Flexibility at different stages in the life cycle of projects: An empirical illustration of the “freedom to maneuver”

Many textbooks on project management present illustrations concerning the relative size of project attributes during different project phases. The derived models all have attributes in common, such as uncertainty, significance of decisions, and degree of freedom to maneuver, that are typically high in the beginning of the project and low in the end. At the same time, variables such as the accumulated cost and available information begin at low levels and end up at a high level at the end of the project. Based on empirical data from projects, this paper illustrates and quantifies one of these attributes, the freedom to maneuver, in different project phases.     

工程建设项目战略灵活性的实物期权评价

为了进一步提高项目价值,项目经理必须认识项目规划和管理的不确定性。传统的工程项目规划、预算和管理往往认为不确定性降低了项目的价值,并没有从中充分地挖掘增加项目价值的机会。实物期权方法就是利用战略灵活性来识别和把握在动态不确定中所隐蔽的项目价值。通过一个高速公路项目的案例来展示实物期权方法所带来的管理灵活性对评价和选择战略的重要意义。还讨论了实物期权应用中的一些问题,指出了今后研究的方向。     

Completing the State Space with Subjective States

We define an opportunity act as a mapping from an exogenously given objective state space to a set of lotteries over prizes, and consider preferences over opportunity acts. We allow the preferences to be possibly uncertainty averse. Our main theorem provides an axiomatization of the maxmin expected utility model. In the theorem we construct subjective states to complete the objective state space. As in E. Dekel et al. (Econometrica, in press), we obtain a unique subjective state space. We also allow for preference for flexibility in some of the subjective states and commitment in others. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Number: D81.     

Overeducation, regional labor markets, and spatial flexibility

For most workers, access to suitable employment is severely restricted by the fact that they look for jobs in the regional labor market rather than the global one. In this paper we analyze how macrolevel opportunities (regional market characteristics) and microlevel restrictions (the extent to which job searchers are restricted to the regional market) can help to explain the phenomenon of overeducation. We use a two-step procedure to control selective access to employment. The results show that the size of the labor market is an important factor in avoiding overeducation.     

An Empirical Investigation of the Resource-based Antecedents of Customer Value in Turbulent Environments in China

With the increasingly turbulent environment and the significant role of customers in business success, creating and delivering superior customer value by deploying unique competences of a firm has been winning more attention. However, studies of customer value seem rather divergent and fragmented, and few studies, if any, have been conducted to identify the distinctive capabilities that determine the effective and efficient creation and delivery of customer value. This paper tries to bridge such gaps and explores the fundamental antecedents of customer value in turbulent environments in perspective of a resource-based theory. Based on the structural equation models developed, we find that technological competences, integrative competence and strategic flexibility are the key resource-based antecedents of customer value while no evidence is found to support the impact of marketing competences on customer value. Furthermore, only the moderating role of marketing turbulence in the relationship between customer value and strategic flexibility is detected and supported.     

对高新技术企业R＆D财务管理柔性的思考

从系统的角度分析了高新技术企业R＆D财务管理的刚性和柔性以及R＆D财务管理柔性在R＆D财务管理活动中的体现，在此基础上提出了高新技术企业R＆D财务管理柔性的定义和R＆D财务集成管理的构想。     

供应链系统柔性经济定量模型

企业系统柔性是众多文献讨论得比较多的问题,然而系统地研究供应链系统的柔性,目前还处于初始阶段.在现有为数不多的供应链系统柔性研究文献中,定性讨论较多,定量研究方法多为模拟、加权评价法等.完整而系统地采用数学模型对供应链系统的整体柔性作出定量和说明,对于整个供应链系统的规划和决策,具有重要意义.但是,这方面的研究基本上还是空白.本文利用产品组合柔性（Product mix flexibility）的概念,建立了供应链系统的整体柔性经济定量模型,该模型能够对供应链系统的整体柔性作出定量化解释,从而帮助供应链系统作出柔性决策.     

Trade-off Model of Debt Maturity Structure

In this paper, we suggest the trade-off model to explain the choice of debt maturity. This model is based on balancing between risk and reward of using shorter-term loans. Shorter-term loans have cost advantage over, but incur higher refinancing and interest rate risk than longer-term loans. Using the Compustat data, we show that the principal components of financial attributes are financial flexibility and financial strength. Therefore, only firms with greater financial flexibility and financial strength can use proportionately more short-term loans. We also document that financially strong firms take advantage of lower interest rates of short-term debt. They use proportionately more short-term loans when the term premium is high. The results of our study also provide evidence supporting the agency cost hypothesis, which is strongly supported by current literature.     

Organizational resources enabling service responsiveness: Evidence from Greece

This article examines the implementation of relationship marketing strategy based on a sample of business-to-business firms operating in Greece. Organizational resources, including a focus on learning and flexibility/adaptation in strategic planning, are demonstrated to be antecedents of effective relationship marketing strategies. The possession of these resources lead to superior customer performance (as measured by customer satisfaction and loyalty) and, ultimately, superior financial performance (as measured by profit levels, profit margin, and ROI). Our results provide support for the development of organizational resources that foster and enable relationship marketing in business-to-business environments since such resources are linked with improved firm performance.