Supplier integration in new product development: Computer mediated communication,knowledge exchange and buyer performance

In new product development (NPD), the buyer–supplier relationship is changing. Suppliers are becoming an integral part of the design team. This study investigates the effectiveness of computer-mediated and face-to-face communication channels on knowledge exchange between buyer and supplier firms, and ultimately buyer NPD and market performance. Open innovation literature and media richness theory are used to develop hypotheses which are then empirically tested using data collected from 157 R&D project managers from U.S. manufacturing firms. To date, empirical studies on the link between supplier integration and buyer performance show conflicting results. Structural equation modeling found a significant positive link between knowledge exchange and NPD performance, measured both in terms of effectiveness and efficiency, and a significant positive link between effective and efficient NPD and market performance. A surprising finding is that contrary to media richness theory, email can perform like face-to-face communication transmitting rich information and having a positive relationship to knowledge exchange between buyer and supplier. It was also found that with face-to-face communication, knowledge exchange fully mediates the relationship with effective NPD while with email communication knowledge exchange fully mediates the relationship with efficient NPD. Video conferencing was found to have no significant effect on knowledge exchange and the effect of web-based tools was significant and negative. The implications of these findings in theory and practice are discussed.     

Financial factors and firm growth: evidence from financial data on Taiwanese firms

We investigate the possible predictability of firm growth in Taiwan using cross-sectional data of financial factors for the years 1997 and 2003 via principal component analysis. Our results reveal that the 18 financial variables (sales growth rate, total assets, total sales, return on assets, return on equity, gross margin, operating cost minus depreciation divided by sales plus other trading income, acid test ratio, debt–equity ratio, time interest earned, average receivables per average daily sales, inventory, average payables per average daily sales, working capital, working capital as a fraction of total assets, long-term liabilities as a fraction of total assets, and sales as a fraction of net worth of the firm) that we employ bunch together into five different financial ratios for the years 1997 and 2003 that are stable between these years. These financial factors are short-term liquidity, return on investment, long-term liquidity, firm size and capital turnover. Regressing these ratio groups (extracted principal components) on firm growth, we find return on investment in the year 1997 was positively and significantly related to firm growth, while long-term solvency was negatively related to firm growth. In addition, smaller firms tended to grow faster. By 2003, larger firms grew faster than smaller ones and short-term liquidity was positively and significantly related to firm growth, while return on investment was no longer a significant determining factor. Our findings suggest that firms that finance internally or do not rely too heavily on indebtedness may end up growing slower during boom periods but they are the ones that survive and outperform after the bust.     

Whistle-Blowing for Profit: An Ethical Analysis of the Federal False Claims Act

This paper focuses on the 1986 Amendments to the False Claims Act of 1863, which offers whistle-blowers financial rewards for disclosing fraud committed against the U.S. government. This law provides an opportunity to examine underlying assumptions about the morality of whistle-blowing and to consider the merits of increased reliance on whistle-blowing to protect the public interest. The law seems open to a number of moral objections, most notably that it exerts a morally corrupting influence on whistle-blowers. We answer these objections and argue that the law is not objectionable on these grounds. Since there are no compelling moral objections to the law, it is appropriate and acceptable to judge the law in terms of its economic costs and benefits. We assess the most salient of these and conclude that the benefits outweigh the costs. We suggest that a mechanism similar to the Act should be considered for protecting stockholders’ interests in the private sector. We conclude by making several proposals for improving the existing legislation. The authors' names are listed in alphabetical order. An earlier version of this paper was presented to the Society for Business Ethics August 2004.     

Employee References: Between the Legal Devil and the Ethical Deep Blue Sea

An employer asked to provide a reference for a former or departing employee is confronted with a number of complex legal and ethical concerns. The issue of references is always controversial, involving a balance of employers' fears of legal liability, interests in providing relevant information to prospective employers, and concerns for fairness to former employees. Recently this topic has been the focus of new attention as the result of a court decision holding a former employer legally liable for wrongs committed by a former employee in a new job. In that case, the former employer had provided a positive reference while neglecting to note certain negative aspects of the former employee'sperformance. This paper addresses legal and ethical aspects of the reference dilemma and incorporates responses of human resource professionals to the question of ethical reference policies and practices.     

The impact of COVID-19 on food retail and food service in Canada: Preliminary assessment

COVID-19 has imposed a series of unique challenges on the food retail and food service sectors in Canada. Almost overnight, the roughly 30% of the food dollar that Canadians have been spending on food away from home has shifted to retail.     

Household behavior with respect to meat consumption in the presence of BSE and CWD

In this study, Canadian household meat consumption behavior in exotic (deer and elk meat) and traditional meats (beef, pork, chicken, turkey, bison, and seafood) is examined. This research introduces some differences in public response to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) risks across consumer segments from different sources of meat supply, including hunted meat. The analysis uses a combination of survey and household meat purchase data that include a balanced household panel of 2,393 households per year across time. A two-step estimation procedure is used with a probit model in the first step (consume or not) and a doublelog–translog two-stage demand system in the second step (level of consumption). It is assumed and tested that household sociodemographics, consumers’ risk perceptions/attitudes, and media coverage of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and chronic wasting disease (CWD) are underlying demand shifters in consumers’ daily meat purchase decision. The results suggest that households who obtain venison from hunting show the highest confidence in venison safety. Exotic meat preferences negatively affect traditional meat consumption in the daily diets of households who purchase traditional meats from stores and obtain venison from hunting. In response to the media coverage of BSE and CWD, exotic meat eaters are less sensitive to animal disease media information than the general population.     

Do depicted suggestions of portion size on‐pack impact how much (un)healthy food children consume

In previous decades, portion and pack sizes of many foods tended to increase while, more recently, some foods started to downsize. These changes in actual portion sizes typically get coverage but less attention is given to the suggested portion sizes for multi‐serving food packages, and to what the impact is of the depicted portion sizes on‐pack. Using two studies with a mixed experimental design among young children, this paper examines the effects of depicted suggestions of portion size manipulation (regular vs. large—‘large’ corresponds to how brands typically depict portions). Both studies used a 2 × 2 × 2 crossover design, with the suggested portion size and food type as within‐ and order as between‐subjects manipulation. In Study 1, we used snacks (grapes and chocolate nuts). In Study 2, we compared two bread spreads (chocolate and cheese). In both the studies, we found that children ate more when presented with the larger depiction of the suggested portion size compared to the regular one. In Study 1, however, we found that children consumed more calories from the chocolate nut than the grape snack, while children did eat more grams of this healthier grape snack. We also showed that consumption in grams only differed between portion sizes when given grapes, which might be due to a possible ceiling effect of chocolate nut consumption. In Study 2, we also found a main effect for spread type as children ate more of chocolate compared to cheese spread. Our results indicate that this subtle on‐pack cue is persuasive. Moreover, policy makers and also marketers could use these insights to stimulate healthy eating in children.     

Triggered or evaluated? A qualitative inquiry into the decision to start using e-grocery services

ABSTRACT

This qualitative paper examines the importance of both situational factors and adoption constructs in the decision to use online grocery services for the first time. To that end, we have conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with (one or more representatives of) 15 households in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium), who all use Collect & Go, Belgium’s most popular online grocery service. The content analysis shows that adoption is often induced by situational factors (such as health problems or changes in family circumstances), but not in isolation from an evaluation of technology adoption constructs (such as performance expectancy and social influence). Indeed, we find that immediately or soon after the emergence of the initial trigger, consumers start thinking of the service in terms of innovation characteristics. Moreover, unlike what the literature suggests, adoption is not discontinued when the initiating trigger disappears.     

Economists tackle the challenges of a pandemic

Business Economics - The COVID-19 pandemic radically and rapidly changed the world, including the world of business economists. Eight NABE members employed in a wide variety of fields discuss how...     

Environmental transparency and investors' risk perception: Cross-country evidence on multinational corporations' sustainability practices and cost of equity

We explore whether a greater amount of environmental disclosure can reduce a firm's ex ante cost of equity. This could occur because the quantity of environmental information changes investors' risk perception of the company, thereby influencing its ex ante cost of equity. Our study is a cross-country analysis of 1481 multinational corporations (MNCs) across 43 countries and territories from 2013 to 2019. Firstly, we measure investors' risk perception as a firm's ex ante cost of equity by employing five different valuation models, all based on equity analysts' forecasted data. We then investigate whether large quantities of environmental information disclosed by an MNC affect its ex ante cost of equity. We find evidence that investors price the amount of environmental disclosure. More environmental disclosure decreases a firm's ex ante cost of equity because it lessens investors' information asymmetry. However, this relationship is non-linear. Once the amount of environmental disclosure data exceeds a certain threshold level, a firm's ex ante cost of equity will rise again. Our empirical results also suggest that non-financial factors at the country level play a role in shaping how investors perceive a firm's riskiness. Locating the firm in a country with better environmental performance and a higher score of the human development index can reduce investors' risk perception and result in a lower ex ante cost of equity. A policy implication of our findings is that a global standardised and effective corporate sustainability reporting is needed to provide investors a more holistic view for evaluating the riskiness of their investments.