Most studies of responses to change in competitive environments focus on competitor-specific adaptations. However, rivals are often acutely aware of one another, and this awareness should influence their competitive behavior. In this study, we focus on three market structures that affect competitive behavior: competitive parity, status disparity, and multipoint contact. In particular, we examine how securities analysts responded to a regulatory discontinuity, Regulation Fair Disclosure (“Reg-FD”), which promotes competitive parity by eliminating privileged access to proprietary firm information as a critical source of competitive advantage. We predict and find that Reg-FD activated mutual forbearance among analysts linked through multipoint contact. We also predict and find that high-status analysts forbear more strongly. Analysts' responses to heterogeneity in competitive advantage thus depend importantly on their competitive overlap and status, which has implications for both their behavior and the information they provide to investors.

Do laboratory subjects correctly perceive the dynamics of a mean-reverting time series? In our experiment, subjects receive historical data and make forecasts at different horizons. The time series process that we use features short-run momentum and long-run partial mean reversion. Half of the subjects see a version of this process in which the momentum and partial mean reversion unfold over 10 periods ('fast'), while the other subjects see a version with dynamics that unfold over 50 periods ('slow'). Typical subjects recognize most of the mean reversion of the fast process and none of the mean reversion of the slow process.

ABSTRACT We examine the influence of investor sentiment on managers’ discretionary disclosure of “pro forma” (adjusted) earnings metrics in earnings press releases. We find that managers’ propensity to disclose an adjusted earnings metric (especially one that exceeds the GAAP earnings number) increases with the level of investor sentiment. Furthermore, our analyses suggest that, as investor sentiment increases, managers: (1) exclude higher levels of both recurring and nonrecurring expenses in calculating the pro forma earnings number and (2) emphasize the pro forma figure by placing it more prominently within the earnings press release. Additional analyses indicate that the association between investor sentiment and managers’ pro forma disclosure decisions at least partly reflects opportunistic motives. Finally, we find that managers’ own sentiment‐driven expectations also play a role in their pro forma disclosure decisions.

Despite extensive monitoring, banking operations are often considered opaque, and despite explicit capital adequacy regulation, banks may have substantial discretion in their financing. Both monitoring and capital regulation have changed substantially over time, with the adoption of FDICIA being one important breakpoint. This article empirically studies seasoned equity offerings (SEOs) by banks to understand how opacity and capital regulation interact to determine the timing of bank SEOs and their market valuation. SEOs both by banks that are undercapitalized relative to regulatory standards and also well-capitalized banks are fully discretionary when it comes to SEOs, even before FDICIA. Both undercapitalized and well-capitalized banks experience similar and significantly negative stock price reactions to SEO announcements, and also have similar prior patterns of insider trading and similar economic drivers of the issuance decision. Moreover, post-SEO abnormal stock returns are similar to benchmark returns for both types of issuers in the long run, suggesting that, contrary to the well-documented evidence for industrial SEOs, investors understand the value implications of bank SEOs upon announcement. The evidence implies that undercapitalized banks' SEOs are more discretionary and that all bank SEOs are less opaque than implied by earlier studies.

This study examined the impact of surface- and deep-level cultural differences on the cross-cultural adjustment of expatriates. Surface-level differences concern easily visible dissimilarities between home and host countries, and deep-level differences refer to dissimilarities in basic values. Overall, results indicated that surface-level cultural differences were most strongly related to general adjustment. Deep-level cultural differences regarding the ?self-transcendence? value dimension were related to work and interaction adjustment.

Based on a sample of 169 subsidiaries of multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in the USA, Russia, and Finland, this paper investigates the relationship between MNC subsidiary human resource management (HRM) practices, absorptive capacity, and knowledge transfer. First, we examine the relationship between the application of specific HRM practices and the level of the absorptive capacity. Second, we suggest that absorptive capacity should be conceptualized as being comprised of both employees' ability and motivation. Further, results indicate that both ability and motivation (absorptive capacity) are needed to facilitate the transfer of knowledge from other parts of the MNC.

Strong majority influence can potentially harm organizational decisions by causing decision makers to engage in groupthink. This study examines whether and how computer-mediated communication (CMC) can reduce majority influence and thereby enhance the quality of decisions in some situations. To measure the impact of CMC on majority influence, three settings (unsupported, face-to-face CMC, and dispersed CMC) were compared. Matching laboratory experiments were carried out in an individualistic (the US) and a collectivistic culture (Singapore) to determine how the impact of CMC might be moderated by national culture. An intellective and a preference task were used to see whether the impact of CMC might be moderated by task type. The results showed that the impact of CMC on majority influence was contingent upon national culture. In the individualistic culture, majority influence was stronger in the unsupported setting than the face-to-face CMC and dispersed CMC settings. In the collectivistic culture, there were no corresponding differences. The results also revealed that the impact of CMC on majority influence was not moderated by task type. Instead, task type had a direct impact on majority influence. Regardless of the setting involved, majority influence was stronger with the preference than the intellective task. Besides demonstrating how cultural factors may moderate the impact of CMC, this study raises the broader issue of cultural relativism in current knowledge on CMC.

Alternative ways to alleviate the shortage of anesthesiologists in obstetric services have been investigated in three study stages. These were (1) a survey and detailed analysis of the existing situation in one metropolitan region of the United States, (2) the construction and validation of a computer simulation model to study the consequences of alternative practice modes with speed, with economy and requiring no human experimentation, and (3) the establishment of a methodology for selecting an optimal anesthesia team configuration. This in turn should aid administrators in establishing future manpower needs and enable more efficient allocations of existing staff. The methodology, incorporating the simulation model, provides team design charts which enable decision makers to arrive at a basis for enlightened tradeoffs between personnel-associated costs and quality of service. Service quality is measured in terms of temporary unavailability of anesthesia personnel with the proper skills for performing certain tasks when needed. This article documents the overall project mission, the data base, the methodologies used, and the study results.

Integrating expectancy violation theory and social exchange theory, we investigate the role of leader traditionality in augmenting the positive effect of servant leadership in promoting follower reciprocation in three studies. In Study 1, we substantiate in an experiment that individuals indeed expect leaders possessing traditional values to be less likely to engage in servant leadership behaviors compared with leaders who are low in traditionality. Further, we test our full model in an experiment (Study 2) and find support for our hypothesis that the relationship between servant leadership, follower trust in the leader, and subsequent follower organizational citizenship behavior is stronger for leaders higher (vs. lower) in traditional values. Replicating the findings from Study 2, we conduct a field investigation (Study 3) with multiwave and multisource data from a Fortune 500 company and obtain full support for our model. The consistent findings across our studies provide strong support for the role of leader traditionality in altering the social exchange relationship between servant leaders and their followers.

Organizations are demonstrating a burgeoning interest in hiring neurodivergent employees, prompting a parallel expansion of research on autism and employment. In this review, we evaluate, critique, and integrate diffuse research and theory on autism and employment across the domains of disability studies, autism, industrial relations, management, and rehabilitation. In doing so, we illustrate how incorporating the experiences of individuals on the autism spectrum can benefit management theory. Likewise, we highlight how existing management theory can help contextualize and enrich autism research. In addition, our review highlights barriers and potential enablers that individuals on the autism spectrum encounter during varying stages of employment, while also providing insight into steps that can be taken by organizations and practitioners to improve employment outcomes for neurodivergent individuals. We conclude with an agenda for advancing research and practice that enhances the employment experiences of autistic individuals and the outcomes of the organizations that employ them.