Multi-business firms redeploy
human capital to strengthen individual business units.
However, we know little about the antecedents of such
redeployments and their effects on unit outcomes. Contributing
to the resource redeployment and strategic
human capital literatures, we test the relationships
between parent–unit industry relatedness, the direction
of redeployment (parent-to-unit and unit-to-parent),
the type of human capital, the likelihood of redeployment,
and post-redeployment unit closure. Using Norwegian
population-level microdata of spinouts, we find
that parent–unit industry relatedness increases the likelihood
of human capital redeployment and that this
effect is stronger for generalists than for specialists.
Further, we find that parent-to-unit and unit-to-parent
redeployment of generalists and specialists have distinct
effects on unit closure, largely because of differences
in post-redeployment unit performance.
Ostergaard, Charlotte; Sasson, Amir & Sørensen, Bent E. (2020)
Cash flow sensitivities and bank-finance shocks in non-listed firms
We study how small firms manage cash flows by estimating cash flow sensitivities for all sources and uses of cash. Our data are Norwegian non-listed firms which can be matched to the banks they borrow from. Firms with low cash holdings mainly use external finance to offset cash flow fluctuations over the cycle, whereas firms with high cash holdings rely mainly on internal finance. Estimating how cash flow sensitivities change with exogenous bank shocks, we find that the cyclicality of cash-poor firms' investment is amplified because they do not substitute internal for external finance. Our results imply that for small firms, the transmission of financial shocks to the real economy is closely tied to their accumulation of cash.
Sasson, Amir (2018)
At the Forefront, Looking Ahead: Research-Based Answers to Contemporary Uncertainties of Management
Universitetsforlaget
This book presents research-based answers to some of the uncertainties that managers, investors, employees and policymakers face.
On its 75th anniversary, BI Norwegian Business School is undoubtedly a researchbased school at the forefront of global research. Its research groups contribute excellent, original research that is at the international forefront appearing in top international journals, while its graduates, more than those of any other school, populate CEO positions.
Being at the forefront requires that we look ahead, not merely celebrate past successes. This book does exactly that. It covers three themes:
1. The digital organization, including algorithm-based decision making and management, digital labour, business models, corporate reputation and branding
2. The governance of corporations, with specific reference to state-owned and family-owned firms and their auditing
3. Decision-making, incentives and innovation, covering issues such as employee motivation and creativity, environmental R&D, political decision-making and customer experience
O'Brien, Jonathan & Sasson, Amir (2017)
A contingency theory of entrepreneurial debt governance
Access to debt can be crucial for entrepreneurs who need capital. Embedding economic ties within a social
relationship with the debt provider can ensure capital availability and attenuate opportunism. However, such a
relationship requires substantial investments in time and effort. We advance a solution to this entrepreneurial
conundrum by proposing a contingency theory which prescribes aligning the fundamental transactional properties
(i.e., asset specificity, uncertainty and frequency) with the nature of the entrepreneur-bank relationship
(i.e., embedded versus arm's length). Our theory predicts that transactional properties affect the optimal governance
of the entrepreneur-bank relationship, and that social embeddedness can transform what looks like a
market transaction (e.g., a debt transaction) into a hybrid form of governance more akin to a hierarchy. Using a
sample of small businesses in the U.S., we find that congruence between the optimal governance structure and
the actual governance structure results in higher firm performance
Luzzi, Alessandra & Sasson, Amir (2016)
Individual Entrepreneurial Exit and Earnings in Subsequent Paid Employment
We study earnings of individuals who exit entrepreneurship for paid employment. We find mean (median) positive rewards from entrepreneurship in subsequent paid employment relative to matched employees. Rewards are higher for former entrepreneurs hired in highly innovative sectors. We also find that the performance of the exited firm is a strong predictor of the earnings premium for former entrepreneurs when the firm performed well, while we do not find median discounts for entrepreneurs exiting low performing firms. We use registry data that encompass the population of firms and individuals in the Norwegian economy.
Sasson, Amir & Johnson, John Chandler (2016)
The 3D printing order: variability, supercenters and supply chain reconfigurations
Purpose: Direct Digital Manufacturing (DDM) is conceived of as either disrupting the entire manufacturing economy or merely enabling novel production. Between these extremes, we introduce an alternative where DDM coexists with and complements traditional mass production. When multiple parts run across one manufacturing line, DDM can isolate variability associated with low volume part production and may be preferred to mass production despite being expensive. If DDM complements rather than cannibalizes mass production, this alters our understanding of who adopts DDM, the products built with DDM, and DDM’s long-term supply chain implications. Design/methodology/approach: This invited article explores a DDM rollout scenario and qualitatively assesses potential supply chain reconfigurations. Findings: Our analysis recognizes that existing manufacturers with heterogeneous bills-of-material may develop DDM capabilities to isolate disruptive, low-volume production from scalable mass production. Developing DDM competence and raw material scale advantages, these manufacturers become the locus of change in a manufacturing landscape increasingly characterized by multi-product DDM supercenters. Originality/Value: Extant research largely focuses on two potential reasons for DDM adoption: cost-per-unit and time-to-delivery comparisons. We explore a third driver: DDM’s capacity to isolate manufacturing variability attributable to low volume parts. Relative to the extant literature, this suggests a different DDM rollout, different adopters, and a different supply chain configuration. We identify mass manufacturing variability reduction as the mechanism through which DDM may be adopted. This adoption trajectory would eventually enable a supply chain transition in which spare parts inventory migrates from finished goods at proprietary facilities to raw materials at generalized DDM supercenters.
Reve, Torger & Sasson, Amir (2015)
Complementing clusters: A competitiveness rationale for infrastructure investments
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a novel application of cluster theory and cluster methodology to evaluate large infrastructure investments. The complementing clusters approach, which builds on the notion of infrastructure as connecting isolated “economic islands”, is able to assess the potential for value creation effects of new infrastructure investment. Design/methodology/approach – The author uses simulation analysis based on a unique data set encompassing all employees and employers, as well as cluster mapping, for every pair of “economic islands” being connected by the examined infrastructure investments. The empirical setting is of large fjord crossings in Western Norway, the so-called E39 project. Findings – The empirical findings show that productivity gains are higher when an integrated labor market hosting complementary clusters is formed. Limitations remain regarding the economic integration path. Research limitations/implications – The authors provide an ex-ante analysis using information over the past 10 years. Following the expected infrastructure investments, future research should examine the extent to which productivity gains materialized and the reasons underlying the achieved materialization levels. Practical implications – Current evaluation of large infrastructure investments focuses on transportation economics effects, technical feasibility and environmental consequences. The authors complement this current practice by advancing a theoretically grounded value creation perspective that can affect future evaluation practices. Originality/value – Cluster complementarity-based evaluation is a novel methodology that is applicable to investment decisions which are central for economic development. Cluster analysis of infrastructure investments provides new and valuable data for making such investments decisions.
Purpose: The paper assesses the dissemination of cluster ideas advanced in the “Competitive Advantage of Nations” and three subsequent national studies and the reasons for their substantial public policy impact in Norway. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents the theoretical and methodological novelties of each of the national studies, the inclusive study-organizing principle employed and public policy impact. Findings: The papers finds that the dissemination of cluster thinking and the development of a successful cluster-based industrial policy in Norway is largely a function of the nature and extent of the cluster research efforts that took place in Norway. The national cluster research projects mobilized all the key industrial and governmental actors in a very effective way making studies both rigor and relevant. Due to advanced and demanding policy makers, the studies also evolved in terms of the theoretical models and methodologies employed. Originality/value: The paper contributes by illuminating the direct and indirect impact of the “Competitive Advantage of Nations” on both academic endeavors and public policies in Norway and by explicating how studies that make it possible for academics and practitioners to work in tandem substantially affect public policy.
McNamara, Peter; Peck, Simon I. & Sasson, Amir (2013)
Competing Business Models, Value Creation and Appropriation in English Football
Market mediation literature has been taking primarily a triadic view in studying the role and impact of mediators, actors that occupy a middle position, on supply and demand conditions in markets. Mediating organizations facilitate exchange relationships on a continuous basis between multiple networks of interdependent affiliated actors. An affiliation structure gives rise to the property of duality whereby the behavior and performance of the affiliates affect the behavior and performance of mediators and vice versa. In the context of the banking industry, this study examines how the structural properties of the underlying network of affiliated organizations affect the survival of affiliated organizations and the performance of mediating organizations. The results show that firms that are affiliated with mediating organizations having high customer-set connectedness or with those that are industry specialists increase their chances of survival. Furthermore, mediating organizations having high customer-set connectedness experience lower loan loss than those having lower customer-set connectedness. This study contributes to organizational studies by incorporating a network view to the predominately triadic market mediation literature, explicating the determinants of the effectiveness by which mediating services are rendered, and suggesting new sources of competitive advantage that advance as well as complement established explanations. Implications for the network perspective, organizational technology and the economic theory of the banking firm, as well as firm and mediator management are considered.
Eriksson, Kent; Fjeldstad, Øystein & Sasson, Amir (2007)
Knowledge of Inter-customer Relations as a Source of Value Creation and Commitment in Financial Service Firm's Intermediation
Service Industries Journal, 27(5) , s. 563-582.
Kustec, Irena; Ostergaard, Charlotte & Sasson, Amir (2021)
Underperformance in Family Successions: The Role of Outside Work Experience
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Sabel, Christopher Albert & Sasson, Amir (2020)
Human Capital and Spinout Growth: The Impact of Relatedness Ownership and Social Ties
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Sabel, Christopher Albert & Sasson, Amir (2020)
Human Capital and Spinout Growth: The Impact of Relatedness Ownership and Social Ties
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Ostergaard, Charlotte; Kustec, Irena & Sasson, Amir (2018)
Corporate Culture in Family Firms: How Inside CEO Succession Impedes Performance
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Sabel, Christopher Albert & Sasson, Amir (2018)
Two Sides of the Same Coin: Transferability, Appropriability and External Corporate Venturing
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Ohlmer, Ilka Verena & Sasson, Amir (2018)
Showing your cards: Pay transparency and overall pay dispersion
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Sabel, Christopher Albert & Sasson, Amir (2018)
Two Sides of the Same Coin: Transferability, Appropriability and External Corporate Venturing
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Johnson, Chandler & Sasson, Amir (2018)
Excavating Structural Holes: Formal Decomposition and Disconfirmation
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Luzzi, Alessandra & Sasson, Amir (2016)
Rich and King? Why do entrepreneurs leave their throne?
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Iurkov, Viacheslav & Sasson, Amir (2015)
How much do alliance networks matter?
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Luzzi, Alessandra & Sasson, Amir (2015)
Entrepreneurial skills or reward for success? Does entrepreneurship pay in future paid employment?
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Iurkov, Viacheslav & Sasson, Amir (2015)
How much do alliance networks matter?
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Fjeldstad, Øystein Devik; Phan, Binh & Sasson, Amir (2015)
Intra-firm network structure and performance
[Lecture]. Event
Luzzi, Alessandra & Sasson, Amir (2015)
Entrepreneurial skills or reward for success? Does entrepreneurship pay in future paid employment?
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Iurkov, Viacheslav & Sasson, Amir (2015)
Alliance networks and firm performance: A variance decomposition study
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Phan, Binh; Fjeldstad, Øystein D. & Sasson, Amir (2014)
Network Service Innovation: Mobile Broadband, Clustering and Organization Performance
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Reve, Torger & Sasson, Amir (2014)
"Complementing Clusters: A competitiveness Rationale for Infrastructural Investments"
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Fjeldstad, Øystein D.; Phan, Binh & Sasson, Amir (2014)
Intra-firm Structure and Performance
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Reve, Torger; Sasson, Amir & Nordkvelde, Marius (2014)
"Ferjefri E39: Næringsøkonomiske gevinster ved fjordkryssing"
[Report Research]. Handelshøyskolen BI
Rapporten ser nærmere på næringseffektene av utbyggingen av en ny E39 over Boknafjorden (Rogfast) mellom Stavanger og Haugesund området, over Bjørnafjorden mellom Stord og Bergen området, over Sognefjorden mellom Oppedal og Lavik, Hundvikfjorden mellom Anda og Lote, Faleidfjorden mellom Stryn og Svarstad (Stryn nord), Storfjord mellom Festøya og Solavågen eller Hareid og Sula, Moldefjorden mellom Vestnes og Molde og Halsafjorden mellom Kanestraum og Halsa. Rapporten har også evaluert de to mulighetene til å krysse Bjørnafjorden, i midten (direkte rute) eller en mer landbasert vei til øst for fjorden og de to mulighetene i Sogn og Fjordane, vest gjennom Lote and øst gjennom Stryn og over Strynefjellet. Rapporten bruker eksisterende region- og agglomerasjonsteori samt klyngeteori til å sannsynliggjøre for lokale arbeidsmarkedsgevinster ved sammenslåing av ulike arbeidsmarkeder som i dag ikke er integrert, men som sannsynligvis ville vært i større grad integrerte arbeidsmarkeder, om det ikke hadde vært for manglende infrastruktur. Rapporten er en videreføring av rapporten Ferjefri E39 Næringsliv og verdiskaping (Nordkvelde og Reve 2013) og inngår i det større forskningsprosjektet Ferjefri E39 - næringsliv og verdiskaping.
Reve, Torger & Sasson, Amir (2012)
"Competitiveness as Industrial Attractiveness: Operationalizing the Emerald Model"
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Pettersen, Lene & Sasson, Amir (2012)
One size does not fit all: Social Business Software, Strategy and Organization in Multinational Knowledge Intensive Firms
[Conference Poster]. Event
NEW SOCIAL TECHNOLOGY allows organizations to increase innovation through improved internal communication, coordination and knowledge sharing. Social technologies turn previous information models on their heads, by placing the individual in the center and connecting knowledge and information to this individual, more than extracting solely explicit documentation produced by individuals. This represents an important advancement specifically with regards to overcoming one of the major challenges of the knowledge management tradition, namely the processing and managing of the transfer of tacit and implicit knowledge.
New social technologies in the workplace (Social business software: SBS) are natural offshoots of the traditional one-way-sender intranet, inspired by overall technological tendencies in society today, where 65% of adult internet users use a social networking site (like MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn). Only email and search engines are today used more frequently than social networking tools (Pew Internet Report, August 2011). Hence, it is likely to expect that SBS will soon be replacing today’s intranet solutions.
The successful implementation of SBS at the workplace is not without organizational challenges. It is therefore important to gain insights on the type of challenges that exist and how they can be avoided. Hence, we aim at identifying the central implementation challenges that organizations face when using SBS as an internal collaboration tool. We examine this through the use of multiple case study methodology in the context of a multinational knowledge intensive firm. In knowledge intensive firms employees’ specialized knowledge and competences is and the blend of such knowledge and competences are at the heart of value creation (e.g. Løwendahl et al., 2001). The successful implementation of SBS will result in increased value creation through the better utilization of previously accumulated knowledge and the development of new knowledge.
The firm that we study has 5000 employees, with headquarters in France and subsidiaries in 25 countries. The firm utilizes SBS as a strategic, internal tool in order to “build professional networks, develop competence by following others more skilled, finding out what others are doing and not reinventing the wheel, having things you’re working on easy to find and share, easily work with colleagues in other business units”.
A qualitative approach with a multiple case study design was selected in this study, because of the contemporary nature of the issue, and in order to gain deeper insights of the interplay of social software, strategy and organization. 29 open ended in-depth interviews with employees have been conducted over a 3 month period in four countries (Norway, Denmark, UK and Morocco) and at six subsidiaries. In addition participatory observations have been carried out at three subsidiaries involved in the study, with a two week field study at subsidiaries in Morocco in 2011, and longer periods of field studies at one of the Norwegian subsidiaries in 2010. Social network analysis has been used to visualize the qualitative findings in the computer program Netdraw and to get a better overview of collaboration tendencies.
Theoretical considerations
Since “[T]echnology per se can’t increase or decrease the production of the workers’ performance, only use of it can” (Orlikowski, 2000:425) we need to include relevant other variables than technology itself to examine overall collaboration and knowledge sharing tendencies within the company, and instead see what, if any, role SBS plays in these processes. This abstract asks the following research question;
• What are the central challenges that knowledge intensive firms face when using SBS as an internal collaboration tool?
Reve, Torger & Sasson, Amir (2012)
Kunnskapsbasert Næringslivsutvikling
[Popular Science Article]. Magma, 15, s. 16-22.
Sasson, Amir & Blomgren, Atle (2011)
Knowledge Based Oil and Gas Industry
[Report Research]. Handelshøyskolen BI
This study presents the Norwegian upstream oil and gas industry (defined as all oil and gasrelated firms located in Norway, regardless of ownership) and evaluates the industry according to the underlying dimensions of a global knowledge hub - cluster attractiveness, education attractiveness, talent attractiveness, R&D and innovation attractiveness, ownership attractiveness, environmental attractiveness and cluster dynamics.
Østergaard, Charlotte; Sasson, Amir & Sørensen, Bent E. (2011)
The Marginal Value of Cash, Cash Flow Sensitivities, and Bank-Finance Shocks in Non-Listed Firms
[Report Research]. Handelshøyskolen BI
We study how nonlisted firms trade off financial, real, and distributive uses of cash. We show that firms' marginal value of cash (MVC) affects the mix of external and internal finance used to absorb fluctuations in cash flows; in particular, high-MVC firms employ substantially more external finance on the margin. Linking firms to their main bank, we find that shocks to bank finance affect firms' trade-offs and have real effects in high-MVC firms, making investment more sensitive to firm cash ow. Our analysis suggests that shocks to external financing costs are transmitted to the real economy via firms' marginal value of cash.
Sasson, Amir (2011)
Knowledge-based metals & materials
[Report Research]. Handelshøyskolen BI
This study presents the Norwegian metal and material industry (defined as all metal and material related firms located in Norway, regardless of ownership) and evaluates the industry according to the underlying dimensions of a global knowledge hub - cluster attractiveness, education attractiveness, talent attractiveness, R&D and innovation attractiveness, ownership attractiveness, environmental attractiveness and cluster dynamics.
Sasson, Amir (2011)
Knowledge Based Health
[Report Research]. Handelshøyskolen BI
In this study, we assess the underlying properties of a global knowledge hub to examine the extent to which the Norwegian health industry constitutes such a hub. We begin with a general discussion of the industry before we examine the underlying properties of global knowledge hubs: cluster attractiveness, educational attractiveness, talent attractiveness, R&D and innovation attractiveness, ownership attractiveness, environmental attractiveness and cluster dynamics. We conclude by providing clear recommendations for business and public policy.
Sasson, Amir (2010)
Knowledge-based Grenland
[Report Research]. Grenland
O'Brien, J. & Sasson, Amir (2010)
The wisdom of entrepreneur-Bank Ties: A synthesis of transaction cost and Embeddedness perspectives
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Sasson, Amir (2010)
Global Knowledge Hub
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Burkay, Ulas; Fjeldstad, Øystein D. & Sasson, Amir (2008)
Expectation Formationa and Growth
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Sasson, Amir; Burkay, Ulas & Fjeldstad, Øystein D. (2008)
Expectation Formation and Market Growth in Mobile Communication Services
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Sasson, Amir & Minoja, Mario (2008)
Banking on Ambidexterity: A Longitudinal Study of Ambidexterity, Ambisinistrousness and Performance
