Spinoffs’ alliance network growth beyond parental ties: performance diminishing, then performance enhancing

Spinoff firms are a common phenomenon in entrepreneurship where employees leave incumbent parent firms to found their own. Like other types of new firms, such new spinoffs face liabilities of newness and smallness. Previous research has emphasised the role of the initial endowments from their parent firm to overcome such liabilities. In this study, we argue and are the first to show, that, in addition to such endowments, growing an alliance network with firms other than their parents’ is also critical for spinoff performance. Specifically, we investigate the performance effect of alliance network growth in newly founded spinoffs using a longitudinal sample of 248 spinoffs and 3370 strategic alliances in the mining industry. Drawing on theory based on the resource adjustment costs of forming alliances, we posit and find a U-shaped relationship between the alliance network growth and spinoff performance, above and beyond the parent firm’s influence. We further hypothesise and find that performance effects become stronger with increased time lags between alliance network growth and spinoff performance, and when spinoffs delay growing their alliance networks. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Administrative internal control system and performance effect

The study focused on effect of admin internal control on performance in telecommunications industry in South South and South East Nigeria. The study employed a descriptive survey research design. Instrument adopted for the study is a structured questionnaire based on simple random sampling method. In addition, interview was also employed to serve as a compliment for the questionnaire. Reliability of the research instrument was tested using the Cronbach Alpha method which revealed that the instrument is reliable. The result of Durbin Watson revealed that the data is free from autocorrelation. Data analysis was done using both descriptive and inferential analysis technique. Descriptive statistics was used to give insight on the respondents profile while inferential statistics was used in the conducting of hypotheses. The five research questions for the study were analyzed using multiple regression model. The study shows that the five null hypotheses were rejected while the five alternative hypotheses were accepted (organization’s internal control environment (p=0.000<0.05, ?=0.890); risk assessment (p=0.000<0.05, ?=0.242); control activities (p=0.001<0.05, ?=0.092); information and communication (p=0.000<0.05, ?=0.115); monitoring (p=0.000<0.05, ?=0.307)). The study concluded that organization’s internal control environment, risk assessment, control activities, information and communication, and monitoring aid and has a positive influence on organizational performance.

Assessing the impact of environmental management systems on corporate and environmental performance

The interests of companies have increased to reduce or remove the waste produced during the manufacture, usage and/or disposal of the goods of the company. The necessity for such activities has been prioritised, while current research attempts to uncover the components which promote or dissuade such actions. With the advent of ISO 14001 corporate environmental management systems became the focus of attention (EMS). The basic premise is that such a system is crucial for the capacity of an enterprise to decrease waste and pollution and improve its overall performance concurrently. In this research, this assumption is assessed. Based on the data given by North American executives surveys, their behavior towards EMS and ISO 14001, the research evaluates the relative impacts of a formal but not certified EMS compared to a formal, certified system. The findings show firmly that companies with a formal EMS perceive well beyond pollution reduction and that the effect on many aspects of operating performance is critically favorable. The findings indicate that companies that have received EMS certification have a higher performance effect than companies that do not have their EMS certification. Moreover, experience with these systems has a larger effect on the selection and usage of environmental choices over time. These findings show the necessity to investigate deeper EMS, the environmental choices of a company and the direct and indirect connections between these systems and performance.

THE IMPACT OF INDUSTRY REVOLUTION 4.0 TOWARDS THE READINESS OF EMPLOYEE IN MANUFACTURING SECTOR IN JOHOR BAHRU, MALAYSIA

Industry Revolution 4.0 is an important upcoming concept for our current manufacturing industry. Industry Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0) can change the manufacturing industry to the next level and also enhance the image of the country. The purpose of this research is to study the readiness of the employees towards the implementation of IR4.0 in manufacturing industries in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The objective of the research is how the technology, changes in consumers’ behaviour and environment, and employee performance effect the readiness of employees in the manufacturing sector to implement IR4.0. The current problems are facing by Malaysia are the dependability of foreign labours for production in manufacturing industries and Malaysian manufacturing growth still stuck in Industry 2.0. This research is a quantitative method and used questionnaires to collect data. Total 333 questionnaires were distributed to manufacturing companies in Johor Bahru. Based on the regression analysis result, the relationship between the changes in consumers’ behaviour and environment and employee performance is compatible with the readiness of employees in implementing IR4.0. However, the relationship between technology and the dependent variable was less compatible. Therefore, our country should enhance the usage and level of technology to implement IR4.0 to enhance the readiness of employees in the manufacturing industry.

Effect of poultry absorptive capacity on the farms' economic and commercial performance

PurposeCorporate organizations could enhance their economic and commercial values through knowledge acquisitions and exploitations. The purpose of this study is to analyze the economic and commercial performance effect of poultry management absorptive capacity in Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachStructural equation modeling was used in the analysis of a random sample of 300 poultry managers and owners surveyed within the South-Eastern Nigeria. The scales that quantified the latent variables of the factors were tested for reliability and consistency using confirmatory factor analysis.FindingsThe study found evidence that the difference between economically and commercially viable poultry businesses and failing ones depends on the level of absorptive capacity. Absorptive capacity advanced innovations that resulted in higher economic and commercial performance of poultry farm. Poultry firms' profitability, sales growth and market shares were positively increased by absorptive capacity dimensions of acquisition, assimilation, transformation and exploitation.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was carried out within a region in Nigeria and thus could be limited by generalization to the developed country.Originality/valueThis study is the first to link four dimensions of absorptive capacity to the economic and commercial performance of poultry businesses in Nigeria. As such, it originally breaks new frontier of poultry farming from dynamic capabilities and absorptive capacity perspectives.

The mediating role of relational capital for the academic performance effect of IC: the influence of digital technologies

Purpose Different mechanisms allow intellectual capital (IC) to affect performance. This paper aims to analyze the value of relations for the academic performance effect of IC and explore how the university’s reliance on digital technologies facilitates the contribution of IC to the overall academic performance. Design/methodology/approach The authors develop a model linking elements of IC to academic performance in the form of teaching, research and entrepreneurial activity. The model is centered on relational capital (RC) that is supposed to directly fuel performance and mediate the link between the other two IC dimensions and performance. From a methodological point of view, the authors base the empirical investigation on a sample of Italian public universities and applied structural equation modeling to test the mediation and a group comparison to disentangle the effect of universities’ digitalization. Findings The authors find a significant and positive effect of RC on performance. RC fully mediates the relationship between structural capital and academic performance, whereas it only partially mediates the link between human capital and academic performance. The authors also suggest that digital technologies guide the prominence of the relationship in the university’s ability to fulfill teaching, research and entrepreneurship missions through IC. Originality/value This study offers a representation of how the relational dimension of IC is the mean through which the stock of knowledge inside IC can be translated into entrepreneurial, education and research achievements and how digital technologies are essential for the exploitation of the performance effect of IC in the digital era.

Financial performance of hidden champions: Evidence from German manufacturing firms

Hidden champions are market leaders in niche markets and are an important part of the German Mittelstand. Although the hidden champion phenomenon has received considerable interest in practice, few academic studies on this issue exist. We especially lack evidence on the financial performance of hidden champions. Our study addresses this gap and investigates the profitability of hidden champions. In analyzing a panel dataset of 4677 German manufacturing firms, of which 617 are hidden champions, we find that hidden champions have significantly higher profitability with regard to return on assets but less so regarding return on equity. The hidden champion performance effect on return on assets is valued at 1.7 percentage points. Furthermore, the hidden champion performance effect decreases with firm size. Our paper contributes to the literature on the effect of firm strategy on firm profitability and adds to a better understanding of the hidden champion phenomenon.

Does Poverty Matter for Tax Revenue Performance in Developing Countries?

This article explores the effect of poverty on tax revenue performance (tax revenue share), using an unbalanced panel data set of 102 developing countries over the period from 1996 to 2015. Based on the two-step system generalized methods of moments (GMM) approach, the empirical analysis shows that higher poverty rates significantly reduce tax revenue performance in developing countries. However, the magnitude of this negative effect is lower in least developed countries (LDCs) than in other countries of the sample. The analysis has also revealed that the tax revenue performance effect of poverty depends on the level of household consumption as well as the prevailing unemployment rate in the economy. Finally, development aid inflows help to mitigate the negative effect of poverty on tax revenue performance in developing countries. These findings not only highlight the importance of poverty for tax revenue performance in developing countries, but they additionally show that the provision of higher amounts of development aid to these countries could help them mitigate the adverse tax revenue effect of poverty, and even allow them to enjoy higher tax revenue performance, which is key for attaining their development objectives. JEL Classification: I30, I32, H20