Innovation,network services and the restructuring of work organisation in customer services

The information and communication technology revolution has had important qualitative effects on the manner in which the output of new products and services is managed. This is in part associated with leveraging the knowledge of a broader group of employees. Through a case study of customer services in a major telecommunications firm, it is shown that integrating broader groups of employees into the innovation process can be vital. However a case is made that transforming work-related institutions in the firm has proved a challenging process, particularly when management are required to broaden the powers of decision making granted to employees, allowing greater discretion at the workplace and changing the manner in which work tasks are enforced.     

Consumer-defined sustainably-oriented firms and factors influencing adoption

Guided by stakeholder theory, a pair of exploratory studies identifies factors that influence firms to adopt an environmentally-friendly approach to conducting business, while providing insight into consumers' perceptions of such firms. An analysis of twenty in-depth interviews and a qualitative survey yields a conceptual model, indicating that such firms are motivated by governmental intervention, organizational values, and the potential benefits that can accrue as a result of implementation. Moreover, consumers view sustainably-oriented firms as maintaining procedures, developing products, and portraying themselves accordingly. These findings are relevant to academicians as they describe the underlying rationale for such behaviors and outline a novel conceptualization of the construct, thus invigorating future research. The results are also useful for firms as they shed light on sustainability efforts that are salient to the consumer and provide support for implementation, thereby encouraging the joint maximization of social and economic objectives.     

New Service Development: An Analysis of 27 Years of Research *

This study examines the state of the art in new service development (NSD) research published in the period between 1982, when the first NSD article appeared in an academic journal, and 2008. First, a multisource search was conducted, which resulted in the identification of 145 NSD‐related articles. Then, a content analysis was performed of these articles using multiple classifier variables with regard to general publication characteristics, focus of the research, and the research methodology that was employed. By examining the results, a number of developments in and patterns of scholarly research in NSD are revealed. More specifically, it appears that the greatest attention in the early writings was on a narrow set of NSD topics like critical success factors and the NSD process, which were predominantly investigated through large‐scale surveys with single respondents in the U.S., Canadian, and U.K. financial services industry. The analytical techniques that were used at that time were rather simple. In contrast, in recent NSD works there is an expansion of research topics (such as customer involvement and the organization of NSD) that are increasingly investigated in high‐tech service industries in Europe through qualitative research designs. Also, multiple respondent studies have started to appear in NSD investigations, while analytical techniques have also become more advanced. This pattern clearly uncovers signs of increasing maturation for the NSD discipline. In addition, some underresearched areas are identified, leading to suggestions for future research into this growing and important field.     

Two-stage adoption of different types of pollution prevention (P2) activities

Pollution prevention (P2) remains the key pollution reduction strategy in the US despite its limited success in improving environmental performance. To aid the targeting of policies to promote the types of P2 that achieve environmental goals, this study investigates the intricate nature of P2 adoption by (1) distinguishing among three types of P2: procedural changes, input and material changes and equipment and product changes, (2) disentangling the adoption decision into a binary and a count decision, and (3) analyzing benefit- and cost-related factors. Using a sample of facilities of S&P 500 firms, I employ NB hurdle models to analyze how facilities respond to these factors in making P2 adoption decisions. I find that facilities that have lower cost of adoption due to past P2 experience have higher likelihood of adoption and higher rates of adoption of all types of P2. However, those exposed to greater threat of enforcement action find limited scope for P2 in achieving environmental compliance objectives. Some regulatory threat variables even have a negative effect. Facilities also adopt P2 to enjoy market-related benefits: final good producers are more likely to adopt P2 that appeal to consumers (input and material changes), while intermediate good producers are more likely to adopt P2 that is valued by its supply chain (procedural changes). Community characteristics and other knowledge sources are not always positively associated with the likelihood of adoption nor with the rate of adoption.     

China Bashing: Does Trade Drive the “Bad” News about China in the USA?

A monthly index of “bad” news about China as reported in the USA from January 1990 to December 2008 is developed in this paper. “Bad” is defined as news touching on the following issues: human rights, Tibet, child labor, democracy, and repression. Using this bad news index, this paper documents a peculiar finding: 3–4 months after a trade deficit shock to the US–China bilateral trade balance, the frequency of bad news published about China by US media outlets rises sharply, then dies off slowly. Statistical analysis reveals that the likelihood that this finding is just a coincidence is relatively small—about 1%. In addition, this paper finds a robust association between the annual number of Congressional hearings on China and the US–China bilateral trade deficit. These results suggest that “China bashing” may be endogenous to fluctuations in the US–China bilateral trade balance.     

Marx's Theory of Ground Rent: A Critical Assessment

This critical essay provides the reader with an up-to-date assessmentof Marx's relatively neglected theory of absolute ground rentby bringing together in a coherent manner his scattered observationsand arguments contained primarily in Capital, Vol. III and Theoriesof Surplus Value, Vol. II. It also reviews the extant secondaryliterature which suggests that within Marx's theory of rentis an embryonic theory of monopoly from which scholars can drawimportant insights into the history of economic thought andthe workings of mature capitalism. The paper is organized asfollows. After an introductory section, Section II providesthe reader with an overview of Marx's theory of differentialrent and compares it to that of Ricardo, particularly Marx'sdiscussion of differential rent II and whether nature is productiveof exchange value. Section III discusses Marx's theory of absoluterent in light of recent criticisms by prominent scholars andsuggests that what determines whether rent is paid on the marginalland is not technical backwardness or lower productivity oflabor per se, but a social relation, viz., the monopoly createdby the private ownership of land. The last section summarizesthe main arguments and suggests some avenues for future research.     

International hotel chains and environmental protection: an analysis of Hilton's we care! programme (Europe, 2006–2008)

Using the case study method, this paper evaluates and analyses Hilton's we care! programme for improving the environmental performance of the 70 Hilton Worldwide hotels in operation in Continental Europe in 2006–2008. It explores the practical dimension of “greening” hotel operations in the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR), and demonstrates the close links between CSR and human resource management (HRM) in hotels. It deepens the understanding of corporate environmentalism and seeks to disseminate best practice among hospitality managers. The programme's distinctive and innovative character as well as its weaknesses and strengths are highlighted. Barriers to behavioural change in hotel operation are discussed. The programme involved over 16,000 employees, created hotel-specific action teams linking all employee levels and reduced energy use per square metre by 15%, water use and CO₂ emissions per guest night by 8% each over three years. Avoided utility costs totalled US$16 million, of which US$9.6 million can be attributed to changes in human behaviour. The paper makes a case for a holistic approach that combines the introduction of IT-based measurement and performance-assessing tools with genuine employee empowerment and green awareness raising. The study concludes with future managerial policy recommendations that simultaneously bear upon corporate environmentalism and HRM.