Cut me some slack! An exploration of slack resources and technology-mediated human capital investments in entrepreneurship

PurposeIn this paper, the authors explore the relationship that slack resources and technology-mediated human capital investments can have on individuals’ entrepreneurial intentions. Focusing on human capital investments that individuals make through education and work, the authors analyze the relationship among formal online learning opportunities, informal skill development in the gig economy and entrepreneurial intentions.Design/methodology/approach Leveraging a novel dataset that merges administrative tax data with a survey of over 8,528 low- and moderate income (LMI) households, this study uses machine learning and propensity score weighting to examine the likelihood that individuals who make these technology-mediated human capital investments will have increased odds of entrepreneurial intentions when compared to similar individuals who do not make these investments.Findings The authors find that both partaking in online learning and working in the gig economy are significantly associated with increased odds of entrepreneurial intentions. Furthermore, through a variety of robustness and mechanism checks, the authors find that technology-mediation is an important factor in these relationships and that informal skill development and career preparation is one way in which gig employment influences entrepreneurial intentions.Research limitations/implications As the study’s data come from a cross-sectional survey, the authors cannot make causal inferences about the relationship between online learning, gig employment and entrepreneurial intentions. Thus, future research should explore sources of longitudinal data.Practical implications This study has practical implication for individuals and policymakers that seek to increase entrepreneurship among LMI households.Originality/value Despite a wealth of research on the relationships among slack resources, technology and innovation at the firm level, there is little of this research at the individual level – especially among LMI individuals. The authors begin to fill this important gap.

Top Management Team Stability and Corporate Social Responsibility: The Moderating Effects of Performance Aspiration Gap and Organisational Slack

Although studies on the impact of senior executives on corporate social responsibility (CSR) are relatively sufficient, they take a static perspective when investigating the different attitudes of senior executives towards fulfilling social responsibility. Few studies consider the impact of the dynamic changes in a top management team (TMT) on sustainable corporate development, especially social responsibility. We perform regression analysis on 2010–2019 data from Chinese listed firms to examine the relationship between TMT stability and CSR performance and consider the moderating roles of the performance aspiration gap and slack resources. We find that TMT stability has a positive impact on CSR performance and that the performance aspiration gap and slack resources negatively moderate the relationship between TMT stability and CSR performance. This study expands the current literature on the relationship between TMT characteristics and social responsibility, sheds light on what situations can cause agency problems, and provides practical guidance for the sustainable development of a firm and adequate performance of CSR.

Pengaruh Profitabilitas, Agresivitas Pajak dan Slack Resources Terhadap Pengungkapan Corporate Social Responsibility

Penelitian ini ditujukan untuk mengetahui bukti empiris terkait faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi pengungkapan corporate social responsibility dimana menggunakan profitabilitas, agresivitas pajak dan slack resources sebagai variabel independen. Perusahaan barang konsumsi yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia periode tahun 2017-2019 menjadi objek penelitian ini dengan jumlah sampel yang diperoleh 81 sampel. Pengujian dengan memanfaatkan software versi 11 memperoleh hasil bahwa secara simultan profitabilitas, agresivitas pajak, dan slack resources berpengaruh terhadap pengungkapan corporate social responsibility. Secara parsial memperoleh hasil bahwa profitabilitas berpengaruh positif, dan agresivitas pajak serta slack resources tidak memiliki pengaruh terhadap pengungkapan corporate social responsibility. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian ini maka untuk para investor dalam menentukan investasi sebaiknya memilih perusahaan dengan tingkat pengungkapan corporate social responsibility yang baik, dan untuk perusahaan yang masih memiliki nilai pengungkapan yang rendah maka diharapkan untuk meningkatkan kegiatan tanggung jawab sosialnya.

Reacting to a Generalised Crisis. A Theoretical Approach to the Consumption of Slack Resources in Family Firms

Research to date has shown that companies can accumulate resources over those strictly needed in order to overcome the uncertainty associated to a crisis. But the usage, redeployment, or consumption of this excess of resources when facing an adverse environment is yet underexplored. As suggested by the literature, the condition of family business can exert an important effect in such behaviour. This paper proposes a theoretical framework, focused on family business, about how firms manage the different slack resources when facing a general crisis. We make a call on family business scholars to leverage our propositions and the existing literature on slack resources to develop a guidance for family owners when facing an economic downturn.

Exploring the effects of slack resources and internationalisation on innovation performance: a study of software development MNCs

<p>Intensive international business research has already been done on knowledge, networking and strategic orientation, with regard to what shapes innovation performance. Looking at the existing achievements, however, it appears that little attention has been devoted to how tangible resources and internationalisation could change firms' innovation performance. To address these research gaps, this thesis intends to incorporate the slack resource theory and multinationality construct into the international business (IB) research of innovation. Through introducing the former, the study seeks to illustrate how slack, yet tangible, resources could change firms' innovation behaviours, decision-making and performance. Through introducing the latter, the study seeks to present how internationalisation could contribute to firms' innovation performance in three conceivable ways. By combining these two theoretical constructs, the study forms a conceptual model and four separate research hypotheses. The hypotheses were tested using the financial data collected from 67 internationalised software development firms. The results showed slack resources and internationalisation to be two highly influential factors that shape firm' innovation performance. In particular, a linear and positive relationship was found between slack resource, high- and low-discretion, and innovation performance. Furthermore, firms' degree of internationalisation (DOI) was found to bear a positive relationship to innovation performance. Lastly, firms' DOI was found to interact positively with high-discretion slack resources in shaping innovation performance. Potential implications of this study could enrich the IB research of innovation, extend the slack resource research of innovation and enrich the multinationality studies of innovation.</p>

Exploring the effects of slack resources and internationalisation on innovation performance: a study of software development MNCs

<p>Intensive international business research has already been done on knowledge, networking and strategic orientation, with regard to what shapes innovation performance. Looking at the existing achievements, however, it appears that little attention has been devoted to how tangible resources and internationalisation could change firms' innovation performance. To address these research gaps, this thesis intends to incorporate the slack resource theory and multinationality construct into the international business (IB) research of innovation. Through introducing the former, the study seeks to illustrate how slack, yet tangible, resources could change firms' innovation behaviours, decision-making and performance. Through introducing the latter, the study seeks to present how internationalisation could contribute to firms' innovation performance in three conceivable ways. By combining these two theoretical constructs, the study forms a conceptual model and four separate research hypotheses. The hypotheses were tested using the financial data collected from 67 internationalised software development firms. The results showed slack resources and internationalisation to be two highly influential factors that shape firm' innovation performance. In particular, a linear and positive relationship was found between slack resource, high- and low-discretion, and innovation performance. Furthermore, firms' degree of internationalisation (DOI) was found to bear a positive relationship to innovation performance. Lastly, firms' DOI was found to interact positively with high-discretion slack resources in shaping innovation performance. Potential implications of this study could enrich the IB research of innovation, extend the slack resource research of innovation and enrich the multinationality studies of innovation.</p>

Sustainability and short-term profitability in the agri-food sector, a cross-sectional time-series investigation on global corporations

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate whether being sustainable is also profitable for agri-food companies in the short-term.Design/methodology/approachThe study analysed the impacts of sustainability multiple issues on one-year lagged return on assets, developing a longitudinal analysis focused on best and worst companies' samples for a timeframe of ten years. Notably, we performed OLS regressions on unbalanced panels data collecting overall 1,760 annual observations from 318 companies. Moreover, we examined the moderating effects of slack resources on the relationship between sustainability and the short-term firms' profitability.FindingsThe results show that the best sustainable companies usually improve future profitability. Conversely, the worst ones should prioritize efforts in specific initiatives (i.e. responsible products, eco-innovation, management and governance commitment to sustainability), which positively affect their profitability and compensate possible short-term financial losses due to CSR strategy execution and sustainable production/supply chain management. Finally, the study found mixed results regarding the moderating effects of slack resources on the scrutinized relationships.Practical implicationsThe paper highlights the key environmental, social and governance aspects to be addressed for consolidating and enhancing the virtuous relationship between non-financial and financial performance, distinguishing between best and worst sustainability performers.Originality/valueThis study is among the first that decomposed sustainability in multiple micro aspects (i.e. sustainable strategy, products and processes) investigating the effects of each of them on the short-term agri-food firms' profitability.

EXPRESS: Unbundling the Effects of Internationalization on Firm Performance in Emerging Economies: The Moderating Effects of Strategic Resource Decisions

We investigate how strategic resource decisions—concerning slack resources and strategic marketing ambidexterity—influence the relationship between internationalization and firm performance of emerging market firms. Based upon the resource-based view, we synthesize two dominant, yet divergent, perspectives that explain the respective resource slack advantages and liabilities in the internationalization literature: the flexible capacity and the efficient capacity perspectives. We also explore the moderating role of strategic marketing ambidexterity which comprises a bundle of marketing activities covering both exploitation-dominant actions and exploration-dominant actions. We empirically examine our hypothesized relationships with data from a sample of 1,683 firm-year observations for the period between 2005 and 2018 and find that distinct forms of resource slacks have contrasting effects on the relationship between internationalization and performance. Our results provide strong evidence for positive moderation effect of unabsorbed slack resources and a negative moderation effect of absorbed slack resources on the internationalization-performance relationship. We also indicate nonsignificant moderating effect of strategic marketing ambidexterity, demonstrating that internationalization attains higher firm performance regardless of its exploration-dominant or exploitation-dominant strategic emphasis in emerging economies.

Slack resources, free cash flow and corporate social responsibility expenditure: evidence from an emerging economy

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate whether financial resource allocation decisions for corporate social responsibility (CSR) depends on slack resources and free cash flow.Design/methodology/approachThe study's sample consists of 202 company-year observations from 51 financial institutions over the period 2015–2019. The authors collected CSR data from CSR review reports published by the Central Bank (Bangladesh Bank). The financial and governance data are collected from corporate annual reports and year-end review reports published by the Dhaka Stock Exchange. This study uses both the random-effect and generalized estimating equation models to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe authors establish two key findings consistent with the predictions of slack resource theory and free cash flow theory. First, the authors find a significant and positive relationship between slack resources and CSR expenditure. This result also supports the traditional thinking about corporate giving – that doing well enables doing good. Second, the author show that increases in free cash flow are associated with increases in CSR expenditure. This indicates the presence of agency problems between managers and shareholders regarding CSR expenditure.Originality/valueThis study is the first to show the positive impacts of slack resources and free cash flow on CSR expenditure in an emerging economy characterized by both capital constraints and high salience of CSR expenditure. The study has important implications for regulators, advocacy groups, shareholders and analysts in emerging economies that share similar contextual characteristics.