Implementation of interorganizational cost management and its infrastructure: the case of a Korean ‘Chaebol’ firm

In this paper, purchasing innovation in the case of a distribution company is analysed from an interorganizational cost management (IOCM) perspective. In this company, purchasing costs play an important strategic role. This study suggests that a new practice of IOCM is necessary that is suitable for Korea's economic circumstances, including the family-controlled conglomerates (Chaebols) that dominate the entire economic system. The strong need to reduce purchasing costs within Chaebols and the Korean government policy that promotes joint growth of large and small firms are crucial factors in the successful implementation of IOCM practices. We also discuss the infrastructure that enables effective IOCM in the long term, thereby adding new findings to academic research in the area, and practical implications of this benchmark case for other companies planning purchasing innovations.     

Cognitive and affective approaches to employee participation: Integration of the two approaches

Numerous studies have examined cognitive and affective approaches to decision-making participation, but no study has attempted to integrate the two approaches. This is the first empirical study to apply the two approaches to financial participation. To integrate the two approaches, this study investigated the applicability of the two approaches to decision-making and financial participation as well as the relationship between two essential variables in each approach: information sharing and organizational commitment. The proposed hypotheses were tested by structural equation models using the Workplace Employment Relations Survey, which was conducted in Great Britain. The findings revealed that self-managing teams and group incentives were positively related to information sharing, which in turn were positively associated with organizational commitment and perceived company performance. Cross-cultural implications are discussed.     

McCloskey, economics as conversation, and Sprachethik

In writing about the 'rhetoric of economics' - particularlyabout the standards which prevent situations where 'anythinggoes' in argument - McCloskey takes an eclectic approach totwo philosophical positions, based on Rorty and Habermas respectively.But these positions, despite sharing some common aspects, alsodifferentiate themselves from each other sharply in importantways. In this paper, it is argued that this eclecticism of McCloskeyis not coherent, as a result of her not completely graspingthe fundamental differences between these two positions, andthat this incoherence has damaging implications for her projectof the rhetoric of economics.     

Supplier Selection Practices among Small Firms in the United States: Testing Three Models

One of the issues investigated in recent studies on small business enterprises involves the role of supply chain management. Supply chain management has become an important part of strategic planning in both large and small businesses in the 1990s as firms increasingly choose outsourcingas an externally-driven strategic growth path. This study examines the supplier selection practices among 78 small business executives in the midwest United States by testing three models: rational/normative, external control, and strategic choice. Although the results show support for all three models, the rational/normative model emerges as the most significant model for predicting the supplier selection practices of small firms.     

Has bank consolidation in Korea lessened competition?

This paper examines market concentration and competition in the Korean commercial banking market for the period of 1992–2004. While market concentration decreased due to financial regulation before the Asian financial crisis, the Korean banking industry has become increasingly concentrated in the process of restructuring and consolidation since the crisis. Contrary to a growing concern over market power in Korean banking, this study finds that increased concentration has not lessened competition. The H statistic of the Panzar–Rosse model indicates that the Korean commercial banking market was monopolistically competitive during the pre-crisis period and the post-crisis period with temporary deviation to the level of perfect competition during the crisis period.     

加快燕大科技园建设和发展步伐 为推动区域经济社会发展作贡献

燕山大学国家大学科技园(以下称"燕大科技园")是依托燕山大学的人才.科技成果等综合智力资源优势兴办并发展起来的.经过几年的努力,已经成为燕山大学实现社会服务功能和产学研互动的重要平台,是燕山大学及地方科技企业重要的孵化基地,同时也是区域经济发展和技术进步的主要创新源泉之一.     

Reputation Effects in Bargaining Games

This paper studies reputation effects in a dynamic simultaneous-offer bilateral bargaining game in which one player might have some kind of irrational commitment that compels him to insist on some particular bargaining allocation. It is shown that if this player insists on this allocation, then the bargaining game will end within the first few rounds and he can get an expected payoff close to that allocation. More importantly, the upper bound within which the bargaining game ends does not depend on the relative strength of the two players.     

Strategic choice during economic crisis: Domestic market position,organizational capabilities and export flexibility

This study examines how sudden shrinkage of domestic demand affects firm-level export performance. Using the Asian economic crisis as a natural experiment, we show that while the industrial organization (IO) economics and resource-based view (RBV) apply well in the pre-crisis period, the real options perspective does a better job in explaining firms’ efforts to increase exports in the post-crisis period. Specifically, using a real options perspective, we show how sudden change in domestic demand provides benefits to those firms that have invested in flexible capabilities while those firms that are locked in with inflexible resources fail to change. We find that the positive relationship between a firm's domestic market position and export intensity becomes stronger in the post-crisis than the pre-crisis period. Further, we find a positive relationship between non-location-bound flexible capabilities such as R&D and export intensity and a negative relationship between location-bound inflexible capabilities such as advertising and export intensity. These relationships become more pronounced in the post-crisis period.     

The British and American Rules: an Experimental Examination of Pre-trial Bargaining in the Shadowof the Law

A commonly held view is that the frequency and value of pre-trial settlements in civil disputes are greatly influenced by the cost allocation regime that is in place if the case goes to trial. There is a large and growing theoretical literature on this subject but almost no empirical evidence. This is due simply to the scarcity of relevant data owing to the confidentiality generally associated with such matters. However, the area is an ideal one to analyse experimentally. In this paper we consider the effect of the British and American rules for cost allocation using such an experimental methodology. We find that the two rules produce no difference in the frequency of pre-trial settlements but that the British rule produces higher settlements (pro-pursuer) if the probability of the pursuer winning is large.     

Monitoring and Structure of Debt Contracts

This paper presents a theory of optimal debt structure when the moral hazard problem is severe. The main idea is that the optimal debt contract delegates monitoring to a single senior lender and that seniority allows the monitoring senior lender to appropriate the full return from his monitoring activities. The theory explains (i) why debt contracts are prioritized, (ii) why short-term debt is senior to long-term debt, and (iii) why financial intermediaries usually hold short-term senior debt whereas long-term junior debt is widely held. Another implication of the theory is that covenant and maturity structures will be set to conform to the seniority structure.