Suchergebnisse

There has been considerable research suggesting ways to design foreign subsidiaries for multinational enterprises. Unfortunately, much of this research is fragmented and some is even contradictory. This study seeks to comprehensively integrate this research stream by distilling the extant literature around two key contingency factors: (1) governance environment of the host country, and (2) the strategic role of the foreign subsidiary. Specifically, we distilled the multi-national organizational design literature using the institutional economics logic coupled with Galbraith's classic organizational design framework. This approach yielded twelve new theoretical propositions that better integrates previous theory and research around the four dimensions of organizational design. The end result is a clearer and more comprehensive understanding of what we know about organizational design in foreign subsidiaries, the novel consideration of governance environment surrounding the subsidiary as an important contingency factor, and guidance for future research in this important area.

Never before have strategic leaders been confronted with so much overwhelming change. The traditional approach taken by the leader or leaders is to direct or control the organization's reaction on a monthly, weekly, or even daily basis. This approach is stressful and overwhelming for executive leaders, makes middle managers feel torn between honoring their senior leaders and listening to the demands of frontline employees, and is alienating for frontline employees. This approach is hardly a prescription for the pursuit of excellence, and does not enable the organization to be sufficiently agile or nimble to cope with the "white water" conditions in which the organization typically finds itself.

ABSTRACTManuscript Type: EmpiricalResearch Question/Issue: Effective corporate governance requires accurate and reliable financial information. Historically, each nation has developed and pursued its own financial standards; however, as financial markets consolidate into a global market, there is a need for a common set of financial standards. As a result, there is a movement towards harmonization of international financial reporting standards (IFRS) throughout the global economy. While there has been considerable research on the effects of IFRS adoption, there has been relatively little systematic study as to the antecedents of IFRS adoption. Consequently, this study seeks to understand why some economies have quickly embraced IFRS standards while others partially adopt IFRS and still others continue to resist.Research Findings/Results: After controlling for market capitalization and GDP growth, we find that foreign aid, import penetration, and level of education achieved within a national economy are all predictive of the degree to which IFRS standards are adopted across 132 developing, transitional and developed economies.Theoretical/Academic Implications: We found that all three forms of isomorphic pressures (i.e., coercive, mimetic, and normative) are predictive of IFRS adoption. Consequently, institutional theory with its emphasis on legitimacy‐seeking by social actors was relatively well supported by our data. This suggests that the IFRS adoption process is driven more by social legitimization pressures, than it is by economic logic.Practitioner/Policy Implications: For policy makers, our findings suggest that the institutional pressures within an economy are the key drivers of IFRS adoption. Consequently, policy makers should seek to influence institutional pressures that thwart and/or enhance adoption of IFRS. For executives of multinational firms, our findings provide insights that can help to explain and predict future IFRS adoption within economies where their foreign subsidiaries operate. This ability could be useful for creating competitive advantages for foreign subsidiaries where IFRS adoption was resisted, or avoiding competitive disadvantages for foreign subsidiaries unfamiliar with IFRS standards.

ABSTRACTManuscript Type: EmpiricalResearch Question/Issue: This study seeks to better understand the antecedents of shareholder activism targeted at firms located in three common law countries (i.e., USA, UK, and Australia) and three civil law countries (Japan, Germany, and South Korea) during the 2003–07 time period.Research Findings/Insights: Our findings suggest that the antecedents of shareholder activism vary by the motivation of the activist. We demonstrate that activists target firms with two motives (a) to improve the financial performance, and (b) to improve the social performance of the firm. With respect to the target firm level antecedents, we find that firm size is unrelated to financial activism, but positively related to social activism; ownership concentration is negatively related to both financial and social activism; and prior profitability is negatively related to financial activism, but positively related to social activism. Further, these relationships in the case of financial activism are generally stronger in common law legal systems, whereas those in the case of social activism are generally stronger in environments with a greater level of income inequality.Theoretical/Academic Implications: Our findings suggest that future research should differentiate between the motivations of the activism event. Further, we find that while agency logic works well for financial activism, institutional theory provides stronger explanations for social activism. Overall, we demonstrate the complementary nature of these two theories in explaining shareholder activism.Practitioner/Policy Implications: We found that the "exposure" to shareholder activism varies by the motivation of the activist, and the nature of the firm and its national context. An understanding of these issues would help firms develop proper response strategies to activism events.

Books Reviewed: The Supreme Court and the Idea of Progress by Alexander M. Bickel New York: Harper & Row, 1970. Pp. xii, 210. $6.50. Politics, the Constitution and the Warren Court By Philip B. Kurland Chicago University of Chicago Press, 1970. Pp. xxv, 222.$9.75. Reviewer: Francis X. Beytagh, Jr. ============================ Books Reviewed: Politics of Southern Equality: Law and Social Change in a Mississippi County By Frederick M. Wirt Chicago: Aldine Publishing Co., 1970. Pp. 335. $10.00. reviewer: Robert L. Carter ============================ The Apportionment Cases By Richard C. Cortner Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1970. Pp. ix. 283. $10.00. reviewer William E. Miller (Judge)

Prior evidence suggests that board independence may enhance financial performance, but this relationship has been tested almost exclusively for Anglo-American countries. To explore the boundary conditions of this prominent governance mechanism, we examine the impact of the formal and information institutions of 18 national business systems on the board independence-financial performance relationship. Our results show that while the direct effect of independence is weak, national-level institutions significantly moderate the independence-performance relationship. Our findings suggest that the efficacy of board structures is likely to be contingent on the specific national context, but the type of legal system is insignificant.