Why and when organizational culture fosters affective commitment among knowledge workers: the mediating role of perceived psychological contract fulfilment and moderating role of organizational tenure

Drawing on Denison and Mishra (1995)’s framework of organizational culture, this study examines why and when organizational culture is related to knowledge workers’ affective commitment. Data were collected from 640 employees working in three high-technology companies in China. The findings indicate that the relationship between organizational culture and affective commitment is mediated by perceived psychological contract fulfilment. In addition, organizational tenure moderates the relationship between two external dimensions (i.e. adaptability and mission) of organizational culture and perceived psychological contract fulfilment. This study extends the current theoretical framework of organizational culture by demonstrating the underlying mechanism and the boundary condition of the relationship between organizational culture and affective commitment. The findings also provide practical implications for international managers to design appropriate human resource management policies and practices in China.     

Frustration-driven process improvement

When employees are empowered to continuously record their employment-related frustrations—doing so on accessible, visually prominent media—process improvement becomes upgraded to operate in a truly continuous mode. Frustrations are a superior target of process improvement in that they get at deep-seated concerns of people who have first-order process awareness and are most directly impacted by process failings. Recording frustrations not only provides a sound basis for pressing on to solutions, but it is also cathartic. The act of recording frustrations prominently on company-sanctioned media provides a positive outlet for the frustrations themselves.     

企业突破性技术持续采用意愿的驱动机制研究

整合组织动机和期望确认理论，从购买动机视角探讨企业突破性技术持续采用意愿的驱动机制。将购买动机分为效率动机、规范趋同动机和模仿趋同动机，阐述购买动机对突破性技术持续采用意愿影响的微观机理。以198家购买过云计算技术的企业为研究样本，实证检验购买动机与突破性技术持续采用意愿间的关系，并检验满意和认知锁定的中介效应。结果表明：购买动机正向影响突破性技术持续采用意愿，满意和认知锁定在购买动机与突破性技术持续采用意愿之间起中介作用，各购买动机的中介作用路径呈现差异化。其中，效率动机的作用路径被满意和认知锁定部分中介，模仿趋同动机的作用路径被满意部分中介，规范趋同动机的作用路径被认知锁定部分中介。研究结论打开了企业突破性技术持续采用意愿的“黑箱”，对于企业深入理解突破性技术持续采用意愿的驱动机制，促进突破性技术在持续采用过程中发挥真正价值具有重要借鉴意义。     

To Be or Not to be Temp? An Analysis of the Moderating Role of Motives for Accepting Temporary Employment

We investigate the role of contract volition and motives for accepting temporary employment in the relationship between precariousness of life and negative psychological symptoms in a sample of 275 Italian temps. Results suggest that the negative effect of contract volition on negative psychological symptoms is partially mediated by precariousness of life. A moderated mediation model shows that specific motives moderate the negative effects of contract volition on precariousness of life, so that when contract volition is higher, workers with weaker motives feel less precarious. This study broadens our understanding of temporary employment outcomes by showing that the negative consequences of precariousness of life seem to be less troublesome among temporary workers with higher contract volition and lower motivation. © 2018 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Informal Property Rights as Relational and Functional: Unravelling the Relational Contract in China's Informal Housing Market

In the face of state-led land grabs, enterprising Chinese peasants have started a revolution in the ambiguous and insecure rural tenure system by developing an extralegal property system known as the small property right (SPR). Using the SPR, peasants are able to capitalize on their property through the sale of houses built on collectively owned land. Little is known, however, about the specific process behind the development of the SPR by the peasants, or how this extralegal property system functions in terms of securing the use and transfer of property without the backing of law. This article aims to clarify the situation through the lenses of the Endogenous Nature of Institutions and Relational Contract Theory, aiming to understand the socially constructed, endogenous and relational nature of the property rights that make SPR functional. Based on an ethnographic investigation of Beijing's largest SPR housing settlement, we show how enterprising peasants develop long-term relational contracts with urban households for the provision of housing services, secured on the basis of the common interests and symbiosis of the two parties and a reputation system that serves to deter defaults. The discretionary treatment of SPR housing by local states serves as a further motivation for the village and the informal homeowners to preserve a stable property arrangement, with such a specific institutional setting being an exemplar of China's pragmatic state entrepreneurialism.     

招投标与合同管理在实践中存在的问题及解决措施

随着时代的发展,越来越多的企业拔地而起,市场竞争越来越激烈。招投标已经成为一种时代主流的竞争方式。同时,为了保证招投标的可行性和安全性,企业将合同管理与招投标结合在一起作为一种新的竞争选拔方式应用到社会竞争当中。但是招投标与合同管理在实践过程中存在许多问题。论文分析了招投标与合同管理在实践中存在的问题,提出了解决措施,以期为招投标与合同管理在今后的实践打下基础。     

Promotion and Prevention Contracts in Industry Level Firm to Firm Dyad

ABSTRACT

Purpose

This article aims to introduce and distinguish two features of contract design – prevention and promotion contracts – and compares their effects on opportunism within the distributor–supplier relationship. It also examines the moderating role of ex post contract enforcement strategies.     

Stock replenishment policies for a vendor-managed inventory in a retailing system

Using Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI), the vendor determines the replenishment decisions at the location of buyers (retailers). This strategy is used primarily for handling demand fluctuations stemming from the Bullwhip effect, leading the system to prevent from holding excessive inventory that result in a reduction in the overall cost of the supply chain. The main advantages of VMI for vendors are higher levels of accessibility to inventory information and more direct contact with the customers. Similarly, VMI has some pros for the buyers, such as shared risk with upper levels of supply chain and reduction in their holding costs of inventory. In this paper, a vendor-managed inventory system is developed containing one vendor and two buyers in which the main assumption is that back-ordering and lost sales are permitted. In this system, (r, Q) and (R, T) replenishment policies are compared according to their performances to see which one performs more cost-efficiently when partial back-ordering is allowed. In accordance, mathematical models utilizing (r, Q) and (R, T) replenishment policies are developed, and algorithms for deriving the optimal replenishment decision variables are proposed. Moreover, significant differences between the two replenishment policies are discussed. The main finding obtained by this research is that when shortage is permitted, both (r, Q) and (R, T) replenishment policies under VMI have pros and cons in different contexts.