R. Greg Bell

Entrepreneurial Orientation and Firm Performance: The Moderating Role of Managerial Power

Organizational researchers have long recognized the important role that top managers play within entrepreneurial firms (Ireland, Hitt and Sirmon 2003). Utilizing Covin and Slevin’s (1989) conceptual framework, the current study explores three key entrepreneurial characteristics of top managers and the impact these characteristics have on firm performance. Specifically, we argue that top managers with a high tolerance of risk, those who favor innovative activities and those who display a high degree of proactiveness will positively impact firm performance. In addition, this study examines the influence of top managers’ prestige, structural and expert power on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance. We conclude the study with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications of our findings and suggestions for future research in this area of study.

Is your sustainability strategy sustainable? Creating a culture of sustainability

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to present a multidisciplinary model that can be used as both a road map for practicing managers to create a sustainability focused culture within their own organizations, and as a guide for future research into the relationship between organizational culture and sustainability. Design/methodology/approach – A narrative synthesis approach is used to integrate extant empirical and practitioner literature spanning various disciplines to build a comprehensive model, including key propositions, to assist both practitioners and researchers alike. Case examples illustrating each component of the model in practice and implications for future research based on the key tenets of the model are also provided. Findings – Building an organizational infrastructure that fosters a culture of sustainability results in positive employee- and organizational-level sustainability performance. Research limitations/implications – The model presented is an important advancement in the sus...

Institutions and Foreign IPO Firms: The Effects of “Home” and “Host” Country Institutions on Performance

In the current study, we develop an institutional embeddedness explanation of foreign initial public offering (IPO) performance. To explain the performance differentials of these firms, we investigate the effects of both “home” and “host” country institutional signals on IPO underpricing using a sample of foreign IPOs listed in two different institutional environments, namely, the U.S. and U.K. stock exchanges. Supporting the view that signals are institutionally embedded and that their value is not universal, we find the salience of signals associated with country of origin is contingent on the institutional environment of the listing exchange.

The Deal Structuring Stage of the Venture Capitalist Decision-Making Process: Exploring Confidence and Control

This exploratory study examines the deal structuring stage of the venture capitalist decision‐making process. Here, the primary issues of concern are investor confidence and potential control of a venture in relation to the level of financing the investor provides and the structure with which the funding is delivered. Confidence comes in support of the entrepreneur, the venture itself, or a combination of the two, prior to capital transfer, but after the initial “invest or not invest” decision has already occurred. Findings support a multicriteria perspective of the pre‐investment decision‐making process and a distinct difference between entrepreneur confidence and venture confidence in the deal structuring stage.

LIABILITY OF FOREIGNNESS: NEW INSIGHTS FROM CAPITAL MARKETS

Liability of foreignness (LOF) has been one of the central constructs in the field of international business and management. Over the past two decades, a significant body of theoretical and empirical research has accumulated, theorizing on the sources of these LOFs, investigating their magnitude, and prescribing approaches to mitigate these disadvantages. However, much of this research is almost exclusively related to firms expanding their products, services, and operations to other countries as part of their global expansion. The difficulties firms face in foreign product markets is just one dimension of the costs they can face in their attempts to secure resources abroad. We expand the domain of the LOF construct to include liabilities faced by firms accessing foreign capital markets in light of the increasing integration of capital markets. We identify four sources of LOF in capital markets: regulatory costs, information costs, unfamiliarity costs, and costs arising out of cultural differences. Based on an extensive review of “home bias” in equity markets, we propose four strategies to erase the legitimacy deficits that firms encounter in foreign capital markets: bonding, signaling, adoption of business practices isomorphic with the host country, and certifications and endorsements by third parties. We also offer suggestions for operationalizing and measuring LOF in capital markets as well as several directions for advancing further research on LOF in the context of capital markets.

Chapter 12 Applying Fuzzy Set Methodology to Evaluate Substitutes for Leadership

Transformational leadership has been found to positively influence employee attitudes and behaviors. However, research also has shown that a variety of task and motivational factors lead to similar outcomes. Yet, little research has explored the potential interaction of transformational leadership with these other factors. We utilize fuzzy-set/qualitative comparative analysis to explore the ways these factors may interact to produce positive employee outcomes. Specifically, we found that high levels of employee commitment and performance can be achieved in the absence of a transformational leader through various “bundles” of enriched jobs, challenging goals, and high quality leader–follower relationships.

Chapter 7 Corporate Governance and Configuration Research: The Case of Foreign IPOs Listing in London

Corporate governance research based on agency theory has been criticized for being “under-contextualized,” and for evaluating various governance practices independently. To address both criticisms, we take a configurational approach and show how firm-level governance practices interact with informational asymmetries associated with a firm’s industry. By examining foreign Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) that have chosen to list on London stock exchanges, we demonstrate that an assessment of the firm-level corporate governance configurations is incomplete without taking into account the firm’s industry affiliation. Our use of fs/QCA underscores the possibilities configurational approaches have in advancing theories of corporate governance.

Foreign IPO Survival: An Examination of Institutional and Governance Factors

Abstract To date there is little understanding of the factors that impact the survival of foreign IPOs after they list on US stock exchanges. In this study, we examine how foreign IPO survival is contingent on institutional factors associated with the firm’s home country. We also explore how corporate governance and organizational identity influence the survival of foreign IPOs in the United States. Results suggest that the US institutional environment supports foreign firms with more independent and professional leadership, and that knowledge-intense organizations have higher chances of long-term success after listing on US exchanges.