The effect of external supply knowledge acquisition,development activities and organizational status on the supply performance of SMEs

Given the increasingly strategic role of external resources, acquiring knowledge about current suppliers and the broader supply market is an important and demanding task for the purchasing and supply management (PSM) function of a firm. Performance-improvement-oriented application of external supply knowledge present further challenges for the function. To examine this, we draw on the knowledge-based view and develop a hypothesized model in which supply knowledge acquisition drives PSM exploration and exploitation orientations which in turn mediate the organizational status of PSM function in terms of supply performance. We test the model on an SME-focused and survey-based dataset, using structural equation modelling. Our results indicate that an exploitative orientation is associated with knowledge gained from the supply base, whereas an explorative orientation is predominantly associated with supply market knowledge and less with supply base knowledge, suggesting natural pairings. The findings also show how an exploitative development orientation mediates the positive association of the PSM function's organizational status with supply performance. Driven by supply base knowledge, a status-empowered exploitative PSM orientation may suppress supply market based explorative orientation in resource-scarce SMEs, thus appearing to serve as the sole path to supply performance. Our research contributes by pointing out the significance of the knowledge-resource, and the knowledge-based view, in understanding performance in PSM.     

Assessing the growth-inducing impact of the Appalachian Development Highway System in southern Ohio: Did policy promote change?

The concept of “inducing growth” is typically considered an adverse consequence of a project on the land use system. In certain instances, however, the desire to induce growth and foster land use change is a focus of land use policy. Such is the example of the Appalachian Highway Development System (AHDS) program initiated by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) during the late 1960s. With the goal of providing highway infrastructure to improve assess to a geographically isolated and historically impoverished region, the ADHS has added nearly 3000 miles of highway to the Appalachian landscape. The degree to which highway investment has contributed to regional growth remains a controversial point and tractable methods to quickly assess landscape change given a project of this magnitude are elusive. In this paper a portion of the AHDS trending through southern Ohio is examined using data acquired from the Landsat series of satellites. Beginning with a pre-highway condition in 1976, a 26 year time horizon, concluding in 2002, was analyzed based on a post-classification change detection methodology. Results of this investigation revealed slight, yet significant, levels of urban expansion within a 10 km corridor along the path of AHDS Corridor D/State Route 32. Beyond this buffer zone the land use system evidenced more stability, suggesting that as distance increased from Corridor D/State Route 32, reduced accessibility also reduced the attractiveness of land for urban uses. Relating these results back to the infrastructure investment policies of the ARC demonstrates that growth did result from the construction of Corridor D and supports previous findings that land development based on highway construction is extremely time-sensitive.     

The economics of land transfer and title insurance

In the presence of uncertainty over the title of land (due to fraud or error), a legal system can protect either the current (innocent) owner, or a previous owner who claims title. The predominant system in the United States generally awards title to the latter in the event of legitimate claim. Thus, current owners frequently purchase title insurance to provide indemnification in the event of a loss. In contrast, the Torrens system awards title to the current owner, but provides for indemnification of any legitimate claimants. We evaluate these two systems and argue that if transaction costs are low, both promote efficient assignment of title (according to the Coase Theorem), but if transaction costs are high, the Torrens system is more likely to award title to the party that values it the most (namely, the current possessor).     

Are We Better Off if Our Politicians Have More Information?

The model of public policy studied in this paper has heterogeneous citizens/voters and two public goods: one (roads) chosen directly by an elected policy‐maker, and the other (pollution) stochastically dependent on the amount of roads. Both a one‐country and a two‐country version of the model are analyzed; the latter displays externalities across the countries which create incentives for free riding and strategic delegation. The welfare effects of providing the policy‐maker with information about the relationship between roads and pollution are investigated, and it is shown that more information hurts some—sometimes even all—citizens. In particular, the opportunity not to create an institution for information gathering can serve as a commitment device for a country, although with the unfortunate effect of making the overall outcome even worse. Implications for the welfare effects of “informational lobbying” are also discussed.     

The role of planning in achieving indigenous land justice and community goals

This paper suggests that the capacity of indigenous groups to engage effectively in a range of planning activities is crucial to achieving land justice and community goals. This argument is relevant in the face of long-standing tensions between indigenous peoples residing in post-settler societies and nation-states such as Australia, Canada, and New Zealand over questions of land and natural resource use. The paper argues that effective planning is crucial for (i) protecting indigenous interests by engaging the planning activities of the state, (ii) the successful acquisition of lands through legal land claim processes, and (iii) helping indigenous communities achieve their goals by implementing effective community-based planning processes.     

Monopoly, competition and information acquisition

An incumbent monopolist is uncertain about its linear demand, but can acquire public information at a cost. We determine how an entry threat affects the firm's information acquisition. If returns to scale are constant and the state-contingent demands become more dispersed as output increases, then entry reduces information acquisition. If, however, either the incumbent or entrant has increasing returns; or if the state-contingent demands are nonlinear or fail increasing dispersion, then entry can increase information. Finally, entry can hurt consumers. Although entry always increases output, it can decrease information. Consumers sometimes prefer a better informed monopoly to a duopoly.     

中国企业海外并购的特点及成因分析

进入21世纪后，我国企业掀起了海外并购的浪潮，在这次并购浪潮中表现出并购总额持续上升、单宗交易额不断增大、并购行业向多方面扩展、并购主体多元化等新的特点。这次并购浪潮形成的原因主要有：我国经济实力的增长、我国企业对战略性资源的渴求、人民币的持续升值、外汇储备的快速增长、国家政策的转变、全球产业结构的调整等。     

甘肃省土地利用结构动态演变及其驱动力分析

在GIS技术支持下,以甘肃省1997--2006年土地利用变更调查数据及相关经济社会统计数据为基础,借助系统论中的信息熵原理,揭示了甘肃省用地结构动态演变特征,阐述了影响土地利用结构动态演变的主要自然、政策等驱动力,最后利用主成分分析方法,对该区用地结构动态演变的经济社会主要驱动因子进行了分析与探讨。     

企业并购会计处理方法的研究

伴随着市场经济的发展成熟,市场竞争日益加剧和激烈,而作为市场主体的企业欲在激烈的市场竞争中生存和发展,一般通过内部扩充和外部扩张而运行,而并购则是企业外部扩张最迅速、最典型、最重要的方式。而全球经济一体化的加速发展,中国的企业并购也愈来愈频繁。本文拟对企业并购传统会计处理方法及其新理论作初步的探讨。     

企业并购活动中目标企业选择的层次分析评估研究

企业并购是企业进行资本扩张、促进企业间存量资源合理统流动的重要途径。对企业并购中的目标企企的选择、价值评估进行研究，构建我国企业并前过程中目标企业选择的评价指标体系，运用AHP法对目标企业选择进行定量化评估，将有利于企业通过并购后，实现资源的最优配置．保证企业经营机制协调、有效地运行。