CORPORATE WRONGDOING AND AUDIENCE SUPPORT: LESSONS FROM THE PARMALAT SCANDAL

Audience decisions regarding whether to continue to support a corporation after it has been perceived as culpable for socially irresponsible behaviour is “coin of the realm” in selecting which firms (or which parts of a firm) will be able to survive a CSI-scandal. This paper analyses the main dimensions underlying post-CSI audience support decisions. Our empirical setting is an embedded polar case of audience support following a severe CSI scandal. Though we apply the framework developed in the nascent stream of attribution theory in CSI to comprehend the subjective processes underlying audience reactions, this study adds a number of dimensions to those already included in attribution studi…

The Role of Leadership in Complex Strategic Networks: Enabling Effect Versus Emergence

In today's knowledge-based economy, the sources of competitive advantage lie more and more in webs of interactions among a variety of actors (such as firms, universities, research organizations, government institutions and so on), that over time originate the emergence of strategic networks. The paper aims to shed light on the determinants of network interaction and the ensuing processes of knowledge and resource transfer and circulation, on which the networkbased sources of competitive advantage are rooted. Accordingly, by means of the adoption of the complexity system perspective, on the one hand, we underscore the emergent nature of network interactions stemming from the self-organizing …

Corporate Social Irresponsibility and Competitive Advantage: Lessons from Parmalat’s Turnaround

The large number of scandals which rocked the corporate world since the end of the twentieth century have fueled a considerable body of research regarding the factors which drove companies to adopt socially irresponsible behaviors and the institutional remedies which may discourage the repetition of such episodes. Today, the time lag since the initial upsurge of corporate scandals allows to shift attention towards the post-scandal turnaround processes brought about by such companies and the factors which influence their performance. Through the in-depth longitudinal study of a particularly successful turnaround which occurred at Parmalat and its comparison with other partially overlapping c…

Legitimacy Maintenance After a Corporate Social Irresponsibility Scandal: Lessons From The Parmalat Case

From the organizations’ perspective, maintaining legitimacy in such contexts has been considered relatively unproblematic (Patriotta, 2011; Scherer et al., 2013) as it entails following adaptive strategies and conforming substantially (or even merely symbolically) to the dominant institutional logics (Suchman, 1995; Elsbach, 1994; Scherer et al., 2013). 3 Nonetheless, whilst the implementation of a adaptive strategy to maintain the corporation with its main audiences is a necessary phase, it cannot be considered sufficient to assure the maintenance of audience support. Audiences evaluate competitive advantage and other sources of reassurance that supporting the company is worthwhile from a …

From “Strategic Fit” to Synergy Evaluation in M&A Deals

The aim of this paper is to grasp the processes underlying the genesis and assessment of synergies in M&A deals. We proceed to an in-depth scrutiny of the foundations of synergies using Porter’s model of the value chain. A discernment of the nature of synergies and the mode of their emergence is helpful to clarify to what extent and under which boundary conditions it is appropriate to apply the DCF or the real option techniques for evaluating each type of synergy. Combining both financial tools, the methodology suggested for evaluating the synergies is able to: evaluate projects of M&As, orient the selection of target firms and the definition of the premium of acquisition, and drive…

INTER-ORGANIZATIONAL NETWORK AND INNOVATION: A BIBLIOMETRIC REVIEW OF PAST STUDIES AND A RESEARCH AGENDA

This paper aims to provide a systematic overview of studies performed on the relationship between interorganizational networks and innovation in an attempt to isolate the origin of innovation networks. We assess strengths and weaknesses of existing research body, provide a comprehensive understanding of the impact of business actors’ goals on innovation networks and clarify how a partial convergence of interests among the key network actors may influence the development, adoption and diffusion of innovation. On the basis of a bibliometric investigation, we shall manage to visualize a map of extant literature, discuss novel trends, and propose an agenda for the future research.

Bringing strategy back into financial systems of performance measurement: integrating EVA and PBC

This paper proposes a performance and cost measurement system that integrates the Economic Value Added criteria (EVA) with Process Based Costing (PBC). The EVA-PBC methodology allows us to implement the EVA management logic non only at the firm level, but also at lower levels of the organization. We discuss the role of EVA-PBC methodology in bringing strategy back into financial performance measures.

CORPORATE SOCIAL IRRESPONSIBILITY AND AUDIENCE SUPPORT: LESSONS FROM THE PARMALAT SCANDAL