Production subcontracting and location

Using data from a panel of Spanish manufacturing firms, I examine factors that explain firms' production subcontracting decisions and test whether there is any evidence that production subcontracting is facilitated in areas typically associated with higher agglomeration economies. The results show that location matters. Firms in industry agglomerations are more likely to subcontract production activities. While in general, larger and older firms as well as high wage firms show a greater probability for production subcontracting, industry agglomeration particularly facilitates subcontracting for smaller and lower wage firms and it allows firms to respond to a greater degree to expansive demand conditions by taking advantage of subcontracting.     

VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONS IN ACTION: STRATEGY IN THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR

Organizations in the voluntary sector have received relatively little attention from researchers in the field of organizational analysis. In particular, the strategy of organizations in the voluntary sector has been assumed to be passive, concentrating on a co-operative role with commercial or public agencies. This article argues that such a picture is not necessarily accurate and examines the strategies of four leading British voluntary organizations. Data suggest that co-operation is but one of many strategies pursued by some voluntary organizations. Two of the sample organizations deviate markedly from the stereo-typical image of co-operation, and variation in their strategy choice is argued to emanate from dependence relations created by organizational links. The paper argues that the influences which shape the choice of strategy in voluntary organizations are primarily those created by inter-dependence, and that aspects of task and ambiguity are secondary sources of influence.     

Inter-Industry Wage Differentials in Great Britain

The paper considers the determination of earnings of private sector employees in Great Britain, focusing upon the importance of industry affiliation in this process. Whilst cross-sectional estimates, using waves 1 to 4 of the British Household Panel Survey, suggest industry status is of considerable importance, much of this variation is removed by estimating earnings equations by fixed effects methods. Estimated differentials are not inversely related to the steepness of age-earnings pro(r)les in an industry, do not appear to vary over time and are positively related to industry profitability.     

Organizational Culture: A ten Year, Two-phase Study of Change in the UK Food Retailing Sector

This paper argues that much of the current motivation for the study of organizational culture is fuelled by research which finds an association between culture and performance as well as by studies which suggest that culture is comparatively easily changed. However, much of the research upon which these claims are based is largely firm-specific with little critical evaluation of industry macrocultures and the impact that such cultures may have on both the performance of individual firms and the management of organizational culture. Through assessing separate change programmes spaced ten years apart, this paper documents and analyses the similarities and differences in the rationale, form, substance and impacts of two separate culture change initiatives in the same macroculture spaced ten years apart. These analyses suggest a number of conclusions and implications for both theorists and practitioners. In particular, the study argues that researchers examining organizational culture should devote significantly greater attention towards studying the effects of sector or industry macrocultures.     

Same same,but different: the heterogeneous nature of subcontractors inside Italian industrial districts

Abstract

This paper investigates the structural features and performances of small firms interacting inside regional production networks, with particular regard to Italian industrial districts specialized in footwear production. A typological classification of the various participants in the supply chains is introduced and used to interpret the performances of the main groups identified, focusing on a five-year period following the 2008 financial crisis. The empirical investigation is conducted using an innovative archive containing detailed information on a large share of Italian micro and small firms that are generally excluded from most firm-level databases. The results show that, inside industrial districts, subcontractors are best described as a set of heterogeneous agents with distinct identities and idiosyncratic approaches to the market. The most widely diffused type of supplier still retains most of the structural characteristics traditionally described by the literature. However, industrial districts are also characterized by the presence of advanced forms of subcontractors whose organizational structure differs from that of a traditional supplier: in fact, such producers share more commonalities with end product firms. The analysis of the performances indicates that advanced subcontractors displayed better results during the period 2008–2012, while traditional suppliers tend to occupy a peripheral position in most subcontracting networks.     

Dependent Development: the Subcontracting Networks In the Tiger Economies

The ‘dependency development’ approach attributes the phenomenal economic growth of Hong Kong and Taiwan to their structural linkage with the advanced industrialised countries through trade. Foreign buyers and sourcing agents of the multinationals subcontract to the Hong Kong and Taiwanese manufacturers for low-cost and flexible production of labour-intensive consumer products. Such a dependency relationship is, however, successfully managed by the manufacturers in the two economies of the operation of a very similar subcontracting system in major industries. This paper examines the nature of the subcontracting system, the reasons for subcontracting, the operating dynamics, the sustaining mechanisms and the inherent structural problems of the subcontracting network. With the industrial restructuring process taking place in Hong Kong and Taiwan, there are changes to the subcontracting system which have significant implications for the welfare of the workers.     

ASSESSING THE SAMPLES OF PRIOR ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCH

The sampling designs used in organizational research have been less than consistent across different reported studies. In this analysis we examine the reported relationships among several key organizational variables in ten separate previously published studies to determine the degree to which major differences in sample designs have influenced findings. We isolate that portion of reported associations due to unique characteristics of the samples and report the association these ‘sample design effects’ have with particular sample designs. Results indicate homogeneous samples of organizations inflate reported relationships yet leave significant sources of variation uncontrolled in sample selection. an alternative to sampling of homogeneous organizations is suggested by the fact that larger and probabilitistically selected samples are also associated with larger reported relationships among organizational variables.     

The Governance of Networks and Economic Power: The Nature and Impact of Subcontracting Relationships

Abstract.  Current debate on networking focuses on network structures and firm strategies. In this perspective, theoretical analysis has been concerned with allocative issues. This essay proposes a different interpretation. Starting from the existing theoretical framework, we emphasise the nature and the implications of different types of networks with respect to socio‐economic development from a distributional point of view. Within this context, we develop the analysis of subcontracting starting from the concept of economic power. We then provide an analysis of governance in production by considering the attitudes and the nature of the actors involved. The externalisation of activities by large transnationals, which characterises current corporate restructuring, is often related to the search for greater flexibility, but also for greater power over governments, labour, and subcontractors. Differently, networks based on the mutual dependence of actors, which are not necessarily built around a large firm, could – under particular conditions – reach large production scales or more complex scopes without breaking the links with territorial systems, thus including local objectives in the strategic decision‐making process. Our conclusion is that the impact of subcontracting networks varies enormously. This is crucial to an understanding of future trends and possibilities. Not least, firms and public policy agencies need to understand the implications of different forms of subcontracting network and how those forms actually differ in practice.     

Improving the Sustainable Development of Firms: The Role of Employees

Stakeholders have been found to be an important driver of organizations' sustainable development. In particular, customers, governments and non‐governmental organizations push firms towards sustainability. But to what extent is sustainability really and deeply embedded within an organization's structures and processes? And what is the role of an important, but frequently neglected, stakeholder group for successful sustainability implementation: employees? The objective of this research is to better understand the impact that organizational change for sustainability has on firm performance. Also, this study seeks to understand how the consideration of employees into the process of organizational change for sustainability moderates the organizational change and performance relationship. Using data from 92 German companies from the manufacturing and services sector, the study finds that the structural implementation of sustainability is positively related to firm performance and that employee integration moderates this relationship to some extent. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Organizational structure and the internal economy of the firm: The UK insurance industry

There now exists a substantial volume of empirical evidence which has examined the superiority of the ‘M’-form organizational structure for the management of large, diversified enterprises. Regrettably, attention has mainly been focused on manufacturing companies, despite the rising importance of the service sector in most major economies. This paper examines organizational structures within one segment of the UK service sector: the insurance industry. In the UK this industry has undergone significant, regulatory-driven structural change and, as a consequence, the majority of companies have undertaken organizational change. The results produced, however, suggest that many of these companies adopted sub-optimal divisionalized structures.     

Influence of subcontracting on innovation and economic performance of SMEs in Indian automobile industry

Trans-national corporations (TNCs) expanding their production bases to developing countries having better conditions of manufacturing and domestic markets provide increasing opportunities for local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to have subcontracting relationships with these TNCs. Even though some theoretical and a few empirical studies throw light on the nature of assistance provided by TNCs to local SMEs through subcontracting relationships, none of the studies so far quantitatively analysed the role of this assistance on the innovative performance of SMEs leading to better economic performance. This paper probes the extent and diversity of assistance received by SMEs from a TNC through subcontracting and its influence on technological innovations and economic performance of SMEs, in the Indian automobile industry. Indian SMEs were able to receive mainly product related and purchase process assistance, thereby implying that subcontracting is largely confined to purchase–supply relationships. However, assistance received through subcontracting is beneficial as it promoted technological innovations of SMEs: the higher the degree of assistance, the higher the level of innovations carried out by these SMEs, which, in turn facilitated their economic performance. Thus, this paper substantiates in the Indian context that subcontracting relationship with a TNC can be an important source of technological innovations and enhanced economic performance for SMEs.     

The determinants of foreign direct investment: An analysis of US manufacturing industries

This study explores the determinants of foreign direct investment by analyzing the variation across US manufacturing industries in the extent of outward foreign direct investment. Three types of industry characteristics are hypothesized to explain this variation. Empirical support is found for four sources of ownership-specific advantages favoring foreign direct investment, new technology created through research and development, marketing abilities, organizational techniques and capital cost advantages. Support is found for the role of production scale economies in favoring centralization and hindering foreign direct investment, but results suggest only a weak role for transport costs in favoring decentralization and foreign direct investment. Producer concentration, perhaps reflecting oligopolistic competition, is positively related to foreign direct investment.     

PROFESSIONALIZATION AND BRITISH MANAGEMENT PRACTICEPROFESSIONALIZATION AND BRITISH MANAGEMENT PRACTICE: CASE EVIDENCE FROM MEDIUM-SIZED FIRMS IN TWO INDUSTRIAL SECTORS*

High levels of occupational specialization, problems of cross-functional integration and distinct bureaucratic tendencies have traditionally been seen as problems endemic to British management practice. Over the last decade, these problems are expected to have disappeared - or at least diminished - as major developments in management and organizational theory, as well as changing economic circumstances, have redirected management thinking towards ‘new’ ideas of flatter, simpler organizational structures, increased flexibility and decentralization, improvements in the quality of inter-functional relations and the like. Yet, despite these developments, there is comparatively little research that has investigated actual patterns of change within management and, in particular, what is happening in what could be regarded as the mainstream of British industry - namely, ‘ordinary’, medium-sized firms operating in ‘traditional’ industrial sectors. Moreover, rarely does such research focus upon the implications of management change for the strategies of professionalization adopted by competing specialist occupational groups within management. This paper sets out to help fill these gaps, by reporting the findings from case studies of four such firms, taking into account the particular contexts and historical circumstances that have helped shape any such change and drawing out the key influences on changed management practice.     

The effects of retail channel integration through the use of information technologies on firm performance

The ability of information technologies (ITs) to integrate activities and offerings across multiple channels offers a promising opportunity for retail firms to enhance their relationship with their customers and firm performance. Consumers value the flexibility to learn about the available offerings, complete their orders and obtain customer service across different channels in a convenient and integrated manner. Therefore, the retail industry has begun to use IT extensively to automate and integrate business processes across their traditional and online channels. This study examines the impacts of the use of IT by retail firms in integrating channel activities for selling to customers. Our research model argues that retail channel integration through IT should enhance the efficiency and innovation of a retail firm. In turn, these improvements should enhance their overall performance. We also propose that the environmental dynamism would moderate the effects of improvements in efficiency and innovation on firm performance. We draw upon recent theories in organizational resource integration and organizational learning to develop our research model and hypotheses. Based on survey data from 125 multichannel retailers in Singapore, we find that retail channel integration through the use of IT allows firms to not only be efficient in delivering the current offerings, but also be innovative in creating future offerings. Further, we find that environmental dynamism does positively moderate the effects of innovation ability on performance. Our results provide managerial insights for firms involved in digital integration not only in the retail sector but also in other service industries. These findings could also serve as a foundation for further research on service operations management for firms with both physical and online operations.     

Subcontracting and occupational health and safety in the residential building industry

This article examines the relationship between subcontracting and occupational health and safety in the Australian and UK residential building industry. It is argued that poorer OHS is an important consequence of subcontracting. This finding has implications for theories of injury causation and analysing the impact of outsourcing on industrial relations.     

Do NPM-Type Reforms Lead to a Cultural Revolution Within Public Sector Organizations?

Abstract

Agencification and granting public sector organizations managerial autonomy in particular is believed to change organizational cultures, away from traditional compliance- and detail-oriented bureaucratic cultures and towards organizational cultures which are more oriented towards external customers. There is however very little empirical information on the relationship between managerial autonomy and organizational culture. Using a unique data set on public agencies in Flanders, we not only test how managerial autonomy affects the strength of a customer-oriented culture within public sectors but also examine whether this culture becomes dominant over traditional public administration culture. Analysis shows that managerial autonomy positively affects a customer-oriented culture; however, it does not make it a dominant culture.     

AN INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE, MANAGERIAL ROLE EXPECTATIONS AND MANAGERS' WORK ACTIVITIES

Having demonstrated the absence in the literature of an adequate conceptual treatment or empirical examination of the substantive relationship between managerial work, managers' role expectations and forms of organizational structure, the paper reports the findings of a multimethod comparative case study of this relationship in four organizations from the hotel and retail sectors in Zimbabwe. Focusing on the differences between centralized organizations where unit operations are tightly regulated and decentralized organizations where unit operating autonomy is coupled with performance controls, the findings indicate that organizational structure impinges primarily upon the formal management division of labour, more weakly upon the role expectations surrounding unit managers and in only limited ways upon their work activities, with the effect of organizational differences co-existing with and refracted by common work characteristics and inter-industry differences. Although decentralization gave rise to unit manager jobs with more formal autonomy, broader responsibilities, greater pressure to attend to unit performance rather than monitoring work processes, and an obligation to operate in more complex networks, managers were no more free of constraints than were those in more centralized organizations and operated in similar ways, with an emphasis on day-to-day administration and routine staffing matters.     

The impact of technological learning on NPD outcomes: The moderating effect of project complexity

The innovative status of an emerging market is largely attributed to the technological learning maturity of its finest multinational companies (MNCs). This study uses the information processing perspective to investigate the impact of inter-/intra-functional technological learning (knowledge acquisition, information distribution, information interpretation and organizational memory) of 105 project teams on new product development (NPD) outcomes (project success, development speed and product entry timeliness) across nine MNCs. Of the four technological learning dimensions, only organizational memory did not possess a direct relationship with any NPD outcome dimensions. This study further contrasts the above impact across varying levels of project complexity. Information interpretation and organizational memory contribute to project success for low complexity projects. Conversely, for high complexity projects, development speed is contingent on organizational memory.     

Understanding the Determinants of Who Gets Laid Off: Does Affective Organizational Commitment Matter?

Whereas prior research has focused on structural, demographic, and human capital factors to predict who gets laid off, the current study examines affective organizational commitment as an additional attribute related to an employee's layoff chances. Specifically, we investigate the relationship between affective organizational commitment and an individual's layoff chances, as well as whether this relationship differs between high and low performers. Event history analysis is conducted using survey data with matched personnel records from 3,057 employees across 563 Australian bank branches. After controlling for numerous predictors of layoffs, the results demonstrate that affective organizational commitment decreases the likelihood of an employee being laid off. Further, the effects of affective organizational commitment on an individual's layoff chances are greater for lower performers than higher performers. We discuss the implications of these findings for researchers and practitioners. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Organizational complexity and participatory innovation: participatory budgeting in local government

ABSTRACT

In this study, we examined the relationship between organizational complexity and the adoption of participatory innovation in German municipal government. We proposed that organizations with more complex organizational structures are more likely to adopt participatory innovation. We investigated municipalities (N = 394) of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and used participatory budgeting as an indicator for innovation. Our results indicate that organizational complexity expressed by functional differentiation has a positive relationship with the occurrence of participatory innovation. The results inform a debate about the value trade-offs that are inherent to the structural design of public organizations.