A stakeholder approach to expatriate management: Perceptions of hotel expatriate managers in China

Expatriates are critical to the navigation of an increasingly complex business environment as more hospitality companies operate beyond domestic domains. The present research took a stakeholder approach to examine the expatriate experience. The study posited that cross-cultural issues faced by expatriate managers are contextualized in stakeholder issues and that satisfying multiple stakeholder interests constitutes the ultimate test of expatriate success. In-depth interviews were conducted to examine stakeholder-specific issues and challenges faced by expatriate hotel managers in China. A conceptual framework and related propositions were developed based on an analysis of textual data. The research showed that cross-cultural issues and stakeholder issues are intertwined, but one set of issues can be more salient than the other in a specific manager–stakeholder relationship. Theoretical and managerial implications of the study were also discussed.     

Emerging life sciences ventures: The quest for legitimacy

As an emerging life sciences venture, gaining legitimacy (credibility) with external stakeholders (e.g., investors) is a critical challenge in today's environment. This quest for legitimacy relates to issues that focus on the individual, the environment, and the process. Integrating insights gained from interviews with three CEOs of life sciences companies along with the academic literature, we provide guidance for entrepreneurs regarding the unique challenges facing life sciences ventures. We propose that these ventures are driven by a “quest for legitimacy” and that life sciences entrepreneurs therefore must be aware of the strategic issues which impact legitimacy in the eyes of external stakeholders (e.g., investors).     

The bottom-line benefits of ethics code commitment

Recent corporate scandals highlight that an exclusive focus on financial performance, to the exclusion of broader stakeholder-related performance criteria, can be detrimental to overall firm value creation. Among the ways to enhance leaders’ focus on stakeholder value creation is the development and executive championing of an effective code of ethics. Such “Ethics Code Commitment” (ECC)—which incorporates characteristics of the code and behaviors by top management—affects a broad number of organizational stakeholders, yielding value for them, thus increasing their psychological and/or financial commitment to the organization while strengthening the firm's corporate culture. This article develops a model highlighting the various benefits of ECC to key stakeholders and the subsequent effects on an organization's culture and competitiveness. In particular, we focus on the need to include community leaders and key employees in the ethics code development process; the importance of moving away from a purely legalistic document to one that inspires stakeholders; the importance of linking ethics to strategy; and managerial approaches that can enhance the effectiveness of the code of ethics through ethics-related dialog. When developed and implemented correctly, ECC can prove to be an important source of competitive advantage via the effects it has on relationships between the firm and key stakeholders.     

核心利益相关者认知差异视角下高校科技成果转化问题及对策研究

科技成果转化新政颁布并未从根本上改善高校科技成果转化现状。鉴于此,首先,梳理、归纳出科技成果转化关键节点,整合成果转化影响因素,并收集企业、高校和科研者对这些因素的认知数据;然后,分析核心利益相关者认知偏差,得出政策失灵的直接原因是政策不协同导致政策难以具体落实,间接原因是成果与市场对接不力、中试环节缺乏、激励失调;最后,针对我国现行高校科研管理体制,提出政策优化建议。     

农田水利设施协同治理及效率研究综述与探讨

本文从基于利益相关者的视角,对国内外学者有关农田水利设施治理的成果进行梳理,对国外学者在农田水利设施产权制度、治理效率,以及国内学者在农田水利设施供给、经营和利益相关者协同治理及合作博弈等方面的研究成果进行述评,指出当前农田水利设施治理研究的空白和不足,为该问题的进一步研究指明方向,为我国农田水利设施治理和农业节水提供可借鉴的发展思路。     

Organizational performance with a broader focus: The case for a stakeholder approach to leadership

In 2019, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and the other 179 CEO members of the Business Roundtable argued that the purpose of a corporation must reflect not only the fiduciary interests of owners but also the varied interests of all stakeholders: employees, customers, partners, and broader society. This idea challenges a decades-old norm of shareholder primacy, so it is reasonable for organizational leaders to wonder whether doing so is truly in their firms’ best interests, and if so, how to implement this approach to leadership. To answer these questions, we draw on over 200 peer-reviewed articles covering leadership research to demonstrate how servant leadership, a stakeholder-focused approach to management, outperforms other leadership approaches across both shareholder and stakeholder criteria. We leverage case studies of organizational leaders from SAS, Zappos, Starbucks, and Jason’s Deli, financially successful organizations that exemplify how managers provide value and sustainability to stakeholders and shareholders through servant leadership. We also include practical steps managers can take to begin putting this form of leadership into practice.     

The impact of post-merger integration on the customer–supplier relationship

While the impact of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) on internal stakeholders has generated considerable empirical study, comparatively little academic attention has been paid as to how external stakeholders such as customers are affected by, and respond to, M&A activity. This study adopts case-study methodology to illuminate how the customer–supplier relationship is affected by post-merger integration processes in the business-to-business context, with the aim of increasing our understanding of why customers respond to M&A in the ways that they do. The findings highlight the importance of a set of critical customer relationship variables through which post-M&A integration actions can influence customers' perceptions of the merged organisation and, ultimately, their purchase decisions. We also identify a set of specific individual integration actions that appear to trigger changes in the critical customer relationship variables. Together, the findings contribute to our understanding of the precise mechanisms through which M&A can affect customers' purchase decisions and the combining firms' market-related performance. More broadly, consistent with the stakeholder perspective, they reinforce the need to take account of external as well as internal stakeholders when considering the drivers of M&A outcome. Implications are discussed for future research as well as for B2B service industry executives involved in M&A.     

Corporate images' impact on consumers' product choices: The case of multinational foreign subsidiaries

The aim of this study is to ascertain the extent to which consumers' images of home and foreign business units, and their perceptions of the corporate images held by other stakeholders, influence their buying behavior. The sample consisted of high school students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) who intended or expected to enter higher education. Using a survey questionnaire, we asked respondents about the extent to which they believed their overall impressions of foreign universities operating in the UAE were influenced by images of the institutions' home and UAE campuses and by their perceptions of the images held by other stakeholders. We found that when deciding on whether or not to buy from a foreign firm, consumers will be most influenced by the corporate images held by other stakeholders rather than the images of home and foreign business units constructed by themselves. These findings suggest that it would be advisable for firms to adopt a stakeholder perspective when developing and implementing their marketing strategy.     

关于高校后勤集团财务管理目标定位的思考——基于高校后勤社会化改革的视角

论文从高校后勤社会化改革的现状入手,对当前高校后勤财务管理目标定位进行了对比分析。根据高校后勤集团及其下属各经济责任中心的经营目标、经营性质,以及财务管理目标的特性,对高校后勤财务管理目标的选择依据、选择标准进行了深入探讨。提出了高校后勤集团应该结合集团的经营状况建立多元化的总体财务管理目标,集团及其下属各经济责任中心之间应该建立多层次财务管理指标体系的新思路。     

A journey of social sustainability in organization during MDG & SDG period: A bibliometric analysis

Organizational sustainability is a multi-facet paradigm widely used to address perennial business challenges such as climate change, industrial waste, the economies of scale and social well-being, etc. In the last three decades, extensive research has been performed on ecological or economic sustainability, ignoring the third pillar of sustainability. Given the importance of humans and society-a center-stage of inclusive development-this paper aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis to examine the growth of organizational social sustainability (OSS) from 2000 to 2021 during MDG & SDG periods. A total of 1566 publications are analyzed using Scopus and the Web of Science (WoS) database. Citation networks, bibliographic coupling, and thematic mapping have explored influential work, intellectual structure, and research gaps. The study findings demonstrated that most publications are during the SDG period, with Sustainability as the most productive journal and the USA as the most contributing country. The top 10 active institutions are from Australia, France, and Spain. The top contributing authors are from France, but the USA is at the top in citations. Contributions are lacking from large portions of Africa. Keyword analysis showed that “social sustainability,” “sustainable development,” “environmental sustainability,” “sustainable supply change management,” “circular economy,” and “social life cycle assessment” are the main topics. Keyword analysis and thematic mapping show that despite increased publications in the field of organizational social sustainability, OSS research is still far from focusing on the stakeholders' benefits, satisfaction, and subjective well-being. Moreover, quantitative assessment of OSS based on sustainability standards such as Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) and Value Reporting Foundation (VRF) standards was found scant in the given field. The present research concluded with scope and opportunity for future research in the area of OSS.