“Do frogs jump as a result of privatisation?” Impact of privatisation on buyer–supplier relationships

As the cornerstone of the Conservative Government between 1979 and 1996, privatisation has undoubtedly had an enormous impact on the UK economy. On the whole, privatised companies have improved their performance in an ever increasing competitive environment by focusing on, among other things, a drive to reduce costs through bought-out goods and services. Research into Japanese companies, meanwhile, has highlighted the key role that supplier relationships play in their success. It has stressed the advantages of co-operative over adversarial relationships with suppliers, and evidence shows that an increasing number of Western companies are adopting this practice. This has raised the profile of purchasing in these companies with a change towards `better practice’ and improved management of the supplier base. From this new research a model of Feature and Construct Evaluation and Aggregation (FCEA) has been developed, in the search for a link to support the proposition that privatisation has an influence on purchasing strategies concerning supplier relationships. The research has shown that only a very limited link exists. Whilst Purchasing as an activity has increased in its importance and control, it has not become strategic. Purchasing strategies have not evolved or supported the business strategy as a result of privatisation, nor does privatisation encourage the development of purchasing strategies towards closer relationships with suppliers. This is compounded by the EC Directives that reflect an `open tender’ model of procurement, particularly evident in the emphasis on formal competitive tendering procedures and maintaining an `arms-length’ relationship with suppliers.     

New Technology and Career Progression in Financial Institutions

A recent study by the Institute of Manpower Studies has found that technology has had an influence on career progression within financial institutions resulting in an expansion of the ‘professional’ tier. The clerical tier has changed to become a non-career sector characterised by predominantly a female and often part-time work-force. This has resulted in a diamondshaped employment structure rather than the traditional pyramid.     

对当前外资参与我国国有企业改革重组的分析

对外开放20多年来,我国已成为全球最大的FDI流入国之一。外商投资已经成为影响中国经济增长、技术进步、就业增加的重要因素。外资企业在改变我国企业传统的经营方式、经营观念,提升市场竞争力等方面发挥了重要的作用。随着中国加入WTO,外资也开始积极参与我国国有企业改革重组。从外资进入我国的实际情况看,外商投资对国有企业改革与发展的积极效应非常明显。本文就外商投资参与国有企业改革的现状进行客观研究评价,并结合当前情况对今后利用外资进行国有企业改革的前景进行了分析。     

市场导向、组织学习创新及组织绩效:基于珠江三角洲企业的实证研究

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among market orientation, learning orientation, organizational innovation and organizational performance through a structural equation modeling approach. This study uses a sample of 143 companies in the Pearl River Delta region of China. Results show that (1) market orientation has no positive direct impact on organizational performance; (2) market orientation has a direct impact on learning orientation; (3) learning orientation has a direct impact on administrative and technical innovation; (4) market orientation has a direct impact on organizational innovation by learning orientation; (5) administrative innovation has a positive direct impact on organizational performance while technical innovation does not impact on organizational performance directly; (6) technical innovation has a positive impact on administrative innovation; (7) learning orientation has an indirect impact on organizational performance through influencing organizational innovation; (8) market orientation has impact on learning orientation, which has an impact on organizational innovation, which in turn has an impact on organizational performance. Managerial implications are discussed, along with suggestions for further research. Translated from Guanli Shijie 管理世界 (Management World), 2006, (2): 80–94, 143     

In Search of Instruments. Business and Ethics Halfway

Business ethics has gradually acquired a stable status, both as an academic discipline and as a practice. Stakeholdership is recognised as a guiding concept, business has widely accepted that it has a license to operate to win from society at large, and operational instruments such as codes of ethics and forms of ethical auditing and accounting take shape more and more. Yet lacunae remain. Three are mentioned explicitly. Business ethics has to improve its relations with business law, the concept of competition deserves much more ethical attention than it has received up to now, and the shifting relations between the market, governmental agencies and civil society require the elaboration of an institutional business ethics.     

Successful implementation of ERP systems in small businesses: a case study in Korea

The implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems supporting business processes across many different departments and partners has been known to be much more difficult than the development of a computer application supporting a single business function. In this article, we present a case study of an ERP system application by a small business. Jinyang Oil Seal Co., Ltd. is a professional oil seal manufacturer for automobiles and electronic equipment in Korea. Jinyang has recently adopted and implemented an ERP system, which has helped the organization to achieve a competitive advantage. This article reports how Jinyang coped with the typical challenges that most small business organizations face when implementing an ERP system.     

Ethics and Executive Coaching: An Agency Theory Approach

In recent years executive coaching has become an important management development practice in many organizations. Executive coaching is a partnership between a management level client and a coach hired by an organization to assist the executive in becoming a more effective and successful manager. While executive coaching has become a frequent and important practice in organizations, there has been relatively little serious consideration of the complex ethical issues that arise for persons and organizations. This study proposes that executive coaching involves an agency relation with specific moral duties that go beyond the usual standards of professional ethics. Agency theory, and in particular a focused understanding of the agency relationship, can provide a needed ethical grounding and basis for moral thinking about executive coaching.     

我国农产品遭遇他国技术贸易壁垒的实证分析

文章运用计量经济学及多元统计学的方法,对我国农产品遭遇技术贸易壁垒的原因进行了实证分析。结论表明,如果贸易国是世贸组织成员国,农业人口比重较大,人均国民收入较高或农民的经济地位较高,则该国实施技术贸易壁垒的可能性会降低。而如果贸易国越是属于农业型国家、GDP越大,则该国实施技术贸易壁垒的可能性会增高。进一步的分析还发现,农业GDP比重,农业人口比重,人均国民总收入,农业人均GDP和GDP总量对贸易国是否对我国实施技术贸易壁垒有着重要影响.     

Understanding absenteeism: The potential contribution of economic theory

The issue of employee absenteeism has been an important subject of psychological research for at least 35 years. Although there has been a substantial research effort, only recently has movement occurred toward a comprehensive theoretical framework with testable implications. This paper offers an economic theory of absence which provides substantial insight into the incentive aspect of the problem. The theory is tested using data from a large industrial site.     

粮食工程也是极为重要的生命线工程

生命线工程研究取得了丰富的成果,也对城市的安全运营提供了重要的保障作用。然而,粮食工程系统作为重要的国民经济部门,其重要性虽然得到一定程度的认识,但随着整个国家的工作重心向城市的倾斜,农村被忽略了,粮食的重要作用也未能得到全面而深刻的认识。与其他的生命线工程相比,粮食工程也是重要的生命线,甚至更基础和更重要。除了具有一般生命线的特征外,粮食生命线还具有更鲜明的特征,如生命的流质特性,具有更大的回还空间,以及更加复杂的关联作用等。这些特征表明,粮食工程无疑是重要的生命线工程,值得进行更深入的研究。     

THE FIRE HAZARDS ASSOCIATED WITH TEXTILES USED ON BEDS

Recent research has shown that special conditions under which textiles are used on beds require special test methods to be used for assessing the flammability of these materials. A new method has been developed which has been subjected to an extensive inter-laboratory trial and which is intended to become a British Standard. Application of this method to a wide range of bedding materials currently used in private houses as well as public establishments (hospitals, hotels, etc.) has drawn attention to fabric structure as a major factor affecting flammability. There appears to exist a need to develop structures which satisfy in an optimal way the respective requirements of safety and thermal efficiency.     

新型城镇化、主销区粮食自给底线与能力安全

在新型城镇化和工业化的背景下，大量农村劳动力持续外流而放弃粮食生产转向收益较高的非粮产业。近年来，由于高度重视粮食生产和加大强农惠农支持力度，全国粮食产量实现“十二连增”，库存也随之攀升。但主销区粮食产需缺口逐年扩大，进口粮增加并创历史新高。本文认为粮食主销区需明确自给底线、增强调入能力，调整产出结构，保护粮食生产能力，实现粮食能力安全。     

Corporate Image: Employee Reactions and Implications for Managing Corporate Social Performance

Corporate image is a function of organizational signals which determine the perceptions of various stakeholders regarding the actions of an organization. Because of its relationship to the actions of an organization, image has been studied as an indicator of the social performance of the organization. Recent research has determined that social performance has direct effects on the behaviors and attitudes of the organization's employees. To better understand these effects, this study develops and empirically tests a model which links corporate leaders' actions, employees' perceptions of corporate image, and the employees' level of association with the organization. The effects of managing the social environment of an organization on its employees' perceptions of image, attitudes, and intended behaviors are discussed.     

浅析物业管理与构建和谐社会关系

提高人民群众生活质量,消除社会矛盾,加强精神文明建设,是构建和谐社会的重要内容.作为城市管理的一部分,物业管理越来越为人们认同,成为了居家生活的重要组成部分,其在和谐社会方面有着不可低估的作用.     

浅议农业物流人才需求

发展现代农业物流,已经成为有效解决"三农"问题、建设社会主义新农村的重要组成部分。而农业物流人才的短缺已成为制约农业物流发展的一个瓶颈。构建畅通的农业物流人才培养渠道,对中国农业发展意义极其深远。     

After Durkheim: An Agenda for the Scoiology of Business Ethics

Over the last twenty years the organization of business activity appears to have shifted from an emphasis on bureaucratic organizations toward an emphasis on market structures. Economic self-interest has acquired a new social legitimacy, and the force of traditional moral authorities has waned. In these circumstances the work of Emile Durkheim on the problematics of business ethics and the impact of a culture of self-interest on the stability of society, work that has hitherto been neglected by the business ethics community, acquires a new relevance. In this paper we review Durkheim's problematization of business ethics, establish its relevance for the contemporary world, and use it to develop an empirical research agenda for the contemporary sociology of business ethics.     

Role of the stadium in the value enhancement process of a rugby union match

Abstract

The role of place value in the value-enhancement process of an experience has been widely debated in the retailing and services sectors. Yet, the role a stadium plays in the overall experience process of a sport event has not received a similar attention. This article aims at filling this academic gap. Through a dyadic qualitative study involving nine professional experts (four club executives and five senior professionals of the sports industry) and seven sports spectators, and its subsequent confirmatory quantitative study (n = 1,429), the authors show that both the value of the match and the value of the stadium have an impact on the perceived global value of a sport event. If match value has a direct influence on global perceived value, stadium value has both a direct and an indirect effect on global perceived value – the latter is mediated by match value. Besides, the results of the structural equation modelling (AMOS 24) show that perceived proximity is an antecedent to both stadium value and match value.     

抓好速度耐力,突出强度,提高密度——高校中长跑训练方式之谈

高校进行中长跑训练是高校办高水平运动队的产物,运动员以在校大学生为主,运动员一边学习一边训练,属于＂边学边训性＂,运动训练具有较强的业余性。这一特点决定了高校运动队不能采用专业队的训练方法和标准,而应立足于自身的现实条件,去寻找适合自己的训练方法。高校中长跑项目的教学、训练应结合高校体育教育的特点,抓好速度耐力,突出专项,突出强度,提高密度,对运动员运动成绩的提高效果比较理想。     

Researching taste: an interview of Antoine Hennion

ABSTRACT

Antoine Hennion is a Professor of Sociology at the Centre de Sociologie de l’Innovation (Mines-Paris Tech, PSL/CNRS). He has been researching taste and cultural practices through a pragmatic lens for three decades. He has developed an original and impactful theoretical framework bridging the Actor-Network Theory to Cultural Studies. More precisely, he reconceptualized the notions of mediation and attachment. Antoine Hennion has explored various empirical settings, including music, wine, and sports. More recently, he has contributed to a large research project on migration. His books and academic articles have had an impact on Sociology, and are getting greater attention in consumer research.     

A management perspective on business ethics

In recent years the institutionalisation of ethics as a means of enhancing the ethical nature of business operations has received widespread empirical coverage. To date, however, few studies have been conducted in the Australian business context. This paper examines the institutionalisation of ethics by a sample of companies based in Perth, Western Australia. In particular, company representatives were asked if their company was institutionalising ethics, why this initiative was undertaken, how this was taking place and what specific issues were being addressed in the institutionalisation process. The results suggest that perceptions of external parties were the primary motivation for ethics institutionalisation efforts although there was also considerable focus on trying to internalise ethical values. In terms of how ethics were being institutionalised the responding companies were more likely to have conducted ethics training programs than to have written Codes of Conduct and in general it appears that few companies were developing comprehensive formal ethics programs. The primary issue covered by these institutionalisation efforts was the observance of laws.Geoffrey Soutar is the Professor and Head of School of Management and Marketing, Curtin Business School. He has an Economics Honours Degree, Master of Arts and a Ph.D.Margaret McNeil is a Senior Lecturer, Curtin Business School. She has an Arts Honours Degree, an Education degree and a Master of Business (Distinction).Caron Molster is a research assistant, Curtin Business School, and has a Bachelor of Business (Honours). She has an interest in business ethics, an area in which she undertook her honours research project.