Gregory B. Merrill’s research while affiliated with University of North Carolina Wilmington and other places

We explore the relationship between the strategic information in an IPO prospectus and the firm's post-IPO pricing. Based upon a content analysis of 39 business to consumer (B2C) and 25 business to business (B2B) “dot.com” initial public offerings, several conclusions were reached. First, e-commerce firms showed dramatic short‐term underpricing and long-term underperformance. Second, we found strong support that the strategic information contained in the firm's prospectus affects post-IPO pricing, and is incorporated in both the initial day and long-term market-adjusted stock prices. And third, we found that the reputation of the firm's underwriter had little correlation with a firm's post-IPO pricing success.

Outlines previous research on the pricing of initial public offerings (IPOs), the particular characteristics of e-commerce firms and the ways in which internet operations differ from traditional business contexts. Uses data from a sample of 28 US business-to-business, internet-based e-commerce firms to explore the links between industry-specific and firm-specific variables, IPO price and subsequent share price performance. Shows generally very high initial returns (115.2 per cent for the run-up on the first day’s trading!) but negative long-term returns; and the pricing is significantly positively affected by firm size, commercial strategies and management experience. Finds firms with the highest first day run-ups were not necessarily the ones with long term underperformance and concludes that investors do actually use information on firm strategy.

Executives think a lot about the future; it drives much of what modern management is all about. The techniques of forecasting and modeling, by their very nature, are designed to reduce the inherent uncertainty of predicting the future. Unfortunately, motives other than "predicting" often politicize the forecasting and modeling process to the detriment of managerial decision quality and investor confidence. Many firms routinely manipulate elements of the forecasting process. Requests by senior management to purposely alter forecasts, backcast from previously established cost and revenue positions, or mis-specify models occur all too frequently. Better training, formalized forecasting procedures, codes of conduct, clearly defined consultants' roles, and punitive actions can improve the quality of forecasting.

Although recent studies of strategic groups have provided much insight into the nature of intra-industry rivalry, most studies have focused on the strategies of seller firms. In this paper we argue that the bilateral exchange between groups of buyers and sellers in adjacent markets should be made explicit. Within this bilateral context, the market for non-tactical Navy infomation systems is empirically examined. Strategic groups are developed for both seller and buyer industries, and the interaction between these groups are explored over time. In particular, two market interventions, the imposition of industrial funding procedures in 1984 and a Life-Cycle requirement order in 1988, were examined with respect to their impact on seller/customer exchanges and vertical integration strategies. Significant changes in strategies were noted, and explained within a transaction cost framework.

In this paper we examine the impact various compensation programs have upon business-level strategy for technology-intensive firms. Similarly, we examine the effect of centralization of R&D and non-R&D decision-making, formality of procedures, and SBU size on competitive strategy. Analysis of data from 79 SBUs suggest that there is a resource trade-off between marketing-oriented strategies and R&D-oriented strategies, and that managers who operate under certain types of compensation programs will tend to favor R&D/innovation strategies and capital investment over other alternatives. Structure and competitive position also appear to play a significant role in determining technology and investment strategy.

This study examines a variety of organizational factors which affect the successful vertical transfer of technological know-how within the Navy defense R&D community. In particular, this study explores the “middle ground” of vertical transfer, that is, from the exploratory research stage of the innovation cycle to that of directed research and engineering for fielded systems. Analysis of data from 342 Navy research centers suggests that factors associated with both technology provider and technology user organizations influence the success of technology transfer; however, the data also suggests that the role of the technology linker may actually be counterproductive. Little evidence is provided, however, to suggest that these relationships are technology dependent.