IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v69y2016i8p2801-2811.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Boundary conditions of a curvilinear relationship between decision comprehensiveness and performance: The role of functional and national diversity

Author

Listed:
  • Mitchell, Rebecca
  • Boyle, Brendan
  • Nicholas, Stephen
  • Maitland, Elizabeth
  • Zhao, Shuming

Abstract

This research examines top management team (TMT) functional and national diversity as moderators of a curvilinear relationship between decision comprehensiveness and organizational performance. Drawing on resource allocation theory, we argue that, despite the information-related benefits associated with decision comprehensiveness, the misallocation of limited TMT cognitive resources can generate an inverted U-shaped effect on performance. We hypothesize that functional and national diversity moderate this non-linear relationship, such that the impact of decision comprehensiveness in diverse teams will be significantly weaker than in their homogenous counterparts. Results from a sample of subsidiary TMTs of multinational companies (N=107) in China support the study hypotheses. We find evidence that decision comprehensiveness has no significant effect on performance for diverse TMTs. However, as hypothesized, we find support for a positive effect of decision comprehensiveness on organizational performance in relatively homogeneous TMTs up to an inflection point, beyond which the relationship becomes negative.

Suggested Citation

  • Mitchell, Rebecca & Boyle, Brendan & Nicholas, Stephen & Maitland, Elizabeth & Zhao, Shuming, 2016. "Boundary conditions of a curvilinear relationship between decision comprehensiveness and performance: The role of functional and national diversity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(8), pages 2801-2811.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:69:y:2016:i:8:p:2801-2811
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.12.049
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296315006906
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.12.049?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Powell, Ronan G. & Stark, Andrew W., 2005. "Does operating performance increase post-takeover for UK takeovers? A comparison of performance measures and benchmarks," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-2), pages 293-317, March.
    2. Stahl, Günter K. & Mäkelä, Kristiina & Zander, Lena & Maznevski, Martha L., 2010. "A look at the bright side of multicultural team diversity," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 439-447, December.
    3. Kristina Dahlin & L. Weingart & P. Hinds, 2005. "Team diversity and information use," Post-Print hal-00480406, HAL.
    4. Hubert Gatignon & Michael L. Tushman & Wendy Smith & Philip Anderson, 2002. "A Structural Approach to Assessing Innovation: Construct Development of Innovation Locus, Type, and Characteristics," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(9), pages 1103-1122, September.
    5. Paul Almeida & Anupama Phene, 2004. "Subsidiaries and knowledge creation: the influence of the MNC and host country on innovation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(8‐9), pages 847-864, August.
    6. Bettis-Outland, Harriette, 2012. "Decision-making's impact on organizational learning and information overload," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(6), pages 814-820.
    7. Bruce R. Barringer & Allen C. Bluedorn, 1999. "The relationship between corporate entrepreneurship and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(5), pages 421-444, May.
    8. Ed Clark & Anna Soulsby, 2007. "Understanding Top Management and Organizational Change Through Demographic and Processual Analysis," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(6), pages 932-954, September.
    9. Posavac, Steven S. & Kardes, Frank R. & Josko Brakus, J., 2010. "Focus induced tunnel vision in managerial judgment and decision making: The peril and the antidote," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 113(2), pages 102-111, November.
    10. Birkinshaw, Julian & Hood, Neil & Young, Stephen, 2005. "Subsidiary entrepreneurship, internal and external competitive forces, and subsidiary performance," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 227-248, April.
    11. Schwenk, Charles R., 1990. "Effects of devil's advocacy and dialectical inquiry on decision making: A meta-analysis," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 161-176, October.
    12. Yuan Li & Mike Peng, 2008. "Developing theory from strategic management research in China," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 563-572, September.
    13. Mike W. Peng & Justin Tan & Tony W. Tong, 2004. "Ownership Types and Strategic Groups in an Emerging Economy," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(7), pages 1105-1129, November.
    14. Punnett, Betty Jane & Clemens, Jason, 1999. "Cross-national diversity: implications for international expansion decisions," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 128-138, July.
    15. Auh, Seigyoung & Menguc, Bulent, 2006. "Diversity at the executive suite: A resource-based approach to the customer orientation-organizational performance relationship," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(5), pages 564-572, May.
    16. Yaping Gong, 2006. "The impact of subsidiary top management team national diversity on subsidiary performance: Knowledge and legitimacy perspectives," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 46(6), pages 771-790, December.
    17. James P. Guthrie & Deepak K. Datta, 2008. "Dumb and Dumber: The Impact of Downsizing on Firm Performance as Moderated by Industry Conditions," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(1), pages 108-123, February.
    18. Martin Kilduff & Reinhard Angelmar & Ajay Mehra, 2000. "Top Management-Team Diversity and Firm Performance: Examining the Role of Cognitions," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(1), pages 21-34, February.
    19. Yan Ling & Franz W. Kellermanns, 2010. "The Effects of Family Firm Specific Sources of TMT Diversity: The Moderating Role of Information Exchange Frequency," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 322-344, March.
    20. Zeki Simsek & John F. Veiga & Michael H. Lubatkin, 2007. "The Impact of Managerial Environmental Perceptions on Corporate Entrepreneurship: Towards Understanding Discretionary Slack's Pivotal Role," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(8), pages 1398-1424, December.
    21. Justin Tan, 2002. "Impact of Ownership Type on Environment–Strategy Linkage and Performance: Evidence from a Transitional Economy," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(3), pages 333-354, May.
    22. Ciaran Heavey & Zeki Simsek & Frank Roche & Aidan Kelly, 2009. "Decision Comprehensiveness and Corporate Entrepreneurship: The Moderating Role of Managerial Uncertainty Preferences and Environmental Dynamism," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(8), pages 1289-1314, December.
    23. Li, Xibao, 2009. "China's regional innovation capacity in transition: An empirical approach," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 338-357, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Feng, Cong & Patel, Pankaj C. & Sivakumar, K., 2020. "Chief global officers, geographical sales dispersion, and firm performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 58-72.
    2. Petrou, Andreas P. & Hadjielias, Elias & Thanos, Ioannis C. & Dimitratos, Pavlos, 2020. "Strategic decision-making processes, international environmental munificence and the accelerated internationalization of SMEs," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(5).
    3. Mercedes Rodríguez-Fernández & Ana I. Gaspar-González & Eva M. Sánchez-Teba, 2020. "Does Diversity in Top Management Teams Contribute to Organizational Performance? The Response of the IBEX 35 Companies," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-16, March.
    4. Ponomareva, Yuliya & Uman, Timur & Bodolica, Virginia & Wennberg, Karl, 2022. "Cultural diversity in top management teams: Review and agenda for future research," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 57(4).
    5. Shuai Meng & Jiayan Yan & Xuebing Cao, 2019. "Heterogeneity in top management teams and outward foreign direct investment: evidence from Chinese listed companies," Frontiers of Business Research in China, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 1-28, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lennart Burger & Ivana Blažková, 2020. "Internal Determinants Promoting Corporate Entrepreneurship in Established Organizations: A Systematic Literature Review," Central European Business Review, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2020(2), pages 19-45.
    2. Liu, Yi & Li, Yuan & Xue, Jiaqi, 2011. "Ownership, strategic orientation and internationalization in emerging markets," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 381-393, July.
    3. Scott, Pamela & Gibbons, Patrick & Coughlan, Joseph, 2010. "Developing subsidiary contribution to the MNC--Subsidiary entrepreneurship and strategy creativity," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 328-339, December.
    4. Águeda Gil-López & Unai Arzubiaga & Elena San Román & Alfredo Massis, 2022. "The Visible Hand of corporate entrepreneurship in state-owned enterprises: a longitudinal study of the Spanish National Postal Operator," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 1033-1071, September.
    5. Ralf Meinhardt & Sebastian Junge & Martin Weiss, 2018. "The organizational environment with its measures, antecedents, and consequences: a review and research agenda," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 68(2), pages 195-235, April.
    6. Achcaoucaou, Fariza & Miravitlles, Paloma & León-Darder, Fidel, 2014. "Knowledge sharing and subsidiary R&D mandate development: A matter of dual embeddedness," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 76-90.
    7. Somendra Narayan & Jatinder S. Sidhu & Henk W. Volberda, 2021. "From Attention to Action: The Influence of Cognitive and Ideological Diversity in Top Management Teams on Business Model Innovation," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(8), pages 2082-2110, December.
    8. Figueiredo, Paulo N. & Larsen, Henrik & Hansen, Ulrich E., 2020. "The role of interactive learning in innovation capability building in multinational subsidiaries: A micro-level study of biotechnology in Brazil," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(6).
    9. Muhammad Arif Khan & Meng Bin & Chunlin Wang & Hazrat Bilal & Arshad Ali Khan & Irfan Ullah & Amjad Iqbal & Mohib Ur Rahman, 2023. "Impact of R&D on Firm Performance: Do Ownership Structure and Product Market Competition Matter?," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, November.
    10. Jeffery S. McMullen & Katrina M. Brownell & Joel Adams, 2021. "What Makes an Entrepreneurship Study Entrepreneurial? Toward A Unified Theory of Entrepreneurial Agency," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(5), pages 1197-1238, September.
    11. Dimitris Manolopoulos & Pavlos Dimitratos & Stephen Young & Spyros Lioukas, 2009. "Technology Sourcing and Performance of Foreign Subsidiaries in Greece: The Impact of MNE and Local Environmental Contexts," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 43-60, February.
    12. Liu, Meng-chun & Chen, Shin-Horng, 2012. "MNCs’ offshore R&D networks in host country's regional innovation system: The case of Taiwan-based firms in China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1107-1120.
    13. Dörrenbächer, Christoph & Gammelgaard, Jens, 2010. "Multinational corporations, inter-organizational networks and subsidiary charter removals," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 206-216, July.
    14. Özbilgin, Mustafa & Tatli, Ahu & Ipek, Gulce & Sameer, Mohammad, 2016. "Four approaches to accounting for diversity in global organisations," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 88-99.
    15. Szymon Kaczmarek & Winfried Ruigrok, 2013. "In at the Deep End of Firm Internationalization," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 53(4), pages 513-534, August.
    16. Sali Li & William Schulze & Zhineng Li, 2009. "Plunging into the sea, again? A study of serial entrepreneurship in China," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 667-680, December.
    17. Wang, Wei & Ma, Hao, 2018. "Export strategy, export intensity and learning: Integrating the resource perspective and institutional perspective," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 581-592.
    18. Zhongfeng Su & En Xie & Yuan Li, 2009. "Organizational slack and firm performance during institutional transitions," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 75-91, March.
    19. Schmid, Stefan & Dauth, Tobias, 2014. "Does internationalization make a difference? Stock market reaction to announcements of international top executive appointments," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 63-77.
    20. van Veen, Kees & Sahib, Padma Rao & Aangeenbrug, Evelien, 2014. "Where do international board members come from? Country-level antecedents of international board member selection in European boards," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 407-417.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:69:y:2016:i:8:p:2801-2811. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.