Levels Of Competitive Intensity Research Articles

Effect of competition intensity and neighbor identity on architectural traits of Fagus sylvatica

Key messageDifferences in architectural traits of European beech saplings submitted to different levels of competition intensity and neighborhood diversity show a shift toward lateral growth exploration for overtopped trees but less expressed apical control is maintained for beech grown with conifers.Crown plasticity is a fundamental process to optimize the acquisition of light in forests, where it is often the limiting factor for growth. The processes leading to crown dynamics in response to biotic interaction are controlled by the competitive status of a tree, as well as the species diversity of the neighborhood. Yet, the ontogenic diversity of the different branches leading to crown structure makes it difficult to model crown plasticity. In this study, we used single-image photogrammetry and a semi-automatic topology reconstruction software to map the architecture of 3-year-old European beech trees (Fagus sylvatica L.) grown in pure pots or mixed with Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirbel) Franco) or Norway spruce (Piceaabies L. H.Karst). Further, we investigated the effect of competition intensity (estimated with height rank) and neighbourhood diversity on architectural traits. To do so, we quantified the mean volume, slenderness, number of branches, branching rate, internode length, and diameter ratio for each stem and branch, up to the order three. Overtopped trees developed fewer branches and biomass but allocated more biomass to branches of a higher order than to the stem. The increase in the ramification of the stem and the diameter ratio of the first-order branches for overtopped trees indicate a shift in the growth strategy and a decrease in apical control. As competition intensity and neighbour identity have opposite effects on stem traits, it seems that the positive effect of plant diversity on growth can be attributed to the intrinsic effects of species identity rather than to competition release.

Sustain or perish: how lean manufacturing practices predict the sustainable performance of manufacturing SMEs? A moderated mediation analysis

PurposeThis paper aims to explore how lean manufacturing practices (LMPs) predict sustainable performance (SP) in the context of manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in less developed countries, like Yemen. In particular, it investigates the mediating effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) under different levels of competitive intensity (CI).Design/methodology/approachHierarchical regression analysis was used to analyze data gathered from a survey of 259 Yemeni manufacturing SMEs.FindingsThe findings confirm that LMPs affect CSR, which in turn affects SP. This study also confirms that LMPs have a positive indirect effect on SP through CSR, which diminished in the presence of CI.Practical implicationsThis study provides useful insights for policymakers and firms’ managers, who are anticipated to show a higher commitment to CSR in their firms when adopting LMPs to enhance their firms’ SP, especially under a low level of CI.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to expanding knowledge on the effect of LMPs on SP through CSR constrained by the level of CI.

Environmental Regulation Design: Motivating Firms’ Clean Technology Investments With Penalties and Subsidies

The recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) includes a number of incentive-based programs (e.g., tax credits) designed to motivate firms to develop new clean technologies for fighting climate change. However, the IRA also includes a fee firms incur for excessive methane emissions. This represents the first time the United States government has ever levied a fee on greenhouse gas emissions, and it raises an interesting research question—how should a budget-constrained regulator balance the use of both incentive and penalty-based levers for stimulating investment in clean technology development? In this paper, we examine a regulator’s optimal penalty and subsidy decisions for motivating firms to invest in clean technology development. We illustrate how the level of competitive intensity in the market can influence a budget-constrained regulator with multiple competing objectives—the environment, firm profits, and consumer welfare. We find that a subsidy is always beneficial, irrespective of the regulator’s objective. While imposing a firm penalty always benefits the environment, it always negatively impacts the sum of firm profits and consumer welfare. However, depending on the level of competition in the market, instances can occur where imposing a high penalty actually benefits total firm profits or consumer welfare (separately). Interestingly, a regulator that cares about all three dimensions of its objective equally, should always set the penalty to either its minimum or maximum value, depending on whether the environmental cost of the harmful product is high or low.

Dynamic customer-oriented relational capabilities: how do they impact internationalizing firm performance?

PurposeThis work proposes that a multi-national service company (MNSC) needs to develop dynamic customer-oriented relational capabilities (DCRC), constituting dynamic service customization (DySC), dynamic customer integration (DyCI) and dynamic timeliness of service delivery (DyTSD) capabilities, to gain competitive advantage and performance in its internationalization efforts.Design/methodology/approachFor empirical validation of the framework, developed through qualitative interviews, this study includes multi-cross-sectional data from twelve countries, four each in the category of underdeveloped (Africa), developing (Asia) and developed economies (Europe). Covariance-based structural equation modelling is used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe study supports that DySC, DyCI and DyTSD capabilities have a significant positive influence on firm competitive advantage and performance across economies. The levels of competition intensity and regulatory restrictions, an outcome of the type of economy, have negative intervening effects, with varying intensities across economies.Practical implicationsThis work guides the internationalization service managers to leverage DCRC across national borders keeping the state of the economy into consideration.Originality/valueThis work proposes a model of DCRC, based on the Intangibility, Heterogeneity, Inseparability and Perishability (IHIP) service framework, that enables firms to derive competitive advantage and performance across economies with varying environmental conditions.

The Contingent Effects of Intrateam Abusive Behavior on Team Thriving and New Venture Performance

This study sheds light on the dark side of entrepreneurship by examining how and under what conditions abusive behavior within new venture teams (NVTs) relates to new venture performance. Using a national (USA) random sample of NVTs, we find that the relationship of intrateam abusive behavior (i.e., degree to which NVT members exhibit “hostile” verbal behaviors toward each other) with new venture performance (i.e., sales and employment growth) is mediated by NVT thriving (i.e., level of vitality and learning exhibited within the NVT). Results further demonstrate that perceived competitive intensity of the industry moderates this relationship, with the indirect effect of intrateam abusive behavior on new venture performance (via thriving) being significantly less negative at high, than at low, levels of competitive intensity. We therefore conclude that perceived competitive threats to the survival of startups act to mitigate the otherwise deleterious effects of abusive behavior occurring within NVTs. These results broaden existing knowledge regarding the dark side of entrepreneurship by expanding the conversation on this topic to include the NVT and providing evidence for why some NVTs, but not others, are able to sustain the growth of their firms despite the occurrence of abusive behavior between their members.

Choose Your Enemies Well: Mapping, Managing, and Leveraging Rivalry

There is an important constraint that can be used to regulate mobility in competitive labor markets—the existence of a deeply felt rivalry between employers. Rivalry denotes a stable antagonistic relationship between companies, as exemplified by Apple and IBM in the 1980s. Analyzing data from the Palio di Siena (an ancient horse race in Siena, Italy), this article shows that direct moves between rivals are rare, accounting for less than 2% of all career moves in this context between 1743 and 2011. Rivalry constrains not only direct but also indirect moves to the ally of a rival or the rival of an ally. This article presents a framework describing how managers can harness rivalry: mapping rivalry, managing rivalry to capitalize on its positive aspects, and leveraging rivalry to adjust the level of competitive intensity.

Taking marketing strategy risks with seemingly no expected gains

This paper investigates the competitive rationale for firms to invest in marketing activities aiming to enhance valuation and achieve differentiation and competitive advantage, while carrying the strategic risks of causing unintended negative consequences. We build a stylized theoretical model where firms offering similar (homogenous) products are competing by determining their marketing strategy and pricing. Each firm must choose between several marketing activities that have different potentials of enhancing consumers’ product valuations while carrying some risk of lowering consumer valuation if unintended negative outcomes occur. The stochastic nature of marketing implies that (1) even when both firms invest the same amount of money aiming to enhance product valuations by the same level, there will be a variety of (posterior) vertical differentiation scenarios where the consumers could value either firm’s product as better as or worse than the rival’s. (2) The firms may employ marketing activities that do not even lead to gains in consumer product valuation in expectation. The duopoly model analysis indicates that associated with strategic pricing, even such stochastic marketing activities may constitute desirable strategies for two a priori symmetric firms in order to avoid a Bertrand type competition as the benefit from differentiation is found to be significant enough to offset the unintended negative outcomes. The oligopoly model analysis indicates that there is an increased incentive to take marketing risk when there is a greater level of competitive intensity in the marketplace. Preliminary experimental evidence is presented to support the main findings from theoretical model analyses. The paper thus provides important managerial implications for firms contemplating investment in seemingly risky marketing activities.

Pure or ambidextrous strategy? A study of responsive and proactive market orientations in industrial firms

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the environmental conditions (i.e. competitive intensity) under which a pure strategy or an ambidextrous strategy of implementing responsive market orientations (RMOs) and/or proactive market orientations (PMOs) is more advantageous for firm’s performance.Design/methodology/approachDrawing upon the market orientation (MO) and strategy literatures, the authors test the study’s model empirically using a sample of 308 US-based firms operating in industrial markets. All measurement items are taken from the widely used maturity scale which has been confirmed in the literature.FindingsThe empirical results suggest that when the competitive intensity is high, pursuing a purity strategy of RMO while decreasing PMO is the best course of action. On the other hand, balancing between RMO and PMO (implementing a strategy of ambidexterity) can increase firm’s performance in a low competitive intensity environment.Research limitations/implicationsThis study aims to contribute to the existing MO literature in several ways: first, this study advances the MO literature by emphasizing the moderating role of competitive intensity on the effects of different MO strategies (purity or ambidextrous MO strategy); second, this study focuses on the firms operating in industrial markets and informs managers on how to adopt RMO and PMO under different level of competitive intensity; third, this study is the extended research of the prior study published in this journal (Wang et al., 2013), which examined the environmental antecedents of adopting RMO and PMO.Practical implicationsFirst, firms operating in industrial markets should increase RMO, while at the same time decrease PMO, in a highly competitive intensity environment. Second, companies should pursue both RMO and PMO at the same time in a low competitive intensity environment. Balancing between RMO and PMO can improve firms’ performance in a low competitive intensity environment.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the industrial business and marketing literature by sharpening the theoretical understanding of the impact of RMOs and PMOs on firm’s performance. It also offers practical insights to managers of industrial firms on when to adopt RMOs and/or PMOs under different levels of competitive intensity.

Does Competitive Intensity Moderate the Relationships between Sustainable Capabilities and Sustainable Organizational Performance in New Ventures?

Competitive intensity presents challenges to new ventures. Capabilities may lead to sustainable new venture performance. Yet, few studies have explored how competitive intensity moderates the effects of capabilities on sustainable new venture performance. Based on capability-based view, this study develops a research model to investigate how new ventures translate capabilities (marketing, technology, market-linking, and information technology capabilities) to achieve sustainability of new venture growth and performance under the different levels of competitive intensity. Using data collected from 146 U.S. new ventures, this study uses ordinary least squares regression analysis to test the research model and employs “pick-a-point” approach to examine how capabilities affect sustainable new venture performance at different levels of competitive intensity. The empirical results suggest that increasing competitive intensity decreases, not increases, the positive effects of marketing capabilities on performance. When competitive intensity is very high, the positive effects of marketing capabilities on performance become insignificant. In contrast, the positive effects of market-linking capabilities on performance increase, not decrease, as competitive intensity increases. For technology and information technology capabilities, there are no moderating effects of competitive intensity. The theoretical and managerial implications are suggested for sustainable entrepreneurship and sustainable development of new enterprises.

Relating entrepreneurial orientation with operational responsiveness

PurposePremised on dynamic capability theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore the link between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and operational responsiveness (OR). In addition, grounded in contingency theory, the authors examine the roles of competitive intensity and technological turbulence in affecting the entrepreneurial orientation and OR link.Design/methodology/approachThis study proposes that firms’ entrepreneurial initiatives in terms of innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking significantly affect their responsiveness. Competitive intensity and technological turbulence moderate the EO and OR relationship. Using hierarchical regression analysis, the authors analyze the data generated from a sample of 164 small-and-medium enterprises in the USA.FindingsThe findings show that entrepreneurial initiatives are instrumental in responding to market requirements, which in turn results in superior performance. The authors also find that the interactive effects of innovativeness/risk-taking and competitive intensity are significant and positive, while those of innovativeness/proactiveness and technological turbulence on responsiveness are significant but negative. These findings imply that OR is effective when the level of competitive intensity is high while technological turbulence is low.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors conclude the paper by suggesting that entrepreneurial actions are pre-requisites for OR, which becomes effective only when the market experiences a moderate level of competition and a low level of technological change. The study provides implications for cross-functional research in the areas of entrepreneurship and operations management (OM) and also suggests future directions in this research stream.Originality/valueAlthough responsiveness has been recognized as a critical competitive capability in the OM literature, its relationship with EO is not fully understood and has not been empirically tested. Moreover, the interplay between EO and competitive intensity/technological turbulence and their effects on effective OR have not been gauged in the past.

The interrelationships among organizational culture and service quality under different levels of competitive intensity

Purpose This study aims to investigate the interrelationships among organizational culture and service quality by applying the SERVQUAL instrument under different levels of competitive intensity in the shipping industry context. Design/methodology/approach This study used the questionnaire investigation method to evaluate the hypothesized relationships. The authors utilized widely accepted and validated instruments as identified in the literature to measure the constructs under examination. The sample consisted of 684 shipping organizations located in Greece. The factorial structures of the constructs were identified through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, while the examined relationships were established through regression analyses. Findings The findings argue in favor of a parsimonious three-dimensional structure of the SERVQUAL instrument in the shipping industry context, illustrate the associations among the different types of organizational culture and the dimensions of service quality and explicate how the former impacts the latter. Moreover, the findings showed that the above-mentioned interrelationships are conditioned by the varying levels of competitive intensity. Originality/value Although much research and writing has occurred on the topics of service quality and organizational culture, relatively less is known about their interrelationships, that is how a company’s culture relates to the service quality offered especially under different levels of competitive intensity. Thus, the current study aims to fill in this gap in the literature and empirically address the need to look at the interrelationships among the theoretical constructs under examination.

The Rise of Merit-based Inequality Acceptance After Exposure to Competition: Experimental Evidence among Chinese University Students

This laboratory study examines an individual’s acceptance of distributional inequality after exposure to competition and the role of competitive intensity in this relationship among young adults in mainland China. We randomly assigned participants to tournaments with different levels of prize spread and winning selectivity, thereby engendering different levels of competitive intensity. Moreover, the lab experiment measured the participants’ preference for inequality in the distribution of tournament awards–what we call merit-based inequality acceptance. We obtained three main results. (1) Exposure to competition increases the level of inequality acceptance, and the effect of such increase tends to be great among strong performers in a tournament. (2) Exposure to competition with large prizes is positively associated with high level of inequality acceptance, whereas the relationship of winning selectivity to inequality acceptance has an inverted U shape. (3) The main source of inequality acceptance is the difference in the payoffs to strong and poor performers in a tournament. Results suggest that increasing competition intensity for economic rewards may have the unintended consequence of enhancing merit-based inequality acceptance among young Chinese university students.

Competitive Intensity Modulates the Pain Empathy Response: An Event-Related Potentials Study.

Previous studies have widely reported that competition modulates an individual’s ability to empathize with pain experienced by others. What remains to be clarified, however, is how modulations in the intensity of competition might affect this type of empathy. To investigate this, we first used a Eriksen Flanker task to set different competitive intensity context (high competitive intensity, HCI; medium competitive intensity, MCI; low competitive intensity, LCI). Then we used a recognition task as a competitive task, in which we recorded event-related potentials (ERP) while participants viewed static images of body parts in painful and non-painful situations. Participants were informed that both sets of images depicted an opponent that they were required to play against in the recognition task that varied in levels of competitive intensity according to condition (HCI, MCI, and LCI). We observed an early N2 differentiation between pain and no-pain stimuli over the frontal area under MCI and LCI conditions, but this was not detected under HCI condition. Moreover, we observed a pattern of pain and no-pain differentiation for the late LPP over the frontal and centro-parietal regions under HCI, MCI, and LCI condition. As the pain empathy response is indexed by pain and no-pain differentiation, these results indicate a down-regulation of pain empathy response attributable to a high level of competition. With its very early onset, this effect appears to inhibit bottom-up processing of the ability to perceive pain experienced by an opponent. Our results provide neuroscientific evidence for a deficit in early automatic arousal in response to the pain of the opponent under the influence of high competitive intensity.

Comparative Transcriptome Profiling Analysis of Red- and White-Fleshed Strawberry (Fragaria�ananassa) Provides New Insight into the Regulation of the Anthocyanin Pathway.

Anthocyanins are water-soluble pigments in plants. They confer both economic and healthy profits for humans. To gain a deeper insight into the regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis in octoploid strawberry (Fragaria�ananassa; Fa), a widely consumed economically important fruit, we performed comparative transcriptomic analysis of red- and white-fleshed strawberry cultivars in two ripening stages. In total, 365,455 non-redundant transcripts were assembled from the RNA sequencing (RNAseq) data. Of this collection, 377 were annotated as putative anthocyanin-related transcripts. Differential expression analysis revealed that 57 anthocyanin biosynthesis transcripts were down-regulated, and 89 transcription factors (TFs) were either down- or up-regulated under anthocyanin deficiency. Additionally, amongst the 50,601 putative long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) identified here, 68 lncRNAs were differentially expressed and co-expressed with differentially expressed anthocyanin-related mRNAs; 2,070 co-expressing lncRNA-mRNA pairs were generated. Expression profile analysis revealed that it was the limited expression of FaF3'H (flavonoid 3'-hydroxylase) that blocked the cyanidin 3-glucoside accumulation in the two investigated strawberry cultivars. This was further supported by a transient overexpression experiment with FaMYB10. The down-regulated lncRNAs might participate in anthocyanin regulation by acting as targets for microRNAs (miRNAs). The level of competitive intensity in miRNA and lncRNA for the same mRNA targets was probably lower in the white-fleshed strawberries, which can release the repression effect of the mRNAs in red-fleshed strawberry as a result. This study for the first time presents lncRNAs related to anthocyanins in strawberries, provides new insights into the anthocyanin regulatory network and also lays the foundation for identifying new anthocyanin regulators in strawberry.

The impact of TMT heterogeneity on Large Firms' Entrepreneurial Orientation – A Double-edge Sword?

This study investigates the effects of different types of heterogeneity within the top management team (TMT) on large firms’ entrepreneurial orientation (EO), particularly in environments characterized by competitive intensity. Drawing on the upper echelons perspective and organizational conflict literature, we hypothesize that relations heterogeneity within the TMT is negatively associated with EO, while task heterogeneity within the TMT positively relates to EO and that high levels of competitive intensity strengthen these relationships. Our results, based on panel data for 318 firms over 9 years, support our hypothesis of a negative association between relations heterogeneity and EO as well as a positive relationship between task heterogeneity and EO. While competitive environments strengthen the negative relationship between relations heterogeneity and EO, we do not find support for such an interaction effect with task heterogeneity. We contribute to management research by advancing the understanding ...

Changing competition dynamics among predators at the late Early Pleistocene site Barranc de la Boella (Tarragona, Spain)

The late Early Pleistocene site Barranc de la Boella provides an unparalleled opportunity to assess the context of the activities of the hominin populations that inhabited the Iberian Peninsula at 1Ma. Recently, strong evidence for access to mammoth meat has been described at the Pit 1 locality. At the la Mina and el Forn excavation areas, little evidence exists for the anthropogenic processing of macromammals. However, the presence of humans is recorded, and the available evidence suggests these populations had access to several interesting resources. By analysing and comparing five separate assemblages at Barranc de la Boella, we assess the fluctuating presence of hominins and carnivores and the levels of competition among predators in each assemblage. Our analysis reveals different levels of competition intensity during the formation of assemblages when hominin groups were present, as evidenced by the abundance and diversity of stone artefacts. The analyses of skeletal component ratios indicate several competitive contexts, and the greatest presence of hominin groups is associated with the most competitive scenarios. The palaeoenvironment at Barranc de la Boella was rich in resources that hominins could exploit. The presence of hominin and carnivore groups appears to have been higher in levels with more inferred competition. This scenario supports prior research that concludes that carnivore abundance and highly competitive contexts were two constants in the lives of these hominin groups. Thus, the criteria determining whether hominins could inhabit a given landscape were most likely related to the presence or absence of resources, such as animal resources, water and raw materials, rather than the dynamics of the carnivore populations, to which the hominins were able to become habituated.

Dynamic Release Management: A Market Intensity Approach

We consider a release manager who sequentially releases new versions of her product, and ask how she should account for the overall level of competitive intensity in her industry. We model the problem within a combinatorial framework in which new releases consist of discrete features. Motivated by a simple mixed-integer non-linear program (MINLP) that formed the basis of a collaboration with industry sponsors, we propose an approach in which the manager tunes her discount factor to capture the aggregate impact of market intensity. This technique relies on a multiplicative compound Poisson model of market intensity, which we justify by showing how it emerges naturally in a multi-firm equilibrium. This intensity equilibrium facilitates operational analysis, as it captures the relationships among firms at a statistical level, as opposed to a release-by-release strategic level. We also examine how ignoring the existence and/or stochasticity of the outside market can lead to suboptimal outcomes. To facilitate implementation, we provide a numerical procedure for calibrating the market intensity model based on the stylized multi-firm game-theoretic framework.

Carnivores and humans during the Early and Middle Pleistocene at Sierra de Atapuerca

It has been repeatedly proposed that the human presence in Europe during the late Early and the early Middle Pleistocene was conditioned, among other factors, by the available trophic resources and by the competition with carnivores for these resources. Competition for meat with other secondary consumers could delay the human dispersal through Europe. Moreover, some research suggests that human settlement was discontinuous in Europe during the late Early and the Middle Pleistocene and that this discontinuity might be related to the presence of other secondary consumers. The competition intensity among secondary consumer species in Europe has been previously analysed at both local and continental scales. At the local scale, two faunal assemblages from the Sierra de Atapuerca sites were analysed, demonstrating that competition intensity was higher in the early Middle Pleistocene than in the late Early Pleistocene. At a continental scale, 34 faunal assemblages were analysed and demonstrated an opposite pattern. In the present study, we extended the local analysis to include more faunal assemblages from the Sierra de Atapuerca sites to track the changes in the competition intensity during a longer time period. The results show that humans were able to successfully exploit the Atapuerca ecosystems at different levels of competition intensity, and that TD6-2 assemblage exhibits an exceptionally low degree of competition. It is proposed that the TD6-2 paleocommunity likely included a large felid species that is not recorded in the fossil assemblage. Lack of human presence in the TD8 assemblage may be related to increased competition intensity inside the guild of secondary consumers, while the technological development from Mode 2 to Mode 3 could be related to an increased degree of competition. There are similarities between the analyses at the continental and local scales from the point of view of the available biomass for secondary consumers, but the competition intensity shows little variation at the local scale, with the exception of the TD6-2 assemblage.

An Empirical Investigation in Sustaining High‐Quality Performance

ABSTRACTMany organizations that were once quality leaders have had challenges sustaining high‐quality performance. Although research has examined frameworks and concepts that lead to high‐quality performance, few studies examine how to sustain high‐quality performance. Sustaining performance may require additional capabilities from what it takes to achieve it. Drawing on quality management literature, organizational resilience literature, and the theory of dynamic capabilities in the strategy literature, this study empirically investigates the effects of four capabilities that help sustain high‐quality performance. The analysis shows that capabilities in improvement, innovation, sensing weak signals, and responsiveness all help sustain high‐quality performance. This suggests that what it takes to achieve high‐quality performance is different, in part, from what it takes to sustain it. The data comes from a survey of 147 manufacturing business units. The analysis shows that the relative benefits of these capabilities may depend on the level of competitive intensity and environmental uncertainty. The findings provide empirical support for a theoretical model and practical guidance for sustaining quality performance.

Organizational Structure and Gray Markets

Conventional wisdom suggests that when firms face a negative externality like gray marketing (i.e., the selling of branded goods outside of the manufacturer’s authorized channels), an effective strategy to reduce the negative impact is to centralize decision making. Nevertheless, in industries with significant gray marketing, we observe many firms with decentralized decision making. Our study assesses whether decentralized decision making can be optimal when a manufacturer faces gray market distribution. We consider a market where a focal firm competes with an existing competitor that produces a differentiated product and a gray marketer that sources an identical product from a lower-priced foreign market. We find that decentralization is optimal under quantity-based competition, provided the gray market is relatively uncompetitive and the level of competitive intensity between the focal firm and the competitor is high. Decentralization leads a firm to make aggressive production decisions, which leads to lower prices, yet it also leads to higher market share for the firm compared to centralization. When the level of competitive intensity between a firm and its competitor is high, the gain in market share more than offsets the loss due to lower prices. As a result, the focal firm is better off decentralizing its operations independent of (a) whether the competitor operates in the foreign market, and (b) the competitor’s organizational structure. This finding contradicts the belief that centralized decision making is always optimal when authorized manufacturers attempt to limit the negative impact of gray markets. The findings also provide insight to understand why firms might employ decentralized decision making in industries where gray markets are active.