The impact of servitization on the environmental and social performance in manufacturing firms

PurposeThis study aims to examine how servitization affects the environmental and social performance of manufacturing firms.Design/methodology/approachThe hypotheses are tested using fixed-effect panel models based on secondary data of 1,413 manufacturing firms publicly listed in the USA.FindingsResults show that servitization is positively related to the social performance of manufacturing firms; this positive relationship is more prominent under high levels of human resource slack. However, the impact of servitization on environmental performance depends on the level of absorptive capacity and human resource slack. Servitization improves environmental performance under high levels of absorptive capacity and human resource slack, while this positive impact is insignificant under low levels of absorptive capacity and human resource slack.Research limitations/implicationsThe study focuses on the degree (depth) of servitization but ignores the scope of services provided by manufacturing firms (breadth of servitization).Practical implicationsThis research suggests that servitization is an effective way of achieving simultaneous improvements in environmental and social performance. However, high levels of absorptive capacity and human resource slack are needed to achieve this goal.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the servitization literature by demonstrating the environmental and social sustainability benefits of servitization. The findings also highlight the crucial role of absorptive capacity and human resource slack on improving environmental and social performance through servitization.

Ambidexterity in micro and small firms: Can competitive intelligence compensate for size constraints?

Ambidexterity has been linked to firm structures that are typical of organizations with a larger size. However, further research is needed to analyze whether the effect of firm size on ambidexterity is contingent on other aspects. We argue that micro and small firms that have developed some competitive intelligence routines (CIRs) may foster ambidextrous behavior and compensate for the limitations arising from a smaller size and lack of resources. We test our proposal on a sample of 200 firms in the furniture sector. Our results show that CIRs compensate for size constraints in that size is no longer a relevant variable to increase ambidextrous behavior in firms that achieve higher levels in these routines. Our results provide new and important insights into how ambidexterity may be fostered in small firms that lack resource slack or the ability to use separate units to develop knowledge exploration and exploitation activities. JEL CLASSIFICATION: M10, M21, O3

The Fed will be very cautious about policy tightening

Significance The Fed targets an average annual inflation rate of 2% but, under its 2020 monetary policy framework, will tolerate a moderate overshoot to make up for past low inflation. The Fed has been willing to let the economy ‘run hot’ to sustain the post-pandemic recovery. Impacts Inflation pressures and expectations will be only one guide to Fed policy; the path of the public health crisis will weigh more. As policy is now anchored on CPI expectations, a miscommunication of its next move would hurt the Fed more than the 2013 'taper tantrum'. Structural economic transformation is making CPI less sensitive to resource slack, complicating the assessment of inflationary pressures. If high inflation takes hold, the necessary high interest rates will strain the government’s ability to service its record deficits.

The Implications of Organizational Slack-Resources Heterogeneity toward CSR Expenditures

Research aims: This study aims to prove the alleged effect of organizational resource slack on corporate social responsibilities (CSR) expenditures. The types of organizational resource slack examined in this study were financial slack, human resource slack, and innovational slack. This research was conducted in the mining sector and basic and chemical industries listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange during 2015-2019.Design/Methodology/Approach: Non-probability sampling technique with purposive sampling method was as the sampling method. It consisted of 13 companies with a total of 54 samples of observations. Hypothesis testing used multiple linear regression.Research findings: The results showed that financial slack had a negative effect on CSR expenditures. It supports agency theory used as a theoretical basis regarding management's tendency to manage slack over organizational resources. However, this study could not show the effect of human resource slack and innovational slack on CSR expenditures.Theoretical contribution/Originality: This study's results constitute empirical evidence related to agency theory explaining the effect of financial slack on CSR expenditures.Practitioner/Policy implication: This study’s results can illustrate the management’s tendency to allocate funds for CSR by considering the slack of various types of organizational resources. Improvements related to the implementation of Law No. 40 of 2007 about the responsibility of limited liability companies to carry out social and environmental responsibility also need to be concerned by the regulator.Research Limitation/Implication: The limitations in this study that can be considered for future research are related to very limited research data for certain variables. The data’s availability related to CSR costs and research and development costs included in the annual report is very limited, so the number of samples processed was limited.

The effects of liking for activities on perceived spare time

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine individuals’ subjective perception of spare time available for activities that are more or less attractive. Design/methodology/approach Three experiments with adult samples manipulate liking of activity and temporal distance and assess the resulting predicted time available. Findings The authors demonstrate that individuals’ subjective perception of spare time is influenced by how much they like or dislike the activities they plan for. Individuals perceive they have more spare time for activities they like than ones they dislike. The strength of individuals’ liking for activities has more impact on perceived spare time available for liked activities than for disliked ones. These effects are attenuated by individuals’ propensity to plan. Originality/value Understanding the effect of spare time perception contributes to the literature on resource slack and provides insights into individuals’ planning for time.

The effect of downsizing on innovation outputs: The role of resource slack and constraints

Although the practice of downsizing is prevalent, its effects on organisational outcomes remain poorly understood. This article examines how and when downsizing affects organisational innovation. Using a unique data set of UK firms over a period of 22 years, we test the effect of downsizing on innovation outputs by considering the moderating role of resource slack and constraints. We argue and empirically demonstrate that downsizing has a dual effect on innovation, contingent on the firm’s level of resources. Our results reveal that downsizing affects innovation outputs positively in firms experiencing resource slack and negatively in firms experiencing resource constraints. We also show that the effect is more immediate in resource-constrained firms. Theoretical and managerial implications of these results are discussed. JEL Classification: J63, L25, M51, O32

How young companies can effectively manage their slack resources over time to ensure sales growth: the contingent role of value-based selling

This research aims to bridge the entrepreneurship and marketing/sales literature streams by studying how young firms enable their resource endowments using value-based selling. Drawing on effectuation logic, the authors examine how young firms can achieve sales growth by using human and financial resource slack during the early years of their existence and accounting for the impact of the variability of these resources over time. The integrated framework and hypotheses are tested using unique, multisource (survey and objective archival) longitudinal panel data from 71 young firms covering a seven-year period. As anticipated, the findings show that both financial and human resource slack are negatively related to young firms’ sales growth over time and that financial resource slack variability exerts a positive impact and human resource slack variability exerts a (nonsignificant) negative impact. The results also confirm the importance of value-based selling as a guiding mechanism that significantly alters the effects of both types of resource slack and their variability over time. While value-based selling can help a young firm use slack to grow more effectively, it also has a dark side in that it can stand in the way of risk taking.