Martina Musteen

Corporate Reputation: Do Board Characteristics Matter?

Our study draws on institutional and signalling theories to postulate relationships between board characteristics and corporate reputation. Based on a sample of 324 firms featured in Fortunes list of most admired corporations in the USA, our findings indicate that board characteristics significantly influence the assessment of firm reputation by the business community. Specifically, we found that firms with a greater proportion of outside directors and those with larger boards exhibited better reputation than those with smaller boards and a higher proportion of insiders. In addition, we observed an inverted-U relationship between the average tenure of outside directors and corporate reputation. However, contrary to expectations, our findings indicate a negative association between independent leadership structure (i.e. absence of duality) and corporate reputation.

Board Characteristics, Managerial Incentives, and the Choice Between Foreign Acquisitions and International Joint Ventures

Drawing on the agency theory, corporate governance, and international business literatures, the authors link board characteristics and managerial incentives to the choice between acquisitions and joint ventures by firms entering foreign markets. Hypothesized relationships are examined in the context of 383 acquisition and 171 joint venture entries undertaken by relatively nondiversified firms in the U.S. manufacturing sector during the period 1991 to 1999. Findings indicate that firms with boards characterized by a higher proportion of outside directors and independent leadership structures (i.e., the absence of duality) are more inclined to favor acquisitions over joint ventures in foreign market entry. Likewise, the data reveal that firms where insiders have greater equity ownership and compensation structures that are more closely linked to long-term firm performance prefer acquisitions over joint ventures. Implications of the findings along with directions for future research are discussed.

Do International Networks and Foreign Market Knowledge Facilitate SME Internationalization? Evidence from the Czech Republic

In this study we draw on the social network and international entrepreneurship literatures to examine the role of structural and relational embeddedness of international networks in firm internationalization. Based on a sample of 169 small– and medium–sized enterprises in the Czech Republic, we found that firms with chief executive officers who had developed strong and diverse international networks exhibited greater knowledge of foreign markets prior to internationalization. However, contrary to our expectations, no relationship was found between network density and such knowledge. In addition, our findings indicate that foreign market knowledge prior to the first international venture had a positive impact on venture performance.

The Influence of CEO Tenure and Attitude Toward Change on Organizational Approaches to Innovation

Using Miles and Snow’s typology as a measure for organizational approach toward innovation, this study investigates the effect of CEOs’ attitudes toward change on the extent of emphasis on innovation in competitive strategies. The data come from multiple respondents at nonprofit organizations and are gathered in a manner that eliminates the possibility of common method variance, a problem that has plagued past studies linking executives’ attitudes and organization-level innovation. The findings suggest that organizations headed by CEOs with more liberal attitudes toward change follow prospector strategies characterized by high levels of exploration to develop innovations. Meanwhile, organizations managed by CEOs who have more conservative attitudes toward change were found to focus more on defender strategies that exploit existing advantages rather than innovations. Increasing CEO tenure was found to positively moderate this relationship.

Beyond Cost: The Role of Intellectual Capital in Offshoring and Innovation in Young Firms

Using the intellectual capital perspective as a theoretical framework, we develop a conceptual model of offshoring of knowledge–intensive, complex work by young, entrepreneurial firms. We posit that the unique qualities of human, social, and organizational capital of such firms drive them to offshore complex, nonroutine activities to foreign vendors. In addition, we argue that offshoring of such activities can lead to innovation under certain intellectual capital configurations.

From Student to Entrepreneur: How Mentorships and Affect Influence Student Venture Launch: JOURNAL OF SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Student entrepreneurs face a variety of challenges in building their ventures. In this process, the student founders experience profound changes to their identities as they transition from traditional students to student entrepreneurs. Drawing on the social cognitive theory of self‐regulation and utilizing a partially grounded theory approach we develop a two‐stage process model to elucidate how mentor relationship and student founders affective state impacts entrepreneurial identity and venture progress. Our findings indicate that effective mentoring and positive founders affect enables students to transition to entrepreneurs. This allows them to assemble resources and take necessary action to move their venture forward. We develop propositions to guide future empirical research in this area.

Measures of Performance in the Context of International Social Ventures: An Exploratory Study

Abstract This study reviews literature on performance measures among international social ventures and draws interviews with 12 US social ventures to explore how the use of such measures varies depending on the type of social venture, its funding business model, and scale of operations. We find some distinct differences in the use of performance measures among the different types of social enterprises related to the focus on stakeholders, emphasis on inputs, outputs, and outcomes. Implications for theory and practice of social entrepreneurship are discussed.