LINKING STRATEGY,STRUCTURE, PROCESS,AND PERFORMANCE IN INTEGRATED LOGISTICS

The current research was undertaken to present and test a framework of supply chain logistics integration that synthesizes current logistics thought with an established theory of organizational design. The framework portrays performance as an outcome of appropriate alignment between strategy, structure, and processes. The results support the contention that a firm that pursues a relational strategy, develops information and measurement structures to support relational processes, and then uses these tools to implement and execute integrated operations will experience high levels of logistical performance. In addition, the results indicate that superior logistics performance is related to simultaneous integration of internal and external operational processes.     

Trade-related Job Loss and Wage Insurance: a Synthetic Review

The paper seeks to promote further integration of empirical and theoretical discussions of trade and worker adjustment. From the author's recent studies of the costs of job loss, she develops a set of stylized facts of trade‐related job loss, with a focus on worker characteristics and labor market consequences. These stylized facts are relevant to any (credible) model of trade liberalization and adjustment costs. The author discusses the basic ideas of wage insurance and summarizes the few data known about how a program might work if implemented in the United States. A final section provides a list of issues for a model of trade that will be consistent with the empirical stylized facts, and sets out questions for future research.     

Using animated agents in learner‐controlled training: the effects of design control

Animated agents have the potential to increase engagement and learning during online training by acting as personalized tutors. However, little is known about the conditions that make these agents most effective. In this study, 183 e‐learners completed a Microsoft Excel training course. Approximately half were assigned an agent with predetermined features. The others were allowed to choose their agent's appearance, personality, feedback style or all of the above features. Offering multiple choices increased learning. Unexpectedly, choice of feedback style alone decreased self‐efficacy. Choosing the agent's appearance increased self‐efficacy and the number of training modules completed. Overall, this study expands the learner control literature, identifying a new form of learner control that has some beneficial effects on knowledge acquisition.     

The Cut and Paste Society: Isomorphism in Codes of Ethics

Regulatory responses to the business failures of 1998–2001 framed them as a general failure of governance and ethics rather than as firm-specific problems. Among the regulatory responses are Section 406 of Sarbanes–Oxley Act, SEC, and exchange requirements to provide a Code of Ethics. However, institutional pressures surrounding this regulation suggest the potential for symbolic responses and decoupling of response from organizational action. In this article, we examine Codes of Ethics for a stratified sample of 75 U.S. firms across five distinct industries and find that content and language converge across organizations in ways undesired by the regulators, and that language is used to minimize the effects of the Code on constraining organizational behavior. There is, however, a noteworthy exception in the sections of the Codes dedicated the ethics of financial reporting. Although this material still contains legalistic boilerplate information, it does offer concrete guidance and emphatic language pertaining to the need to maintain the integrity of reporting practices. This suggests that the corporate understanding of the source of the failures is one of fraudulent financial reporting. Aside from the matter of financial reporting, the vague and stylized content of the Codes was a predicted response and constitutes a rational response to the regulation. The regulation, however, clearly states the belief that Codes should vary from firm to firm and that individual firms should determine the specific content of a Code. Aside from financial reporting matters, the observed result suggests that regulatory efforts may have failed to instigate corporate change in attitudes toward and enforcement of higher ethical standards by corporate actors.     

The role of local entrepreneurs in promoting disaster recovery: a review of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Community Revival in the Wake of Disaster</Emphasis>

Community Revival in the Wake of Disaster: Lessons in Local Entrepreneurship represents a major contribution to social science knowledge regarding the roles that local entrepreneurs may play in promoting community recovery after disaster. The authors of this text conceive of entrepreneurs as individuals who are able to recognize and act on opportunities to promote social change. Importantly, they acknowledge that entrepreneurs may have many different orientations and goals – ranging from traditional commercial profit-seeking to social, political, or ideological change. This text draws on rich interview and observational data to highlight the activities of entrepreneurs who were active after Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy. The case studies in the book reveal that entrepreneurs can serve as goods and service producers; can help re-establish social networks and provide a forum for the exchange of knowledge and resources; and can signal to others that community rebound is under way. This review of the book is organized around questions related to: (1) The role of the government in funding and regulating post-disaster recovery; (2) The possibility for entrepreneurs, knowingly or unknowingly, to introduce changes that have immediate or enduring negative consequences for affected communities; and (3) The requisite characteristics of entrepreneurs themselves and who they actually help after disaster. Anyone who is interested in public-private partnerships, post-disaster recovery, and community resilience would benefit from reading this informative and provocative text.     

The effect of tariff reductions on firm size and firm turnover in canadian manufacturing

Using panel data on 81 Canadian manufacturing industries over the 1983–1996 period, the authors show that the estimated impact of recent tariff cuts was a positive and significant increase in the exit rate of firms. Supplementing this finding with recent research showing, that exiting firms tend to be less productive than those that survive, this provides support for recent trade models asserting that increased exposure to international trade induces the exit of least efficient firms, thereby contributing to productivity growth. JEL no. F1, L6     

Trade‐offs between Tax and Financial Reporting Benefits: Evidence from Purchase Price Allocations in Taxable Acquisitions

Under U.S. GAAP, firms recognize assets acquired in business combinations at fair value. Similarly, in taxable asset acquisitions firms adjust the tax basis of assets to fair value. Managers can increase the present value of future tax savings by allocating a greater portion of the purchase price to shorter‐lived assets than to goodwill or indefinite‐lived intangibles. However, this tax planning strategy imposes a financial reporting cost because it reduces book income following the acquisition; all else equal, allocations to shorter‐lived depreciable assets increase book depreciation expense, whereas allocations to goodwill and indefinite‐lived intangibles do not increase book amortization expense. We exploit the features of taxable asset acquisitions to investigate trade‐offs between tax and financial reporting incentives. We predict and find greater allocations to depreciable versus intangible assets when managers have strong tax incentives and weak financial reporting incentives. However, we also find that strong financial reporting incentives moderate the effects of strong tax incentives. These findings contribute new evidence to the literature on the importance of nontax costs in tax planning decisions     

Commitment to Employees: Does It Help or Hinder Small Business Performance?

This study used a sample of 4,637 small businesses to test the relationship between organizational commitment to employees (OCE) and company performance. OCE was significant in all five of the performance models. The results of the employee productivity model revealed a significant positive relationship between OCE and company performance, suggesting that small businesses might be able to realize some benefit in employee productivity from OCE programs. In addition, results from the return on assets, return on sales, return on cashflow, and employee growth models indicated that some OCE programs might be more beneficial to small businesses than others. Potential antecedents of OCE were also examined. Company size, owner education, and gender of the owner had positive relationships with OCE. Partial support was also found for a positive relationship between owner experience and OCE. Differences in the results of this study compared to studies for larger corporations and suggestions for future research are also discussed.