Andreas Strobl

Interlocking directorships against community closure: a trade-off for development in tourist destinations

Purpose – In remote rural areas such as the Alps, communities present a set of specific laws, norms and rules. According to social capital theory, these idiosyncrasies are founded on the closure of the actors in the community. On the contrary, as tourist destinations develop, enterprises and organizations gradually acquire non‐local directors in the boards, slowly affecting the identity of the local community. The aim of the paper is to analyze whether interlocking directorships with board members, residing outside of the destination, really increases openness in the boards of the organizations.Design/methodology/approach – For a set of salient organizations in six tourism destinations in Austria and in Switzerland, the authors analyzed the networks of interlocks between local and non‐local (outside of the region, outside of the country) board directors.Findings – Chi‐square tests for group differences in tie densities show that, with the exception of the control destination Zurich, intragroup linkages (i...

Entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions: assessing gender specific differences

The attitude towards entrepreneurship can strongly influence the probability of individuals to become self-employed. The mindset or attitudes of an individual to move into self-employment make up the foundation for future entrepreneurial activities. Former studies indicate differences between male and female perceptions or intentions to become entrepreneurs. This paper attempts to assess women’s entrepreneurial intentions of as well as their attitudes towards being independent and comparing them to the mail counterparts’. A survey among university students was carried out revealing that male students show more positive attitudes towards entrepreneurship and much more concrete entrepreneurial intentions.

Switching experience, customer satisfaction, and switching costs in the ICT industry

Purpose – Stabilizing business in highly competitive and volatile business-to-business (B2B) markets is a strategic imperative for many companies. In such a context, customer retention through the creation of switching barriers (i.e. by increasing switching costs) is a common strategy. The purpose of this paper is to develop a network of relationships among customer switching experience, customer satisfaction, perceived switching costs, and behavioral loyalty intentions. Design/methodology/approach – Survey data were collected from 327 business customers (very small enterprises with fewer than nine employees; customers included physicians, lawyers, tax advisors, consultants, civil engineers, etc.) of an information and communications technology (ICT) company. The research model was tested using partial least square structural equation modeling. Findings – The results show that switching experience negatively influences customer satisfaction and behavioral loyalty intention. Furthermore, the influence of c...

Entrepreneurial networks across the business life cycle: the case of Alpine hospitality entrepreneurs

Purpose This paper aims to deliver a detailed understanding about the dynamics of entrepreneurial networks along the enterprise life cycle of hospitality enterprises. Design/methodology/approach Case study research was conducted, using in-depth interviews with hospitality entrepreneurs and additional material (e.g. website information). The data were analyzed applying the qualitative method GABEK (GAnzheitliche BEwaltigung von Komplexitat – holistic processing of complexity) which enables researchers to reveal concepts and attitudes of interviewees. Findings Networks of hospitality entrepreneurs shift from local ties to industry-specific actor groups to local and non-local ties to actor groups inside and outside the industry. Throughout the enterprise life cycle, entrepreneurs prefer strong ties. The transition from one family generation to the next and changes in the competitive environment are important triggers of network configurations. Research limitations/implications Future research should reproduce the findings and investigate the proposed relationships in representative samples from different regions and industries. The influences of different actors within networks provide fertile research opportunities. Practical implications Networks provide viable means for tackling the challenges of growth in the hospitality industry. The research provides managerial implications for how networks should be configured for meeting resource dependencies of different development stages. Originality/value Building on resource dependency theory, this research emphasizes which challenges the enterprise life cycle imposes upon network management in the hospitality industry. While past research has focused upon the early stages of the enterprise life cycle, this study investigates also later stages. Furthermore, triggers of network management are identified.

Triggering Innovation Through Mergers and Acquisitions: The Role of Shared Mental Models

In this article, we analyze how shared team and task mental models, developed prior to an acquisition, affect exploration and exploitation activities in the postacquisition phase, and how these effects are dependent on relative size. With a sample of 101 transactions of acquirers from the German-speaking part of Europe, we provide empirical evidence that both shared team and task mental models positively influence exploitation activities following an acquisition, whereby only shared team mental models (TMMs) are beneficial for exploration. We provide empirical evidence that shared mental models in terms of task and team are an important informal source for enhancing exploration and exploitation innovation activities. However, this source of informal coordination is contextual. Although the relationships on exploitation are stable, the beneficial effect of TMMs on exploration is sensitive and devitalized by an increasing relative size. Implications for further research and management practice are given.

The complementing and facilitating nature of common ground in acquisitions – why task and human integration are still necessary in the presence of common ground

This paper focuses on common ground as an informal coordination mechanism during post-merger integration. In particular, we investigate if shared knowledge and shared beliefs between acquirer and target trigger a self-coordination mechanism among employees and therefore can act as an alternative path to human integration in mature industries. We are arguing that a dynamic research approach capturing a period of one year from deal closing onwards is beneficial to better understand the integration autonomy dilemma and the necessary coordination mechanisms. Based on case study research, we find that common ground is a double-edged sword with benefits and weaknesses. While in a first period common ground fosters coordination and allows for efficient task integration, a sole reliance on common ground without any human integration measures and management commitment has clear disadvantages in the long run. It is observable that the commitment to change of employees disappears and organizational resistance occurs.

Leadership and the wisdom of crowds: how to tap into the collective intelligence of an organization

Purpose – Under certain conditions, a mass of people can be smarter than the best expert – even if the expert is part of the group. In this paper we show how leaders can improve decision making by tapping into the collective intelligence of their organization. Design/methodology/approach – Based on James Surowiecki’s four conditions of collective intelligence (cognitive diversity, independence, utilization of decentralized knowledge, and effective aggregation of dispersed knowledge), we discuss how leaders can tap into the wisdom of the crowd of their organizations. Findings – We show how leaders can increase cognitive diversity in decision making, access decentralized knowledge in their organizations, encourage individuals to contribute their knowledge without interference from peer pressure, conformity or influence from superiors, and how knowledge can effectively be aggregated to make wiser decisions. Originality/value – While various tools exist to reap the collective intelligence of a group, we argue that leaders also must change their attitudes and leadership styles. Using evidence from various studies and several examples we show what leaders can do to make smarter decisions.

What ties resources to entrepreneurs? - activating social capital

The access to information and other resources is of major importance for entrepreneurial ventures. In order to start up a business an entrepreneur needs to provide financial capital, abilities and know-how as well as social resources. The strength of ties of a network actor influences the access to missing resources. The relationship between different tie categories has not been clarified satisfactorily yet. The research at hand seeks to investigate which ties are of strategic importance and how entrepreneurs secure resource access. The entrepreneur’s perception of the network is at the centre of interest making a qualitative approach appropriate. Therefore, entrepreneurs have been investigated using an interview guideline containing open questions. The findings of this work emphasise the interaction of weak and strong ties. Commonalities between actors, trust and tie duration enhance resource access and activation of indirect ties.

Agency Costs in Family Firms and their Influence on the EO-Performance Relationship

Growing conceptual and empirical attention is given to the peculiarity of entrepreneurial attitudes in family firms. In particular, research increasingly focuses on the transmission of the Entrepre...

Vertrauen in unternehmerisch geprägten KMUs

Unternehmertum wird hinlanglich mit dem Thema Innovation und der marktwirtschaftlichen Verwertung von Innovationen in Verbindung gebracht. Bereits Schumpeter (1934) charakterisierte den Unternehmer als kreativen Zerstorer, der Markte durch innovatives Handeln aus dem Gleichgewicht bringt und so den Fortschritt vorantreibt. Egal ob als Schopfer oder bloser Profiteur von Wissen, Unternehmer uberprufen dessen Marktfahigkeit und nutzen entstehende Gelegenheiten, um am Markt tatig zu werden. Der Unternehmer bildet daher gesellschaftlich die Verbindung zwischen Wissen und wirtschaftlichen Wachstum (Audretsch & Keilbach, 2004; Audretsch & Thurik, 2001).