This article provides empirical tests of the hypothesis of ‘optimal cognitive distance’, proposed by Nooteboom (1999, 2000), in two distinct empirical settings. Variety of cognition, needed for learning, has two dimensions: the number of agents with different cognition, and differences in...

Since the early 1990s international - or even global - outsourcing of intermediate products from suppliers has been propagated as a key means to improve the performance of firms. It is argued that becoming more lean and internationally focused is beneficial for the buyer as well as for the...

This paper focuses on governance modes for service development of mobile telephone networks (GSM, WAP, GPRS, UMTS). 'Services' refer to services embodying a specific content. The paper shows that the phase of the life cycle of the network and the service affects the choice of governance mode of...

This chapter offers a theory and method for the analysis of the dynamics, i.e. the development, of clusters for innovation. It employs an analysis of three types of embedding: institutional embedding, which is often localized, structural embedding (network structure), and relational embedding...

The paper explores the impact of entrepreneurial management dimensions on post-MBO financial performance. We use Stevenson’s conceptualization of entrepreneurship (1983), empirically validated by Brown, Davidsson and Wiklund (2001), positing that entrepreneurial companies will be involved in...

Financial theory, resource-based theory and access to deal flow are used to explain syndication practices among European venture capital (VC) firms. The desire to share risk and increase portfolio diversification is a more important motive for syndication than the desire to access additional...

A buy-out is a fundamental change in the structure of ownership that may affect the way employee relations develop within an organisation. Little is known about the impact of buyouts upon employee relations. This paper aims to address this gap. We focus on two main questions. First, what are the...

The impact of management buy-outs (MBO) on strategy and management control systems (MCS) is little understood. Previous research by Jones (1992) focused on efficiency-enhancing buy-outs that were a feature of the early development of the market. However, MBOs are heterogeneous and more recent...

Multivariate statistical analysis is utilized to explore the association between firm strategies, contributions made by venture capitalists and incentives for owners and employees and three exporting variables in a stratified random sample of 147 management buyouts and buyins. Firms focusing...

Address given in shortened form at the occasion of accepting the appointment as Full Professor of "Institutional Design of Integrating Markets" at the Rotterdam School of Management / Faculteit Bedrijfskunde of Erasmus University Rotterdam on Friday, June 15, 2001