Gerhard Speckbacher

The effect of interorganizational trust on make-or-cooperate decisions: Disentangling opportunism-dependent and opportunism-independent effects of trust

This paper seeks to analyze the effects of interorganizational trust on the decision to vertically integrate a strategically important activity (‘make’) or sign a long-term agreement with an external exchange partner to perform such an activity in collaboration (‘cooperate’). On the basis of the literature available on interorganizational trust in economics and sociology, we aim at theoretically and empirically disentangling opportunism-based and opportunism-independent effects of trust on governance choices. We develop a set of hypotheses on the moderating and direct roles of trust, which are tested using a sample of integration/collaboration decisions made by Austrian and German automotive suppliers. The results confirm both an opportunism-mitigating effect of trust that lowers the transaction costs of a collaborative exchange and an opportunism-independent effect that increases the transaction value of a collaborative exchange and also encompasses non-economic motives for collaboration.

The Use of Incentives in Nonprofit Organizations

This article combines research on incentives with nonprofit organization theories to derive three “nonprofit characteristics” that influence the use and effectiveness of incentive mechanisms in nonprofit organizations: the lack of undistorted contractible measures for the organization’s overall performance, the relevance of identified employee motivation and the social relationships between the organization and its stakeholders. Building on research from social psychology, the article argues for a more deliberate use of implicit (i.e., not contractually defined) incentives rather than a shift toward the increased use of performance contracts. Because implicit incentives are often subtle (without the need of formal justification to others) and emergent rather than planned, managers are frequently not aware of these mechanisms, and their deliberate use creates a major challenge.

Present value based portfolio choice

Abstract We formalize a modified present value rule for portfolio decisions under uncertainty based on a state-dependent valuation with opportunity costs. This decision rule is shown to select a unique portfolio which also maximizes the expected logarithmic utility of payoffs.

Just Intergenerational Resource Sharing: An Axiomatic Approach

In contrast to customary approaches to the theoretical economic problem of intergenerational resource distribution, we employ an axiomatic approach based on two principles: efficiency and sustainability. These are operationalized and then decisions which satisfy them are characterized in the presence of a standard technology. Upon interpreting some basic implications, the chosen approach turns out to be a kind of fusion of utilitarian principles and a particular distributional restriction. The proof of the existence of a resource-sustaining solution for a generalized model reveals some interesting relationships between our approach and general equilibrium theory.

Collaborative Communities als Organisationsform für Innovation

Die heutigen Rahmenbedingungen fur Unternehmen -insbesondere in wissensintensiven Branchen- sind gekennzeichnet von rasantem technischem Fortschritt und Technologiekonvergenz, zunehmend anspruchsvollen Kunden, kurzer werdenden Produktlebenszyklen, rasant ansteigenden Datenvolumina und exponentiell wachsendem Wissen, hoher Konnektivitat und sprunghaft gestiegener Komplexitat (Kratzer et al., 2008). Unter diesen Bedingungen kommen traditionelle Organisationsformen zunehmend unter Druck (Miles et al., 2010; Snow et al., 2011). Diese Formen nutzen Hierarchie als dominantes Schema fur Koordination und Kontrolle und umfassen Archetypen wie die funktionale Organisation, die divisionale Organisation, die Matrixorganisation sowie Mehrfirmennetzwerke (Fjeldstad et al., 2012).

Die Governance von Nonprofit-Organisationen aus Sicht eines ökonomischen Stakeholder-Ansatzes

Die Governance erwerbswirtschaftlicher Unternehmen wurde in den vergangenen Jahren sowohl in der praxisorientierten als auch in der wissenschaftlich orientierten betriebswirtschaftlichen Literatur intensiv diskutiert. Das hohe Forschungsinteresse am Thema Corporate Governance dokumentiert sich in einer Fulle empirischer Ergebnisse und in einem relativ hohen Reifegrad der theoretischen Ansatze (vgl. Shleifer/Vishny 1997; Zingales 1998; Tirole 2000).

Auch eine Frage der Persönlichkeit? Der Einfluss von CEO-Charakteristika auf Führungs- und Steuerungssysteme

Wahrend in der Management‐ und Strategieliteratur der Einfluss von Personlichkeitsmerkmalen von Fuhrungskraften auf deren Entscheidungen schon langer untersucht wird (Upper‐Echelon‐Theorie), gibt es bisher in der Literatur zum Rechnungswesen und Controlling nur sehr wenige vergleichbare Untersuchungen. Dieser Beitrag gibt einen Uberblick zu bisherigen Ergebnissen und analysiert, unter welchen Bedingungen ein Einfluss der Personlichkeitsmerkmale von Fuhrungskraften auf deren Entscheidungen zum Design und zur Verwendung von Fuhrungs‐ und Steuerungssystemen in Unternehmen zu erwarten ist sowie welche Konstrukte zu Personlichkeitsmerkmalen sich fur entsprechende Untersuchungen anbieten.

The Role of Middle Management in the Implementation of Sustainability Strategies

This paper aims at contributing to a better understanding of the role of middle management in implementing sustainability strategies. We propose three main levers for the substantive implementation of sustainability strategies: virtues- and values-based staffing procedures for middle managers, their cultural alignment with corporate strategy, and a “middle-up-down role” for middle managers in performance measurement. Moreover, we argue that secondary stakeholder pressure impedes cultural alignment and thus such pressure generates a tradeoff to be managed. Our hypotheses are tested using survey data from 134 large companies.

How multiple accountabilities and means-end decoupling influence role ambiguity and job satisfaction

This paper analyzes the individual level consequences of multiple and potentially conflicting demands for accountability and of the implementation of practices that are perceived as ineffective by organizational actors (means-end decoupling). We propose that organizational members’ responsiveness to multiple stakeholder pressures is associated with the experienced level of uncertainty about the expected job related behavior (role ambiguity). Moreover, we argue that when organizational actors do not see how particular organizational practices are linked with the outcomes that these practices are intended to serve, then this will result in higher role ambiguity and lower job satisfaction. Our study uses the example of higher education institutions to analyze the individual level consequences of means-end decoupling of practices to increase research and teaching performance.

CEO Personality and the Use of Performance Evaluations in Small Firms

This paper analyzes from an upper echelons perspective whether and how the personal characteristics of a CEO influence the way he or she evaluates the performance of middle managers. Building on pr...