H. Kevin Steensma

The Use of Modular Organizational Forms: An Industry-Level Analysis

In many industries, integrated hierarchical organizations have been replaced by nonhierarchical entities that are permeable, interconnected, and modular. Other industries, however, maintain relatively high levels of integration. We use the logic of general systems modularity to explain why in some industries there is a greater use of modular organizational forms, including contract manufacturing, alternative work arrangements, and alliances, than in other industries. This model was tested using data from 330 U.S. manufacturing industries.

Explaining IJV survival in a transitional economy through social exchange and knowledge-based perspectives

In this study, we combine social exchange and knowledge-based perspectives to develop a general path model of IJV survival. We further refine our expectations by considering the transitional economic context of our study and the somewhat unique managerial values resulting from the legacy of Marxist ideology. Results from structural equation modeling suggest that an imbalance in the management control structure between the parents leads to parental conflict and an increased likelihood of IJV failure. An imbalance in the ownership control structure, however, had no influence on conflict or survival. In general, support from the foreign parent is positively related to IJV learning and IJV survival. However, higher levels of technical support provided by the foreign parent to the IJV reduced the level of parental conflict, whereas management support had no effect on conflict. Our results suggest some dilemmas for firms pursuing IJVs in transitional economies. Although the foreign parent often contributes critical resources to the IJV, providing it with bargaining power and a high level of influence, an imbalance in management control between the partners may ultimately be detrimental to IJV survival. Copyright

The Influence of National Culture on the Formation of Technology Alliances by Entrepreneurial Firms

We consider the effect that national culture has on the propensity for small, independent manufacturing enterprises to (1) cooperate with other firms for technological innovation and (2) use equity...

The moderating effect of national culture on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and strategic alliance portfolio extensiveness

This study examines the influence that national culture has on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and strategic alliance formation. Using a sample of small- to medium-sized enterprises located in Finland, Greece, Indonesia, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Sweden, we find that firms with higher levels of entrepreneurial orientation will use strategic alliances more extensively (i.e., use a greater number of agreements) than those firms with a weaker entrepreneurial orientation. Moreover, this relationship is strengthened in those countries that demonstrate either feminine or collective characteristics.

International Market Entry by U.S. Internet Firms: An Empirical Analysis of Country Risk, National Culture, and Market Size

Internet firms face somewhat unique challenges when expanding abroad. On what basis do U.S. Internet firms choose the international markets they enter? The authors posit that international market entry decisions are based on balancing perceived risks and returns inherent in a foreign target market. Drawing on a sample of almost 7,000 country entry decisions by 179 U.S. Internet firms, they find that country risk, cultural distance, and uncertainty avoidance reduce the likelihood of international market entry, whereas individualism and masculinity increase it. International market size, however, moderates these relationships by weakening the negative effects, while strengthening the positive effects.

Effects of Organizational and Professional Identification on the Relationship Between Administrators' Social Influence and Professional Employees' Adoption of New Work Behavior

Administrative social influence is a principal tool for motivating employee behavior. The authors argue that the compliance of professional employees (e.g., doctors) with administrative social influence will depend on the degree to which these employees identify with their profession and organization. Professional employees were found to be most receptive to administrator social influence to adopt new work behavior when they strongly identified with the organization and weakly identified with the profession. In contrast, administrator social influence was counterproductive when professional employees strongly identified with the profession and weakly identified with the organization.

Managing Uncertainty in a Formal Standards-Based Industry: A Real Options Perspective on Acquisition Timing

Scholars have theorized that firms can intervene in the creation of formal technology standards to reduce uncertainty and influence the outcome to their advantage. One approach is through early acquisition: Firms can acquire targets with relevant technology prior to standardization. Using real options logic, the authors show how early acquisitions can be considered a growth option under certain circumstances. They find that acquisitions are more likely to occur before the passage of the standard when (a) acquirers lacked relevant technical knowledge, (b) target firms possessed relevant technical knowledge,and (c) acquirers had a prior equity investment in the target firm.

Divisive Faultlines and the Unplanned Dissolutions of Multipartner Alliances

Received wisdom suggests that multipartner alliances are relatively unstable because of their complexity and the increased potential for free riding. Nonetheless, multipartner alliances do benefit from built-in stabilizing third-party ties that mitigate opportunism and conflict between partner pairs. Previous empirical research on multipartner alliance stability has been inconclusive. We shed some light on these inconsistencies by recognizing that within multipartner alliances, schisms can occur not only between a pair of partners but also between subgroups of partners that are divided by faultlines. We suggest that divisive faultlines can form between subgroups of partners within a multipartner alliance as a function of their prior experience with one another. When a subgroup of alliance partners has relatively strong ties to each other and weak ties to other partners, destabilizing factions can develop that hamper reciprocity among the partners. Using a longitudinal analysis of 59 multipartner alliances, we found that, in general, faultlines as modeled by the dispersion of tie strength within multipartner alliances increase the hazard of unplanned dissolutions. We also found that multipartner alliances comprising a mix of centrally and peripherally positioned partners within the industry network were less apt to suffer the effects of divisive faultlines. We suggest that this is due to the greater opportunity costs of dissolution and the presence of relatively high-status partners who can act as peacekeepers and coordinators of their lower-status partners.

A Comparative Analysis of Patent Assertion Entities in Markets for Intellectual Property Rights

The patent assertion entity is a relatively new organizational form that neither invents nor commercializes products, but acts as a distributor of intellectual property rights between inventors and commercializing entities. We combine measurement and governance branches of transaction cost theory to compare the efficiency of market intermediation by patent assertion entities to that of bilateral licensing agreements, patent pools, and firm integration. We consider the level of complementarity between patents and the breadth of their commercial applications to develop four general intellectual property configurations that depict distinct relationships between patent supply and patent demand. The costs and benefits of the various governance alternatives are then weighed for each configuration to identify when each alternative is likely to be most efficient. Our analysis suggests that patent assertion entities are most efficient in allocating intellectual property rights when there is substantial patent complementarity such that value is created through patent bundling, and these bundles are applicable across a broad range of product lines such that the costs of measuring infringement and its damages are substantial. We consider how the imperfections of patents as contracts between inventors and society in conjunction with rapid technological evolution contribute to the growth of patent assertion entities. This analysis provides some guidance for managers on how to appropriate value from intellectual property.

The Influence of Technological Links, Social Ties, and Incumbent Firm Opportunistic Propensity on the Formation of Corporate Venture Capital Deals

New ventures often innovate by building on the technology of incumbent firms. The resulting technological links that form between new ventures and incumbents can open up valuable collaborative opportunities between them. Nonetheless, because these technological links also increase incumbents’ abilities to misappropriate the knowledge of new ventures, such collaboration can render new ventures particularly susceptible to the opportunistic whims of their incumbent partners. Whether technological links promote or impede corporate venture capital (CVC) deal formation may depend on incumbent firms’ propensities to behave opportunistically and how aware new ventures are of such propensities. We argue that when new ventures have social ties to incumbent firms that have opportunistic tendencies, technological links between them strongly impede CVC deal formation. In such cases, social ties substantiate new ventures’ fears of knowledge misappropriation that might occur. In contrast, when new ventures have social ties to incumbent firms that lack opportunistic tendencies, technological links between them strongly promote CVC deal formation as social ties validate the incumbent firm’s trustworthiness and the potential for productive collaboration as a result of technological links. Using a data set that integrates patent citations, hand-collected career histories, and infringement lawsuits, we tracked the investment pattern between 29 incumbents and 402 new ventures in the U.S. information technology industry and found support for our arguments.