In this commentary, two studies of reputation that use different theoretical perspectives and modeling strategies to analyze the same data are compared. The purpose of the commentary is twofold: (a) to articulate the consequences of different modeling strategies for studying organizational reputation empirically and (b) to highlight some core theoretical issues concerning the attributes of reputation as an intangible asset. It is hoped that the commentary will provide some guiding points for future research seeking to develop a better understanding of reputation as an intangible asset.
Strategy scholars have theorized that top managers play a key role in a firm’s dynamic capabilities (Teece, 2012). However, little is understood about how top managers influence the development of dynamic capabilities, and how they perceive their own role in initiating and executing organizational change. This paper uses inductive theory building from case studies to examine these important research questions. Our observations suggest that top managers can influence the development of a firm’s dynamic capabilities by designing and implementing specific processes that serve as their microfoundations. How effectively top managers can design such processes depends on their attitudes and beliefs about change, as well as on the interactions and communications among them. Based on these observations, we develop a process model that links top managers’ characteristics to the micro- and macro-level processes that comprise a firm’s dynamic capabilities.
Information age classrooms require multimedia pedagogical tools while academic content and new knowledge is still being produced in peer reviewed 'paper' format. This panel brings together educators, editor, reviewers, a publisher and thought leaders from around the globe to share their experiences with information age pedagogy. The goal of the dialog is to focus on participant centred learning using multimedia case studies and other technology enabled tools, so that a desired future can be envisioned jointly. The challenges to creating multimedia case studies and other pedagogical tools for participant centred learning need to be identified and addressed jointly as a globally connected community.
A significant body of research has examined how new organizations gain legitimacy and how gaining it affects their subsequent access to resources. Less attention has been given to the problem of how new organizations attract collective attention. Although related to legitimation, the problem of attracting attention is distinct, as attention and evaluation are distinct cognitive processes. In this study, we examine the allocation of collective attention to new organizations in a system of relationships, within which new organizations seek to attract attention through their sensegiving activities; the information properties of their sensegiving activities affect the level of attention they receive from different types of media; and media attention, in turn, increases their perceived value potential in the eyes of venture capital investors (VCs). We examine these relationships in a sample of 398 information-technology start-ups that have obtained different levels of venture capital funding. Our results show that new organizations that engage in more intense and diverse sensegiving activities attract higher levels of industry media attention and that these effects are enhanced by the human capital of their founders and leaders. Diverse sensegiving activities are also associated with higher levels of attention from the general media, but only the attention of specialized industry media is positively associated with the level of VC funding obtained. These findings extend current research on information intermediation and institutional legitimation by demonstrating that media attention early in the life of new organizations affects how they are valued by a well-informed expert audience, such as VCs. They also contribute to entrepreneurship research on the effects of new organizations’ strategies on their ability to secure resources and to research on VC funding decisions.
This study examines the processes and mechanisms through which entrepreneurship leads to the empowerment and emancipation of women living in poverty. Drawing on the entrepreneuring as emancipation perspective, we identify specific activities through which emancipatory entrepreneuring manifests itself in the context of women’s entrepreneurship in India. We observe that the activities of a social entrepreneur—the SEWA trade union—complement the activities of individual entrepreneurs and lead to economic, personal, and cultural empowerment. Further, we find evidence of emancipation at the collective level, expressed in changes of sociocultural norms about women’s entrepreneurship. Our study extends the entrepreneuring as emancipation perspective and contributes to research on empowerment and emancipation, women’s entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurship in developing countries.
