Low Environmental Uncertainty Research Articles

Can the Opening of High-speed Rail Promote Green Innovation Behavior of Enterprises: Evidence from China

This study utilizes the quasi-natural experiment of China's high-speed rail opening and examines the impact on corporate green innovation using green patent data from Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies between 2007 and 2021.The difference-in-difference model is employed to empirically test the relationship between high-speed rail opening and corporate green innovation, as well as to analyze the underlying mechanisms driving this relationship. The research findings indicate a significant positive association between China's high-speed rail opening and enterprise green innovation, indicating an improvement in green innovation levels following the introduction of high-speed rail. The impact mechanism involves the enhancement of government governance capacity and overall factor productivity within enterprises. Further sub-sample test found that the opening of high-speed rail promoted enterprises' green innovation mainly in enterprises with low environmental uncertainty and enterprises in central and western regions.

The promotion of digital transformation for supply chain diversification in service-oriented manufacturing paradigm

ABSTRACT Service-oriented manufacturing (SOM) is a new paradigm that merges manufacturing and service, leading to supply chain diversification (SCD) with components such as supplier, customer, and product diversification. Building SCD is imperative for SOM firms as a proactive strategy. Our study investigates the role of digital transformation (DT) in building SCD for SOM firms, while also examining the moderating effects of information quality and environment uncertainty. Our methodology involves collecting data from 819 A-listed SOM firms announced by governing bodies between 2017 and 2021. We utilised ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models with fixed effects to test our hypotheses. Our findings indicate that DT enhances SCD, encompassing supplier, customer, and product diversification. The positive effects of DT on SCD are amplified in conditions of higher information quality and lower environmental uncertainty. However, in contexts characterised by low environmental uncertainty, SCD performance may suffer. These results hold practical implications for researchers and practitioners involved in SCD management.

PENGARUH OTORITAS PEMIMPIN DAN UNCERTAINTY ENVIRONTMENT TERHADAP BUDGETARY SLACK

Budgetary slack is the tendency of management to intentionally lower revenues or higher costs. Budget slack can cause losses for the company because the company's performance is less than optimal in determining the targets to be achieved. This action is influenced by various factors such as the authority of the leader and the uncertainty of the environment. This research is an experimental study to examine the influence of the leader's authority and uncertainty environment on the occurrence of budgetary slack. The object of this research is the undergraduate students majoring in Accounting at Widya Mandala Catholic University Surabaya as many as 64 participants, using a 2x2 experimental design. Participants were divided into 4 different cells which were given different treatments. The ANOVA test tool is used to test the results of the data that has been collected in order to test the predetermined hypothesis. Before carrying out the ANOVA test, a Levene test will be carried out to determine the level of homogeneity of the data that has been collected, if the data is not homogeneous then the data cannot be used to continue the test. The results of this test prove that leaders who use coercive power encourage subordinate behavior to do budgetary slack compared to leaders who use legitimate power. For environmental uncertainty variables, subordinates who are in low environmental uncertainty tend to do budgetary slack compared to subordinates who are in high environmental uncertainty.

Sensory and environmental uncertainty in perceptual decision-making

In perceptual decision-making, uncertainties regarding both noisy sensory information and changing environmental regularities must be considered. We aimed to clarify the relationship between these two sources of uncertainty using a combined motion discrimination and audiovisual reversal learning task with Bayesian modeling. As predicted, the influence of learned beliefs regarding audiovisual associations on perceptual decisions was greater under high sensory uncertainty. Critically, this modulatory effect was larger under high than low environmental uncertainty. Moreover, the degree to which observers relied on learned beliefs when making perceptual decisions depended on their individual tendency to change beliefs. While these findings suggest that weighting of the available sensory information against learned beliefs is modulated by their respective uncertainties, belief learning was not found to rely on sensory uncertainty. Unraveling of these interactive effects of sensory and environmental uncertainties in perception might aid in the understanding of aberrant perceptual inference in psychopathology such as schizophrenia.

Fintech and corporate green technology innovation: Impacts and mechanisms

This paper uses the number of green patents granted of listed companies and the number of fintech companies in prefecture‐level cities in China from 2011 to 2018 to investigate the impact of fintech development on corporate green technology innovation and its mechanisms. We find that fintech can significantly promote corporate green technology innovation. Specifically, the promotion effect of fintech works through three channels: alleviating financing constraints, gathering scientific and technological talents, and optimizing environmental regulations. Heterogeneity tests find that its promotion effect is more significant for the eastern region, invention patents, state‐owned enterprises, and low environmental uncertainty.

Earnings Persistence and Abnormal Audit Fees

This study discusses the impact of earnings persistence on abnormal audit fees and explores the mechanism between earnings persistence and abnormal audit fees. The results show that the stronger the earnings persistence is, the lower the abnormal audit fees are. The earnings persistence only has a significant impact on the positive abnormal audit fees, and the impact on the negative abnormal audit fees is not obvious. Furthermore, it is found that the negative correlation between the earnings persistence and abnormal audit fees has obvious heterogeneity; that is, it is more significant in companies with low environmental uncertainty and state‐owned companies. The mechanism test shows that earnings persistence reduces abnormal audit fees by improving company operating risk, which proves the “Risk Compensation View” of abnormal audit fees to a certain extent. The research provides an important reference for the management and shareholders to eliminate abnormal audit fees and for the regulatory authorities to regulate audit fees.

Mitigating interorganizational conflicts in humanitarian logistics collaboration: the roles of contractual agreements, trust and post-disaster environmental uncertainty phases

PurposeGovernance is the key to establishing effective collaboration among humanitarian logistics partners addressing an ongoing relief work. With a focus on humanitarian interorganizational collaboration, this research draws on governance theories to investigate how conflicts can be mitigated in this challenging setting.Design/methodology/approachThe focus on governance extends attention to the frontiers of contractual agreement, trust and environmental uncertainty to be applied in the humanitarian setting. To develop perspectives, an online survey of 289 field executives working in humanitarian organizations across the globe is conducted. The findings are based on hierarchical regressions.FindingsEnvironmental uncertainty, in humanitarian logistics, is not straightforward, but wields distinctive challenges in the response phase (immediate to the disaster) as well as the recovery phase (beginning of build back) – to loom prospects of conflict between partners. Findings outline that contractual agreement can increase conflict during the response phase (high environmental uncertainty), but mitigate it during the recovery phase (low environmental uncertainty). Furthermore, contractual agreement interactively strengthens the ability of trust to reduce conflict. Yet, trust acting alone shows best outcome to mitigate conflict.Research limitations/implicationsContrary to the established understanding in traditional logistics suggesting the vitality of contracts to easily mitigate challenges posed by environmental uncertainty, the humanitarian setting extends a unique outset for interorganizational governance based on the temporality of response and recovery phases.Originality/valueThis research pioneers to quantitatively examine the setting of humanitarian logistics based on survey. Given the difficulty of data acquisition, the extant research has largely relied on qualitative investigations when considering the agenda of governance.

Exploring the factors in aligning information systems and organizational strategies in tall organizational structures in an uncertain environment

AbstractFactors affecting the alignment of information systems (ISs) and organizational strategies (i.e., strategic alignment) vary depending on the organizational contexts, comprising both the structural and environmental contexts. Previous studies of strategic alignment were largely focused on organizations with flatter organizational structures and low environmental uncertainty. Therefore, findings from previous studies might not be applicable to organizations with tall organizational structures and in uncertain environments, like Iranian organizations. To this end, we aimed to discover less‐explored factors in achieving strategic alignment based on the contexts of Iranian organizations, using grounded theory. We conducted semi‐structured interviews with 29 experts in different organizations to illustrate and substantiate the development of an eightfold framework that specifies the factors for achieving strategic alignment. Specifically, the developed eightfold framework resulted in identification of 8 factors and 51 elements in achieving strategic alignment. Here, we identified five factors in achieving strategic alignment in addition to the factors reported by previous research (i.e., senior management, communication, and partnership), namely IS leadership, IS capabilities, organizational development, human resources, and IT infrastructure. The results indicate that these factors play a prominent role in determining the challenges and discerning the momentous requirements for achieving strategic alignment in organizations with tall structures in uncertain environments.

Excitatory-inhibitory tone shapes decision strategies in a hierarchical neural network model of multi-attribute choice.

We are constantly faced with decisions between alternatives defined by multiple attributes, necessitating an evaluation and integration of different information sources. Time-varying signals in multiple brain areas are implicated in decision-making; but we lack a rigorous biophysical description of how basic circuit properties, such as excitatory-inhibitory (E/I) tone and cascading nonlinearities, shape attribute processing and choice behavior. Furthermore, how such properties govern choice performance under varying levels of environmental uncertainty is unknown. We investigated two-attribute, two-alternative decision-making in a dynamical, cascading nonlinear neural network with three layers: an input layer encoding choice alternative attribute values; an intermediate layer of modules processing separate attributes; and a final layer producing the decision. Depending on intermediate layer E/I tone, the network displays distinct regimes characterized by linear (I), convex (II) or concave (III) choice indifference curves. In regimes I and II, each option’s attribute information is additively integrated. In regime III, time-varying nonlinear operations amplify the separation between offer distributions by selectively attending to the attribute with the larger differences in input values. At low environmental uncertainty, a linear combination most consistently selects higher valued alternatives. However, at high environmental uncertainty, regime III is more likely than a linear operation to select alternatives with higher value. Furthermore, there are conditions where readout from the intermediate layer could be experimentally indistinguishable from the final layer. Finally, these principles are used to examine multi-attribute decisions in systems with reduced inhibitory tone, leading to predictions of different choice patterns and overall performance between those with restrictions on inhibitory tone and neurotypicals.

Conformity or differentiation? A U-shaped relationship between peers’ CSR and focal firms’ CSR

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of peers’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) on focal firms’ CSR from an integrated perspective. The current study aims to explore whether as peers’ CSR increases focal firms’ CSR would first decrease and then increase.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on a sample consisting of Chinese listed manufacturing firms from 2010 to 2016. Hypotheses are tested by generalized least squares method to minimum heterogeneity and autocorrelation concern.FindingsThe results show that focal firms’ CSR would first decrease and then increase with the increase in peers’ CSR. Furthermore, this paper found that corporate visibility would stress more value on CSR differentiation strategy and environmental uncertainty would stress more value on CSR conformity strategy, such that the U-shaped relationship would be more pronounced in high corporate visibility or low environmental uncertainty situation.Practical implicationsThe findings may be of interest to the academic researchers and managers. For researchers, it is important to understand how focal firms would practice CSR in response to peers’ CSR, especially through an integrated perspective. For managers, the results show that the best way to invest in CSR activities in response to peers’ CSR follows a U-shaped curve, and corporate visibility and environmental uncertainty are important factors to be considered to make CSR decisions.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature by proposing and examining a U-shaped relationship between peers’ CSR and focal firms’ CSR, which stresses the conformity and differentiation value of CSR simultaneously. Besides, to fully map the effects of peers’ CSR and focal firms’ CSR, this paper considers the moderating roles of internal and external contingencies on this non-linear relationship between the peers’ CSR and focal firms’ CSR.

The influence of brokers on networking behaviour during internationalization: a study of Czech SMEs

PurposeUnder given environmental uncertainties, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of brokers on the networking behaviour of small- and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) and the subsequent impact on the performance of SMEs. The following five different types of brokers were tested, namely, coordinator, representative, cosmopolitan, liaison and gatekeeper brokers.Design/methodology/approachData were collected through an online survey and analyzed by using the hierarchical regression method.FindingsThe results from the hierarchical regression analysis of 198 Czech firms showed that coordinator and representative brokers moderate the relationship between environmental uncertainty and networking behaviour. However, under high environmental uncertainty, the coordinator broker worked best, whereas in the host country, under low environmental uncertainty, the representative broker worked best.Originality/valueThe findings of this study have useful implications for SMEs in selecting an appropriate broker for strengthening their networking behaviour in the international market. This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of various types of brokers on networking behaviour during their internationalization of SMEs. More specifically, this study examined if and how, given the uncertainties in the international market, multiple brokers help SME executives develop networking behaviour.

Customer Concentration, Tax Collection Intensity, and Corporate Tax Avoidance

ABSTRACT We investigate the influence of customer concentration on corporate tax avoidance based on non-financial firms listed on Chinese stock exchanges over the period 2009–2014. Our results show that firms with higher customer concentration are more likely to engage in tax avoidance, and this effect is greater at conservative tax avoidance firms. We also find that tax collection intensity can significantly attenuate the positive relationship between customer concentration and tax avoidance, which is more pronounced at conservative tax avoidance firms. The significantly attenuating effects of tax collection intensity exist at firms in highly competitive industries, and firms with low environmental uncertainty. Our results also show that easing financing constraints is one way to reduce customer concentration’s influence on tax avoidance. This evidence indicates that customer concentration is an important cause of tax avoidance, and tax collection intensity is an effective external governance mechanism at firms with large customers.

Entrepreneurship in tourism firms: A mixed-methods analysis of performance driver configurations

Tourism firms’ financial performance is determined by a complex interplay of factors, both internal and external to the firm. Predominant internal factors are their entrepreneurial behavior and financial resources. External factors refer to the network of actors contributing to the tourism product as well as market and competitive uncertainties. Employing fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) on quantitative data from a survey of 113 owner-managers of small and medium-sized tourism firms from Austria, this study investigates configurations of factors that lead to high firm performance. Results reveal six different configurations, which can be grouped into high or low environmental uncertainty settings and highlight the relevance of multidimensional Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), financial endowment, and personal and professional networks. Using a sequential mixed-methods approach, 13 qualitative follow-up interviews with owner-managers from the sample help to gain deeper insights into the identified configurations and to formulate successful paths to higher tourism firm performance.

An Empirical Study on Green Innovation Strategy and Sustainable Competitive Advantages: Path and Boundary

Although green innovation strategy (GIS) is the driving force for the sustainable development of enterprises, while the strategy is implemented, an increased cost and a change in organizational routines will cause an organization to become fragile, and even affect the sustainable competitive advantages. So, the purpose of this paper is to explore the impact path of GIS on sustainable competitive advantages and the implementation boundary of GIS. To explain the impact path, we consider the concept of dynamic capabilities to be the mediator variable. To explain the implementation boundary of GIS, we systematically explore the relationships among GIS, dynamic capabilities and sustainable competitive advantages under different levels of environmental uncertainty. Based on 241 new Chinese green firms, the empirical results find that GIS helps enterprises to gain sustainable competitive advantages. However, in the process of strategy implementation, enterprises should choose appropriate methods according to different degrees of environmental uncertainty. In a low environmental uncertainty, dynamic capabilities play a full intermediary role between GIS and sustainable competitive advantages. However, in a high environmental uncertainty, dynamic capabilities have no mediating effect between GIS and sustainable competitive advantages. This study not only integrates green management theory and strategic management theory but also makes up for the deficiencies in research on these theories and has important reference value for enterprises that seek to carry out green innovation activities.

Fits and misfits of supply chain flexibility to environmental uncertainty

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to compare the effects on performance of two types of misfits (overfit vs underfit) as well as two types of fits (high-high fit vs low-low fit) between environmental uncertainty and supply chain flexibility.Design/methodology/approachThe two asymmetry hypotheses have been tested with survey data from 212 Chinese manufacturing firms.FindingsThe results in general provided empirical evidences for the asymmetric effects in the fits and misfits between environmental uncertainty and supply chain flexibility. For the same degree of misfit, underfit deteriorates performance more than overfit. In addition, high supply chain flexibility fitting high environmental uncertainty (i.e. high-high fit) results in a higher performance than low supply chain flexibility fitting low environmental uncertainty (i.e. low-low fit).Practical implicationsIt suggests that managers should strive to avoid the underfit of supply chain flexibility rather than the overfit, if the perfect fit is impossible to achieve. In addition, as it is beneficial to realize the fit of supply chain flexibility to high levels of environmental uncertainty, managers should probably embrace the highly uncertain environment and enhance the supply chain flexibility of their organizations to meet the increasing uncertainty of environment.Originality/valueFit and misfit are the core concepts to understand the relationships among environmental uncertainty, supply chain flexibility strategy, and performance. While the existing literature highlights the differential performance consequences of fit vs misfit between environmental uncertainty and supply chain flexibility strategy, the effects on performance are assumed to be the same for the two types of misfits, and two types of fits. The authors challenge these symmetry assumptions by arguing that overfit has a less negative effect on performance than underfit, and high-high fit has a stronger positive effect than low-low fit. The authors found empirical evidence in a large sample of Chinese manufacturing firms.

Exploring the role of contracts to support the emergence of self-organized industrial symbiosis networks: an agent-based simulation study

This paper explores the efficacy of contractual mechanisms for enhancing the formation of self-organized industrial symbiosis networks in environments characterized by diverse levels of uncertainty and turbulence. We propose a simple contract scheme designed to foster the formation of stable industrial symbiosis relationships and to guarantee that the industrial symbiosis is beneficial for all parties involved. Industrial symbiosis networks are framed as complex adaptive systems and an agent-based model is provided, to study the effect of the proposed contract on their emergence. In particular, we utilize a real case study and by means of simulation assess the benefits associated with the proposed contract in terms of emergence of stable industrial symbiosis relationships. The results show that the proposed contractual mechanism is a facilitator for establishing symbiotic relationships especially in scenarios characterized by low environmental uncertainty and high turbulence.

How family control influences FDI entry mode choice

AbstractThis study investigates how family control influences entry mode choice between joint ventures and wholly owned subsidiaries. Based on past studies revealing family-controlled firms’ unique concerns regarding the preservation of socioemotional wealth, the researchers posit that, firms with higher family control respond more drastically to perceived environmental uncertainty when choosing their entry mode. The researchers hypothesize that, when perceiving high environmental uncertainty, firms with higher versus lower family control are more likely to choose joint ventures. However, when perceiving low environmental uncertainty, firms with higher versus lower family control tend to choose wholly owned subsidiaries. The empirical results obtained from a sample of 1,644 investments undertaken by publicly listed companies in Taiwan support the hypotheses.

Relational Norms in Interfirm Exchanges: From Transactional Cost Economics to the Service-Dominant Logic

Purpose: This article investigates the implication and importance of the service-dominant (S-D) logic to the increasingly relevant study and practice of Interorganizational relational exchange. It points out that relational exchange theory (norms) is an earlier reflection of the S-D logic. Recognizing a need for the transactional cost economics (TCE) framework to address bilateral or hybrid types of exchanges, marketing channel researchers have for over twenty years incorporated relational exchange theory (RET) and TCE to investigate problems of formal contract, environmental uncertainty, power/dependency, and opportunism. However, some theoreticians view relational modes of exchange to be broader in scope than that studied within TCE. We propose a conceptual framework that incorporates TCE constructs with S-D logic principles in order to provide a rich contemporary guide for future relational exchange research and practice. Methodology/Approach: We first expose the essential elements of the S-D logic and describe relational exchange theory and the problems generated by TCE. Database searches reveal a continuous stream of fifty empirical studies between 1988 and 2009 in which Macneil's relational norms were operationalized in the context of interfirm exchanges. The studies are analyzed from the viewpoint of TCE and the emerging S-D logic. The empirical findings were also discussed in terms of their contribution to validating a fundamental premise of the S-D logic. Subsequently, using S-D logic's conception of operant resources, we suggest several avenues for developing questions and conducting future relational norms research. Empirical Findings: The findings validate the fundamental assumption of S-D logic, that relational exchange is instrumental in the co-creation of value (exchange performance) whether service is rendered directly or indirectly through goods or a combination of both. Exchange performance is better when the formal contract exists within a relational context. Relational exchange is effective in contexts of both high and low environmental uncertainty, may attenuate the negative effects of power/dependency differences and mitigate opportunistic behavior. Originality/Value/Contribution: This article is a comprehensive review of relational norms research. It links the empirical findings conducted within the combined conceptual approaches of relational exchange theory and the TCE framework. It provides a comprehensive discussion of the essentials of the S-D logic and its compatibility with previous relational norm research. It outlines an S-D logic inspired framework for future research linking operant resources (knowledge, skills, and technology) to relational norms, facilitators of service-for-service, and value co-creation in interorganizational exchange networks.

Budget effectiveness in multinational companies: a systems-fit approach

Budget effectiveness in multinational companies receives research interest because of globalisation. Research to date has used contingency-theory methods which have limitations. A systems-fit approach, which views organisations and systems holistically, is a complementary alternative. Compared with reductionistic contingency framework methods using regression analysis, it emphasises holistic methods related to effectiveness and deals with the inherent complexity of multinationals. This study examines the effectiveness of budget control systems in a Finnish multinational company using the systems approach. The tests examined the correlation of the fit of different profiles with effectiveness of the budget control system for both domestic and foreign subunits under conditions of high and low environmental uncertainty. No significant difference between domestic and foreign subunits is detected. Reliance on budget control is not inherently dysfunctional. The study demonstrates the viability of the systems-fit research approach.

Organizational and Environmental Determinants of Hospital EMR Adoption: A National Study

The recent focus on health care quality improvement and cost containment has led some policymakers and practitioners to advocate the adoption of health information technology. One such technology is the Electronic Medical Record (EMR), which is predicted to change and improve health care in the USA. Little is known about factors that influence hospital adoption of this relatively new technology. The purpose of this paper is to determine the national prevalence of EMR adoption in acute care hospitals while examining the organizational and environmental correlates using a Resource Dependence Theoretical Perspective. Significant predictors of hospital EMR use may indicate barriers to use for some hospitals and can be used to guide policy. This study uses a non-experimental cross sectional design to examine hospital EMR use in 2004. A logistic regression approach is used to determine the correlations between hospital EMR use and organizational and environmental characteristics. Hospital EMR use was identified using the HIMSS Analytics data. Organizational and environmental variables were measured using data from the AHA, CMS (financial and case mix) and ARF. Hospital EMR adoption is significantly associated with environmental uncertainty, type of system affiliation, size, and urbanness. The effects of competition, munificence, ownership, teaching status, public payer mix, and operating margin were not statistically significant. Significant predictors of hospital EMR adoption represent barriers that may prevent certain hospitals from obtaining and using EMRs. These hospitals include those that are smaller, more rural, non-system affiliated, and in areas of low environmental uncertainty. Since EMR adoption may be an organizational survival strategy for hospitals to improve quality and efficiency, hospitals that are at risk of missing the wave of implementation should be offered services and incentives to enable them to implement and maintain EMR systems.