This study investigates the role of banks in the internationalization process of small and medium sized enterprises (SME). It first proposes a conceptual model of the effects a bank’s involvement in the internationalization activities of an SME may have and subsequently tests it. As banks may serve as facilitators for internationalizing SMEs we argue that high levels of bank involvement yield benefits to the internationalizing SME. Ceteris paribus it is therefore expected that SMEs which cooperate closely with their banks throughout their internationalization process internationalize broader and faster. The empirical results from the analysis of internationalizing Switzerland-based SMEs support this notion. SMEs that closely work with their corporate banks fare significantly better in their internationalization endeavors than their peers which do not involve banks. Moreover the involvement of banks has a positive effect on the levels of entrepreneurial orientation and the opportunity recognition capabilities of SME. The article contributes to the ongoing dialog in international business entrepreneurship literatures, especially by suggesting new antecedents to the internationalization success of SMEs.
Grounded on social identity theory, we explore the identities and actions of 41 angel investors who invest in early-stage companies in the field of ICT. Our study reveals the existence of four pure types of angel investor identities and suggests how these identities shape their investment behavior and consequent exchange of resources with investees. We summarize our results in a typology that sheds light on the diverse meanings investors associate with angel investing and advance understanding regarding why fundamental differences in angel investment decisions and actions exist among investors.
This pioneer paper studies whether and how Bitcoin shocks are transmitted to the U.S economy. We employ a new methodology: TVP FAVAR model with stochastic volatility. We use a large dataset of 111 major U.S variables from 1959:m1 to 2016:m12. The results show that Bitcoin shocks significantly impact the U.S. econ-omy. This significant impact is pronounced in a volatile and increasing U.S economy. The Bitcoin has a posi-tive relationship on the U.S real activity, and a negative one on U.S prices and interest rates. Effects on the Monetary Policy exist via the interest rates and the Money, Credit and Finance transmission channels.
Using data on corporate venture capital (CVC) investments by 284 US industrial companies between 2001 and 2013, we analyze the CVC expenditures of each based on their prior position in the syndication network and their financial resources. The generalized-method-of-moments models used show that the annual amount of CVC expenditures ofthese companies depends on the prior number of co-financing relations they have and their cash flows in the previous year, as well as their prior investments. However, the previous centrality of the industrial companies in syndication networks is insignificant, meaning that prior centrality in the VC network does not guide their current CVC expenditures. This result goes against social network theory, which stipulates that the network members strive to improve their centrality in the network they belong.
This study examines the effects of hybrid product and organizational identities on members’ identification with their organization. Borrowing from the identity congruence model of Foreman and Whetten (2002), the effects of dual identities are operationalized in the form of a current-ideal congruence of normative and utilitarian organizational identity elements. In addition, products are argued to symbolize and embody self-defining attributes of the organization, thereby acting as cues to or extensions of the organization's identity. Thus the normative and utilitarian product identities are hypothesized to affect organizational identification, both as covariates of organizational identity congruence as well as through a product-organizational identity comparison mechanism. These relationships are examined in the context of a sales force of a multinational pharmaceutical company, selling key products, in various stages of development. Analysis of survey data confirms the majority of the hypothesized effects. These results are discussed with respect to the implications for future organizational identification research and managerial practice—particularly with respect to new product development.
Prior management research has provided extensive evidence that members of an organization who identify with their organization tend to support its norms and objectives by displaying in- role or extra-role behavior. We argue that this account of observable employee behavior may be somewhat incomplete because hidden, secretive types of behavior have been largely overlooked in research on organizational identification. We thus study a series of secret and hidden innovation projects (so-called “bootlegging” projects) that are being developed in a technology-driven, multinational firm. Complementing prior research, our findings suggest that, in certain contexts, organizational identification may induce employees to violate organizational norms deliberately in a struggle for further improvement of their “good” organization. More specifically, we find an interesting paradox in the fact that organizational identification turns out to motivate simultaneously both in-role and hidden-role behavior forms which, at first sight, appear to be oppositional as both forms draw on the members´ resources. However, our results reveal that both, in fact, complement each other and thus create an interesting, hitherto unexplored organizational paradox. We then move on to study how organizational identification may change due to employees going underground to develop secret innovation projects and we uncover the critical role of managerial responses that aim to successfully sustain and strengthen organizational identification of members who are “going rogue” for the love of their organization. Implications for theory and managerial practice are derived.
While business model innovations are critical to a company’s long-term survival, they are still poorly understood compared to other kinds of innovations. In this paper, we investigate prior research and reframe business model innovation through a practitioner lens. We report on a content analysis of interviews with CEOs of small and medium enterprises in the technology industry, with the aim of recording their definition of business model innovation. This research intends to contribute to a better understanding of the meaning of business model innovation from a practitioners’ perspective. These findings open new directions for theory development and empirical studies in the business model and innovation management literature.
