Jaime Gómez

The institution-based view of strategy: How to measure it

The institution-based view of strategy has emerged as a leading perspective in Strategic Management. It incorporates the institutional dimension when offering relevant answers to the fundamental questions of strategy. One of the challenges of this perspective is to develop stronger measures of institutions (Peng et al., 2009). This paper seeks to contribute in this direction by offering a detailed analysis of the main measures of institutions that previous works in Strategic Management have used. Our aim is to offer a guide that will help researchers to decide how they should incorporate the institutional dimension into their empirical work.

Sources of Information as Determinants of Product and Process Innovation.

In this paper we use a panel of manufacturing firms in Spain to examine the extent to which they use internal and external sources of information (customers, suppliers, competitors, consultants and universities) to generate product and process innovation. Our results show that, although internal sources are influential, external sources of information are key to achieve innovation performance. These results are in line with the open innovation literature because they show that firms that are opening up their innovation process and that use different information sources have a greater capacity to generate innovations. We also find that the importance of external sources of information varies depending on the type of innovation (product or process) considered. To generate process innovation, firms mainly rely on suppliers while, to generate product innovation, the main contribution is from customers. The potential simultaneity between product and process innovation is also taken into consideration. We find that the generation of both types of innovation is not independent.

The consequences of mergers on the profitability of Spanish savings banks

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have been frequently justified in terms of value creation or efficiency improvements. Nevertheless, the evidence is not consistent with the existence of benefits in terms of profitability or market value of the firms involved. A distinguishing feature of extant research is that it focuses on the assessment of the consequences of mergers around the time in which the operation takes place, limiting the possibility of observing a complete integration between the merged firms. In this context, the objective of this paper is to evaluate the effects of M&A on the long-run profitability of Spanish savings banks.

Firm Boundaries, Information Processing Capacity, and Performance in Manufacturing Firms

Abstract We analyze the alignment between information processing needs and capacities. First, we explore the relationship between firms’ vertical and horizontal boundaries and information technology (IT) capabilities. The literature postulates that less internalization leads firms to invest more in information technology. However, we argue that the use of taper integration and diversification increases the demand for IT-based resources such as IT infrastructure and IT human resources. Second, we propose that the fit between information processing needs and capacity has a positive effect on performance. Our hypotheses are tested on a panel of Spanish manufacturing firms, and the results provide general support for our arguments. One advantage of the data is that they include not only large firms but also small and medium-size manufacturers. From a theoretical perspective, the study contributes to the literature by providing novel insights on how decisions on the vertical dimension condition investments in IT capabilities. It also adds new evidence on the diversification–IT capabilities relationship and studies the consequences of alignment of corporate strategies and IT capabilities on firm performance. From a managerial perspective, our study suggests that changes in the vertical and horizontal limits should be followed by changes in IT capabilities to improve performance.

Remuneration Policies in the Marketing Area: Behavioural vs. Performance Measures

This paper analyses the design of control systems and compensation plans in the marketing area of the firm, using the framework proposed by agency theory. Recent research suggests the need to focus the research agenda on compensation policies in particular functional areas and jobs. Following this recommendation, our purpose is to isolate the marketing and sales area in order to concentrate our attention on the specificity of its compensation policies. The central idea is that, in a context where it is easy to supervise workers or managers effort, remuneration will be based on employee behaviour and will take the form of a fixed salary. However, if the effort is difficult to control, the firm will establish a compensation system based on the result obtained by the agent. Our results show that the probability of receiving a variable salary decreases with the size of the firm (because of the scale economies associated with the control process) and job tenure (the asymmetry of information is reduced). However, it increases with the complexity of the task and the foreign ownership of the firm (which makes supervision more difficult). The results also confirm some differences in the remuneration systems adopted in the marketing and sales area, as well as between small and large firms.

Does Information Technology Improve Open Innovation Performance? An Examination of Manufacturers in Spain

Our objective in this paper is to explore the impact of information technology (IT) on the performance of open innovation models. We study the effect of IT on the production of patents and product innovations. Our analysis of a large panel of Spanish manufacturing firms confirms that the effect of the proportion of external research and development (R&D) investments on the production of patents and new products has an inverted U-shape. The results also reveal that investments in IT positively moderate the consequences of open innovation on innovation performance by reducing identification, assimilation, and utilization costs. Our results provide evidence of the viability and benefit of a new strategic alternative to innovation that is different than the traditional process of vertically integrated R&D. The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2017.0705.

¿Cómo afecta la distancia a la expansión internacional de las empresas? Evidencia en la industria de las telecomunicaciones móviles

The aim of this study is to analyse how the distance between countries determines host country selection. To explain foreign market entry we use two dimensions of the distance between countries: (1) geographic distance and (2) historical ties between the home and the host countries. We carry out descriptive, empirical and case study analyses in the mobile telecommunications industry to study how these two dimensions of distance determine the entrance of firms in foreign countries. Our work shows that geographic distance negatively affects the entrance of firms in host countries while historical ties between countries encourage firms to enter the host country. Moreover, historical ties positively moderate the relationship between geographic distance and market entry.

Operating under the radar in spheres of influence: Taking advantage of industry leaders’ market domains

Industry leaders enact mutual forbearance by establishing spheres of influence where the dominant industry leader is bestowed market dominance in exchange for similar treatment in the spheres of the other industry leaders. Because of this, spheres of influence are markets with lower rivalry levels. Accordingly, non-dominant firms operating within them benefit from their favorable competitive conditions. The extent to which a non-dominant firm benefits from its location in spheres of influence varies according to the competitive tension perceived by the industry leader that dominates the sphere. Large and fast-growing non-dominant firms will generate competition tension. Consequently, the industry leader of the sphere could direct its hostility toward them, reducing the potential returns that they may obtain from operating in spheres of influence. Our analyses in the Spanish retail banking sector show that non-dominant firms operating under the radar of industry leaders benefit more from their presence within spheres of influence.