Society for Advancement of Management
Volume 84 Edition 2 | Spring 2019
U.S. Economic Recession, Changes in Strategic Behaviors, and Performance of Asian Firms
Darshana D. Palkar, TeWhan Hahn, and Ravi Chinta
This study is an extension of Hahn et al. (2018) who investigated the changes in strategic behaviors of U.S. firms in times of economic recession and the impact of those changes in strategic behaviors on subsequent period performance. This study adopts a similar event study methodology using a sample of Asian firms to investigate the nature of the effects of the U.S. economic recession on Asian firms. Based on 10,475 firms in 10 Asian countries, the results show that firms in Asia exhibit similar changes in strategy variables, and those changes have a significant effect on the subsequent period performance. In addition, this study finds that the impact of changes in strategy variables on subsequent period performance is stronger among more financially constrained firms than among less financially constrained firms. The latter can be ascribed to the lack of slack resources serving as buffer during the aftermath of the U.S. economic recession for less financially constrained firms.
Too Many Hens in the Hen House? When Too Many Women in a Workgroup Becomes Counterproductive
Katherine J. Roberto and Erin Longoria
Over the past 70 years, more females are joining the workforce and narrowing the employment participation gap with men. There are 74.6 million women in the workforce accounting for 47% of total US employment (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017). With the stigmas of female-dominated industries, the authors examines whether there is a limit to the number of women in a workgroup that can become counterproductive. Using employees in administrative roles from a single public university, findings showed that negative attitudes about women in the workplace lead to lowered perceptions of workgroup group performance. Also, perceived incivility lead to lower levels of perceived workgroup performance and job satisfaction. Further, the greater the number of women in the group, the more pronounced the effects. The implications for managers and organizations are discussed within.
The Moderated Effect of Gender on Time to Completion of Online Dissertations
Ravi Chinta, Vijay Raghavan, and Rebecca Abraham
Social identity theory perceives a group as consisting of a collection of individuals, who derive self-reference from their membership in the group. Such social cohesion may assist women in taking advantage of resources to succeed, or in confronting challenges. For women enrolled in online doctoral programs, these resources or challenges may assist or impede them from completing their dissertations in a timely fashion, including type of doctoral program, graduation year, ethnicity, availability of financial aid, state or province, version of the doctoral program, citizenship, the number of dissertation chairs, the awarding of veterans’ benefits, and previous degree preparation. Based on a sample of 3,106 completed doctoral dissertations, an analysis of variance showed that gender parity was achieved in time to complete dissertations on most variables, (with the exception of the number of dissertation chairs), possibly from the strengthening of women’s social identity with respect to these variables. Dissertation completion times for women exceeded those of men with frequent changes in dissertation chairs, possibly from the disruption of established relationships.
Tesla in Texas: Showdown Over Showrooms
Andrew Johnson and Anita Reed
This manuscript examines an entrepreneurial firm, Tesla Inc., in its challenge to bring valuable, innovative products to the Texas market under nonmarket conditions that prohibit or extremely limit the firm’s ability to carry out their innovative business model. Nonmarket strategy can be a critical component of the overall strategy of firms. Following a brief examination of Tesla’s overall strategy and challenges, the case is discussed in terms of historical context, five forces theory, and corporate political activity.
