Norwegian Business Research Articles

Leaders Improving Lives: Harnessing the Power of Leaders for Good

This symposium examines the determinants of prosocial leader behavior versus the darker, egocentric forms of leadership with the goal of better understanding how to harness the power of leaders for the betterment of groups, organizations, and society as a whole. All four papers explore a different aspect of the prosocial consequences of leadership. Two papers focus on positive leader behaviors and two consider how leaders affect the behavior and engagement of their subordinates. The papers span multiple methodologies, including field studies and experiments. Together, they highlight factors that cause leaders to be attentive to and supportive of others, unleashing a host of positive behaviors among followers. In addition to showcasing emerging research on this topic, we hope to stimulate additional research on the ways in which leaders can improve the lives of others through the discussant’s reflections on the collection of papers, and between speakers and audience members. When Preparing to Give Criticism, Prestige-Oriented Leaders Exhibit Heightened Social Monitoring Presenter: Katherine Kay Bae; U. of Michigan, Ross School of Business Presenter: Charleen R. Case; U. of Michigan, Ross School of Business Presenter: Jon Maner; Northwestern Kellogg School of Management Cascading Empowerment: The Role of Dominance and Prestige Orientation Presenter: Hun Whee Lee; Michigan State U. Presenter: Nicholas Hays; Michigan State U. Leaders' Prestige Motivation Fosters Employees' Ethical Behavior Presenter: Garrett L. Brady; London Business School Presenter: Niro Sivanathan; London Business School Leader Power (In)Stability and Follower Work Engagement: Mediating Role of Benevolence Perceptions Presenter: Ingvild Müller Seljeseth; BI Norwegian Business School

Moving HR Systems Research Forward

HR systems are sets of separate but interconnected HR practices, such as selection, training, performance appraisal, and rewards, designed to help organizations to achieve their objectives. The HR system is proposed to affect performance outcomes because certain combinations of HR practices work in concert to enhance employees’ abilities, motivation, and opportunity to contribute to organizational goal attainment, enhancing performance at different levels. Existing evidence provides initial meta-analytic support for this as HR systems tend to be more strongly related to performance than individual HR practices. While there seems to be growing consensus on the importance of HR systems, researchers simultaneously indicate that there are several important conceptual and methodological issues that need to be addressed to make further headway in the field. For example, conceptually, there is little agreement on which practices should be included in an HR system, and how these practices should be measured or combined into a synergistic HR system. A clearer understanding of these conceptual and methodological issues and potential ways to overcome these is necessary in order to enhance insight in complex HR systems and move the field forward, which is the focus of this symposium. Specifically, this symposium will provide an overview of current conceptual and methodological issues in HR systems research, with an emphasis on providing directions for future research on HR systems. Conceptualizing and Measuring Human Resource Management Systems: A Systematic Review Presenter: Corine Boon; U. of Amsterdam Presenter: Deanne N. Den Hartog; U. of Amsterdam Presenter: David P. Lepak; UMass The Devil is in the Details: Performance Implications of Internally Consistent Commitment HRM Presenter: Bard Kuvaas; BI Norwegian Business School Presenter: Hoang Ho; BI Norwegian Business School An Expanded Conceptualization of Line Managers Involvement in Human Resource Management Presenter: Rebecca Rheinhardt Kehoe; Rutgers U. Presenter: Joo Hun Han; Rutgers U. Examining HRM Systems Using a Formative Measurement Model Presenter: Kaifeng Jiang; Ohio State U. Presenter: Jia Yu; U. of Nebraska, Lincoln Presenter: Chih-Hsun Chuang; National Chung Hsing U.

Discovery Systems as an Alternative to Stand-Alone Databases: The Example of Primo at BI Norwegian Business School

BackgroundDiscovery systems (DS) harvest metadata from various sources into one central index. This data can be searched through thanks to an intuitive interface, which also redirects users to full-text resources in their native databases. This paper aims at evaluating whether the DS Primo can serve as an alternative to specialized databases subscribed to by BI Norwegian Business School.Research designVarious article searches were run in Primo and four databases BI subscribes to. 1200 records were exported to EndNote. The rank order and the source of the records in Primo were kept track of. Some individual records were later checked for metadata.Results Most times, the record describing an article in Primo was not harvested from the article’s native database. When the record source was this native database, subject field’s metadata was identical. Some articles appeared twice due to metadata inconsistencies across harvested resources. Almost all records included one of the subject headings searched for. Keywords were otherwise mostly found in the records’ title. Downsizing being used in various disciplines, unexpected records were retrieved.ConclusionsNot all databases are indexed in Primo Central Index, but its size and coverage make Primo a smart choice as a one-stop search engine, if one uses the available narrowing options. It can to a certain extent function as an alternative to specialized databases for other tasks than systematic reviews, such as exploratory searches, or to get a sense of the available content.

“Approaching an Abyss”: Liberalist Ideology in a Norwegian Cold War Business Paper

The international business press has been a powerful and influential voice in modern societies and, as its formative years took place during the Cold War, a closer look at the ideologies that were promoted in this part of the press is of interest. Until the 1970s, <em>Farmand</em> was the only Norwegian business magazine of any size and standing. Trygve J. B. Hoff,<em> Farmand</em>’s editor from 1935, was part of the Mont Pèlerin Society (MPS), a neoliberal intellectual collective established in 1947 with participants such as Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises. This article is a study of the ideas that Hoff promoted, particularly in <em>Farmand</em>, from the 1940s to the 1970s.

Erratum

Kolbjørnsrud V (2017) Agency Problems and Governance Mechanisms in Collaborative Communities. Strategic Organization 15(2): 141– 173. DOI: 10.1177/1476127016653727. The affiliation of the author in this article is not updated. The correct affiliation, corresponding author details, and the author biography are as follows: Vegard Kolbjørnsrud BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo, Norway Corresponding Author: Vegard Kolbjørnsrud, BI Norwegian Business School, 0442 Oslo, Norway. Email: vegard.kolbjornsrud@bi.no Author biography Vegard Kolbjørnsrud is an assistant professor at BI Norwegian Business School and a Senior Research Fellow at Accenture. He received his PhD in Strategic Management from BI Norwegian Business School. His research interests include governance and organization design, crowds and communities, collaborative problem solving, artificial intelligence, and digital strategy.

Business Cycles in an Oil Economy: Lessons from Norway

The recent oil price fall has created concern among policy makers regarding the consequences of terms of trade shocks for resource-rich countries. This concern is not a minor one – the world's commodity exporters combined are responsible for 15–20% of global value added. We estimate a two-country New Keynesian model in order to quantify the importance of oil price shocks for Norway – a large, prototype petroleum exporter. Domestic supply chains link mainland (non-oil) Norway to the off-shore oil industry, while fiscal authorities accumulate income in a sovereign wealth fund. Oil prices and the international business cycle are jointly determined abroad. These features allow us to disentangle the structural sources of oil price fluctuations, and how they affect mainland Norway. The estimated model provides three important results: First, pass-through from oil prices to the oil exporter implies up to 20% higher business cycle volatility. Second, the majority of spillover effects stem from non-oil disturbances such as innovations in international investment efficiency. Conventional oil market shocks, in contrast, explain at most 10% of the Norwegian business cycle. Third, the prevailing fiscal regime provides substantial protection against external shocks while domestic supply linkages make the oil exporter more exposed.

Asset Returns, News Topics, and Media Effects

We decompose the textual data in a daily Norwegian business newspaper into news topics and investigate their predictive and causal role for asset prices. Our three main findings are: (1) a one unit innovation in the news topics predict roughly a 1 percentage point increase in close-to-open returns and significant continuation patterns peaking at 4 percentage points after 15 business days, with little sign of reversal; (2) simple zero-cost news-based investment strategies yield significant annualized risk-adjusted returns of up to 20 percent; and (3) during a media shortage, due to an exogenous strike, returns for firms particularly exposed to our news measure experience a substantial fall. Our estimates suggest that between 20 to 40 percent of the news topics' predictive power is due to the causal media effect. Together these findings lend strong support for a rational attention view where the media alleviate information frictions and disseminate fundamental information to a large population of investors.

Special Thematic Issue on: International Interactions and Activities of University-Based Technology Entrepreneurship

The Journal of International Entrepreneurship (JIEN) is pleased to present this special thematic issue on the broad theme of international entrepreneurship in universities, as the university-based entrepreneurship could be one of the important contributing principals to the field of International Entrepreneurship (IE) as a whole. The present thematic issue is guest-edited by Professors Natasha Evers (National University of Ireland at Galway, Ireland), James A. Cunningham (Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK), and Thomas Hoholm (BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo, Norway); and it is the result of an open call for papers that appeared more than a year ago on J IEN ’s webs i t e ( h t t p : / /www. sp r i nge r. c om /bu s i n e s s+%26 +management/entrepreneurship/journal/10843). I am delighted that this issue meets and exceeds the JIEN’s strict standards. All papers submitted to the journal for this special issue were subjected to the journal’s routine rigorous double-blind reviews and benefited from the valuable comments of the Journal’s distinguished panel of reviewers and the three guest editors. This thematic issue further gained from the guest-editors’ recent book entitled Technology Entrepreneurship—Bringing Innovation to the Marketplace published by Palgrave-Macmillan, London. The guest-editors’ introductory editorial is descriptive, insightful and needs no further commentary. However and in light of the long overdue need for exploring entrepreneurial orientation in the post-secondary higher educational institution, I would like to highlight some advancing developments, which will have significant impacts on entrepreneurship in general and on the university-based international entrepreneurship in particular. Most of these developments are knowledgeand technology-intensive, attracting massive venture capital investment, and are internationalizing rapidly to the J Int Entrep (2016) 14:277–284 DOI 10.1007/s10843-016-0189-5

Transactional Leader–Member Exchange Relationships and Followers’ Work Performance

In this study, we test whether leader political skill moderates the relationship between more transactional leader–member exchange (LMX) relationships and follower work performance. A field study was conducted among 753 followers and 153 leaders from several Norwegian business organizations. The results showed that the negative relationship between more transactional LMX relationships and follower work performance was weaker for employees with a highly politically skilled leader. Thus, leader political skill seemed in part to mitigate the negative effects of transactional LMX. This is an important observation, since finding alternative routes to enhanced work performance of followers in less favorable transactional LMX relationships is essential. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Identification and Real-Time Forecasting of Norwegian Business Cycles

We define and forecast classical business cycle turning points for the Norwegian economy. When defining reference business cycles, we compare a univariate and a multivariate Bry-Boschan approach with univariate Markov-switching models and Markov-switching factor models. On the basis of a receiver operating characteristic curve methodology and a comparison of business cycle turning points with Norway’s main trading partners, we find that a Markov-switching factor model provides the most reasonable definition of Norwegian business cycles for the sample 1978Q1-2011Q4. In a real-time out-of-sample forecasting exercise, focusing on the last recession, we show that univariate Markov-switching models applied to surveys and a financial conditions index are timely and accurate in calling the last peak in real time. The models are less accurate and timely in calling the trough in real time.

Identification and real-time forecasting of Norwegian business cycles

We define and forecast classical business cycle turning points for the Norwegian economy. When defining reference business cycles, we compare a univariate and a multivariate Bry–Boschan approach with univariate Markov-switching models and Markov-switching factor models. On the basis of a receiver operating characteristic curve methodology and a comparison of the business cycle turning points of Norway’s main trading partners, we find that a Markov-switching factor model provides the most reasonable definition of Norwegian business cycles for the sample 1978Q1–2011Q4. In a real-time out-of-sample forecasting exercise, focusing on the last recession, we show that univariate Markov-switching models applied to surveys and a financial conditions index are timely and accurate in calling the last peak in real time. However, the models are less accurate and timely in calling the trough in real time.

A Comparative Analysis of the NHH and BI Networks

Based on the coauthorship networks of the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) and the BI Norwegian Business School we present a comparative analysis in terms of structures, collaborations and publications 1 . The networks’ structures are based on the NHH and the BI faculties’ publications recognized by the ISI Web of Science for the period 1950 – Spring, 2014 for the currently employed faculty members as of Spring, 2014. The analyzed networks cover the publication activities of the NHH and the BI faculty members based on the data retrieved from ISI Web of Science in Spring, 2014.

Japanese and Norwegian Metapragmatic Perceptions of Contextual Factors in Intercultural Business Communication

National culture is frequently used as the dominant influential factor when intercultural business communication differences are explained. Leaning on theories about other contextual factors from the field of pragmatics, a dataset containing metapragmatic comments from interviews with forty-one Japanese and Norwegian business executives has been analysed in order to find what contextual factors are believed to influence Japanese and Norwegian communication with special attention to degree of directness and formality. The analysis indicates that the claim that the Japanese are less direct and more formal than Scandinavians (Norwegians) is highly dependent on contextual factors such as power, distance, the number of participants, message content, interactional/social roles, activity type, individual and organisation variation, language, the interlocutors’ expectations, and business tactics. National culture as the sole explanatory factor is only used to a limited extent. Thus, a one-sided focus on national culture as the main contextual factor in intercultural communication should be cautioned and alternative approaches found.

The information practices of Business PhD students

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to investigate how PhD students discover, choose and use information and literature for their research. Design/methodology/approach – Eight PhD students at the Norwegian Business School (BI) were interviewed. The interviews were based on a phenomenological approach. Findings – The use of both library databases and Google Scholar is frequent and contextual. The informants ranked the library databases as more useful than Google Scholar. Methods for keeping up to date varied and were contextual. Although formal information seeking in library databases was seen as more academic than the tracking of references, this latter method was more widespread. Students felt they mastered the tools associated with formal information seeking, which constituted a continuous activity in their research practices. Wilson’s (1983) theory on cognitive authority may give a better understanding of the findings. Practical implications – Acquiring knowledge about the information practices of PhD students in a specific discipline will help libraries to improve their services and acquire relevant resources for their users. Originality/value – This paper examines PhD students’ ranking of information resources, identifies preferred methods for keeping up to date and reveals in which contexts the informants use either formal or social information-seeking practices.

'Antecedents' and 'postcedents' in relation to satisfaction in Norwegian business relationships

'Antecedents' and 'postcedents' in relation to satisfaction in Norwegian business relationships

An Examination of the Personality Constructs Underlying Dimensions of Creative Problem‐Solving Style

AbstractThis study investigated the personality facets that underpin the construct of problem‐solving style, particularly when approaching more creative kinds of problem‐solving. Cattell's Sixteen Personality Factors Questionnaire and VIEW—An Assessment of Problem Solving Style were administered to 165 students from the Norwegian Business School. We explored relationships through correlational and regression analysis. Personality profiles were derived for each of VIEW's three dimensions and were in generally expected directions. Those with an Explorer preference were more imaginative and idea oriented, open to change, unconventional, freethinking, and flexible than Developers. Those with a Developer preference were more practical and solution oriented, more traditional, rule conscious, conservative, and respecting of traditional ideas. Those with an External preference were more group oriented, affiliative, socially bold, warm, and attentive to others than those with an Internal preference. Those with a more Task‐oriented preference were more impersonal, detached, utilitarian, and tough minded than those with Person‐oriented preference. We outlined implications and suggestions for further research.

The Comparative Analysis of the NHH and BI Networks

Based on the co-authorship networks of the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) and the BI Norwegian Business School we present a comparative analysis in terms of structures, collaborations and publications. The networks’ structures are based on the NHH and the BI faculties’ publications recognized by the ISI Web of Science for the period 1950-Spring, 2014. The analysed networks cover the publication activities of the NHH and the BI faculty members based on the data retrieved from ISI Web of Science in Spring, 2014.

The Coauthorship Network Analysis of the BI Norwegian Business School

We construct the coauthorship network based on the scientific collaboration between the faculty members at the Norwegian Business School (BI) and based on their international academic publication experience. The network structure is based on the BI faculties’ publications recognized by the ISI Web of Science for the period 1950 – Spring, 2014. The given network covers the publication activities of the BI faculty members (over eight departments) based on the information retrieved from the ISI Web of Science in Spring, 2014. In this paper we analyse the constructed coauthorship network in different aspects of the theory of social networks analysis.

Is Anglophone Complacency a Virtue of Necessity?: The Gap Between the Need for and Supply of Occupational Second Foreign Language Skills in Norwegian Business and Government

The present study examines why businesses and government ministries use and need occupational second foreign language (L3) skills, but fail to mention these in job advertisements. It contrasts data from two quantitative surveys of language use in business and government domains with two studies of the mention of L3 skills in job advertisements. While the former show that L3 languages are still used and still considered important and relevant, the latter show that such skills are hardly mentioned in job advertisements, not even as cautious requests in positions where these would be highly relevant. The authors discuss whether this may be due to the lack of L3 skills among new employees or due to the belief that English is sufficient, also known as “Anglophone complacency.”

Global Innovation: International Aspects of Innovation Ecosystems and Demand-Side Perspectives

Demand-side approaches to value creation represent a new research direction in the fields of technology innovation, entrepreneurship, and strategic management, examining such topics as innovation ecosystems and consumer benefits. To date, this area of research is at an early stage in the international business field. Building on a lively Professional Development Workshop on demand-side perspectives in international business at the 2013 meeting of the Academy of Management, this symposium presents new insights into this emerging research field. Authors (and topics) include Shaker Zahra, University of Minnesota and Satish Nambisan, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (global innovation networks and international entrepreneurship); Zhenzhen Xie, Tsinghua University and Jiatao Li, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (demand heterogeneity and product innovation); Nicholas Bailey and Sali Li, University of South Carolina (foreign direct investment and consumer demand); and Ulf Andersson, Malardalen University and BI Norwegian Business School, Bent Petersen and Thomas Ritter, Copenhagen Business School (demand-side embeddedness and value creation of subsidiaries). This symposium draws on the theme of the Special Issue “From Resources and Value Chains to Consumer Benefits and Innovation Ecosystems: Demand-Side Perspectives in International Business” in the Journal of International Management. The symposium is organized by Ana Siqueira, Ronaldo Parente, and Richard Priem, who are guest editors of this special issue, which is expected to be published in 2015. Demand-Side Embeddedness and Value Creation of Subsidiaries: Propositions & Further Research Agenda Presenter: Ulf Andersson; Copenhagen Business School Presenter: Bent Petersen; Copenhagen Business School Presenter: Thomas Ritter; Copenhagen Business School Cross-National Distance and FDI: The Moderating Role of Consumer Demand Presenter: Nicholas Bailey; U. of South Carolina Presenter: Sali Li; U. of South Carolina Global Innovation Networks and International Entrepreneurship: A Demand-Side Perspective Presenter: Shaker A. Zahra; U. of Minnesota Presenter: Satish Nambisan; U. of Wisconsin, Milwaukee