In the driving seat: Executive’s perceived control over environment

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 317-342
Author(s):  
Gavin M Schwarz ◽  
Karin Sanders ◽  
Dave Bouckenooghe

This study investigates executives’ perceived control over their environment. Drawing on managerial cognition and upper echelons theory, we test a model that specifies perceived control over environment as made up of organizational routines (i.e. information processing capability and decision comprehensiveness) and executive understanding of performance (i.e. organizational effectiveness and organizational slack). Findings from a scenario study of 46 executives in 14 pharmaceutical firms show perceived control over the internal environment can be explained by information processing capability, and the interactions between organizational routines and resources. Perceived control over the external task environment can be explained by information processing. This difference accounts for the extent to which executives perceive that they can control their environment, adding to the more traditional view focused on the requirements for a strategic fit to environment. JEL Classification: M10, M12, L20

MIS Quarterly ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric T. G. Wang ◽  
◽  
Jeffrey C. F. Tai ◽  
Varun Grover ◽  
◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-94
Author(s):  
Hwee Cheng Tan ◽  
Ken T. Trotman

ABSTRACT We investigate the effect of regulatory requirements on impairment decisions and managers' search for and evaluation of impairment information. We manipulate reversibility of impairment losses (“can be reversed” versus “cannot be reversed”) and transparency in disclosures of impairment assumptions (more transparent versus less transparent) in a 2 × 2 experiment. We find that managers are more willing to impair when impairment losses can be reversed than when they cannot be reversed, but this effect does not vary with disclosure transparency. We also find that managers display information search bias in all four experimental conditions, however, regulatory requirements do not result in differences in the level of information search bias across the conditions. In contrast, regulatory requirements affect the differences in the level of information evaluation bias across conditions. We find that when impairment losses cannot be reversed, information evaluation bias is higher when disclosures are more transparent than less transparent. JEL Classification: M40; M41.


2020 ◽  
pp. 234094442091609
Author(s):  
David Diwei Lv ◽  
Weihong Chen ◽  
Hailin Lan

In the process of operation, firms will face different types of performance pressure. The inconsistency among multiple performance pressure signals has an important impact on resource allocation and R&D investment. However, at present, studies on the impact of multiple performance pressures on the firm’s resource allocation and R&D investment are very limited, and few studies have analyzed the impact of inconsistencies among multiple performance pressure signals on the firm’s R&D investment. Given this research gap, this article empirically tested a model from the perspective of behavioral agency theory, in which inconsistency in long- and short-term performance pressure facilitates the accumulation of organizational slack. We further test the impact of an increase in organizational slack on the firms’ R&D investment intensity and find that this effect is stronger when the level of managerial ownership is comparatively low. These results together indicate that high inconsistency in performance pressure and low managerial ownership jointly facilitate the accumulation of organizational slack, enabling firms to go beyond local search and have more slack searches in the face of multiple performance pressure, which is conducive to an increase in R&D investment. JEL CLASSIFICATION: M10.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-440
Author(s):  
Xiaoyu Yu ◽  
Xiaotong Meng ◽  
Gang Cao ◽  
Yingya Jia

Purpose Conflict between work and family is a significant issue for entrepreneurs. The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of entrepreneurial failure on both family–work conflict (FWC) and work–family conflict (WFC) and the moderating role of perceived control of time and organizational slack based on conservation of resources (COR) theory. Design/methodology/approach This study used a questionnaire to explore the relationship between entrepreneurial failure, FWC/WFC, perceived control of time and organizational slack. Data were collected from the Chinese context in 2018 and as a result received 318 valid questionnaires, obtaining a response rate of 63.6 per cent. Findings The study finds that entrepreneurial failure has a significant relationship with FWC but a nonsignificant relationship with WFC and that perceived control of time and organizational slack moderate the relationship between entrepreneurial failure and FWC/WFC. Originality/value This study aligns the field of family–work (work–family) conflict and entrepreneurial failure. It addresses a research gap in the conflict literature by introducing one form of resource loss: entrepreneurial failure as a source of conflict between work and family based on COR theory and the work–home resources model. The study also enriches the literature on the social cost of entrepreneurial failure by exploring the crossover effect of entrepreneurial failure on conflicts in the family domain. Furthermore, the study advances the understanding of managing conflict between work and family after entrepreneurial failure.


2012 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob Peterson

By growth in size and complexity (i.e., changing from more probable to less probable states), plants and animals appear to defy the second law of thermodynamics. The usual explanation describes the input of nutrient and sunlight energy into open thermodynamic systems. However, energy input alone does not address the ability to organize and create complex structures or explain life cycles – in particular, growth regulation and dying in the presence of adequate nutrients. Understanding the roles of macromolecules such as DNA, with their apparent information-processing capability, affords opportunity to understand biological order.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tie Mei ◽  
Zhiqiang Meng ◽  
Kejie Zhao ◽  
Chang Qing Chen

AbstractEmbedding mechanical logic into soft robotics, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and robotic materials can greatly improve their functional capacity. However, such logical functions are usually pre-programmed and can hardly be altered during in-life service, limiting their applications under varying working conditions. Here, we propose a reprogrammable mechanological metamaterial (ReMM). Logical computing is achieved by imposing sequential excitations. The system can be initialized and reprogrammed via selectively imposing and releasing the excitations. Realization of universal combinatorial logic and sequential logic (memory) is demonstrated experimentally and numerically. The fabrication scalability of the system is also discussed. We expect the ReMM can serve as a platform for constructing reusable and multifunctional mechanical systems with strong computation and information processing capability.


2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (07) ◽  
pp. 1350047 ◽  
Author(s):  
PEI LI ◽  
KAI XING ◽  
DAPENG WANG ◽  
XIN ZHANG ◽  
HUI WANG

Research on social networks has received remarkable attention, since many people use social networks to broadcast information and stay connected with their friends. However, due to the information overload in social networks, it becomes increasingly difficult for users to find useful information. This paper takes Facebook-like social networks into account, and models the process of information diffusion under information overload. The term view scope is introduced to model the user information-processing capability under information overload, and the average number of times a message appears in view scopes after it is generated is proposed to characterize the information diffusion efficiency. Through theoretical analysis, we find that factors such as network structure and view scope number have no impact on the information diffusion efficiency, which is a surprising result. To verify the results, we conduct simulations and provide the simulation results, which are consistent with the theoretical analysis results perfectly.


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