Options
Timo Sohl
Former Member
Now showing
1 - 10 of 36
-
PublicationRegional and Product Diversification and the Performance of Retail MultinationalsDespite the importance of geographic expansion in the services sector, few studies have analyzed the relationships between regional diversification, product diversification and performance for services firms. Here, we focus on experiential learning benefits and managerial complexity to investigate whether and how firms in the retail sector may benefit by expanding their activities within and across regional boundaries. Using panel data of 65 large European retailers from 19 countries for the period between 1997 and 2010, we find that intra-regional diversification has an inverted S-curve relationship and inter-regional diversification has an S-curve relationship with firm performance. Moreover, the results show that product diversification has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between inter-regional diversification and firm performance. Overall, these results add support in the services sector for the three-stage paradigm of international expansion and firm performance.Type: journal articleJournal: Journal of International ManagementVolume: 21Issue: 3
Scopus© Citations 54 -
PublicationBusiness Model Diversification, Resource Relatedness, and Firm PerformanceDespite the recognition that many firms operate multiple business models at the same time, little is known about when and how business model diversification may create value. In this study, we develop the construct of business model relatedness and examine its relationship with firm performance. Using a unique panel dataset of multibusiness firms in the retail- and wholesale-trade sectors (1997-2010), we find that the extent to which business model diversification is related increases firm performance. Interestingly, results also show that business model relatedness is more influential in determining firm performance than industry relatedness. This finding suggests that the concept of business model relatedness may be better able to capture the underlying resource relatedness among lines of business than the traditionally used concept of industry relatedness.Type: journal articleJournal: Academy of Management Best Paper ProceedingsIssue: 74 (forthcoming)
-
PublicationWithin-Industry Diversification and Firm Performance : Synergy Creation and Capability DevelopmentDifferent from previous literature on cross-industry diversification, this study investigates the performance implications of multiunit firms' related and unrelated diversification behavior within a single industry. In addition, the study contributes to the literature by examining performance implications of firms' dynamic development of capabilities based on their accumulated diversification experience. Drawing from the resource-based view of diversification, I conceptualize related within-industry diversification based on the resource overlap of operating units and test performance outcomes using a unique dataset of the world's leading retail firms' unit (i.e., retail format) diversification behavior over thirteen years (from 1997 to 2009). Results show that profits first decrease at low levels of relatedness and then increase at an increasingly higher level as corporate parents focus stronger on related within-industry diversification. Moreover, I find suggestive evidence that unrelated within-industry diversification has a negative effect on profits. In contrast to profits, both related and unrelated within-industry diversification increase a parent firm's sales-based market share in the following year. Finally, the study indicates that especially related diversifiers who exceed a distinct (minimum) level of related within-industry diversification are able to develop capabilities over time that lead to superior firm performance. Specifically, the complementary effects of high degrees of related within-industry diversification in combination with longer experience with related diversification enable corporate parents to outperform competition.Type: journal articleJournal: Academy of Management Best Paper ProceedingsIssue: 71
-
PublicationDevelopment and Deployment of Brand Protection Strategies for ChinaCounterfeiting has become an enormous global challenge for brand owners. Companies recognize that solely legal protection measures are not sufficient to handle this problem. A comprehensive protection concept seems to be necessary to secure their future performance especially in the fast growing Asian markets. Based on experiences of Western brand owners in China, this article provides guidance for companies to develop and implement appropriate strategies to fight against Chinese counterfeiters.Type: journal articleJournal: Marketing Review St. GallenVolume: 26Issue: 2
-
PublicationHow Much Does Business Model Matter?Drawing on disruptive innovation theory, we argue that considerable performance differences exist between disruptive and traditional business models. We further argue that disruptive business models typically emerge and co-exist with traditional models in developed markets, rather than developing markets, implying that the relative importance of business model in explaining performance variation may be contingent on whether firms mainly compete in developed or developing markets. Based on panel data of firms in the global retail-trade sector between 1997 and 2010, we find that business model is indeed economically important in explaining performance variation among developed-market firms (16.8%), but not among developing-market firms (1.4%). Overall, our findings shed some light on the magnitude of the business model effect on firm performance in different geographical contexts.Type: conference paper
-
PublicationBusiness Model Diversification, Resource Relatedness, and Firm PerformanceDespite the recognition that many firms operate multiple business models at the same time, little is known about when and how business model diversification may create value. In this study, we develop the construct of business model relatedness and examine its relationship with firm performance. Using a unique panel dataset of multibusiness firms in the retail- and wholesale-trade sectors (1997-2010), we find that the extent to which business model diversification is related increases firm performance. Interestingly, results also show that business model relatedness is more influential in determining firm performance than industry relatedness. This finding suggests that the concept of business model relatedness may be better able to capture the underlying resource relatedness among lines of business than the traditionally used concept of industry relatedness.Type: conference paperJournal: Academy of Management Proceedings
Scopus© Citations 6 -
PublicationHow Much Does Business Model Matter?Despite the recognition that business models identify how businesses create and capture value, little is known about how business model choices are linked to performance. Since business units employ business models to serve industries, we examine the relative importance of business model and industry effects in explaining performance variation, while controlling for year, home country, corporate parent, and business unit effects. Using a simultaneous variance decomposition approach on panel data of 2,993 business units (chains) in the retail- and wholesale-trade sectors (SIC 50-59) from 43 home countries (1996-2010), we find that business model effects matter most in explaining variance in chain efficiency. Surprisingly, our results also indicate that both business model and industry effects are less important in explaining variance in chain growth.Type: conference paper
-
PublicationCorporate Diversification and Firm Performance : The Role of Product-Market and Business-Model RelatednessThis study examines the relative importance of three relatedness dimensions - product, customer, and business-model relatedness - to explain corporate performance. Using a unique dataset of 170 multiunit chain organizations from 1999 to 2010, we first verify prior empirical findings by showing that related product diversification is positively associated with performance. Beyond previous findings, results Show that related customer and business-model diversification is also positively associated with performance. Interestingly, when simultaneously examined, related product diversification becomes insignificant, while related customer and business-model diversification remain significantly positively associated with performance. This finding suggests that the concepts of customer and business-model relatedness may be better able to capture resource relatedness among lines of business than the predominantly used concept of product relatedness.Type: conference paper
-
PublicationPerformance Implications of Related Product-Market and Business-Model DiversificationThis study develops a conceptual framework that captures key dimensions of product-market relatedness (i.e., product and customer relatedness) and business-model relatedness (i.e., value-proposition and distribution-channel relatedness). While previous research has typically investigated how related diversification along the product dimension affects performance, this study argues that superior performance may be driven by heretofore widely neglected intangible dimensions of relatedness beyond the product dimension. We test this argument using a unique dataset of 170 multiunit chain organizations for the period from 1999 to 2010. We first verify prior empirical findings by showing that related product diversification alone appears to be positively related to performance. Moreover, beyond previous findings, results show that related diversification along the customer and value-proposition dimensions also increases performance. Interestingly, the tangible product dimension of relatedness becomes insignificant in combination with intangible relatedness dimensions, providing support for our argument that superior performance is mainly driven by resource flows along intangible dimensions of relatedness.Type: conference paper
-
PublicationType: conference paperVolume: Paper 530