Managers' foresight as well as performance is assessed as indexes.Findings - The paper finds a moderate and statistically significant positive relationship between managers' foresight and firm performance.Research limitations implications - There is support for the theoretical relationship between managerial foresight and firm performance. There is a strong rationale for further studies.Originality value - The paper provides empirical evidence regarding the importance of managerial foresight for firm performance.
This study used a sample of 4,637 small businesses to test the relationship between organizational commitment to employees (OCE) and company performance. OCE was significant in all five of the ...performance models. The results of the employee productivity model revealed a significant positive relationship between OCE and company performance, suggesting that small businesses might be able to realize some benefit in employee productivity from OCE programs. In addition, results from the return on assets, return on sales, return on cashflow, and employee growth models indicated that some OCE programs might be more beneficial to small businesses than others. Potential antecedents of OCE were also examined. Company size, owner education, and gender of the owner had positive relationships with OCE. Partial support was also found for a positive relationship between owner experience and OCE. Differences in the results of this study compared to studies for larger corporations and suggestions for future research are also discussed.
Purpose - Quality function deployment (QFD) has had considerable success in terms of its implementation in companies. It has also been the subject of many studies in recent years. It seems, however, ...that there are some shortcomings in the research on this subject and in particular the lack of an adequate conceptual framework suitable for empirical research. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue.Design methodology approach - This study proposes and elaborates a model which examines QFD in relation to three dimensions of performance: improvement of product quality, reduction in costs for R&D, shorter R&D time. The model is empirically tested on data gathered on a stratified random sample of manufacturing plants through the application of valid and reliable measures. The model is tested using structural equation modeling.Findings - The results show three distinct paths of direct influence which lead, respectively, to superior economic performance. The empirical study has shown that the success of a QFD project is mainly influenced by motivated employees in the QFD project team. A comprehensive technical support for the QFD project is also a crucial key success factor. The strict organization of the QFD project is of minor, however still remarkable importance for the success.Originality value - This article specifically addresses the following four questions. What are the variables which affect QFD? What are the outcomes from using QFD? What relationships exist between QFD variables and outcomes? What guidelines may be offered for managers of QFD? By answering these questions the manager will get a clear understanding of the impact of QFD on corporate success.
Purpose: The purpose of this research is to measure Organizational Learning Capability (OLC) perception in the managers of public, private and multinational organizations and establish the link ...between OLC and firm performance. Design/methodology/approach: The data were collected from a sample of 612 managers randomly drawn from Indian industry, using a questionnaire survey. Findings: Organizational capability perception for the managers of the IT sector and of multinational firms was the highest, while it was lowest for the engineering sector. Mixed results were found for the market indicators of firm performance, i.e. firm's financial turnover and firm's profit as predictors of OLC in Indian organizations, where financial turnover was predicting organizational learning capability. Research limitations/implications: The research paper does not test the possibility of firm performance affecting OLC, which may be true, and the author acknowledges it as a limitation of the research study. Future studies may investigate this further. Originality/value: The managers felt that the processes for encouragement of experimentation and environmental scanning needed more attention in Indian industry. The variable of sensitivity to people and their potential provides implications for a rigorous talent management strategy. If adequate attention is paid to this dimension, then it can lead to gaining of competitive advantage, through retention and development of key talent.
Purpose - This paper seeks to make the case for new research into the perceived fairness and impact of executive pay.Design methodology approach - The paper reviews the literature regarding executive ...compensation and corporate performance and examines the evidence that a more egalitarian approach to pay could be justified in terms of long-term shareholder value.Findings - There would appear to be no evidence to suggest that the growing gap between the pay of executives and that of the average employee generates long-term enterprise value, and it may even be detrimental to firms, if not the liberal capitalist consensus on which the corporate licence to operate is based.Research limitations implications - The paper outlines a new approach to tracking income differentials with corporate performance through the development of a corporate Gini coefficient "league table".Social implications - The proposed research is expected to point towards better practice in executive remuneration, and support the growing momentum for a sustainable and enlightened approach to business, in which the key goal is long-term enterprise value based on a fair distribution of the rewards of business.Originality value - In producing a deeper understanding of the impact of widening income differentials, the paper should be of interest to senior executives in publicly quoted companies as well as press commentators, government officials and academics.
Market‐oriented behavior Cadogan, John W; Sundqvist, Sanna; Salminen, Risto T ...
European journal of marketing,
10/2002, Volume:
36, Issue:
9/10
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
The activities of service and product firms are compared in terms of their market-oriented behavior in their export operations (i.e. their export market-oriented (EMO) behavior). Empirical analysis ...conducted on a sample of 783 Finnish exporters containing both service and product firms uncovered several interesting differences: service and product firms differed in their level of EMO behavior; the direct effects from EMO behavior to various dimensions of export success were invariant across the samples; however, the export environment moderated the link between EMO behavior and export profit performance in different ways across the samples. The results indicate that EMO behavior may be more appropriate under certain environmental conditions, and less appropriate under others. However, the nature of the relationship between EMO behavior and export success may also depend on whether the firm's core export market offerings are services or physical products.
There persists the belief that a firm's only responsibility to society is to maximize profits without breaking the law, hence the role of corporate governance is to provide appropriate corporate ...control. Research suggests that there is a growing perception that corporations are social entities overall, answerable to social constituencies and that the role of corporate governance is to understand and adequately address the interest of such social and political constituents. A review of research studies in the area of corporate governance's contribution to corporate performance reveals that there is no conclusive evidence of contribution. Moreover, it illuminates the need for a boarder criteria of performance and for the adoption of a political model of corporate governance in order to facilitate a corporation's external accountabilities.
Purpose - This paper seeks to analyze the performance implications of the regional and global strategies pursued by multinational companies. It aims to argue that a firm could experience different ...performance effects for its intra- and inter-regional operations due to differences in the liability of foreignness between these two levels.Design methodology approach - Using a large sample of multinational enterprises (MNEs) drawn from all triad regions during the period 1998-2008, the paper uses panel data methods to analyze the relationships in the sample.Findings - The paper finds significant support for the difference in the effects of intra- and inter-regional operations on performance between firms that operate within their home region and those that venture outside it.Originality value - This is one of the first papers to examine an impact of regional sales dispersion on MNEs' performance. An exclusion of home country sales from the home region sales is a novel feature of this research.
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