Mathew Hughes | University of Leicester (original) (raw)
Papers by Mathew Hughes
British Journal of Management
Revisiting stakeholder theory as a potential theory of the firm giving rise to expectations about... more Revisiting stakeholder theory as a potential theory of the firm giving rise to expectations about organizing, we analyze when and under what circumstances entrepreneurially oriented firms increase their environmental collaboration with suppliers. Specifically, we investigate the association between entrepreneurial orientation and environmental collaboration with suppliers by accounting for the degree of employees' work engagement and market environment complexity as stakeholder-oriented moderators of this relationship. We test our hypotheses using multi-level analyses on 249 managers nested in 66 multinational companies (MNCs) in Turkey. We find that entrepreneurial orientation positively impacts environmental collaboration with suppliers. A high level of work engagement (as an organizing principle favouring a stakeholder focus) and a low level of market environment complexity (as an organizing principle favouring the customer as an instrumental stakeholder) moderate this linkage. We enrich the debate on entrepreneurial orientation, strategy, and environmental sustainability by providing logic rooted in stakeholder theory of the conditions under which MNCs' entrepreneurial orientation in emerging markets prioritizes and privileges environmental collaboration with suppliers.
Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 2021
Research summary: Our understanding of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) is limited by the inatten... more Research summary: Our understanding of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) is limited by the inattention to why a firm arranges itself to give rise to EO, what sets its strategic intent, and what affects its contribution to performance. These omissions have led to calls for a causally adjacent theory of EO. Grounded in knowledge-based theory, we investigated (a) how knowledge production gives rise to EO, (b) how the relationship between EO and profitability is mediated by knowledge use, and (c) how this relationship between EO and knowledge use is moderated by stakeholder engagement. Using multi-respondent, multi-source data from small-and-mid-size enterprises in two economically distinct East Asian countries, Taiwan and Japan, empirical evidence supports our theory. Our findings are consistent across both studies. We contribute a knowledge-based theory of EO. Managerial summary:Why do some firms organize to be entrepreneurial while others do not, and why do some entrepreneurially oriented firms profit more financially than others? We find that those firms that organize processes to accumulate, aggregate, activate, store, manage, and distribute knowledge become more entrepreneurial oriented as the means to create wealth from this ‘knowledge production’. In other words, knowledge production can affect perceptions of opportunities and resources, leading to choices about organizational arrangements to best use knowledge. However, we find that the firm also needs to be adept at knowledge use to profit financially from its entrepreneurial endeavors, and leading firms utilize stakeholder engagement to strengthen the relationship between entrepreneurial behavior and knowledge use on the route to greater profitability.
Our study is set to investigate the way critical events influence social capital of family firms.... more Our study is set to investigate the way critical events influence social capital of family firms. We focus on macro-economic shocks (Hoffman, 1999; Ramey, 2016) that can trigger organisational transformation (Fligstein, 1991; Tan & See, 2004). We examine this phenomenon in the context of family-owned SMEs (Gersick et al., 1997; Lansberg, 1999), experiencing and dealing with a financial crisis as an instance of such shock. We consider family businesses as businesses in which the family has a hand-on involvement in the management of the business (Astrachan et al., 2002; Shanker & Astrachan, 1996). We examine social capital at the organisational level, which refers to resources an organisation accumulates as part of relations within and beyond its boundaries (Fischer & Pollock, 2004; Herrero & Hughes, 2019; Zahra, 2010). We consider the structural and relational properties of social capital (Moran, 2005; Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998). Structural social capital relates to the configuration ...
The objective of this paper is to advance knowledge on the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) const... more The objective of this paper is to advance knowledge on the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) construct and its effect on firm performance and survival. The EO construct has become an essential concept in the entrepreneurship and strategic management literatures, thus it is of significance to pursue. In this paper we provide evidence for the EO-as-experimentation perspective, which has been overlooked by the EO-firm performance literature (Wiklund & Shepherd, 2011). Most of the literature aligns with the EO-as-advantage perspective and considers that EO as a gestalt construct is advantageous to a firm’s performance (Rauch et al., 2009). Overlooking the EO-as-experimentation perspective is dangerous because this perspective predicts a dark side to EO. Furthermore, the results align with the ignored multidimensional view of EO (Lumpkin & Dess, 1996). Here we aim to answer a vital research question: what is the effect of EO and its separate dimensions on firm performance/survival? Unusua...
From institutional duality to institutional trifecta: Implications for family firms’ internationa... more From institutional duality to institutional trifecta: Implications for family firms’ international subsidiaries
Developing dynamic transformation capabilities in high velocity environment: A study of industria... more Developing dynamic transformation capabilities in high velocity environment: A study of industrial internet companies
• This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: HUGHES, M. and MUSTAFA, M., 2016. A... more • This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: HUGHES, M. and MUSTAFA, M., 2016. Antecedents of corporate entrepreneurship in SMEs: evidence from an emerging economy. Journal of Small Business Management, 55 (S1), pp. 115 140, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/jsbm.12269. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.
In the international environment, the ability to recognize new opportunities is critical for ever... more In the international environment, the ability to recognize new opportunities is critical for every firm. But to date, we know relatively little about the contingency factors of international opportunity recognition in the multinational company (MNC). Responding to recent calls to integrate the theoretical pillars of international entrepreneurship and international business, this research seeks to unravel the interplay of individual, organizational, and contextual factors. We propose a contingency model to study how factors in the decision-making context of the subsidiary manager interact with the manager’s self-efficacy and the MNC’s entrepreneurial orientation to increase international opportunity recognition. Applying a stated-choice-experiment with 799 respondents, we find that subsidiary managers with high entrepreneurial self-efficacy are more likely to recognize an opportunity when they expand the subsidiary internally. However, managers in highly entrepreneurially oriented MN...
Journal of Small Business Management, 2021
Industrial firms are under severe pressure to undertake digital transformation and leverage the I... more Industrial firms are under severe pressure to undertake digital transformation and leverage the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Yet, there is next to no scholarly guidance for such an endeavor. Drawing on dynamic capability theory, the purpose of this paper is to provide a new conceptual framework for digital transformative capability (DTC) development. The conceptual framework is supplemented by exploratory qualitative interviews with senior executives from large multinational firms. Seven themes emerge from the qualitative interviews. The themes form an integrative conceptual framework for DTC development. Collectively, the article makes the case for DTC and sheds new light on the digital transformation process. Implications of DTC for dynamic capability theory and practice are discussed.
The influence of Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) on a firm’s performance and success is broadly ... more The influence of Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) on a firm’s performance and success is broadly recognized. Similarly, second-order competences—defined as the firm’s competence to build new competences—as a critical resource of a firm’s competitive advantage are also important to a firm’s success. However, the direct association between EO and second-order competences remains largely elusive. Our study investigates in what ways and how EO associates with second-order RD yet, while such gained effects are enhanced as environment hostility increases, these benefits are diminished by organizational structure. Analysis of data, collected using a web-based survey from executives of firms from different industries, using regression modeling, provide support to our main arguments and some support to the contingency factors. Important and novel theoretical and managerial implications emerge from this study.
Using data from 220 international high technology strategic alliances, we question the extent to ... more Using data from 220 international high technology strategic alliances, we question the extent to which knowledge transfer intensity between partners is monotonic (subject to ever-increasing returns) in its relationship with strategic alliance performance. We find different types of knowledge transfer (knowledge generation and knowledge application) interact differently with strategic alliance performance. As an extension to this, we observe that these effects are moderated by relational exchange conditions (trust and relationship commitment) between alliance partners, although not always in the hypothesized direction. Finally, we identify non-linear relationships between both knowledge generation and knowledge application, and strategic alliance performance but find that these are specified in different directions. Our findings point to the complex and varied effects of different types of knowledge transfer on strategic alliance performance.
This extended conference abstract is closed access. A full paper is due mid-Feb 2018 (for conside... more This extended conference abstract is closed access. A full paper is due mid-Feb 2018 (for consideration for a Journal of Business Research special issue as part of the conference).
We examine the influence of family and family businesses on the sustainability of start-up/nascen... more We examine the influence of family and family businesses on the sustainability of start-up/nascent enterprises set up by family members. Family firms can expand by setting up new enterprises so that their offspring or siblings can start their own business. This has many advantages for the established and for the new firms. For the established firms funds provided for the start-up can be ring-fenced so the established firm can grow with reduced risk. It also provides family firms with a means of training the younger generation before they take over the whole family business. Sustainability for the start-up can come from the provision of additional resources that they often lack such as additional funding, access to a network of stakeholders such as a skilled workforce, customers, suppliers, and management expertise. However, there may be some disadvantage for the fledgling firm with this arrangement if there is conflict in the decision-making process between a dominant family firm fo...
Creating value through real-time knowledge generation: Improvisation and organisational learning ... more Creating value through real-time knowledge generation: Improvisation and organisational learning in new product development [Abstract]
The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, ... more The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.
While relational capabilities are the cornerstone of modern marketing practice and theory, there ... more While relational capabilities are the cornerstone of modern marketing practice and theory, there are conflicting claims about their value for breakthrough or radical innovations. To address this problem, we distinguish two market relating capabilities—channel management and customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities. We explore their role in technological and market breakthroughs. The results show that channel management capabilities reduce while CRM capabilities foster the technological radicalness of new products. We also find that channel management capabilities have no impact on market radicalness of new products while CRM capabilities foster it.
African Entrepreneurship, 2018
What environmental factors enable corporate entrepreneurship (CE) among African SMEs. CE helps fi... more What environmental factors enable corporate entrepreneurship (CE) among African SMEs. CE helps firms to recognize and exploit new opportunities, and is particularly valuable for forms in turbulent, dynamic, or highly volatile environments of Africa. However, to date there is a dearth of research which considers the unique features of the African environmental context and their influence on the CE. To address this gap in our empirical knowledge, this study draws on Institutional Theory to examine the influence of the external environment on the emergence and development of CE among African SMEs. Given the exploratory nature of the study, a multiple case study approach was adopted. Five SMEs from Kenya's services sector formed the basis for empirical enquiry. Kenyan entrepreneurial attitudes and values along with increasing market and environmental dynamism were found to condition the emergence of CE activities among SMEs, while individual and firm-level networks and social capital, as well as deregulation of the Kenyan environment and government support initiatives were perceived as important factors that facilitate CE among SMEs. The study's findings enrich our understanding of the contingent nature of entrepreneurial activity, suggesting that African context matters. It also adds to the growing body of literature on the importance of entrepreneurship in Africa.
Journal of Family Business Strategy, 2021
We examine an important yet overlooked aspect in research on social capital: the familial bonding... more We examine an important yet overlooked aspect in research on social capital: the familial bonding that interorganizational relations may hold. We argue that the social identity of a family member is likely to reframe how they behave within social relations and towards actors outside the firm that are within or not within the family, changing the conditions for trust, knowledge exchange, and value creation. Drawing on a family and nonfamily classification of interorganizational relations, we examine: (1) the extent to which relationships with family members located in other related firms, which we have defined as external family social capital (EFSC), affect firm performance; (2) its interaction with relationships with members of other firms not bearing a family connection, referred to as external organizational social capital (EOSC); and (3) the varying levels of trust required to extract value from EFSC and EOSC. We test and find support for our predictions in an empirical analysis...
British Journal of Management
Revisiting stakeholder theory as a potential theory of the firm giving rise to expectations about... more Revisiting stakeholder theory as a potential theory of the firm giving rise to expectations about organizing, we analyze when and under what circumstances entrepreneurially oriented firms increase their environmental collaboration with suppliers. Specifically, we investigate the association between entrepreneurial orientation and environmental collaboration with suppliers by accounting for the degree of employees' work engagement and market environment complexity as stakeholder-oriented moderators of this relationship. We test our hypotheses using multi-level analyses on 249 managers nested in 66 multinational companies (MNCs) in Turkey. We find that entrepreneurial orientation positively impacts environmental collaboration with suppliers. A high level of work engagement (as an organizing principle favouring a stakeholder focus) and a low level of market environment complexity (as an organizing principle favouring the customer as an instrumental stakeholder) moderate this linkage. We enrich the debate on entrepreneurial orientation, strategy, and environmental sustainability by providing logic rooted in stakeholder theory of the conditions under which MNCs' entrepreneurial orientation in emerging markets prioritizes and privileges environmental collaboration with suppliers.
Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 2021
Research summary: Our understanding of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) is limited by the inatten... more Research summary: Our understanding of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) is limited by the inattention to why a firm arranges itself to give rise to EO, what sets its strategic intent, and what affects its contribution to performance. These omissions have led to calls for a causally adjacent theory of EO. Grounded in knowledge-based theory, we investigated (a) how knowledge production gives rise to EO, (b) how the relationship between EO and profitability is mediated by knowledge use, and (c) how this relationship between EO and knowledge use is moderated by stakeholder engagement. Using multi-respondent, multi-source data from small-and-mid-size enterprises in two economically distinct East Asian countries, Taiwan and Japan, empirical evidence supports our theory. Our findings are consistent across both studies. We contribute a knowledge-based theory of EO. Managerial summary:Why do some firms organize to be entrepreneurial while others do not, and why do some entrepreneurially oriented firms profit more financially than others? We find that those firms that organize processes to accumulate, aggregate, activate, store, manage, and distribute knowledge become more entrepreneurial oriented as the means to create wealth from this ‘knowledge production’. In other words, knowledge production can affect perceptions of opportunities and resources, leading to choices about organizational arrangements to best use knowledge. However, we find that the firm also needs to be adept at knowledge use to profit financially from its entrepreneurial endeavors, and leading firms utilize stakeholder engagement to strengthen the relationship between entrepreneurial behavior and knowledge use on the route to greater profitability.
Our study is set to investigate the way critical events influence social capital of family firms.... more Our study is set to investigate the way critical events influence social capital of family firms. We focus on macro-economic shocks (Hoffman, 1999; Ramey, 2016) that can trigger organisational transformation (Fligstein, 1991; Tan & See, 2004). We examine this phenomenon in the context of family-owned SMEs (Gersick et al., 1997; Lansberg, 1999), experiencing and dealing with a financial crisis as an instance of such shock. We consider family businesses as businesses in which the family has a hand-on involvement in the management of the business (Astrachan et al., 2002; Shanker & Astrachan, 1996). We examine social capital at the organisational level, which refers to resources an organisation accumulates as part of relations within and beyond its boundaries (Fischer & Pollock, 2004; Herrero & Hughes, 2019; Zahra, 2010). We consider the structural and relational properties of social capital (Moran, 2005; Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998). Structural social capital relates to the configuration ...
The objective of this paper is to advance knowledge on the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) const... more The objective of this paper is to advance knowledge on the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) construct and its effect on firm performance and survival. The EO construct has become an essential concept in the entrepreneurship and strategic management literatures, thus it is of significance to pursue. In this paper we provide evidence for the EO-as-experimentation perspective, which has been overlooked by the EO-firm performance literature (Wiklund & Shepherd, 2011). Most of the literature aligns with the EO-as-advantage perspective and considers that EO as a gestalt construct is advantageous to a firm’s performance (Rauch et al., 2009). Overlooking the EO-as-experimentation perspective is dangerous because this perspective predicts a dark side to EO. Furthermore, the results align with the ignored multidimensional view of EO (Lumpkin & Dess, 1996). Here we aim to answer a vital research question: what is the effect of EO and its separate dimensions on firm performance/survival? Unusua...
From institutional duality to institutional trifecta: Implications for family firms’ internationa... more From institutional duality to institutional trifecta: Implications for family firms’ international subsidiaries
Developing dynamic transformation capabilities in high velocity environment: A study of industria... more Developing dynamic transformation capabilities in high velocity environment: A study of industrial internet companies
• This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: HUGHES, M. and MUSTAFA, M., 2016. A... more • This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: HUGHES, M. and MUSTAFA, M., 2016. Antecedents of corporate entrepreneurship in SMEs: evidence from an emerging economy. Journal of Small Business Management, 55 (S1), pp. 115 140, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/jsbm.12269. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.
In the international environment, the ability to recognize new opportunities is critical for ever... more In the international environment, the ability to recognize new opportunities is critical for every firm. But to date, we know relatively little about the contingency factors of international opportunity recognition in the multinational company (MNC). Responding to recent calls to integrate the theoretical pillars of international entrepreneurship and international business, this research seeks to unravel the interplay of individual, organizational, and contextual factors. We propose a contingency model to study how factors in the decision-making context of the subsidiary manager interact with the manager’s self-efficacy and the MNC’s entrepreneurial orientation to increase international opportunity recognition. Applying a stated-choice-experiment with 799 respondents, we find that subsidiary managers with high entrepreneurial self-efficacy are more likely to recognize an opportunity when they expand the subsidiary internally. However, managers in highly entrepreneurially oriented MN...
Journal of Small Business Management, 2021
Industrial firms are under severe pressure to undertake digital transformation and leverage the I... more Industrial firms are under severe pressure to undertake digital transformation and leverage the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Yet, there is next to no scholarly guidance for such an endeavor. Drawing on dynamic capability theory, the purpose of this paper is to provide a new conceptual framework for digital transformative capability (DTC) development. The conceptual framework is supplemented by exploratory qualitative interviews with senior executives from large multinational firms. Seven themes emerge from the qualitative interviews. The themes form an integrative conceptual framework for DTC development. Collectively, the article makes the case for DTC and sheds new light on the digital transformation process. Implications of DTC for dynamic capability theory and practice are discussed.
The influence of Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) on a firm’s performance and success is broadly ... more The influence of Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) on a firm’s performance and success is broadly recognized. Similarly, second-order competences—defined as the firm’s competence to build new competences—as a critical resource of a firm’s competitive advantage are also important to a firm’s success. However, the direct association between EO and second-order competences remains largely elusive. Our study investigates in what ways and how EO associates with second-order RD yet, while such gained effects are enhanced as environment hostility increases, these benefits are diminished by organizational structure. Analysis of data, collected using a web-based survey from executives of firms from different industries, using regression modeling, provide support to our main arguments and some support to the contingency factors. Important and novel theoretical and managerial implications emerge from this study.
Using data from 220 international high technology strategic alliances, we question the extent to ... more Using data from 220 international high technology strategic alliances, we question the extent to which knowledge transfer intensity between partners is monotonic (subject to ever-increasing returns) in its relationship with strategic alliance performance. We find different types of knowledge transfer (knowledge generation and knowledge application) interact differently with strategic alliance performance. As an extension to this, we observe that these effects are moderated by relational exchange conditions (trust and relationship commitment) between alliance partners, although not always in the hypothesized direction. Finally, we identify non-linear relationships between both knowledge generation and knowledge application, and strategic alliance performance but find that these are specified in different directions. Our findings point to the complex and varied effects of different types of knowledge transfer on strategic alliance performance.
This extended conference abstract is closed access. A full paper is due mid-Feb 2018 (for conside... more This extended conference abstract is closed access. A full paper is due mid-Feb 2018 (for consideration for a Journal of Business Research special issue as part of the conference).
We examine the influence of family and family businesses on the sustainability of start-up/nascen... more We examine the influence of family and family businesses on the sustainability of start-up/nascent enterprises set up by family members. Family firms can expand by setting up new enterprises so that their offspring or siblings can start their own business. This has many advantages for the established and for the new firms. For the established firms funds provided for the start-up can be ring-fenced so the established firm can grow with reduced risk. It also provides family firms with a means of training the younger generation before they take over the whole family business. Sustainability for the start-up can come from the provision of additional resources that they often lack such as additional funding, access to a network of stakeholders such as a skilled workforce, customers, suppliers, and management expertise. However, there may be some disadvantage for the fledgling firm with this arrangement if there is conflict in the decision-making process between a dominant family firm fo...
Creating value through real-time knowledge generation: Improvisation and organisational learning ... more Creating value through real-time knowledge generation: Improvisation and organisational learning in new product development [Abstract]
The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, ... more The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.
While relational capabilities are the cornerstone of modern marketing practice and theory, there ... more While relational capabilities are the cornerstone of modern marketing practice and theory, there are conflicting claims about their value for breakthrough or radical innovations. To address this problem, we distinguish two market relating capabilities—channel management and customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities. We explore their role in technological and market breakthroughs. The results show that channel management capabilities reduce while CRM capabilities foster the technological radicalness of new products. We also find that channel management capabilities have no impact on market radicalness of new products while CRM capabilities foster it.
African Entrepreneurship, 2018
What environmental factors enable corporate entrepreneurship (CE) among African SMEs. CE helps fi... more What environmental factors enable corporate entrepreneurship (CE) among African SMEs. CE helps firms to recognize and exploit new opportunities, and is particularly valuable for forms in turbulent, dynamic, or highly volatile environments of Africa. However, to date there is a dearth of research which considers the unique features of the African environmental context and their influence on the CE. To address this gap in our empirical knowledge, this study draws on Institutional Theory to examine the influence of the external environment on the emergence and development of CE among African SMEs. Given the exploratory nature of the study, a multiple case study approach was adopted. Five SMEs from Kenya's services sector formed the basis for empirical enquiry. Kenyan entrepreneurial attitudes and values along with increasing market and environmental dynamism were found to condition the emergence of CE activities among SMEs, while individual and firm-level networks and social capital, as well as deregulation of the Kenyan environment and government support initiatives were perceived as important factors that facilitate CE among SMEs. The study's findings enrich our understanding of the contingent nature of entrepreneurial activity, suggesting that African context matters. It also adds to the growing body of literature on the importance of entrepreneurship in Africa.
Journal of Family Business Strategy, 2021
We examine an important yet overlooked aspect in research on social capital: the familial bonding... more We examine an important yet overlooked aspect in research on social capital: the familial bonding that interorganizational relations may hold. We argue that the social identity of a family member is likely to reframe how they behave within social relations and towards actors outside the firm that are within or not within the family, changing the conditions for trust, knowledge exchange, and value creation. Drawing on a family and nonfamily classification of interorganizational relations, we examine: (1) the extent to which relationships with family members located in other related firms, which we have defined as external family social capital (EFSC), affect firm performance; (2) its interaction with relationships with members of other firms not bearing a family connection, referred to as external organizational social capital (EOSC); and (3) the varying levels of trust required to extract value from EFSC and EOSC. We test and find support for our predictions in an empirical analysis...