Managing employee expectations during acquisitions

There is a wide body of evidence that suggests that the management of 'human factors' in post‐acquisition implementation is important and, where it is badly managed, helps to explain why up to half of acquisitions are not deemed to be successful. A central feature in this process is the management of employee expectations. Using research insights drawn from the management and formation of expectations in recruitment and from breaches of the psychological contract, this article reports on research in organisations subject to a takeover within two years of the field work. Detailed findings on two of these cases are used to explore the dimensions of dual expectations in such circumstances. It is suggested that employees in acquired companies have concerns that become expectations concerning both themselves ('me') and their work group ('us'), ranging from immediate job and employment worries on transfer to longer‐term status and behavioural and cultural concerns in the 'new' organisation. These expectations will vary over time and have different facets according to the seniority of the employee, the degree of integration sought by the acquirer and the extent to which expectations formed are proven to be realistic and realisable. The two cases analysed reveal different aspects of unmet expectations in acquisitions. Seven factors were identified as influential in shaping employees' expectations in acquisitions: quality of communication, believability of information, trust in management action, credibility of leadership, fairness of action, consistency of action and communication and logic of management action or behaviour.     

The private provision of public environment: Consumer preferences for organic production systems

This paper analyses individual preferences regarding environmental and health improvement technologies in organic food production systems. The impure public model is applied to explore the implications of organic food preferences for environmental market provision. Empirical results from a survey reveal that consumers are willing to pay for both health gains and environmental friendly technologies in organic milk production, although the valuation of the health aspects is higher. Prior information about organic production systems and shopping convenience are key variables in interpersonal comparisons of willingness to pay. The perceived overall value of organic production systems was higher among individuals with stronger environmental preferences than among those who prioritise health concerns. The conclusions of this study may have implications for the analysis of efficiency in the organic produce market.     

The relevance of irrelevance in brand communication

Brand managers strive to achieve an outstanding position in the psyche of the user by differentiating the product and service. In order to do so, brands are now often promoted by communications that focus on a trivial attribute difference. The current study tests both how the use of such an irrelevant attribute affects the perceptions of the consumer and how they rate the brand when the irrelevance of the attribute is previously revealed. The results of a controlled experiment (n = 894) show that the use of irrelevant attributes generally has a positive effect on buying behavior and that this effect is obtained even when the actual irrelevance is previously proven to the consumer. Further, the results are consistent across a variety of outcome variables, including attention, perceived uniqueness, price fairness, attitude toward the brand, and intention to buy the brand. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

How ICT shifts the power balance of tourism distribution channels

The restructuring process of the tourism sector and of the distribution channels caused by Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) may have altered the power positions in the channels. In the literature, the relationship between structure and power has been analyzed under the structure-conduct-performance paradigm, and the structure-conduct-outcome framework. The question is if the structure is antecedent or consequence of power balance in the channel. Our objective and contribution is to provide a common framework for both approaches by including the two different conceptualizations of the structure and analyzing their cause-effect link with the power balance. Moreover, we show that the two concepts of structure have a strong link with power balance but that the nature of the link might be very different: market structure is exogenous and might be considered an antecedent and, channel structure is endogenous, suggesting that it is intimately interrelated with power balance and that the cause-effect link works in the two directions.     

Water-Based Recreational Benefits of Conservation Programs: The Case of Conservation Tillage on U.S. Cropland

Conservation programs are a significant part of farm legislation. The recent farm bill increases funding of conservation programs. One result will likely be the increased adoption of basic environmentally benign farming practices, such as conservation tillage. This would lead to improvements in surface water quality. In this paper, we examine the magnitude of the nonmarket use value benefits of these improvements. The findings indicate that moderate to widespread adoption of practices such as conservation tillage would result in significant nonmarket benefits.     

Agenda 2000 Reform of the CAP and its Impacts on Member Member States: A Note

We evaluate the Agenda 2000 reform of the CAP for each of the 15 member states of the EU, accounting for general equilibrium effects and bilateral trade links. Results reflect the impacts in 2008 projected from a 1997 database. In most member states, output of crops falls and there is a switch in the use of arable land from oilseeds to cereals. Output of cattle also falls, but that of milk, pigs and poultry increases. Total farm income falls in 11 member states, although livestock producers throughout the EU gain. Consumer price indices fall everywhere. In terms of GDP, Luxembourg, Finland, Ireland and Portugal gain the most; Germany, Greece and the UK gain the least; and Spain loses. The net budgetary cost to the EU of the reform package is estimated to be an additional €3,203 million. Thus, further cuts in support are of paramount importance if the EU is to be prepared for the accession of new members.     

Determinants of Residential Land-Use Conversion and Sprawl at the Rural-Urban Fringe

We estimate a probit model of residential land conversion using parcel-level data from a rural-urban county in Ohio. Spatial landscape pattern metrics are used to quantify land-use patterns and to link patterns of residential sprawl with factors estimated to influence parcel-level land conversion. Findings indicate that the location of new residential development is influenced by preferences for lower density areas that nonetheless are close to existing urban development. Combined, these forces have generated a moderated pattern of residential sprawl. Spatial error autocorrelation is controlled using a spatial sampling technique that enables consistent estimation of the probit model.     

Efficiency, subsidies, and environmental adaptation of animal farming under CAP

The purpose of this article is to model the interaction between the targets of the current Comman Agriculture Politic (CAP): environmental adaptation, subsidies, and efficiency of animal farming. To this end we first have to identify the production frontier and relative efficiency level for each animal‐oriented farm in the sample. The production frontier and efficiency index for each type of farm (assuming no specific production functions) are identified using Data Envelope Analysis (DEA) techniques. We then address the relationship between relative efficiency, farm size, and environmentally friendly behavior by carrying out a nonparametric regression of efficiency, on economic size, a proxy for the degree of environmental appropriateness, and regional dummies. Calculations of the efficiency of the farms including direct subsidies are compared with the counterfactual exercise in the case in which direct subsidies are not considered. Finally, we look for relations between subsidies and factors such as farm size, efficiency, and environmentally friendly behavior. One key result shows that, on average direct payments generally tend to increase efficiency. However, in most of the cases the mean efficiency decreases as the percentage of direct payments rises. Direct payments are found to be positively related to environmentally friendly production, at least in Germany. However, in general, the direct payment system is not sufficient to offset the fact that the less environmentally friendly farms as well as the larger farms are more efficient.     

THE EFFECT OF TAX PREFERENCES ON HEALTH SPENDING

In this paper, we estimate the effect of the tax preference for health insurance on health care spending using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys from 1996-2005. We use the fact that Social Security taxes are only levied on earnings below a statutory threshold to identify the impact of the tax preference. Because employer-sponsored health insurance premiums are excluded from Social Security payroll taxes, workers who earn just below the Social Security tax threshold receive a larger tax preference for health insurance than workers who earn just above it. We find a significant effect of the tax preference, consistent with previous research.