Knowledge that Transforms

Abstract This paper examines the association between interfirm cooperation and the innovation output of startup firms in the biotechnology industry. A reciprocal association is hypothesized. The results, however, show only that cooperation affects innovation. Several control variables are related to cooperation and innovation, especially the startup's position in the cooperative network.

Abstract This study examines an important potential conflict between the institutional, governance, and strategic functions of boards. We specifically test how higher levels of board size and diversity, traditionally associated with optimal institutional and governance performance of boards, affect the boards ability to initiate strategic changes during periods of environmental turbulence. Our findings suggest that board diversity, in particular, may be a significant constraint on strategic change.

Abstract Several generally untested assumptions about strategic judgment and choice exist in strategic management theories. Direct examination of these assumptions is necessary for sound theory building, and for sound prescription based on current theory. This paper presents techniques for eliciting and analyzing the strategic judgments of strategy makers, and discusses the potential of these techniques for increasing the internal validity and practical relevance of strategy research. We argue that incorporating managerial judgment more directly into the mainstream of strategy research will lead to both new theory and the extension of existing theory.

We present a bargaining model of union contract negotiations, in which the union decides between two threats: the union can strike, or it can continue to work under the expired contract. The model makes predictions about the level of dispute activity and the form disputes take. Strike incidence increases as the strike threat becomes more attractive, because of low unemployment or a real wage drop. We test these predictions by estimating logistic models of dispute incidence and dispute composition for negotiations from 1970 to 1989. We find support for the model's key predictions, but these associations are weaker after 1981.

The variance of arbitrated wage settlements is significantly lower than the variance of negotiated wage settlements in a sample of teachers' contracts, even when possible selection of contracts into arbitration is accounted for. This result is consistent with the hypothesis that arbitrated settlements do not incorporate all of the information that is reflected in negotiated settlements.

This article considers a model in which the productivity of a worker depends on his experience, ability, and position in the firm. It is shown that workers are sorted in positions based on comparative advantage. Furthermore, workers are induced to retire when productivity is equal to the value of time after adjusting for the reallocation of other workers by positions that would occur if the worker retired.