What inferences can and cannot be made on the basis of meta-analysis?

Does an Imitation Strategy Promote Long-Term Firm Growth in a Dynamic Environment? A Meta-Analysis

The increasing number of successful latecomer enterprises has led to a growing research interest in the area, but there is a lack of consensus in academic circles on the relationship between imitation strategy and firm growth. While some enterprises achieved sustainable growth based on an imitation strategy, others withdrew from the market soon after their initial market entry. In this context, this meta-analysis synthesizes empirical findings including 23 independent samples (N = 66,110) to obtain evidence and explore the extent to which an imitation strategy affects firm growth. Moreover, by further examining the moderating effects of industry conditions, country-specific factors, and performance time horizons, this research also aims to address a complementary research question: in which context is imitation strategy more beneficial for the firm growth? We found that an imitation strategy is more effective in promoting firm growth in low-tech industries than in high-tech industries and in non-OECD countries than in OECD countries. It fosters the short-term performance rather than the long-term performance of a firm. Our research findings are meaningful for enterprises to choose an appropriate imitation strategy according to their unique attributes, enabling sustainable growth in a dynamic environment.

Heterogeneity of Research Results: A New Perspective From Which to Assess and Promote Progress in Psychological Science

Heterogeneity emerges when multiple close or conceptual replications on the same subject produce results that vary more than expected from the sampling error. Here we argue that unexplained heterogeneity reflects a lack of coherence between the concepts applied and data observed and therefore a lack of understanding of the subject matter. Typical levels of heterogeneity thus offer a useful but neglected perspective on the levels of understanding achieved in psychological science. Focusing on continuous outcome variables, we surveyed heterogeneity in 150 meta-analyses from cognitive, organizational, and social psychology and 57 multiple close replications. Heterogeneity proved to be very high in meta-analyses, with powerful moderators being conspicuously absent. Population effects in the average meta-analysis vary from small to very large for reasons that are typically not understood. In contrast, heterogeneity was moderate in close replications. A newly identified relationship between heterogeneity and effect size allowed us to make predictions about expected heterogeneity levels. We discuss important implications for the formulation and evaluation of theories in psychology. On the basis of insights from the history and philosophy of science, we argue that the reduction of heterogeneity is important for progress in psychology and its practical applications, and we suggest changes to our collective research practice toward this end.

Recommendations for Reviewing Meta-Analyses in Organizational Research

This article encourages transparency in the reporting of meta-analytic procedures. Specifically, we highlight aspects of meta-analytic search, coding, data presentation, and data analysis where published meta-analyses often fall short in presenting sufficient information to allow replication. We identify opportunities where reviewers can request additional information or analyses that will enhance transparent reporting practices and facilitate the evaluation of quality in meta-analytic reporting. We focus on concerns specific to (or prevalent in) meta-analyses conducted in organizational research. In doing so, we reference a number of existing and emerging techniques, highlighting their contribution to meta-analysis while emphasizing key information reviewers may request. Our focus is primarily on meta-analyses, but secondary uses of meta-analytic data are also considered. We conclude by providing a checklist for reviewers in an effort to facilitate the review process as it pertains to the goals of transparency and replicability.

Entrepreneurial Experience and Performance: From the Aspect of Sustainable Growth of Enterprises

In the uncertain entrepreneurial ecosystem, scholarly knowledge is bounded by the sustainable growth of entrepreneurial enterprises. Moreover, there is a lack of consensus in academic circles on the relationship between entrepreneurial experience and entrepreneurial performance. In adopting the meta-analysis method, we found a significant relationship between entrepreneurial experience and entrepreneurial performance based on an investigation of 45 independent samples (N = 18,752). We also examined theoretically derived moderators of this relationship referring to firm age, industry condition and experience type to test whether the moderating effects can explain the inconsistent research results on the relationship between entrepreneurial experience and entrepreneurial performance. The relationship was stronger for the high-tech industry than for low-tech industry, for the early business stage than for late business stage and for start-up experience compared to management experience, work experience and industry experience. Our research findings are meaningful for practitioners to achieve sustainable growth by better preserving and coordinating entrepreneurial experience in a dynamic environment. Further, these findings are also important for future research to analyze the factors triggering the heterogeneity of entrepreneurial experience and to investigate the extent to which the start-up experience is more capable of promoting entrepreneurial performance.

Beyond Meta-Analysis: Secondary Uses of Meta-Analytic Data

Secondary uses of meta-analytic data (SUMAD) represent advanced analyses and applications of first-order meta-analytic results for theoretical (e.g., theory testing) and practical (e.g., evidence-based practice) purposes to produce novel knowledge that cannot be directly obtained from the input meta-analytic results. First-order meta-analytic results in the form of bivariate effect sizes have been used as input to such secondary analyses and applications. Given the increasing popularity of SUMAD in human resource management (HRM) and organizational behavior (OB), there is a need for a systematic review on this topic. This article has two primary goals. First, it reviews essential works regarding SUMAD in the fields of HRM/OB and provides taxonomies of SUMAD in theoretical and practical domains. Second, it introduces recent SUMAD and discusses future directions that encourage more innovative and rigorous research endeavors along this line.

If It Were Only That Easy: The Use of Meta-Analytic Research by Organizational Scholars

This paper evaluates how researchers are currently citing meta-analytic results and provides specific recommendations for interpreting the information provided by meta-analysis (MA). The past four decades have seen a proliferation of MA research across the organizational sciences and myriad improvements to how MA is conducted. MAs are cited more frequently than individual primary studies and have a substantial influence on subsequent research and theorizing. Yet the consumption of meta-analytic results in organizational scholarship remains superficial. We evaluate citation practices for four seminal MAs and find that authors predominantly interpret meta-analytic findings in the simplest way possible: as evidence of the existence of a relationship between variables. In focusing only on this basic finding, citing authors neglect the complexity and rich detail provided by MA. We offer advice for how researchers can more effectively leverage the strengths of meta-analytic findings to inform subsequent research by taking advantage of the benefits that meta-analytic methodology can provide for the explanation of organizational phenomena.

The Happy Culture: A Theoretical, Meta-Analytic, and Empirical Review of the Relationship Between Culture and Wealth and Subjective Well-Being

Do cultural values enhance financial and subjective well-being (SWB)? Taking a multidisciplinary approach, we meta-analytically reviewed the field, found it thinly covered, and focused on individualism. In counter, we collected a broad array of individual-level data, specifically an Internet sample of 8,438 adult respondents. Individual SWB was most strongly associated with cultural values that foster relationships and social capital, which typically accounted for more unique variance in life satisfaction than an individual’s salary. At a national level, we used mean-based meta-analysis to construct a comprehensive cultural and SWB database. Results show some reversals from the individual level, particularly masculinity’s facet of achievement orientation. In all, the happy nation has low power distance and low uncertainty avoidance, but is high in femininity and individualism, and these effects are interrelated but still partially independent from political and economic institutions. In short, culture matters for individual and national well-being.