Word from the editor

We are pleased to publish this regular issue of Mi, which includes 12 high quality articles on a wide range of international management topics. We are particularly grateful to the authors for the quality and richness of their papers, but we would like to take this opportunity to express our deepest appreciation to all the reviewers who have contributed to the quality of Mi’s publications. Many of Mi’s authors comment on how the richness of the work done by Mi’s reviewers allows them to improve their manuscripts. The opinions of Mi reviewers are not only often very detailed, but also often strive to give authors benevolent advice to improve their research. On behalf of the journal, we once again extend our deepest thanks to the reviewers of the journal.

Enjoy your reading!

In their contribution, “ Moment of Hospitality Entrepreneurship Awareness, Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy, and Entrepreneur Role Identity Aspiration,” Ababacar Mbengue, Nathalie Sarrouy-Watkins, Cheikh Oumar Baldé and Christophe Loué, examine the specific effect of the timing of entrepreneurship awareness (MSE) on entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) and entrepreneurial role identity aspiration (ERIA) as a marker of the transition to the entrepreneurial role. In this research, which is situated in the perspective of works measuring the impact of entrepreneurship education, the authors present an in-depth conceptual analysis and an empirical test with 440 hospitality students sensitized to entrepreneurship in France and Senegal show that EEA mediates a positive relationship between MSE and AIRE. The later the awareness moment, the more it directly increases EEA and indirectly AIRE.

Pierre Garaudel, Adrien Laurent, Géraldine Schmidt, and Philippe Eynaud in the article “ Between State and Market: Specific forms and Motives of Inter-Organizational Restructurings (IOR) in the French Nonprofit Field” consider that the literature on inter-organizational restructuring (IOR) in the nonprofit field focuses on mergers observed in the United States, and that despite the diversity of IOR practices, little is known about the French context. An online survey of a large sample of associations highlights the existence of innovative practices in France. The article explores the various forms and motivations of IORs that French associations are adopting in an increasingly restrictive context. Our colleagues’ results show that market mechanisms cannot explain all the diversity observed and corroborate the centrality of social and political perspectives.

Philippe Massiéra and Laura Trinchera present in their contribution “Taxonomy of Complementary Marketing Capabilities Configurations in SMEs” a research that focuses on the influence of the internal and external context on the way SMEs orchestrate three marketing capabilities that are recognized as highly complementary: market and demand research capabilities, marketing strategy formulation capabilities, and value proposition management capabilities. The inductive classification approach followed by the authors allowed (i) to observe three marketing configuration profiles (the static profile, the dynamic-agile profile and the dynamic-proactive profile) and (ii) to demonstrate that the organizational alignment of marketing capabilities depends on two specific factors: the degree of uncertainty of the market environment and the level of annual sales.

In the article “ Absorptive Capacity, Intellectual Capital: Contribution to a Complex Relationship”, Hadj Nekka and Amal Aribi, start from the observation that the relationship between absorption capacity and intellectual capital has been approached by considering the first concept in its entirety and the second in a partial way. The objective of their contribution is to overcome this limitation. Using a qualitative methodology in four companies, the authors develop a detailed understanding of the two concepts and the interactions of their constituent components. They show that a strong interdependence exists between the three components of intellectual capital even if one of them dominates according to the phases of absorptive capacity. Thus, the research highlights three distinct modes of deployment of intellectual capital.

Sami Basly’s article, “ The Influence of Family Members’ Identification With the Firm on Family SME’s International Diversification: The Moderating Role of Exploration and Exploitation” analyzes the effect of family members’ identification with the firm - a key socio-emotional objective within family firms - on the firm’s international diversification. The moderating effect of learning orientation - expressed in terms of exploratory and reproductive orientation - on the relationship between identification and the degree of international diversification is assessed. The results do not validate the thesis that reproductive orientation would strengthen the negative relationship between identification and international diversification. However, the study shows that exploratory orientation negatively moderates the relationship between family members’ identification with the firm and international diversification.

Christèle Camelis, Anne-Cécile Marchat and Cécile Maunier, in “ Customer Engagement Towards Tourism Destinations: Interests, Definition and Measurement” consider that behavioral loyalty in tourism has many limits, as it is subject to the constraints and motivations of tourists. Recently introduced in relational marketing, the concept of Customer Commitment is mobilized for its ability to overcome the vision according to which the re-visit, unlikely in the case of Small Island Destinations (SIDs), would be a relevant indicator of competitiveness. The objective of our colleagues is to discuss the transposition of the concept to the field of tourism within the individual/destination relationship. The contribution lies in the proposal of a definition and a multidimensional measurement scale tested on the destination “Reunion Island” with 572 individuals.

Vincent Chauvet’s contribution, “ Triggering absorptive capacity: why do the knowledge broker role of SME CEOs and organizational mechanisms matter?” starts from the observation that several articles on Absorptive Capacity (ACAP) call for integrative models dealing with the identification of antecedents of ACAP. There is also a growing need for further investigation into the initiation of an absorptive sequence. Our colleague’s objective is to highlight the impact of four organizational mechanisms as well as the “knowledge broker” role of SME managers. This research reveals the critical role of SME managers in triggering a knowledge absorption sequence. The results also highlight the fact that formalization of knowledge and codification of behaviors are effective mechanisms for the development of absorptive capacity.

The main objective of Jonathan Bauweraerts’ research, “ Analyzing the Relationship Between Family Ownership Dispersion and R&D Investments: The Moderating Role of Market Turbulence”, is to investigate the relationship between family ownership dispersion and R&D investments. Using the socio-emotional wealth perspective and the mixed choice approach, this paper suggests that family ownership dispersion has a positive influence on R&D spending. However, this positive relationship is attenuated when the firm faces a highly turbulent market. Empirical analyses conducted on a sample of 284 unlisted Belgian family firms corroborate these predictions, shedding new light on the consequences of family ownership heterogeneity for innovation.

David Doloreux and Justine Lachance, in the article “ The Effects of Innovation Activities on Export: An Analysis of the Canadian Wine Industry”, aim to provide new empirical evidence on the influence of innovation activities on exporting in the specific context of firms in the wine industry in Canada. Based on a survey of 151 firms, the research method combines two levels of analysis: first, a descriptive analysis based on different variables concerning internal innovation activities, the degree of openness of the firm, innovation outcomes and exporting. Second, logit and ordinal regression models are estimated.

In the contribution “Maturity of firms’ digital strategy, financial development and income inequality: an empirical study on a panel of 149 countries”, Isabelle Lacombe, Mouna Amari, Khaireddine Mouakhar and Anis Jarboui aim to study how firms’ digital strategy, together with countries’ financial development, influences income inequality in a panel of 149 countries based on the generalized method of moments estimates for the period 2012 to 2016. The results show that digital contributes to reducing inequality among countries with medium and high digital maturity. This research highlights that a mature digital strategy enhances the positive effects of technological innovation and to promote financial development and thus reduce income inequality.

Lakshman C., Linh-Chi Vo, and Kubilay Gok, in their article “ Attributional Accuracy and Leadership Effectiveness: Cultural Desirability in Five Countries,” consider that the literature on the cultural desirability of accurate leadership attributions is nonexistent, and that attributional theories in the leadership literature focus primarily on biased judgments. The authors contribute to both literatures by providing an empirical study conducted in five countries (United States, France, India, Turkey, and Vietnam) and using the implicit leadership theory approach. They examine two characteristics of the attributions - the degree of accuracy and the degree of absence of racial/cultural bias - that managers associate with the performance behavior of their subordinates in order to assess whether or not they are indeed consistent with cultural expectations and thus constitute desirable leadership.

The article “ Managing risks linked to climate change in the wine sector: a review of the literature” by our colleagues Jean-François Outreville and Eric Le Fur aims to present an update of the economic literature on risk management in the wine sector as applied to climate risk. In particular, the authors identify the main characteristics of risks in the general framework of risk management and the limitations of insurance as a risk management tool. They present a review of the current literature on climate risk management and on market and price risks, as well as on the perception of risk by producers, which is a major obstacle to the development of coverage for these risks.

For the editorial committee

Patrick Cohendet