Publication database

In personal selling, the inspirational appeal (IA) is a widely promoted tactic that aims at stimulating customers’ values and ideals, thereby evoking emotions and arousing their enthusiasm for a product. However, whether IAs in fact improve or undermine salespeople’s success in sales talks remains controversial. Therefore, the present study examines consequences and key contingencies of IAs in customer–salesperson interactions in a retailing context, using multi-source data from several retailing industries for three quantitative studies, comprising a total sample of 590 customer and 174 salesperson responses. Drawing on the Multiple Inferences Model (MIM), the authors show that an IA is likely to drive the customer’s inference that the salesperson holds ulterior motives. IAs seem to be particularly detrimental for salespeople with a lack of customer orientation. Beyond expanding research on influence tactics and the ambivalent role of IAs in retailing interactions, these findings can guide practitioners about when to refrain from using an IA.

We examine whether start-ups attract employees with different pecuniary and non-pecuniary motives than small or large established firms. We then explore whether such differences in employee motives may lead to differences in innovative performance across firm types. Using data on more than 10,000 U.S. R&D employees, we find that start-up employees (“joiners”) place lower importance on job security and salary but greater importance on independence and responsibility. Start-up employees have higher patent output than employees in small and large established firms, and this difference is partly mediated by employee motives - especially joiners’ greater willingness to bear risk. We discuss implications for research as well as for managers and policy makers concerned with the supply of human capital to entrepreneurship and innovation.

Copyright © 2017 Strategic Management Society

We link the hiring of R&D scientists from industry competitors to the subsequent formation of collaborative agreements, namely technology-oriented alliances. By transferring technological knowledge as well as cognitive elements to the hiring firm, mobile inventors foster the alignment of decision frames applied by potential alliance partners in the process of alliance formation thereby making collaboration more likely. Using data on inventor mobility and alliance formation amongst 42 global pharmaceutical firms over 16 years, we show that inventor mobility is positively associated with the likelihood of alliance formation in periods following inventor movements. This relationship becomes more pronounced if these employees bring additional knowledge about their prior firm’s technological capabilities and for alliances aimed at technology development rather than for agreements related to technology transfer. It is weakened, however, if the focal firm is already familiar with the competitor’s technological capabilities. By revealing these relationships, our study contributes to research on alliance formation, employee mobility, and organizational frames.

With permission of the Academy of Management

We examine the role of career preferences, ability, and structural constraints in explaining first-time employment in startups or established firms. Using panel data on 2,243 U.S. science and engineering PhDs observed before and after entering the job market, we find that ex ante career preferences significantly explain who joins a startup, while ability plays a limited role. Many individuals who prefer to join startups prior to graduation take jobs in established firms, in part due to the limited availability of startup jobs and visa constraints. Interestingly, these individuals are more likely to leave their first position in established firms jobs to join a startup later in time. We discuss implications for founders, managers in established firms, as well as for future research and policy makers.

With permission of the Academy of Management

In this paper, we study how the coexistence of access regulations for legacy (copper) and fiber networks shapes the incentives to invest in fiber-based network infrastructures. To this end, we first develop a theoretical model that extends the existing literature by, among other things, considering alternative firms with proprietary legacy network (e.g., cable operators) and the presence of asymmetric mandated access to networks. In the empirical part, we test the theoretical predictions using a novel panel data from 27 EU member states pertaining to the last decade. Our main finding is that, in line with the theoretical results, stricter access regulations (i.e., a decrease in access price to legacy network and the adoption of fiber regulation) decrease the incumbent operators’ fiber investments. The estimated magnitude of these effects is economically significant. On the other hand, cable operators, who are responsible for the largest share of investments in fiber, are not affected by access regulation. Our paper thus provides policy insights for the on-going revision of the EU regulation framework for the electronic communications industry.

With permission of Elsevier

In this joint study, the Hidden Champions Institute (HCI) of ESMT Berlin and IDG Research Services look into the question of whether the hidden champions are leading the digital transformation of the German economy. More precisely, the study compares the digital transformation among hidden champions to other companies and analyzes their challenges. The result shows that the German hidden champions take the digital revolution seriously and are working vigorously on positioning themselves more digitally, both regarding internal processes and in relation to new business models. In the process, they are considerably quicker and more successful than many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are not market leaders. However, in comparison to large corporates, the digital transformation of the hidden champions frequently lags behind, requiring them to learn from companies within their own ranks that are among the global leaders in the digital transformation. There are indeed such “hidden digital champions”, as the study shows.

With permission of IDG Business Media German edition of the study: Hidden Champions - Champions der digitalen Transformation?.

In its 2018 coalition agreement, the German federal government has set itself the goal of adopting a "Blockchain strategy" in this legislative period. As part of the planned promotion of Distributed Ledger and Blockchain technologies, the government wants to create a framework for the development and application of these technologies and test them in public administration. The Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy and the Federal Ministry of Finance are jointly in charge of developing the strategy. On this occasion, in a workshop on 3 July 2018 at the Digital Society Institute of ESMT Berlin, 35 experts from politics, business and science discussed how a national blockchain strategy can be practically organized. The discussion focused on the questions of what goals such a strategy should have, what the central enablers and appropriate framework conditions for the development and application of Distributed Ledger technologies such as blockchain can be in Germany, and what role the state plays in promoting the technology and managing risks in this technology field. Sarah Basic and André Eid (Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy), Dr. Christian Hampel (Ernst & Young GmbH), Dr. Jürgen Kohr (Fujitsu), Dr. Manfred Lochter (Federal Office for Security in Information Technology) and Kai Wagner (Jolocom) gave input speeches to the debate. Based on the workshop discussion, this paper outlines requirements for a national blockchain strategy. [Die Bundesregierung hat sich in ihrem Koalitionsvertrag das Ziel gesetzt, in dieser Legislaturperiode eine „Blockchain-Strategie“ zu verabschieden. Im Rahmen der geplanten Förderung von Distributed Ledger und Blockchain Technologien sollen die Rahmenbedingungen für Entwicklung und Einsatz der Technologien verbessert und diese auch in der öffentlichen Verwaltung erprobt werden. Mit der Erarbeitung der Strategie sind federführend das Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWi) und das Bundesministerium der Finanzen (BMF) betraut. Aus diesem Anlass erörterten in einem Workshop am 3. Juli 2018 am Digital Society Institute der ESMT Berlin 35 Experten aus Politik, Wirtschaft und Wissenschaft, wie eine nationale Blockchain-Strategie praktisch organisiert sein kann. Im Zentrum der Diskussion standen die Fragen, welche Ziele eine solche Strategie haben sollte, was zentrale Ermöglicher und geeignete Rahmenbedingungen für die Entwicklung und Anwendung von Distributed Ledger Technologien wie Blockchain in Deutschland sein können, und welche Rolle dem Staat bei der Förderung und Bekämpfung von Risiken in diesem Technologiefeld zukommt. Impulsvorträge für die Diskussion hielten Sarah Basic und André Eid (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie), Dr. Christian Hampel (Ernst & Young GmbH), Dr. Jürgen Kohr (Fujitsu), Dr. Manfred Lochter (Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik) und Kai Wagner (Jolocom). Auf der Grundlage der Workshop-Diskussion skizziert dieses Papier Anforderungen an eine nationale Blockchain-Strategie.]