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This paper undertakes an empirical analysis of the impact of absorbed and unabsorbed slack, employing three different measures for each slack type, on firm profitability. We find that unabsorbed slack has a more favorable influence on future firm profitability than absorbed slack. While all the absorbed slack indicators have a significant negative influence on future profitability, the three unabsorbed slack indicators present positive, negative, and non-significant influences, respectively. The fewer constraints of unabsorbed slack on the redeployment to exploit new opportunities point to its comparative advantage over absorbed slack. We find evidence for the differential impact of absorbed versus unabsorbed slack on profitability in firms with lower levels of slack, which suggests firms prefer to withdraw resources from current business and redeploy them to develop new and more favorable business opportunities.

Stewardship theory is an emergent approach for explaining leadership behavior, challenging the assumptions of agency theory and its dominance in corporate governance literature. This study revisits the agency and stewardship theories by seeking to answer whether chief executive officers (CEOs) in China are committed stewards or opportunistic agents.

Based on 5,165 observations of 1,036 listed companies in China over the period 2005–2010, the results suggest that the corporate governance mechanisms developed from the agency theory in the West are not necessarily applicable in the Chinese context.

This study supports the stewardship theory in its findings that empowering CEOs through the practice of CEO duality and longer CEO tenure have a positive effect on firm value in China. Additionally, the positive relationships between CEO duality, CEO tenure and firm value are strengthened by the number of executive directors on the board, and weakened by the number of independent directors on the board.

One size does not fit all. Leadership behaviors in China do not follow the agency assumptions inherent in Western practices, rather they favor the conditions of positive leadership expressed by the stewardship theory. Assuming that the motivations of managers in emerging markets such as China are similar to those in the West may lead to a poor fit between governance policies and the institutional context.

As one of the few studies to connect the theoretical debate between the agency and stewardship theories, this study presents new evidence to support the stewardship theory, thereby strengthening its theoretical importance and relevance in corporate governance literature.

Competence, credibility, image and integrity all came under scrutiny during the economic crisis in Iceland. This period was not just about the financial system, it was about trust, something the Icelandic economy and individual businesses in the country lost in the wake of the crash. Reykjavík Energy, an Icelandic power- and utility-company, was one such company. In the year leading up to the economic crisis, mistrust in Reykjavík Energy had taken root and the firm’s image was already under attack. When its external debt doubled in the crash with the depreciation of the Icelandic króna, it was clear that the company’s position was unsustainable. In the years following the crisis, the rebuilding of the public’s trust in Reykjavík Energy has been a demanding task. The project of restoring trust and strengthening the firm was two-fold. On the one hand, short-term measures that were necessary to keep the company alive were taken. On the other hand, work was done to develop the foundations for long-term results and sustainable management. Reykjavík Energy, to a large extent, has now reclaimed its position in the eyes of its stakeholders. However, trust is not a constant but something that is earned over time and the challenge for the future is therefore to maintain it while learning from the past.

Necessary conditions represent the factors that cannot be compensated but must be present to aim the desired outcome; if a necessary condition is absent, the outcome will not exist. This logic of necessity causality differs from the conventional logic that has been evaluated by the methods drawing the lines “through the middle of the data” (e.g., regression and SEM). The authors argue that the empirical investigation of necessity causality has been largely ignored in hospitality and tourism literature although the notion of necessary causes for achieving certain outcomes is widespread throughout the studies. Thus, the authors introduce “necessary condition analysis” (NCA) as a suitable analytical method to identify necessary conditions in hospitality and tourism research. This chapter provides details on the underlying logic, key advantages, and an illustrative example of NCA. The chapter concludes by offering a few recommendations for future NCA applications in hospitality and tourism research.

In the absence of well-developed, formal institutional frameworks, informal network-based strategies have been argued to be especially viable in emerging economies. However, some empirical research has challenged these earlier theoretical arguments. In light of new evidence, this chapter develops a contingency perspective differentiating firms' networks as strong ties and weak ties. It suggests that while strong-tie networks are typically found during the early phase of institutional transitions, weak-tie networks are more likely to be developed and leveraged during the late phase of transitions. The upshot is that as the performance benefits of strong ties decline during institutional transitions, emerging weak ties' impact on firm performance is likely to increase.

Carbon emission is one of the most important problems of today. In this framework, it is important for countries to take the necessary actions to solve this problem. Energy use is one of the most important causes of carbon emissions. Choosing fossil fuels in this process increases the carbon emission problem. Therefore, it is understood that countries should be more sensitive about energy types. In this context, renewable energy (RE) sources are recommended by experts. However, due to some problems of these energy types, it does not seem possible to meet all energy needs from these sources. It is thought that nuclear energy will produce a permanent solution to the carbon emission problem. In this context, it is recommended that the use of nuclear energy be put on the agenda by countries.

The rise of emerging markets such as China, Brazil, Russia, and the Middle East has led to an increase in interest in understanding the nature and working mechanisms of informal networks (guanxi, yongo, wasta, blat/svyazi, etc.), which are instrumental in international business (IB) activities in these markets. Unlike Chinese informal networks, which have been researched extensively, studies on several other important informal networks remain sporadic and peripheral. From a theoretical point of view, it can be argued that the typical characteristics and behavioral ideals implied by social network theory do not fully reflect the networking ideals and practices in many non-Western countries. At the same time, international business practitioners may not have a thorough understanding of how to engage effectively in informal networking abroad or of how local managers actually network. Motivated by the wish to close this knowledge gap and work toward an inclusive and integrative theory of informal networks in international business studies, this paper suggests treating informal networks as an important type of social capital and informal institution of the respective business environment at the same time. As such, researching informal networks can be regarded a distinct research area positioned at the intersection of social capital, social network and (informal) institution theory. Finally, emerging theories are presented that indicate a path for developing informal network theory further in international business studies.

With the increase in population, the energy needs of countries are also increasing. These countries have difficulties in meeting these increasing needs. Countries that cannot meet this need have to import energy from abroad. This situation adversely affects the current account balance of countries. Nuclear energy investments allow countries to obtain their own energy, although there are some criticisms. In this framework, while some countries in the world increase their nuclear energy investments, some countries do not have any nuclear power plants (NPP). There are 32 such countries where nuclear energy projects are running till date. Therefore, it is very important to determine the socio-economic variables of countries that have nuclear energy investments. In this context, a detailed literature analysis will be made first to determine socio-economic criteria. Then, the importance weights of these factors will be calculated using the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method. The profiles of the countries that make nuclear energy investments demonstrate that education level is the most essential socio-economic factor for the improvement of nuclear energy investments. Also, income inequality is another important variable in this regard. However, consumption behaviour and saving behaviour have the lowest weights.

We focus on the determinants of the choice between international joint ventures and acquisitions when entering emerging countries. We empirically explore if subregional variation in the political regime matters for the entry mode decision of foreign investors. Based on an analysis of 151 foreign entries into Russia for the period 2002–2008, our results indicate that the entry mode choice is linked to regional variation in the level of democracy. Foreign entries in more democratic regions are more likely to take the form of joint ventures, and vice versa.

The aim of this study is to examine the significant factors to improve the green nuclear energy investments in the emerging economies. For this purpose, balanced scorecard-based criteria are weighted with DEMATEL methodology. The findings demonstrate that technological improvement and financial issues are the most important issues for the improvement of the green nuclear energy investments in these countries. Nuclear energy working with thorium can also be obtained with proton accelerator technology that is currently quite expensive. Because of this problem, the investors are not willing to make investments for green nuclear energy projects. Hence, emerging countries should make the necessary technological investments to have proton accelerator technologies. With the help of this condition, it will be possible to reduce the cost of green nuclear energy projects which attracts the attention of the investors. This situation has a powerful contribution for the sustainable economic development of these countries.