The impact of reverse logistics process coordination on third party relationship quality: A moderated mediation model for multichannel retailers in the fashion industry

Multichannel retailing is a widely adopted strategy in the fashion industry. Companies in this industry find it a source of competitive advantage to invest in reverse logistics infrastructure. However, limited empirical studies investigate the enablers of the relationship quality between the retailers and their reverse logistics service providers. This study quantifies the impact of reverse logistics process coordination between retailers and logistics service providers on relationship quality. Moreover, it tests the mediating role of reverse logistics service quality and the moderating role of conflict frequency in this relationship. Data were collected through a survey using a purposive sample of 241 retail store managers from the fashion retail industry of Pakistan. For this purpose, a self-administered questionnaire was developed using a five-point Likert Scale to gauge the responses. Conditional process analysis was used to evaluate the moderated mediation model. The findings showed a significant positive impact of reverse logistics process coordination on the relationship quality with a logistics service provider, a significant positive mediation effect of reverse logistics service quality, and a significant moderation effect of conflict frequency on the indirect relationship. However, conflict frequency, contrary to the hypothesis in the study, strengthened the indirect relationship. Furthermore, the moderation effect of conflict frequency on the direct relationship was insignificant. This study will help managers better understand the best practices leading to effective management of reverse logistics processes, particularly product returns.     

Destruction and settlement norms as determinants of conflict: An evolutionary perspective

This paper studies conflict in a simple bargaining framework using an evolutionary game-theoretic approach. Our findings suggest that a player does not always regard the winning probability as an acceptable settlement rule. He accepts a division according to winning probability when the destruction caused to him in conflict is more than a threshold, which in turn depends on cost of conflict to the opponent and the size of the population. Further, our analysis shows that the norms with positive weight to disagreement payoff are effective against conflict, and incentivize peace. Contrary to the findings of extant studies carried out in finite population evolutionary game setting, the settlement possibility set is identical under both ESS and Nash equilibrium in our model with settlement norms.     

高管团队异质性、团队冲突与企业绿色绩效——差异化CEO领导风格调节下的整合分析框架

基于高阶梯队等理论，从高层管理团队异质性等要素整合分析视角切入，在探讨高层管理团队驱动企业绿色绩效作用机制的基础上，尝试构建差异化CEO领导风格调节下高管团队（TMT）异质性、团队冲突与企业绿色绩效的理论模型；通过层次回归分析、Bootstrap等方法实证检验异质性高层管理团队的作用机理和边界。研究结果显示：①TMT异质性、任务冲突能显著提升企业绿色绩效，且任务冲突在TMT异质性与企业绿色绩效的关系中起部分中介效应，而关系冲突显著降低企业绿色绩效。多元化构成的高层管理团队拥有更多差异化思想，这些观点通过高层管理团队成员不断分析整合后作用于绿色绩效，而成员间“对人不对事”的关系冲突会弱化该过程，进而对绿色绩效产生负向影响；②变革型CEO领导风格负向调节任务冲突与企业绿色绩效的关系，表明CEO适度简政放权，指导、关怀和保障高管团队成员充分表达观点非常重要。交易型CEO领导风格负向调节关系冲突与企业绿色绩效的关系，说明CEO通过奖惩激励，降低高层管理团队情绪冲突，提升团队凝聚，是推动绿色转型的重要举措。     

创业投资家与企业家的人力资本特性研究

创业投资企业作为一种知识型企业,与传统企业的最大不同在于,人力资本在资源配置中开始上升为主导地位。首先。创业投资家为创业投资企业配置知识资本与人力资本,这一点可以从理论与实证两方面进行解释。其次,创业不仅是创业企业家一种对机会的识别与新价值发现,而且是创业团队人员共同参与的创新行动,这个行动体现出了创业企业家特有的创业精神。第三,创业投资家与创业企业家之间的人力资本特性关系以及由此产生的治理机制是创业投资企业治理的关键,信任与合作是克服创业投资家和创业企业家之间代理风险的关键。本文主要从以上三方面详细分析了创业投资家与创业企业家的人力资本特性及其相互关系。     

证券分析师利益冲突行为的“前因”与“后果”——来自上证A股的经验证据

本文选用我国上证A股的证券分析师投资评级和股票收益率相关数据(2010.04.30-2011.04.30),对我国证券分析师利益冲突行为的影响因素以及证券分析师投资评级的绩效进行实证研究。结果表明:承销商分析师相对于非承销商分析师的投资建议更为乐观,且券商的承销和经纪业务对证券分析师利益冲突行为有显著性影响;券商声誉和分析师上年声誉对证券分析师的股票投资评级存在明显的抑制效应;积极性的投资评级和分析师本年的声誉与分析师所荐股票的短期超额收益率呈正相关关系。     

Who is more visionary in mergers: Commercial vs. investment banks

Early papers concerning bankers on board usually focus on the rationale of bank entry and such effects on company performance. Recently, Güner, Malmendier, and Tate (2008) started to look at the different effects of the bankers with different expertise on the investment strategy and post-entry performance of the firms on which they have board seats. This study extends this line of research to further examine the relationship between the change of different types of financial professionals’ equity holdings of acquiring firms prior to merger completion dates and these acquirers’ post-merger performance. Using 381 U.S. listed acquirers during 2000–2005, we find that the changes of the ownership of commercial banks and insurance companies are positively related to the acquirers’ short-term performance. However, only the changes of the ownership of investment bankers are negatively related to the bidders’ long-term performance, implying that, due to conflict of interests, investment bankers probably aim at the increase of the short-run post-merger performance of the acquiring companies of which they have relatively larger equity holdings.     

The tourism and peace nexus

Tourism has been heralded as a contributor to peace, however, the inconclusive findings of empirical studies render the need for a consolidation of theory that has in so far relied on case studies and the adoption of the contact hypothesis. Informed by political science theory, this paper proposes a methodological framework that can guide future research and aims to serve as a benchmark for researchers interested in temporal issues pertaining to conflict, peace and tourism. Signalling a departure from the simplistic notion that contact through travel contributes to social integration, the paper adopts a holistic conceptualisation of the multi-faceted and complex system of actors, sectors and dimensions of tourism spanning at the social, economic, political and environmental levels.     

Riding the Ever-Rolling Stream: Time and the Ontology of Violent Conflict

In this paper, we examine the ways in which the passage of time is dealt with in econometric studies of violent conflict and civil war with empirical attention to the dynamics of ethnic conflict. We argue that the mainstream approach to econometric studies of civil war is based on a time-invariant ontology and that this is not an appropriate or adequate way of capturing the causal patterns of violent conflict. Based analysis of replication datasets using structural break analysis and rolling windows, we show how careful attention to the passage of time reveals important macro-historical changes in the coefficients on ethnic diversity in explaining conflict incidence. We conclude that econometric studies of civil war need to pay more careful attention to the limitations on the generalizations that they draw through attention to the passage of time and better iteration with qualitative and historical studies.     

Strawberry fields forever? Conflict over neo-productivist Spanish polytunnel technology in British agriculture

This paper uses the example of Spanish polytunnels to demonstrate how the deployment of ‘neo-productivist’ agricultural technologies to meet the demands of food security and sustainability within a globalised food chain is likely to precipitate greater countryside conflict. Field-scale ‘Spanish polytunnels’ for strawberry growing have become a new feature of the British agricultural landscape. This has been driven primarily by supermarkets searching for high quality and quantity supplies of soft fruit. With production becoming industrialised, conflict has ensued in some rural communities where polytunnels have appeared. Interviews with prominent strawberry growers and protestors against polytunnels illuminate a vociferous and embittered wrangle. Within it, land use planners are labelled as ‘strawberry fools’ by both sides for failing, until recently, to provide decisive regulation to prevent conflict and effect its resolution. The paper concludes by drawing attention to the future characteristics of conflicts precipitated as new agricultural technologies are implemented rapidly, impact unevenly and are received acrimoniously.     

Acquiescence and conflict in exchanges between inbound tour operators and their overseas outbound partners: A case study on Tanzania

Achieving partner acquiescence is critical in interfirm exchanges because it allows the focal firm to achieve its desired outcomes. Using a case study on dyadic relationships between inbound tour operators in Tanzania and their overseas outbound partners, this paper investigates the effect of partner irreplaceability and distributive fairness on acquiescence, and the subsequent effect that acquiescence has on conflict. The case study uses partial least squares structural equation modeling on data collected from 129 dyadic relationships. Results show that partner irreplaceability and distributive fairness are positively associated with acquiescence, which in turn reduces conflict. The effect of distributive fairness on acquiescence was found to be larger than that of irreplaceability. In addition, the direct effect of distributive fairness on conflict, although not hypothesised, was found to be significant. This emphasises the importance of distributive fairness, and its role as a possible buffer to conflict in less acquiescent exchanges.