Ahn, Karr & Kim, 2025
Strategic Organization, https://doi.org/10.1177/14761270251358677
Ahn, Karr & Kim, 2025
Strategic Organization, https://doi.org/10.1177/14761270251358677
Abstract: Downsizing often triggers economic disruptions in affected communities, leading to scrutiny of, and resistance toward downsizing firms. Despite potential repercussions, the influence of local community pressure on downsizing decisions remains underexplored. This study advances the downsizing literature by demonstrating how the local community, as an institution, influences these decisions. We show that while market logic justifies downsizing based on declining performance, community logic pressures firms to reduce the scale of downsizing to preserve community welfare. We find that although firms increase the scale of downsizing across their subunits in response to declining performance, the scale at each subunit is shaped by the strength of community logic in each locale. This strength is influenced by community characteristics, such as ethnic diversity, labor union membership, social capital, and political ideology. Our findings suggest that the tension between market and community logics guides firms in determining where and to what extent to downsize.
Karr, Kim & Roh, 2025
Business Strategy and the Environment, https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.70179
Abstract: This study explores the consequences of material and immaterial environmental, social and governance (ESG) controversies on a firm’s financial performance and examines whether a country’s regulatory quality contextually moderates this relationship. Using a sample of 7,136 internationally listed firms from 2014 to 2022, we find that while the market imposes penalties on firms for material ESG controversies, it does not appear to do so for immaterial ones. Our study also finds that the regulatory quality in a firm’s home country intensifies the adverse effects of material ESG controversies on firm performance. We present findings and interpret them within existing theoretical frameworks, particularly through the lenses of signaling theory and institutional theory. While prior literature has presented mixed findings regarding the impact of ESG controversies on firm performance, our study outlines potentially important drivers behind these conflicting outcomes and provides new insights to the nonmarket strategy field through our consideration of the nature of ESG controversies and key country-level influences.
Lee, Kim, Mah & Karr, 2024
Entrepreneurship Research Journal, 14(3): 905-950
Abstract: Despite an increased interest in crises within the field of entrepreneurship, there is still a lack of understanding about the interplay between different types of crises and entrepreneurship. In addition, the specific circumstances surrounding each type of crisis may also cause the conclusions of these studies to diverge or converge. To enhance our theoretical understanding of entrepreneurship during times of crisis, our review seeks to answer the following research questions: (1) How are the different types of crises addressed in entrepreneurship literature, and what similarities and differences exist? (2) How can we broaden our understanding and deepen our insights into the relationship between a crisis and entrepreneurship? In an effort to review the largest possible variety of crises that extends beyond political crises, natural disasters, and financial crises, we have also included a number of recent studies that examined COVID-19 from an entrepreneurial perspective. Following this, our study identifies six types of crises along with corresponding research themes, key findings, and critical shortcomings. This review also identifies multiple research gaps and suggests several future research directions, as well as theoretical approaches that researchers can take to build upon existing discussions surrounding entrepreneurship in times of crisis.
Kim, Karr & Rhee, 2024
Korean International Business Journal (국제경영연구), 35(2): 69-108
Abstract: Does engaging in corporate philanthropy (i.e., charitable donations) in foreign markets invariably enhance firm performance? While prevailing studies assert that corporate philanthropy fosters legitimacy of the firm in the local market and thereby contributes to improving firm performance, potential factors that may diminish this impact have received scant attention. This study broadens the academic discourse on this topic by empirically examining how local industry factors may either weaken or strengthen the effects of corporate philanthropy on firm performance. Using a sample of 544 foreign subsidiaries in South Korea, our analysis indicates that the impact of corporate philanthropy is contingent upon the local industry's munificence and complexity: it is more impactful in munificent industries but less so in complex ones. This study enriches the dialogue surrounding the evolution of corporate philanthropy as a strategic tool within the Corporate Social Responsibility literature stream. Our findings indicate that corporate philanthropy can be a strategic tool for enhancing performance when correctly aligned with local market conditions. We suggest that foreign subsidiaries need to adapt their philanthropic initiatives according to the specific conditions of the local industry to fully realize the benefits of corporate philanthropy.