Does strategic planning help firms translate slack resources into better performance?

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 395-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinyu Guo ◽  
Bo Zhou ◽  
Haili Zhang ◽  
Chunjia Hu ◽  
Michael Song

AbstractIs organizational slack good or bad for firm performance? Research addressing this question has obtained mixed results. Such studies have focused mainly on the impact of environmental conditions on the slack–performance relationship. In this study, instead of focusing on the uncontrollable external environment, we consider actions determined by firms internally, in particular strategic planning. Using data from 183 US firms, we explore the connection between organizational slack and firm performance with different levels of strategic planning. The results suggest that at low levels of strategic planning the slack–performance relationship is linear, while at high levels of strategic planning this relationship is inverse U shaped. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Huang ◽  
Yue Lu

PurposeWe examine the effect of institutional blockholders on the variability of firm performance.Design/methodology/approachWe use OLS regression models to estimate the effect of institutional blockholders on within-firm, over-time variability of firm performance.FindingsWe find that firms with more institutional blockholders experience less variable firm performance. In particular, more institutional blockholders are associated with less variability of annual stock returns, ROA and the market-to-book ratio. We further explore several underlying mechanisms through with institutional blockholders reduce firm performance variability. We find that more institutional blockholders are associated with less variable capital expenditures and R&D investments, and less frequent acquisition activities.Research limitations/implicationsA limitation of this paper is that our sample period only covers 1996–2006. Future studies can extend our research to a more recent period (e.g. 2009–2019) to test whether our findings remain valid in other periods.Practical implicationsWe document a significant relation between institutional blockholders and firm performance variability in this paper. However, we do not make any judgment as to whether firms should increase their institutional blockholders as it is unclear whether the caused reduction in risk-taking is socially efficient. We argue that the value implication of institutional blockholders depends on the existing blockholder structure and the different levels of risk appetite between the CEO and shareholders. Thus, the decision on the increase or decrease of institutional blockholders should be carefully made based on a firm’s specific characteristics.Originality/valueThis paper is a first study which examines the impact of the presence of institutional blockholders on the variability of firm performance, while most prior studies focus on the stock ownership of institutional blockholders and examine its impact on the level of firm performance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magnus Soderlund ◽  
Hanna Berg

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of happiness expressed by service firm employees when they are depicted in marketing communications materials, such as printed ads and videos. Design/methodology/approach Two experiments were conducted in a fitness service setting, in which employee display of happiness was manipulated (low vs high). Findings Both experiments showed that expressions of high levels of happiness produced a more positive attitude toward the service employee than expressions of low levels of happiness. Moreover, the impact of the expression of happiness on the evaluation of the employee was mediated by several variables, which suggests that the influence of depicted employees’ emotional expressions can take several routes. Practical implications The results imply that service firms should not only be mindful about which specific employee they select for appearing in marketing communications materials, they should also pay attention to the emotional displays of selected employees. Originality/value The present study contributes to previous research by assessing a set of potential mediators to explain why displays of happiness influence consumers, and by examining these effects in a marketing communications setting in which the customer is exposed to still images or video-based representations of the employee. The present study also focuses explicitly on happiness rather than on smiles.


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 7-8

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings The role of HRM is increasingly being viewed in strategic as well as functional terms. The impact of SHRM on firm performance is also determined by factors in its internal and external contexts. Balance between these contextual dimensions and input from various actors in the organization can help increase the overall effectiveness of a SHRM system. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.


2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (01) ◽  
pp. 1550004 ◽  
Author(s):  
DENISE M. CUMBERLAND ◽  
WILLIAM R. MEEK ◽  
RICHARD GERMAIN

The purpose of the current study is to investigate the impact of the five ESE dimensions on firm performance. More specifically, we examine whether any of the five ESE dimensions are important to firm performance when the external environment is either competitively intense or technologically turbulent. This study investigated these relationships using a sample of franchisees, an important audience understudied in entrepreneurial literature. We find that the three-way interaction of competitive intensity, technological turbulence and each of ESE innovation, ESE management, and ESE financial control predicts franchisee performance. This confirms the wisdom of studying ESE as consisting of specific dimensions (as opposed to holistically) because not all ESE dimensions interact with franchisee environment in predicting performance.


2011 ◽  
Vol 495 ◽  
pp. 306-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panagiotis Trivellas

This paper examines the influence of Research and Development (R&D) strategy on firm performance controlling for external environment. In this turbulent era, several firms build their competitive advantage on their innovation competence investing on R&D. Drawing upon a sample of 248 firms located in Greece, a structured questionnaire was developed to measure R&D strategy, external environment (dynamism, complexity, munificence, technological) and firm performance (financial, market, innovation, growth and organizational). The importance of R&D strategy in explaining the variance of all performance dimensions is confirmed with innovation performance playing a dominant role. Results indicate that R&D strategy is the most crucial antecedent of firm performance, controlling for business environment. Among environmental dimensions, only dynamism exerts statistical significant relationships. Regarding organizational size, larger firms possess a competitive advantage in the market, enjoying dominant market shares, while smaller firms exhibit supremacy regarding their innovative behavior.


2006 ◽  
Vol 2006 (1) ◽  
pp. M1-M6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita J. Shea-Van Fossen ◽  
Hannah R. Rothstein ◽  
Helaine J. Korn

Author(s):  
Chris Brewster ◽  
Paul N. Gooderham ◽  
Wolfgang Mayrhofer

Purpose – The dominant focus of HRM research has been that of “strategic HRM”, that is a focus on the impact of HRM on firm performance. The authors argue that not only are the cumulative results of this “dominant research orthodoxy” disappointing in terms of their external validity, but also they are of limited practical value. Further, it has failed not only in terms of its narrow firm performance-oriented agenda, but also the tenets of its agenda have contributed to serious levels of employee dissatisfaction and to the failure to deal with pressing global issues. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – In order to assess the contribution of the dominant research orthodoxy the authors analyse the 16 most cited journal articles in the field of HRM. Findings – The authors find a predominance of US-centric studies and therefore a questionable cross-national generalizability of the dominant research orthodoxy. The use of cross-sectional data means that long-term effects cannot be gauged. The authors observe a lack of consensus on how to operationalize HRM and firm performance. National context is generally absent. Practical implications – The authors show that for HRM to realize its potential for governments, media, or philanthropic agencies, HRM must abandon its restricted scope and mono-dimensional sources of inspiration. Originality/value – The authors not only point to the shortcomings of the dominant research orthodoxy within HRM, but the authors point to how HRM could become significantly more “centre-staged” by addressing the actors searching for contributions to the big questions of the world – the governments, media, and philanthropic agencies.


2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ismaila Yusuf ◽  
Damola Ekundayo

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine regulatory sanctions from an emerging economy perspective and analyzing the impact of regulators imposed monetary sanctions on banks’ performance. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted correlational research design to examine the effect of regulatory penalties on the performance of deposit money banks in Nigeria. This study used panel data from a sample of 15 deposit money banks in Nigeria for the period of 2006-2015. Multiple regression analysis was carried out. Findings Results showed that penalties imposed by regulators in the Nigerian banking industry have no significant impact on the bottom line of the defaulters. Penalties imposed on foreign exchange and international trade related infraction showed that the cost of penalties is below the benefits enjoyed from such infractions. Practical implications The insignificant impact of penalties on performance implies that deposit money banks have considered penalties imposed by regulators as operational expenses and transferred such to customers. Originality/value The study differs from other studies that examined regulatory penalties on performance by focusing on financial performance and using data from an emerging economy perceived to have weak regulatory environment.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfonso Perez-Escudero ◽  
Gonzalo G de Polavieja

In adverse conditions, individuals follow the majority more strongly. This phenomenon is very general across social species, but explanations have been particular to the species and context, including antipredatory responses, deflection of responsibility, or increase in uncertainty. Here we show that the impact of social information in realistic decision-making typically increases with adversity, giving more weight to the choices of the majority. The conditions for this social magnification are very natural, but were absent in previous decision-making models due to extra assumptionsthat simplified mathematical analysis, like very low levels of stochasticity or the assumption that when one option is good the other one must be bad. We show that decision-making in collectives can quantitatively explain the different impact of social influence with different levels of adversity for different species and contexts, including life-threatening situations in fish and simple experiments in humans.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Hassan ◽  

This study examines the impact of corporate governance reforms (SECP code in Pakistan) on board structural characteristics, board roles and firm performance. It uses an exclusive balanced panel data set of 200 companies listed on Karachi Stock Exchange. The study contributes to a sparse empirical literature on boards using data from Pakistan via multi-theoretic perspective to prove that if the boards’ monitoring and resource provision roles are strengthened through board restructuring, the financial performance of the organization will be strengthened. The main findings of the study indicate that the mediated relationship between board structural variables and firm performance is stronger. The study concludes that overall companies adopted a box-ticking approach for reporting corporate governance.


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