Till Talaulicar

Configurations of Capacity for Change in Entrepreneurial Threshold Firms: Imprinting and Strategic Choice Perspectives

Imprinting theory suggests that founding conditions are ‘stamped’ on organizations, and these imprinted routines often resist change. In contrast, strategic choice theory suggests that the firm can overcome organizational inertia and deliberately choose its future. Both theories offer dramatically different explanations behind an organizations capacity for change. IPO firms provide a unique context for exploring how imprinting forces interact with strategic choice factors to address organizational capacity for change as a firm moves from private to public firm status. Juxtaposing imprinting and strategic choice perspectives, we employ fuzzy set analysis to examine the multi-level determinants of organizational capacity for change. Our cross-national data reveal three effective configurations of organizational capacity for change within IPOs, and two ineffective configurations. Our results suggest that the antecedents of organizational capacity for change in entrepreneurial threshold firms are non-linear, interdependent, and equifinal.

Corporate governance in Germany: basic characteristics, recent developments and future perspectives

The second edition of this major Handbook provides a thoroughly revised and extensive analysis of the development of corporate governance across a broad range of countries including Australia, China, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey and the UK. Additional coverage in this second edition includes Brazil, Hungary, Malaysia, and Norway. The Handbook reveals that whilst the stage in the corporate governance life cycle may vary from country to country, there are certain core features that emerge such as the importance of transparency, disclosure, accountability of directors and protection of minority shareholders’ rights.

Board Involvement in the Strategic Decision Making Process: A Comprehensive Review

The board of directors is legally responsible for setting the strategic direction of the firm and for ensuring the firm’s long-term performance in almost all governance environments. However, many boards delegate part or all of the task of creating and executing the firm’s strategy to a group of full-time professional managers. This separation between ownership and control creates many challenges for the modern-day firm, and the board’s role in the strategy formation process is arguably the seminal governance challenge confronting boards today. This study examines this seminal challenge by: (1) Introducing background information on this stream by defining key terms and discussing its importance to the wider corporate governance literature, describing three infamous case studies of firms based in the USA, Europe and Asia where the board was insufficiently involved, and noting situations where the board may become too involved; (2) Exploring previous reviews of this research stream on board strategic involvement, and discussing the evolution of this construct and related studies over time; (3) Analyzing previous research designs used in this research stream while identifying the frequency as well as costs and benefits associated with each; (4) Summarizing what we currently know about the multi-level antecedents of board involvement within single countries; (5) Specifying some of the national-level antecedents of board involvement identified in cross-national studies; (6) Identifying the subsequent multi-level effects of board involvement; and (7) Discussing the implications of this review and outlining future research directions.

Corporate Governance Developments in Germany

This major Handbook provides a comprehensive analysis of the development of corporate governance across a range of countries including Australia, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey and the UK. Whilst the stage in the corporate governance life cycle may vary from country to country, there are certain core features which emerge such as the importance of transparency, disclosure, accountability of directors and protection of minority shareholders’ rights.

The German Corporate Governance Code: general acceptance and neuralgic norms – a second look

Based on a survey of all the companies listed at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, this paper analyses the extent of compliance with the German Corporate Governance Code. The investigation includes the recommendations as well as the suggestions of the Code. Overall, findings indicate a high level of Code conformity. Furthermore, the Code continues to contribute to the changes of the governance modalities of German firms. Nonetheless, Code standards remain which gain comparably less acceptance. We identify those norms, which are still rejected by the majority of the surveyed corporations and discuss why these compliance rates are currently low and whether they can be expected to increase in the future.

Managerial Reasoning in Takeover Battles: The Case of Sanofi-SynthéLabo and Aventis

Corporate governance has become a global phenomenon. This book highlights, through various case studies, how corporate governance has evolved in a number of countries around the world. The international cast of contributors, from varying professional backgrounds including academics, lawyers and company directors, focus on different regions around the globe, reflecting various ownership structures, legal systems, and political and cultural aspirations. Some of the case studies used include: Standard Life; Telecom Italia; and Eskom.

D&O Deductibles as a New Standard of Responsible Governance

Listed German stock corporations have to agree a personal deductible if the company has taken out a D&O (directors’ and officers’ liability insurance) policy for its management board. A deductible rules that, in the event of litigation, portions of the loss have to be borne personally by the insured individuals and aims at fostering responsible behavior. The present chapter analyzes the underlying motivation of this specific governance standard that is still quite unique to the German governance environment, and the development of its regulation.