Kathleen Wheatley

The effects of alliance portfolio characteristics and absorptive capacity on performance A study of biotechnology firms

Abstract In many high technology industries, strategic alliances have become important for improving a firms financial performance by providing knowledge that can be used to develop the capabilities needed to introduce new products. Therefore, researchers have examined those characteristics of alliances that can contribute to the performance of high technology companies. There is agreement that the structure and knowledge flows within alliances can affect a firms innovativeness. However, to date, researchers have studied alliances as individual events or transactions, failing to recognize their synergistic effects as a coherent portfolio. Viewing alliances as a portfolio of strategic agreements, we suggest that portfolio characteristics will be associated with a high technology firms innovative and financial performance. Also, we suggest that portfolio characteristics will influence absorptive capacity. We test these propositions using a sample of 2456 alliances formed by 143 biopharmaceutical firms. The results indicate that alliance portfolio characteristics and absorptive capacity jointly influence performance. The implications of these findings for high technology firms are discussed.

Perceived diversity and organizational performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between employee perceptions of diversity within the senior management, management and non‐management levels of their organizations and their perceptions of organizational performance.Design/methodology/approach – Surveys were administered to 391 managers or professionals in 130 organizations located in the southeastern United States to determine their perceptions of diversity and performance within their organizations.Findings – Regression analysis found strong support for the hypothesis that employee perceptions of diversity at the senior management level of an organization is positively related to perceptions of organizational performance. Likewise, there was support for the hypothesis that employee perceptions of diversity at the non‐manager level were positively related to perceptions of organizational performance.Research limitations/implications – The current study was based strictly on perceptual measures. Future research could...

Social Exchanges Within Organizations and Work Outcomes The Importance of Local and Global Relationships

Social exchange research has focused primarily on employee relationships with supervisors and with the organization to explain employee in-role and extra-role behaviors. This article extends the understanding of social exchange by exploring two additional exchanges (employee relationships with top management and with employees in other work areas) and examine all four social exchanges’ effects on work behaviors. It also extends notions of employee performance to include employee involvement in organizational improvement efforts. Data collected in a field study of 129 supervisor-subordinate dyads suggest that local (interpersonal exchanges with supervisors and colleagues in other work areas) and global (exchanges with top management and the organization)foci have different effects on work performance and that local social exchanges have a greater influence on work outcomes than global social exchanges.

Diversity practices: Learning responses for modern organizations

Diversity has increasingly become a “hot‐button” issue in corporate, political, and legal arenas. While many organizations have embraced diversity, others still consider it merely an issue of compliance with legal requirements. Effective diversity management has historically been used to provide a legally defensive position; that is, a firm with a diverse workforce could argue that they were not guilty of discrimination because of the prima facie case based on their workforce demographics representing the demographics of the local community. However, in more recent years, the view of diversity has dramatically changed to a more proactive concept.

A SWOT Analysis of Big Data.

ABSTRACT This is the decade of data analytics and big data, but not everyone agrees with the definition of big data. Some researchers see it as the future of data analysis, while others consider it as hype and foresee its demise in the near future. No matter how it is defined, big data for the time being is having its glory moment. The most important distinguishing factor about big data is the analysis of vast amounts of data. The authors investigate big data and provide an analysis of this fast-growing topic.

Mission-Centric Learning: Developing Students’ Workplace Readiness Skills

We discuss and evaluate the implementation of a mission-centric course project that is strategically tied to learning outcomes important to colleges of business. Specifically, to support our college’s mission, undergraduate students enrolled in a training and development class were tasked with applying course concepts to assess the need for, to design, and to deliver (to other business students) workplace readiness training. To aid other management educators interested in adopting similar strategically aligned and feedback-rich learning experiences, we outline and discuss relevant project planning, design, and facilitation issues, as well as present a summary of initial results derived from this project.