Search

Purpose: This study examines the firm-level financial consequences caused by supply chain disruptions during COVID-19 and explores how firms' supply chain diversification strategies, including diversified suppliers, customers and products, moderate the negative effect on firm performance. Design/methodology/approach: Based on data drawn from 222 publicly traded firms in China, the authors use event study methodology to estimate the effects of supply chain disruptions on the financial performance of affected firms. Regression analyses are conducted to examine the moderating effects of supply chain diversification. Findings: Firms affected by supply chain disruptions during COVID-19 experienced a significant decline in shareholder value in two weeks and a subsequent decrease in operating performance in one year. Diversified suppliers, customers and products act as shock absorbers to alleviate the negative effects. Further regression shows a substitution effect between customer and product diversification. Cross-industry comparisons reveal that service firms experienced more loss than manufacturing firms. Customer diversification mitigates the adverse effects of supply chain disruptions for both manufacturing and service firms. Supplier diversification exerts a noteworthy role in manufacturing firms, while product diversification is beneficial for service firms. Originality/value: The study provides empirical evidence on the magnitude of financial consequences of supply chain disruptions during COVID-19 in both the short term and long term and enriches the current understanding of how to build resilience from the supply chain diversification perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Export manufacturing firms from emerging markets can better meet customer needs by providing customization, which leads to competitive advantages. Although both practice and academic research have deeply discussed customization, the question of whether customization promotes export manufacturing firms' product innovation in the global B2B market is largely unexplored. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue. Design/methodology/approach: This paper collects survey data from 2,248 export manufacturing firms in China and uses hierarchical moderated regression to explore the relationship between customization and product innovation in the global B2B market and their boundary conditions. Findings: This research shows that customization positively affects export manufacturing firms' product innovation in the context of the global B2B market, and it shows that internal governance structure (contract governance and relationship governance) and external governance structure (legal enforceability) can be used as boundary conditions that affect the relationship. Specifically, contract governance has an inverted U-shaped moderating effect on the relationship between customization and product innovation; moreover, relationship governance and legal enforceability can strengthen the positive relationship between customization and product innovation. Originality/value: The study explores the relationship between customization and product innovation in the global B2B market and examines the moderating effect of internal and external governance structures. In addition, the study enriches the research related to customization and product innovation in the context of the global B2B market and provides essential practical insight into the survival of export manufacturing firms from emerging markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Contracts and trust are two prominent governance mechanisms in buyer–supplier exchanges, yet controversy persists regarding the interplay between contracts and trust. This study aims to provide a new perspective to understand the debate by differentiating between- from within-dyad effects of contracts–trust relationships. Design/methodology/approach: Based on survey data of 250 Chinese buyer–supplier relationships collected over two time periods, this study used two-level hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) with repeated measures to test the influence of contracts (trust) on trust (contracts) over time. Findings: The authors find that for major buyer–supplier exchanges, contracts and trust tend to complement each other when comparing across dyads, but they likely substitute for each other in within-dyad settings. Research limitations/implications: First, to illustrate the dynamic interactions between contracts and trust, this study collected data at two time periods and assumed continuous linear relationships of time with both contracts and trust. Further research should collect multiple waves of data to explore the complex, varying changes that arise over time. Second, this study's findings are based on buyer–supplier relationships in China, whose unique cultural features may limit the generalizability of the results to other settings. Practical implications: Channel managers can structure exchanges by devising detailed contracts that align incentives and demonstrate commitment, which helps build trust in a relationship. Channel managers should also pay special attention to the contingency effects of their transactional and relational features. Originality/value: This study offers the first explicit test of the dynamic contracts–trust relationship, thereby establishing a more refined understanding of interplay between contracts and trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The real estate industry has experienced frequent changes in corporate executives in recent years. A total of 147 A-share listed firms witnessed a total of 191 corporate executives' departure. This wave of corporate executive departures is significantly different from previous waves. This study aims to examine whether industry evolution influence the characteristics of corporate executives? If so, then how? Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on upper echelons theory, this study analyzed the effects of industry life cycle on the characteristics of corporate executives. The data of A-share listed companies in the textile, real estate and computer industries in China from 1992 to 2014 were collected. Findings: There are significant differences in the characteristics of corporate executives that match the life cycles of different industries. Companies at the growth stage in the life cycle of an industry were more likely to select and appoint younger corporate executives with political capital, peripheral functions and output functions, whereas companies at the maturity stage were more likely to select and appoint older corporate executives with throughput functions. Originality/value: By using the upper echelons theory as a starting point, this study analyzed the effects of industry life cycle on corporate executive's characteristics. The research findings offer theoretical implications for the upper echelons theory and provide managerial implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The primary purpose of this study is to explore the impact of acquired ownership in Chinese target firm on the innovation performance of developed economies (DE) acquiring firms. Furthermore, the study aims to empirically investigate the moderating influence of institutional distance between two parties' home countries. Design/methodology/approach: For the empirical investigation of the hypotheses, the authors identified cross-border technological acquisitions from the Securities Data Company between 1995 and 2015. A hierarchical negative binomial regression technique was used to analyze 177 technological acquisitions completed by DE acquiring firms in China. Findings: Analysis of technological acquisition deals confirmed that acquired ownership undertaken in the Chinese target firms increases the DE acquiring firms' post-acquisition innovation performance. The authors found that DE acquiring firms underperform in innovation in institutionally distant host countries. Originality/value: This study contributes to the international business literature by explaining the importance of acquired ownership undertaken in the Chinese target firms for the DE acquiring firm's innovation performance. Second, institutional theory defines how institutional uncertainty in terms of distance modifies the positive impact of acquired ownership on acquiring firm's innovation performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In crowdsourcing contests, the capabilities and performance of individual workers (solvers) determine whether seeker firms can obtain satisfactory solutions from the platform. It is noted that solvers may learn such skills in crowdsourcing from doing (experiential learning) or observing (vicarious learning). However, it remains unclear if such learning can be materialized into improved performance considering the unique settings of crowdsourcing contests. The study aims to understand how experiential learning and vicarious learning enhance solver performance and under what conditions. Design/methodology/approach: The model was tested using survey and archival data from 261 solvers on a large contest platform in China. Findings: Results support the premise that experiential learning and vicarious learning separately and jointly enhance solver performance. Moreover, perceived task uncertainty strengthens the effect of vicarious learning but weakens the effect of experiential learning, whereas perceived competition uncertainty weakens the effect of vicarious learning. Originality/value: The current study enriches the understanding of the impacts of experiential learning and vicarious learning and offers a more nuanced understanding of the conditions under which solvers can reap the performance benefits from learning in crowdsourcing contests. The study also provides practical insights into enhancing solver performance under perceived task uncertainty and perceived competition uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify trade integration and structure effects on bilateral trade between China and its partners, focusing on Chinese merchandise imports during the period 1995–2018. Design/methodology/approach: The methodological approach applied here uses the augmented gravity model to investigate the factors lying behind import intensity, by use of the ordinary least squares (OLS) and Poisson pseudo maximum likelihood (PPML) estimators. Findings: The findings provide evidence of complementarity between the Chinese demand and the world commodity markets. Free trade agreements between China and third countries seem to gradually lose significance, as the Chinese economy consolidates in world trade. Higher product diversification in export structures of China's trading partners can become advantageous for facilitating market penetration. Diversification of energy resources, the steady, high demand for infrastructure equipment and more sophisticated consumer products constantly determine the structure of Chinese merchandise imports originating mainly and increasingly from countries with direct access to the Pacific Ocean. Originality/value: The analytical breakdown of Chinese imports, presented in this paper, adds value to the existing literature with regard to trade structure analysis for China, paving the way for similar research for other developing countries as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine alliance governance at different hierarchical levels. Design/methodology/approach: The data is collected from both top-level and operating-level managers in 286 strategic alliances in China (a total of 572 managers). Hierarchical moderated regression models are adopted to test the hypotheses and two-stage regression analyzes are used to correct for endogeneity. Findings: This paper finds that relational governance has a greater impact on alliance performance than contract utilization at the top level. Furthermore, the simultaneous use of relational governance at the top and operating levels have a detrimental impact on alliance performance. Finally, top-level contract utilization has a negative interaction with operating-level relational governance but a positive interaction with operating-level contract utilization. Research limitations/implication: First, the cross-sectional nature of the data collection approach provides only a snapshot of how each type of governance mechanism and its interactions affect alliance performance. Second, the sample is limited to firms located in emerging markets. Practical implications: Managers should realize that the effectiveness of contract and relational governance mechanisms varies across different management levels and they should be cautious about the cross-level governance mechanism alignment. Originality/value: This study advances the interfirm governance literature in that this paper examined alliance governance at different hierarchical levels and provides new insights into the ongoing debate on whether the contract and relational governance mechanisms function as complements or substitutes by exploring the governance alignment across different alliance hierarchies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine an important yet underexplored research question in the literature: What determines the length of contract governing buyer–supplier relationships during market transitions? The length of contract is a solid indicator of the comprehensiveness of a contract. By integrating transaction costs economics, the embeddedness perspective and the institution-based view, the paper develops a model that incorporates specific investments and perceived opportunism, strategies to select suppliers and buyer firms' confidence in the institutional environment. It further posits how buyer firms' dependence on suppliers moderates these relationships. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected nationwide via face-to-face interviews with 328 executives in 164 Chinese firms who shared information pertaining to 774 buyer–supplier contracts. A fine-grained mixed-empirical method was designed to test the proposed hypotheses, to confirm the reliability and to generalize the research findings. Findings: All the proposed factors significantly influence the length of the contract. Results obtained through a moderated mediating model suggest that buyers with supplier-specific investments and that choose market-based selection relative to a relationship-based tend to perceive more opportunism in buyer–supplier relationships, which will lead to shortening the length of the contract. However, the buyer's perception of opportunism will decrease when buyers perceive higher levels of confidence in their legal institutions. Practical implications: The study discusses several practical implications for B2B managers who typically involve in interfirm exchanges as well as for emerging economies' institutions. Originality/value: Leveraging theoretical insights from transaction cost economics, the institution-based view and buyer–supplier relationships literature, this empirical study adds unique contributions to B2B research in general and emerging economies' institutional literature in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study examines how unilateral supplier transaction-specific investments (TSIs), directly and indirectly, influence international buyer opportunism and the extent to which detailed contracts enable suppliers to safeguard against international buyer opportunism. The study also examines whether relationship length affects the efficacy of detailed contracts in cross-border outsourcing relationships. Design/methodology/approach: The hypotheses are tested by using data collected from multiple informants working for 229 manufacturing suppliers in China. Multiple regression with a three-way interaction is used to test the hypotheses. Findings: Unilateral supplier TSIs encourage international buyer opportunism through increased supplier dependence. Contract specificity negatively moderates the effect of supplier dependence on international buyer opportunism. This moderating effect is stronger in long-term cross-border buyer–supplier relationships than in short-term ones. Originality/value: The current study extends the cross-border outsourcing literature by examining how emerging-market suppliers in a weak power position can proactively safeguard against international buyer opportunism by using detailed contracts. Our findings show that supplier dependence mediates the relationship between unilateral supplier TSIs and international buyer opportunism; detailed contracts, however, can help dependent suppliers safeguard against international buyer opportunism. In particular, the findings highlight the importance of long-term buyer–supplier relationships that enhance the efficacy of detailed contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a modular product design system and a product development roadmap (PDR), which can help to improve modular design (MD) and product innovation capabilities, respectively. Their relationships with product newness (PN) and new product performance are also assessed. Design/methodology/approach: The proposed model was tested through structural equation modelling using data from a survey of 153 manufacturers in the electronic and electrical appliance industries in China. Findings: The findings reveal that the proposed modular product design system and PDR can improve MD and product innovation capabilities. The authors also explore the conflicting relationships of MD and product innovation capability with PN. Research limitations/implications: The findings contribute to the literature by showing that MD can constrain PN while product innovation can improve it. The study provides new empirical evidence of these relationships and has strategic implications. In addition, this study identifies two product development techniques that can improve MD and innovation capability, respectively. Originality/value: The authors provide new evidence of the relationship between MD and innovation capability at product level, and confirm a side effect of pursuing both in terms of new product development. Through empirical testing, the authors first verify two product development techniques for implementing modular product design and product innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between industry association membership and firm innovation in Chinese private ventures. A secondary objective is to investigate potential moderating effects of firm learning practices and founder characteristics on the above relationship, and to draw out implications for policymakers and practitioners. Design/methodology/approach: The paper utilizes data from a sample of 567 Chinese entrepreneurial firms operating in 9 designated emerging industries. Hierarchical regression models were employed to analyze the effect of industry association membership on firm innovation, and the potential moderating effects. A 2SLS procedure was adopted to control for potential endogeneity issue. Supplemental analyses were conducted to ensure the robustness of the findings. Findings: The paper provides empirical insights about how industry association membership, along with firm learning practice and founder leadership, affect firm innovation in Chinese private ventures in emerging industries. It suggests that industry association membership positively affects firm innovation. Further, there is a three-way interaction effect of industry association membership, learning practice and founder power on innovation. Research limitations/implications: Due to the design of the data set, there are some limitations. First, the study only considered whether a firm belongs to an industry association, but not the nature of such membership (length, firm status in the association, etc.). Second, the cross-sectional design may limit the power of the study to make casual implications about the tested relationships. Practical implications: The paper provides important practical implications for policymakers and entrepreneurs in China. In general, the results suggest that private ventures pursuing innovation in emerging industries can benefit from industry associations, and entrepreneurs shall actively engage in firm-level and personal-level learning. For policymakers, the study suggests that to foster innovation in an emerging industry, special attention shall be paid to building necessary institutional support to develop and to strengthen the role of industry association in the industry. Originality/value: This paper fulfills an important gap in the literature in that it is one of the first, which investigates the role of the industry association in firm innovation, especially in a non-western context. This paper provides new insights into the role of industry association and firm innovation in an under-researched developing economy context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the extent to which two types of commercial partnerships (business partner and non-business partner) affect the collaborative innovation of firms in emerging economies. Specifically, the roles of two commercial partnerships are investigated. Additionally, the study explores the moderating effect of external technological uncertainty and internal dynamic capabilities on the relationship between two commercial partnerships and on collaborative innovation. Design/methodology/approach: Using a sample of 370 high-tech firms in China, the authors applied the partial least squares structural equation modeling approach to model these relationships. Findings: The findings reveal opportunities and challenges for companies according to two intensities of commercial partnership for collaborative innovation. The partnership contribution to innovation and competiveness is different within the two routes and ranges. The findings indicate that (1) intense commercial relationships with business partners have a stronger positive significant impact on collaborative innovation than those with non-business partners and (2) non-business partners have a weaker positive impact on collaborative innovation at high external technological uncertainty. It was also found that (3) the positive impact of business partners on collaborative innovation is weakened when a firm has high dynamic capabilities, whereas the positive impact of non-business partners is strengthened. Research limitations/implications: Insight into the roles of two commercial partnerships in achieving collaborative innovation facilitates the advancement of the theoretical understanding of the circumstances under which cooperative innovation can be more effective under different partnerships. Originality/value: A key strategic question is whether comprehensiveness enables firms to make better strategic decisions in various environments. In the process of innovation, companies must choose different types and quantities of partners, and they must regulate their partners' innovative behavior by establishing a corresponding network structure and relationship rules. The current study focuses on analysis of how different intensities of commercial partnerships affect collaborative innovation. This research provides a theoretical framework that creates a new classification of commercial relations with regard to collaborative innovation, and it highlights the difference between the two types of partnerships. This study finds that there are many problems in the selection of innovative partners in China's high-tech companies. Therefore, companies should strengthen their understanding of cooperative innovation, and they should build and manage highly efficient innovation networks. This study helps companies, high-tech industry associations, academia and government to take enhanced, informed actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose China has become the world’s largest vehicle market, because of the strong governmental support to boost car sales and particularly because of the establishment of joint ventures between state-owned enterprises and world-class automakers. However, because many Sino-foreign joint ventures have performed unsatisfactorily in terms of creating indigenous brands, the purpose of this paper is to explore the cause-and-effect relationships among governmental policy support, Sino-foreign joint ventures and own-brand innovation in China’s passenger-car industry.Design/methodology/approach After briefly introducing the development history of the Chinese auto industry and reviewing relevant literature, first, the analytic hierarchy process method is used to create a unique, context-specific equation to measure the degree of policy support in China. This paper then uses the hierarchical multiple regression method to process the 2014 public data set.Findings The findings show that the degree of policy support increases the preference of the firms for producing foreign-brand cars, while such a relationship is fully mediated by the establishment of Sino-foreign joint ventures.Research limitations/implications The research brings greater and deeper insights into the interplay among governmental policy, the conduct of own-brand strategy and international joint ventures in China’s auto market, showing that policy support may not always be beneficial, but sometimes be detrimental to indigenous innovation.Originality/value This paper can be seen as an exciting step that adds to a better understanding of the role of political support in shaping the strategic choices of firms in terms of brand innovation in the Chinese automobile industry. The proposed novel, context-specific approach for evaluating the degree of policy support embodies the distinctive institutional complexity and intricate social network embedded in the local car market during the period of China’s socio-economic transformation – an approach that is original in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the possible benefits and effects of shared vision and integration on entrepreneurial management for new Chinese ventures. By examining new enterprises, rather than already established and operating firms, this study can better demonstrate the impact of shared vision and internal or external integration on entrepreneurial performance. The empirical analyses demonstrate the importance of shared vision and both types of integration for new ventures, particularly enterprises in China. Design/methodology/approach – This study collected data from firms in Greater China, including China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Five hypotheses were tested, for which the total sample size was 246 respondents. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were applied for statistical analyses. Findings – The results indicate that entrepreneurial vision correlates positively with shared vision. In its turn, shared vision correlates positively with internal integration and external integration. Furthermore, internal integration correlates positively with entrepreneurial performance. Although external integration is essential during new enterprise establishment, analytical results indicate that external integration is not strongly correlated with entrepreneurial performance. Practical implications – Shared vision plays a critical role in the integration process during the establishment of new enterprises. The results of this study show that newly established firms need to put more efforts than do operating firms into integrating external resources. Originality – /value This study contributes to a better understanding of the effects of shared vision and the different kinds of integration on entrepreneurial management. Knowing the driving forces behind these phenomena may help new firms to engage more actively in resources integration and enhance their entrepreneurial performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]