Spotlight on new research publications in July
07/01/2021
Photo: Bjarke MacCarthy
Are you a journalist, researcher or simply interested in academic articles on business and culture?
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The following is a rough list. If you need more information, please contact the researcher.
The academic articles have been peer-reviewed, which means they have been judged by other researchers within the same area.
THE FOLLOWING IS THIS MONTH’S PEER-REVIEWED RESEARCH – ENJOY YOUR READING:
Find the abstracts under each heading...
Pay Inequality and Gender Dynamics in Top Executive Positions
Abstract: Research Question/Issue: Contributing to ongoing debates on the determinants of diversity at the helm of companies, we investigate the relationship between executives’ gender and pay inequality within the top executive team.
Research Findings/Insights: Using a panel data set of US listed firms, we find that a greater inequality in executive pay is positively associated with the exit of female executives from the firm’s top executive team. This effect is economically larger when the starting level of female representation in the executive team is low, when the firm uses more variable compensation to reward executives, and when the firm operates in geographic areas featuring stronger aversion toward income inequality.
Theoretical/Academic Implications: Our study expands existing knowledge on the organizational and external factors promoting gender diversity at the top of companies. While this literature has widely analyzed women’s entry into corporate positions, exit has been largely neglected. Our study fills this gap by documenting significant gender differences in the relationship between executives’ pay inequality and exit rates from the top executive team. In so doing, we connect the literatures on gender diversity and executive pay distribution, which have developed in a rather independent manner.
Practitioner/Policy Implications: Drawing on insights from corporate governance and behavioral economics, this study offers novel evidence to policy-makers interested in addressing the under-explored challenges associated with the retention of women in corporate positions and their upward mobility within the corporate hierarchy. Moreover, the contextual variations behind our main finding suggest that cultural values and norms may play a key role in shaping the effectiveness of public policies aimed at increasing diversity in corporate governance positions.
Abstract: Research Question/Issue: Contributing to ongoing debates on the determinants of diversity at the helm of companies, we investigate the relationship between executives’ gender and pay inequality within the top executive team.
Research Findings/Insights: Using a panel data set of US listed firms, we find that a greater inequality in executive pay is positively associated with the exit of female executives from the firm’s top executive team. This effect is economically larger when the starting level of female representation in the executive team is low, when the firm uses more variable compensation to reward executives, and when the firm operates in geographic areas featuring stronger aversion toward income inequality.
Theoretical/Academic Implications: Our study expands existing knowledge on the organizational and external factors promoting gender diversity at the top of companies. While this literature has widely analyzed women’s entry into corporate positions, exit has been largely neglected. Our study fills this gap by documenting significant gender differences in the relationship between executives’ pay inequality and exit rates from the top executive team. In so doing, we connect the literatures on gender diversity and executive pay distribution, which have developed in a rather independent manner.
Practitioner/Policy Implications: Drawing on insights from corporate governance and behavioral economics, this study offers novel evidence to policy-makers interested in addressing the under-explored challenges associated with the retention of women in corporate positions and their upward mobility within the corporate hierarchy. Moreover, the contextual variations behind our main finding suggest that cultural values and norms may play a key role in shaping the effectiveness of public policies aimed at increasing diversity in corporate governance positions.
Journal: Corporate Governance
Published: May 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Orsola Garofalo
How to Govern a Sustainable Supply Chain: Standards, Standardizers, and the Political Ecology of (in)Advertence
Abstract: There is an ambivalence within political ecology about whether the unequal power relations that emerge from many development projects are intended or unintended. This ambivalence is a result of an empirical focus on the effects of these programs on target communities, as opposed to an empirical focus on the people who are responsible for developing those programs. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork among people tasked with designing, promoting, and enforcing sustainability standards in global agricultural supply chains, I argue that the empowerment of multinational corporations and well-funded environmental NGOs that characterizes market-oriented sustainability programs is, in fact, intentional. This intention reflects the belief among sustainability professionals that the intersection of western scientific expertise with the dynamics of “the market” is the most effective way to promote sustainability in global supply chains, and to generate global sustainability in a more general sense. Concepts like “stakeholder engagement” and a commitment to flexibility and accommodation in the development and adoption of social and environmental standards are examples of what I call euphemistic sustainability, which shifts critical attention away from a balance of power that is increasingly tilted toward private interests, even as that imbalance remains an intended outcome of non-state market-driven governance systems like ostensibly voluntary sustainability standards.
Abstract: There is an ambivalence within political ecology about whether the unequal power relations that emerge from many development projects are intended or unintended. This ambivalence is a result of an empirical focus on the effects of these programs on target communities, as opposed to an empirical focus on the people who are responsible for developing those programs. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork among people tasked with designing, promoting, and enforcing sustainability standards in global agricultural supply chains, I argue that the empowerment of multinational corporations and well-funded environmental NGOs that characterizes market-oriented sustainability programs is, in fact, intentional. This intention reflects the belief among sustainability professionals that the intersection of western scientific expertise with the dynamics of “the market” is the most effective way to promote sustainability in global supply chains, and to generate global sustainability in a more general sense. Concepts like “stakeholder engagement” and a commitment to flexibility and accommodation in the development and adoption of social and environmental standards are examples of what I call euphemistic sustainability, which shifts critical attention away from a balance of power that is increasingly tilted toward private interests, even as that imbalance remains an intended outcome of non-state market-driven governance systems like ostensibly voluntary sustainability standards.
Journal: Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space
Published: May 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Matthew Archer
First Mover Advantage: The United Kingdom and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
Abstract: In March 2015, the UK applied to become a founder member of the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) despite objections from the Foreign Office and Washington, DC, and ahead of other major western countries although they were to follow quickly. What explains the British decision? The paper argues that the underlying long-run reasons included shifting perceptions of American and Chinese power, economic imperatives, the institutional opportunities offered to pursue “venue-shopping” strategies within the British state, and widespread ambivalence about UK policy towards China. Furthermore, although analyses often eschew “snapshot” perspectives, short-run perceptions that the UK could, by joining the AIIB at that point, gain a first mover advantage that would provide greater access to Chinese markets, secure contracts across Asia for British firms, and enable the City of London to win an even greater share of the offshore renminbi trade proved decisive.
Abstract: In March 2015, the UK applied to become a founder member of the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) despite objections from the Foreign Office and Washington, DC, and ahead of other major western countries although they were to follow quickly. What explains the British decision? The paper argues that the underlying long-run reasons included shifting perceptions of American and Chinese power, economic imperatives, the institutional opportunities offered to pursue “venue-shopping” strategies within the British state, and widespread ambivalence about UK policy towards China. Furthermore, although analyses often eschew “snapshot” perspectives, short-run perceptions that the UK could, by joining the AIIB at that point, gain a first mover advantage that would provide greater access to Chinese markets, secure contracts across Asia for British firms, and enable the City of London to win an even greater share of the offshore renminbi trade proved decisive.
Journal: Asia Europe Journal - Intercultural Studies in the Social Sciences and Humanities
Published: May 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Edward Ashbee
Tourism During and after COVID-19: An Expert-informed Agenda for Future Research
Abstract: With the COVID-19 pandemic reaching a more mature, yet still threatening, stage, the time is ripe to look forward in order to identify the topics and trends that will shape future tourism research and practice. This note sets out to develop an agenda for tourism research post COVID-19. We surveyed several industry and academic experts seeking their opinion on three important questions: What potential future topics are needed to address the impact of COVID-19? What existing research areas/topics will become more relevant? What changes are recommended for data collection? Interpreting and synthesizing the answers yields six focal research avenues that researchers should devote more attention and effort to. For each topic, we present various important research questions. By doing so, this note paves the way and serves as a signpost for countless intriguing future research endeavors that are of high relevance and demanded by the industry.
Abstract: With the COVID-19 pandemic reaching a more mature, yet still threatening, stage, the time is ripe to look forward in order to identify the topics and trends that will shape future tourism research and practice. This note sets out to develop an agenda for tourism research post COVID-19. We surveyed several industry and academic experts seeking their opinion on three important questions: What potential future topics are needed to address the impact of COVID-19? What existing research areas/topics will become more relevant? What changes are recommended for data collection? Interpreting and synthesizing the answers yields six focal research avenues that researchers should devote more attention and effort to. For each topic, we present various important research questions. By doing so, this note paves the way and serves as a signpost for countless intriguing future research endeavors that are of high relevance and demanded by the industry.
Journal: Journal of Travel Research
Published: May 24
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Contact CBS researcher: Florian Kock
The Social Fabric Framework: Steps to Eliciting the Social Making of Organisations in the Digital Age
Abstract: The proliferation of enterprise social media generates an ever-growing record of digital traces that provides ample opportunities to study the social making of organisations. Subsequently, we present the social fabric framework, which comprises a structured five-step approach for eliciting, interpreting, and representing the situated social idiosyncrasies and underlying patterns of the social making of organisations. The paper focuses on the application of the social fabric framework as a research method. However, the framework also lends itself to practice as a diagnostic tool that can detect emergent changes in the social fabric of an organisation as well as support organisational development and change. Moreover, by providing a vocabulary for articulating the social making of organisations, the framework can help organisation members reify their dispositions, make sense of the social dynamics, and enable a constructive discussion at the grassroots level about any controversy or aspiration.
Abstract: The proliferation of enterprise social media generates an ever-growing record of digital traces that provides ample opportunities to study the social making of organisations. Subsequently, we present the social fabric framework, which comprises a structured five-step approach for eliciting, interpreting, and representing the situated social idiosyncrasies and underlying patterns of the social making of organisations. The paper focuses on the application of the social fabric framework as a research method. However, the framework also lends itself to practice as a diagnostic tool that can detect emergent changes in the social fabric of an organisation as well as support organisational development and change. Moreover, by providing a vocabulary for articulating the social making of organisations, the framework can help organisation members reify their dispositions, make sense of the social dynamics, and enable a constructive discussion at the grassroots level about any controversy or aspiration.
Journal: European Journal of Information Systems
Published: May 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Michel Avital, Tina Blegind Jensen
Investor Feedback: Impact on Analyst Biases and Investor Critical Evaluation
Abstract: Financial analysts (‘sell side’) face incentives that result in biased information for investors (‘buy side’). We examine whether a feedback channel from investors to financial analysts (comparable to the broker vote system) reduces these biases and thereby enhances information efficiency. In a controlled experiment with a monetary payment structure, 344 graduate students assume roles as analysts or investors, with the analysts making earnings recommendations for the investors in the presence of biased incentives. Under the treatment condition, the investors provide feedback to the analysts. Consistent with the monetary incentives built into the broker vote system and psychological theories, the presence of this feedback: (i) reduces bias among analysts; and (ii) enhances investors’ critical evaluation of information. Given the informational benefits of investor feedback, we highlight an unintended consequence of the European Union’s decision to abolish indirect payments to analysts from 2018 onwards.
Abstract: Financial analysts (‘sell side’) face incentives that result in biased information for investors (‘buy side’). We examine whether a feedback channel from investors to financial analysts (comparable to the broker vote system) reduces these biases and thereby enhances information efficiency. In a controlled experiment with a monetary payment structure, 344 graduate students assume roles as analysts or investors, with the analysts making earnings recommendations for the investors in the presence of biased incentives. Under the treatment condition, the investors provide feedback to the analysts. Consistent with the monetary incentives built into the broker vote system and psychological theories, the presence of this feedback: (i) reduces bias among analysts; and (ii) enhances investors’ critical evaluation of information. Given the informational benefits of investor feedback, we highlight an unintended consequence of the European Union’s decision to abolish indirect payments to analysts from 2018 onwards.
Journal: Accounting and Finance
Published: June 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Thomas Plenborg
Spillovers in Prices: The Curious Case of Haunted Houses
Abstract: Exploiting the unique institutional setting of Hong Kong’s real estate market, we uncover a curious ripple effect of haunted houses on the prices of nearby houses. Prices drop on average 20% for units that become haunted, 10% for units on the same floor, 7% for units in the same block, and 1% for units in the same estate. Our study makes two contributions. First, we provide an estimate of a large negative spillover on prices caused by a quality shock. Second, we find that the demand shock rather than the fire sale supply shock explains most of the spillover.
Abstract: Exploiting the unique institutional setting of Hong Kong’s real estate market, we uncover a curious ripple effect of haunted houses on the prices of nearby houses. Prices drop on average 20% for units that become haunted, 10% for units on the same floor, 7% for units in the same block, and 1% for units in the same estate. Our study makes two contributions. First, we provide an estimate of a large negative spillover on prices caused by a quality shock. Second, we find that the demand shock rather than the fire sale supply shock explains most of the spillover.
Journal: Review of Finance
Published: May 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Kasper Meisner Nielsen
The Chemical Brothers: Competition and the Evolution of the Board Interlock Network in the German Chemical Industry
Abstract: Utilising a unique and original dataset on the board composition of the 35 largest German chemical producers over the 1950–2015 period, the article tracks the entire lifespan of the industry’s reconstituted board interlock network. Regarding the network as a mechanism for controlling competition among its members, we consider changes in its strength over time. We find that a close-knit network came into existence in the 1950s, culminating in the 1970s and 1980s, after which it began to weaken. We highlight the importance of various meeting places for top-level directors from the chemical industry, including bank boards, and moreover introduce a novel measure that makes it possible to consider the significance of past ties to the strength of the network. Situating the findings in a wider political-economic context, we suggest that in important respects Germany’s coordinated form of capitalism is likely to have been even more coordinated than has been recognised.
Abstract: Utilising a unique and original dataset on the board composition of the 35 largest German chemical producers over the 1950–2015 period, the article tracks the entire lifespan of the industry’s reconstituted board interlock network. Regarding the network as a mechanism for controlling competition among its members, we consider changes in its strength over time. We find that a close-knit network came into existence in the 1950s, culminating in the 1970s and 1980s, after which it began to weaken. We highlight the importance of various meeting places for top-level directors from the chemical industry, including bank boards, and moreover introduce a novel measure that makes it possible to consider the significance of past ties to the strength of the network. Situating the findings in a wider political-economic context, we suggest that in important respects Germany’s coordinated form of capitalism is likely to have been even more coordinated than has been recognised.
Journal: Business History
Published: May 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Hubert Buch-Hansen, Anton Grau Larsen
How Sustainable-orientated Service Innovation Strategies are Contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals
Abstract: Even though the private sector plays a pivotal role in the success of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the assessment of the firms’ contribution to the Goals has so far been an underexplored and complex issue. This paper proposes an analytical approach to evaluate the contribution of different sustainability and service innovation strategies to the SDGs. The proposed analytical approach uses open secondary data and content analysis to collect and analyse the sustainability and service innovation activities of a sample of firms. It also develops the Sustainability-orientated Service Innovation (SOSI) Matrix, a tool to map the firms’ strategies and their contribution to the SDGs. The results indicate that the various combinations of sustainability and service innovation strategies lead to differences in the firms’ contribution to the SDGs. In particular, service innovation has been shown to be a fundamental mediator to contribute to the SDGs. The main points of this work are i) the importance of combining sustainability and service innovation to contribute to the SDGs; ii) the development of an analytical procedure to analyse the firms’ contribution to the SDGs; iii) the definition of core SDGs, which are relevant in aligning firm's value-creation to SDGs’ contribution. Finally, the study is based on an in-depth analysis of 23 manufacturers from the fast-growing fitness equipment industry, which has so far received only piecemeal attention in the sustainability and management literature.
Abstract: Even though the private sector plays a pivotal role in the success of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the assessment of the firms’ contribution to the Goals has so far been an underexplored and complex issue. This paper proposes an analytical approach to evaluate the contribution of different sustainability and service innovation strategies to the SDGs. The proposed analytical approach uses open secondary data and content analysis to collect and analyse the sustainability and service innovation activities of a sample of firms. It also develops the Sustainability-orientated Service Innovation (SOSI) Matrix, a tool to map the firms’ strategies and their contribution to the SDGs. The results indicate that the various combinations of sustainability and service innovation strategies lead to differences in the firms’ contribution to the SDGs. In particular, service innovation has been shown to be a fundamental mediator to contribute to the SDGs. The main points of this work are i) the importance of combining sustainability and service innovation to contribute to the SDGs; ii) the development of an analytical procedure to analyse the firms’ contribution to the SDGs; iii) the definition of core SDGs, which are relevant in aligning firm's value-creation to SDGs’ contribution. Finally, the study is based on an in-depth analysis of 23 manufacturers from the fast-growing fitness equipment industry, which has so far received only piecemeal attention in the sustainability and management literature.
Journal: Technological Forecasting and Social Change
Published: August 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Esben Rahbek Gjerdrum Pedersen
Business Families in Times of Crises: The Backbone of Family Firm Resilience and Continuity
Abstract: Against the backdrop of the current Covid-19 pandemic and the related world economic crisis, we reflect on the role of the business family as a pivotal resource in family firm crisis management. We discuss how business families respond to the pandemic outbreak and how some accomplish to turn challenges into opportunities and manage to emerge from the crisis even stronger than before. Related to that, we develop a research agenda on crisis management in family firms and the specific role of the business family in this regard. We also introduce the four articles in this special issue which were initially presented at the 3rd International Family Business Research Forum (IFBRF) at WU Vienna in September 2017. All four articles tackle core topics in family business research and practice, including succession, innovation and family governance, which are core elements for building a resilient business family.
Abstract: Against the backdrop of the current Covid-19 pandemic and the related world economic crisis, we reflect on the role of the business family as a pivotal resource in family firm crisis management. We discuss how business families respond to the pandemic outbreak and how some accomplish to turn challenges into opportunities and manage to emerge from the crisis even stronger than before. Related to that, we develop a research agenda on crisis management in family firms and the specific role of the business family in this regard. We also introduce the four articles in this special issue which were initially presented at the 3rd International Family Business Research Forum (IFBRF) at WU Vienna in September 2017. All four articles tackle core topics in family business research and practice, including succession, innovation and family governance, which are core elements for building a resilient business family.
Journal: Journal of Family Business Strategy
Published: June 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Julia Süss-Reyes
On Clustering Categories of Categorical Predictors in Generalized Linear Models
Abstract: We propose a method to reduce the complexity of Generalized Linear Models in the presence of categorical predictors. The traditional one-hot encoding, where each category is represented by a dummy variable, can be wasteful, difficult to interpret, and prone to overfitting, especially when dealing with high-cardinality categorical predictors. This paper addresses these challenges by finding a reduced representation of the categorical predictors by clustering their categories. This is done through a numerical method which aims to preserve (or even, improve) accuracy, while reducing the number of coefficients to be estimated for the categorical predictors. Thanks to its design, we are able to derive a proximity measure between categories of a categorical predictor that can be easily visualized. We illustrate the performance of our approach in real-world classification and count-data datasets where we see that clustering the categorical predictors reduces complexity substantially without harming accuracy.
Abstract: We propose a method to reduce the complexity of Generalized Linear Models in the presence of categorical predictors. The traditional one-hot encoding, where each category is represented by a dummy variable, can be wasteful, difficult to interpret, and prone to overfitting, especially when dealing with high-cardinality categorical predictors. This paper addresses these challenges by finding a reduced representation of the categorical predictors by clustering their categories. This is done through a numerical method which aims to preserve (or even, improve) accuracy, while reducing the number of coefficients to be estimated for the categorical predictors. Thanks to its design, we are able to derive a proximity measure between categories of a categorical predictor that can be easily visualized. We illustrate the performance of our approach in real-world classification and count-data datasets where we see that clustering the categorical predictors reduces complexity substantially without harming accuracy.
Journal: Expert Systems with Applications
Published: November 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Marcela Galvis Restrepo, Dolores Romero Morales
Twice the Trouble: Twinning and the Cost of Voting
Abstract: Scholars have argued that becoming a parent affects political behavior, including turnout. In this article, we identify the effect on turnout of having an additional child conditional on the decision to become a parent. When parents have a child, nature sometimes assigns additional children through twinning. We argue that conditional on age of parents and birth cohort this as-if randomly assigns an extra child to some parents. With a large data set of family composition and validated turnout for Danish voters, we find, consistent with additional children taking up parents’ time and indirectly increasing the cost of voting, that having an additional child at the same time as another depresses turnout for both parents. Mothers who had twins in their first parity are 1.6 to 3.0 percentage points less likely to vote across three elections. For fathers, turnout is only depressed by 0.7 to 1.4 percentage points.
Abstract: Scholars have argued that becoming a parent affects political behavior, including turnout. In this article, we identify the effect on turnout of having an additional child conditional on the decision to become a parent. When parents have a child, nature sometimes assigns additional children through twinning. We argue that conditional on age of parents and birth cohort this as-if randomly assigns an extra child to some parents. With a large data set of family composition and validated turnout for Danish voters, we find, consistent with additional children taking up parents’ time and indirectly increasing the cost of voting, that having an additional child at the same time as another depresses turnout for both parents. Mothers who had twins in their first parity are 1.6 to 3.0 percentage points less likely to vote across three elections. For fathers, turnout is only depressed by 0.7 to 1.4 percentage points.
Journal: Journal of Politics
Published: May 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Jens Olav Dahlgaard
Local Impact of Global Crises, Institutional Trust, and Consumer Well-being: Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic
Abstract: Global crises become increasingly more frequent and consequential. Yet, the impact of these crises is unevenly distributed across countries, leading to discrepancies in (inter)national crisis-regulating institutions’ ability to uphold public trust and safeguard their constituents’ well-being. Employing the paradigm of citizens as customers of political institutions, drawing
on attribution and socio-political trust theories, and using the COVID-19 pandemic as empirical context, we investigate how consumers’ relative perceptions of local impact following a global crisis affect the psychological processes of institutional trust-formation and consumer well-being. Conducting one survey-based study in two countries affected disproportionately by the pandemic’s first wave (USA, Greece) and one experimental study in a third country (Italy) during the pandemic’s second wave, we find that institutional trust declines more in countries whose citizens hold perceptions of higher relative local impact following a global crisis; institutional blame attributions explain trust erosion; institutional distrust decreases consumer well-being and adherence to institutional guidelines; consumers’ globalization attitudes immunize international institutions from blame and distrust; and political conservatives transfer blame and distrust from national to international institutions amidst global crises. The findings enrich institutional branding and trust literatures and have implications for stakeholders involved in global crisis-management (policymakers, political marketers, institutional brand managers).
Abstract: Global crises become increasingly more frequent and consequential. Yet, the impact of these crises is unevenly distributed across countries, leading to discrepancies in (inter)national crisis-regulating institutions’ ability to uphold public trust and safeguard their constituents’ well-being. Employing the paradigm of citizens as customers of political institutions, drawing
on attribution and socio-political trust theories, and using the COVID-19 pandemic as empirical context, we investigate how consumers’ relative perceptions of local impact following a global crisis affect the psychological processes of institutional trust-formation and consumer well-being. Conducting one survey-based study in two countries affected disproportionately by the pandemic’s first wave (USA, Greece) and one experimental study in a third country (Italy) during the pandemic’s second wave, we find that institutional trust declines more in countries whose citizens hold perceptions of higher relative local impact following a global crisis; institutional blame attributions explain trust erosion; institutional distrust decreases consumer well-being and adherence to institutional guidelines; consumers’ globalization attitudes immunize international institutions from blame and distrust; and political conservatives transfer blame and distrust from national to international institutions amidst global crises. The findings enrich institutional branding and trust literatures and have implications for stakeholders involved in global crisis-management (policymakers, political marketers, institutional brand managers).
Journal: Journal of International Marketing
Published: May 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Gülen Sarial Abi
Productivity Improvement and Multiple Management Controls: Evidence from a Manufacturing Firm
Abstract: Purpose: The present paper explores the multiple management control systems (MCSs) involved in productivity improvement (PI) in manufacturing and how they interrelate. Research has largely neglected the multiplicity and interrelationships of these MCSs.
Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on an abductive case study approach, the authors collected empirical data from a global automotive supplier that produces complex systems for passenger cars. Recent PI activities are analysed to identify and explain the interrelationships among the multiple MCSs affecting these activities.
Findings: The study shows how a broad range of MCSs are involved in PI. The study identifies and explores both complementary and conflicting relationships among the MCSs and demonstrates how managers rely on a set of mechanisms to alleviate tensions and strengthen complementarities among these MCSs.
Research limitations/implications: As this paper is based on a single case study, future research can contribute further generalisations (analytical and statistical) with respect to the MCSs involved in PI, how they are interrelated and which mechanisms managers use to manage their interrelationships.
Practical implications: Managers seeking to control and improve productivity should consider the complete control package and its interrelationships instead of focussing on each MCS separately.
Originality/value: The present paper contributes to the knowledge of the multiplicity and interrelationships of MCSs involved in PI and the type of managerial work required to manage their interrelationships.
Abstract: Purpose: The present paper explores the multiple management control systems (MCSs) involved in productivity improvement (PI) in manufacturing and how they interrelate. Research has largely neglected the multiplicity and interrelationships of these MCSs.
Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on an abductive case study approach, the authors collected empirical data from a global automotive supplier that produces complex systems for passenger cars. Recent PI activities are analysed to identify and explain the interrelationships among the multiple MCSs affecting these activities.
Findings: The study shows how a broad range of MCSs are involved in PI. The study identifies and explores both complementary and conflicting relationships among the MCSs and demonstrates how managers rely on a set of mechanisms to alleviate tensions and strengthen complementarities among these MCSs.
Research limitations/implications: As this paper is based on a single case study, future research can contribute further generalisations (analytical and statistical) with respect to the MCSs involved in PI, how they are interrelated and which mechanisms managers use to manage their interrelationships.
Practical implications: Managers seeking to control and improve productivity should consider the complete control package and its interrelationships instead of focussing on each MCS separately.
Originality/value: The present paper contributes to the knowledge of the multiplicity and interrelationships of MCSs involved in PI and the type of managerial work required to manage their interrelationships.
Journal: International Journal of Operations and Production Management
Published: May 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Michael Güldenpfennig, Kim Sundtoft Hald, Allan Hansen
The Purposes of Performance Management Systems and Processes: A Cross-functional Typology
Abstract: Purpose: This paper aims to organise, in a general typology, the different purposes of performance management systems and processes (PMSPs) that are discussed across the performance management literature in different functional areas.
Design/methodology/approach: The typology is developed based on a traditional review of the performance management literature from three types of functional areas, represented by operations and production management, management accounting and human resource management.
Findings: The cross-functional typology illustrates how the different types of purposes discussed in the literature can be organised in a hierarchical structure. In this way, the basic purpose of organisational value creation for PMSPs can be decomposed into two layers of sub-purposes, the first specifying the domain and the second outlining the specific managerial use of PMSPs.
Practical implications: The presented typology may help managers across different functional areas map the purposes of their PMSPs; this mapping will not only provide the basics for understanding a PMSP's potential value for an organisation but also serve as an important input for PMSP design.
Originality/value: The presented typology has a broader scope than existing typologies of purposes in research and, consequently, better interrelates and tracks the various types of purposes discussed across different functional areas. This contributes not only to our understanding of performance management as a cross-functional field but also to research on the use and design of PMSPs in organisations.
Abstract: Purpose: This paper aims to organise, in a general typology, the different purposes of performance management systems and processes (PMSPs) that are discussed across the performance management literature in different functional areas.
Design/methodology/approach: The typology is developed based on a traditional review of the performance management literature from three types of functional areas, represented by operations and production management, management accounting and human resource management.
Findings: The cross-functional typology illustrates how the different types of purposes discussed in the literature can be organised in a hierarchical structure. In this way, the basic purpose of organisational value creation for PMSPs can be decomposed into two layers of sub-purposes, the first specifying the domain and the second outlining the specific managerial use of PMSPs.
Practical implications: The presented typology may help managers across different functional areas map the purposes of their PMSPs; this mapping will not only provide the basics for understanding a PMSP's potential value for an organisation but also serve as an important input for PMSP design.
Originality/value: The presented typology has a broader scope than existing typologies of purposes in research and, consequently, better interrelates and tracks the various types of purposes discussed across different functional areas. This contributes not only to our understanding of performance management as a cross-functional field but also to research on the use and design of PMSPs in organisations.
Journal: International Journal of Operations and Production Management
Published: May 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Allan Hansen
Referendums as Resistance: International Pressures and Nationalist Recoil in Iceland
Abstract: This paper examines how referendums on internationally contested issues can activate nationalist discourses. To this end, it carries out a case study of the ‘Icesave conflict’ between Iceland, the UK and the Netherlands. This conflict centered on whether the Icelandic government should insure British and Dutch deposits in the online accounts of the Icelandic bank Landsbanki, which went bankrupt in the Global Financial Crisis. Departing from a discursive institutionalist framework, the paper performs a detailed analysis of the conflict over time, including two Icelandic referendums on repayment plans. It argues that although calling a referendum likely gave Iceland more bargaining power, doing so also activated novel nationalist discourses. A main contribution of the paper thus lies in illustrating how international pressures can ‘reverberate’ in the domestic realm. Another key contribution is the dynamic analysis of a case that spanned several years, allowing for a time-sensitive understanding of evolving political developments and discourses.
Abstract: This paper examines how referendums on internationally contested issues can activate nationalist discourses. To this end, it carries out a case study of the ‘Icesave conflict’ between Iceland, the UK and the Netherlands. This conflict centered on whether the Icelandic government should insure British and Dutch deposits in the online accounts of the Icelandic bank Landsbanki, which went bankrupt in the Global Financial Crisis. Departing from a discursive institutionalist framework, the paper performs a detailed analysis of the conflict over time, including two Icelandic referendums on repayment plans. It argues that although calling a referendum likely gave Iceland more bargaining power, doing so also activated novel nationalist discourses. A main contribution of the paper thus lies in illustrating how international pressures can ‘reverberate’ in the domestic realm. Another key contribution is the dynamic analysis of a case that spanned several years, allowing for a time-sensitive understanding of evolving political developments and discourses.
Journal: Journal of European Public Policy
Published: May 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Oddný Helgadóttir
Complaining about Occupational Safety and Health: A Barrier for Collaboration between Managers and Workers on Construction Sites
Abstract: Collaborative safety practices between construction site managers and workers are considered essential in occupational safety and health (OSH). However, establishing joint OSH engagement between managers and workers is still a challenge. Little is known about how managers and workers’ “complaining” about OSH affects collective OSH action and the quality of manager-worker relations. Drawing on an understanding of complaining as “boundary work”, this study empirically analyses how managers and workers’ verbalisations either downplay (collaboration) or build (demarcation) boundaries. Interviews and observations between managers and workers were carried out on a construction project in Denmark to identify why and how complaining is used. A typology consisting of four “complaining” mechanisms was developed, highlighting their associated relational dynamics: (1) Shifting responsibility for advancing OSH, (2) Defending oneself against strained working conditions, (3) Dealing strategically with criticism, and (4) Blaming other occupational groups. Complaining about OSH as boundary work – both collaboration and demarcation – between managers and workers furthers professional fragmentation and conflicts OSH collaboration, yet it occurs in a “safe space” for professional disagreement. We suggest that these communicational aspects and associated relational dynamics should be an area of increased focus in order to promote managers and workers’ OSH collaboration.
Abstract: Collaborative safety practices between construction site managers and workers are considered essential in occupational safety and health (OSH). However, establishing joint OSH engagement between managers and workers is still a challenge. Little is known about how managers and workers’ “complaining” about OSH affects collective OSH action and the quality of manager-worker relations. Drawing on an understanding of complaining as “boundary work”, this study empirically analyses how managers and workers’ verbalisations either downplay (collaboration) or build (demarcation) boundaries. Interviews and observations between managers and workers were carried out on a construction project in Denmark to identify why and how complaining is used. A typology consisting of four “complaining” mechanisms was developed, highlighting their associated relational dynamics: (1) Shifting responsibility for advancing OSH, (2) Defending oneself against strained working conditions, (3) Dealing strategically with criticism, and (4) Blaming other occupational groups. Complaining about OSH as boundary work – both collaboration and demarcation – between managers and workers furthers professional fragmentation and conflicts OSH collaboration, yet it occurs in a “safe space” for professional disagreement. We suggest that these communicational aspects and associated relational dynamics should be an area of increased focus in order to promote managers and workers’ OSH collaboration.
Journal: Construction Management and Economics
Published: June 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Katharina N. Jeschke, Susanne Boch Waldorff
Cross-cultural Bayesian Network Analysis of Factors Affecting Residents’ Concerns About the Spread of an Infectious Disease Caused by Tourism
Abstract: COVID-19 has had a severe impact globally, and the recovery can be characterized as a tug of war between fast economic recovery and firm control of further virus-spread. To be prepared for future pandemics, public health policy makers should put effort into fully understanding any complex psychological tensions that inherently arise between opposing human factors such as free enjoyment versus self-restriction. As the COVID-19 crisis is an unusual and complex problem, combinations of diverse factors such as health risk perception, knowledge, norms and beliefs, attitudes and behaviors are closely associated with individuals’ intention to enjoy the experience economy but also their concerns that the experience economy will trigger further spread of the infectious diseases. Our aim is to try identifying what factors are associated with their concerns about the spread of the infectious disease caused by the local experience economy. Hence, we have chosen a “data-driven” explanatory approach, “Probabilistic Structural Equational Modeling,” based on the principle of Bayesian networks to analyze data collected from the following four countries with indicated sample sizes: Denmark (1,005), Italy (1,005), China (1,013), and Japan (1,091). Our findings highlight the importance of understanding the contextual differences in relations between the target variable and factors such as personal value priority and knowledge. These factors affect the target variable differently depending on the local severity-level of the infections. Relations between pleasure-seeking via the experience economy and individuals’ anxiety-level about an infectious hotspot seem to differ between East Asians and Europeans who are known to prioritize so-called interpersonal- and independent self-schemes, respectively. Our study also indicates the heterogeneity in the populations, i.e., these relations differ within the respective populations. Another finding shows that the Japanese population is particularly concerned about their local community potentially becoming an infectious hotspot and hence expecting others to comply with their particular social norms. Summarizing, the obtained insights imply the importance of considering both cultural- and individual contexts when policy makers are going to develop measures to address pandemic dilemmas such as maintaining public health awareness and accelerating the recovery of the local experience economy.
Abstract: COVID-19 has had a severe impact globally, and the recovery can be characterized as a tug of war between fast economic recovery and firm control of further virus-spread. To be prepared for future pandemics, public health policy makers should put effort into fully understanding any complex psychological tensions that inherently arise between opposing human factors such as free enjoyment versus self-restriction. As the COVID-19 crisis is an unusual and complex problem, combinations of diverse factors such as health risk perception, knowledge, norms and beliefs, attitudes and behaviors are closely associated with individuals’ intention to enjoy the experience economy but also their concerns that the experience economy will trigger further spread of the infectious diseases. Our aim is to try identifying what factors are associated with their concerns about the spread of the infectious disease caused by the local experience economy. Hence, we have chosen a “data-driven” explanatory approach, “Probabilistic Structural Equational Modeling,” based on the principle of Bayesian networks to analyze data collected from the following four countries with indicated sample sizes: Denmark (1,005), Italy (1,005), China (1,013), and Japan (1,091). Our findings highlight the importance of understanding the contextual differences in relations between the target variable and factors such as personal value priority and knowledge. These factors affect the target variable differently depending on the local severity-level of the infections. Relations between pleasure-seeking via the experience economy and individuals’ anxiety-level about an infectious hotspot seem to differ between East Asians and Europeans who are known to prioritize so-called interpersonal- and independent self-schemes, respectively. Our study also indicates the heterogeneity in the populations, i.e., these relations differ within the respective populations. Another finding shows that the Japanese population is particularly concerned about their local community potentially becoming an infectious hotspot and hence expecting others to comply with their particular social norms. Summarizing, the obtained insights imply the importance of considering both cultural- and individual contexts when policy makers are going to develop measures to address pandemic dilemmas such as maintaining public health awareness and accelerating the recovery of the local experience economy.
Journal: Frontiers in Psychology
Published: June 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Fumiko Kano Glückstad
The Law of Political Economy as Transformative Law: A New Approach to the Concept and Function of Law
Abstract: This article outlines a new approach to the law of political economy as a form of transformative law, a new approach that combines a focus on the function of law with a concept of law encapsulating the triangular dialectics between the form-giving prestation of law, the material substance the law is oriented against, and the transcendence of legal forms—that is, the rendering of compatibility between forms. Transformative law thereby serves as an alternative to both law and economics and recently emerging culturalist and neo-Marxist approaches. The timing of this publication is not coincidental. The era of neoliberalism—that is, of structural liberalism, which started in the 1970s and experienced its breakthrough in the 1980s and 1990s after the collapse of structural Marxism—is ending. This makes the question of what will succeed the neoliberal episteme pertinent.
Abstract: This article outlines a new approach to the law of political economy as a form of transformative law, a new approach that combines a focus on the function of law with a concept of law encapsulating the triangular dialectics between the form-giving prestation of law, the material substance the law is oriented against, and the transcendence of legal forms—that is, the rendering of compatibility between forms. Transformative law thereby serves as an alternative to both law and economics and recently emerging culturalist and neo-Marxist approaches. The timing of this publication is not coincidental. The era of neoliberalism—that is, of structural liberalism, which started in the 1970s and experienced its breakthrough in the 1980s and 1990s after the collapse of structural Marxism—is ending. This makes the question of what will succeed the neoliberal episteme pertinent.
Journal: Global Perspectives
Published: 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Poul F. Kjær
Behavior Change Through Wearables: The Interplay Between Self-leadership and IT-based Leadership
Abstract: Physical inactivity is a global public health problem that poses health risks to individuals and imposes financial burdens on already strained healthcare systems. Wearables that promote regular physical activity and a healthy diet bear great potential to meet these challenges and are increasingly integrated into the healthcare system. However, extant research shows ambivalent results regarding the effectiveness of wearables in improving users’ health behavior. Specifically important is understanding users’ systematic behavior change through wearables. Constructive digitalization of the healthcare system requires a deeper understanding of why some users change their behavior and others do not. Based on self-leadership theory and our analysis of narrative interviews with 50 long-term wearable users, we identify four wearable use patterns that bring about different behavioral outcomes: following, ignoring, combining, and self-leading. Our study contributes to self-leadership theory and research on individual health information systems and has practical implications for wearable and healthcare providers.
Abstract: Physical inactivity is a global public health problem that poses health risks to individuals and imposes financial burdens on already strained healthcare systems. Wearables that promote regular physical activity and a healthy diet bear great potential to meet these challenges and are increasingly integrated into the healthcare system. However, extant research shows ambivalent results regarding the effectiveness of wearables in improving users’ health behavior. Specifically important is understanding users’ systematic behavior change through wearables. Constructive digitalization of the healthcare system requires a deeper understanding of why some users change their behavior and others do not. Based on self-leadership theory and our analysis of narrative interviews with 50 long-term wearable users, we identify four wearable use patterns that bring about different behavioral outcomes: following, ignoring, combining, and self-leading. Our study contributes to self-leadership theory and research on individual health information systems and has practical implications for wearable and healthcare providers.
Journal: Electronic Markets
Published: May 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Christiane Lehrer
Consumer-focused Solar-grid Net Zero Energy Buildings: A Multi-objective Weighted Sum Optimization and Application for India
Abstract: Buildings account for nearly 40% of the world's energy consumption. Renewable energy sources can help decarbonization by facilitating the achievement of Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB). NZEB can be achieved by efficient coordination of the grid-connected load in the building tuned to a consumer's energy demand, usage pattern, and available energy sources. An effective NZEB system calls for an energy-efficient management technique. This paper proposes a novel mathematical strategy for electrical energy management in a residential building. The suggested method establishes a Net Zero Energy (NZE) in a residential building with maximum electrical energy comfort and minimum drain on electrical energy. We validate the concept using a Multi-Objective Differential Evolution optimization methodology using a consumer-controlled approach to obtain Pareto points to guarantee optimal solutions in an NZEB. The proposed scheme delineates the net cumulative electrical energy cost savings of the consumer, ensuring minimum electrical energy discomfort, and minimization of carbon footprints in an NZE Photovoltaic-Grid tied residential building. We highlight the socioeconomic benefits of adopting the methodology in identifying the true potential of NZEBs in meeting global challenges. This research provides insights to the engineers and policy makers to increase consumer participation in the energy performance in an NZEB.
Abstract: Buildings account for nearly 40% of the world's energy consumption. Renewable energy sources can help decarbonization by facilitating the achievement of Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB). NZEB can be achieved by efficient coordination of the grid-connected load in the building tuned to a consumer's energy demand, usage pattern, and available energy sources. An effective NZEB system calls for an energy-efficient management technique. This paper proposes a novel mathematical strategy for electrical energy management in a residential building. The suggested method establishes a Net Zero Energy (NZE) in a residential building with maximum electrical energy comfort and minimum drain on electrical energy. We validate the concept using a Multi-Objective Differential Evolution optimization methodology using a consumer-controlled approach to obtain Pareto points to guarantee optimal solutions in an NZEB. The proposed scheme delineates the net cumulative electrical energy cost savings of the consumer, ensuring minimum electrical energy discomfort, and minimization of carbon footprints in an NZE Photovoltaic-Grid tied residential building. We highlight the socioeconomic benefits of adopting the methodology in identifying the true potential of NZEBs in meeting global challenges. This research provides insights to the engineers and policy makers to increase consumer participation in the energy performance in an NZEB.
Journal: Sustainable Production and Consumption
Published: July 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Tooraj Jamasb
The Life Course: An Interdisciplinary Framework for Broadening the Scope of Research on Crowdwork
Abstract: This paper reports outcomes of a systematic scoping review of methodological approaches and analytical lenses used in empirical research on crowdwork. Over the past decade a growing corpus of publications spanning Social Sciences and Computer Science/HCI have empirically examined the nature of work practices and tasks within crowdwork; surfaced key individual and environmental factors underpinning workers’ decisions to engage in this form of work; developed and implemented tools to improve and extend various aspects of crowdwork, such as the design and allocation of tasks and incentives or workflows within the platforms; and contributed new techniques and know-how on data collection within crowdwork, for example, how to conduct large-scale surveys and experiments in behavioural psychology, economics or education drawing on crowdworker samples. Our initial reading of the crowdwork literature suggested that research had relied on a limited set of relatively narrow methodological approaches, mostly online experiments, surveys and interviews. Importantly, crowdwork research has tended to examine workers’ experiences as snapshots in time rather than studying these longitudinally or contextualising them historically, environmentally and developmentally. This piece-meal approach has given the research community initial descriptions and interpretations of crowdwork practices and provided an important starting point in a nascent field of study. However, the depth of research in the various areas, and the missing pieces, have yet to be systematically scoped out. Therefore, this paper systematically reviews the analytical-methodological approaches used in crowdwork research identifying gaps in these approaches. We argue that to take crowdwork research to the next level it is essential to examine crowdwork practices within the context of both individual and historical-environmental factors impacting it. To this end, methodological approaches that bridge sociological, psychological, individual, collective, online, offline, and temporal processes and practices of crowdwork are needed. The paper proposes the Life Course perspective as an interdisciplinary framework that can help address these gaps and advance research on crowdwork. The paper concludes by proposing a set of Life Course-inspired research questions to guide future studies of crowdwork.
Abstract: This paper reports outcomes of a systematic scoping review of methodological approaches and analytical lenses used in empirical research on crowdwork. Over the past decade a growing corpus of publications spanning Social Sciences and Computer Science/HCI have empirically examined the nature of work practices and tasks within crowdwork; surfaced key individual and environmental factors underpinning workers’ decisions to engage in this form of work; developed and implemented tools to improve and extend various aspects of crowdwork, such as the design and allocation of tasks and incentives or workflows within the platforms; and contributed new techniques and know-how on data collection within crowdwork, for example, how to conduct large-scale surveys and experiments in behavioural psychology, economics or education drawing on crowdworker samples. Our initial reading of the crowdwork literature suggested that research had relied on a limited set of relatively narrow methodological approaches, mostly online experiments, surveys and interviews. Importantly, crowdwork research has tended to examine workers’ experiences as snapshots in time rather than studying these longitudinally or contextualising them historically, environmentally and developmentally. This piece-meal approach has given the research community initial descriptions and interpretations of crowdwork practices and provided an important starting point in a nascent field of study. However, the depth of research in the various areas, and the missing pieces, have yet to be systematically scoped out. Therefore, this paper systematically reviews the analytical-methodological approaches used in crowdwork research identifying gaps in these approaches. We argue that to take crowdwork research to the next level it is essential to examine crowdwork practices within the context of both individual and historical-environmental factors impacting it. To this end, methodological approaches that bridge sociological, psychological, individual, collective, online, offline, and temporal processes and practices of crowdwork are needed. The paper proposes the Life Course perspective as an interdisciplinary framework that can help address these gaps and advance research on crowdwork. The paper concludes by proposing a set of Life Course-inspired research questions to guide future studies of crowdwork.
Journal: Human Computation
Published: 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Anoush Margaryan
Business-to-Business Open Innovation: COVID-19 Lessons for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises from Emerging Markets
Abstract: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from emerging markets are the most vulnerable types of firms, especially in times of crisis due to time and resource constraints. Thus, this paper aims to help SMEs from emerging markets in choosing the right business partners with whom to cooperate to develop relevant innovations in crisis periods in general, and during the COVID-19 pandemic in particular. To obtain relevant insights, qualitative data from SMEs in Bosnia and Herzegovina were collected in March-April 2020. The findings show that SMEs have embraced new collaborations with business customers and competitors, and developed a collaborative mindset opposed to the traditionally competitive way of doing business in emerging markets. Based on the findings, this paper presents a set of recommendations for managers, and suggests several future research opportunities around the management of openness in the context of SMEs from emerging markets.
Abstract: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from emerging markets are the most vulnerable types of firms, especially in times of crisis due to time and resource constraints. Thus, this paper aims to help SMEs from emerging markets in choosing the right business partners with whom to cooperate to develop relevant innovations in crisis periods in general, and during the COVID-19 pandemic in particular. To obtain relevant insights, qualitative data from SMEs in Bosnia and Herzegovina were collected in March-April 2020. The findings show that SMEs have embraced new collaborations with business customers and competitors, and developed a collaborative mindset opposed to the traditionally competitive way of doing business in emerging markets. Based on the findings, this paper presents a set of recommendations for managers, and suggests several future research opportunities around the management of openness in the context of SMEs from emerging markets.
Journal: Technological Forecasting and Social Change
Published: September 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Stefan Markovic, Selma Kadic-Maglajlic
Scenicness Assessment of Onshore Wind Sites with Geotagged Photographs and Impacts on Approval and Cost-efficiency
Abstract: Cost-efficiency and public acceptance are competing objectives for onshore wind locations. The impact of ‘scenicness’ on these two objectives has been difficult to quantify for wind projects. We analyse the link between economic wind resources and beautiful landscapes with over 1.5 million ‘scenicness’ ratings of around 200,000 geotagged photographs from across Great Britain. We find evidence that planning applications for onshore wind are more likely to be rejected when proposed in more scenic areas. Compared to the technical potential of onshore wind of 1,700 TWh at a total cost of £280 billion, removing the 10% most scenic areas implies about 18% lower generation potential and 8–26% higher costs. We also consider connection distances to the nearest electricity network transformer, showing that the connection costs constitute up to half of the total costs. The results provide a quantitative framework for researchers and policymakers to consider the trade-offs between cost-efficiency and public acceptance for onshore wind.
Abstract: Cost-efficiency and public acceptance are competing objectives for onshore wind locations. The impact of ‘scenicness’ on these two objectives has been difficult to quantify for wind projects. We analyse the link between economic wind resources and beautiful landscapes with over 1.5 million ‘scenicness’ ratings of around 200,000 geotagged photographs from across Great Britain. We find evidence that planning applications for onshore wind are more likely to be rejected when proposed in more scenic areas. Compared to the technical potential of onshore wind of 1,700 TWh at a total cost of £280 billion, removing the 10% most scenic areas implies about 18% lower generation potential and 8–26% higher costs. We also consider connection distances to the nearest electricity network transformer, showing that the connection costs constitute up to half of the total costs. The results provide a quantitative framework for researchers and policymakers to consider the trade-offs between cost-efficiency and public acceptance for onshore wind.
Journal: Nature Energy
Published: June 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Ismir Mulalic
Digital Infrastructure Evolution as Generative Entrenchment: The Formation of a Core-periphery Structure
Abstract: This paper empirically investigates the process by which a digital infrastructure evolved and took the architectural form of a digital platform as a core-periphery structure over a 20-year pe-riod. Our study pays special attention to the developmental dependencies of the components of the infrastructure’s installed base and how the interdependencies between the platform core and periphery evolve over time. We use the notion of “generative entrenchment” to provide an ac-count of the formation and unfolding of a core-periphery structure from an evolving digital in-frastructure that highlights three aspects of the process. First, the process of architectural evolu-tion that our study depicts, comprises three phases showing a gradual reversal of the entrench-ment relationship of the platform core and periphery: 1) Entrenchment of the periphery; 2) Mu-tual entrenchment of the core and periphery; and 3) Entrenchment of the core. Second, we show how the generatively entrenched infrastructure’s installed base shaped the decisions and choices regarding the initial platform core. Third, we identify three architectural practices (creating re-dundancy in the core; augmenting the core with novelty; and reducing the heterogeneity of an entrenched peripherical component and later integrating it into the core) that weakened the en-trenchment of the peripherical components, amplified the role of the core, and consolidated the core-periphery structure.
Abstract: This paper empirically investigates the process by which a digital infrastructure evolved and took the architectural form of a digital platform as a core-periphery structure over a 20-year pe-riod. Our study pays special attention to the developmental dependencies of the components of the infrastructure’s installed base and how the interdependencies between the platform core and periphery evolve over time. We use the notion of “generative entrenchment” to provide an ac-count of the formation and unfolding of a core-periphery structure from an evolving digital in-frastructure that highlights three aspects of the process. First, the process of architectural evolu-tion that our study depicts, comprises three phases showing a gradual reversal of the entrench-ment relationship of the platform core and periphery: 1) Entrenchment of the periphery; 2) Mu-tual entrenchment of the core and periphery; and 3) Entrenchment of the core. Second, we show how the generatively entrenched infrastructure’s installed base shaped the decisions and choices regarding the initial platform core. Third, we identify three architectural practices (creating re-dundancy in the core; augmenting the core with novelty; and reducing the heterogeneity of an entrenched peripherical component and later integrating it into the core) that weakened the en-trenchment of the peripherical components, amplified the role of the core, and consolidated the core-periphery structure.
Journal: Journal of Information Technology
Published: May 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Ben Eaton
Research: Dispersed Teams Succeed Fast, Fail Slow
Abstract: Research suggest that while dispersed teams, working remotely, are often more efficient than co-located teams at successfully completing projects, they also tend to persist with failing projects longer than than co-located teams. Going forward in a hybrid work environment, managers need to help dispersed teams get better at failing fast. This will involve better screening and planning of projects, more frequent synchronous working, and more managerial monitoring and intervention.
Abstract: Research suggest that while dispersed teams, working remotely, are often more efficient than co-located teams at successfully completing projects, they also tend to persist with failing projects longer than than co-located teams. Going forward in a hybrid work environment, managers need to help dispersed teams get better at failing fast. This will involve better screening and planning of projects, more frequent synchronous working, and more managerial monitoring and intervention.
Journal: Harvard Business Review Digital Articles
Published: 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Louise Mors
Public Management Challenges in the Digital Risk Society: A Critical Analysis of the Public Debate on Implementation of the Danish NemID
Abstract: The rise of the digital society is accompanied by incalculable social risks, but very little IS research has examined the implications of the new digital society. Drawing on concepts from Beck’s critical theory of the risk society and critical discourse analysis, this study examines the public discourse on risk events during the launch of NemID, a personal digital identifier for Danish citizens. This research illustrates our difficulties and challenges in managing some of the fundamental social risks from societal digitalisation. Limited institutional capabilities for digital technologies force public officials to depend on private companies motived by profit instead of the public interest. Beliefs in digital technology as the primary determinant of social and economic progress also present many public management dilemmas. When digital risk events occur and citizens’ fears are stoked by news media and public discourse, public officials seem to have no other strategy for managing the escalating fears than systematically distorted communication. The continued rise of the digital risk society demands that IS research respond to the challenge of generating knowledge for its public management.
Abstract: The rise of the digital society is accompanied by incalculable social risks, but very little IS research has examined the implications of the new digital society. Drawing on concepts from Beck’s critical theory of the risk society and critical discourse analysis, this study examines the public discourse on risk events during the launch of NemID, a personal digital identifier for Danish citizens. This research illustrates our difficulties and challenges in managing some of the fundamental social risks from societal digitalisation. Limited institutional capabilities for digital technologies force public officials to depend on private companies motived by profit instead of the public interest. Beliefs in digital technology as the primary determinant of social and economic progress also present many public management dilemmas. When digital risk events occur and citizens’ fears are stoked by news media and public discourse, public officials seem to have no other strategy for managing the escalating fears than systematically distorted communication. The continued rise of the digital risk society demands that IS research respond to the challenge of generating knowledge for its public management.
Journal: European Journal of Information Systems
Published: May 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Helle Zinner Henriksen, Daniel Hardt
Biodiversity Conservation as a Promising Frontier for Behavioural Science
Abstract: Human activities are degrading ecosystems worldwide, posing existential threats for biodiversity and humankind. Slowing and reversing this degradation will require profound and widespread changes to human behaviour. Behavioural scientists are therefore well placed to contribute intellectual leadership in this area. This Perspective aims to stimulate a marked increase in the amount and breadth of behavioural research addressing this challenge. First, we describe the importance of the biodiversity crisis for human and non-human prosperity and the central role of human behaviour in reversing this decline. Next, we discuss key gaps in our understanding of how to achieve behaviour change for biodiversity conservation and suggest how to identify key behaviour changes and actors capable of improving biodiversity outcomes. Finally, we outline the core components for building a robust evidence base and suggest priority research questions for behavioural scientists to explore in opening a new frontier of behavioural science for the benefit of nature and human wellbeing.
Abstract: Human activities are degrading ecosystems worldwide, posing existential threats for biodiversity and humankind. Slowing and reversing this degradation will require profound and widespread changes to human behaviour. Behavioural scientists are therefore well placed to contribute intellectual leadership in this area. This Perspective aims to stimulate a marked increase in the amount and breadth of behavioural research addressing this challenge. First, we describe the importance of the biodiversity crisis for human and non-human prosperity and the central role of human behaviour in reversing this decline. Next, we discuss key gaps in our understanding of how to achieve behaviour change for biodiversity conservation and suggest how to identify key behaviour changes and actors capable of improving biodiversity outcomes. Finally, we outline the core components for building a robust evidence base and suggest priority research questions for behavioural scientists to explore in opening a new frontier of behavioural science for the benefit of nature and human wellbeing.
Journal: Nature Human Behavior
Published: May 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Jan Michael Bauer
Gaining from Disorder: Making the Case for Antifragility in Purchasing and Supply Chain Management
Abstract: The purchasing and supply chain management (P&SCM) discipline assumes that supply chains are fragile systems, hence taking a “negative” approach toward disorder. Building on Taleb’s concept of antifragility—the ability to gain from disorder rather than avoiding it—, we challenge this traditional assumption. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that some companies were indeed able to gain from disorder, whereas some of those that focused too much on robustness and resilience lost ground. Building robust and resilient supply chains may no longer be enough to thrive in today’s highly volatile business world. This article sparks a new debate by introducing antifragility to the P&SCM literature and provides new directions for future research.
Abstract: The purchasing and supply chain management (P&SCM) discipline assumes that supply chains are fragile systems, hence taking a “negative” approach toward disorder. Building on Taleb’s concept of antifragility—the ability to gain from disorder rather than avoiding it—, we challenge this traditional assumption. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that some companies were indeed able to gain from disorder, whereas some of those that focused too much on robustness and resilience lost ground. Building robust and resilient supply chains may no longer be enough to thrive in today’s highly volatile business world. This article sparks a new debate by introducing antifragility to the P&SCM literature and provides new directions for future research.
Journal: Journal of Purchasing & Supply Management
Published: May 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Andreas Wieland
Centralized Decentralization, or Distributed Leadership as Paradox: The Case of the Patient Innovation’s COVID-19 Portal
Abstract: Patients with rare diseases, as well as their caregivers, sometimes develop new solutions to deal with their health conditions but only a small fraction share the solution with their doctor or other health professionals. When the value of patient-developed solutions is considered, the evidence is that these solutions consistently help improve the overall quality of life. Patient-developed innovations are very heterogeneous in nature, level of quality, sophistication, and cost; nonetheless, the majority are frugal in cost and design. In this paper, we explore the organizational lessons of the patient innovation platform and community, and its leadership expressions, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Multi-sided online platforms for collecting, curating, and distributing those innovations can help in the fight against the pandemic by centralizing decentralization and we consider this theme in terms of our understanding of when leadership is distributed and when it is not. Distributed leadership can be considered as a paradox, a process in which leadership is retained and dispersed.
MAD statement
This article seeks to Make a Difference (MAD) by challenging how we consider leadership in situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic, where the level of necessity is high (e.g. life-threatening disease), multi-disciplinary (multiple social and economic impacts) and distributed (similar necessities occur almost simultaneously across different geographies) and where a fast response is crucial to alleviate the suffering of populations. Attention needs to be given to bottom-up frugal innovations developed by citizens who are not scientists, who do so in a distributed way through formal mechanisms (such as multi-sided platform) for collecting, curating and distributing those innovations and can help in the fight against the pandemic.
Abstract: Patients with rare diseases, as well as their caregivers, sometimes develop new solutions to deal with their health conditions but only a small fraction share the solution with their doctor or other health professionals. When the value of patient-developed solutions is considered, the evidence is that these solutions consistently help improve the overall quality of life. Patient-developed innovations are very heterogeneous in nature, level of quality, sophistication, and cost; nonetheless, the majority are frugal in cost and design. In this paper, we explore the organizational lessons of the patient innovation platform and community, and its leadership expressions, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Multi-sided online platforms for collecting, curating, and distributing those innovations can help in the fight against the pandemic by centralizing decentralization and we consider this theme in terms of our understanding of when leadership is distributed and when it is not. Distributed leadership can be considered as a paradox, a process in which leadership is retained and dispersed.
MAD statement
This article seeks to Make a Difference (MAD) by challenging how we consider leadership in situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic, where the level of necessity is high (e.g. life-threatening disease), multi-disciplinary (multiple social and economic impacts) and distributed (similar necessities occur almost simultaneously across different geographies) and where a fast response is crucial to alleviate the suffering of populations. Attention needs to be given to bottom-up frugal innovations developed by citizens who are not scientists, who do so in a distributed way through formal mechanisms (such as multi-sided platform) for collecting, curating and distributing those innovations and can help in the fight against the pandemic.
Journal: Journal of Change Management
Published: June 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Pedro Oliveira
Fitted: The Impact of Academics’ Attire on Students’ Evaluations and Intentions
Abstract: Dressing formally or informally as an academic may be a trade-off when it comes to managing impressions towards students, but the extant body of literature remains limited with only mixed results. This research is the first focussed investigation to examine the effects of academic dress formality on the ‘big two’ of impression formation, perceptions of warmth and competence. In a series of three controlled laboratory experiments (total N = 1361), we find dress formality to increase perceptions of competence but to decrease perceptions of warmth, which leads to ‘downstream’ effects on students’ evaluations of instructors and behavioural intentions to enrol in a course. Furthermore, we demonstrate that perceptions of competence may be subject to other information cues (success communication and discipline norms) that can mitigate negative effects associated with dress informality. Implications for higher education practitioners are provided.
Abstract: Dressing formally or informally as an academic may be a trade-off when it comes to managing impressions towards students, but the extant body of literature remains limited with only mixed results. This research is the first focussed investigation to examine the effects of academic dress formality on the ‘big two’ of impression formation, perceptions of warmth and competence. In a series of three controlled laboratory experiments (total N = 1361), we find dress formality to increase perceptions of competence but to decrease perceptions of warmth, which leads to ‘downstream’ effects on students’ evaluations of instructors and behavioural intentions to enrol in a course. Furthermore, we demonstrate that perceptions of competence may be subject to other information cues (success communication and discipline norms) that can mitigate negative effects associated with dress informality. Implications for higher education practitioners are provided.
Journal: Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education
Published: May 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Antonia Erz
From ‘Publish Or Perish’ To Societal Impact: Organisational Repurposing Towards Responsible Innovation Through Creating A Medical Platform
Abstract: Why would an academic project incentivised towards scientific publications be repurposed to become a medical platform for responsible innovation? Patient Innovation, a non-profit medical platform that focuses on the sharing and dissemination of innovations to find solutions for rare and chronic diseases, was initially set up as an academic research project. However, team members reframed their core purpose from conducting research on user innovation to providing global access to these innovations and creating societal impact. Using a framing lens to understand organisational repurposing, we illuminate how serendipitous inspiration, moral emotions and the power of socially conscious users and catalysts drove this emergent reframing of core purpose and develop a model of organisational repurposing. We show how a frame drift towards a change in purpose occurs spontaneously in interactions, as actors frame and reframe situations and feel inspired and morally motivated to transcend their immediate self-interests and serve collective goals.
Abstract: Why would an academic project incentivised towards scientific publications be repurposed to become a medical platform for responsible innovation? Patient Innovation, a non-profit medical platform that focuses on the sharing and dissemination of innovations to find solutions for rare and chronic diseases, was initially set up as an academic research project. However, team members reframed their core purpose from conducting research on user innovation to providing global access to these innovations and creating societal impact. Using a framing lens to understand organisational repurposing, we illuminate how serendipitous inspiration, moral emotions and the power of socially conscious users and catalysts drove this emergent reframing of core purpose and develop a model of organisational repurposing. We show how a frame drift towards a change in purpose occurs spontaneously in interactions, as actors frame and reframe situations and feel inspired and morally motivated to transcend their immediate self-interests and serve collective goals.
Journal: Journal of Management Studies
Published: May 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Madeleine Rauch
Enabling Organizational Value-chain Processes through Network Capability
Abstract: Value-chain processes must be understood and managed from a network, or ecosystem, perspective and linked to customer value creation. Based on an overview of the customer-value literature and internal value-chain processes, this paper argues that network capability needs to be added to the firm’s value-chain processes as an additional layer. This paper outlines different views on network capability, positions network capability in the wider portfolio of firms’ value-creation processes, and outlines potential research opportunities that may deepen our understanding of network capability.
Abstract: Value-chain processes must be understood and managed from a network, or ecosystem, perspective and linked to customer value creation. Based on an overview of the customer-value literature and internal value-chain processes, this paper argues that network capability needs to be added to the firm’s value-chain processes as an additional layer. This paper outlines different views on network capability, positions network capability in the wider portfolio of firms’ value-creation processes, and outlines potential research opportunities that may deepen our understanding of network capability.
Journal: Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
Published: June 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Thomas Ritter
EU Money Laundering Regulation Limit the Use of Tax Havens
Abstract: Purpose: Recent research shows that financial institutions in the European Union (EU) close branches, offices and correspondent connections to jurisdictions with less transparency due to possible sanctions related to the increase in EU money laundering regulation. This tendency is called de-risking and the purpose of this paper is to analyze whether the recent regulatory approach towards money laundering in the EU limits the incentive to have operations in tax havens.
Design/methodology/approach: This paper follows a functional approach to law and economics.
Findings: The paper finds that recent EU money laundering regulation increase an incentive for financial institutions to limit any connection to jurisdictions known as tax havens, where transparency is at minimum. Thereby, it can be discussed whether the spillover effect from money laundering regulation in to the fight of tax avoidance could support further regulatory interference.
Originality/value: The recent trend of de-risking in light of money laundering regulation is scarcely covered by present research. Furthermore, there has been no linking of this de-risking tendency and the effects or relation to the use of tax havens/low tax jurisdictions.
Abstract: Purpose: Recent research shows that financial institutions in the European Union (EU) close branches, offices and correspondent connections to jurisdictions with less transparency due to possible sanctions related to the increase in EU money laundering regulation. This tendency is called de-risking and the purpose of this paper is to analyze whether the recent regulatory approach towards money laundering in the EU limits the incentive to have operations in tax havens.
Design/methodology/approach: This paper follows a functional approach to law and economics.
Findings: The paper finds that recent EU money laundering regulation increase an incentive for financial institutions to limit any connection to jurisdictions known as tax havens, where transparency is at minimum. Thereby, it can be discussed whether the spillover effect from money laundering regulation in to the fight of tax avoidance could support further regulatory interference.
Originality/value: The recent trend of de-risking in light of money laundering regulation is scarcely covered by present research. Furthermore, there has been no linking of this de-risking tendency and the effects or relation to the use of tax havens/low tax jurisdictions.
Journal: Journal of Financial Crime
Published: May 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Kalle Johannes Rose
Knowledge Sourcing by the Multinational Enterprise: An Individual Creativity-based Model
Abstract: We examine how individual heterogeneity can be managed across geographically dispersed units of the multinational enterprise (MNE) to facilitate effective knowledge sourcing. To explore individual heterogeneity, we adopt the componential theory of creativity, which links heterogeneous features of individuals to creativity performance. We propose that these features shape individuals’ responses to unit-level practices, stimulating international knowledge sourcing and sharing. We further acknowledge that MNE units are subject to the pressures for global integration and local adaptation. Individuals’ responses to unit-level knowledge transfer practices may be inconsistent with one or both of these pressures. We explore, in a nuanced fashion, conditions that can lead to such inconsistencies, and investigate how they can be resolved at the unit level to ensure effective knowledge sourcing by the MNE. Ultimately, our model challenges the assumption that individual knowledge-related efforts automatically accrue to the MNE level. We argue that effective knowledge sourcing by the MNE is the result of successful unit-level processes in managing individual heterogeneity and ensuring consistency with global integration and local adaptation pressures. Our multi-level model contributes to both the MNE- and individual-level perspective on international knowledge sourcing, and the growing microfoundations research on the role of the individual in an MNE.
Abstract: We examine how individual heterogeneity can be managed across geographically dispersed units of the multinational enterprise (MNE) to facilitate effective knowledge sourcing. To explore individual heterogeneity, we adopt the componential theory of creativity, which links heterogeneous features of individuals to creativity performance. We propose that these features shape individuals’ responses to unit-level practices, stimulating international knowledge sourcing and sharing. We further acknowledge that MNE units are subject to the pressures for global integration and local adaptation. Individuals’ responses to unit-level knowledge transfer practices may be inconsistent with one or both of these pressures. We explore, in a nuanced fashion, conditions that can lead to such inconsistencies, and investigate how they can be resolved at the unit level to ensure effective knowledge sourcing by the MNE. Ultimately, our model challenges the assumption that individual knowledge-related efforts automatically accrue to the MNE level. We argue that effective knowledge sourcing by the MNE is the result of successful unit-level processes in managing individual heterogeneity and ensuring consistency with global integration and local adaptation pressures. Our multi-level model contributes to both the MNE- and individual-level perspective on international knowledge sourcing, and the growing microfoundations research on the role of the individual in an MNE.
Journal: Journal of International Business Studies
Published: June 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Grazia D. Santangelo
'I’ll call my Union', Said the Driver: Collective Bargaining of Gig Workers under EU Competition Rules
Abstract: Pending
Abstract: Pending
Journal: Europarättslig tidskrift
Published: 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Maria Jose Schmidt-Kessen, Yvette Lind
Container Freight Rate Forecasting with Improved Accuracy by Integrating Soft Facts from Practitioners
Abstract: This study presents a novel approach to forecast freight rates in container shipping by integrating soft facts in the form of measures originating from surveys among practitioners asked about their sentiment, confidence or perception about present and future market development. As a base case, an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model was used and compared the results with multivariate modelling frameworks that could integrate exogenous variables, that is, ARIMAX and Vector Autoregressive (VAR). We find that incorporating the Logistics Confidence Index (LCI) provided by Transport Intelligence into the ARIMAX model improves forecast performance greatly. Hence, a sampling of sentiments, perceptions and/or confidence from a panel of practitioners active in the maritime shipping market contributes to an improved predictive power, even when compared to models that integrate hard facts in the sense of factual data collected by official statistical sources. While investigating the Far East to Northern Europe trade route only, we believe that the proposed approach of integrating such judgements by practitioners can improve forecast performance for other trade routes and shipping markets, too, and probably allows detection of market changes and/or economic development notably earlier than factual data available at that time
Abstract: This study presents a novel approach to forecast freight rates in container shipping by integrating soft facts in the form of measures originating from surveys among practitioners asked about their sentiment, confidence or perception about present and future market development. As a base case, an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model was used and compared the results with multivariate modelling frameworks that could integrate exogenous variables, that is, ARIMAX and Vector Autoregressive (VAR). We find that incorporating the Logistics Confidence Index (LCI) provided by Transport Intelligence into the ARIMAX model improves forecast performance greatly. Hence, a sampling of sentiments, perceptions and/or confidence from a panel of practitioners active in the maritime shipping market contributes to an improved predictive power, even when compared to models that integrate hard facts in the sense of factual data collected by official statistical sources. While investigating the Far East to Northern Europe trade route only, we believe that the proposed approach of integrating such judgements by practitioners can improve forecast performance for other trade routes and shipping markets, too, and probably allows detection of market changes and/or economic development notably earlier than factual data available at that time
Journal: Research in Transportation Business and Management.
Published: May 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Hans-Joachim Schramm
Renewing Creative Work for Business Innovation: Architectural Practice in the Trading Zone
Abstract: How do organizations in creative industries renew creative work for business innovation? What challenges do they experience in the process? Drawing on an eight-month ethnography in an architectural practice, this article suggests that renewal of creative work takes place in two main trading zones: a creative business trading zone of managers and architects trading with the conception of architectural practice as a business, and a creative process trading zone of architects and process facilitators trading with the process of architectural design. We show how resolving challenges within and moving across trading zones enables managers and architects to renew the architectural design process and establish renewal as a business innovation. The study advances the understanding of innovation in creative industries by proposing trading zones as arenas for negotiating art-business tensions and ‘tools’ for renewing creative work, to make way for business innovation while preserving the autonomy of the creative professionals.
Abstract: How do organizations in creative industries renew creative work for business innovation? What challenges do they experience in the process? Drawing on an eight-month ethnography in an architectural practice, this article suggests that renewal of creative work takes place in two main trading zones: a creative business trading zone of managers and architects trading with the conception of architectural practice as a business, and a creative process trading zone of architects and process facilitators trading with the process of architectural design. We show how resolving challenges within and moving across trading zones enables managers and architects to renew the architectural design process and establish renewal as a business innovation. The study advances the understanding of innovation in creative industries by proposing trading zones as arenas for negotiating art-business tensions and ‘tools’ for renewing creative work, to make way for business innovation while preserving the autonomy of the creative professionals.
Journal: European Management Review
Published: May 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Marianne Stang Våland, Silviya Svejenova
Keep or Drop? The Origin and Evolution of Knowledge Relationships in Organizations
Abstract: Network research shows that strong relationships, highly embedded relationships and brokered relationships may have different outcomes. While pros and cons are associated with each of these network structures, how this ambiguity translates into individuals’ actions of network change is unclear. Specifically, if network positions can be both beneficial and detrimental, how do individuals decide whether to maintain those positions? We develop a tie-specific model of network modification that captures the positioning in the work-related network and the level of knowledge acquired from that network for each individual in a knowledge-intensive organization. Our analysis of tie-level data identifies the level of acquired knowledge as an important disambiguating mechanism that determines how individuals manage their strong ties, embedded ties and brokered ties over time.
Abstract: Network research shows that strong relationships, highly embedded relationships and brokered relationships may have different outcomes. While pros and cons are associated with each of these network structures, how this ambiguity translates into individuals’ actions of network change is unclear. Specifically, if network positions can be both beneficial and detrimental, how do individuals decide whether to maintain those positions? We develop a tie-specific model of network modification that captures the positioning in the work-related network and the level of knowledge acquired from that network for each individual in a knowledge-intensive organization. Our analysis of tie-level data identifies the level of acquired knowledge as an important disambiguating mechanism that determines how individuals manage their strong ties, embedded ties and brokered ties over time.
Journal: British Journal of Management
Published: May 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Diego Stea, Torben Pedersen
Applications of DEA and SFA in Benchmarking Studies in Forestry: State-of-the-Art and Future Directions
Abstract: The forestry sector is constantly looking for ways for making data-driven decisions and improving efficiency. The application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) allow the users to go beyond looking at simple key performance indicators. Benchmarking is one of the most common tools in business for improving efficiency and competitiveness. This study searched for benchmarking studies in Web of Science until December 2020. It reviewed 56 benchmarking studies in forestry and discusses the potential advantages of using benchmarking in forestry. More than 80% of the studies apply DEA. This review found that almost half of the benchmarking studies in forestry have attempted to estimate the efficiency of forest management organizations at regional scale, mostly being public or state-owned forest districts. A bit more than one-third of the studies have focused on benchmarking forest industries and one-fifth, benchmarking of forest operations. Forest management organizations mainly applied benchmarking for internal comparison and forest industries entirely focused on competitive benchmarking. Surprisingly, in most cases the studies do not necessarily overlap geographically with forest rich countries (e.g., Russian Federation or Brazil). A number of studies address multiple criteria. The future potential for applying automatic data transfer from harvest machines to interactive benchmarking systems are discussed. Finally, the paper discusses the advantages and weaknesses of benchmarking and future research on improving usefulness and usability of benchmarking in forest businesses.
Abstract: The forestry sector is constantly looking for ways for making data-driven decisions and improving efficiency. The application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) allow the users to go beyond looking at simple key performance indicators. Benchmarking is one of the most common tools in business for improving efficiency and competitiveness. This study searched for benchmarking studies in Web of Science until December 2020. It reviewed 56 benchmarking studies in forestry and discusses the potential advantages of using benchmarking in forestry. More than 80% of the studies apply DEA. This review found that almost half of the benchmarking studies in forestry have attempted to estimate the efficiency of forest management organizations at regional scale, mostly being public or state-owned forest districts. A bit more than one-third of the studies have focused on benchmarking forest industries and one-fifth, benchmarking of forest operations. Forest management organizations mainly applied benchmarking for internal comparison and forest industries entirely focused on competitive benchmarking. Surprisingly, in most cases the studies do not necessarily overlap geographically with forest rich countries (e.g., Russian Federation or Brazil). A number of studies address multiple criteria. The future potential for applying automatic data transfer from harvest machines to interactive benchmarking systems are discussed. Finally, the paper discusses the advantages and weaknesses of benchmarking and future research on improving usefulness and usability of benchmarking in forest businesses.
Journal: International Journal of Forest Engineering
Published: 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Peter Bogetoft
Organizational Hybridity and Mission Drift in Innovation Partnerships
Abstract: Purpose: Innovation partnerships are a popular model for organizing publicly supported innovation projects. However, partners often have different timelines and planning horizons, understanding of purpose and concepts of value. This hybridity poses organizational challenges pertaining to trust, goal setting, learning and coordination, which may lead to “mission drift,” i.e. compromising or displacement of intended goals. Despite the risk mission drift poses, its underlying dynamics are not sufficiently understood, and the means to mitigate it are unclear. This study aims to address these questions.
Design/methodology/approach: Through eight broad and one deep case study of innovation partnerships funded by Innovation Fund Denmark (IFD), the authors investigate how partnerships reconcile multiple expectations and interests within the IFD framework and how this might lead to mission drift. The authors draw upon existing theories on the organizational challenges of innovation partnerships and supplement these with new empirically based propositions on the risk of mission drift.
Findings: This study identifies a core tension between partnership complexity and the degree of formalization. Depending on how these dimensions are combined in relation to particular goals, the partnership mission is likely to become narrower or more unpredictable than intended. Thus, the authors theorize the significance of partnership composition and requisite formalization for a given innovation purpose.
Originality/value: This study contributes to the theoretical understanding of mission drift in innovation partnerships by opening the organizational black box of partnerships. The findings underscore the value of explorative case studies for specifying the contingencies of organizational design and governance mechanisms for different innovation goals.
Abstract: Purpose: Innovation partnerships are a popular model for organizing publicly supported innovation projects. However, partners often have different timelines and planning horizons, understanding of purpose and concepts of value. This hybridity poses organizational challenges pertaining to trust, goal setting, learning and coordination, which may lead to “mission drift,” i.e. compromising or displacement of intended goals. Despite the risk mission drift poses, its underlying dynamics are not sufficiently understood, and the means to mitigate it are unclear. This study aims to address these questions.
Design/methodology/approach: Through eight broad and one deep case study of innovation partnerships funded by Innovation Fund Denmark (IFD), the authors investigate how partnerships reconcile multiple expectations and interests within the IFD framework and how this might lead to mission drift. The authors draw upon existing theories on the organizational challenges of innovation partnerships and supplement these with new empirically based propositions on the risk of mission drift.
Findings: This study identifies a core tension between partnership complexity and the degree of formalization. Depending on how these dimensions are combined in relation to particular goals, the partnership mission is likely to become narrower or more unpredictable than intended. Thus, the authors theorize the significance of partnership composition and requisite formalization for a given innovation purpose.
Originality/value: This study contributes to the theoretical understanding of mission drift in innovation partnerships by opening the organizational black box of partnerships. The findings underscore the value of explorative case studies for specifying the contingencies of organizational design and governance mechanisms for different innovation goals.
Journal: European Journal of Innovation Management
Published: May 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Signe Vikkelsø
Revising the ‘Host Country Standard’ Principle: A Step for China to Align its Overseas Investment with the Paris Agreement
Abstract: China’s overseas investment flows (US$ 183 billion) and stock (US$ 4.7 trillion) reached a record peak in 2016, second only to those of the US. A major cause for concern lies in the environmental sustainability of China’s overseas investment portfolio, which is compounded by the lack of transparency of China’s main development finance arms. We intend in this paper to give an update on the magnitude of green finance in China’s overseas investment and development finance portfolio on the basis of the best available estimates, and to put these figures into a broader perspective of multilateral development banks’ commitments and practices to combat climate change. We derive practical policy recommendations that Chinese development banks could take to further align China’s overseas investment with the 2°C target of the Paris Agreement, with the first step being to revise the ‘host country standard’ principle, to ensure that Chinese development banks use the most stringent of the two environmental standards, abroad or at home.
Abstract: China’s overseas investment flows (US$ 183 billion) and stock (US$ 4.7 trillion) reached a record peak in 2016, second only to those of the US. A major cause for concern lies in the environmental sustainability of China’s overseas investment portfolio, which is compounded by the lack of transparency of China’s main development finance arms. We intend in this paper to give an update on the magnitude of green finance in China’s overseas investment and development finance portfolio on the basis of the best available estimates, and to put these figures into a broader perspective of multilateral development banks’ commitments and practices to combat climate change. We derive practical policy recommendations that Chinese development banks could take to further align China’s overseas investment with the 2°C target of the Paris Agreement, with the first step being to revise the ‘host country standard’ principle, to ensure that Chinese development banks use the most stringent of the two environmental standards, abroad or at home.
Journal: Climate Policy
Published: 2021
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Contact CBS researcher: Mathias Lund Larsen
The page was last edited by: Sekretariat for Ledelse og Kommunikation // 07/11/2023