Murray D. Rice

SPATIAL INTERLOCKING DIRECTORATES IN THE CANADIAN URBAN SYSTEM, 1971–1989

This research investigates the evolution of the system of Canadian decision-making centers using the location of corporate board members as a surrogate for the location of economic control. The major premise examined by this study states that, through much of the study period, board linkages should tend to concentrate on Toronto, Canadas dominant corporate administration center. While Toronto gains importance, Montreal loses connections, devolving from close competition with Toronto for national influence to become a major regional center for Quebec. At the same time, cities in other parts of the country gain importance as they evolve into major centers for their region. The result of these changes is the emergence of a dominant national center, along with a second tier of cities of regional importance. The results of the board member analysis reveal that the economy as a whole increasingly concentrates control in Toronto through the 1970s and 1980s. Montreal loses director connections with the rest of t...

Subsidiary Headquarters: The Urban Geography of the "Second Tier" of Corporate Decision-Making Activity in North America

The complexity of the modern firm is one of the defining features of the global economy. This study examines one dimension in which this complexity can be observed, the corporate subsidiary. Here we investigate where the headquarters of the largest subsidiaries are located in the United States, where subsidiary growth is occurring, and how the United States compared with Canada from 1996 to 2004. The results show that U.S. parent and subsidiary headquarters have different metropolitan distributions, and that 1996-2004 parent and subsidiary growth patterns were also distinct. New York saw its parent headquarters community grow, while its subsidiary headquarters community exhibited the sharpest decline of any U.S. metropolitan area. This spatial behavior was the opposite of what occurred in Canada, where Toronto dominated in subsidiary growth while experiencing one of the largest parent headquarters declines among Canadian metropolitan areas. Our study interprets these results and calls for further research to pursue the questions raised here.

The Urban Geography of Subsidiary Headquarters in North America: Explorations by sector and Foreign Linkage

The complexity of the firm is a hallmark of the current economy. Corporate subsidiaries and their headquarters are a key expression of the development of businesses today. The analysis presented here extends on previous subsidiary research by analyzing the evolving headquarters location of foreign and domestic subsidiaries in the United States and Canada from 1996 to 2004. This study finds that certain U.S. and Canadian sectors are home to disproportionate numbers of subsidiaries. It also shows that different sectors in each country have seen major changes in their subsidiary communities, that foreign and domestic subsidiaries in the United States and Canada exhibit distinctive geographies, and that parent corporations from various countries follow distinctive strategies in locating their U.S. and Canadian subsidiary headquarters. The study argues that this line of research is one component in the strengthening of theory related to the location of elite corporate activities.

Fast-growing firms as elements of change in Canada’s headquarters city system

This research explores the factors that shape the evolving geographic distribution of business headquarters (HQ) activity. We address an understudied influence on HQ geographies: metropolitan HQ changes driven by the process of small, rapidly expanding businesses growing into mature companies. This investigation focuses on the developmental paths followed by fast-growing firms (FGFs) and the geographic distinctions that can be observed in a FGF tracking study of Canada’s metropolitan regions from 1987 to 2005. Our research findings indicate that geography plays an important role in this development, as FGF tracking records throughout Canada’s metropolitan areas diverge sharply. We find that most FGFs that emerged in Vancouver and Toronto continued as ongoing businesses following their rapid growth phase, while a high proportion of FGFs based in Montréal and Calgary did not. These results contribute to a greater understanding of metropolitan economies, business development, and HQ location in Canada

The Geography of Corporate Directors: Personal Backgrounds, Firm and Regional Success

It has become commonplace for economic geographers to employ firm-level data in their assessments of competitiveness. Much less attention has been paid to individuals, the actual acquirers of knowledge relating to competitiveness, who then convey their know-how to the firm. This article addresses this limitation by analyzing a specific set of individuals who play a crucial role at the top of the business hierarchy: members of the boards of directors of the largest corporations in the United States. By analyzing where directors were born, where they attended university, and where they live, the intention of this article is to uncover regional groupings of directors that contribute to corporate culture and ultimately influence firm success. We place our results in the context of regional competitiveness with an American case study. Our findings illustrate how northeastern U.S. corporations have historically relied on high-level managers with personal histories in their same region. Given that institutions of the region are embedded in the decision-making process of managers, these firms risk becoming locked into past procedures. As a result, we argue that their ability to adapt is stifled, contributing to a lack of firm and regional success.

Exploring the Personal Histories of the Top Executives of US Firms Using a Quantitative Approach: Is There a Geographical Relationship with Corporate Headquarters, and Does It Influence Firm Performance?

This paper analyses where top executives were born and where they attended university to uncover regional groupings of the most influential executives that shape corporate culture and strategy in the United States. Within the context of this paper, it is argued that the personal histories of top executives influence their decision-making abilities, and thus corporate culture. It was found that intra-regional, intra-state, and intra-city links were noteworthy factors in executive selection. Distances were higher, and percentages of intra-regional links were lower for more profitable and higher growth firms. This indicates that more competitive firms acquire executives that have experienced different institutions during their lives and university educations. On the other hand, less profitable and lower growth firms are more likely to obtain executives embedded in similar institutions that already exist within the firm. The results suggest that key choices made by corporate America are influenced in part by geography far more complex than its own operations.

The geography of Canadian interlocking directorates: how do they relate to brain circulation?

This study examines the spatiality of interlocking directorates of Canadian companies, with particular emphasis given to international interlocks. From a geographical standpoint, do these connections to foreign firms reinforce the importance of Canada’s top corporate cities as ‘gateways’ to international business? Is there a geography associated with the interlocking to these gateway cities? Findings build on James O. Wheeler’s body of research focused on corporate headquarters. This study is placed within the context of the current economic geography dialogue. Particular focus is placed on Saxenian’s theory of brain circulation, wherein she argues that individuals with international experience serve as brokers linking domestic businesses with those in distant regions. A further purpose of this study then is to examine Saxenian’s argument in the context of Canadian corporations. First, is there a geographical association between directors’ foreign educations and where Canadian firms are interlocked to internationally? Second, the corporate performance of Canadian firms interlocked internationally will be measured against those firms that are not. It seems logical to assume that increased connections would yield more diverse and rich knowledge, which could lead to better decisions, and thus corporate performance, in today’s global world. But does it? This study finds that being linked to an international company through a common director did translate into more profitability for Canadian firms. Findings also revealed a geographical link between international interlocks and a director’s foreign education. However, when Canadian firms were interlocked with an international company with a director who had international education, greater profits did not necessarily result.

Defining the Record of High-Growth Firms by U.S. Metropolitan Region: What Happens to the Inc. 500?

ABSTRACT This study devotes attention to the intersection of two research areas: business development and metropolitan economic evolution. The analysis identifies businesses included in the 2000–2008 Inc. 500 annual rankings of high-growth firms (HGFs) in the United States, and tracks these firms in the years following their Inc. 500 appearance. The research finds that most HGFs have an extended record as independent businesses, with firm failure rates falling far lower than those associated with business continuation. The study also shows that HGF acquisition activity varies greatly among U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), with Boston and Austin leading as hosts to HGFs that became acquisition targets. Finally, the analysis shows that Phoenix and Indianapolis lead all others in hosting HGFs with extended growth periods. The article argues these MSAs have the potential to play a role in shifting the U.S. corporate hierarchy, and interprets the results in light of the public policy applications and further research opportunities presented.

Perspectives on an Evolving Research Field: Location Intelligence and Its Representation at the Applied Geography Conferences, 1978 to 2012

ABSTRACT Geography has an established relevance to many of the most important challenges facing society across the human–environmental spectrum. Among many areas of application, geography has a historical record of connecting location concepts, tools, and expertise to the key planning and operational issues confronting business and other institutions in society. This article examines the context for applied geographic research falling within this location intelligence sphere, and profiles the body of research in this field published at the Applied Geography Conferences over its first thirty-five years. Our analysis shows that although location intelligence has had an ongoing representation at the conference, its presence has fluctuated greatly. The disciplinary profile developed here tracks the shifting emphasis of location intelligence research and its relation to broader, real-world needs. We conclude by interpreting these findings and making recommendations related to increased self-assessment and repositioning of research in the location intelligence community.

Relocating Global Cities: From the Center to the Margins by M. Mark Amen, Kevin Archer, and M. Martin Bosman, eds

this, the conceptualizations and terminology applied vary by author. This makes for some uncomfortable discrepancies. Mitchell and Rosati’s rigorous theoretical and empirical study of how cultures are produced and contested by different actors with different goals is referred to by Shrestha and Conway, but their review of ‘‘the implications of hegemonic cultural homogenization and hybridization’’ then invokes an understanding that all but equates ‘‘cultures’’ with ‘‘countries’’ (pp. 201, 203). Unfortunately the book contains some typographical errors; additionally a list of acronyms would have been helpful. It is positioned between being an introductory text and an edited volume of research papers. Part manifesto and part conference proceedings, the book would find its likeliest audience in early graduate students, an observation perhaps supported by the editors’ stated aim to produce a collection whose ‘‘youthful readers . . . will be energized to become politically active and aware’’ (p. 16).