Daniela P. Blettner

A Measure of Variations in Internal Social Capital Among Family Firms

Drawing on the social capital literature, this study develops a new measure to assess the internal social capital using a sample of family firms and its effect on economic and noneconomic performance. We collected data from two independent samples to explore the importance of family businesses’ internal social capital as assessed by a new instrument—the internal social capital among family business (ISC–FB). Results from confirmatory factor analyses, convergent and discriminant validity assessments, and predictive and incremental validity offered support for the ISC–FBs construct validity. Finally, we cross–validated the hypothesized factor structure with a second sample of family firms. Implications and future research using this measure are proposed.

Adaptation of allocation of resources and attention in response to external shocks: The case of Southwest Airlines

Purpose – The basic assumption in strategic management is that consistently high performing companies are able to adapt effectively to external shocks. While adaptation of allocation of resources and its constraints have been investigated, it is important to also consider the allocation of attention. Therefore, this study seeks to examine the differences in the patterns in the allocation of resources and attention in a comparative case study with focus on Southwest Airlines. This study illustrates that the comparison of the patterns of allocation of resource and attention is very promising for the explanation of consistent superior performance.Design/methodology/approach – This paper analyzes Federal Aviation Administration and American Transport Association data in order to determine actual resource allocation. Moreover, textual analysis of annual reports serves as basis for examining the patterns of allocation of attention.Findings – The results of this paper reveal a striking divergence of allocation o...

Heuristics Decision Making: How It Facilitates the Wellbeing of Organisations

The debate on heuristics and simple rules has increased traction in management and organization research (e.g. Bettis 2017, Artinger et al., 2015) – yet the understandings around the phenomenon sti...

How do you think you are doing? Managerial perceptions, aspirations and innovation

Empirical studies on the behavioral theory of the firm have been mostly silent on the possibility that managerial perceptions of relative performance may diverge from the relative performance measu...

The Effect of Organizational Performance Feedback on Team Attention Focus

Abstract In this chapter, we present a theory on how organizational performance feedback influences individual decision-maker cognitions and thereby changes a team’s attention focus in terms of strategy. We argue that when performance compares unfavorably to aspiration levels, decision-makers reconsider current strategies in favor of unfamiliar, uncertain ones and become more risk tolerant. Furthermore, as decision-makers devote additional cognitive resources to do so, changes in attention focus in a decision-making team will be observed. Using data from a business simulation and repeated questionnaires, we capture the teams’ attention focus and the organizational performance feedback evaluation process of the individuals and teams.