零售企业规模无边界的理论与实证分析--以沃尔玛为例

企业规模理论在企业战略联盟及企业网络化环境下受到质疑，学术界提出了企业无边界理论．零售企业尤其是沃尔玛的快速扩张又提出了另一种无边界理论。这是两种不同性质的无边界理论。就单个企业的边界来说．生产企业和流通企业存在本质的区别．生产企业的资产专用性和技术跳跃所带来的沉没成本制约了生产企业的规模扩张．而流通企业的资产通用性和技术稳定性使流通企业避免了威廉姆森的企业“复制和有选择性控制的不可能性”命题的局限。本文通过沃尔玛的规模扩张的案例．建立影响企业规模因素的模型并进行实证分析．提出了零售企业规模无边界的命题。     

Developing integrated solutions: The importance of relationships within the network

Firms that have traditionally focused on selling products, spare parts and services face difficulties with increasing competition and declining margins. They are therefore turning to new strategies where products and services are integrated into so-called integrated solutions. Research on the challenges this presents is sparse, but there is evidence that internal factors as well as external relationships play an important role. In this paper we investigate the relationships within the business network in order to uncover some of the complex issues related to integrated solutions, including how and to what extent these relationships facilitate or impede the development of integrated solutions. Two case studies of one more and one less successful initiative within the same firm are used to illustrate challenges and possible success factors for the development of integrated solutions in the capital goods industry.The paper identifies the following six factors as important when developing integrated solutions: the strength of the relationships between the different actors involved, the firm's position in the network, the firm's network horizon, the solution's impact on existing internal activities, the solution's impact on customers' core processes, and external determinants. It shows that inter- and intra-firm relationships can both enable and obstruct the development of integrated solutions. For the firms involved in the development of integrated solutions, it becomes crucial to manage this duality.     

The impact of marketing capability, operations capability and diversification strategy on performance: A resource-based view

Using resource-based view (RBV) of the firm as a theoretical backdrop; we aim to find out the relative impact of a firm's functional capabilities (namely, marketing and operations) and diversification strategies (product/service and international diversification) on financial performance. We hypothesize that this linkage depends on the firm's relative efficiency to integrate its resource-capabilities-performance triad. Using archival data of 102 UK based logistics companies, we find marketing capability is the key determinant for superior financial performance. This study highlights that a market-driven firm is likely to have better business performance than a firm focusing solely on operational capabilities. Also, firms are better off when they focus on a narrow portfolio of products/services for the clients and concentrate on a diverse geographical market. Our findings provide a new perspective to model a firm's functional capabilities and diversification strategy on its financial performance and offer a benchmarking tool to improve resource allocation decisions.     

关于资产负债表的经济学思考

本文从管理学与经济学相结合的视角对资产负债表进行重新认识,探寻资产负债表上各项目的内涵及其与管理的关系,解读企业各利益相关者的博弈行为。本文指出:企业战略直接制约了企业资产的基本结构;企业资产的基本结构与盈利模式揭示了企业对战略承诺的遵守与实施;企业资产运用的效率表现为企业基于经营活动或投资活动的两种核心竞争力;企业资本结构的安排与优化揭示了企业各资源供给者在同一利益共同体下的产权与控制权的博弈过程;企业利益相关者之间的博弈均衡即企业资本结构的长期稳定是企业可持续发展的保障机制。     

Network positioning and R&D activity: a study of Italian groups

Traditionally, R&D studies focus on organisational characteristics and internal context factor effects on a firm's R&D activities. This paper extends previous research by analysing firm–level R&D expenditures in the wider context of inter–organisational networks. Using sample of 2002 manufacturing firms in Italy, it provides evidence that R&D intensity is linked to a firm's positioning within an industrial group's hierarchy. Further tests on the antecedents of R&D expenditures are carried out in relation to the effects of firm characteristics and industry factors. Important findings include a significant and positive association between R&D intensity and the firm's size, performance, intangible assets and industry concentration. These findings suggest that, in addition to firm–level factors and its market environment, network resources and organisation may play an important role in driving the intensity of the firm's R&D expenditures.     

The accentuated CEO career horizon problem: evidence from international acquisitions

We develop a conceptual model of the career horizon problem of CEOs approaching retirement and discuss its implications on firm risk taking, specifically in engagement in international acquisitions. Based on prospect theory and agency theory, we emphasize the legacy conservation and wealth preservation concerns of CEOs and investigate how their holdings of in‐the‐money unexercised options and firm equity accentuate or mitigate the career horizon problem. The model is tested in the context of international acquisitions with a sample of 293 U.S. firms over a five‐year period (1995–1999). We find that a longer CEO career horizon is associated with a higher likelihood of international acquisitions. We also find that CEOs nearing retirement with high levels of in‐the‐money unexercised options and equity holdings are less likely to engage in international acquisitions than CEOs with low levels of in‐the‐money options and equity holdings. The study raises important considerations about the implications of CEOs' equity and in‐the‐money option holdings on firm risk taking at various stages of their career horizon. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

REIT Capital Budgeting and Equity Marginal q

Equity marginal  q  is the change in the market value of a company's equity in response to a one-unit unexpected change in its asset base. Hence, it is a profitability index that evaluates a firm's capital budgeting decisions at the margin. We estimate the equity marginal  q  for real estate–managing public corporations, namely, real estate investment trusts (REITs), in an attempt to understand how the various costs and benefits of being a public corporation play a role in managing this important asset class. Using the universe of equity REITs for the period from 1993 to 2005, we find that REITs with greater idiosyncratic volatility, higher stock turnover and smaller bid-ask spread have a higher equity marginal  q . In addition, both the holdings of institutional investors and their investment horizons are respectively positively related to equity marginal  q.  With these firm characteristics taken into account, firm size is found to be negatively related to equity marginal  q . Our findings are economically important as well, because the equity marginal  q  ratio alone accounts for approximately one-third of the total REIT shareholder wealth change during the study period.     

Sustainable fashion supply chain management under oligopolistic competition and brand differentiation

In this paper, we developed a new model of oligopolistic competition for fashion supply chains in the case of differentiated products with the inclusion of environmental concerns. The model assumes that each fashion firm's product is distinct by brand and the firms compete until an equilibrium is achieved. Each fashion firm seeks to maximize its profits as well as to minimize its emissions throughout its supply chain with the latter criterion being weighted in an individual manner by each firm. The competitive supply chain model is network-based and variational inequality theory is utilized for the formulation of the governing Nash equilibrium as well as for the solution of the case study examples. The numerical examples illustrate both the generality of the modeling framework as well as how the model and computational scheme can be used in practice to explore the effects of changes in the demand functions; in the total cost and total emission functions, as well as in the weights.     

Export intensity,scope, and destinations: Evidence from Brazil

How do the three dimensions of geographic export diversification—namely, (1) export intensity, (2) export scope, and (3) export destinations—interact in determining firm performance? How does the export intensity–performance relationship change considering export scope and destinations? Drawing on institution-based and resource-based lenses, we argue that differences between home and destination country institutional environments are amplified by the scope or variety of export destinations. As firm resources nurtured in the home country may not fit an increasing number of different foreign institutional environments, the export intensity–firm performance relationship turns negative. Conversely, our panel data analysis suggests a positive relationship between export intensity and performance when exporters from an emerging economy increase their exports to a limited number of other emerging economies. Thus, our findings extend conventional wisdom on the export intensity–firm performance relationship and suggest that the international marketing strategy literature needs to simultaneously incorporate three dimensions (including export destinations) into the geographic export diversification construct.     

Implementing market segmentation using full-refund and no-refund customer returns policies in a dual-channel supply chain structure

Products returned by customers are common in the retail industry and result in costs to both the supplier and the retailer. In practice, retailers implement returns policies that may give customers a full, partial, or no refund for returned products. In this paper, we examine how a firm that faces customer returns can enhance profit by using different customer returns policies, full-refund and no-returns, as a device to segment its market into a dual-channel structure. We also show the impact of customer returns on the firm's pricing and ordering decisions, as well as on the firm's profit in such a dual-channel structure.     

Economics of information security investment in the case of concurrent heterogeneous attacks with budget constraints

In this study we develop an analytic model for information security investment allocation of a fixed budget. Our model considers concurrent heterogeneous attacks with distinct characteristics and derives the breach probability functions based on the theory of scale-free networks. The relationships among the major variables, such as network exposure, potential loss due to a security breach, investment effectiveness, and security investment levels, are investigated via analytical and numerical analyses subject to various boundary conditions. In particular, our model shows how a firm should allocate its limited information security budget to defend against two classes of security attacks (targeted and opportunistic) concurrently. Among the results of these analyses, we find that a firm with a limited security budget is better off allocating most or all of the investment to measures against one of the classes of attack. Further, we find that managers should focus the security investment on preventing targeted attacks when the information systems are highly connected and relatively open and when the potential loss is large relative to the security budget.     

Competition under capacitated dynamic lot-sizing with capacity acquisition

Lot-sizing and capacity planning are important supply chain decisions, and competition and cooperation affect the performance of these decisions. In this paper, we look into the dynamic lot-sizing and resource competition problem of an industry consisting of multiple firms. A capacity competition model combining the complexity of time-varying demand with cost functions and economies of scale arising from dynamic lot-sizing costs is developed. Each firm can replenish inventory at the beginning of each period in a finite planning horizon. Fixed as well as variable production costs incur for each production setup, along with inventory carrying costs. The individual production lots of each firm are limited by a constant capacity restriction, which is purchased up front for the planning horizon. The capacity can be purchased from a spot market, and the capacity acquisition cost fluctuates with the total capacity demand of all the competing firms. We solve the competition model and establish the existence of a capacity equilibrium over the firms and the associated optimal dynamic lot-sizing plan for each firm under mild conditions.     

CRM systems and organizational learning: An exploration of the relationship between CRM effectiveness and the customer information orientation of the firm in industrial markets

The firm's customer relationship management (CRM) system is frequently a central element of the knowledge management function of the firm. It integrates information from internal and external sources to guide managers and field personnel in the development and presentation of the firm's value proposition. But despite the widespread adoption of CRM systems by firms operating in business-to-business markets, there is continued management skepticism concerning the effectiveness of these systems and their association with the firm's overall “customer information orientation.” The present study seeks to shed light on these topics by evaluating the relationship between the customer relationship orientation of the firm and its use of CRM, as well as the association of CRM use with overall firm performance in B-to-B settings across a range of traditional business performance measures. The authors employ a multi-method approach to determine the key variables, including: database currency, internal database utilization, database accuracy and performance based reward systems utilized to operationalize the construct “the firm's customer information orientation” in order to develop statistical measures of the relationships of selected variables. The results of the study provide support for the finding that customer information orientation is indeed associated with CRM system implementation and that CRM use is associated with firm performance in B-to-B markets.     

Internationalization, resource allocation and firm performance

In this paper, we examine the effects of internationalization and resource allocation on firm performance. We argue that resource allocation plays a pivotal role in determining a firm's international growth. Using a sample of Taiwanese firms, we find an optimal level of internationalization, in terms of the number of countries, as well as the level of investment towards value appropriation that is necessary to start creating a positive impact on firm performance. As a result of our study, we propose that Taiwanese firms would likely benefit by shifting their focus of resource allocation from R&D to marketing.     

Identifying Participants in a Price-fixing Conspiracy: Output & Market Share Tests Reexamined

If there is a cartel agreement among a subset of firms in an industry, it should be predicted that all firms in that industry will increase prices. Nevertheless, industry prices alone should not indicate that a particular firm is guilty of that conspiracy. According to the output test and its market share variant – proposed by Blair and Romano – if the output or the market share of the firm that claims to be innocent in the collusive activity rises in response to the price increase, that firm's claim should be accepted as true. Using a collusive variant of the dominant firm model, this paper shows that these are not robust tests to reveal either innocence or guilt, and characterizes cases where they may pardon a guilty firm (Type I error) or indict an innocent firm (Type II error). This paper also shows that a market share test can not be used to prove a dominant firm's intent for predatory pricing.     

Experience-based learning in innovation and production

How can we model and document the impact of experience in product innovation? We use data on the innovation and production histories of 294 product platforms to explore experience‐based learning. We extend learning curve concepts from their traditional domain – the production process – into the product innovation process to build and test a richer, quantitative model of learning. The results suggest that learning occurs differently in the innovation process than in production. They also suggest that how and where a firm learns depend in part on the complexity of product components and sub‐systems. Finally, we discuss the competitive implications for product innovation.     

Social Networks for Innovation and New Product Development

In this article we first provide a brief introduction into social network analysis, focusing on the measures and approaches that are used in the empirical contributions in this special issue. Second, we discuss the role of social networks in new product development. Social networks are inherently multilevel; we consider four “levels”: networks inside a firm, networks that cross firm boundaries, networks between firms, and networks that reside outside of the firm. Third, we discuss these four levels and highlight some of the extant research. We summarize and position the eight papers in this special issue along these four levels. Together, we argue, these papers provide an interesting coverage of this burgeoning field.     

The limited relevance of culture to strategy

How are the theory and practice of strategy different in the Asia Pacific? I propose that answers to this question have gained little from incorporating culture as an explanation. There is little evidence that culture-oriented research published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Management or in other management journals has substantially influenced strategy theory. Despite its value in explaining some macro- and micro-phenomena, the construct of culture has not improved understanding of firm strategy or performance. This leads to the general argument that culture has limited relevance for strategy.     

Relation‐specific capabilities and barriers to knowledge transfers: creating advantage through network relationships

This study examines the role of network knowledge resources in influencing firm performance. More specifically: Can a firm that uses the identical supplier network as competitors and purchases similar inputs from the same plants achieve a competitive advantage through that network? In a sample of U.S. automotive suppliers selling to both Toyota and U.S. automakers, we found that greater knowledge sharing on the part of Toyota resulted in a faster rate of learning within the suppliers' manufacturing operations devoted to Toyota. Indeed, from 1990 to 1996 suppliers reduced defects by 50 percent for Toyota vs. only 26 percent for their largest U.S. customer. The quality differences were found to persist within suppliers because the inter‐organizational routines and policies at GM, Ford, and Chrysler acted as barriers to knowledge transfers within suppliers' plants. These findings empirically demonstrate that network resources have a significant influence on firm performance. We also show that some firm resources and capabilities are relation‐specific and are not easily transferable (redeployable) to other buyers or networks. This result implies that a firm may be on its production possibility frontier for each customer but the productivity frontier will be different for each customer owing to constraints associated with the customer's network. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Entry into new niches: the effects of firm age and the expansion of technological capabilities on innovative output and impact

We provide evidence that young firms systematically differ from older firms in their innovative output when they enter ‘new to the firm’ technological niches. We analyze data from 128 biotechnology firms since their inception and track these firms over time. Our analyses reveal that the organizational age at which the firm branches into new technological niches significantly influences its innovative activity. We refine the focus of the extant literature by separately examining the effects of branching on the quantity of innovative output and the impact that this output has on the technology domain. Subsequent to branching into new niches, we find that older firms have a higher quantity of output than their younger counterparts, whereas young firms tend to outpace their older rivals with higher impact. We discuss the implications of these findings for the literature on dynamic capabilities and entrepreneurship. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.