The influence of cooperative relations on geographical expansion and diversification strategies in family firms

This study examines the relationship between existing partnerships and geographical expansion and diversification strategies in family firms in the Spanish manufacturing sector. It specifically analyses whether the family nature of a business and its cooperative relations (vertical cooperation with clients and suppliers, horizontal cooperation with competitors, and institutional cooperation with technology centers and universities) influence its geographical expansion and diversification strategies, and whether there are significant differences between family and non-family firms. This paper includes a review of the literature and an empirical study with a sample of 1848 companies of which 824 are family firms. Significant differences were generally found between family and non-family firms, depending on the type of partner selected for cooperation and the relationship between the types of cooperation and the growth strategies developed by them. Research results and policy implications are discussed, and management practices are proposed.     

Drivers of training participation in low skilled jobs: the role of ‘voice’, technology,innovation and labor shortages in German companies

This article investigates the role of ‘voice’, technology, innovation (of products, services, or processes) and labor shortages in the training participation of low skilled workers in German companies. By building on the key findings of previous research, hypotheses on drivers of training participation are derived from filter theory and the concept of social embeddedness. Regression and cluster analysis based on the German IAB Establishment Panel (wave 2011) show evidence that training participation is shaped by ‘voice’‐related institutional company characteristics such as employee representation or formalized HR practices. Both characteristics often cluster together. Regression analyses confirm that companies in this cluster train a higher share of their low‐skilled workforce. The share is particularly high when companies in this cluster face labor shortages. Apart from that, advanced technology and recent innovations at the company level are not related to higher rates of training participation among low skilled workers.     

Knowledge transfer among the small businesses of a Brazilian cluster

This study verifies how knowledge is transferred among small businesses operating in industrial clusters, how this competitive resource circulates and is accessed within the cluster. Interfirm cooperation, industrial support institutions, workforce mobility and social ties, concepts highlighted in the literature as dimensions of the knowledge transfer process, were used to structure the survey instrument, which was applied in the cluster that leads Brazilian furniture exports. Questionnaire responses were received from 198 firms and submitted to factor analysis. Conclusions and theoretical contributions of the study are that: (i) the knowledge transfer process is multi-dimensional; (ii) knowledge transfer can occur in clusters even in the absence of interfirm cooperation; (iii) the dimensions of the process can be combined in various ways to facilitate knowledge transfer; (iv) this combination may differ from cluster to cluster; and (v) producers are more likely than suppliers to perceive and access knowledge available in the cluster.     

Control and success in collaborative strategies

The establishment of cooperative relationships with other organisations is becoming crucial to businesses, in a way that interorganisational relationships constitute an important topic for research in management literature. This study analyzes interorganisational control, which represents one of the processes within interorganisational relationships that is receiving greater attention in the literature. Besides describing its concept and dimensions, there is an analysis of what influence the extent, the focus, the types and the mechanisms of control have on the success of the interorganisational relationships. To be specific, empirical evidence is provided by our study of the relationship between tour operators from Germany and the United Kingdom and the accommodation companies, which revolves around the control exercised by the tour operators over the accommodation companies.     

Collaboration for R&D Projects between the Industry and External Agents: Evidence from Manufacturing Companies in Peru

In this article we use the innovation survey of the manufacturing industry of Peru to identify cooperation behaviors for research and development (R&D) projects among companies and external agents in general. Likewise, we also find cooperation behaviors among the industry and the following external agents: university, technical centers, suppliers, customers, and companies of the same group, competitors, guilds, and consultants. Within the specific agents, the university is considered a cooperation agent for R&D projects. We use the survey of innovation in the manufacturing industry of Peru conducted in 2015, which resulted in 1447 Peruvian companies being surveyed. Evidence was obtained as to the degree of the tie between the industry and external agents for cooperation in R&D projects, giving relevance to variables such as investment, resources, and degree of innovation. Our results show that investment is an important factor for cooperation with external agents. Additionally, companies that have innovated at some point seek to cooperate with external agents. Finally, the importance of the university is demonstrable, thus, companies that invest in R&D seek to cooperate with the university.     

Compensating international mobility in a workers’ cooperative: An interpretive study

This study uses an interpretive research design to analyze how worker-members in cooperatives understand and handle the challenge of designing a compensation system for their international workforce. The empirical study, conducted in a cooperative belonging to the Mondragon Corporation, reveals how such a challenge is understood as one of finding a system that combines international business performance with the need to uphold and maintain the cooperative’s identity. Drawing on that understanding, the cooperative adopts a number of management decisions and criteria for the distribution of rewards and the justification of unequal working conditions among its international assignees that are very different to the mainstream ones in conventional firms. The study’s findings are an invitation to question many of the traditional theoretical assumptions and practices involved in global compensation, prompting the need to develop theories and research initiatives in this field that are more in keeping with the needs and characteristics of social enterprises.     

The influence of cooperative relations of small businesses on environmental protection intensity

This study examines the relationship between cooperative business relations in small businesses (fewer than 50 employees) and environmental protection, one of the most important policies of social responsibility in manufacturing. We reviewed the literature and carried out an empirical study of 930 small manufacturing firms in Spain. Results indicate that small businesses that maintain and improve their cooperative relations through business networking with universities, competitors, suppliers and customers spend more on environmental protection. The managerial, practical, research and policy implications of the obtained research findings are discussed.     

Competitive and Cooperative Behavior in Embedded Markets: Developing an Institutional Perspective on Bazaars

In an ethnographic study of a retail setting, we examine relationships among competitors. We find that competitors often emphasize various forms of cooperation, and we describe socio-economic behaviors that illustrate how cooperation transcends or mediates competition among retailers. Retailers selectively cooperate and compete for customers in ways that alter our understandings of concepts such as loyalty and market stability, and practices such as marketing communications and pricing. We highlight the significance of these institutional practices and the role they play in forming and maintaining community in a bazaar.     

The internationalization journey of a high‐tech cluster

We examine the internationalization processes of a sample of photonics companies, using in‐depth interviews conducted with twenty‐two CEOs. The texts of these interviews were appraised by using content analysis, combined with a grounded theory approach. In this way, the internationalization theory was critiqued and some insights developed into the international strategy process. Some salient findings emerged, such as that cluster externalities had a positive impact on the internationalization of firms within the cluster, and the degree of strategic vulnerability that cluster firms faced from developing‐country competitors. These findings are discussed in relation to their research and managerial implications. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Orthorexia Nervosa: Can Healthy Eating Food Trends Impact Food Companies Marketing Strategies?

The purpose of this article is to explore foods companies’ knowledge of food trends and assess how orthorexia nervosa may affect food companies’ marketing decisions. Data was gathered through a multiple case-study approach, and four semi-structured interviews to CEOs/CMOs of food companies from four distinct non-competing sectors of the food industry. The results show that although marketing managers are conscious of the existence of consumer behavior changes regarding food habits, they are not particularly concerned neither interested in micro-segments as they are not profitable. Despite the deficiencies on CMOs’ knowledge of particular food trends they declare to be attentive to the changes in consumer behavior and prepared to respond to competitors moves. This research adds to the existing knowledge on the food industry since it is the first study to explore the impact of food trends on food companies’ management marketing decisions from the company point of view.     

人力资源管理系统构型差异性、组织心理所有权与员工创造力

“人力资源管理系统能否促进创新”是目前的研究热点,但却未获一致研究结论。人力资源管理系统内部不同性质的人力资源实践能满足员工不同类型的需求及其综合效果,因此可能会催生不同的员工创造力。根据绩效导向和维持导向两维度,本文将人力资源管理系统分成四类：高绩效高维持、低绩效高维持、高绩效低维持、低绩效低维持。选取江苏、安徽企业中的362个员工样本,结果表明：与其它三种类型的人力资源管理系统相比,高绩效高维持型人力资源管理系统员工的组织心理所有权最高,从而员工创造力最高。研究结果不仅进一步拓展了人力资源管理系统对员工创造力的影响研究,而且揭示了人力资源管理系统影响员工创造力的机制。     

Human Resource Management Practices in a Transitional Economy: A Comparative Study of Enterprise Ownership Forms in Vietnam

This exploratory study compared human resource management (HRM) practices in four types of companies in Vietnam. It found, from a sample of 169 companies, that the adoption of HRM practices reflects the company's ownership traits. Overall, foreign-invested companies (FICs) are somewhat more developed in HRM practices than state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Conversely, local private companies, albeit more entrepreneurial, are often less receptive to adopting HRM practices than SOEs. It also revealed that transforming SOEs into equitized companies has brought about no significant changes in this regard. Together with an examination of the impact of management's perceived value of human resources (HR), union status, and company size, the study provides more insight into the variations in HRM practices and suggests some implications for initiating change in this area.     

International entrepreneurial culture—Toward a comprehensive opportunity-based operationalization of international entrepreneurship

Despite the abundance of international entrepreneurship studies, there is a need to develop valid measures of the international entrepreneurship construct. Based on prior conceptual studies, we contribute to the literature by advancing a scale of the international entrepreneurial culture (IEC) that considers opportunity-based behavior; and, aims to capture the overarching context of international entrepreneurship. We followed established scale development practices and conducted a research on UK and US medium-sized firms. Our proposed six-dimensional operationalization of IEC, which sufficiently matches the initial conceptualization, consists of international entrepreneurial orientation; international market orientation; international motivation; international learning orientation; international networking orientation with competitors; and, international networking orientation with non-competitors. The main implication from this study is that international entrepreneurship scholars can use in future research these six dimensions of the encompassing IEC context rather than a confined international entrepreneurship construct.     

农业产业集群动力机制研究：一个文献综述

相对于大量的工商业产业集群动力机制的研究文献,国内外对农业产业集群动力机制的研究才刚刚起步。在对农业产业集群动力机制的内涵进行归纳的基础上,分别从农业产业集群动力机制的相关理论基础、研究方法、农业产业集群动力机制与政府功能定位等方面对国内外现有文献进行了梳理和评述,并在此基础上指出了未来农业产业集群动力机制的研究方向。     

Corporate social responsibility and aging workforces: an explorative study of corporate social responsibility implementation in small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises

Although critical differences exist between large companies and small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), limited empirical research has been done on human resource (HR)‐related corporate social responsibility (CSR). In this paper we study aging workforce management (AWM) as a component of CSR. Our study was conducted in the Netherlands through a randomly distributed online questionnaire. Managers and team leaders of 201 SMEs responded. The data were analyzed using multiple hierarchical regression analysis. Our results are twofold: first, findings suggest that CSR policies in micro organizations with fewer than five employees seem to be strongly associated with AWM; and second, that companies with a focus on integration of older workers in daily activities do not perceive their actions as HR‐related. Using AWM as part of CSR helps to give insight into the role of the owner, company size and the nature of implicit CSR practices. Our study demonstrates that the use of AWM in CSR research can lead to valuable insights and therefore, our overarching research question is answered that AWM can be used when studying CSR.     

How innovative are spin-offs at later stages of development? Comparing innovativeness of established research spin-offs and otherwise created firms

The literature argues that research spin-offs (RSOs)—enterprises originating from a university or research institute—appear to have higher innovative potential and capabilities than other start-ups, at least in the early stages of their development. Yet, little is known about the innovative performance of these companies at later development phases. Thus, the main goal of this study is to investigate whether there are any differences in research and development (R&D) and innovation behavior between established and/or mature RSOs and otherwise created firms and, if so, to what extent they are driven by networking and cooperation activities as suggested by some scholars. To this end, we employ probit regression analysis and a matching approach using survey data on more than 6,000 East German firms, among which are 179 RSOs. Our first findings suggest that established RSOs engage in R&D and innovation activities more frequently than companies whose genesis was of another type. Nevertheless, the results obtained when accounting for collaboration measures show that the precedence of RSOs in further development stages over otherwise created firms in terms of innovation outputs is related to their higher intensity of cooperation activity and close, face-to-face interactions with universities, and not to type of firm creation. Moreover, our findings reveal that cooperating in various fields may be of different importance for specific inputs and outputs of the innovation activity. Finally, based on our results, we draw some implications for both practicing managers and public policymakers.     

竞争性战略联盟的结构选择模式研究

竞争性战略联盟是由竞争对手组建的企业战略合作关系,竞争性联盟分为规模型和互补型两种类型。研究联盟结构选择问题时,应注意到竞争性战略联盟中同时存在竞争与合作这一对反向作用力,选择恰当的治理结构有助于维持两者的平衡,因此,联盟结构模式的选择对竞争性联盟尤为重要,是保证联盟平稳运行并创造价值的主要途径。     

Talent Management and HRM in Multinational companies in Beijing: Definitions,differences and drivers

Talent Management (TM) has attracted increasing attention from academics and practitioners in recent years, but there are many gaps and omissions left for further theoretical and empirical development. One line of debate has been whether TM is merely a re-packaging of what already exists, not being distinct from traditional HRM practices or disciplines. The paper has three main components: (i) a review of how ‘Talent’ and TM has been conceptualised in the literature and the outline of a framework we have derived therefrom which identifies four main perspectives on TM: exclusive-people; exclusive-position; inclusive-people; social capital; (ii) the presentation and analysis of our research findings relating to TM perspectives and practices in seven multinational corporations (MNCs) in Beijing; (iii) a concluding discussion which compares and contrasts our findings with the extant literature and our framework. Six of the companies had adopted ‘exclusive’ perspectives, seeing TM as ‘integrated, selective’ HRM. For some, this involved an ‘exclusive-people’ focus on certain groups of ‘high-performing’ or ‘high-potential’ people, whilst for others it meant an ‘exclusive-position’ focus on certain ‘key’ positions in the organization. Just one organization had adopted an ‘inclusive-people’ approach. Two of the companies emphasized ‘organizationally focussed competence development’, concentrating upon smooth talent flows and development, and moving towards a ‘social capital’ perspective which took cognizance of networks, contexts and relationships as well as human capital. The implications of our findings for research and practice are outlined.     

Corporate Social Responsibility in Global Value Chains: Where Are We Now and Where Are We Going?

We outline the drivers, main features, and conceptual underpinnings of the compliance paradigm. We then use a similar structure to investigate the drivers, main features, and conceptual underpinnings of the cooperative paradigm for working with CSR in global value chains. We argue that the measures proposed in the new cooperation paradigm are unlikely to alter power relationships in global value chains and bring about sustained improvements in workers’ conditions in developing country export industries. After that, we provide a critical appraisal of the potential and limits of the cooperative paradigm, we summarize our findings, and we outline avenues for research: purchasing practices and labor standard noncompliance, CSR capacity building among local suppliers, and improved CSR monitoring by local resources in the developing world.