Björn Ambos
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Prof. Ph.D.
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Ambos
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Björn
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bjoern.ambos@unisg.ch
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+41 71 224 7610
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Publication

Organizational Practice Adoption in the MNC: A Trait Activation Theory Approach

, Kunisch, Sven Gunnar Tilo , Laamanen, Tomi , Schulte Steinberg, Adrian , Ambos, Björn

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Global City and the Relevance of Spatial Heterogeneity

2022-09-19 , Weiss, Laura , Ambos, Björn

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Understanding the Formation of Psychic Distance Perceptions

2018-07-09 , Ambos, Björn , Leicht-Deobald, Ulrich , Leinemann, Alexander

This study investigates individual managers’ formation of psychic distance perceptions to foreign countries. Adopting a social psychological perspective, we propose three social-cognitive mechanisms - social comparison, mere exposure, and social learning - to help explain why and how country- and individual-level characteristics affect the formation of such perceptions. Based on an international survey of 1,591 managers located in 25 countries, we find that country-specific international experience, formal education, and a match between a managers’ first language and the language of the target country reduce psychic distance perceptions. Surprisingly, and in contrast to conventional wisdom, managers’ international and overall work experiences do not seem to have any effect on their distance perceptions. However, relative to country-level factors, individual-level antecedents seem to have rather limited explanatory power as predictors of overall psychic distance perceptions, lending support to the widely-employed practice of operationalizing psychic distances through country level indicators. In addition to these empirical findings, the study contributes by providing a theoretical social psychological framework for the understanding of how psychic distance perceptions are formed.

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Crying Wolf: The Impact of Threat Categorization on Firm Performance

2017 , Hauptmann, Gunnar , Ambos, Björn , Ambos, Tina

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Global Cities and the Relevance of Spatial Heterogeneity

2023-07-08 , Laura Weiss , Björn Ambos

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The Influence of Spatial Heterogeneity between Source and Target Location on Performance: Differences between Expansions From, To and Between Global Cities and Other Location Types

2022-07-07 , Weiss, Laura , Ambos, Björn

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Publication

Reinforcing Threat Cycles: The Interrelation of Strategic Issue Categorization

2018-09-22 , Hauptmann, Gunnar , Ambos, Björn

Negative reinforcing cycles prompted by paradoxical tensions can have a detrimental effect on organizations. One source of such tensions are strategic issues, where the contradictory categorization options “threat” or “opportunity” cause internal pressures, putting the organizations into a rigid behavioral mode. The developments and consequences of such reinforcing cycles have thus far only been investigated theoretically and within isolated contexts. We lack insights into spillover effects to subsequent strategic issues. This study proposes to examine the patterns of 350 interrelated strategic issue categorizations of six organizations in the context of a multi-competitor sailing race. We further investigate the reinforcing threat cycles of one focal organization. We thereby illuminate the interrelation of strategic issue categorization and contribute to better understanding reinforcing cycles within the paradox literature.

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Publication

How Subnational Heterogeneity Influences FDI Performance: Global Cities and Their Import for the Distance Concept

2023-10-01 , Laura Weiss , Björn Ambos

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Publication

Organizational Practice Adoption in the MNC: A Trait Activation Theory Approach

2019-08-01 , Kunisch, Sven Gunnar Tilo , Laamanen, Tomi , Schulte Steinberg, Adrian , Ambos, Björn

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Crying Wolf: The Impact of Strategic Issue Categorization Imbalances on Performance

2018-08-10 , Hauptmann, Gunnar , Ambos, Björn , Ambos, Tina

Recognizing and properly dealing with strategic issues is central to firm performance. While research has highlighted that strategic issues can be framed as ‘opportunities’ or ‘threats’, results are inconclusive about which type of framing is conducive to performance. Findings on the issue categorization of organizations and the distribution of threats to opportunities further lack a longitudinal component. To shed more light on these concerns, we conducted a process study of six organizational trajectories in the context of a multi-competitor (fleet) sailing race. Through content analysis we illuminate the underlying process of strategic issue categorization, the distribution of threats to opportunities over time and the subsequent performance impact. By analyzing the strategic issue categorizations (as threats or opportunities), we find that organizations which have a high ratio of threats-to-opportunities, i.e. are ‘imbalanced’ over time, show poorer performance. Our study presents in-depth cases in which the focal organizations manage to escape such a critical imbalance between identified threats and opportunities, through either changes in leadership or organizational learning. We thus contribute to the threat-rigidity theory by offering solutions to address the rigidity induced by continuous threats and further by showing the link of imbalanced issue categorization to performance.

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