Vlerick Repository

• Controlling für innovative junge Unternehmen

  Brettel, Malte; Fehre, Kerstin; Heinemann, Florian (Springer, 2007)

  Der vorliegende Artikel liegt im Forschungsdefizit des „Entrepreneurial Controllings“, d. h. dem Controlling in innovativen jungen Unternehmen begründet. Dieses Forschungsdefizit manifestiert sich neben einer bisher geringen Anzahl an Forschungsarbeiten vornehmlich in offenen forschungstheoretischen Fragen. Unbeantwortet blieben bisher insbesondere die zwei elementaren Fragestellungen nach den controllingrelevanten Merkmalen und infolgedessen nach den Anforderungen an ein Controlling in innovativen jungen Unternehmen. Diesem Forschungsdefizit steht ein hoher Praxisbedarf gegenüber: ein fehlendes Controlling in innovativen jungen Unternehmen zählt zu den Hauptursachen ihres Scheiterns. Unter Anwendung des Rationalitätssicherungsansatzes leistet der vorliegende Artikel einen wesentlichen Beitrag zur Beantwortung dieser Fragestellungen und zur Schließung der Forschungslücke im „Entrepreneurial Controlling“. Hierzu werden zunächst die Besonderheiten innovativer junger Unternehmen...
• The Disappearing ‘Deutschland AG’ – An analysis of blockholdings in German large caps

  Fehre, Kerstin; Rapp, Marc-Steffen; Schwetzler, Bernhard; Sperrling, Marco (LLC “Consulting Publishing Company “Business Perspectives”, 2011)

  The German corporate governance system changed substantially over the last ten years. Meanwhile, ownership structures of German firms changed significantly. The paper examines the phenomenon of changing ownership structures by studying blockholdings of German large caps between 1997 and 2006. It examines the dynamics of blockholdings by analyzing the evolution of free float and block trades, where at least 5% of voting rights change hands. Two findings emerge. First, the authors find that free float increases from 65% in 1997 to 75% in 2006, mainly caused by German financials and German government entities. Simultaneously, they observe a surprisingly high number of block trades: on average 1.6 block trades per firm from 1997 to 2006. Second, the authors find that particularly individuals and German industrials are guarantors for a stable ownership structure. German financials or German government entities as blockowners increase the free float and the likelihood of block trades. Moreover, block trades are more likely to occur in firms having foreign investors as owners. The findings are of interest with respect to the evolution of the so-called ‘Deutschland AG’ but also with respect to the current anchor shareholder discussion.
• Förderung von Frauen in Führungspositionen: Bezugsrahmen und empirische Analyse der unternehmerischen Maßnahmen

  Fehre, Kerstin; Lindstädt, Hagen; Picard, Alexander (Springer, 2014)

  Der Beitrag untersucht den Umsetzungsgrad von Maβnahmen zur Förderung von Frauen in Führungspositionen. Mittels einer Umfrage unter den CDA X-Unternehmen sowie kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen (KMU) wird eine Bestandsaufnahme angewendeter Maβnahmen erarbeitet und weiterer Handlungsbedarf identifiziert. Dies stellt die bisher gröβte empirische Untersuchung dieser Art in Deutschland dar. Der Beitrag zeigt, dass Unternehmen mit einer vergleichsweise hohen Repräsentanz von Frauen in Führungspositionen einige der Maβnahmen verstärkt umsetzen, diese jedoch über die gesamte Stichprobe eher unterdurchschnittlich häufig angewendet werden. Es hat sich auf Maβnahmenseite bisher kein Standard etabliert; ein hoher Frauenanteil in Führungspositionen scheint derzeit noch das Ergebnis unternehmensindividueller Gegebenheiten zu sein.
• Lost in transaction? The transfer effect of strategic consistency

  Fehre, Kerstin; Kronenwett, Daniel; Lindstädt, Hagen; Wolff, Michael (Springer, 2016)

  Prior empirical studies provide evidence that the learning-curve perspective from manufacturing settings is not directly applicable to strategic management settings. In the latter case learning relates to the quality rather than to the quantity of experience. Regarding the antecedents of organizational learning especially, there are still unanswered questions remaining; for example, the questions what kind of experience has a positive effect on performance and what kind of experience is more of a hindrance than a help. This becomes obvious when looking at acquisitions as examples of strategic management decisions. Results of prior empirical studies analyzing the relationship of acquisition experience and acquisition performance have been mixed. By introducing the concept of strategic consistency, we intend to facilitate a better understanding of the kind of experience necessary for organizational learning. Therefore, we measure the concordance and frequency of change in strategic actions. Employing a sample of 379 acquisition series, we find evidence for a positive transfer effect of strategic consistency within series and, therefore, a positive relationship between strategic consistency and acquisition performance.
• Challenging corporate commitment to CSR: Do CEOs keep talking about corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues in times of the global financial crisis?

  Fehre, Kerstin; Weber, Florian (Emerald, 2016)

  Purpose In times of crisis, the fundamental principles of companies erode, leading to strategy shifts. This paper aims to examine whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) is on management’s agenda in times of crisis, indicating CSR embeddedness into corporate strategy. The focus is on the four pillars of CSR: social, environment, economy and governance. Design/methodology/approach Starting points are competing hypotheses based on shareholder and stakeholder theory. Chief executive officer (CEO) letters to shareholders of German HDAX firms from 2003 to 2012 are analyzed by means of computer-aided text analysis. Findings The authors find that CEOs talk less about CSR in times of crisis, especially about social and governance issues, indicating that CSR is not fully embedded into corporate strategy, and that, in times of crisis, other aspects gain more importance on management’s agenda.

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