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The University of Calgary master and doctoral theses archive. Full text is made available when possible.
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Browsing Graduate Studies by Department "Business, Haskayne School of Business"
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- ItemOpen AccessBenefits and Drawbacks of Digital Platforms with Policy Analysis(2023-08-25) Fereidouni, Meysam; Nault, Barrie R.; Patterson, Raymond; Dao, Duy; Parker, Geoffrey; Bijvank, MarcoDigital platforms offer numerous advantages to consumers and businesses. Our first stream of research examines the role of shared platforms that are characterized by offering exclusive services to customers, also known as member-only services. Such services mitigate customers' disutility of online purchasing and enable shared platforms to reduce the risk of losing customers to competitors. Using analytical modelling methodologies, our first research chapter aims to understand the economic and social implications of shared platforms. Our finding in this chapter shows that shared platforms maximize their profits by subsidizing the customer-side of the market. Although digital platforms have enlarged contestability in many markets by allowing small firms to develop innovative solutions to compete with monopolies, they have brought new challenges. The second research stream uses analytical modelling methodologies to study two important challenges of digital platforms: biased intermediation and digital piracy. As digital platforms have grown in size and influence, there are concerns about their engagement in anti-competitive behavior, such as having incentives to offer matches that are more profitable to themselves rather than the most relevant ones to users. This conduct is called biased intermediation. Our first research chapter in this stream quantifies the economic and social impacts of biased intermediation and examines whether imposing taxes on digital platforms' revenue can mitigate the potentially harmful effects of biased intermediation. With the rise of digital platforms, it has become easier for individuals to access and share copyrighted material without permission. This has had a significant impact on the revenues of the entertainment industry, with losses estimated to be in the billions of dollars annually. Thus, policymakers must understand the new market realities of digital platforms and reinterpret traditional regulatory approaches accordingly. The second research chapter in the second stream studies how a policymaker can mitigate the harmful effects of digital piracy by imposing fines on pirates, subsidizing legal purchases, and supporting the publisher through restitution within a balanced budget.
- ItemOpen AccessCost Uniqueness: An Alternative Lens for Examining Cost Behavior(2023-09-06) Wang, Ye; Mashruwala, Raj; Anderson, Mark; Zhao, Rong; Jingjing, Wang; Sherer, Peter; Weiss, DanCost information is a critical input required for profit analysis, earnings estimation, and firm valuation by capital market participants (Banker and Chen 2006; Weiss 2010; Ciftci et al. 2016). Conventional methods of understanding cost behavior seek to separate costs based on their movements relative to production volume. In a set of three essays, I investigate an alternative lens for examining cost behavior. In my approach, I seek to separate cost movements driven by firm-specific factors from movements that are common to industry or market peers. I refer to this as “cost uniqueness”. In the first of my essays, I describe this new construct of cost uniqueness, and I identify a method to empirically measure this new construct. Firm-specific cost variations are of special interest because costs reflect the inner workings of the firm that are opaque to investors. To establish the importance of measuring cost uniqueness, I investigate the effects of cost uniqueness on information uncertainty for external users by looking at the forecasting difficulty faced by financial analysts. In my second essay, I conduct an exploratory investigation into the forces that potentially drive some firms to be more unique than others. I organize my search around three distinct forces that can shape costs, namely, internal firm characteristics, external environment, and manager-specific characteristics. Within these three dimensions, I specifically examine various factors pertaining to the incentives and capabilities of firms to operate distinctively from their peers. In my third essay, I delve into some of the implications of cost uniqueness for firms. I examine the relationship between cost uniqueness and firm value to assess whether cost uniqueness is driven by managers’ value-enhancing activities or by value-destroying activities. I also investigate what measures a firm can take to mitigate the information uncertainty associated with cost uniqueness. Specifically, I examine whether firms increase their disclosure of cost items to help outsiders unpack cost uniqueness.
- ItemOpen AccessThe Dynamics Behind Using Scenario Planning Enabling Innovation and Organizational Learning(2022-12-20) Mortlock, Lance; Vredenburg, Harrie; Osiyevskyy, Oleksiy; Marchant, TimOrganizations face challenges in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) environments. It is vital to manage the change's rate and magnitude in new and different ways to stay competitive. Potential or existing VUCA environments are expected to create a context that requires more innovation and organizational learning. This thesis focuses on the phenomenon of scenario planning that can help organizations proactively plan for, react and adapt to VUCA forces if and when they occur. Scenario planning is a structured process for businesses to explore and think about the future. This research addresses how organizations can leverage scenario planning to innovate and learn more effectively. The first integrative essay proposes a novel typology of scenario planning benefits based on an extensive literature review. In addition, two qualitative case-based empirical studies were conducted. One focuses on the mechanisms between scenario planning and innovation within four organizations. The other focuses on the mechanisms between scenario planning and organizational learning within two organizations. Both case studies involved extensive interviews, coding, inductive analysis and cross-case comparisons. The novel typology adorned several benefits of scenario planning in an integrated model explained using systems theory. These benefits included risk, uncertainty, options analysis, strategic flexibility, complex decision-making, strategy testing and validation, innovation and organizational learning. The relationship between input, process and output benefits was explained. The research itself demonstrated how scenario planning supports the generation of innovative ideas. Idea generation is enabled by the proper structure, governance, people, process, integration, culture and engagement. External market context can also facilitate more innovative ideas to emerge from scenario planning, mainly when more change and disruption occur. However, a direct connection between scenario planning and the actual commercialization of innovative ideas was not found. Scenario planning also helps an organization emphasize organizational learning more. The findings uncover how continuous learning using scenario planning is enabled by executive leadership, systems thinking and connection, a culture conducive to learning, insight from action and collection, analysis, storage and usage of information. The enablers operate in a continuous and reinforcing learning cycle. These qualitative studies contribute a significant perspective on ‘how’ scenario planning influences aspects of both innovation and organizational learning, including related mechanisms, practical considerations, cross-case comparisons and a novel maturity assessment model. This new knowledge helps fill a gap in past academic research, paves the way for future research, and has the potential to shape managerial practice.
- ItemOpen AccessE-retailer return policies and their relationship with operations strategy priorities and market performance(2018-12-13) Southin, Nancy Elaine; da Silveira, Giovani J.C.; Balakrishnan, Jaydeep; Sabouri, AlirezaReturn policies are the method by which customers are informed of the rules around returning purchased products. Extant research has focused primarily on how firms can create return policies that encourage customer purchase. While this focus on demand attempts to turn a potential negative in the customer’s mind into a positive, the lack of consideration of the firm perspective in the creation and impact of return policies is noticeable. This dissertation aims to answer the question: How is the operations functional area of a firm reflected in the content of return policies and how do return policies impact firm performance? It explores this question in three studies by focusing on the under-explored operational influence on firm return policies. Using content analysis of e-retailer return policies, this dissertation suggests that return policy content is influenced by the operations function of the firm and that rather than a sales generator, return policies exist to reduce transaction risk and minimize transaction costs that exist in the business-to-consumer environment. The influence of firm operations of the firm are identified in paper two, suggesting that the operations strategy priorities of the firm influence the content of return policies. Finally, in paper three, I suggest a moderating role for return policies on customer satisfaction which differs from the current research focus on direct effects. Findings from this study suggest that that the process for returning products has a negative moderating influence on the relationship between pre-purchase expectation and post-purchase satisfaction. This suggests that return policies are not considered by customers in isolation but instead are part of a set of service options related to the logistics service offerings of the firm.
- ItemOpen AccessEngaging with Uncertainty: Three Empirical Studies(2024-05) Ma, Yan; Anderson, Mark; Warsame, Hussein; Sherer, Peter; Tanaka, Atsuko; Radhakrishnan, SureshEngaging with uncertainty is vital in business because it can either generate or destroy wealth. My dissertation, comprising three empirical studies, investigates management decision-making and firm performance under uncertainty. The first study examines how organizational stress represented by resource constraints impacts firm performance. Drawing from the psychology-based Yerkes-Dodson (1908) Law, we propose that, while some amount of stress activated by constraints enhances performance, too much stress hampers performance. Using textual measures to gauge constraints that activate stress at the organizational level, we find an inverted-U relationship between constraints and return on assets. This relationship is more aligned with creativity, reflected by profit margin and innovation activities, than with efficiency in resource usage captured by asset turnover. My second study analyzes the compensation structure of the top leadership team (TLT), a group of executives responsible for navigating the organization through uncertain times. This study recognizes the importance of both the CEO's unique role and the dynamics among team members through: (1) CEO pay slice, reflecting payment for the CEO’s team leadership and management skill, and (2) pay dispersion among the CEO’s top team, capturing the weights on team versus individual based payments. We find that TLTs characterized by a large CEO pay slice and low degree of pay dispersion among the CEO’s top team outperform others in terms of return on assets. These results highlight complementary relations between CEO team leadership and team-based compensation in compensating TLTs. My third study analyzes how a strategic focus on balance sheet strength influences investment decisions and performance among Canadian oil and gas firms that navigate through uncertainties. Based on discussions with industry experts, we identify two groups of firms: those aggressively investing during favorable conditions – “making hay while the sun shines”, and those investing more prudently – “saving for a rainy day”. While investment in downturns declined generally for both types of firms, the decline in investment was significantly less for rainy day companies. These rainy day firms make shrewder acquisitions and achieve greater operational efficiency over time. However, rainy day firms have lower market valuations during upturns compared to making hay firms.
- ItemOpen AccessEntrepreneurial Social Support, Performance, and Well-being: The Mediating Effects of Metacognition(2019-04-15) Learning, Matthew; Weinhardt, Justin M.; O'Neill, Thomas A.; Turner, NickMetacognition, or “thinking about thinking,” has recently been posited to be an important aspect of the entrepreneurial mindset. Despite this surge of interest on the topic, there is relatively little quantitative evidence examining the effects of metacognition within the entrepreneur psychology literature. This study seeks to understand potential mediation effects of metacognition on the relationship between an entrepreneur’s social support and their performance and mental well-being. The study begins with a review of the literature, before describing the motivations and hypotheses for our research. We test our hypotheses on a sample of 238 active North American entrepreneurs using structural equation modelling. We end by discussing our findings, their limitations, as well as their implications for both research and practice.
- ItemOpen AccessEssays in Corporate Finance(2021-12-17) Nguyen, Nga; Pandes, J. Ari; Lehar, Alfred; Koskinen, Yrjo; Anderson, Mark; Wilson, Craig; Saunders, ChadThis thesis consists of two essays in corporate finance. In the first essay, which is joint work with Yrjo Koskinen and J. Ari Pandes, we use the enactment of limited liability legislation across Canadian provinces to examine the effect of the change in liability status on firm outcomes for a group of public firms known as income trusts. We show that the switch from unlimited to limited liability increases trusts' institutional ownership, net external financing, investments, profitability, payouts, and riskiness. Our results are stronger for energy trusts, which are more capital-intensive and face potentially greater liability risks. Our event study shows positive cumulative abnormal returns around the legal changes. Overall, we present a novel approach to test the impact of limited liability on firms. In the second essay, which is joint work with Yrjo Koskinen and J. Ari Pandes, we provide an evidence of spillover effects of environmental violations. In particular, we investigate how environmental violations by polluting firms impact their (direct) neighboring peers. Using a difference-in-differences methodology, the paper shows that firms operating in the same industry and having plants located close to the violating firms are negatively impacted by the polluting firms' environmental violations. Peer firms experience lower external financing and lower valuations. However, we also find firms with higher (ex-ante) environmental scores are less negatively affected by the violations.
- ItemOpen AccessEssays on Information Privacy and Personal Data Markets(2022-12-31) Eshghi, Ashkan; Patterson, Raymond; Nault, Barrie; Hidaji, Hooman; Anderson, Mark; Tayi, GiriThe extensive and growing use of the Internet over the past decade has provided businesses with vast opportunities to learn more about their online customers. These data might be quite beneficial for organizations operating in a variety of areas. However, internet users are concerned about the privacy of their online information since their personal information is gathered and shared without their consent. Different internet marketplaces are impacted by these privacy problems. We examine the impact of online privacy concerns on processes and decisions in three distinct market settings. First, we investigate how websites disclose personal information about their users with third parties and what drives them to conceal such sharing. Our data demonstrate that obfuscation of information sharing is a viable strategy for websites. Second, we propose an incentive-compatible compensation mechanism and novel sampling methods for a platform to get users' permission to share their data on a personal data marketplace. We analyze the tradeoffs between sample size, bias, cost, and privacy, as well as the performance of the proposed methods in comparison to benchmarks. Third, we examine a market for advertising in which individuals sell their attention to advertisers through a platform intermediary. We study how consumers' lack of awareness about the value of their attention influences their decision-making.
- ItemOpen AccessEssays on the Effect of Founders on Performance and Exit of New Ventures(2019-04-18) Soleimani, Leila; Keyhani, Mohammad; Woiceshyn, JaanaFor the last four decades, the entrepreneurship literature has been interested in the effect of entrepreneurs’ characteristics on different aspects of the entrepreneurial process. Yet, there are gaps in our understanding of these effects. A significant limitation of this literature is that little attention has been paid to exit. In Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, this dissertation addresses this gap by studying the relationship between entrepreneurs’ characteristics and new venture exit, in particular mergers and acquisitions. These chapters discuss that entrepreneurs can affect acquisition likelihood through their actual performance, signalling, and exit intention. The analysis in Chapter 2 indicates that team-founded new ventures are more likely to be acquired, and that there is a positive and diminishing relationship between team size and acquisition likelihood. Chapter 3 focuses on the effect of team composition in terms of demographic and human capital characteristics on the acquisition likelihood of new ventures. Chapter 3 shows that gender diversity and the average education level of team members are positively related to acquisition likelihood. In addition, this chapter indicates a negative effect of industry-experience-level diversity on acquisition likelihood. Chapters 2 and 3 contribute to the entrepreneurship literature by recognizing several drivers of new venture exit (i.e. acquisition vs. closure) and emphasizing the need to include exits such as acquisition as a success measure of performance. Chapter 4 aims to address the inconsistencies reported in the literature of the magnitude and direction of the relationship between gender and entrepreneurial performance. Using meta-analysis structural equation modelling, Chapter 4 provides some insights into why female entrepreneurs may under-perform in terms of growth and financial performance; females’ comparative lack of experience and less hours allocated to the businesses are two factors. The higher satisfaction shown by females suggests that overall performance may not be lower if non-financial dimensions are included. These results show that there are direct relationships between gender and different measures of performance which were not explained by the mediator variables in the model. Future research is needed to include other possible explanations to provide a clearer understanding of the relative performance of female and male entrepreneurs.
- ItemOpen AccessFinancial Reporting Neutrality, Corporate Tax Planning, and the Role of Corporate Transparency(2023-06) Jafri, Syed Rahat Ali; Warsame, Hussein A.; Anderson, Mark C.; Srivastava, AnupThis Ph.D. thesis investigates the complex interplay between accounting neutrality, corporate governance, corporate tax planning, and corporate transparency. The thesis is composed of three empirical studies that examine various aspects of this relationship. In the first study, I propose an empirical measure of neutrality and examine a long-term trend in corporate reporting neutrality around the FASB's emphasis on neutrality in 2010. The results demonstrate a significant increase in neutrality and a decrease in biases after 2010, indicating the effectiveness of regulatory efforts to promote accounting neutrality. In the second study, I examine the relationship between tax aggressiveness and corporate transparency, using eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) avoidance. Furthermore, I explore the underlying managerial incentives for tax planning and corporate transparency decisions by examining moderating effects of governance quality on this relationship. I find that tax-aggressive companies avoid XBRL to mitigate the risk of detection by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Moreover, shareholders’ value creation, not managerial diversion, is the primary managerial incentive behind tax aggressiveness. In the third study, I investigate the impact of XBRL-induced information transparency on accounting conservatism and tax avoidance. I find that XBRL monitoring reduces the demand for conservatism, leading to lower levels of conditional conservatism in post-XBRL adoption periods for XBRL-adopting firms. Furthermore, XBRL reduces corporate tax avoidance through three channels: a decline in conditional conservatism leading to increased tax payments, non-IRS monitoring, and IRS monitoring. Conclusively, my thesis significantly contributes to the existing body of literature on corporate transparency, financial reporting, and corporate tax planning. My findings demonstrate that regulatory initiatives to mitigate financial reporting biases can influence achieving neutral financial reporting. Additionally, I find that corporate managers employ strategies to minimize taxes to enhance shareholder value. Consequently, they maintain transparency with shareholders while restricting information flow between their companies and the IRS. Finally, the XBRL mandate plays a crucial role in reducing information processing costs, thereby resulting in decreased corporate tax avoidance and enhanced corporate transparency.
- ItemOpen AccessInvestigating the Efficacy of Corporate Social Responsibility from A Risk Management Perspective(2020-06-12) Lu, Hao; Kleffner, Anne E.; Woiceshyn, Jaana M.; Halek, Martin; Koskinen Yrjo J.; O'Neill, Thomas A.; Weber, OlafShould a profit-seeking firm invest its valuable resources in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities? This question has been argued by academic scholars and practitioners for decades, yet current literature attempting to answer this question shows a great inconsistency in both theoretical arguments and empirical tests. Stemming from the instrumental stakeholder theory, the instrumental view of CSR justifies the intrinsic motivation of managers to contribute to the social wellbeing with economic benefit to shareholders. This dissertation attempts to contribute to the instrumental view of CSR from the risk management perspective.Through three essays I intend to answer the general research questions regarding how CSR impacts, and is impacted by, firm risk portfolio. The goal of this dissertation is to answer the following questions that lack theoretical and empirical understanding: (1) under what risk context do investors perceive CSR as value-enhancing, and under what risk context do they perceive CSR as value-destroying? (2) Can CSR impact firm risk “from inside out” rather than “from outside in”, i.e., Can CSR impact risk by influencing a firm’s risk management decisions rather than influencing stakeholder behaviours? (3) What is CSR’s impact on risk as a combination of ex-ante probability and ex-post severity?The findings of the first essay establish the contingencies that lead to a positive effect of the risk reduction mechanisms. Specifically, the results show that the risk reduction mechanism of CSR is only effective when a firm operates in a high-risk environment and/or have a high earning potential. The findings in the second essay expand the source of the risk reduction mechanism from external influence of stakeholder behaviour to internal influence of a firm’s own decision making. That is, CSR can reduce risk because it creates unique knowledge that will facilitate the adoption of an integrated risk management practice. The third essay contributes toiiithe current literature by integrating CSR’s impact on liability risk into a combined effect of ex-ante probability reduction and ex-post severity reduction, thus providing a holistic view of CSR’s impact on risk. Taken together, the three essays attempt to investigate when and how the risk reduction mechanism of CSR works. I hope this dissertation contributes to the current understanding of the efficacy of CSR from the risk management perspective and answers the call to extend theories in CSR.
- ItemOpen AccessLabour Investment: A Managers’ Decision-Making Perspective(2020-04-22) Yu, Dongning; Anderson, Mark; Warsame, Hussein A.; Herremans, Irene M.; Mashruwala, Raj; Lehar, Alfred; Muslu, VolkanMy dissertation consists of three studies that investigate factors that affect management’s labour investment decisions and how management of labour influences firm performance. In my first study, I examine how firms adjust their labour in response to business downturns and how different labour adjustment practices influence firms’ financial performance. I classify firms into two groups: those with more stable labour adjustment strategies (most sticky in labour) and those with more flexible labour adjustment strategies (least sticky in labour). I find that companies with more flexible labour adjustment strategies outperform relative to companies with more stable labour adjustment strategies in terms of return on assets. Using DuPont analysis, I find that underperformance of stable companies is due to lower efficiency (asset turnover) and the superior performance of flexible firms is due to higher efficiency. However, stable firms achieve higher profit margin than flexible firms, consistent with the resource-based view of human capital. In my second study, I investigate whether higher ability managers achieve better performance outcomes through labour investment. I document that deviations from expected net hiring are, on average, smaller for higher ability managers. In this regard, I find that higher ability managers avoid both over-investment and under-investment in labour. I also find that managerial ability mitigates the negative effects of deviations from expected hiring on future firm performance. This latter result holds whether deviations from expected hiring are positive or negative. In my third study, I investigate how companies adjust their employment in recessions with a focus on credit constraints. Controlling for firm productivity, I find an inverted U-shaped relationship between leverage and labour growth rate. This suggests that debt accommodates labour growth up to a certain point, but adding additional debt after that point imposes financial constraints on firms’ ability to effectively manage labour growth – these firms may be forced to grow labour less or reduce labour more than the optimal amount. In addition, recession enlarges the negative impact of financial constraints on labour growth rate. Findings of my thesis studies contribute to management decision-making regarding labour adjustment in response to business cycles.
- ItemOpen AccessLarge book-tax differences: Alternative Perspectives(2022-04) Rahiminejad Ranjbar, Sina; Anderson, Mark; Warsame, Hussein; Beaulieu, Philip; Pandes, Ari; Mawani, Amin; Abdul-Rahaman, Abu ShirazIn this dissertation I investigate the information properties of the accounting construct known as book tax difference (BTD). I relate BTDs to various features and characteristics of firms, such as earnings persistence,[ Earnings persistence measures the extent to which current earnings persist or recur in the future. High persistence indicates a sustainable earnings generation process that is particularly valued by investors.] sales changes, business expenditures, and corporate asset structure. I specifically examine large temporary differences between book income and taxable income that have not been studied in full regarding their available information content. Because BTDs represent differences between two reporting systems, my emphasis is on the information obtained because of the unique properties of the two measures of earnings obtained by applying U.S. GAAP and the U.S. tax code. Understanding the relationship between current and future earnings and the pricing of future earnings is an ongoing question of interest in financial accounting. The inability of users to rely on current financial reports to forecast the sustainability of income has pushed investors and policymakers to pursue alternative sources of information to assess the quality level of earnings. For this reason, I examine the time series relation between current and one-year-ahead earnings, also referred to as earnings persistence, which is a primary measure of earnings quality. I apply an autoregressive model of PTBI in period t+1 on PTBI in period t and examine how sales change, managerial ability, and long-term investment in physical and intangible assets interact with large BTDs and pre-tax book income (PTBI). The foundation of my thesis is based on work by Hanlon (2005) and Blaylock et al. (2012) in the tax and earnings persistence literature and Kothari, Laguerre, and Leone (2002) and Amir, Guan, and Livne (2007) papers in the earnings growth literature. Following Hanlon’s (2005) specification as the basis for my main empirical model, I built upon this line of accounting research. The first chapter is a comprehensive introduction to the literature and the dominant theory of the thesis. In the second chapter, I investigate how downturns in sales are associated with lower earnings persistence when there are large negative or large positive BTDs. Earnings persistence following a sales decline is incrementally lower when firms exhibit large negative or positive book tax differences. I argue that lower earnings persistence occurs when sales declines are accompanied by disruptive changes in operations, reflected in asset write-downs, goodwill impairments, and other special items resulting in large negative book tax differences. Thus, I help to explain the previously unexplained finding in Hanlon (2005) that firm-years with large negative book tax differences have lower earnings persistence. In the third chapter, I adopt another approach to examining why large positive and large negative book tax differences (LPBTDs and LNBTDs) are associated with lower earnings persistence (Hanlon, 2005). Specifically, I investigate whether lower earnings persistence of LPBTDs and LNBTDs, relative to smaller BTDs, is due to earnings management or to uncertainty about investment outcomes. I first show that high CAPX (HiCAPX) firms and high R&D (HiR&D) firms are disproportionately represented in the LPBTD and LNBTD sub-samples, respectively. In contrast, high discretionary accrual (HiDA) firms are uniformly distributed across the LPBTD, LNBTD and smaller BTD sub-samples. Next, I find that HiDA firms are associated with lower earnings persistence in all BTD sub-samples uniformly, but HiCAPX and HiR&D firms are only associated with lower earnings persistence in the LPBTD and LNBTD sub-samples, respectively. Finally, extending the Hanlon (2005) model, I demonstrate that the differential earnings persistence associated with LPBTDs and LNBTDs is concentrated in HiCAPX and HiR&D firms, respectively. In the fourth chapter, I look at multiple characteristics of LNBTD firm-year observations to examine different explanations why LNBTDs occur. First, I show the data does not support common misconceptions about large negative BTDs representing financially distressed companies or post-maturity companies in shake-out or decline stages. Second, I develop an alternative hypothesis that firms enter LNBTD status temporarily as part of innovation cycles. Third, I provide contextual evidence that supports this alternative hypothesis. I demonstrate that LNBTD firms are more likely to be firms with high levels of managerial ability and strategic investment.
- ItemOpen AccessLearning and Performance in Serial Crowdfunding(2018-12-19) Hosseini Amereei, Seyed Abbas; Keyhani, Mohammad; Hemmati, Hadi; Malhotra, AyeshaEntrepreneurship scholars have long been interested in serial entrepreneurs who engage in multiple entrepreneurial ventures. The opportunity to learn from experience and find ways to systematize entrepreneurship is intriguing, and new technological developments such as the availability of crowdfunding platforms provides new possibilities in this direction. Various theories have been suggested for why past experience may have both positive and negative effects on the subsequent performance of entrepreneurs. In this thesis, I ask: do the theories about the positive and negative effects of past entrepreneurial experience on subsequent performance apply to the crowdfunding context? Do positive effects prevail over negative effects in aggregate? What are the specific mechanisms through which the effects of past crowdfunding experience on subsequent crowdfunding performance are realized? Building on a comprehensive data collection effort, I find that with experience, crowdfunders tend to adjust their goal levels downward, which results in lower pledge amounts for their campaigns (although it increases their chances of success). They also learn through experience to design better campaigns by including more visual elements, more reward tiers, and lengthier descriptions, and these in turn improve subsequent performance. The evidence in this research generally supports the proposition that after controlling for these mediation effects as well as social capital, crowdfunding experience still has a positive direct effect on performance.
- ItemOpen AccessMobilizing Female Entrepreneurship Research to Inform Policy(2024-04-15) Carlson, Jessica Lynn; Keyhani, Mohammad; Kano, Elena (Liena); Osiyevskyy, Oleksiy; Saunders, Chad; Huq, Jo-Louise; Musabende, JacquelineGender and entrepreneurship scholars are increasingly called upon to consider policy implications in both identifying research questions and analyzing research results. Similarly, policy professionals are looking to inform policy with best available evidence. Yet, gaps between policy and gender and entrepreneurship scholars remain in both the availability of policy relevant academic research and the applied use of such research within policy domains. This dissertation represents an attempt to fill at least part of this gap by three diverse methods as represented in chapters two through four. Chapter two leverages qualitative methodology to a real-time policy problem and explores how women entrepreneurs experienced the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to inform the development of specific policy supports. Chapter three leverages an application of the public organization management science approach to identify policy relevant research questions for gender and entrepreneurship scholars, alongside of a review of current literature. Chapter four advances a particular policy relevant research question of special relevance within the current Canadian context, the impact of institutional support, subnational variation and providing unpaid care on the choice to become an entrepreneur. Collectively, these papers aim to advance theory, policy, and practice in helping to close the gap between the academy and policy professionals. The main limitation of this thesis is scope, as the setting both academically and for policy is limited to Alberta. Despite this, the findings of from this thesis can be broadly applied to both theory and practice. Contributions include an increased recognition of who policymakers are and what they are looking for alongside of an extension to the institutional theory of gender inequality of entrepreneurial entry. Future research can further explore policy-relevant research questions such as implications of subnational variations in institutional context on entrepreneurship.
- ItemOpen AccessProcess Innovation in Colombia: Engaging Front-Line Employees in a High Power Distance National Culture(2023-01-06) Davidson, Philip Miles; Verbeke, Alain; Hinings, Bob; Schulz, Robert; Osiyevskyy, OleksiyWhile hierarchy may benefit efficiency, scholars have shown that hierarchy is not conducive to innovation. Other scholars focus on the importance of innovation in strengthening firms and national economies. Both findings correlate strongly with my extensive practitioner experience in a Central American nation that demonstrates high levels of power distance. However, even in nations with high power distance, innovative firms exist that overcome this challenge. This existence raises the question, how do firms succeed at process innovation under conditions of a national culture of high power distance? This thesis integrates three papers to investigate this problem of practice. The first study presents an integrative paper that combines learnings from the Doctorate of Business Administration program with a conceptual practitioner-scholar model to demonstrate how to pursue this investigation with academic rigor. Critical realism plays a significant role, given the complexities of culture and innovation. Next, a survey-based study explores Colombian employees’ impressions of the impact of power distance on their innovation participation levels and their firm’s ability to reach innovation objectives. This survey also investigates intentional design and communication’s role in increasing lower-level employees’ (implementers) participation in innovation design. Finally, chapter four builds on the survey findings to present a case study of five Colombian firms, all of whom have completed some innovation training yet show different systems and intentionality to incorporate implementers’ tacit knowledge in process innovation. These studies found that innovative firms’ employees see their firm as having less power distance than the typical Colombian firm. Secondly, management’s will to use systems and opportunities to encourage participation impacts implementers’ input into process innovation design more than the system or structure itself. Finally, most firms showed limited implementer involvement at the ideation stage but had extensive use of employee feedback before implementation. Some innovative firms in Colombia intentionally use their existing hierarchy to obtain feedback on ideas proposed by the mid and upper levels of the hierarchy, contrary to the western ideal of inclusion, where innovation leaders and implementers collaborate at the same level.
- ItemOpen AccessResources and Customer Engagement Behaviours(2020-05-07) Zeng, Xianfang; Mourali, Mehdi; Mourali, Mehdi; Agarwal, James; Radford, Keith Scott; Fung, Tak S; Hoegg, JoAndreaCustomers do not just passively receive market offerings. Empowered by advanced communication technologies, they have ample opportunities to engage with firms. Faced with limited firm resources, marketers would benefit from leveraging resources from customers through their engagement behaviours. This dissertation explores resources and customer engagement behaviours (CEBs). It includes two essays: “A Resource-Based Perspective of Customer Engagement Behaviours: Definition, Typology, and Conceptual Framework (with Research Propositions),” and “The Effect of Effort Level on Consumer Knowledge Behaviour.” Given the prevalence and diversity of CEBs, it may be cost-effective to formulate engagement strategies based on different types of CEBs. Essay 1 offers a definition and typology of CEBs, and then proposes a conceptual framework based on this typology. The framework deals with (a) the main effects of perceived engagement benefits and costs (and risks) on customers’ intention to perform a broad array of CEBs and (b) the boundary conditions for these effects. In Essay 2, the primary research focus is on how the required effort level of an engagement task influences consumers’ intention to undertake knowledge behaviour. This effect is mediated by perceived probability of success (i.e., the first mediator) and perceived value of engagement (i.e., the second mediator). Three lab experiments with different effort manipulations support that the mediators operate in tandem such that the mediating effect of the second mediator depends on the first one. The second essay also examines the moderating role of consumer mindsets (i.e., fixed vs. growth) and supports the moderating effect of situational (but not chronic) mindsets on the impact of effort level on perceived engagement value.
- ItemOpen AccessTeam up to rise up: Identifying and overcoming gendered career obstacles within Canadian investment firms.(2023-05-04) Soutière, Stacy Marie; Herremans, Irene; Alonso, Natalya; Van de Biezenbos, KristenThis dissertation presents mixed-methods research that studies the conundrum of why Canadian bank-owned investment firms are failing to grow their numbers of female Investment Advisors (IAs), and how structured teaming within investment management could potentially provide support for career progression, particularly amongst women. First, qualitative exploratory interviews were conducted within one of Canada’s “Big 5” Canadian bank-owned investment firms (n=39) to accomplish the following: 1) understand the elements of organizational culture and the IA role itself that caused roadblocks for women and the factors that deter women from pursuing the role of IA; and 2) understand directly from both men and women what elements, features, and environments help them overcome barriers, advance their careers, and be successful in the role of IA. Barriers fell into three themes: mentorship, career self-efficacy, and work/life conflict, while structured teaming within investment management appeared to alleviate many of the pain-points identified. The second quantitative study investigates teaming’s impact on career advancement. Three hypotheses were tested using linear regression to analyze the results of responses gathered through questionnaires (N=162) distributed within the same firm. The results of the survey show preliminary support for the theory that structured teaming within investment management positively impacts mentorship for both males and females, and positively impacts work/life conflict to a stronger degree for females when moderated by gender. The two studies, when combined, suggest that structured teaming within investment management can provide a rich environment for conversion factors that lead to higher capability of becoming an IA, thus providing better opportunity for career advancement. Providing better opportunity for advancement can help more women become successful IAs and increase their numbers in the field of investment management.
- ItemOpen AccessThree Essays on Mental Illness at Work(2022-07-20) Dumaisnil, Aidan; Weinhardt, Justin; Turner, Nick; Hershcovis, Sandy; Weatherhead, Julie; Szeto, Andrew; Day, ArlaAlthough there is growing interest in mental health from governmental agencies, employees, and workplaces, Follmer and Jones’ (2018) call for additional research on mental illness suggests that this area of research remains understudied. This dissertation explores mental illness at work in the context of PTSD, leader mental health, and the impact of occupational depression on planning, activation, and performance. After a short overview of mental illness at work, Chapter 2 explores workplace stressors of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through a systematic review and meta-analysis of 85 studies, finding that workplace job demands, exposure to violence, sexual harassment, bullying, and injury are all positively related to PTSD symptomology. Additional moderator analysis suggests that the measurement of PTSD and employee occupational group affect the relationship between workplace stressors and PTSD symptoms. Chapter 3 investigates leader mental health, providing a comprehensive review of the 33 articles on leader mental health. Folk beliefs of leadership suggest that leaders should have good mental health: they have high job control, are compensated more, enjoy higher socioeconomic status, less bullying, and less injustice. However, despite these positive work aspects, there are organizational factors that would suggest that leaders should suffer from mental health problems, such as increased demands, higher workload and responsibility, work-family and family-work conflict, and the inability to detach from work. This systematic review suggests that leaders are not immune to mental health problems: they experience burnout, stress, depression, anxiety, mental distress, and sleep problems due to a variety of personal and situational factors. Finally, Chapter 4 tests a multilevel model of planning, exploring the impact of occupational depression and interruptions on planning, activation, and performance, where time management planning and contingent planning lead to activation, occupational depression and interruptions moderate those relationships, and activation ultimately leads to performance. Using an experiment combined with experience sampling methods, the results suggest slightly different results at the between-person and within-person levels. However, the consistent finding at both levels was that occupational depression moderates the relationship between time management planning and activation, and between contingent planning and activation.
- ItemOpen AccessThree Perspectives on Good and Bad in the Study of Downsizing.(2021-09-08) House, Allyson; Sherer, Peter; Verbeke, Alain; Kim, Heechun; Turner, Nick; Anderson, Mark; Dencker, JohnFor more than three decades, the primary focus of downsizing research has been upon its determinants and outcomes, but what happens in the space between a firm’s decision to adopt a downsizing strategy and its resultant outcomes? The three essays within this dissertation examine this question using different perspectives on good and bad in the study of downsizing. The first essay explores the relative strength of bad over good events in the context of firms’ employment contraction/expansion magnitude. Through a longitudinal analysis of global energy sector employment, it finds that firms downsize as a response to bad events with greater magnitude than they correspondingly upsize as a response to good events. The second essay explores the coexistence of good and bad when employees are given early layoff notification. Using narrative interviews, it highlights how institutional norms of professionalism can generate feigning behaviours that diminish negative displays of emotion amongst soon-to-be dismissed employees - they feel bad but want to look good, as professionals. The third essay explores the instability of good and bad, wherein changing external conditions make some previously ‘good’ employees appear ‘bad’ and thus become more likely targets for layoffs. Through a longitudinal analysis of who firms choose to layoff, it finds that firms disproportionately remove employees who are high-paid relative to others at the same pay level, an effect that endures even amongst employees with high levels of individual performance. Separately, each of the three studies examine the relative strength, coexistence, and instability of good and bad, while also providing insight into downsizing magnitude, early layoff notifications, and who firms choose to layoff. In their entirety, they offer insights into the liminal space between a firm’s choice to downsize and the outcomes of such a decision.