Bruce C. Skaggs

The Strategic Signaling of Capabilities by Service Firms in Different Information Asymmetry Environments

This study investigates how firms in high or low information asymmetry environments obtain performance benefits from their capabilities. Using data obtained from a sample of 234 service firms, the results indicate that service firms in low information asymmetry environments obtain direct performance benefits from the mere possession of capabilities. In high information asymmetry environments, such as professional services, the performance benefits of capabilities only occur when firms use strategic positioning to signal the presence of their resources. Firms in high information asymmetry environments use the focus of their service offering as well as the degree of service customization to indicate the presence of underlying capabilities.

Turnover and Knowledge Loss: An Examination of the Differential Impact of Production Manager and Worker Turnover in Service and Manufacturing Firms

This research examines the comparative effects of production manager and worker turnover in service and manufacturing settings. We suggest that, due to the centrality of human action in services and the ability of manufacturers to insulate the technical core, service and manufacturing companies are differentially dependent on and impacted by the loss of production manager and worker knowledge. The results from a survey of 150 service and manufacturing firms provide partial support for this notion and show that turnover impacts these organizations differently. More specifically, we find that: (1) the negative impact of production worker turnover on firm performance is greater in service settings than in manufacturing settings; and (2) the negative impact of production worker turnover on firm performance is greater than the impact of production manager turnover in service firms. In addition, our findings show that organizational capital moderates the turnover–performance relationship for production workers in service firms.

The effects of customer contact on organizational structure and performance in service firms

This study examines how customer interactions affects the organizational structure of service organizations, as well as how the alignment between firm structure and customer contact influences organizational performance. Results obtained from 234 service organizations in 96 different industries support our contention that variance in demand generated by the level of customer interaction strongly influences the type of structure a service firm adopts. High degrees of customer contact were significantly related to the use of higher degrees of organizational flexibility. In addition, the results indicate that firms that align organizational flexibility with customer contact achieve superior performance.

Performance implications of cross-listing for emerging vs. developed market firms: an institutional legitimacy approach

Scholars suggest that cross-listing can enhance a firms legitimacy. However, the performance implications of legitimacy derived from cross-listing have not been deeply examined. Our paper addresses this gap by analysing two sets of firms: one from a developed country and another from an emerging market. Using an institutional legitimacy perspective, we examine the secondary impact of cross-listing on firm performance of 362 firms that have differential needs for legitimacy. Our longitudinal analysis suggests that the impact of legitimacy is non-linear and that the legitimacy effect on performance for emerging market firms is significantly more than that for developed market firms.

Management Paradigm Change in the United States: A Professional Autonomy Perspective

The social organization of work has become more entrepreneurial and less bureaucratic over the past 20 years. How is this development consistent with managerial control over the labor process? This paper develops a professional autonomy perspective to explain the acceptance of new management ideas in the United States, including the recent turn away from bureaucratic organizational forms. The focus on professional autonomy helps to create a theoretical link between past and current managerial practices, including the latest anti-bureaucratic phase that we label neoentrepreneurialism. We conclude by exploring future research implications of studying managerial practice from a professional autonomy perspective.

A Model of Sustainable Distributed Service Delivery in Organizations With Compassion-Based Missions

This article examines the potential for offering sustainable compassion-based service. Organizations with compassion-based service missions face difficult challenges in addressing acute client needs with limited resources. We posit that distributed service delivery (i.e., clients serving themselves and one another) can result in more long-term compassion-based service when supported by shared and self-leadership. A model of sustainable distributed service delivery is presented and propositions are provided to help guide future research.

The Role of Specialization in the Growth of Professional Service Firms

This research examines the impact of service specialization on the rate and mode of growth in professional service firms (PSFs). We argue that, due to the impact of repeated experiences on the time needed to transfer tacit knowledge, specialization increases the rate that PSFs can train their workers, and that this, in turn, increases the rate of firm growth and likelihood of organic expansion modes. The results from our analysis of panel data on large U.S. accounting firms provides support for this argument and show that the scope of service offering in PSFs has important implications for firm growth. We also examine the moderating influence of senior staff leveraging and find that it enhances the positive impact of specialization on firm growth.