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Distributed computing environments place more computer power in the hands of the end‐user, and often demand increased technical support. In response, organizations may choose to move technical support personnel close to end‐users. This can isolate them from each other, and may limit their ability to share knowledge. Thus, the growth of distributed computing calls for increased ability to share knowledge across organizational boundaries. This paper presents the results of a case study investigating how distributed technologists share knowledge through knowledge markets. We argue that knowledge markets are cultural entities shaped by the underlying work culture of their participants, and that the cultural forces that define knowledge markets are powerful, deeply held and difficult to change. Thus, improving the effectiveness of any given knowledge market will have less to do with the installation of information technology than with the ability to create a facilitating work culture. This study’s identification of clique knowledge markets, operating efficiently in parallel to the public knowledge market, may provide a hint of the type of culture that will create fewer knowledge trade barriers.

This paper reports a study conducted longitudinally to investigate group communication media choice and the use of a web‐based learning tool, as well as other types of communication media, such as e‐mail, telephone, and face‐to‐face, for communication and collaboration to complete given tasks.

This study was designed following the case study research methodology and design of Yin. Longitudinal observation was made on groups in their naturalistic research setting. Twenty‐three groups of four or five students working on five similar tasks were selected as the unit of analysis.

The findings showed that groups' choice‐making process of communication media evolved over a period of time. A pattern of group communication emerged, namely face‐to‐face, virtual, and mixed (the use of both face‐to‐face and virtual communication). The three group communication categories were significantly different in performance, with the mixed category performing the highest in terms of grade.

The limitations of this study are related to the case study methodology and the subjectivity of some interpretations.

The findings should assist in the design of both on‐campus and distance learning course modules to facilitate learning through group project or assignment. The findings should also assist the design and implementation of the e‐learning systems and tools that are acceptable to users.

The study provides insight into how such ICT applications can be made useful and effective, and why, when given the freedom to choose, the use of a web‐based tool is the least attempted for communication.

Research on entrepreneurial orientation (EO) seeks to understand the EO–performance relationship. However, at a strategic level, performance relates to a competitive advantage and comprises both value-added and efficiency measures. Following arguments that performance is context and strategy dependent, the paper argues that EO research needs to clarify and specify the type of performance relationship measured.

To explore the EO–performance relationship, the research considers the agricultural sector where policy has traditionally encouraged the maximisation of efficiency in production and has only recently promoted entrepreneurship, providing fertile ground to explore different approaches to measuring performance. A survey collected detailed accounting records and context specific EO for 282 commercial farms. The authors estimate two models (Heckman selection regression and stochastic production frontier) that examine the relationships between EO and value-added/efficiency performance outcomes.

The analysis confirms the EO–value-added performance relationship, with significant positive relationships for the EO components proactiveness and innovativeness and a negative relationship for risk. No EO–efficiency performance relationship was found, despite a robust analysis of technical efficiency using detailed accounting data.

The paper contributes to EO theory by problematizing performance and highlighting the importance of the type of performance measured. This paper contributes empirically with findings relating to a mature industry contributes to entrepreneurship methodology by outlining how EO–performance relationships can be measured in terms of productivity and technical efficiency.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between gender and ethnic diversity in managerial positions and Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) operating performance.

The authors employ two-stage Heckman correction models on an unbalanced panel of US Equity REITs for the time period from 2000 to 2015. The second-stage model uses multiple operating performance measures regressed on a dichotomous variable that indicates if the REIT promotes diversity in middle management in addition to a vector of control variables.

The results indicate that REITs that promote diversity in middle management with profit-and-loss responsibilities have lower operating performance than comparable counterparts. That is, gender and demographic diversity is negatively related to REIT performance as measured by return on assets, return on equity and funds from operations.

The analysis indicates that while gender and ethnic diversity is socially responsible and may provide many benefits, diversity among managers and decision makers has to be carefully implemented in order to achieve positive financial results.

This paper contributes to the literature by investigating whether diversity in leading managerial positions, other than in top officer ranks and on the board of directors, have an impact on REIT operating performance.

Multinationals are increasingly pressured by stakeholders to commit to environmental sustainability that exceeds their own firm borders. As a result, multinationals have started to commit to environmental supply chain sustainability programs (ESCSPs). However, little is known about whether such commitment is rewarded or punished by financial markets, and if the stock price reaction differs depending on the type of firm that commits to such a program. This paper aims to discuss these issues.

The authors conduct an event study followed by two-equation Heckman modeling, using a sample of 66 multinationals that committed to the ESCSP of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).

It was found that generally there is a marginally significant negative stock price reaction to announcement of participation in this ESCSP (i.e. −0.8 percent, p<0.10). However, the authors argue and show that firms in industries that have historically faced more pressure from consumers are less likely to announce their participation. If one corrects for this industry bias, then the negative stock price reaction is even more pronounced (i.e. −3.2 percent, p<0.05).

Using objective data, the study provides insights into the shareholder wealth effects of firms that commit to the ESCSP of the CDP. As such, the sample does not cover firms that set up their own ESCSPs.

The paper is valuable for practitioners and investors who are interested in finding out if participation in ESCSPs is financially attractive, and for (governmental) policy makers who may want to be assured that there is sufficient incentive for firms to pursue environmental supply chain sustainability.

This is the first paper that captures how financial markets react to announcements of ESCSPs.

William Breit’s brilliant idea was to commission a Nobel Economists Lecture Series at Trinity University that induced recipients to write autobiographical essays on their individual evolution as an economist. This fourth edition presents eighteen such essays. Breit had two intellectual purposes in mind. One objective was to identify common themes in the laureates’ description of their development as economists. The second objective was to use the materials provided in the essays to examine the question of the role of biography in the development of modern economics as a contribution to a theory of scientific discovery.

Advances in Econometrics is a series of research annuals first published in 1982 by JAI Press. In this paper, we present a brief history of the series over its first 30 years. We describe key events in the history of the volume, and give information about the key contributors: editors, editorial board members, Advances in Econometrics Fellows, and authors who have contributed to the great success of the series.

Brand authenticity has emerged as a strategic imperative for many firms. The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the effect of consumer perceptions of brand marketing communications on brand authenticity of fast-moving consumer goods.

Direct and indirect pathways from brand marketing communications to brand authenticity were conceptualized. Data were collected from US energy drink consumers and analysed using structural equation modelling. Multiple marketing mix variables and context-relevant covariates have been controlled for.

Direct and indirect pathways to building brand authenticity have been observed. The total effect of brand marketing communications on brand authenticity is strong, thereby highlighting the predictor’s overall effectiveness in shaping the ultimate outcome.

The focus on consumer-perceived authenticity as opposed to objective authenticity complements the prior literature. An integrative perspective on brand marketing communications is offered, specifying it as an antecedent of perceived brand authenticity.

An important implication is that investments into brand marketing communications will likely influence perceived brand authenticity. Such investments may also have favourable implications for the clarity of brand positioning. Overall, brand marketing communications are effective tools for building consumer-perceived brand authenticity.

A need to outline managerially controllable drivers of authenticity was addressed. How consumer perceptions of brand marketing communications influence brand authenticity via direct and indirect mechanisms was demonstrated. The existence of authenticity in fast-moving consumer goods was also demonstrated.

This paper focuses on two books that Robert Heilbroner wrote with Peter Bernstein on public finance – A Primer on Government Spending (1963) and The Debt and the Deficit (1989). It also discusses how the economic world changed between the early 1960s and the late 1980s, and how these changes affected their books. Primer introduced Keynesian economics, and the possibility that government policy and deficits could be forces for good in the world. Debt focused exclusively on government deficits and public debt. Changing circumstances made this work a more difficult undertaking. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, government budget deficits were small, growth was sluggish, and Keynesianism was the dominant paradigm in macroeconomics. Primer explained Keynesian public finance, why tax cuts would spur spending and growth, and why we should not worry about government debt under these circumstances. By the 1980s, Keynes was vanquished, deficits were ballooning, and Keynesian public finance was under attack. Contrary to the conventional wisdom at the time, Debt advocated government deficits along the lines proposed by Keynes but not along the lines enacted during the Reagan administration. Nonetheless, there were many similarities in these two works. Both made a case for an active government role in creating a good society; and both argued that when done correctly deficit spending created no economic problems and had many benefits.