Ortegon 1

Carolina Ortegon

Oscar E. Martinez II

ENGL 1302-217

February 9, 2024

Understanding the Power Behind Business Industry: An Annotated Bibliography

Yousfi, Ouidad; Loukil, Nadia; Béji, Rania. “Powerful CEOs and CSR performance: Empirical

evidence from France.” Management International; Montréal Vol. 26, Iss. 6, (2022): 213-

237,276,278,280. ProQuest. DOI:10.7202/1095757ar.

Ouidad Yousfi, Nadia Loukil, and Rania Béji’s thesis statement argues how the

connections between businesses, their environment, and their perpetual evolution have

changed leaders’ interests, precisely their qualities. The article’s purpose is to evaluate the

characteristics of CEOs and how they impact the company’s performance. To support their

thesis, the authors divided the article into sections evaluating the CEO traits and showing

evidence to reinforce their claim. The author’s preferred way of showing evidence is by

quoting other scholars who have researched the same topic related to the business industry

and providing the readers with data shown as graphs and tables with information that helps

reinforce their claims. An example of this would be, “The CEOs’ power and influence do

not stem only from their formal position, ownership, expertise, and prestige (Faccio et al.,

2016; Farag and Mallin, 2016; Bach and Smith, 2007), they could be closely related to

cognitive factors such as their social, behavioral, and psychological characteristics

(Hambrick and Mason, 1984)” (214). By doing so, the authors aimed to provide external

information related to their claim, helping enhance the quality and level of clarity of their
 Ortegon 2

text. This article analyzes the behavior of CEOs and the work environment they create to

influence investors, employees, and so on. The article also emphasizes how much power a

CEO and top executives hold in terms of having a voice in corporate decisions involving

capital and the company’s reputation. They also make different claims, for example, that

“Empirical studies show that CEOs who graduated in human and social sciences do have

the skills to get involved in CSR activities, and this increases social performance (Velte,

2019; Manner, 2010)” (217). This argument means that CEOs with college degrees have a

more significant and positive impact on business performance in every aspect, such as

social responsibility, because being more educated makes people even more capable of

dealing with important decisions, such as leading a business and caring for the consumers

and employees as well as the environment. The usefulness of this article is to help me

understand how the power of a CEO can have a long-term impact on the company and the

people in it, such as investors, employees, and even consumers, as well as how their

different physical and emotional characteristics can contribute to this impact. This source

fits into my research because it will allow me to have a more extensive knowledge of the

business industry in terms of studying the CEO’s capabilities to be able to create a claim

of my own regarding this industry.

Cédric Durand & Wiliiam Milberg (2020) “Intellectual monopoly in global value chains.” Review

of International Political Economy, 27:2, 404-429. Taylor & Francis Online. DOI:

10.1080/09692290.2019.1660703.

Cédric Durand and William Milberg’s thesis statement argues that the purpose of their

article is to evaluate how the role of intangible assets works in global value chains. The

author’s purpose is to explain the process by which big companies can increase their
 Ortegon 3

marketing power in production by using intangible capital assets instead of tangible capital

assets. The method used to provide valid evidence is to quote from authentic sources such

as authentic government data, licensed websites, and other peer-reviewed articles. To

support the article’s claims, the authors use quotes from other articles and books that help

them reinforce their claims by showing important data and by using graphs to represent in

a more detailed way the data being analyzed and explained so the reader can have a better

understanding and see how trustworthy the data is. Furthermore, Cédric Durand and

William Milberg explain how intangibles and monopolization work nowadays; they call it

the digital age and they explain that “case studies have observed that the capture of value

added is largely detached from the flow of physical goods and mainly related to intangible

aspects of the supply chain, in particular in the case of smartphones (Ali-Yrkk€o,

Rouvinen, Sepp€al€a, & Yl€a-Anttila, 2011; Dedrick & Kraemer, 2017)” (405). This

argument means that a big part of the market flow comes from what they call intellectual

property and how technology has improved this form of business so much more than

tangible products have. They also make different claims, for example, that it is challenging

to integrate labor and business processes that are dispersed across numerous legal systems

given the fact that “geographical distance added complexity to these coordination

requirements because remote communication and interventions are more complex and

prone to misunderstanding than collocated interaction” (Ramioul & Van Hootegem, 2015,

p. 108)” (408). This argument means that for processes across different locations in the

same company to be seamless, they must be supervised and coordinated correctly. This

process can be challenging because even if technology makes it easier for organization,

communication, and production, all of this is something not physically possible to take
 Ortegon 4

control of, and it is very easy for it to take a wrong turn if there is any misunderstanding.

The usefulness of this article for me is that it helps me understand how important intangible

assets are. Some examples of intangible assets are trademarks, franchises, and copyrights.

They are ideas that hold value, like a brand name. So, by understanding how intangible

assets contribute to the business world, I can make a better claim by being well-educated

in the business industry. The knowledge I get from this source is that intangible assets are

just as important as tangible assets like work equipment and capital, so I will use this article

to comprehend the role, impact, and importance of intangible assets to a company.

Škapa Stanislaw. “Investment Characteristics of Natural Monopoly Companies.” Journal of

Competitiveness Investment Characteristics of Natural Monopoly Companies Vol. 4, Issue

1, pp. 36-43, March 2012 ISSN 1804-171X (Print), ISSN 1804-1728 (On-line). ProQuest.

DOI: 10.7441/joc.2012.01.03.

Škapa Stanislaw’s thesis argues that natural monopoly businesses cause several issues with

economic performance that not only employees and executives realize but customers too,

causing bigger consequences to the market. The article aims to explore how private

investors invest in natural monopoly companies and answer the question, “What brings the

investment into the natural monopoly company to investors?” (36). To support this, the

author uses a few methods, such as references and quotes from articles published by

universities and official sites that were written by other scholars in the same area of interest.

By doing this, the author hopes to not only support his claim but to prove the authenticity

of his sources. First, to understand the author’s claim, it is essential to know what a natural

monopoly is. The author does an excellent job of providing some examples, such as “…it

is possible to identify companies as natural monopolies mainly from these sectors: Oil &
 Ortegon 5

Gas Storage, Electric Utilities, Gas Utilities, Water Utilities, Power Producers, Airports,

Highways & Railways (Toll roads), Marine Ports & Services, Telecommunication” (37).

This is easily understood from a general point of view; it is logical to understand that these

types of businesses have a huge demand and are very important worldwide because they

are daily necessities such as water, transportation necessities such as gasoline, and work

necessities such as electronics. As a result, they may have high prices, inefficient

production processes, expensive facility duplication, and subpar service, all of which could

have an unfavorable effect on distribution within the system. In addition, Stanislaw

explains that “according to the Guide of the index, The NMX30 Infrastructure Global

provides liquid and tradable exposure to 30 companies around the world that provide basic

infrastructure facilities. These companies are natural monopolies with predictable and

stable cash flows due to the underlying business model (long duration of concessions,

goods and services provided, etc.)” (37). This argument means that it is easier for some

investors to choose to invest in companies with more protected market positions due to

their cost structure and high demand. The usefulness of this article is to be able to

understand that not only does a company depend on the gained profit, but they also need

investors to help them reach specific goals and make deals to do business together; how

does that happen, and some of the reasons that convince investors if a company is worth

the money or not, such as the business market power. Understanding this information is

important to me to know how to make an argument about the business industry correctly.

This source fits into my research because it helps me understand how much a company

needs investors to function correctly, as well as providing me with essential information in

general about how the business industry works outside the company and from a more
 Ortegon 6

public point of view that I need to be educated enough and make a claim for my future

research paper.

Johnson, Justin P., and David P. Myatt. “Multiproduct Quality Competition: Fighting Brands and

Product Line Pruning.” The American Economic Review, vol. 93, no. 3, 2003, pp. 748–74.

JSTOR. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3132115.

Johnson, Justin P., and David P. Myatt’s thesis statement is that firms sell multiple products

with different levels of quality, which frequently creates an altered outcome on their

product lines when a competitor enters the market. The article aims to clarify common

tactics such as “damaged goods” and “fighting brands” along with other issues like

intertemporal price discrimination and product line pruning. The authors provide a data

model that includes upgrades and strategies used by large corporations to conduct practical

analytical work and succeed in their fields of expertise to reinforce their claims. They also

provide other types of evidence, such as quotes and comments from trustworthy sources.

Johnson, Justin P., and David P. Myatt argue that “…fighting brands are extremely

widespread. For instance, AT&T launched Lucky Dog Telephone to help compete against

lower-priced “dial around” phone carriers. Brian Adamik of Yankee Group commented,

‘They have introduced a fighting brand in the market that goes after price-sensitive

consumers while allowing AT&T to be their premier brand in the market…’” (748). This

argument helps the readers understand that sometimes when the competition between

brands is challenging, some brands opt to release lower-quality products to catch the

consumer’s attention and win them over the brands with higher-cost products. This strategy

is shared within the business industry, as well as the one called pruning, which is explained

by the author’s writing, “incumbent firms often adjust their product lines in response to
 Ortegon 7

competition. Sometimes they remove products from the market, thereby “pruning” their

product lines. This was one response of Procter & Gamble to private-label brands in the

early 1990’s. At other times, an incumbent responds to competition by expanding its

product line, often to include a lower-quality good called a ‘fighting brand’” (748). This

argument means that when the product’s shelf-life ends, some companies take the initiative

to either remove the product or to improve it depending on the competition and consumer

consumption. The usefulness of this article is for me to understand how competition plays

a big part when it comes to monopolies and capitalism. Every company needs a healthy

form of competition; that’s how capitalism should work in the business industry, but most

of the time, companies get too big, and there’s a disbalance, so this article will help me

understand how competition works and other aspects related to businesses. This fits into

my research because it gives me a different perspective on how the business industry works

regarding competition, consumers, work strategies, and productivity.

Martin Hellwig. “Capitalism: what has gone wrong?’: Who went wrong? Capitalism? The market

economy? Governments? ‘Neoliberal’ economics?.” Oxford Review of Economic Policy,

Volume 37, Issue 4, Winter 2021, Pages 664– 677. Oxford Academic.

https://doi.org/10.1093/oxrep/grab036.

Martin Hellwig’s thesis argues that something is wrong with capitalism and the economic

systems being implemented worldwide and claims that capitalism has power in the

economic and political areas by being a crucial aspect of competition. The article’s purpose

is to make an observation that in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe,

widespread discontent has become an important political force. To support this claim, the

author provides a great amount of information, such as references from other articles and
 Ortegon 8

books of trustworthy sources, such as universities and official sites that were written by

other scholars in the same area of interest. By doing this, he proves the authenticity of his

sources and makes it easier for his audience to believe and understand what they’re reading.

This whole article is an analysis of the different aspects that have caused discontent in

several nations. According to Martin Hellwig, there is a conflict between capitalism and

the market economy because capitalism entails the pursuit of wealth and political and

economic power, as well as the repression of competition. This is supported by the views

of French historian Fernand Braudel (665). The author also argues that “most accounts of

‘capitalism’ in the continental European sense of the word focus on exploitation and class

conflict…Despite the ongoing successes of capitalist development, we see a lot of

discontent…people’s personal experiences of losses of jobs, incomes, and opportunities

caused by adverse developments outside of their control…the observation that, for some

other people, the past few decades have provided extraordinary opportunities for personal

enrichment…the perception that political processes have been distorted so that the

concerns of ordinary people have been shoved aside” (666). This argument explains how

the power of the economic systems impacts society on a daily basis and at different levels.

Normal people, such as workers, are the ones suffering the most from it. In a capitalist

system, for it to work, there have to be different types of levels, such as workers,

consumers, and the ones in charge. That is why different types of classes exist, such as the

working class, the middle class, and the upper class. The government is responsible for

maintaining a balance between them; that is why sometimes they can control what the big

businesses do in order to protect the nation and keep the capital systems working correctly.

Indeed, this does not always happen, and that is why there is a lot of unhappiness between
 Ortegon 9

the working class and the middle class. That is the reason this article analyzes what went

wrong. Finally, the usefulness this article will provide is by being a well-explained analysis

of how failing to manage businesses can have big consequences, such as being on bad

terms with whole nations and people. This fits into my research because it will allow me

to have a wider knowledge of the business industry and how capitalism plays a big part in

it.

Martínez, Pucheta, M. C., & Gallego-Álvarez, I. (2023). “Firm innovation as a business strategy

of CEO power: Does national culture matter?.” Business Strategy and the Environment, 1–

22. Wiley Online Library. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3574.

Pucheta-Martínez, M. C., & Gallego-Álvarez’s thesis statement claims to study the

influence of the chief executive officer’s power on innovation. The article’s purpose is to

increase the evidence supporting the idea that innovation as a business strategy is impacted

by CEO power and to discuss the moderating function that national culture plays in the

connection between innovation and CEO power. To reinforce their claims, the authors

based their research on the Thomson Reuters database as the primary source of

information. The Thomson Reuters database is designed with the strategist, economist, and

research communities in mind. This database aims to provide the most extensive historical

financial database with time-series content available worldwide. On the other hand, the

authors also used another method to provide evidence, such as using an estimator that

enables the researcher to account for unforeseen estimation errors. To understand the

author’s claim, it is important to know why the chief executive officer position in a

company is essential; Pucheta-Martínez and Gallego-Álvarez explain that “the position’s

importance is due to the fact that CEOs must marshal their firm to generate wealth and
 Ortegon 10

maximize future stakeholder opportunities” (1). This argument means that for a company

to reach its full potential in performance, there must be a leader, which in this case is the

CEO, who effectively controls and executes difficult decisions, making him responsible

for the company’s success. In addition, the authors claim that “…CEOs often have power

over members of the board, thanks to structural and socio-psychological mechanisms with

a significant influence on decision-making processes at the board level (Van Essen et

al.,2015)” (2). This statement helps the readers understand that reaching the CEO level can

be thanks to different aspects such as social status, intelligence in terms of business

strategies, and knowing how to control their partners, etc. This information also emphasizes

that the position of CEO usually exists because of the system’s structure, for example,

being chosen by the board or from family heritage. The usefulness this article will provide

for me is allowing me to understand the positive impact that a CEO can have on a company;

this is important because my research is about the business industry, so learning how a

CEO should act to have a successful outcome would be beneficial for the research paper.

This also fits into my research because it will allow me to have a more comprehensive

knowledge of the business industry and to be able to create a claim of my own.

Lee, J.Y., Ha, Y.J., Wei, Y. and Sarala, R.M. (2023) “CEO Narcissism and Global Performance

Variance in Multinational Enterprises: The Roles of Foreign Direct Investment Risk-

Taking and Business Group Affiliation.” British Journal of Management, Vol. 34, 512–

535 (2023). Wiley Online Library. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12592.

Lee, J.Y., Ha, Y.J., Wei, Y. and Sarala, R. M’s thesis statement is an evaluation of the

primary methods by which a chief executive’s narcissism affects global performance

variance in the context of multinational corporations operating in Asian emerging markets.

 Ortegon 11

To support their claims, the authors test a mediation model on data from 149 South Korean

multinational enterprises from 2006 to 2016 (512). The author also used a few other

methods, such as references and quotes from articles published by universities and official

sites that other scholars wrote in the same area of interest. Lee, J.Y., Ha, Y.J., Wei, Y. and

Sarala, R.M explain what narcissism in a CEO is by first explaining the two types of

narcissism, for example, “grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism – have common

cores of self-importance and entitlement…grandiose narcissism, individuals have inflated

self-views, crave for affirming recognition, and engage in bold, attention-getting

behaviors; meanwhile, vulnerable narcissism manifests in anxiety, emotional instability,

and fragile self-esteem, but has hidden feeling of grandiosity” (513). This statement

provides readers with a well-explained definition of the two types of characteristics a CEO

can have. Having a narcissistic CEO can impact the company’s performance by affecting

the board members, employees, and other important positions like the company’s

management department, which responds to the CEO. Being in the CEO position

automatically grants the person almost unlimited power and influence that, if not regulated,

can grow to potentially affect the company, and have bad consequences, such as

disagreements and bad business negotiations. Having a narcissistic CEO is sometimes very

common; even if a person has not reached the CEO position, they start acting in a

narcissistic manner; for example, in a lot of cases, managers abuse power over employees

at a minimum salary level. The feeling of power, entitlement, and superiority is familiar

among high-ranked-level jobs; it could be related to money, social status, etc. The

usefulness of this article is that it helps me understand what could happen when CEOs get

too powerful and fail to manage their companies properly, affecting global performance.
 Ortegon 12

This source fits into my research by adding more knowledge and widening my point of

view of the business industry and the relationship between CEOs and employees.

Katja Seim and Joel Waldfogel. “Public Monopoly and Economic Efficiency: Evidence from the

Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board's Entry Decisions.” The American Economic Review

Vol. 103, No. 2 (APRIL 2013), pp. 831-862 (32 pages). JSTOR.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/23469684.

Katja Seim and Joel Waldfogel’s thesis statement is the analysis of a spatial model of

product demand to evaluate the impact of retailing controlled by the government. The

article’s purpose is also to explain that the best way to justify the current government

system is to combine profit sharing with profit maximization. To support this claim, the

author uses examples and very limited evidence showing how the government is biased in

terms of influencing the market. The authors also use quotes from other articles and books

from trustworthy sources that help them reinforce their claims. Katja Seim and Joel

Waldfogel argue that “private action can result in an insufficient entry when benefits cover

costs, but revenue does not, and private entry can lead to excessive entry when revenue

covers the cost of an additional outlet even though the incremental social benefit does not”

(831). This argument aims to explain how “private action” in this case the government

interference is needed when a company’s revenue is not enough to keep providing the same

product and services at the same price due to not gaining enough profit to continue at float.

In a capitalistic system, the government usually interferes when necessary, either to

regulate big businesses or provide support to small businesses. This article aims to provide

evidence for the excessive government intervention to benefit itself. The usefulness of this

article is very important to me because I honestly think the government has a lot of say in
 Ortegon 13

everything good or bad that happens in the world, so understanding how the government

impacts the big industries can be essential in the future for my research paper and to have

the knowledge needed to properly make a claim.

Ze Yea, Abbas Hassana, Hussain Talibb, Jiao Hea. “Analyzing the Differentiation Strategies Of

Big Companies Competing With Each Other.” STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT, Vol. 23

(2018), No. 3, pp. 025-037. Scindeks. https://scindeks.ceon.rs/article.aspx?artid=1821-

34481803025Z.

Ze Yea, Abbas Hassana, Hussain Talibb, and Jiao Hea’s thesis statement is to analyze the

competition strategies of the two big companies in Pakistan. The article’s purpose is to

examine the differentiating tactics employed by Pakistani businesses in their rivalry with

one another, with particular emphasis on Unilever Pakistan and Engro Corporation. To

support this, the authors provide the data from two competing companies in the ice cream

sector that were evaluated. They conducted a survey and tested it on 100 consumers, asking

what they preferred, and a lot of them chose things like quality over price, taste, etc. This

process allows the researchers to have different perspectives that help them support a

hypothesis of their own and create a backed-up claim. Ze Yea, Abbas Hassana, Hussain

Talibb, and Jiao Hea argue that “…differentiation plays a vital role in the business

development and marketing by offering the customers enough incentives to choose a

particular company instead of the competitor’s or substitute; thus, it is essential to

determine the need of differentiation and how the companies compete to create

differentiation” (26). This argument means that for a company to be successful, it is

essential to create a reputation and relationship among consumers. To build a reputation,

companies use different marketing strategies, such as releasing products that fulfill
 Ortegon 14

consumer wants and needs. This process allows companies to fight other brands in the

market and hopefully win in terms of competition and getting public consumption. This

article also explains how consumers, by recognition, choose to buy from a specific brand,

so brands aim to create this reputation and build future consumer loyalty. The usefulness

of this source is that it helps me understand how brands work; a lot of consumers choose

quality just by looking at the brand and good history, so that is why it is important to

understand every aspect of the business industry.

Helen Wei Hu, Lin Cui and Preet S Aulakh. “State capitalism and performance persistence of business

group-affiliated firms.” Journal of International Business Studies Vol. 50, No. 2 (March 2019),

pp. 193-222 (30 pages). JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48703500.

Helen Wei Hu, Lin Cui, and Preet S Aulakh’s thesis statement argues that different countries

have different institutional environment components, such as how the state views organizations

and the political environment in which these interactions take place. These differences have an

impact on how business groups allocate their resources and how long their affiliated firms’

superior performance lasts. To support this, the authors provide a hypothesis backed up by other

trustworthy sources, methods, and useful data in the form of graphs. The authors also show

evidence by quoting other scholars who have researched the same topic related to the business

industry and providing the readers with data shown as graphs and tables with information that

helps reinforce their claims. Helen Wei Hu, Lin Cui, and Preet S Aulakh argue that “varying

power dependency between organizations and institutions can lead to different organizational

strategies of legitimizing, ranging from more compliance-based strategies as emphasized by

neo-institutional theorists to more self-serving strategies reflecting active agency” (194). This

argument means that it is common for companies to choose business strategies in which they
 Ortegon 15

benefit. In a capitalistic system, businesses always try to grow and conquer everything they can.

The business industry is a harsh industry that is always looking for ways to innovate and win

over every other business, so this article aims to analyze how capitalism and business behave

together and what the different strategies big companies use to become monopolies. The authors

also claim that “political economists have highlighted the varying role of the state in the

economic governance of countries. States can vary in their overarching postures toward national

economic life, which can be regulatory, welfare-oriented, developmental, or predatory in

nature” (195). This statement means that politics plays a big role in the business industry and

how it works. An example of this, as mentioned before, is that the government usually has a

right to intervene in businesses if needed, which makes the business industry a very complex

industry that has worldwide impacts. The usefulness of this article is that it helps me understand

the strategies that big companies use, how they incorporate them, the results, and the role of

capitalism in the business industry—understanding how the business industry is meaningful to

me because it will help me be more educated on the topic to create my research paper.