A sustainable governance model to prevent corporate corruption: Integrating anticorruption practices,corporate strategy and business processes

Our paper investigates the integration of anticorruption practices, corporate strategy and business processes of contemporary organisations to provide a new and emerging sustainable governance model. Using the single case study approach to answer our research question, we provide novel evidence from the analysis of the Italian manufacturing company Acciai Speciali Terni Spa. Our case study interprets a consolidated entrepreneurial experience, constructing an integrated meta‐management framework of anticorruption practices. Enriching existing literature, we have adopted the frameworks by Asif et al., (2010) and Asif et al., (2011) to test results and obtain general perspectives and practical implications for organisations, regulators and governments, proposing a sustainable governance model to prevent corruption and bribery.     

Towards a contingency theory of corporate planning: a systematic literature review

A major research stream examines corporate planning in its context by drawing on the contingency approach, which forms a major theoretical basis for the fields of strategic management and management control. This research paper provides a comprehensive review of this research stream and identifies important contingency factors, recurring results, and commonalities with the theoretical basis of the contingency approach. It reviews 195 studies that investigate the context factors of corporate planning at the organizational level of analysis and were published in ranked academic journals since 1967. This review contributes three findings to a contingency theory of corporate planning. First, this research stream is highly fragmented, replication of findings is scarce, and the cumulative growth of knowledge is restricted. My review shows that 866 different causal models link 30 context factors and 54 design aspects of the corporate planning system, and yet 498 of these causal models are only addressed in one single study. Second, the majority of contingency studies employ the selection fit approach and cross-sectional data. The more rigorous tests of contingency hypotheses, interaction fit and system fit approaches based on longitudinal data, are relatively scarce. Third, this review highlights consistent results across divergent research settings and designs. Thus, it identifies four important context factors of a corporate planning system: (a) management and planning philosophy, (b) organizational size, (c) environmental uncertainty, and (d) task interdependence. This comprehensive set of context factors facilitates the development of a more pronounced contingency theory of corporate planning.     

Towards an operations strategy model of servitization: the role of sustainability pressure

Servitization requires an important strategic shift to drive changes in the operations of manufacturing firms. Using a large-scale survey, the purpose of this paper is (1) to build and validate an operations strategy model of servitization confirming previous case study findings on servitization as a strategic action and (2) to explore the role of sustainability pressures in, and the sustainability performance effects of, pursuing service-based operations strategies. To reach these objectives, a dataset including the responses of 735 manufacturing plants from 21 different countries is analyzed using the PLS-SEM method. The results indicate that the sustainability pressures of stakeholders can push manufacturers to adopt a service-based operations strategy, materializing in the provision of both basic (product-oriented) and advanced (customer-oriented) services (BAS and ADS). Our analysis further indicates that while offering BAS is a precondition for ADS provision, only ADS can offer a competitive edge for manufacturers, both in terms of service and sustainability-related operational performance.     

Microeconomic foundations of corporate strategy

This paper examines several approaches to corporate strategic planning in the context of their relationship to the microeconomic theory of the firm, and discusses the implications of that theory for corporate strategy in general. Specifically, three types of analytical tools are discussed: (1) analytical portfolio models; (2) business simulation models; and (3) optimization models. Examples of how the three types of tools are used in corporate decision-making are given, and certain limitations are cited. The limitations include, for example, the inability of some of the models to deal with interdependencies across business units in production resources or output demand. Finally, the paper examines the approach to strategic planning known as the ‘strategy matrix’, which explicitly allows for interdependices across business units. The use of the strategy matrix by a major petroleum company is discussed in some detail.     

Knowledge-based view of corporate strategy

This paper discusses a framework of the strategy-making process for executing and continuing both the building of a new, ongoing market position and the acquisition of new capabilities so that a corporation could achieve innovation in the future. This paper describes the case of high-tech corporations in the field of Information and Communication Technology which is undergoing intense change in Japan. This paper also would like to present a new viewpoint on knowledge-based theory of the firm based on data obtained from qualitative research into the time series strategy-making process over the past 11 years. These corporations successfully introduced new products and services to the market through a spiraling knowledge integrating approach through networked knowledge communities as a dynamic view of strategy aimed at deliberately and continually creating new markets.     

体验经济与企业营销战略

从微软推出的号称"重新定义了人、软件和网络之间的体验关系"的XP(eXPerience)操作系统,到惠普公司提出的全面客户体验--TCE(Total Customer Experience),以及国内联想公司正在全力打造的"全面客户导向"的营销战略,体验经济时代已经悄悄来临.其实体验经济(experience economy)一词最早可追溯到美国未来学家阿尔文·托夫勒在1970年所写的《Future Shock》一书中,托夫勒在30年前就预言:经济发展在经历了产品经济、服务经济之后,体验经济将是最新的经济形态.美国两位著名学者B·约瑟夫·派恩二世(B.Joseph PineⅡ)和詹姆斯·H·吉尔摩(James H.Gilmore)1998年在《哈佛商业评论》上发表的《欢迎进入体验经济》一文以及1999年两人合著的《体验经济》一书的面世,进一步诠释了体验经济的实质.伴随着新世纪的到来,30年前托夫勒的预言正在变成现实.     

Dynamic change of corporate environmental strategy: rhetoric and reality

Although rhetoric involves political and symbolic posture, and does not always accurately represent reality, it plays an important role in the dynamic change process of environmental strategy. We first elaborate on the related concepts and develop frameworks to analyze corporate environmental strategy and its change. We report two case studies of Korean companies using the framework. Longitudinal case studies also provide additional implications for corporate environmental strategy in developing countries such as Korea. There is a gap between the rhetoric and reality of environmental strategy and it constantly changes over time depending on specific internal and external influences. The strength of external influences is a factor that determines whether the change is real or merely rhetorical. Internal organizational variables most likely affect the reality of environmental strategy. We show that the elaboration of rhetorical and realistic aspects of corporate environmentalism can bring out deeper insights and new theoretical developments. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment     

Implementing a corporate environmental strategy: establishing coordination and control within multinational companies

This article presents the results of an empirical study that investigated coordination and control within multinational companies over six key aspects of their environmental strategy. Specifically, it first examines the level of centralization of these key issues. Second, it investigates whether there is a positive relation between three variables associated with organizational complexity and the level of centralization of the environmental issues. Statistical analyses of the data obtained from a sample of 98 North American multinationals were conducted. The study's results revealed that most companies have adopted a global environmental standard to govern their worldwide business activities that is supported by strong central controls over both environmental performance evaluation of facilities and decisions regarding the development of environmental programs. Results also revealed that there are limited links between organizational complexity and most aspects of the environmental strategy. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Network legitimacy diffusion: a model for corporate entrepreneurship

International corporate entrepreneurship increasingly requires broader internal and external networks and legitimacy seeking in areas where the corporation and the entrepreneur are not well known. In this article, the important factors that influence the degree of legitimacy granted to corporate entrepreneurs are proposed and discussed. Specifically, we identify three primary levels of legitimacy: pragmatic legitimacy, normative legitimacy, and structural legitimacy. A model is proposed that suggests that organizations move through these levels of legitimacy resulting in differing brokering behaviors for network building. In addition, we integrate this effort into a global perspective by focusing on corporate entrepreneurs who seek to engage in international efforts. Implications for future research are provided.     

Matching structure and strategy: Towards a market orientation in health care

The introduction of an ‘internal’ or ‘managed’ market mechanism into the National Health Service required fundamental structural reorganisation, involving the separation of purchaser and provider functions. While a degree of structural change has occurred among the emergent purchasing organisations subsequent to the initial reforms, there is a lack of corresponding evidence of ongoing structural change in acute provider units. Despite the existence of a direct relationship between organisational structure and strategy, the extent of change in the organisational structure of hospitals is questionable. Indeed at the macro level current acute hospital structures, that is NHS Trusts, are remarkably similar to ‘pre-reform’ structures, despite the unsuitability of these structures for the market orientation required by the internal market. Such prevalence arguably reflects the marginal effect that current managerial structures have had on those delivering services and the predominance of the medical hierarchies. Specifically, those responsible for the marketing of hospital services in current structures are not directly linked to those who deliver the service, in spite of the introduction of clinical directorate structures. Part of a broader study of the market behaviour of acute NHS Trusts in Scotland, this paper explores the organisational avenues open to health care providers to overcome this separation in the pursuit of market-led service delivery and concomitant market orientation.     

Business model innovation in corporate entrepreneurship: exploratory insights from corporate accelerators

Corporate accelerators are a rapidly growing entrepreneurial phenomenon occurring in different business contexts and business models within corporate entrepreneurship. Corporate accelerators are considered as an innovation fostering approach within new ventures provided by start-ups. The aim of the paper is twofold: firstly, to explore the motives behind corporations’ engagement with start-ups in launching corporate accelerators, and secondly, to identify the corporate benefits and challenges of this business model innovation. The research design is based on a qualitative interpretative approach exploiting a triangulation of methods by using in-depth interviews (IDI) with corporate managers involved in development of corporate accelerators as well as a focus group interview (FGI) with industry experts. In addition, secondary data were applied to strengthen the exploratory research. The study demonstrates that a wide range of benefits stem from the accelerator activities which can ultimately can initiate changes in large companies. Our research expands on prior findings and suggests that corporate accelerators are driven by internal and external push and pull motives. The study contributes to expanding the scope of corporate entrepreneurship research in regard to the challenges and benefits of corporate accelerators. It provides evidence that corporate accelerators are a source of innovation that can be used to foster entrepreneurial-market logic and entrepreneurial learning.

     

Connecting strategic orientation,innovation strategy,and corporate sustainability: A model for sustainable development through stakeholder engagement

This paper aims to enhance our understanding of the relationship between organizations' strategic orientation (i.e., instrumental, equidistant, and stewardship) and their innovational strategy (i.e., organizational ambidexterity and open innovation), and this relationship's influence on their sustainability performance. We expected organizations' strategic orientation to influence their innovational strategy and exhibit better corporate sustainability. We focused on 12 different multinational organizations in the Eurozone and found that inbound open innovation acts as a driver for corporate sustainability while simultaneously positively enabling organizations to pursue both financial and social initiatives. After suggesting open innovation as a new corporate sustainability antecedent, we only found empirical evidence of inbound open innovation. However, we would suggest that if organizations incorporated outbound open innovation in their strategy, they could likely improve their corporate sustainability. Also, we found that achieving an equidistant or stewardship orientation paves the way for sustainability to become an integral part of an organization's innovational culture and actualizes the organization's strategic behavior. Our findings further contribute to a deeper understanding of organizations' characteristics as their sustainability commitment grows and as they move from an instrumental to a stewardship orientation and implement an open innovational strategy.     

Towards a national educational planning model

The reflections of this paper are based upon some of the experiences of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development since work was started on educational planning in the late 1950's. It attempts to show how this work has led almost inevitably to the adoption of a “systems approach” to educational planning over a large part of the O.E.C.D. programme. The paper is confined to educational planning activities in which the O.E.C.D. has had some involvement and deals with only a part of those activities—national educational planning within the context of economic and social development.     

企业核心竞争力与多元化经营战略

在市场经济体制下,多元化经营成为大企业实现可持续成长的共同战略,但企业成功实施多元化经营需具备资金、技术和管理等方面的实力.而近年来我国一些企业核心竞争力的下降与盲目地多样化战略有很大关系,所以回归主营业务和建立核心竞争力是企业应该考虑的首要战略.     

TACD: a transportable ant colony discrimination model for corporate bankruptcy prediction

This paper presents a transportable ant colony discrimination strategy (TACD) to predict corporate bankruptcy, a topic of vital importance that is attracting increasing interest in the field of economics. The proposed algorithm uses financial ratios to build a binary prediction model for companies with the two statuses of bankrupt and non-bankrupt. The algorithm takes advantage of an improved version of continuous ant colony optimisation (CACO) at the core, which is used to create an accurate, simple and understandable linear model for discrimination. This also enables the algorithm to work with continuous values, leading to more efficient learning and adaption by avoiding data discretisation. We conduct a comprehensive performance evaluation on three real-world data sets under a stratified cross-validation strategy. In three different scenarios, TACD is compared with 11 other bankruptcy prediction strategies. We also discuss the efficiency of the attribute selection methods used in the experiments. In addition to its simplicity and understandability, statistical significance tests prove the efficiency of TACD against the other prediction algorithms in both measures of AUC and accuracy.     

Agent based-stock flow consistent macroeconomics: Towards a benchmark model

The paper moves from a discussion of the challenges posed by the crisis to standard macroeconomics and the solutions adopted within the DSGE community. Although several recent improvements have enhanced the realism of standard models, we argue that major drawbacks still undermine their reliability. In particular, DSGE models still fail to recognize the complex adaptive nature of economic systems, and the implications of money endogeneity. The paper argues that a coherent and exhaustive representation of the inter-linkages between the real and financial sides of the economy should be a pivotal feature of every macroeconomic model and proposes a macroeconomic framework based on the combination of the Agent Based and Stock Flow Consistent approaches. The papers aims at contributing to the nascent AB-SFC literature under two fundamental respects: first, we develop a fully decentralized AB-SFC model with several innovative features, and we thoroughly validate it in order to check whether the model is a good candidate for policy analysis applications. Results suggest that the properties of the model match many empirical regularities, ranking among the best performers in the related literature, and that these properties are robust across different parameterizations. Second, the paper has also a methodological purpose in that we try to provide a set or rules and tools to build, calibrate, validate, and display AB-SFC models.     

Beyond workaholism: Towards a general model of heavy work investment

Although the term workaholism is widely used, little consensus exists about its meaning, and there is a great need for further theoretical and methodological advancement. We attempt to address this need by introducing the concept of Heavy Work Investment (HWI), and viewing workaholism as only one of its subtypes. Furthermore, we propose a model consisting of four main components: HWI, its possible predictors, its types, and its outcomes.In this model, using Weiner's (1985) attributional framework, we differentiate between situational and dispositional types of HWI, each with its own subtypes, as based on the predictors of such an investment. For example, financial-needs-based and employer-directed are situational subtypes, whereas workaholism and work-devotion are dispositional subtypes. Based on the proposed HWI model, we compare dispositional investors with situational investors.Finally, the measurement of HWI, as well as future research directions (study of situational investors, research across time and cultures, and exploration of inter-generational similarity/difference) is also discussed.     

On corporate structure,strategy, and performance: a study with directed acyclic graphs and PC algorithm

This paper reconsiders empirical evidence on relationships among variables related to corporate strategy, structure, and performance. Causal relationships among variables are modeled as directed acyclic graphs using PC‐algorithm. Return on Assets appears to be determined by Advertising Intensity, Unrelated Diversification, R&D Intensity, and Organizational Ownership Hierarchy. Debt Structure and Investor Characteristics do not cause (either directly or indirectly) return on assets. These latter two variables appear to be effects of return on assets, not causes. Results offer mixed support of the theory that structure causes strategy, which in turn causes performance. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Human resource management control system and firm performance: a contingency model of corporate control

This study explores how corporate controls used by the parent company of a conglomerate affect subsidiaries' human resource management (HRM) control–performance relationship. Empirical results from 93 firms reveal that the appropriate use of HRM control systems was a contributing factor to firm performance. When a subsidiary's approach to HRM was based on behavior control, performance was lower when the parent company emphasized financial control. When a subsidiary's approach to HRM was based on output control, performance was higher when the parent company emphasized either strategic or financial control. When a subsidiary's approach to HRM was based on input control, performance was higher when the parent company emphasized strategic control.