Acknowledging efficiency motives, firms have increasingly turned to outsourcing in an effort to capture cost savings. Transaction cost theory (TCT) has been the dominant means of explaining outsourcing as an economizing approach whereby cost efficiencies are achieved by assigning transactions to different governance mechanisms. Recent research has used the resourcebased view (RBV) to examine the role of specialized capabilities as a potential source of value creation in relationships between firms. Although research in supply chain management has expanded substantially, only limited applications of TCT and the RBVare available, especially in the field of operations management. We extend both perspectives to explain conditions leading to strategic outsourcing. #

The current study investigates a central premise of the resource‐based view of the firm—that managers are a potential source of value creation for the firm. Using data from professional sports teams, we test theory regarding the effects of managerial ability, human resource stocks, and managers' actions on resource value creation. While results indicate managerial ability affects resource productivity, this effect is less pronounced with increases in the quality of firm resources. Further, we investigate the extent to which managerial actions that synchronize resource bundles account for the influence of managerial ability and resource context on a firm's performance advantage. These results contribute to our understanding of resource management and provide empirical evidence for the importance of managerial ability in the resource‐based view. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

We extend existing theories of entrepreneurial learning and highlight the effects of heuristics under two different learning contexts: experiential learning and vicarious learning. Specifically, we argue that heuristics are consequential in explaining variations in learning. In some cases, heuristics can be highly adaptive and beneficial to the accumulation of knowledge. In others, they can distort judgments and bias learning. By considering linkages among heuristics, knowledge, and action, we seek to provide a more complete model of entrepreneurial learning that allows for examination of the influence of judgments on learning and to expose conditions that can benefit or limit effective action in an entrepreneurial setting.

Building on research from multiple fields, management and entrepreneurship scholars have shown increasing interest in the causes and consequences of initial public offerings (IPOs). The authors summarize this emerging literature and categorize research on IPOs into four broad themes: corporate governance, upper echelons, social influence, and innovation. They also review the various measures used by scholars to assess IPO performance. Based on this review, the authors develop an agenda for future research. This agenda provides both topics and research questions for future research and recommendations regarding IPO performance measurement.

The authors review management research drawing on prospect theory, focusing primarily on studies in strategic management and organizational behavior/human resource management. These studies have made valuable contributions to several prominent research streams. However, they commonly underutilize or misconstrue central arguments from prospect theory. Furthermore, they illustrate that applying prospect theory in organizational settings poses several theoretical and methodological challenges. Thus, the authors review these studies, critically analyze them, and make suggestions to enrich future work.