The Confines of Stakeholder Management: Evidence from the Dutch Manufacturing Sector

Stakeholder theory is a pertinent example of a framework that has been stretched over many conceptual contexts and that has been applied to a wide variety of empirical phenomena. A pressing issue involves the scope of application of stakeholder theory, however, because it is not a comprehensive ethical scheme or problem-solving algorithm. We begin our search for the boundaries of stakeholder management by identifying a presently under-acknowledged yet major underlying assumption, notably that the approach is rooted in voluntary action and association. Building on this presumption, we argue that firm – stakeholder relationships are best to be understood in contractualist terms; i.e. as voluntary arrangements between two or more parties seeking mutual benefit. This assertion subsequently allows us to identify three boundary conditions applying to stakeholder theory: (1) the parties should be sufficiently autonomous; (2) their interests need to be alignable; and (3) they should be capableof living up to their commitments. We substantiate these criteria with evidence from a collective case study of buyer – supplier relationships in the Dutch manufacturing sector, demonstrating that the stakeholder management model fails when these boundary criteria are violated.     

流通、流通理论与流通经济学--关于流通经济理论(学)的研究方法与体系框架的构想

学科视角不同,流通的含义也不同.本文将流通问题研究的学科视角限定为经济学或管理学,进而将流通界定为不包括货币、资金、劳动力、服务的有形商品或产品从生产领域到消费领域的流动,指出了流通与交换、贸易、商业、营销、分销等概念的异同.本文认为可以从宏观与微观两个视角,用经济学与管理学两种分析工具对流通问题进行研究,进而形成两种流通理论,前者可称为流通经济理论,后者可称为流通管理理论.同时,本文用机构分析法、商品分析法、功能分析法、系统分析法、社会分析法等研究方法对流通经济理论(学)的体系框架进行了初步设计.     

A Constructivist Approach to Business Ethics

A recurrent challenge in applied ethics concerns the development of principles that are both suitably general to cover various cases and sufficiently exact to guide behavior in particular instances. In business ethics, two central approaches—stockholder and stakeholder—often fail by one or the other requirement. The author argues that the failure is precipitated by their reliance upon “universal” theory, which views the justification of principles as both independent of their context of application and universally appropriate to all contexts. The author develops a contextual interpretation of “constructivism” as an alternative approach, and argues that this alternative meets the above challenge.     

Grading Innovation in an International Marketing Course: Promoting Student Collaboration and Individual Accountability

In this article, the author proposes an innovative, exam-based homework grading method to facilitate both collaboration among students and individual accountability while learning a complex theory and applying it to solve a problem. Results from this novel approach to grading a comparative advantage theory homework assignment, using an objective exam performance measure to adjust original homework grades, show that students increase their comprehension of the frequently misunderstood theory. This novel grading method can be applied in a variety of contexts to promote student collaboration in preparation of academic work while providing incentives to encourage individual accountability and engagement.     

科学管理理论在中国现代餐饮连锁业中的价值分析

本文认为,科学管理以发展规模经济、降低成本与管理费用为主流管理原则,根本目的是谋求最高效率,其重要手段是用科学化的、标准化的管理方法代替原有的经验管理。我国的餐饮连锁业竞争已趋向白热化,但竞争的主流手段依旧是低水平的促销方式。随着经济的急剧发展和现代信息技术在企业管理中的广泛应用,泰勒的科学管理精髓对实现企业的标准作业管理、提高企业管理水平、解决中国现代餐饮连锁业发展中面临的问题有重要的指导价值。     

Towards a theory of Sustainable Communication in Risk Society: Relating issues of sustainability to marketing communications

There has recently been much discussion about a preferred ecological outcome for late capitalism to work toward, that is sustainable consumption. Related to this is a fundamental question, can business in Western industrial society (some now use the label risk society) be transformed into ecologically sustainable organizations? If we optimistically assume the answer to this question to be 'yes' how would these organizations communicate with the world in which they operate? This paper reports the author's application of a social constructionist approach to 'green' communicative acts and those responsible for them in an attempt to start answering such questions. In a qualitative empirical study of an environmental and social justice communications consultancy the social world of the people involved is explored as they interact with and communicative the issues with which they are concerned in risk society. A main research theme attempted to relate three issues of ecocentrism to what is known as marketing communications. In this respect the author has concentrated on a leading edge agency and four of its clients in the fields of animal, personal health and planet preservation. In the analysis the author lays the foundations for a new theory, Sustainable Communication, which can account for communicative acts, in any eco-discourse (Harris, 1996), that have issues of sustainability as their focal point. This process is then problematized for the reader in relation to capitalist organizations and the final discussion proposes that others, interested in this theoretical area, play with this notion of Sustainable Communication to help in its future development. In this respect the author proposes a fruitful allegiance between Critical Macromarketing and Sustainable Communication. Throughout the paper, especially in the section on 'building blocks', the author chooses to illustrate key points for the reader by drawing on data from the study.     

International Competitiveness and Comparative Advantage: A Survey and a Proposal for Measurement

The concept of competitiveness, or competitive advantage, has been given numerous interpretations and tends to be ambiguous. Comparative advantage, although rigorously defined in the Ricardian trade model, is also subject to different interpretations when extended beyond the classical trade theory and, particularly, with respect to its measurement. The present paper first reviews the literature that deals with definitions and measurements of these concepts, distinguishing their main characteristics, such as macro vs. micro, static vs. dynamic, positive vs. normative, ex ante vs. ex post, as well as the different uses made of the proposed measures. Second, the paper proposes an integrated approach, in which it is demonstrated how competitiveness and comparative advantage are best related to each other and how they differ. The proposed measurement serves the purpose of quantifying the different sources of competitiveness. It is shown how it can be applied to guide policy makers in their evaluation of trade and industrial policies. The latter aspect is illustrated by reference to several applied studies using the method of analysis in the context of policy reforms in India, Mali, Kenya and Uganda.      

Management of international strategic business cooperation: Situational conditions,performance criteria,and success factors

In recent years, international strategic business cooperation has attracted great attention in both international management theory and practice. Several prominent examples demonstrate that interfirm alliances can no longer be viewed as second‐best solutions but must be recognized as efficient forms of internationalization. In this article, the specific management problems of international strategic business cooperation are analyzed and a systematic approach for their solution is presented. After outlining three examples that represent three different forms of international strategic business cooperation, a conceptual framework is developed that integrates three different perspectives: situational conditions, management instruments, and performance criteria. In the main part of the article, five success factors of international strategic business cooperation (partner selection, cooperation agreement, management structure, acculturation process, and knowledge management) are discussed. The article ends with a short summary and implications for further research. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Supply chains and their management: Application of general systems theory

This theoretical paper discusses the application of general systems theory to supply chains and the management of supply chains. Applying general systems theory to supply chains and their management allows them to be abstracted from their real world complexity. The abstraction process uses the view of general systems theory developed by Yourdon E. [1989. Modern Structured Analysis, Yourdon Press, Prentice-Hall International, Englewood Cliffs, NJ] in his seminal work on the fundamental characteristics of information systems. In particular, Yourdon's (1989) four general systems theory based principles for information systems are applied to supply chains and their management. Through a theoretical discussion informed by relevant research literature it is considered that a more fundamental view of supply chains has been developed. That is, the application of the four general systems theory principles developed to supply chains is supported and this application provides deeper insights into how supply chains operate. This in turn should allow better supply chain management processes to be developed.     

知识管理战略类型理论评述

知识管理战略类型理论是管理学研究的前沿领域,本文将近年来国内外知识管理战略类型的研究分为战略层、战术层和业务层三个层次,并对每个层次上具有代表性的战略类型进行了系统的阐述和评述。     

生命周期结束产品再生模式选择分析

本文认为,对生命周期结束的产品进行再造、翻新、再生是逆向物流的主要内容,也是企业管理的重要组成部分,对供应链具有重要意义。文章提出,影响再生模式选择的因素主要有两个:一是生命周期结束的产品是否适合拆解;二是再生处理的执行是否外包。这两个因素密切相关,决定着再生的四种可供选择的模式,即再生不拆解外包(低成本选择)、再生并拆解外包(折中的再生方式)、企业再生不拆解(控制物料和创建新的市场)、企业再生并拆解(通过循环供应链创造独特的价值),这四种模式都是可行的选择。外包必须在合乎环境要求的情况下进行,外包具有前期成本相对较低的优势,但也有风险。企业独自或积极参与再生,是企业发展的新思路。企业独自或积极参与再生并拆解,从竞争角度看是一种高风险的选择,要求企业固定资产投资较高并能引发企业发展战略的重大转移,这种选择一旦成功,企业将获得丰厚回报,减少或消除对原材料和市场的依赖性,减少环境风险,保证用户最终得到既经济又环保的新颖产品。     

几种激励理论在薪酬管理中的应用

激励理论在薪酬管理中有着直接的应用,在制定薪酬政策时必须遵循这些理论所提出的一些观点。应该在薪酬管理中充分运用这些理论,以提高我们薪酬管理的质量。公平理论、双因素理论、期望理论等激励理论也要经常应用。     

数据包络分析法在上市公司经营业绩评价中的应用

本文认为,随着资本市场的发展,上市公司经营业绩评价日益成为股东、债权人、管理部门关心的主要问题。本文利用数据包络分析(DEA)的理论和方法,从DEA有效分析与有效沿面上的投影分析角度对不同上市公司的经营业绩进行了效率评价。这一方法简便易行且具有较强的可靠性,其综合评价结果可以提供比较重要的上市公司信息,能够提供更多的管理信息和经济信息,从而为企业提高经营业绩提供可靠数据,为投资者进行理性投资提供决策依据。     

Rethinking the Role of Value Communication in Business Corporations from a Sociological Perspective – Why Organisations Need Value-Based Semantics to Cope with Societal and Organisational Fuzziness

Why is it so plausible that business organisations in contemporary society use values in their communication? In order to answer this question, a sociological, system theoretical approach is applied which approaches values not pre-empirically as invisible drivers for action but as observable semantics that form organisational behaviour. In terms of empirical material, it will be shown that business organisations resort to a communication of values whenever uncertainty or complexity is very high. Inevitably, value semantics are applied in organisations first when the speakers are uncertain about which stakeholders to whom they have to address (uncertainty) or when different stakeholder groups have to be addressed simultaneously (complexity); second, when the identity of the organisation has to be described; and third, when future strategic options that cannot be expressed by quantitative terms have to be communicated. Values accordingly play a role in organisational practice when certain aspects are indeterminate. Therefore, they are a means for organisations to communicate under fuzzy circumstances. On the basis of these findings, new approaches to value management can now be formulated.     

树立科学的营销理念促进和谐社会的发展

本文认为,和谐社会理念是对社会范围内基于资源有限性的社会可持续发展的指导思想,现代营销理念则能够引领企业可持续发展,二者是高度统一的。和谐社会的价值观可以帮助企业确立存在价值,让企业持续获益。文章提出,构建和谐社会的核心就是要建立利益各方和睦相处、公平公正、相互促进的关系,让客户满意,给雇员以机会,使员工在工作中身心愉悦,并保持对企业的高满意度,给供应商以临界点水平的满意,在建立这种关系的过程中,要体现公平和均衡原则。     

Erratum to: Managing Corporate Sustainability with a Paradoxical Lens: Lessons from Strategic Agility

Although the same environmental regulations apply to all regions in China, legal enforcement can be different due to local economic development priorities. There is still a lack of knowledge about how regional disparities affect the operating performance results of the implementation of corporate environmental management practices, thus providing little information for foreign companies when they invest and develop their production base in China. To fill this research gap, this paper collects data from the Fortune 500 Chinese firms to investigate the moderating role of regional disparities in affecting the performance results of corporate environmental management efforts based on the institutional theory. The disclosed corporate environmental responsibility (CER) practices serve as proxy to represent corporate environmental management practices. Content analysis approach was applied to collect and analyze CER practices published in the corporate reports of Chinese manufacturers. The results show that CER has a positive impact on operating income, while regional disparities influence the relationship between CER and corporate operating income. Specifically, CER and operating income are positively related in Eastern China; on the contrary, they are negatively related in Western China. This paper adds to the body of knowledge about environmental discrepancies in the same emerging economy, and provides insights for systematic consideration in terms of the issues of government environmental regulations and corporate environmental strategies.     

顾客终生价值在CRM绩效管理中的作用

从顾客终生价值 (CustomerLifetimeValue ,CLV)的定义、计算公式和测量步骤 ,可以看出CRM绩效管理的核心目标是使企业的顾客群的顾客终生价值最大化。同时 ,任何企业中都存在顾客价值创造的五个杠杆 ,但是对于不同的细分市场 ,为了使潜在的价值创造最大化 ,应该不同地混合使用这五个杠杆。     

从法律的角度看新公共管理

二十世纪七十年代末八十年代初首先启端于英美国家的新公共管理已经成为概括西方公共管理最新发展趋势的一个学术概念，并且在理论上和实践上得到了迅速发展。但是，新公共管理理论或者称之为新公共管理改革基本上都发生在英、美、澳、新西兰等盎格鲁-撒克逊体系的国家。本文试图从法学的角度找出其原因。英美法系和大陆法系之划分是法学中公认的法律分类法；而新公共管理中的核心思想是利用私法契约采提供公共服务。本文通过对两大法系和契约制度的分析，认为作为大陆法系的我国基于政治法律传统应该选择法治国家模式进行政府管理改革。     

The Reasons Behind Non-Ethical Behaviour in Business and Entrepreneurship

Despite the recent increase in interest in corporate social responsibility and the propagation of corporate governance in both business and academic literature, from observations of actual practice, the author has seen at all company levels, in everyday operations, instances of non-ethical behaviour vis-à-vis the whole gamut of stakeholders. This state of affairs is linked with: pressure from stakeholders, short-term tactics, hegemony of financial considerations, ‘juridisation’ of business, the tyranny of communications and the media and the difficulties in translating strategy into practical implementation. The paper scrutinises the motivation and the psychology of entrepreneurs and business people, and their behaviour is compared to other professional groups and confronted with the decline in ethics in society as described by some important observers. The conclusion drawn is that the recent positive evolutions do not provide sufficient ethical guidelines for the day-to-day activities of middle managers and entrepreneurs in the present competitive environment. Managers will always be confronted by difficult choices with ethical dilemmas. There will always be a tension between theory and pragmatism, but progress can be made with the effective implementation of the ethical discourse in companies. To achieve this, ethical management should not be confined to the large strategic issues but also applied to the small practical matters of everyday business life. Ethics in business and entrepreneurship requires more than corporate governance and corporate social responsibility (CSR).