Publications

Peer-reviewed journal publications

Abstract

The ability of multi-business firms to redeploy resources across businesses is a principal source of corporate advantage, as evidenced by a plethora of theoretical and empirical research. However, extant theory is silent in clarifying how resource redeployability might impact competitive behavior of rivals. Redeployability reduces irreversible commitments, which have long been recognized to deter rivalry, allow privileged access to scarce resources, and sustain a valuable strategic position. This raises a tension between the flexibility advantages and potential commitment disadvantages from redeployability. Using a dynamic computational model, we explore the competitive conditions under which redeployability can be advantageous or detrimental to long-term value. In addition to enhancing our understanding of the boundary conditions around the value of resource redeployability, this study also has implications for real option models and the broader dynamic capabilities literature.

Abstract

While prior upper echelon research has shown that overconfident CEOs are beneficial for innovation, less is known about how firms can harness the benefits of these CEOs for breakthrough innovations. To extend this stream of research, we identify crucial board characteristics that enable firms to benefit from overconfident CEOs in the context of promoting breakthrough innovations. Using longitudinal data of US high-tech firms, our results emphasize that overconfident CEOs guided by boards with expertise and power strongly outperform fellow CEOs who are monitored by boards lacking either or both of these characteristics. By theorizing and empirically demonstrating how powerful expert boards are important for firms to profit from their CEO's overconfidence, our study provides important contributions to the CEO overconfidence, corporate board, and breakthrough innovation literatures.

Abstract

Whether diversified firms have advantages over their single-business counterparts is the focus of much research in strategic management. Indeed, there is sparse evidence that corporate advantage exists, on average. We explore one potential driver of corporate advantage—that multi-business firms have more flexibility than single-business firms to cope with uncertainty, because they can internally redeploy resources across businesses. Using Compustat data, we show that uncertainty increases the relative advantage of multi-business firms, a finding robust to controls for endogeneity. Consequently, the paper provides important insight and evidence around when corporate advantage might obtain. Moreover, we find that growth option value is accentuated in the presence of switching flexibility. Finally, multi-business firms with redeployment experience and businesses with more inversely correlated returns benefit more from uncertainty.

Abstract

This article explores one important way in which multi-business firms have advantages over single-business firms. By having flexibility to reallocate resources, such as human capital, production capacity, or equipment, between businesses in their portfolio, they may be able to efficiently expand in markets with strong opportunities and contract in less attractive markets. We provide empirical evidence confirming that compared to single-business firms in the same industry and of the same size, businesses in multi-business firms expand revenues 12% more aggressively, and retrench revenues 37% more aggressively, on average. This first generalizable test of the theory also reveals that the relative advantage of multi-business firms escalates with lower internal resource adjustment costs, higher external transaction costs, and greater opportunity differences with the portfolio.

Abstract

Recent research indicates that CEOs’ temporal focus (the degree to which individuals attend to the past, present, and future) is a critical predictor for strategic outcomes. Building on paradox theory and the attention-based view, we examine the implications of CEOs’ past and future focus for strategic change. Results from polynomial regression analysis reveal that CEOs who cognitively embrace both the past and the future at the same time engage more in strategic change. In addition, our results reveal that the positive strategic change−firm performance relationship is enhanced when CEOs’ past focus is high, whereas CEOs’ future focus mitigates the translation of strategic change into firm performance (when their past focus is low at the same time). In addition, supplemental analyses indicate that the impact of CEOs’ temporal focus turns out differently in stable and dynamic environments. Our study thus extends the literature on both individual’s temporal focus and strategic change.