Multinational Britain: Employment and Work In an Internationalised Economy

Paul Marginson, who is a Senior Lecturer in Industrial Relations at the University of Warwick, draws on the second Company Level Industrial Relations Survey to provide new data on, and an assessment of, the role of Britain in a global economy increasingly shaped by the corporate decisions of multinational companies. He emphasises the multinational character of Britain's economy as compared with those of other large industrialised countries; considers the contrasting implications of the activities of multinational companies for employment practice; and explores the factors underlying the considerable variation evident in the actual practice of multinational companies.     

How and why small to medium size enterprises (SMEs) engage with their communities: an Australian study

• While many studies address corporate philanthropy and corporate community involvement, limited work has been conducted internationally in small to medium businesses and even less has been elucidated about the Australian small business landscape.
• This article reports findings from qualitative research investigating giving to community causes by 52 small to medium size enterprises (SMEs) across Australia.
• Three key questions addressed in this article are: (1) why SMEs engage with community (2) how they engage with community and (3) obstacles they perceive in giving.
• Our findings suggest that SMEs have a preference to avoid cash gifts, prefer to support local causes and would benefit from the development of best practice giving guidelines and templates.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Briefing Paper Import Penetration in the United Kingdom

There is widespread concern about the growth of imports in the United Kingdom. British industry is said to be ‘bleeding to death’ as a result of foreign competition and calls are heard for protective measures such as import controls to save the economy. There are three elements in the case for protection. The first is that trends in Britain's foreign trade in manufactured goods have been extremely adverse and that there are no good grounds for believing that they will change spontaneously. The second is that the growth of the economy is constrained by the balance of payments and that consequently a serious and growing depression will develop throughout the 1980s which could reach catastrophic proportions towards the end of the decade when North Sea oil production declines. The third is that import controls are an effective way of coping with the problem. It is recognised that the second two elements are controversial. As it happens we disagree with both of them. However, it is generally assumed that the first element - the view that increasing import penetration will destroy British industry - is common ground and that no-one disagrees with it. Our aim in this Briefing Paper is to challenge this view. There is no doubt that import penetration (which we measure as the share of imports in GDP) has growth rapidly, especially over the past two decades. In 1960 imports amounted to 25 per cent of GDP. By 1970 this proportion had risen to 28 per cent and in 1979 it had risen to 35 per cent. However, we shall argue that the economic processes that have been responsible for this development have on the whole been poorly understood. We reject the popular view that Britain is structurally unable to compete in world markets. Instead we propose an alternative interpretation of import penetration which explains UK trade performance in terms of the broader pattern of the world trade order. In the light of this theory we argue that import penetration in the UK is not an inexorable trend reflecting the relative weakness of the UK in international trade. On the contrary, UK import penetration has been adjusting to a new world trading environment and now that this process of adjustment is nearing completion the rate of increase of import penetration seems likely to abate. Moreover, the British people have benefited from this greater degree of free trade and any protective measures designed to inhibit the economic forces that we describe below would damage the economic welfare of the British public as a whole.     

Values and the Social Responsibility of Global Business

ABSTRACT

Business is widely viewed as one of the major institutions in society. It has assumed a socially responsible role for itself that has given rise to two competing paradigms, social philanthropy and corporate citizenship. Business, however, has not fulfilled its social responsibility particularly well. One reason is that business does not seem to have understood the interplay between individual-level, culture-level and corporate-level values nor the implications of national differences in culture-level value priorities. Some recent developments in cross-cultural psychology offer a useful paradigm for understanding this interplay and resolving any conflicts which result from the attempts of global business to implement socially responsible policies.     

Seeing sustainability in business operations: US and British food retailer experiments with accountability

This article compares how food retail industries in Britain and the United States are facing sustainability challenges. The British and US industries are in different stages of maturity in identifying and responding to sustainability. Some UK retailers have begun developing broad‐based accountability systems that may aid them to see sustainability in their business operations. By examining what retailers are doing, how accountability systems can inform retailers and the business case for accountability, this article argues that retailers can gain significant business advantages with strategies to improve accountability. Compared with their American counterparts, British retailers may be better placed to deal with sustainability issues in future. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

基于协商民主视野下基层工会的民主管理职能研究

随着我国社会经济的不断发展和人民生活水平的不断提高,社会生活发生了翻天覆地的变化。在日益复杂的社会环境下,企业与事业单位面临着巨大的挑战。随着我国社会的变革、法律的完善和员工权利意识的变化,劳资关系纠纷等问题日益严峻。在这种情况下,基层工会的民主管理作用受到社会的广泛关注和重视。企业与事业单位要想降低内耗、凝聚员工的力量、提高市场竞争力,就必须对基层工会的民主管理给予重视。     

The Business Community and the Poor: Rethinking Business Strategies and Social Policy

A bstract . Business represents a powerful set of social institutions which are of critical importance to the life prospects of the poor. The impact of business upon the poor, however, should not be confined to the usual theses concerning the macro economy and job creation. Rather, emphasis must also be placed upon specific enterprises and their strategic policies. Such policies are based on an enterprise's proper mission as a business, but also include the pivotal role business exercises in shaping poverty programs and processes of social change.     

Values motivation and concern for appearances: the effect of personality traits on responses to corporate social responsibility

• The present research seeks to examine differences in support for corporate social responsibility based on certain personality traits. Secondary data from a nationally representative sample of 6065 respondents were examined. The results demonstrate that individuals motivated by a concern for appearances, an egoistic enhancement motivation, as well as individuals motivated by their values, make purchases in support of corporate philanthropy. However those concerned for appearances do not view CSR as a normative requirement, unlike those motivated by their values.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Birth of the Modern Corporation: From Servant of the State to Semi‐Sovereign Power

It is widely known that large business corporations have accumulated enormous political and economic power since the early 20^th century. They not only create barriers to entry to small firms in the economic domain, they also pose a serious threat to democracy by dominating public discourse and occupying a wide range of public spaces. Efforts to halt or reverse the growth of corporate power have been largely ineffective, in large part because they have been entirely reactive. In order for citizens to reclaim the economy and politics, a new strategy is necessary, one that starts by analyzing the source of corporate power. The method of analysis in this article is historical, specifically the history of changes in the United States of the legal instruments of incorporation and their relationship to emerging conditions in the economy and business. In the first half of the 19^th century, corporations were chartered by state governments to carry out public benefit activities, particularly infrastructure projects. These mixed corporations lost favor during the depression of the 1840s and were replaced by private for‐profit corporations that continued using the same debt financing instruments employed by states. They were also still regulated by the states that issued their charters. When corporations sought to avoid competition by creating cartels, they had difficulty maintaining discipline and discovered they needed new rights in order to gain permanent control of markets. In the 1890s, they were granted the status of “natural persons,” with the legal protections of citizens, but they also gained the right to buy other corporations, thereby solidifying their market power and making them largely autonomous from public control. Each transition was contested, but when it was completed, it seemed to the public as if corporations had always had their new powers. In order to regain the power to hold corporations accountable to the public, those old contested issues need to be brought back into public discourse, so that citizens might decide for themselves how much power corporations should have.     

Venture capitalists and entrepreneurs become venture philanthropists

• Non‐traditional charitable sources of revenue may be categorised as follows:
  • Venture philanthropy: Human resources and funding invested as donation in the charity by entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, trusts and corporations in search of a social return on their investment. It involves high engagement over many years with fixed milestones and tangible returns and exit achieved by developing alternative, sustainable income.
  • Commercial ventures: They seek a financial return on investment by creating a social enterprise operated by charities and their trading/holding companies alone or in partnership with the corporate sector, venture capitalists or investors to provide funding. Venture philanthropists may also ‘invest’ without establishing an equity position in the commercial enterprise. Any profits are re‐directed to mission‐related activity, although the business activity may or may not be mission related.
  • Social venture capital: It funds commercial ventures (as above) but may not seek a complete return on investment; instead the investor may off set some or all of the investment against social outcomes.
• Within the context of venture philanthropy, this paper demonstrates how charities, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs may work together in strategic alliances. It explores venture philanthropy from the perspective of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, giving examples. Charities are shown how to prepare themselves to take advantage of these entrepreneurial opportunities.
• Although the emphasis in this paper is on venture philanthropy, the processes outlined may be used to help a charity take advantage of opportunities within the broader social entrepreneurial context. Successful venture capitalists and entrepreneurs have demonstrated the ability to turn outline business ideas into big results, frequently in highly competitive business environments.
• A common characteristic that appears to unite these individuals when they divert their interest toward social ventures is a desire to apply their business‐like approach, which includes planning processes, milestones and outcome measurement to their social venture activity.

Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Gods can help: exploring the effect of religiosity on youth risk‐taking behavior in Indonesia

• This study explores the impact of intrinsic versus extrinsic religiosity on youth risk‐taking behaviors in Indonesia. Our analysis on Indonesians aged 18–24 shows that intrinsic religiosity has a significant impact on individual's perception of risk‐taking. Understanding the significant role that intrinsic religiosity plays in the lives of youth and their risk‐taking behaviors offers new ways to promote responsibility and risk‐free behavior. We argue that, rather than distancing from religiosity, spirituality and faith, social marketers and public policy makers should be working closely with religious institutions to enact social change among the youth. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

     

Artists' attitudes to marketing: a cross-cultural perspective

• Although the music industry is dominated by a few global players, the vast majority of musical performances are by nonprofit organisations, self-employed musicians or small and medium enterprises (SMEs). But, while a great deal has been written about the marketing of music—distribution, branding, audience development, etc.—comparatively little is known about the attitudes of musicians themselves to marketing, despite the fact their role as both product and producer is so central to the musical experience.
• The research sets out to gain an understanding of this neglected topic by undertaking a cross-cultural analysis of musicians from two different cultures: it compares the attitudes of artists in a mature, post-industrial economy (UK) with those in a post-communist, emerging democracy (Poland). The research finds that society, culture and the economic environment appear to shape attitudes far less than art itself. Across both cultures the research discovers at best an ambivalence towards marketing, and at worst a general antipathy towards the whole notion of art-as-business.
• The implications of these findings, if replicated across other countries, other musical genres and across the arts as a whole, could be worrying. Historically, the arts have been dominated by nonprofit organisations funded at least in part by public and private subsidies, funds which are being substantially eroded in both mature economies and in developing nations. The challenge for nonprofits and SMEs in the arts, then, is about achieving some sort of engagement with business and marketing, without losing their artistic integrity in the process.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

危机公关与企业公民

在企业的发展过程中,不可避免地都会遇到多重危机,如何面对危机,尽可能使企业受到的损失降至最低,同时让消费者对企业重拾信心,是危机公关的重要责任。而如何才能使危机公关发挥最大的效能为企业排忧解难,是对企业的企业公民意识和社会责任感的考察,一个拥有优秀企业公民意识和强烈社会责任感的企业,必定能够转危为安,重新赢得社会和公众的信任。     

Five ways the pandemic could alter the economy

• ▀ Economic crises are often turning points, and the upheaval triggered by coronavirus may prove one of them. A permanently bigger state and public borrowing, persistently cowed consumers, a more ‘national’ UK economy and the impetus for beneficial reforms are all possibilities.
• ▀ We think the scale of state intervention in the economy to protect public health will increase pressure to do more in aid of other social goals. The austere ‘Treasury view’ of deficits is also likely to wane.
• ▀ Meanwhile, evidence suggests that major economic shocks can exert a decades-long drag on consumers’ desire to spend, giving another reason why higher government borrowing may persist long after the pandemic has faded.
• ▀ Supply-chain vulnerabilities exposed by the virus may crystallise the more ‘UK-first’ approach to economic policy that Brexit ushered in. Although greater protectionism could threaten economic dynamism, the crisis could be the stimulus to structural reform, offering a potential growth upside

     

Sustainable Tuna – Can the Marketplace Improve Fishery Management?

Tuna is a major global seafood commodity and thus of significance to retailers in most countries, but especially in countries consuming large quantities of canned tuna such as the United Kingdom, United States and many European countries. Some key species are under heavy fishing pressure, and companies realize that without conservation oriented management their future supplies may be in jeopardy. Sustainable sourcing policies are becoming an integral part of supply chains for seafood products. Under the influence of public opinion bodies such as the media and environmental NGOs, many retailers have adopted seafood sourcing policies in the past decade. The business strategy of any particular company in seeking to support sustainable fishing can vary, but may include the pursuit of market opportunities, protection from damaging publicity and corporate social responsibility commitments. Companies that seek to involve themselves in fishery sustainability issues need to be committed to broad based partnerships with other companies and NGOs, and transparency about all aspects of their decision making, intentions and progress. The sustainable seafood movement has proven persistent and adaptable, and this is increasing the number of retailers seeking sustainable tuna. In a demand driven market economy this growth will surely be influential. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Judicial regimes for employment rights disputes: comparing Germany,Great Britain and Japan

This article compares the judicial regimes for resolving individual employment rights disputes in Germany, Great Britain and Japan. First, we consider the form of institutional change; second, we examine the lay judge's role; and third, we assess the effectiveness of the three judicial regimes. We find that Japan made the least institutional change, layering a new procedure on top of an existing one. Paradoxically, however, its lay judges have a more extensive role than their counterparts in Germany and Britain, which established new institutions. As to effectiveness, there are several criteria. British labour courts are currently the least informal and speedy, but the cheapest. In both Britain and Germany, legal norms are publicised as adjudicatory hearings are open to the public and judgments are available for public scrutiny, unlike in Japan.     

The diversification of charities: from religion‐oriented to for‐profit‐oriented fundraising

• Charities are increasingly relying on more complex and diversified fundraising structures to raise funds and attract benefactors. In adopting a historic perspective, this research identified five emergent fundraising structures, namely religion‐oriented, business‐oriented, marketing‐oriented, consumer‐oriented, and for‐profit‐oriented. The analysis critically evaluates the role that institutions and resources have played in each funding structure and draws conclusions concerning the management of charitable fundraising in a world where charitable fundraising, consumerism, and social media networking are increasingly entwined with the for‐profit motive.

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

企业志愿者活动:实现CSR的一个有效路径

企业志愿者活动是企业社会责任践行的重要方式与有效路径。有效的企业志愿者活动可以实现多赢,把社会、经济和环境主体与员工的热情以及企业经营需要匹配起来。通过实施志愿者活动,企业将赢得公众的认同与支持,提升良好的企业、产品或服务的形象,还将有利于员工的组织公民行为的产生。良好的效果源于对企业志愿者活动从战略到战术层面的有效管理,有效的企业志愿者活动管理应该以战略定位为基点,系统的计划为前提,有效的组织为关键,适当的控制为重点。