Are analyst stock recommendation revisions more informative in the post‐IFRS period?

This paper investigates whether the mandatory IFRS adoption has affected the informativeness of analyst recommendation revisions in Europe. Although prior studies document that IFRS adoption improved analyst forecast attributes, the impact of IFRS cannot be completely assessed without examining how the market reacts to information‐rich events in an environment with enhanced disclosure. To examine this question we utilize a difference‐in‐differences design using as main control sample firms that had voluntarily adopted IFRS before the EU's mandated switch. Overall, our evidence suggests that after the mandatory adoption of IFRS, both analyst upgrades and downgrades are more informative. These results hold after controlling for a number of variables that capture analyst, firm and information environment characteristics and are robust to a number of sensitivity analyses including the use of a US control sample. Finally, we examine whether our results are sensitive to the level of accounting enforcement. We find that analyst downgrades are more informative in the post‐IFRS period for firms in both high and low enforcement environments. Analyst upgrades, however, are more informative only if they are issued for firms in high enforcement countries.     

The role of productive efficiency on entry and post‐entry performance under different strategic orientation: the case of the Greek plastics and rubber industry

The present study formulates and empirically tests the hypothesis that the post‐entry performance and growth of new firms is affected by the way in which crucial resources are combined during the decision‐making process to enter the industry or not. Further, the study empirically tests the hypothesis that multifaceted productive efficiency influences both the entry decision and the entrants' post‐entry performance. The proposed analytical framework allows for testing these hypotheses under different strategic orientations assumed to be followed by entrants. Results of the estimated partial observability model provide support to these hypotheses in almost all of the examined cases. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ambiguity in Problem Framing as a Barrier to Collective Actions: Some Hints from Groundwater Protection Policy in the Apulia Region

Differences in problem framing and understanding are unavoidable in multi-actor decision-making processes, deeming ambiguous problem definitions and actions. The presence of ambiguity may have diverse implications. On the one hand, a diversity in frames can enhance the co-production of knowledge offering opportunities for innovative solutions. On the other hand, the presence of ambiguity can be a source of discrepancies or conflict in a group, hampering the implementation and/or reducing the effectiveness of environmental policy. This work demonstrates that neglecting ambiguity in problem framing leads decision-actors to simplify the interaction space by ignoring the role of some of the other decision-actors and/or making wrong assumptions about their mental models. Moreover, they act as if the system is as simple as the decision-actors presume it to be. To demonstrate these hypotheses, a Causal Loop Diagram method was implemented to investigate the policy resistance mechanisms hampering the implementation of sustainable groundwater abstraction policy in the Apulia Region (Southern Italy).     

Change and development in pluralistic settings: an exploration of HR practices in Chinese township and village enterprises

Very few systematic studies have been conducted on the managerial practices of Chinese Township and Village Enterprises (TVEs) despite their increasing contributions to China's economic development. Focusing on the HRM practices in ten different TVE organizations in a new city in Southeastern China, this study aims at filling a gap in the literature by exploring the general HRM practices in those organizations. Results show that HRM practices in TVEs, although still relatively primitive compared to those in state-owned enterprises (SOEs), have been much more formalized recently. Employees are now mostly selected rather than referred by existing employees or ' guanxi ' as they were previously. New employees in many large TVEs are now trained through formal procedures rather than through apprenticeships, and pay is tightly linked to performance and skill levels. However, in smaller TVEs, HR practices are less formalized. The study points out that the firm size may be an institutional factor affecting the implementation of formal HRM practices. Yet, regardless of the form of personnel management, HRM practices are shown to be a very important factor in the economic success of TVE firms. Further studies are necessary to understand HRM and other managerial practices in TVEs and to test the relationships between HRM practices and firm performance among the TVEs.     

Logistics service quality and buyer–customer relationships: the moderating role of technology in B2B and B2C contexts

Logistics service quality (LSQ) concentrates on the results of the company's performance in the process of bringing merchandise and information from the company's warehouse to customers' home. There is neither consensus about its dimensions nor on how it might be influenced by technological solutions. The present article aims at identifying the main antecedents of LSQ, examining the influence of technology and its effects in terms of customer commitment and loyalty in B2B and B2C contexts. As a result, similar patterns are observed in the relationships of LSQ–commitment–loyalty with mixed evidence about the moderating role of information technology.     

Effects of strategic human resource management on strategic vision

It is pertinent for organizations that operate in a highly competitive environment to pursue a strategic vision. This study explores the effects of strategic human resource management (SHRM) on the implementation of a strategic vision. Other constructs of importance in the model include leadership, commitment and organizational structure. A total of 400 questionnaires were sent by mail to organizations of various industries and the total number of respondents was 104. Leadership was found to be significant in eight out of ten of the hypotheses, thereby indicating that the leadership of an organization plays an extremely important role in the achievement of a vision. Also, SHRM functions such that HR planning, recruitment and selection, rewards and compensation as well as training and development have significant effects in the achievement of different visions. For the vision of regional growth, leadership and organizational structure was found to be significant. Where market growth is pursued, leadership, reward system, commitment, training and staffing are significant. In the case of a strategic vision of mergers and ventures, only leadership was found to be significant. The only significant factor in the vision of low cost and productivity is planning. For a vision of customer focus and innovation, leadership and selection are the significant factors. Where innovation and product development are pursued, only planning is significant. For organizations that pursue cluster visions, the factors that are significant include leadership, commitment and selection.     

Looking East: diffusing high performance work practices in the southern Afro-Asian context

Most cross-cultural international human resource management (IHRM) literature contains instructive comparative analyses of East Asian and Western countries and lessons from Japanese best operating practice. There is a paucity of literature extending this debate to the African context and of comparative IHRM work between East Asia and African countries. This article fills a contextual gap in offering a comparative analysis of diffusion and adoption of high performance work practices from East Asia in southern African firms. The continued relevance of 'context' is critically evaluated, given powerful forces for convergence in the global economy. However, much of the debate on the convergence/divergence framework appears to neglect process dynamics and cross-vergence in the development and implementation of hybrid practices as well as reverse diffusion. This article highlights the importance of considering certain variables of local distinctiveness and diversity as features of the notion of cross-vergence which shape particular human resource practices.     

Environmental Management of End‐of‐Life Products: Nine Factors of Sustainability in Collaborative Networks

The paradigm of the green economy has contributed to raising the attention paid to developing sustainability‐oriented strategies for supply chain (SC) management. The responsibility of producers to extend and reverse SCs is a critical and timely topic that captures increasing concerns over the way firms can adapt their business models to interlinking technical, socio‐economic and environmental frameworks. This is particularly true when producers are not also reuse/recycle actors. By performing a critical review of the scientific literature on this field, this article develops nine elemental factors that can be considered for assessing the impacts of collaborative strategies as a means to implement extended producer responsibility (EPR) in open‐loop SCs. The resulting conceptual framework provides EPR implementation guidance under different market conditions. Inter‐organizational relationships are found to present both opportunities and threats that can be profitably managed under a systemic perspective. Implications for management and needs for further research are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

ICT and resilience in times of crisis: evidence from cross-country micro moments data

ABSTRACT

ICT-intensive firms are often found to have a better performance than their non-ICT-intensive counterparts. Along with investing in ICT capital they have to adapt their production and business processes in order to reap the potentials implied by the use of ICT. Are these firms also more resilient in times of crisis? We study this question by exploiting a novel and unique data set from the Micro Moments Database. Covering 12 countries, 7 industries and the period from 2001 to 2010, the data allow us to distinguish between ICT-intensive and non-ICT-intensive firms within industries. We find evidence that indeed during the crisis in 2008 and 2009, ICT-intensive firms were hit less hard with respect to their productivity. This holds in particular for firms from service industries. Moreover, ICT-intensive firms were also more successful in introducing process innovations during that period which could explain their better productivity performance compared to non-ICT intensive firms.