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Research summary: Prior literature drawing on the behavioral theory of the firm has not considered how resource constraints impact the direction of organizational change in response to performance shortfalls relative to aspirations. We argue that decreasing financial resources resulting from substantial performance shortfalls and the absence or availability of slack resources together affect the emphasis on different types of organizational change in response to performance shortfalls. Using data on the acquisition and divestment behavior of 530 companies in the information and communications technology sector from 1992 to 2014, we find that the frequency of resource-consuming acquisitions and of resource-freeing divestments are affected differently by performance below aspirations and that these relationships are moderated by the level of financial slack. Managerial summary: This paper examines whether firms respond to performance shortfalls with acquisitions or divestments. We argue and show that the closer the firm is to the aspired level of performance, the more likely it is to respond with resource-consuming acquisitions to close the performance gap, whereas the further it is from aspired performance, the more likely the firm is to respond with divestments to free resources. Financial slack weakens these relationships between performance relative to aspirations and acquisitions or divestments such that it increases the likelihood of a response through acquisitions while it reduces the likelihood of a response through divestments.

Based on an analysis of the most active acquirers in seven industry sectors in the United States in the 1990s, we find that both a high rate of acquisitions and a high variability of the rate are negatively related to performance. An acquirer's size, the scope of its acquisition program, and acquisition experience moderate the relationship by weakening the negative effects. Our findings contribute to an improved understanding of acquisition capabilities and program-level acquisition performance, thereby adding to an emerging stream of research that is building an acquisition program perspective.

We examine how determinants of absorptive capacity influence learning in alliances over time. Using longitudinal patent cross-citation data, we find an inverted U-shaped pattern over time that is influenced by firm-level and relational factors. Technological similarity only modestly increases learning in the initial stages of a relationship, but moderate levels substantially increase knowledge flows later in the alliance. High technological diversity is related to higher initial learning rates, but the effects diminish over time. Somewhat surprisingly, research and development intensity is negatively related to initial learning rates but has a considerable positive effect later in the relationship. We suggest that initial learning rates in alliances may be constrained by the capacity to absorb knowledge, while later-stage outcomes are constrained by exploitation capacity.

The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC; rodent infralimbic cortex (IL)), is posited to be an important locus of fear extinction-facilitating effects of the dopamine (DA) bio-precursor, L-DOPA, but this hypothesis remains to be formally tested. Here, in a model of impaired fear extinction (the 129S1/SvImJ inbred mouse strain; S1), we monitored extracellular DA dynamics via in vivo microdialysis in IL during fear extinction and following L-DOPA administration. Systemic L-DOPA caused sustained elevation of extracellular DA levels in IL and increased neuronal activation in a subpopulation of IL neurons. Systemic L-DOPA enabled extinction learning and promoted extinction retention at one but not ten days after training. Conversely, direct microinfusion of DA into IL produced long-term fear extinction (an effect that was insensitive to ɑ-/ß-adrenoreceptor antagonism). However, intra-IL delivery of a D1-like or D2 receptor agonist did not facilitate extinction. Using ex vivo multi-electrode array IL neuronal recordings, along with ex vivo quantification of immediate early genes and DA receptor signalling markers in mPFC, we found evidence of reduced DA-evoked mPFC network responses in S1 as compared with extinction-competent C57BL/6J mice that were partially driven by D1 receptor activation. Together, our data demonstrate that locally increasing DA in IL is sufficient to produce lasting rescue of impaired extinction. The finding that systemic L-DOPA increased IL DA levels, but had only transient effects on extinction, suggests L-DOPA failed to reach a threshold level of IL DA or produced opposing behavioural effects in other brain regions. Collectively, our findings provide further insight into the neural basis of the extinction-promoting effects of DA and L-DOPA in a clinically relevant animal model, with possible implications for therapeutically targeting the DA system in anxiety and trauma-related disorders.

One of the central explanations of the high failure rates of de novo entrants is the liability of smallness. As a corollary, most prior literature has suggested that firms should experience survival benefits from growth. In this paper, we argue that survival benefits need to be balanced against the potential cost of rapid growth, and they are contingent upon the structure of the environment. We predict a curvilinear relationship between an entrant's growth rate and failure, and argue that the relationship is contingent upon the local agglomeration of economic activity and the local structure of competition. We test and find support for our predictions using firm-level longitudinal data of all de novo entrants into the Canadian manufacturing sector between 1984 and 1998.

The literature suggests that established firms need to balance their exploration and exploitation activities in order to achieve superior performance. Yet, previous empirical research has modeled this balance as the interaction of orthogonal activities. In this study, we show that there is a trade-off between exploration and exploitation and that the optimal balance between exploration and exploitation depends upon environmental conditions. Using a novel methodology to measure the relative exploration versus exploitation orientation, we find an inverted U-shaped relationship between the relative share of explorative orientation and financial performance. This relationship is positively moderated by the R&D intensity of the industry in which the firm operates.

This paper contributes to multiple agency theory by examining how the compensation schemes awarded to outside directors and the CEO jointly affect firm-level risk taking. Using data of the S&P 1500 firms from 1997 to 2006, we find support for earlier arguments that providing the CEO, the outside directors, or both with stock options increases risk taking. More importantly, we find that compensating outside directors with stock options has significantly stronger effects than CEO stock options. Finally, contrary to what one would expect, we find that these effects are mutually substituting; that is, if both the outside directors and the CEO are provided with stock option compensation, outside directors' incentives weaken the effect of the CEO's incentives on firms' risk taking.

Technological discontinuities pose serious challenges to top managers’ attention. These discontinuities, which often occur at the fringes of an industry, are usually driven by innovative and (often) venture capital-backed start-ups creating new products and transforming existing industries in ways that are difficult for incumbent managers to understand against the backdrop of their existing cognitive schemata. However, failing to appreciate and embrace successful technological discontinuities might endanger incumbents’ very existence. Extending the attention-based view, we explore whether and how interorganizational relationships guide top managers’ attention either to or away from technological discontinuities. We propose that homophilous relationships (e.g., alliances with industry peers) should exhibit a negative relationship with incumbents’ timely attention to technological discontinuities, whereas heterophilous relationships (e.g., with venture capitalists as a result of coinvestments) should exhibit a positive relationship. Furthermore, we hypothesize that the status of the partners strengthens the effect of homophilous and heterophilous relationships with the timely attention of top managers to technological discontinuities. Based on a longitudinal study of the incumbents in four information and communications technology industry sectors, we find that heterophilous ties through corporate venture capital (CVC), coinvesting with high-status venture capital firms, exhibit a strong positive relationship with timely attention. CVC, when it connects senior management to high-status venture capitalists through coinvestments, has a special role in directing top managers’ attention to technological discontinuities and ensuing business opportunities. Implications for the understanding of the role of interorganizational ties as structural determinants of top managers’ attention are discussed.

Background Neighborhood socioeconomic status (nSES) can complement individual SES to better assess health-behavior inequalities. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the nSES of defined areas in Berlin with healthy lifestyle. Methods This cross-sectional analysis used baseline data from the three Berlin study centers of the German National Cohort (NAKO). We assessed body mass index (BMI), smoking, alcohol consumption, and objectively measured physical activity and combined them to a healthy lifestyle index (HLI; range:0–12 points; 12 = best score). To assess nSES, the Social Index from Berlin’s Social Structure Atlas (1 = best; 7 = worst) was assigned to the participants’ residential locations. We used multivariable regression analyses to examine the association between nSES and the HLI (mean difference with 95% confidence interval, CI) as well as the four individual lifestyle factors (odds ratios (OR) with 95% CI). In sensitivity analyses, nSES was modelled using all seven Social Index categories and as a dichotomy (categories 1–4 vs. 5–7). Results Of 204,801 NAKO participants, 31,075 were recruited in Berlin, of those 11,922 with complete accelerometry data were included (mean ± SD age 50.6 ± 12.9 years; 52.8% women). The mean HLI was 8.3 ± 2.0 points. Worsening of nSES by one point was associated with a 0.08-point lower HLI (-0.08 (95%-CI -0.10; -0.06)), with a reduced odds of normal weight (0.95; 0.93–0.97) and being a never-smoker (0.96; 0.94–0.98), while it was neither associated with alcohol consumption (1.01; 0.99–1.04)) nor physical activity (0.99; 0.97–1.02)). Sensitivity analyses suggested that differences were mainly driven by a contrast between categories 1–4 and the more disadvantaged categories 5–7. However, the overall pattern of results did not change. Conclusions Our analyses suggest a rather small association between Berlin’s nSES and HLI, and slightly stronger associations with BMI and smoking. Future studies using longitudinal data and more neighbourhood measures are needed to better disentangle contextual influences from residential selection and to inform targeted prevention strategies.

Large epidemiological studies such as the UK Biobank (UKBB) or German National Cohort (NAKO) provide unprecedented health-related data of the general population aiming to better understand determinants of health and disease. As part of these studies, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is performed in a subset of participants allowing for phenotypical and functional characterization of different organ systems. Due to the large amount of imaging data, automated image analysis is required, which can be performed using deep learning methods, e. g. for automated organ segmentation. In this paper we describe a computational pipeline for automated segmentation of abdominal organs on MRI data from 20,000 participants of UKBB and NAKO and provide results of the quality control process. We found that approx. 90% of data sets showed no relevant segmentation errors while relevant errors occurred in a varying proportion of data sets depending on the organ of interest. Image-derived features based on automated organ segmentations showed relevant deviations of varying degree in the presence of segmentation errors. These results show that large-scale, deep learning-based abdominal organ segmentation on MRI data is feasible with overall high accuracy, but visual quality control remains an important step ensuring the validity of down-stream analyses in large epidemiological imaging studies.