Upcoming Events & Recent Seminars

Vernacularization of Digital Marketplaces: A Broken News
by Saurabh Shinde
Durham University

https://zoom.us/j/6834690808
Meeting ID: 683 469 0808

Abstract

Mainstream journalism in India (print and TV) follows a strict status hierarchy: English-speaking journalists are at the top echelon (with more salaries, more political connections, and higher social status) compared to their vernacular counterparts. With the advent of Web 2.0, we are seeing en masse platforming of vernacular content creators and consumers. Using netnographic data collected over three years, this research tries to understand the vernacularization of digital journalism from the Bourdieusian lens of distinction. In doing so, we highlight the significant role of the attention economy and media in the capital conversion process. Our first contribution is the concept of Epistemic Narrative Object – a continuously unfolding carrier of cultural capital. Second, we delineate the distinction strategies using less explored linguistic capital in marketing literature. Finally, we locate vernacularization as an outcome of four ongoing processes – politicization of media, mediatization of society, postsocial relationships, and democratization of knowledge.

Covid-19 Risk Perception of Travel Destination Development and Validation of a Scale
by Khansa Zaman
Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science &Technology

https://zoom.us/j/6834690808
Meeting ID: 683 469 0808

Abstract

Although traveler risk perception is a widely used term in the hospitality and tourism literature, the pandemic related risk perception of tourist destination lacks a clear conceptualization and measurement. This study develops and validates a six item scale to measure Covid-19 risk perception of travel destinations. The scale is developed using multiple data collection methods including interviews, focus group, and survey questionnaires. The exploratory stage involved in-depth interviews and the subsequent quantitative stage gathered data through a survey questionnaire. The scale offers a framework for future empirical research on Covid-19 risk perception that will shape tourism decisions in years to come. Implications for hospitality industry and limitations are also discussed.

Keywords: COVID-19, tourist risk perception, travel destination, scale development

The Not So Uniform Effect of Trade Secret Protection on Business Entry
by Tanseli Savaşer
Vassar College

Place: Faculty of Business Administration,
Ümit Berkman Seminar Room (MA-330) 
https://zoom.us/j/6834690808
Meeting ID: 683 469 0808

Abstract

We explore the consequences of trade secret protection for new business formation in the U.S. We find that the states that adopt the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA), which enhances intellectual property rights, experience an overall decline in establishment entry rates. This result is driven by the reduction in small business entry rates. The negative effect is more pronounced in industries that are knowledge and trade secret intensive. By contrast, the law promotes the entry of medium and large businesses. Our findings highlight the important relationship between the regulatory environment governing intellectual property protection and business formation in the U.S.

The Effect of Childcare Access on Women’s Careers and Firm Performance
by Ting Xu
University of Toronto

https://zoom.us/j/6834690808
Meeting ID: 683 469 0808

Abstract

We study the effect of government-subsidized childcare on women’s career outcomes and firm performance using linked tax filing data. Exploiting a universal childcare reform in Quebec in 1997 and the variation in its timing relative to childbirth across cohorts of parents, we show that earlier access to childcare increases employment among new mothers, particularly among those previously unemployed. Earlier childcare access increases new mothers’ reallocation of careers into more demanding jobs in male-dominated firms, leading to higher earnings and higher productivity. Firms traditionally unattractive to women with children benefit from such reallocation, experiencing higher growth and performance. Our results suggest that childcare frictions hamper women’s career progression and their allocation of human capital in the labor market.

Innovation Booms, Easy Financing, and Human Capital Accumulation
by Johan Hombert
HEC Paris

https://zoom.us/j/6834690808
Meeting ID: 683 469 0808

Abstract

Innovation booms occur frequently and are often fueled by easy financing that allows new technology firms to pay high wages that attracts skilled labor. Using the late 1990s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) boom as a laboratory, we show that skilled labor joining this new sector experienced sizeable long-term earnings losses. We trace these losses to skill obsolescence, that cannot be explained by either selection or the subsequent ICT sector bust. During the boom, capital flowed more to firms whose workers would ultimately experience a larger productivity decline. This suggests that financial capital can amplify the negative effects of labor reallocation into booming sectors on aggregate labor productivity.

Digital marketing capabilities revisited: A multidisciplinary perspective and boundary conditions
by Onur Osmanoğlu
KOÇ University

https://zoom.us/j/6834690808
Meeting ID: 683 469 0808

Abstract

Developments and pervasiveness of IT-based digital technologies have altered customer expectations and escalated the competitive environment. To be able to address these changes in the market, numerous firms invest in digital marketing transformation. In this paper, we suggest that digital marketing capabilities (DMCs) are the key factors to succeed in an increasingly disruptive business environment. To this end, we provide a thorough conceptualization of this construct through a multidisciplinary systematic literature review that integrates and synthesizes insights from marketing, information systems, and strategic management disciplines. Building on resource-based theory and dynamic capabilities, we not only classify DMCs but also provide a conceptual framework that delineates how these capabilities operate by underlining the hierarchical essence of DMCs and their interrelationships. We also introduce and discuss several boundary conditions that would regulate the DMCs – firm performance relationship.  

Local Market Reaction to Brand Acquisitions: Evidence from the Craft Beer Industry
by Umut Güler
Koç University

Place: Faculty of Business Administration,
Ümit Berkman Seminar Room (MA-330) 

Abstract

A large stream of literature shows that the emotional bond between consumer and brand can induce a sense of psychological ownership, and shocks to this relationship such as brand repositioning or acquisitions can induce a negative consumer reaction. This article provides a large scale empirical study on such brand “transgressions” in the context of acquisition of local beer breweries by large conglomerates. Our analysis covering 40 brand acquisitions shows a strong negative reaction to acquisitions in social media. More importantly, the negative sentiment translates to a significant reduction in demand in the local market post acquisition. Across different specifications, we estimate that this decline is between 20% and 30%. This represents a significant negative shock to the acquired brand, as the local region accounts for more than one-fifth of brand sales on average, even in the long run. The decline begins immediately following the acquisition, and manifests in both sales and product ratings. On the flip side, acquisition helps the local brand in markets close to the acquirer’s facilities, with improved distribution and higher sales. Theoretical and managerial implications of our findings are discussed.

This is Not What I’ve Ordered: Aesthetic Failure in Food Delivery Services
by Duygu Akdevelioğlu
Rochester Institude of Technology

https://zoom.us/j/6834690808
Meeting ID: 683 469 0808

Abstract

This work in progress paper investigates the aesthetic failures in food delivery services. It aims to extend our understanding of food consumption which is a multisensory experience disrupted by the lack of plating due the nature of delivery services. Our initial data collection explores Yelp reviews in a netnographic nature and next steps of data collection will include in depth interviews and experimental design. This paper will offer concrete solutions to food preparation and service companies as well as third party delivery service operators in terms of how to respond to service failures and recover customer satisfaction.

‘Stochastic Capacity Investment in the Presence of Production Resource Uncertainty and Its Implications for Hedging’
by Onur Boyabatlı
Singapore Management University

Place: Faculty of Business Administration,
Ümit Berkman Seminar Room (MA-330) 

Abstract:

In practice, manufacturing firms face a number of uncertainties while choosing their capacity investment levels. Besides the uncertainty in product demand, capacity investment may also be subject to uncertainty in the availability of production resources (used together with the capacity invested) and these resources may become constraining in the production stage. The production resource can be a financial resource such as operating budget, and its shortage can be attributed to the worsened external financing conditions (e.g., 2008 financial crisis). The production resource can also be a physical resource such as a component and its shortage can be attributed to a variety of factors including health and safety issues in supplier’s premises (e.g., Covid 19 pandemic) and industry-wide shortage (e.g., shortage in semiconductor components in the automotive industry).  Motivated by these observations, this paper studies a manufacturing firm’s capacity investment decision under demand and production resource uncertainties. To this end, we consider a firm who produces and sells a single product in a single selling season to maximize its expected profit. We formulate a two-stage stochastic model. In the first stage, the firm chooses the capacity investment level in the presence of demand and production resource uncertainties. In the second stage, after both uncertainties are realized, the firm then decides on the optimal production quantity constrained by the available capacity and production resource. We conduct sensitivity analyses to examine the impact of production resource variability and its correlation with demand. We find that the firm always benefits from a higher correlation. For the effect of production resource variability, we identify the critical roles played by the correlation and the capacity investment cost. In particular, we find that the firm benefits from a lower production resource variability when the capacity investment cost is sufficiently high or the correlation is sufficiently low. In other cases, the firm benefits from a lower production resource variability only when this variability is sufficiently high; otherwise a higher production resource variability increases profitability. These results have important managerial implications on how a local versus global supply chain disruption affects the firm where correlation is weak (or zero) for the former and it is large in absolute value for the latter.

To counteract against the production resource uncertainty resulting from some of the aforementioned exposures, the firm can rely on hedging instruments at the time of capacity investment to engineer the availability of production resource in the production stage. For example, if the production resource is an operating budget that depends on a financially hedgable index such as asset price, the firm can sell a forward contract written on this index from a fixed price to engineer the operation budget’s distribution. If the production resource is a commodity component, the firm can sell a forward contract written on the commodity price to engineer the component’s availability in the production stage. We extend our basic model to consider the hedging decision in the capacity investment stage. In particular, we assume that the firm decides on the forward contract volume to sell which corresponds to deciding on the (proportional) allocation between a deterministic production resource and an uncertain production resource which has an expected value equaling the former. In other words, consistent with practice, hedging decision does not change the mean production resource but alters its variability. When the allocation is made fully to the uncertain resource (i.e., no hedging scenario), this corresponds to the case in our basic model. When the allocation is made fully to the deterministic resource (i.e., full hedging scenario), the firm does not face production resource uncertainty. When both resources receive some allocation (i.e., partial hedging scenario), the firm faces a reduced production resource uncertainty. We characterize the joint optimal capacity investment and hedging decisions of the firm. We identify correlation between demand and production resource uncertainty and the capacity investment cost as the key drivers of the optimal hedging portfolio. In particular, when the correlation is non-positive, the firm always fully hedges and production resource uncertainty is inconsequential for the firm. When the correlation is positive, full hedging is optimal only when capacity investment cost is sufficiently high. Otherwise, the firm chooses a partial hedging policy. Interestingly, the optimal partial hedge is chosen in such a way that there is no effect of production resource variability on the firm’s profitability or capacity investment decision. We also find that the firm may optimally choose not to hedge at all, specifically, when the correlation is sufficiently high and the capacity investment cost is sufficiently low. In contrast with the basic model, with optimal hedging the firm always benefits from a higher production resource variability. Paralleling the basic model, with optimal hedging the firm always benefits from a higher correlation. By making a comparison with the basic model, we characterize the value of hedging. As intuition suggests, we find that the value of hedging increases in production resource variability. Interestingly, we also find that value of hedging decreases in correlation

Biography:

Onur Boyabatli is Associate Professor of Operations Management at the Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University. He holds a Ph.D. in Technology and Operations Management from INSEAD, France, M.S. and B.S. degrees in Industrial Engineering from Bilkent University, Turkey.

His main research interests are in the areas of integrated risk management in global supply chains, operational decision making in commoditized industries with a special focus on agribusiness, technology and capacity management under financing frictions, supply chain finance and sustainable operations. His research papers have been published in Management Science and Manufacturing & Services Operations Management (M&SOM) journals. He is the co-editor of “Agricultural Supply Chain Management Research – Operations and Analytics in Planting, Selling, and Government Interventions” and “Handbook of Integrated Risk Management in Global Supply Chains.” He is the past Chair for iFORM (Interface of Finance, Operations and Risk Management) Special Interest Group. He is currently serving as Senior Editor for Production and Operations Management journal, and he has served as an Associate Editor for the M&SOM journal. He was selected for “Most Influential Business Professors under 40” By Singapore Business Review in 2016.

He teaches courses related to Operations Management (e.g., Decision Analysis, Risk Management in Global Supply Chains, Supply Chain Innovation, and Sustainability) at various postgraduate (DBA, Executive, MBA, Master in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and PhD) and undergraduate levels.

‘Going public and the internal organization of the firm’
by Stefan Obernberger
Erasmus University

https://zoom.us/j/6834690808
Meeting ID: 683 469 0808

Abstract

We examine how firms adapt their organization when they go public. IPO firms transform into a more hierarchical organization with an active internal labor market. Organizational functions dedicated to accounting, finance, information and communication, and human resources become much more prominent. Managerial oversight increases and many employees are added to the higher ranks of the organization. IPO firms turn around a large chunk of their labor force and almost their entire management to adapt to the new organization. New employees are better educated, but they possess less job- and industry-specific experience than incumbents and employees leaving the firm. Wages and wage inequality increase as IPO firms become more hierarchical and higher ranked employees become more productive. Overall, going public succumbs the firm to a transformation which reduces human capital risk and efficiently organizes the production process of a public firm.

‘Consumerizing Care: The Formation Market-Based Solidarity Systems’
by Markus Giesler
York University

https://zoom.us/j/6834690808
Meeting ID: 683 469 0808

Abstract

Consumer culture theory (CCT) research widely takes for granted that solidarity gets expressed through consumption decisions. Showing solidarity means to either deliberately buy more or less—a premise that is disputable but conforms with CCT’s consumption focus. For instance, Weinberger and Wallendorf (2012) carve out how consumers, in response to Hurricane Katrina, engage in shared consumption practices to express solidarity within the New Orleans community. Further, Eichert and Luedicke (2022) identify a subgroup of LGBTQ+ consumers that deliberately buy from gay-owned businesses to express in-group solidarity and collective resistance. Finally, Varman and Belk (2009, 687) unravel that Indian consumers boycott Coca-Cola in a nationalist movement grounded in “multiple solidarities based on caste, religion, and regional affiliations.”

This reading of solidarity as consumption is not limited to academic work. CCT research rather reflects the times we live in. Recently, European politicians have urged consumers to lower their energy consumption (i.e., minimizing resource dependency to Russia) out of solidarity with Ukraine (Duffy 2022). On the contrary, buying more from Black-owned businesses is considered an act of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement (https://www.timeout.com/things-to-do/how-to-support-black-lives-matter).

Despite the manifold links of solidarity and consumption in CCT and current public discourses, the concept of solidarity has originally not embraced consumption. It even stands in opposition to consumption and capitalist logic (e.g., Lynch 2022). Solidarity describes the moral obligation “to share resources with others by personal contribution to those in struggle or in need and through taxation and redistribution organised by the state” (Stjernø 2009, 2). This flow of resources is not based on a logic of direct exchange in the market realm but on aspirations of a cohesive and stable social order (e.g., Durkheim 1893). Given this conceptualization that even counterposes the market-driven atomization of society, how, of all things, did consumption become a way to express solidarity?

From the very beginning in sociology, the concept of solidarity has evolved under the influence of and as a response to industrialization, individualization, and globalization. While Tönnies (1887) feared the collapse of pre-industrial community and, thus, the traditional bonds of solidarity, Durkheim (1893) was the first to provide an understanding of solidarity compatible with an increasingly industrialized society. He developed organic solidarity as stemming from interdependency instead of sameness as in traditional, mechanical solidarity. In reaction to the advancing individualization, Komter (2005) further conceived a solidarity arising from voluntariness instead of necessity and mutual dependency. Consumer research reformulated this idea into a solidarity out of consumer choice (Giesler 2006). While these contemporary accounts characterize this solidarity as “thin” and “segmented” (Giesler 2006; Komter 2005), other scholars state that arrangements based upon consumer choice and individual purchasing power replace and repress solidarity (e.g., Bauman 2013; Stjernø 2009; Wilde 2016).

On a political level, the original idea of solidarity enabled the creation of the welfare state. With weaker social structures of families, neighborhoods, and communities due to the industrialization, the tasks of social welfare was transferred to the state (Bayertz 1999). Social redistribution serves to provide support to the “unfortunate members” of society, regardless of birth, merit, or worth (Baldwin 1990). It obtains acceptance as long as enough citizens see themselves at risk to become needy (Baldwin 1990). However, social democracy often constrains individual autonomy by coercing redistribution and anonymizes the act of solidarity (Bayertz 1999; Bernstein 1899). In contrast, neoliberal capitalism has shifted the responsibility to solve societal problems from the welfare state to the individual consumer (Giesler and Veresiu 2014). Thus, market principles reign over social welfare services, such as in the privatization of health care (Harvey 2007; Stjernø 2009).

The evolution of the solidarity concept shows that market logic increasingly represses solidarity. However, solidarity is still widespread, though often in conjunction and in harmony with consumption. In this research, we critically unpack the idea of solidarity in a market-based society. Specifically, we ask (1) how solidarity is shaped by and shaping markets, (2) how ideological contradictions between solidarity and capitalism get resolved, and (3) what mechanisms are involved in the creation of market-based solidarity. Using Foucault’s (1991) sociology of governmentality, we uncover how neoliberal capitalism co-opts solidarity in order to maintain its hegemony (e.g., Harvey 2007, 3). To this end, we introduce the concept of market-based solidarity as expression of care through consumption in contrast to civic-based solidarity through sacrifice.

To study how solidarity has become increasingly market-based, the coronavirus pandemic serves as an ideal context. The novel virus rapidly spread around the world and, to date, led to 6.5 million deaths worldwide (Statista 2022). Most governments established protection measures, including weeklong lockdowns or mask mandates. These social welfare measures especially aimed to protect the most vulnerable citizens (i.e., immuno-compromised and elderly). However, other forms of solidarity that included consumption (e.g., the support of local businesses through consumption) increasingly gained traction. As the coronavirus pandemic includes both forms of solidarity that even compete for attention and legitimation, it represents an ideal context to investigate how consumption became a way to express solidarity.

In what follows, we first describe our theoretical analysis relying on the sociology of governmentality. We put emphasis on Foucault’s thinking that concepts must be considered in light of their historical circumstances and, thus, we argue that the concept of solidarity needs to be reconceptualized for neoliberal times. Second, we perform an empirical analysis in the context of the coronavirus pandemic in Germany. We show how different movements of solidarity caused contradictions between civic and market goals and how these were resolved through the creation of market-based solidarity. Finally, we discuss how our findings contribute to the conversations of solidarity in consumer research (Chatzidakis, Maclaran and Varman 2021; Giesler 2006; Vikas, Varman and Belk 2015; Weinberger and Wallendorf 2012) and consumer responsibilization (Bajde and Rojas-Gaviria 2021; Cherrier and Türe 2022; Coskuner-Balli 2020; Giesler and Veresiu 2014), as well as how they provide guidance to policymakers with regard to social welfare politics.

‘Product Development in Crowdfunding: Theoretical and Empirical Analysis’
by Sıdıka Tunç Candoğan
National University of Singapore

https://zoom.us/j/6834690808
Meeting ID: 683 469 0808

Abstract

Problem definition: Crowdfunding goes beyond raising funds. Entrepreneurs often use crowdfunding to solicit feedback from customers to improve their products, and may therefore prefer to launch crowdfunding campaigns with basic versions of their products. Yet, customers may not be persuaded by a campaign if a product appears underdeveloped. In view of this trade-off, a key question for an entrepreneur is how far to enhance a product before launching a crowdfunding campaign. Methodology/results: Analyzing a game-theoretical model and testing its predictions empirically, we study how a product’s level of enhancement at campaign launch influences both whether an entrepreneur continues to improve the product during the campaign and whether the campaign is successful. We show that as the product’s level of enhancement at campaign launch increases, the likelihood of product improvement during a campaign first increases and then decreases. Furthermore, although our theoretical model intuitively predicts that the likelihood of campaign success always increases with the level of enhancement at campaign launch, our empirical analysis shows that the likelihood of campaign success first increases but then decreases. This counterintuitive result may be due to customers being overwhelmed with the complexity of highly enhanced products. Finally, while crowdfunding experts believe that products should be enhanced as much as possible before a campaign, we show that this is not always the best strategy. Managerial implications: Our study provides practical insights on how entrepreneurs can use crowdfunding for product development and improvement. Specifically, entrepreneurs should avoid enhancing their products too much before campaigns because this may not only decrease the chances of campaign success but also hinder entrepreneurs’ opportunity to save some of development costs (e.g., market research cost) by involving customers in product development.

Bilkent Center for Research in Transitional Societies
4th Management Research Day (Online)

4 May 2023, Thursday
Discussant: Yasin Rofcanin, University of Bath, UK

18:00 – 18:40 Faculty Presentation 1*
Zahide Karakitapoğlu-Aygün
“I-deals, Emergent Leadership & Promotability: Test of a Moderated Mediation Model”

18:40 – 19:20 Faculty Presentation 2
Serdar Kurdoğlu
“Leadership to establish meritocracy vs domination”

19:20 – 20:00 Faculty Presentation 3
Atilla Onuklu
“Rediscovering Transaction Cost Theory with Blockchain: The Block Transactions”

* Faculty presentations are 30-minute presentations followed by questions/comments from the audience and the discussant.

https://zoom.us/j/6834690808
Meeting ID: 683 469 0808

‘Work-family support from Home Promotes My Creativity at Work: Exploring the Mediating Role of Job crafting and Gender Differences’
by Yasin Rofcanin
University of Bath

https://zoom.us/j/6834690808
Meeting ID: 683 469 0808

Abstract

Extant research has placed less emphasis on examining the effects of work-family support provided by domestic partners on employee outcomes. Integrating family-to-work enrichment theory with the COR theory, this study tests a couple-dyadic model regarding the relationship between work-family support provision and receipt by the employees which finally affects the employees’ creativity at work. We propose that relational job crafting and cognitive job crafting mediate the relationship between work-family support receipt and creativity at work. Daily survey data were collected from 65 dual-earner couples, over a period of 15 working days. Results from the multilevel actor–partner interdependence model (APIM) showed that work-family support provision by the partner is positively related to work-family support receipt by the focal employee and the relationship is moderated by the level of phubbing of the recipient -as measured by the focal employee. In addition, our result shows that the positive associations between work-family support receipt and job crafting only work for females but not for males. We contribute to the literature by adding evidence regarding the mechanisms that enable social support at home to turn into employees’ creativity at work.

Keywords: work-family support, relational job crafting, cognitive job crafting, creativity at work

‘Toxic CEOs, ESG Funds as Watchdogs, and the Labor  Market Outcomes’
by Uğur Lel
University of Georgia

https://zoom.us/j/6834690808
Meeting ID: 683 469 0808

Abstract

I examine changes in CEO labor market outcomes following corporate environmental failures. CEOs of firms subject to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enforcement experience a decline in labor market opportunities as outside directors and a higher likelihood of dismissal as CEOs. They also receive less shareholder support in directorial elections. These effects are mostly visible in recent years and in firms with significant socially responsible investments (SRIs), and are robust to using state environmental regulations for identification. Overall, these results point to significant reputational repercussions of environmental failures to CEOs and the disciplinary role of SRIs.

MODAV-ICA 2023, 20th International Conference on Accounting will be held on September 20, 2023 in collaboration with Bilkent University Faculty of Business Administration and MÖDAV (Turkish Accounting Academicians’ Collaboration & Research Foundation) at Bilkent Hotel. This year’s theme is “Climate Change: Accountancy & Good Governance”. We expect, all the participants to exchange views on climate change within the context of good governance from the specific perspective of Accountancy. We will be hosting distinguished invited speakers from both the academia and regulatory bodies, participants from 55 universities, and listening to fifteen papers. Please find the details of the program below: