Samuel L. Seaman

The Impact of Human Resource Practices and Compensation Design on Performance: An Analysis of Family-Owned SMEs

A sample of 168 family‐owned fast growth small and medium enterprises (SMEs) was used to empirically examine the consequences of five human resource practices on sales growth performance. The results suggest that training and development, recruitment package, maintaining morale, use of performance appraisals, and competitive compensation were more important for high sales‐growth performing firms than for low sales‐growth performing firms. In addition, we examined the use of incentive compensation in the form of cash, noncash, and benefits and perks for four different levels of employees in family‐owned SMEs. The findings suggest that high sales‐growth performing firms used more cash incentive compensation at every level in the organization.

Customer Relationship Management: A Comparative Analysis of Family and Nonfamily Business Practices*

It has been reported that family businesses perceive excellent customer service as critical to the future of their businesses. However, little research into the customer relationship management (CRM) practices of family businesses has been performed. In this study, we examine CRM implementation among 82 family and 370 nonfamily firms. Family and nonfamily businesses report similar attitudes toward the importance of CRM, their knowledge of CRM, and their success when they do implement it. However, using a logit regression model, we find that the actual implementation strategies of family businesses are significantly different from those of nonfamily businesses. These results remain constant when controlling for size and industry sector.

The Impact of Internationalization on the Diversification-Performance Relationship: A Replication and Extension of Prior Research

Abstract Most strategic management researchers defend related diversification as yielding superior performance vis-a-vis unrelated strategies. However, empirical results on this subject have sometimes been inconsistent with this position, prompting a search for moderating conditions. Based on a theory of international impediments to synergy formation, we attempted to replicate Bettis and Halls (1982) findings using a sample of predominantly domestic Fortune 500 firms. We divided these firms into two groups—product-related ( n = 23) and unrelated ( n = 47) corporations—and assessed group differences in performance (5-year average return on assets (ROA) spanning 1985–1989) and risk (the standard deviation of ROA over the same time frame). Parallel to Bettis and Hall, we found that differences in ROA were significant (F[1,69] = 4.99, p Bettis and Halls (1982) study, we tested a more inclusive model across a sample of firms, including multinationals. This expanded diversification–performance model was based on a sample including multinational firms from the Fortune 500, separating these again into product-related ( n = 78) and unrelated ( n = 83) concerns. After including control variables (firm size, debt, and global relatedness/unrelatedness) as covariates in the model, we used a multivariate analysis of variance (MANCOVA) test to look for differences in accounting (ROA and return on sales (ROS)) and market (market-to-book value) returns, and accounting (standard deviation of ROA and ROS) and market (systematic, unsystematic, and total) risk. In this test, group differences were not significant (multivariate F[8,146] = 1.654, ns), although size and debt emerged as significant covariates. Taken together, these findings support the international impediments theory, showing that although domestic product-related firms may outperform unrelated diversifiers, these differences do not seem to generalize to multinationals. Despite recent criticisms, our findings suggest that the relatedness synergy framework may yet apply, although only for domestic firms. We recognize the limitations of our study; however, the conclusions of this research are more important than ever, because American firms are internationalizing their operations at an increasing rate.

Aggressiveness of response to new business opportunities following deregulation: An empirical study of established financial firms

Abstract Certain researchers have argued that industry structure constrains a firms ability to respond to new business opportunities. An important research question is to determine the relationship between organizational structure and strategy and a firms response to new business opportunities. This article measures how established financial firms respond to new business opportunities following deregulation and then compares these activities to accepted, well-known strategy typologies and structural arrangements. Using secondary data, the new business venturing activities of the entire population of Texas savings and loans (N = 270) was determined following an industry deregulation. Forty-four of these savings and loans (S&Ls) then were identified as having a high-level of venturing activity, whereas 71 S&Ls were characterized by a low-level of venturing activity. A questionnaire describing specific, well-known strategies and structural arrangements was mailed to the top managers of these 115 S&Ls. Telephone interviews were obtained from 99 of the 115 S&Ls receiving questionnaires. Chief executive officers and executive vice-presidents from 37 high-level venturing activity S&Ls and 62 low-level venturing activity S&Ls responded. Twenty-eight of the 37 high-level venturing activity S&Ls reported the use of a prospector-type strategy, whereas 52 of the 62 low-level venturing activity S&Ls reported having a defender strategy. This final sample of 80 S&Ls (28 + 52) was used in all subsequent data analyses. Total assets of the S&Ls sampled ranged from 10.2 million to 4.1 billion dollars. A covariance

Research Note: Family Business Consultants—Who We Are, What We Do, and How We Do It

This research note compares data from two surveys of members of the Family Firm Institute conducted during 1990 and 1991 and relates these data to the issues confronting family business as an emerging field. One survey, sent to all Family Firm Institute members, requested demographic data and information pertinent to the Family Firm Institute strategic planning committee. The second survey, sent to those members of Family Firm Institute who self-identified as service professionals, was designed to investigate practice methodology. Prospects for the development of the field are discussed.

Type I Error Probabilities and Power of the Rank and Parametric Ancova Procedures

Empirical type I error rates and the power of the parametric and rank transform ANCOVA were compared for situations involving conditional distributions that differed between groups in skew and/or scale. For the conditions investigated in the study, the parametric ANCOVA was typically the procedure of choice both as a test of equality of conditional means and as a test of equality of conditional distributions. For those conditions in which rank ANCOVA was the procedure of choice, the power advantages were usually quite small.

Power Comparisons of Eight Tests for Sphericity in Repeated Measures Designs

A Monte Carlo simulation was conducted to investigate the relative power of eight tests for sphericity in randomized block designs. Box’s (1954) epsilon values º = .35, .55, .75, .80, .85, .90, .95, and 1.00 were used to quantify departures from sphericity for rank-1 population covariance matrices of dimension p = 3, 5, 7, and 9. Sample covariance matrices were generated for samples of size n = 10, 15, 20, and 30. The locally best invariant test demonstrated substantial power to detect departures from sphericity—regardless of p— for both small and large samples for rank-1 alternatives. Recommendations are made regarding the use of preliminary tests.

Oral dantrolene sodium for tonsillectomy pain: a double-blind study.

Tonsillectomy in adults and older children is typically accompanied by 7 to 14 days of pain. On the basis of clinical observations of patients treated perioperatively with dantrolene sodium for malignant hyperthermia, we hypothesized that pharyngeal muscle spasms are a major factor in tonsillectomy pain. We entered 113 patients, 11 years of age and older, into a double-blind, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the effectiveness of dantrolene sodium in reduction of tonsillectomy pain. Patients were randomly assigned either dantrolene (1.5 mg/kg per day) or placebo orally four times a day for 5 days postoperatively. On a standardized questionnaire, the patient recorded pain, diet, activity level, analgesics, and side effects, daily for 2 weeks. Also, alkaline phosphatase (alk phos) and serum aspartate aminotransferase (SGOT) levels were determined before the operation and 2 weeks after. Patients who received dantrolene had no significant differences in subjective pain, diet, or activity level scores from those of patients who received placebo. Dantrolene patients did, however, require significantly less analgesic use than placebo patients (p = 0.034, 0.015, and 0.005 for postoperative days 2, 3, and 4, respectively). There was no significant difference in side effects or changes in liver enzyme between the dantrolene and placebo groups. We conclude that dantrolene sodium, given in the dosage noted, is effective in reduction of analgesic requirements after tonsillectomy.

Growth Goals, Strategies and Compensation Practices of US Family and Non-Family High-Growth Firms A Comparative Analysis

How do family firms grow rapidly while maintaining a high concentration of family ownership? In this study, a sample of high-growth firms is divided into three groups based on concentration of family ownership (no family ownership, low family ownership, high family ownership). A comparative analysis of these three groups is performed on the variables previously identified as barriers to growth, namely: growth objectives, growth strategy and incentive compensation. Data analysis revealed no significant differences between the three groups for growth objectives, although the high family ownership group placed more importance on maximizing profits and the low family ownership group placed more importance on maximizing sales. There were no significant differences between the groups on strategy selected to achieve growth, with all three groups achieving the majority of their sales growth from market penetration and market development strategies. Finally, firms with a high concentration of family ownership were significantly more likely to offer profit sharing.

A Non-Parametric Variable Selection Algorithm for Allocatory Linear Discriminant Analysis

A computationally efficient nonparametric algorithm is proposed for the selection of variables in allocatory discriminant analysis. The efficiency of the algorithm derives from an ability to reuse calculations for the inverse of a nonsingular matrix. A subset of the original variables is found for which the leave-one-out estimate of the conditional probability of misclassification is never significantly greater than the estimated conditional probability of misclassification for the full set of predicate variables.