Hidden Champions and their integration in rural regional innovation systems: Insights from Germany

This article studies the integration of Hidden Champions – little-known highly innovative global market leaders – in rural regional innovation systems (RIS) in Germany. These firms are analyzed in relation to their integration into a RIS framework, which differentiates two subsystems: knowledge generation and diffusion, and knowledge application and exploitation. The relevance of firm-internal and firm-external regional influencing factors on rural RIS integration is examined. The article proposes that Hidden Champions are weakly integrated in RIS due to their international sales focus and high technological specialization. To test this premise, 57 expert interviews with Hidden Champions and regional actors were conducted. It was found that key influences for RIS integration of this firm type are ownership structure, firm size, organizational status, location economies, and urbanization economies. Family businesses are on average more integrated than other firm types, but vary significantly in their integration.

Audit Firm Type and Sustainability Performance: A Study of Quoted Oil and Gas Marketing Companies in Nigeria

The study specifically examines the impact of audit firm types on sustainability performance effort (health care, employment and education) of quoted oil and gas marketing company in Nigeria. The population of the study consists of all the 13 oil and gas marketing companies quoted on the Nigeria Stock Exchange as at end of the year 2020. Secondary data was sourced from the annual reports and accounts of the sampled companies for the period of 5 years (2016-2020). The dependent variables for the study were Sustainability Performance effort proxied by expenditure on education, employment and health care by the oil and gas companies, while the independent variable was audit firm type. A panel regression model was employed for the analysis as the data cuts across different firms over periods. The results revealed that there is no significant relationship between audit firm type and sustainability performance. This is evident from the p-value of 0.554 which is related to audit firm type and health care. Also, the result of the audit firm and education revealed a p-value of 0.422 and that of audit firm type and employment 0.364. This result provided a basis for rejecting all the hypotheses. The study therefore, recommends that the oil and gas companies should continue to undertake their responsibility in the sustainability performance without any reference to whether they are being audited by any type of audit firm

The Inferred Determinants of Employees’ Turnover Intention: A Comparison between Japanese and Foreign-Owned Firms in Japan

This study compares the factors that are inferred to directly and indirectly influence the process of determining employees’ turnover intention in Japan. This study focuses on the differences made by firm type, that is, Japanese firms vs. foreign-owned or foreign-affiliated firms. Multiple-group structural equation modeling was attempted by applying factors such as perceived organizational support, the positiveness of a worker, firm-specific skills, organizational commitment, perception of career opportunities within the current firm and in other firms, and turnover intention. It was found that the inferred determinants of turnover intention differed by firm type; specifically, career prospects, either internal or external, do not directly affect turnover intention in Japanese firms. For workers in foreign firms, positivity is significantly higher than that of Japanese firms. Positivity plays a crucial role in both firms; moreover, our study provides supporting evidence of the existence of sub-markets in Japan and shows that the transition of workers from foreign-owned to Japanese firms might be rare.

Antecedents of Stage-wise Investment Preferences of Venture Capital and Private Equity Firms in India: An Empirical Exploration

This article is a maiden attempt at exploring determinants of stage-specific investment choices of Indian venture capital and private equity (VCPE) firms. Analysis of 5,782 VCPE investment deals during 1998–2016 shows that firms’ preferences to invest in various stages (early vs. late) are significantly affected by the characteristics of the VCPE firms, features of the deal, and characteristics of the investee firms. More specifically, experience and ownership (foreign vs. domestic) of VCPE firm, type of deal (syndicated or otherwise), investment size of the deal, and location and industry of the investee firm influence the stage of investment. Detailed empirical analysis shows that younger VCPE firms and those with domestic investors prefer to invest in early stages, presumably because they wish to build a reputation and also leverage their proximity with investee firms to manage high market and technological risks associated with early-stage investments. Syndication is another mechanism used to manage the risks associated with early-stage deals. Investee firms in industries that have lower investment requirements or shorter gestation periods and those located in regions with a mature entrepreneurial ecosystems are more likely to attract early-stage investments. JEL Classification: G24, L26, D81

Marketing Strategies Used by U.S. Landscape Services Firms

The landscape service sector is an important part of the environmental horticulture industry. However, research addressing factors impacting its business and marketing practices are scarce. This manuscript uses data collected via online and mail industry surveys in 2014 and 2019 to investigate U.S. landscape service firms’ advertising and marketing practices and different factors that influence their business strategies by firm type and size. Product mix, advertising method, and the importance of different business factors were impacted by firm type. Landscape service only firms had the most diverse product offerings, while firms with wholesale production had the least diversity. Landscape service only firms primarily used in-person and telephone advertising, while firms with wholesale production used a broader swath of advertising medias to reach a more diversified clientele. Overall, weather and labor-related factors had the most impact on landscaping firms’ business practices. Larger firms perceived labor factors as more important than smaller firms.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Profitability: The Moderating Role of Firm Type in Chinese Appliance Listed Companies

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is among the dominant multi-attribute methods of comprehensively representing the competitiveness of a company. A large number of studies have commonly found that profitability can positively affect CSR. However, positivity depends on firm type and the economy, and there is little research in this area. The objective of this paper is to study and verify whether the profitability of different types of companies has a comparable impact on CSR measures in Chinese appliance listed companies. A specific multi-attribute AHP (analytic hierarchy process) model was proposed to determine the CSR for the conditions of Chines appliance listed companies. The interactive regression model serves to analyse the impact of a firm type. The specific multi-attribute AHP model was verified as a suitable tool for CSR evaluation of Chines appliance listed companies. The regression results show that for family firms, the impact of profitability on CSR is significant, while for non-family firms, the impact was not confirmed. Thus, evidence that family firms fulfil better CSR than non-family firms in the investigated Chinese sector is offered. The findings provide proof that it is essential to distinguish firm types, and the generalised findings are simplified and not valid.

Corporate boards and firm performance: a meta-analytic approach to examine the impact of contextual factors

PurposeCorporation's board (CB) is viewed as a vital internal corporate governance (CG) mechanism, playing a critical role in mitigating the agency problems and enhancing firm performance. Considering the mixed nature of extant CG literature on CB-firm performance link, this study aims to examine the impact of specific CB attributes on firm performance studied in varied contextual settings and investigates the moderating effects of three contextual factors, i.e. legal origin, industry type and firm type on CB-performance relationships.Design/methodology/approachMeta-analysis technique suggested by Hedges and Olkin (1985) was used to analyse a sample of 330 effect sizes reported in 148 studies published between 2000 and 2020 in 85 peer-viewed journals, studying CB-performance associations across 31 countries. The analyses were conducted in two stages: first, the authors assessed the main effect of CB attributes on firm performance and tested the heterogeneity in effect size across the primary studies. In the next stage, the authors investigated the moderating variables accounting for this heterogeneity in the CB-firm performance relationship.FindingsBoard independence, board diversity, board size and role duality are the CB attributes, which significantly and positively impact firm performance. Further, the homogeneity tests revealed variability in effect size for all CB attributes except for board committees. Subgroup meta-analyses revealed that the contextual factors related to industry-type and firm-type are substantial explanatory source of heterogeneity in CB-performance association, though legal origin of firm also partially explains the heterogeneity in this relationship.Research limitations/implicationsOnly empirical research reporting Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients(r), as the effect size, were considered for this study. Some of the other CB attributes such as board composition, compensation structure of board members, performance evaluation and appointment process of board members were not included due to limited empirical research on these attributes.Practical implicationsThe paper includes implications for managers and policy makers for the development of effective corporate boards and CG mechanisms.Originality/valueThis paper integrates diverse empirical evidence on the associations of CB attributes with firm performance and systematically assesses the moderating factors that contributes to heterogeneity in these relationships.

Untangling the Impact of Green Finance on the Enterprise Green Performance: A Meta-Analytic Approach

In recent years, with sustainable development strategies, the conflict between economic development and natural resources has become increasingly severe. Meanwhile, green finance’s emergence is due to the rethinking of human economic activities under global warming conditions and the energy crisis. Thus, this study aims to analyze the relationship between green finance and enterprise green performance using a meta-analytic approach. This study has used Comprehensive Meta-Analysis Software (CMA) 2.0 for meta-analysis and applied the Hunter and Schmidt model for statistical analysis to test the proposed hypotheses. This study finds a significant positive correlation between green finance and enterprise green performance and proves that firm type and region play a moderating role in the relationship between green finance and enterprise green performance. However, profitability does not significantly moderate the relationship between green finance and enterprise green performance.