Challenges for B-to-B Doctoral Programs: A Commentary on “Doctoral Programs in Business-to-Business Marketing: Status and Prospects,” by Erwin Danneels and Gary L. Lilien

ABSTRACT

The fast-paced development of the Internet as a mechanism for efficient communication and transactions has led to the growth of diverse forms of electronic business-to-business marketing linkages. Such linkages have profound implications for the development and exploitation of newer constellations of supply chains as well as for the re-design and re-orientation of existing ones. Newer sources of value and competitive advantage enable firms to better manage their existing relationships with suppliers and customers. Moreover, firms are now equipped with better tools for engaging in advantageous alliances with other firms possessing complementary resources.

While various Internet-based business-to-business (B2B) business models have failed in recent times, most existing B2B exchanges can be classified into a general typology based on the type of linkages, access and governance. Three major types of B2B buyer-seller linkages are identified as “net marketplaces,” “industry consortia,” and “virtual private networks.” This paper evaluates the comparative properties of these major types of exchanges and identifies various antecedent factors that would impinge on a firm's decision to participate in any of these types of exchanges.     

农民生存权视野下的农村社会保障——我国农村社会保障制度的法理透视

我国政府在制定有关“三农”问题的社会政策和法律制度时,应该从农民最基本的生存利益出发,从法律上来说,必须围绕着如何保障农民的生存权利,展开各项制度建设。我国目前已经通过各种形式的立法,努力确保农民的生存权。农村社会保障法是落实农民生存权的最为重要的法律途径。本文将从法理上廓清农民生存权与农村社会保障制度的内在关联,从而对农民生存权和农村社会保障问题进行总结和展望。     

The MST and the EZLN Struggle for Land: New Forms of Peasant Rebellions

In this article, the author reviews some of the conclusions of the literature on peasant rebellions in the light of current land struggles of the Landless Rural Workers' Movement (MST) in Brazil and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) in Chiapas, Mexico. The author argues that conventional explanations of peasant rebellions are inappropriate for the analysis of current land struggles in Latin America in the midst of the process of neoliberal globalization. Neither struggle can be characterized as 'quasi-feudal', nor as conservative reactions, but instead should be interpreted as attempts to create a basis for self-subsistence and autonomy. Consequently, the author proposes Marx's concept of alienated labour as an alternative explanatory concept, because it highlights one of the main objectives of the members of the MST and the EZLN, which is the control over their livelihood through a struggle for their re-peasantization.     

Agricultural Wage Rates Under Forced and Free Labour: Pre-1944 and Post-1954 Guatemala

From 1871 to 1944 liberal trade and foreign investment policies were combined with illiberal labour coercion to create a classic export economy based on coffee plantations. The substantial reallocation of labour from the subsistence-oriented peasant economy to the coffee sector is associated with a sustained reduction in the agricultural wage rate. Throughout the forced labour period the wage was below a subsistence level, made possible by rural workers' access to land for their own subsistence production. The post-1954 free labour period is associated with a once-and-for-all doubling of the real wage to a subsistence level, consistent with the emergence in this period of a sizeable landless rural labour force. In the free labour era, the commercial agricultural sector has grown in 'classical' fashion, drawing on labour at a virtually constant, subsistence wage.     

保障国家经济安全的中长期对策研究——基于立法视角

从中长期看来,我国经济安全保障必须走向规范化和体系化,建立健全相关法律,从总体上看,应该建立《国家经济安全法》法律体系,同时修改《国务院组织法》。从分领域看,在能源领域,建议短期出台《国家石油储备管理办法》,中长期尽快制定《石油法》。在产业领域,短期内尽快出台《国家产业安全保障实施条例》,中长期建议制定《国家产业安全法》。在金融领域,建议修改《中国人民银行货币政策委员会条例》,并且进一步完善《证券法》、利率和汇率法律规定。在社会领域,建议出台《最低保障法》或《基本保障法》,建议尽快出台《常住人口管理条例》。     

A behavioural analysis of the subsistence standard of living

Subsistence is analysed as an endogenous variable, contraryto its conventional exogenous treatment. It is postulated thatthe subsistence-livers perceive their own standard of subsistence,direct their earnings behaviour towards attaining, maintainingor exceeding this standard and, thus, reveal the standard throughthis behaviour. The labour supply function of the working poor,which displays a forward-falling segment at low wages and anupward-rising segment at higher wages, is hypothesised to offermeasures of subsistence and survival standards. The conceptsare rationalised using Sen's concept of ‘freedom of choice’and Arrow's concept of ‘freedom as flexibility’.It is argued that at below-subsistence living, individuals lackfreedom of flexibility in choosing their preferences and thussuffer the loss of freedom of choice—while subsistenceoffers a reasonable minimum of this freedom, the freedom iscompletely lost at the lowest survival standard.     

农村“低保”政策的现实困境及对策思考——基于湘西部分地区调研的思考

经过多年的探索,农村最低保障政策不仅从试点走向了全面实施,也促进了农村的发展.然而,农村最低保障政策的实施也面临诸多问题,农民的认知度、对象的界定、程序的运作、机制的运行以及实施的管理都有必要进一步规范.为此,必须从加大宣传力度、健全运行机制、搞好政策配套、加强监管措施、完善法制建设等入手,推进农村最低保障政策的完善.     

Understanding consumption and entrepreneurship in subsistence marketplaces

This article describes exploratory research on how consumers and small entrepreneurs navigate subsistence marketplaces, with particular emphasis on social networks, a central characteristic of these contexts. Existing studies have characterized subsistence contexts as 1-to-1 interactional marketplaces due to the prevalence of face-to-face interactions among consumers and sellers when evaluating products, making purchases, and operating small businesses. This research uses survey methods to study these networks, paying particular attention to how individuals interact within them, the kind of information being shared, their influence on purchase decisions and business decisions, and finally, their impact on the marketplace skills of subsistence consumers and entrepreneurs. Consideration of both consumers and entrepreneurs provides perspective on the role of social networks from both sides of the business transaction. The article also discusses implications for business research and practice.     

The Village Network™: Partnership and collaboration to alleviate poverty in subsistence marketplaces

The Village Network is a unique model of poverty alleviation involving the collaboration of a host subsistence market community and a nonprofit organization, typically a university, with a multidisciplinary academic module. All parties in this partnership stand to gain from collaboration. The subsistence market benefits from the skill set and labor provided by the university. The university benefits by placing their students in a position to apply theory guided by the social and economic development experience and insights of the indigenous village leadership. The coordinating organization improves relationships and fosters growth in developing communities. The discussion then focuses on insights about subsistence marketplaces that emerge from this initiative.     

农民食品消费与最低生活保障的关联

基于人体每天必需的食物消费建立线性规划模型.计算出甘肃农村较发达、欠发达和贫困三类地区农民的最低食品费用,采用校正的恿格尔系数分别估算出甘肃三类地区农村贫困线及贫困人口,结果符合甘肃实际。鉴于甘肃现行的农村最低生活保障标准低、范围小的问题,提出了调整、完善农村最低生活保障制度的思路和减缓贫困、改善民生的政策措施。