IT and Coordination Modes: The Case of the Garment Industry in France and US

The aim of this article is to illuminate the relations between information technologies (IT) and modes of coordination among firms. Does IT strengthen existing partnerships, accentuate market volatility or facilitate integration strategies ? Up to what point do the institutional environment and organisational forms favour the diffusion of IT or not? What may be said about the role of IT in the reorganisation of a supply chain ? Through a study of the garment industry we will try to throw light on these subjects, presenting here some preliminary results of our investigations. We first explain previous research and then show the interest of studying the garment industry as a supply chain comparing the two supply chains in France and the United States. The transaction cost perspective will help us to explore how IT affects relationships between companies. In this context the diffusion of electronic networks should be a major stake in rationalising inter-firm coordination modes. But we will see that this stake remains imperfectly strengthened: complex and rich social networks in some crucial stages of the supply chain offer a significant explanation.     

Institutional determinants of ownership stake in cross-border acquisitions in Africa: The moderating role of geographic distance

We look at how emerging markets' institutional features affect ownership stake in cross-border acquisitions (CBAs) within Africa. Particularly, we show that the presence of shared colonial history between the home and host country and the extent of fractionalization distance and formal institutional distance influence the acquiring firm's decision regarding its ownership stake in the target. Moreover, we show that geographic distance between the home and host country, by augmenting uncertainty faced by acquiring firms, moderates the relationship between these institutional features and ownership stake. We test our hypotheses in a sample of 341 intra-Africa CBAs from 2001 to 2016. Generally, we find that greater ex ante uncertainty and ex post costs increase ownership stake. Specifically, greater geographic distance strengthens the positive relationship between shared colonial history and ownership stake and reverses the negative relationship between formal institutional distance and ownership stake. As for fractionalization distance, the relationship is more nuanced and needs to be further studied. We contribute to advance research on south–south CBAs in general, particularly within Africa, as well as to extend hostage theory in foreign market entry strategies in and from emerging markets.     

Stakeholder Management, Reciprocity and Stakeholder Responsibility

Stakeholder theory advocates that firms bear responsibility for the implications of their actions. However, while a firm affects or can affect stakeholders, stakeholders can also affect the corporation. Previous stakeholder theorising has neglected the reciprocal nature of responsibility. The question can be asked whether??in a spirit of reciprocity, loyalty and fairness??stakeholders should treat the corporation in a fair and responsible way. This study based on different definitions of stakeholders argues that various stakeholder attributes differ for different categories of stakeholders. This analysis presumes that the attribute of stakeholder reciprocity can probably be restricted to real stakeholders, labelled stakeowners: genuine stakeholders with a legitimate stake, the loyal partners who strive for mutual benefits. Stakeowners own and deserve a stake in the firm. Stakeholder reciprocity could be an innovative criterion in the corporate governance debate as to who should be accorded representation on the board. Corporate social responsibility should imply corporate stakeholder responsibility.     

What Future for the EU in the Global Trading System?

The recent phase of globalisation could be characterised as “wider”, whereas the next phase to come will be “deeper”. This new phase is likely to prove bumpier than the previous one, as the issues now at stake will have more to do with values or ethics, the interpenetration of which will be both economically necessary and politically difficult. In the medium term, the growth of the European economies will become more dependent on external trade, and thus these policy challenges will need to be addressed.     

Self Interest Among CPAs May Influence Their Moral Reasoning

In 1990, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a consent order to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). The order decreed the AICPA to lessen its longstanding ethics code which had until then banned the receipts of commissions, referral fees and contingent fees. The FTC alleged that the AICPA banned receipt of the fees as an attempt to restrain trade (FTC, 1990).In the present study, we sought to determine if CPAs' preference for bans on commissions, referral fees and contingent fees is related to their moral reasoning whereby CPAs perceive the bans to serve as a means of resolving ethical issues. While determining this matter cannot prove whether the bans did or did not actually result in restrained trade, it can offer insight into the perceived ethical importance to CPAs of the overturned rules. Based on a random sample of AICPA members and using Rest's Defining Issues Test (DIT) to measure moral reasoning, we did not find a CPA's moral reasoning to be related to his/her preference for ethics rules which ban commissions, referral fees or contingent fees. However, our results did indicate that most CPAs prefer banning commissions, referral fees and contingent fees, with those CPAs holding a higher financial stake in public accounting, namely partners, favoring banning referral fees and contingent fees significantly less than CPAs with a lesser stake. Further, we noted a significant negative relationship between financial stake and moral reasoning. These results seem to suggest that self-interest among CPAs may influence their moral reasoning.Further study is needed to examine the relationship between self-interest of CPAs and their moral reasoning. If self-interest clouds moral judgments made by CPAs, capital markets are in danger. Rendering an independent audit opinion must exclude self-interest.     

The Effect of Stake Size in Experimental Bargaining and Distribution Games: A Survey

We review the literature on bargaining and distribution experiments to investigate whether changes in stake size have significant effects on behaviour in laboratory/field settings. We conclude that experiments in this field do not lead to clear/common results. The joint presence of opposing factors (e.g., increasing relative risk aversion and increasing cost of fairness) might be one reason contributing to this. Moreover, we argue that variables such as subjects’ financial conditions, cognitive abilities, risk attitudes, loss-aversion, justice orientations, and relevant personality characteristics should be controlled in laboratory experiments to understand the effect of stake size on behaviour, more clearly. Finally, quasi-experiments using data from (very) high-stake games/events and meta-analysis studies should complement (individual) controlled experiments.     

Munificence of Parent Corporate Contexts and Expatriate Cross-Cultural Training in China

The practice of providing expatriates with cross-cultural training varies widely among business corporations. To examine the proposition that some characteristics of the parent corporation context could be munificent to the practice of providing cross-cultural training, a mail survey was addressed to business expatriates in China. Surprisingly, the results showed no association between corporate size, international stake, and international experience on the one hand and the extent to which the expatriates had received cross-cultural training on the other hand. Although an ad hoc analysis found a positive relationship between international experience and the provision of sequential cross-cultural training, there was no association between any of the variables depicting corporate context and predeparture or postarrival training. The findings and their implications are discussed in detail.     

The issue network: reshaping the stakeholder model

Who is a stakeholder? In this paper, stakeholders are defined in terms of who has a stake in an issue instead of who has a stake in a firm, and in so doing introduces the idea of an “issue network.” Drawing on concepts familiar to the social movements (sociology) and interest groups (political science) literatures, I argue that members of an issue network can be identified as those with grievances, resources, or opportunities. To illustrate this argument, I consider the issue of land use in the western United States, showing how various environmental organizations might fit into such a land use network. I conclude with the INSPIRE model, which locates my argument in this larger model of stakeholder management currently being constructed in the stakeholder literature. Copyright © 2010 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The impact of venture capital on family businesses: Evidence from Spain

We analyzed growth in family and non-family Spanish venture capital-backed firms. When the venture capital (VC) firm does not hold a majority stake, the usual risk aversion attitudes in family firms may lead to conflicts between the management cultures of the existing and new shareholders, which may affect growth. We found lower firm growth after the initial round in family firms only when the investor holds a minority stake. Our results may explain the under-representation of family firms in VC portfolios and highlight the need to align the objectives of family managers and VC investors before the initial VC round.     

Catholic social teaching and the employment relationship: A model for managing human resources in accordance with Vatican doctrine

Using relevant encyclicals issued over the last 100 years, the author extracts those principles that constitute the underpinnings of Catholic Social Teaching about the employment relationship and contemplates implications of their incorporation into human resource policy. Respect for worker dignity, for his or her family's economic security, and for the common good of society clearly emerge as the primary guidelines for responsible human resource management. Dovetailing these three Church mandates with the economic objectives of the firm could, in essence, alter the firm's nature because profit motivations would be constrained by consideration for worker and societal welfare. Integration of Church teaching with current corporate goals should therefore impact greatly on a variety of human resource policies.The author, Michael A. Zigarelli, is a former National Labor Relations Board field examiner. He is currently a doctoral candidate. The author's primary research interests include labor and employment law, collective bargaining, and ethical treatment of workers.     

China' Auto Industry Under the Financial Crisis

The global financial tsunami has swept the automobile industry and put major auto markets in the world at stake.     

Employees as Stakeholders

In the context of employees, the discussion centres not so much on whether employees are stakeholders as on how their stakes should be embodied. In this article, the author argues that from the point of view of the performance of the firm, the best way to incorporate employee stake is by schemes which combine participation in control with participation in financial returns.     

Investment Bank to Buy into Budget Motel Chain

Shanghai＇s copper exchange is expected to react calmly to reports that China State Reserves Bureau （SRB） plans to export 200, 000 tonnes of copper from its stockpile soon to dampen prices. The SRB is running out of time. On December 21, it will have to deliver or buy 130,000 tonnes of copper on the open market because of futures contracts signed in July and August by its trader Liu Qibing at about US$3,200 a tonne.     

A qualitative approach to the intangible cost of road traffic injuries

The consequences of fatal and non-fatal road traffic injuries (RTI) at the personal and household levels were analysed using qualitative interviews of 12 injured and of 12 relatives of people who died for this reason. Collisions change physical and mental health both of the injured and of their relatives. This leads to changes in daily activities and even to the redefinition of future life. RTI also changes the way people see and act in life, becoming an experience that teaches them. Survivors commonly transmit a road safety message afterwards. Changes in family life were evident (in extreme cases family's composition also changed), affecting intra-familial relationships. Associated unexpected and unplanned expenditures and loss of income have consequences in the short, medium and long term that unbalance household's economies and immerse people into a constant stress. Individuals and family's future plans are occasionally condition to whether they have or not debts. Household dependence in economic terms was sometimes observed, as well as uncertainty about future life and household's sustainability. Sometimes, households change and adapt their life to what they now are able to afford, having important repercussions in vital spheres.     

国美“盗梦”

一旦家族强势的管理者去职,接班人并没有实际的经营权,类似统而不摄的君主立宪体制,家族难免担心企业的主导力量脱离控制后会侵害到家族的利益。     

Ethical Reasoning and the Use of Insider Information in Stock Trading

The cognitive developmental theory of ethics suggests that there is a positive relationship between ethical reasoning and ethical behavior. In this study, we trained a sample of accounting and finance students in performing competitive stock trading in our state-of-the-art trading room. The subjects then performed trading of stocks under two experimental conditions: insider information, and no-insider information where significant performance-based financial awards were at stake. We also administered the Defining Issues Test (DIT). Ethical behavior, as the dependent variable was measured in a binary scale: whether the subjects used insider information for trading of stocks or not. Ethical reasoning as measured by the DIT P-score indicated statistically significant effect on ethical behavior. The results have important implications for recruitment and training of professionals engaged in the use of financial markets for securities trading.     

China to Strengthen Banking Supervision

China will strengthen supervision on the banking systen,said China＇s Vice Prenier Huang Ju on January 16.     

Codes of ethics in the light of fairness and harm

Nine codes of ethics from companies in the Swedish financial sector were subjected to a content analysis to determine how they address and treat employees. The codes say a great deal about employee conduct and misconduct but next to nothing about employee rights, their rightful expectations or their value to the firm. The normative analysis – echoing some of the value‐based HRM literature – draws on the foundational values of respect, equality, reciprocity and care. The analysis shows that most of the codes are in conflict with these values. Such a treatment is then in conflict with fairness and risks harming the employees. Some of the features that make these codes ethically problematic are typical of how corporate codes have been described in previous code studies. Consequently, the normative analysis reaches beyond the scope of this material and in the end, what is at stake, is a very typical code design.     

母子公司股权关系对子公司定价行为的影响

股权控制是母公司实现对子公司控制的基本模式,不同的股权关系所形成的控制力和影响存在差异。按与母公司所形成的不同股权关系,子公司可以分为全资子公司、控股子公司和参股子公司。母子公司之间产品价格的实施既会影响到集团整体战略,也会影响到集团各方利益。因此,母公司会对子公司的定价行为进行控制来实现集团的整体利益。     

Fairmont Hotels' turnaround strategy

Fairmont Hotels 1991 turnaround was engineered by Robert Small in a situation where what was at stake was the company's survival—and Small's chance to demonstrate how to revitalize a chain.