Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises and Sustainability: Managers' Values and Engagement with Environmental and Climate Change Issues

This article reports on an in‐depth, qualitative study into the pro‐environmental engagement of small businesses in the east of England, with respect to climate change in particular. Managers of environmentally pro‐active small businesses were asked about the pro‐environmental measures they had implemented in their firms, their motivations for doing so, and their understanding of climate change. The managers in this study had a relatively good understanding of environmental issues in general and climate change in particular, and had implemented a range of pro‐environmental measures in their firms. Their understanding of climate change was a holistic one, which sat within their overall understanding of environmental and social issues. While economic arguments and external pressure played a role in their pro‐environmental engagement, perhaps the most notable motivation for managers in this study to engage with environmental and climate change issues was personal values and beliefs. Environmentally engaged managers exhibited an internal locus of control. Some of these findings contrast with the views of key informants in local government and business advice organisations, who tend to emphasise the business case and cost arguments when trying to encourage small businesses towards greater environmental engagement. These findings suggest that public policy and business advice in this area should perhaps focus more strongly on personal values and a sense of being able to contribute to environmental protection in their engagement with small businesses. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Stages of Organizational Transformation in Transition Economies: A Dynamic Capabilities Approach

How do organizations previously dominated by the state develop dynamic capabilities that would support their growth in a competitive market economy? We develop a theoretical framework of organizational transformation that explains the processes by which organizations learn and develop dynamic capabilities in transition economies. Specifically, the framework theorizes about the importance of, and inter‐relationships between, leadership, organizational learning, dynamic capabilities, and performance over three stages of transformation. Propositions derived from this framework explain the pre‐conditions enabling organizational learning, the linkages between types of learning and functions of dynamic capabilities, and the feedback from dynamic capabilities to organizational learning that allows firms in transition economies to regain their footing and build long‐term competitive advantage. We focus on transition contexts, where these processes have been magnified and thus offer new insights into strategizing in radically altered environments.     

War Legacies,Welfare and Livelihoods in Rural Areas: The Case of Kosovo

This article examines the effects of war on livelihood choices and welfare outcomes of rural households in Kosovo using the 2000 Kosovo Living Standards Measurement Survey. We analyse the extent of the legacy of war on livelihood activities and welfare. We first identify livelihood portfolio clusters of households pursuing similar combinations of activities. These clusters are comparable to those described in more qualitative studies in the immediate post‐conflict period. We then examine the determinants of livelihood portfolio choice and the consequences of these for welfare outcomes. Our results provide evidence of a relationship between a household’s experience of war and livelihood choice. We also identify significant selection effects on welfare for three out of four livelihood clusters, highlighting the fact that selecting into a specific livelihood portfolio changes welfare relative to expected levels. Our results show that war not only affects livelihood choices but also changes the returns to these activities.     

Achieving a new equilibrium? The stability of cooperative employer–union relationships

The current popularity of ‘partnership’ in workplace industrial relations raises the question of the durability of such arrangements. This article investigates the stability of cooperative employer–union relationships by means of case studies. It analyses perceptions of the experience of negotiation and consultation. Continuing net benefits are reported both by managers and by union representatives in workplaces where cooperative relationships are robust. The benefits come primarily from the informal consultative processes and levels of trust that are engendered. Nonetheless, parties to the relationship, however robust they were, faced substantial challenges to their efforts to diffuse and sustain cooperative working. It is concluded that cooperative relationships are likely to be stable where employers wish to maintain an independent employee voice, especially where workplace union density remains relatively high.     

Recognition versus Disclosure: An Investigation of the Impact on Equity Risk Using UK Operating Lease Disclosures

This study examines the equivalency of accounting recognition versus disclosure. OLS regression analysis is used to determine whether there is an association between equity risk and an adjustment to financial risk for off-balance sheet operating leases. Two methods of adjustment are considered: constructive capitalisation and a simple factor method. The observation of a reliably positive association suggests that UK investors/analysts view operating leases from a property rights perspective rather than an ownership perspective. This supports the argument for recognition of all lease rights and obligations 'on-balance sheet', as proposed in the recent G4+1 discussion paper ASB (1999).     

Attitudes towards business ethics held by South African students

This study uses the ATBEQ, as published by J.F. Preble and A. Reichel (1988) to measure attitudes towards ethical business attitudes held by final year South African Bachelor of Commerce students at Rhodes University. Three samples of students were assessed over three consecutive years of 1989, 1990 and 1991, and results are compared with samples (1988) of American and Israeli students and a sample (1991) of Western Australian students. A significant difference in attitudes was found to exist between the Israeli and South African samples. A factor analysis of the questionnaire identified eleven factors of which seven are theoretically labelled. A revised version of the ATBEQ is suggested which excludes the poorly performing questions.Robert S. Moore, is a lecturer in the Department of Management at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. His research interest is in the area of business ethics mainly related to commerce students.Sarah E. Radloff is a senior lecturer in the Department of Mathematical Statistics at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. Her research interest is in data analysis and she is the statistical consultant for many departments at the University.     

Investing in Eastern Europe: Two case histories

This feature is in three parts: the first two are case histories of the contrasting experiences of two Western companies which expanded abroad for the first time in the mid-1990s, into different countries in Eastern Europe. One is so far successful, the other not. The third section draws out the implications of these experiences: although still quite risky, investment in Central and Eastern Europe can already be made to pay by firms that enter as part of a well-conceived and financed global strategy. Particular benefits are lower labour costs and access to untapped markets.     

Sustainable Development of Maritime Operations in Ports

Globalisation has heralded burgeoning ship movements and maritime operations in ports alongside increased international concerns regarding potential environmental impacts. In particular, smaller ports require accessible tools to manage them. A framework to facilitate environmental management applies business process principles to identify relevant inputs, processes and outputs. A case study of Falmouth Harbour Commissioners compares functional units and flows that define input–output processes for anchoring and bunkering operations. Strategic‐level processes affect present and future operations while tactical service processes guarantee service level and quality through their integrity. Operational processes occur at the output level. An accessible generic framework supports planning of more sustainable maritime operations, facilitates mitigation of potential risks and encourages authorities to engage with sustainability agendas and manage development proposals proactively. Ongoing interlocution with business strategists will refocus port managers on educational and commercial missions and increase stakeholder engagement. Simplification and optimisation phases of business process re‐engineering remain untapped by business strategists. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.