Design and planning for green global supply chains under periodic review replenishment policies

We quantify the impact of jointly optimizing strategic network design and tactical inventory planning on the cost and CO₂ emissions of multi-echelon logistics networks. The obtained insights indicate that longer optimized replenishment cycles reduce a node’s transportation cost and CO₂ emissions but increase its inventory costs. Moreover, under a fixed replenishment cycle, a node’s service level increases when supplied by a satellite warehouse. Finally: (i) the costs of implementing optimal green network design decisions could be misleading if inventory planning is neglected, (ii) greening of supply chains could become expensive, (iii) current legislative CO₂ ton prices hardly influence logistics networks.     

中国金融危机法构建的探讨

本次震撼全球的美国金融危机给世人敲响了金融危机不定时爆发的警钟。全球化背景下金融危机的传染性更强、金融风险更大。中国相对脆弱的金融体系需要探索如何防范金融系统性风险,如何健全金融监管体系的制度与法制建设。随着人民币国际化过程深入,制定并颁布《金融危机法》能克服目前金融监管纵向监管体系缺陷,对提高我国金融监管机构应对金融危机能力、稳定金融市场与保增长具有重要意义。     

高校创业教育的运行体制探讨

创业教育的运行体制在高校的创业教育中起着至关重要的作用。为了更好地开展创业教育，很多高校对创业教育的运行体制做过不同的尝试，取得了很多有价值的经验。从剖析各高校开展创业教育所采用的运行体制入手，揭示当前高校创业教育运行体制中存在的突出问题，有针对性地提出高校有效开展创业教育所应采取的运行体制构建模式。     

The restructuring of the institutional real estate portfolio in the UK

Real estate investment portfolios of financial institutions have seen dramatic changes over the last three decades or more. Historically such property investment decisions have been seen within a portfolio diversification paradigm that has sought to balance risk and return. This paper considers the role of the supply of assets in the determining and constraining the UK institutional portfolio. The supply of real estate assets not only expands during property booms but has also been transformed by a long term urban development cycle as cities adapt to cars and the ICT revolution that has brought new property forms. The research examines long term trends in investment change by disaggregating into ten property forms rather than the usual three land use sectors. It then assesses to what extent investment patterns can be explained in terms of portfolio theory, short term net returns of individual sectors or driven by the supply of real estate assets. It concludes that the supply of real assets is an overlooked explanation.     

Does Human Capital Protect Workers against Exogenous Shocks? Evidence from Panel Data on South Africa during the 2008‐2009 Crisis

The financial and economic crisis of 2008 and 2009 took a heavy toll on the South African economy. The economy contracted for the first time since 1998 and entered recession during the fourth quarter of 2008. The gross domestic product contraction was soon transmitted to the labour market. Between the second quarters of 2008 and 2009, employment fell by 3.8%. However, not all individuals were hit with the same intensity. Using panel data from a quarterly labour force survey unique in the African context, we find that human capital (i.e. education as years of schooling and workforce experience) provided a buffer against the shock. After controlling for observable characteristics, education and experience showed the potential to entirely offset the effect of the recession on the likelihood of employment. This has important policy implications, as it strengthens the case for strategic investments in human capital and helps identify the unskilled as having the greatest need for social safety net interventions during a recession.     

不确定环境下的财务柔性理论及其本质

不确定环境下,企业需要具备一定的财务柔性。企业财务柔性的本质是以柔性组织理论、资源约束理论、动态能力理论、权变理论及融资理论为基础,与财务保守、财务冗余有着本质区别;不确定性和环境波动是财务柔性的前提条件;为应对不确定性和环境波动,企业需要通过不同的融资渠道和融资方式获取柔性财务资源,储备财务柔性;财务柔性具有缓冲、适应及创新的功能。对财务柔性本质的探讨踏实了财务柔性的理论基础,丰富了财务柔性的理论,对财务柔性实践具有一定的理论指导意义。     

Higher Highs and Lower Lows: The Role of Corporate Social Responsibility in CEO Dismissal

Research summary: Investing a firm's resources in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives remains a contentious issue. While research suggests firm financial performance is the primary driver of CEO dismissal, we propose that CSR will provide important additional context when interpreting a firm's financial performance. Consistent with this prediction, our results suggest that past CSR decisions amplify the negative relationship between financial performance and CEO dismissal. Specifically, we find that greater prior investments in CSR appear to expose CEOs of firms with poor financial performance to a greater risk of dismissal. In contrast, greater past investments in CSR appear to help shield CEOs of firms with good financial performance from dismissal. These findings provide novel insight into how CEOs' career outcomes may be affected by earlier CSR decisions. Managerial summary: In this study, we examined a potential personal consequence for CEOs related to corporate social responsibility (CSR). We explored the role prior investments in CSR play when a board evaluates the firm's financial performance and considers whether or not to fire the CEO. Our results suggest that while financial performance sets the overall tone of a CEO's evaluation, CSR amplifies that baseline evaluation. Specifically, our results suggest that greater past investments in CSR appear to (a) greatly increase the likelihood of CEO dismissal when financial performance is poor, and (b) somewhat reduce the likelihood of CEO dismissal when financial performance is good. Thus, striving to deliver profits in a socially responsible manner may have both positive and negative personal consequences. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dimensions of strategic intervention for risk reduction and mitigation: a case study of the MV Sewol incident

Organizations in disaster management system should learn from previous experience and strategically use their lesson for the refinement of a system’s competencies for risk management. However, the MV Sewol incident revealed the absence of the organizational learning in the Korean disaster management system. With mixed methods of content analysis, in-depth interview, and social network analysis, this study identified key failure factors in response to the incident and categorized them by managerial, structural, and institutional domains. While the Korean government took bold steps to rebuild its risk management system, those efforts were biased to structural reforms and lacked fundamental changes in human and informational resources management. Based on the findings, this study suggests the balanced efforts for system refinement for effective risk management.     

透过亚当斯领略黑白摄影的魅力

在漫长的黑白摄影发展的进程中,摄影大师安塞尔·亚当斯做出了卓越的贡献,尤其是"f64小组"和完善的区域曝光系统成为摄影史上的里程碑。黑、白、灰黑白摄影演绎着影调与影像的经典,即使在现代彩色摄影高度发展的今天,黑白摄影并没有失去它往日的光彩,也不会被彩色摄影所更替,它将以独特的魅力,以单纯、洗练、视觉冲击力强等审美优势继续发展,创造更多视觉财富。