Research Roundup
Funding
Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay has won £43,000 (UoB amount, £19,000) from the College of Policing for a project entitled ‘Embedding CPS Lawyers in Police Public Protection Units - an evaluation of the impact on efficiency and quality of investigations’, together with Eddie Kane, Institute of Mental Health, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (PI) and Jessica Woodhams, University of Birmingham (CI). The project runs from 1st March 2016 until 31st September 2016.
Pervez N Ghauri, with partners from University Lappeenranta and University of Turku, Finland, Oxford University and University of Kent, UK and UNU-MERIT, Netherlands, and others from Brazil, Ghana and India, are part of a collaborative research project funded by the EU’s FP-7 Programme for research, under Grant Agreement No. 612889 with a total value of over €2 million. The project aims to provide a comprehensive framework for understanding the impact of multinational enterprises on United Nations Millennium Development Goals in developing countries. In particular we look at, how MNEs can contribute to the attainment of poverty alleviation, food security, health security and electrification and thereby towards sustainable development. Based on field research in three developing countries; Brazil, Ghana and India our research aims are to:
- Develop a model that describes the relationships between MNEs and the local economies;
- Perform case studies and quantitative analysis to understand the role of MNEs in local development and poverty reduction;
- Analyze the role of public policies in supporting responsible business practices and the sustainable development.
Research events
Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay is about to launch the Centre for Crime, Justice and Policing. The newly established centre brings together a diverse group of researchers who either work in the area of crime, justice and policing or have methodological expertise. With over 40 researchers in UoB who work in these areas, the centre taps the synergies across interests and disciplines to develop a culture of collaborative working leading across disciplines to address some of the big challenges facing the criminal justice sector. To learn more about the centre please visit its website, register for its inaugural workshop on July here or email its director Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay on s.bandyopadhyay@bham.ac.uk.
The Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship (CREME) organised the successful Migration and Entrepreneurship International Conference at the University of Birmingham on 14th April 2016, in collaboration with the Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS). The event was sponsored by DiasporaLink and the European Commission. For more information, see the conference report.
Tom Coogan organised a workshop on Disability and Entrepreneurship in April 2016, funded by the Enterprise and Diversity Research Cluster. The workshop brought together scholars from across the UK working in the field of disability and entrepreneurship, including Debbie Foster (Cardiff Business School), Jannine Williams (University of Bradford School of Management), Nicola Patterson (Newcastle Business School), and Eva Kasperova (Kingston Business School). Both researchers and practitioners with a common interest in the subject were in attendance, and generated a range of questions and issues raised in the concluding panel chaired by Monder Ram. For more information, see the workshop report.
The Financial Resilience Cluster held a successful “Five @ Five” event on 15th June to showcase existing research being undertaken in the cluster. The hour long event saw presentations by Mark Chun (Mandatory Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards and Accounting Quality of Latin American Firms), Samuel Fosu (Opacity, competition, business models and bank risk-taking: Evidence from analysts' forecasts), Viktor Pekar and Paola Paiardini (Text analysis methods for financial sequence prediction), Jairaj Gupta (Empirical Comparison of Hazard Models in Predicting Bankruptcy), and Pei Kuang (How to publish in the Journal of Monetary Economics).
Vivek Soundararajan co-organised two successful, international research events in April and May. Along with Robert Bird and Stephen Park (both University of Connecticut, School of Business), Vivek successfully co-organized an interdisciplinary conference titled ‘‘Public Regulation and Private Governance: Competitors or Collaborators?’ held at University of Connecticut, April 13 -15 2016. The conference was funded by Eversource Energy and University of Connecticut, School of Business.
Together with scholars from University of Manchester, University of Durham, London School of Economics, and University of Marburg, Vivek also co-organized an interdisciplinary workshop titled ‘Global Production Networks and Social Upgrading: Labour and Beyond’ at University of Manchester, May 5-6 2016. The workshop was funded by Brown International Advanced Research Institutes, Brown University and Global Development Institute, University of Manchester.
External engagement
Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay has had his research featured in the media. The Times of India, one of the world's largest selling daily papers, discusses his research which analyses how India's guaranteed rural employment scheme (NREGA) affects crimes against women. The research is joint with his ex PhD Student Dr. Sofia Amaral (currently at the University of Essex) and Dr. Rudra Sensarma, a faculty member at the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode (one of India's top business schools). For more information visit the Times of India website and the Journal of Interdisciplinry Economics website.
Andy Hodder was invited to speak at the Trades Union Congress in June 2016. The session entitled ‘Re-thinking Organising - Unions and Young Workers’ saw the launch of Andy’s research, funded by the TUC, examining the attitudes of young people towards unions and collective action. Other speakers included Paul Nowak, Deputy General Secretary of the TUC, Fern McCaffrey, Chair of the TUC Young Workers Forum, and Simon Sapper of CWU.
The Diversity & Inclusion Business Council of the BBA (the leading trade association for the UK banking sector) has published a new policy paper outlining seven key initiatives that could help businesses run by ethnic minorities and women (EMWs) realise their full growth potential. The Council is co-chaired by Monder Ram. For more information, visit the CREME website.
Stan Siebert addressed MPs and industry experts on the UK’s Skills Problem on 10th May, 2016. For more information, see the Industry and Parliament Trust website.
Tony Yates has made numerous appearances in the media recently, relating to the EU referendum. This includes references to Tony’s work in Prospect, The Economist, The Telegraph, and the BBC’s Daily Politics show. For full details, see Tony's website.
Awards and activities
Amon Chizema was awarded the 2016 Jean Perrien Award of the Best Paper on Financial Services by The Administrative Sciences Association of Canada. The paper, entitled ‘Transparency, Trust and Performance in the Micro Finance Industry’ won a prize of $500.
Jane Glover has won the 2015 Family Business Review Best Article Award for her paper on how family farms operate under constrained financial circumstances. Entitled, 'Sustaining the Family Business With Minimal Financial Rewards: How Do Family Farms Continue?', the paper was published in 2015 and co-authored by Professor Trish Reay from the University of Alberta, Canada. For more information, see the Business School website.
Michael Mol will be joining the Editorial Board of the Academy of Management Journal for a three-year term from 1st July 2016.
Shlomo Tarba has accepted an invitation by the editor-in-chief Jonathan Doh to join the editorial review board of Journal of World Business.
Publications
Samuel Fosu has had a paper published in the International Review of Financial Analysis.
Fosu, S., Danso, A., Ahmad, W. and Coffie, W. (2016) ‘Information asymmetry, leverage and firm value: Do crisis and growth matter?’, International Review of Financial Analysis, 46, 140-150.
Abstract: Drawing on pecking order and agency cost theories, we assess the extent to which information asymmetry is an important determinant of firm value and the extent to which this relationship is conditional on the leverage level of firms. We also assess the impact of information asymmetry on firm value during the pre and post 2007/09 financial crisis period and for high and low growth opportunity firms. Using a large sample of UK firms, our empirical findings suggest that information asymmetry adversely impacts firm value, and that this effect decreases with firm's leverage. We also find that leverage has a negative effect on firm value, and that the marginal effect of leverage is lower for information asymmetric firms. Further, we find that the relation between information asymmetry and firm value is more pronounced in the post-crisis period than the pre-crisis period. Finally, we show that the impact of information asymmetry on firm value is higher (lower) for firms with high (low) growth opportunities.
Pervez Ghauri has had a number of papers accepted for publication. Full details are listed below.
Ghauri, P.; Wang, F.; Elg, U. and Rosendo-Rios, V. ‘Market Driving Strategies: Beyond Localization’, Journal of Business Research, doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.04.107
Abstract: Adaptation to local customer preferences may result in a more rapid market acceptance, and market orientation studies often propound that firms need to closely monitor changes in the marketplace and adapt to customer needs in order to enhance firm performance (Slater & Narver, 1995). However, firms operating in multiple markets may choose minimal adaptation to local market trends in favor of introducing proprietary value propositions that satisfy customers' latent needs (Ghauri, Elg, Tarnovskaya, & Wang, 2011; Harris & Cai, 2002). Scholars suggest that such firms are “market driving” (Jaworski, Kohli, & Sahay, 2000). This paper investigates how firms can be market driving in foreign markets. Findings suggest that market driving firms tend to possess certain capabilities in order to reconcile conflicting demands in the local markets and company strategies at the global level. Using network, knowledge transfer, branding and market orientation literature, the present study provides evidence on the capabilities that global firms possess in order to drive markets. Based on a survey of 110 international companies, this study shows that strong capabilities in configuration, networking, knowledge transfer and internal branding can lead to market driving behavior. This study is the first to carry out a systematic investigation of market driving behavior in international firms.
Lee, J-Y. and Ghauri, P. N. “The Interplay of Mahalanobis Distance and Firm Capabilities on MNC Subsidiaries Exit from Host Countries”, Management International Review, DOI: 10.1007/s11575-016-0287-6
Tassavori, M., Ghauri, P. and Zaefarian, R. “Antecedents and outcomes of entering the BoP market in India: A corporate social entrepreneurship perspective”, International Marketing Review, DOI: org/10.1108/IMR-03-2014.0085
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the international market expansion of multinational corporations (MNCs) to the base of the pyramid (BoP). The authors employ the corporate social entrepreneurship (CSE) perspective to reveal how MNCs can enter this market, the key enabling factors and the benefits they can gain. CSE is related to entrepreneurial and marketing strategies that are inspired by social responsibility. An exploratory, qualitative multiple-case study has been employed. In-depth interviews were conducted with managers from three MNCs that have entered the BoP market in India. The findings of this research confirm that successful entry into the BoP requires the pursuit of social responsibility and the adaptation of marketing strategies. In addition, MNCs should identify the key environmental factors (demand conditions and socio-political actors’ expectations) and develop organisational characteristics (management support, network orientation towards non-governmental organisations and availability of financial resources) to match. The findings of this research show that engagement in CSE in countries with considerable BoP populations can bring firms legitimacy and sustainable profitability.This research is based on interviews with a limited number of MNCs in India. Future studies could generalise the findings of this research to a larger number of corporations in other countries. This research brings new insights to the field of international marketing by integrating the corporate social responsibility, marketing and entrepreneurship disciplines. The findings of this research offer empirical support for CSE and its role in international marketing strategies.
John Gibney recently co-edited a themed issue of short leadership papers in REGIONS, the quarterly magazine of the Regional Studies Association, together with colleagues from Aix-Marseilles Université, France, University of Tampere, Finland and University of South Australia Business School, Adelaide, Australia. See: http://rsa.tandfonline.com/toc/resn20/current for more information.
Alessandra Guariglia has had a paper accepted (with J. Tsoukalas and S. Tsoukas) entitled “To what Extent are Savings-Cash Flow Sensitivities Informative to Test for Capital Market Imperfections?” in Review of Finance .
Abstract: We construct a simple model with lumpy investment, cash accumulation and costly external finance. Based on this model, we propose a new savings specification aimed at examining savings behavior in the presence of investment lumpiness and financial constraints. We then test a key prediction of our model, namely, that under costly external finance, savings-cash flow sensitivities vary significantly by investment regime. We make use of a panel of firms from transition and developed economies to estimate the new savings regression which controls for investment spikes and periods of inactivity. Our findings confirm the validity of the model’s prediction.
Andy Hodder has had a paper accepted for publication in the British Journal of Industrial Relations.
Hodder, A., Williams, M., Kelly, J. and McCarthy, N. (2016) ‘Does strike action stimulate trade union membership growth?’, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Forthcoming, DOI: 10.1111/bjir.12188
Abstract: Most of the literature on strikes has addressed one of four issues: causation, variation between sectors and countries, trends over time and the relationship between strikes and other forms of collective and individual protest. Very little research has addressed the equally important questions of strike outcomes and trade union membership despite the substantial body of research on the causes of trade union membership decline and strategies for membership growth. In this paper we reverse the usual sequence of trade union membership as a causal factor in the genesis of strikes and examine the impact of strikes on trade union membership levels. After setting out the relevant theory and hypotheses, we use a unique seven-year dataset of trade union membership joiners and leavers from a major British trade union with a substantial record of strike activity. Controlling for other possible determinants of trade union membership, we find that months in which there is strike action, whether national or local, are associated with a significantly higher rate of membership growth, measured both by the number of joiners and by the ratio of joiners to leavers. Data from new union members suggest that perceived injustice and perceived union effectiveness both motivate the decision to join.
Kiran Trehan together with colleagues from America (Linda Putman) and Norway (Anders Ortenblad) have co-edited a special issue of Human Relations, entitled ‘Beyond Morgan’s eight metaphors: Adding to and developing organization theory’. For more information, see http://hum.sagepub.com/content/69/4.toc and http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/business/research/creme/news/2016/april/beyond-morgans-eight-metaphors.aspx
Natalia Vershinina has published an article in the Journal of Small Business Management.
Barrett, R. and Vershinina, N. (2016), Intersectionality of Ethnic and Entrepreneurial Identities: A Study of Post-War Polish Entrepreneurs in an English City. Journal of Small Business Management. doi: 10.1111/jsbm.12246
Abstract: An understanding of ethnic and immigrant entrepreneurship is developed in this paper by exploring how ethnic and entrepreneurial identities intersect. Bourdieu's concept of habitus frames the analysis of narratives of five post-war Polish entrepreneurs in Leicester. The narrative analysis illuminates the multilayered and nuanced nature of identities. The Polish origin of these entrepreneurs’ habitus was interpreted in light of individual and collective experiences gained growing up in the United Kingdom. While Polish identity was pertinent, it did not define the narrative of entrepreneurship. Our contribution is a theoretically informed, rich qualitative study of what ethnic identity means to individuals and how it intersects with entrepreneurial identity.
Tao Zhang has had two papers published in Technological Forecasting & Social Change
Yu, Y., Wu, W., Zhang T. and Liu, Y. (2016). Environmental catching-up, eco-innovation, and technological leadership in China's pilot ecological civilization zones, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, forthcoming.
Abstract: In this study we propose a global metafrontier Luenberger productivity indicator (GMLPI) to investigate the effect of the establishment of the Poyang Lake Eco-economic Zone (PLEEZ), one of China's typical ecological civilization zones, on regional environmental total-factor productivity growth. We combine the global environmental technology, metafrontier approach, and the non-radial Luenberger productivity indicator and incorporate the regional heterogeneities into the environmental productivity growth analysis. This GMLPI includes the efficiency change, technological change, and metafrontier technology gap change indices. An empirical study of the PLEEZ has been conducted using the county level data covering a period from 2009 to 2013. Empirical results show that the environmental productivity growth has increased by 8.71% on average, with growth primarily driven by technological change. These results suggest that the establishment of the PLEEZ is effective in encouraging eco-innovation; however the PLEEZ lacks an eco-leadership effect. Significant heterogeneities in environmental productivity growth and its patterns among three major functional zones in the PLEEZ remain.
Zhang, T., Siebers, P. and Aickelin, U. (2016). Simulating User Learning in Authoritative Technology Adoption: An Agent Based Model for Council-led Smart Meter Deployment Planning in the UK. Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 106, pp. 74-84
Abstract: How do technology users effectively transit from having zero knowledge about a technology to making the best use of it after an authoritative technology adoption? This post-adoption user learning has received little research attention in technology management literature. In this paper we investigate user learning in authoritative technology adoption by developing an agent-based model using the case of council-led smart meter deployment in the UK City of Leeds. Energy consumers gain experience of using smart meters based on the learning curve in behavioural learning. With the agent-based model we carry out experiments to validate the model and test different energy interventions that local authorities can use to facilitate energy consumers' learning and maintain their continuous use of the technology. Our results show that the easier energy consumers become experienced, the more energy-efficient they are and the more energy saving they can achieve; encouraging energy consumers' contacts via various informational means can facilitate their learning; and developing and maintaining their positive attitude toward smart metering can enable them to use the technology continuously. Contributions and energy policy/intervention implications are discussed in this paper.