Does servicification of manufacturing increase the GVC activities of firms? Case of India

Does greater use of services’ inputs in manufacturing increase the global value chain (GVC) activities of the firms? In this study, we analyse the effects of servicification on the GVC activities of manufacturing firms in India. Using panel data of 4608 Indian manufacturing firms from 2001 to 2018, we examine the effects of servicification of manufacturing firms on their decision to participate in GVCs. The study examines the overall service inputs in manufacturing activities and its impact on GVC activities of firms. The results indicate that servicification of manufacturing tends to have a positive impact on GVC activities of firms. We also observe positive impact on Indian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to participate in the GVC through the servicification of manufacturing. Further, the results also indicate the differential impact of servicification between high- and low-technology industries.     

An Attempt to Determine the CSR Potential of the International Clothing Business

Most empirical studies of corporate social responsibility (CSR) focus on variables at the company level. In this article, I focus on the sector level: I consider features of the international clothing business and of the global economy in general, that may influence the CSR potential. There is high ‘CSR potential’ when sector-specific features indicate that the risk of violating CSR standards is high. Thus, ‘high CSR potential’ indicates that there is a potential for positive influence through CSR-related actions. Based on several empirical studies of the clothing business, I identify six features that indicate a high CSR potential. These features are shown to be consistent with more general features of the global economy. This holds whether we emphasize asymmetric relations and unequal distribution, the product cycle, or transnationalization. Thus, the CSR potential of the international clothing business seems not only to be a product of sector-specific properties, but also of more systemic and general features of the global economy. This suggests that the CSR performance of individual companies may enhance their social and environmental impact, but will probably have little effect on the features that determine the CSR potential. In order to affect these features I argue, we rely on other institutions to act – mainly governments. Finally, I conclude that this study shows that it is useful to identify the CSR potential of a business sector. We get a picture of which part of the international CSR standards companies run the greatest risk of violating and of which structural issues intergovernmental actions should address to reduce the potential for violating CSR standards.     

Manage the value and liability of offshoring innovation

The impact of offshoring innovation on firm innovativeness remains unclear. To bridge this gap, we draw upon the new eclectic paradigm and the strategy structure paradigm to examine offshoring innovation, a combination of geographical dispersion and functional interdependence of various innovation activities. We also explore the sole and joint effects of two managing mechanisms – a global offshoring strategy and captive operations – on the relationship between offshoring innovation and firm innovativeness. As offshoring innovation has positive impact on firm innovativeness, each mechanism helps firms appropriate the value of offshoring innovation. Despite that, the joint adoption of both mechanisms exerts a greater impact of offshoring innovation on firm innovativeness than does sole one.     

Co-creation on a global scale: How customers impact firms’ internationalization strategies

The importance of customers in international strategy has largely been neglected or relegated to the simple and rather passive role of a buyer. In this article, we suggest a different approach and identify the potential impact of co-creation activities. We provide several examples of how customers are more actively involved in global value creation and thereby impact firms’ international posture.     

Trade and Wage Inequality: Local versus Global Comparative Advantages

This paper shows that disentangling the local and global dimensions of trade can be crucial to get a better understanding of the trade impact on wage inequality. In particular, it allows us to reconcile the empirical evidence with the Heckscher–Ohlin–Samuelson predictions. Our focus here is on Italy. As for local trade – within its own cone of diversification – Italy is specialised in the production of unskill‐intensive goods, while for global trade – with respect to the other cone of diversification – it is mainly specialised in the production of skill‐intensive goods. On the evidence of these specialisation patterns, we point out that the local trade has a strong impact on wage inequality. In particular, in line with the Heckscher–Ohlin–Samuelson predictions, the local export performance reduces wage inequality as it favours blue‐collar workers. As for global trade, it affects and increases wage inequality through the export channel, again consistent with the Heckscher–Ohlin–Samuelson predictions.     

Technological Regimes and Firm Survival: Evidence Across Sectors and Over Time

In addition to the usual variables representing firm- and industry-specific features that impact the firm’s survival, this paper uses three R&D related variables to reflect two Schumpeterian technological regimes: creative destruction (the entrepreneurial regime) and creative accumulation (the routinized regime). After controlling for age, size, entry barriers, capital intensity, the profit margin, the concentration ratio, the profit-cost ratio and entry rates, the empirical results confirm the theoretical relationship between technological regimes and the survival rate of new firms: new firms are more likely to survive under the entrepreneurial regime. Moreover, this effect is larger within the younger cohorts of firms than within the older ones.      

Institutionalizing global governance: the role of the United Nations Global Compact

The United Nations Global Compact – which is a Global Public Policy Network advocating 10 universal principles in the areas of human rights, labor standards, environmental protection, and anticorruption – has turned into the world's largest corporate responsibility initiative. Although the Global Compact is often characterized as a promising way to address global governance gaps, it remains largely unclear why this is the case. To address this problem, we discuss to what extent the initiative represents an institutional solution to exercise global governance. We suggest that new governance modes, which have arisen in the context of globalization, often adopt a multiactor, multilevel, and network‐based approach. We then analyze how far the Global Compact's institutional design reflects this multiactor, multilevel, and network‐based steering mode. Drawing on this discussion, we offer suggestions regarding how the initiative can be further developed.     

Will he buy a surprise? Gender differences in the purchase of surprise offerings

In the last few years, retailers have introduced numerous products that intentionally conceal some information from the consumer at the time of decision making. While prior research has identified contexts in which customers are attracted to such offerings in the aggregate, heterogeneity in customer proclivities is not well-understood. In the present paper, we examine the effect of gender on choice of surprise (vs. certain) offerings at the point of purchase. We propose and find that, on average, men are less likely to opt for a surprise offering compared to women. We examine multiple mechanisms that could explain this effect – emotionality, desire for exploration, and desire for control – and find the strongest support for the latter, demonstrating that it is men's stronger desire for control over the purchase outcome that drives their preference for certain (vs. surprise) offerings. Consequently, contexts or product categories that make it acceptable for men to let go of control attenuate the observed gender difference. We present data from a travel services firm, an online product catalog, and both field and lab studies, providing robust support for this theory across multiple product categories and participant populations. This work concludes with a discussion of the potential boundary effects of the observed gender difference, a managerial roadmap that delineates the ways in which marketers can offer surprise offerings more fruitfully to both men and women, and recommendations for future research.     

The profile of the green consumer in Greece

Sustainable consumption is one of the major goals of the affluent European societies in their quest for sustainable development. A key player in sustainable consumption is the sustainable or green consumer. The aim of this study was to examine the profile of the Greek green consumer based on the study and empirical analysis of engagement in selected 3R (reduce – reuse – recycle) activities. In addition, the attitudes on certain issues related to sustainable consumption of the consumers were examined and analysed. Empirical analysis is based on the use of a cross‐section data set. An extensive survey of 300 Greek consumers via a questionnaire was carried out in the first trimester of 2008. The sampled households were located in five of the main and most representative regions of Athens, with respect to the socioeconomic characteristics (sex, age, income group, education level) of their residents. Respondents were asked to answer questions examining the 3R concept on daily issues such as solid waste generation and water and energy consumption. Empirical results are based on the estimation of regression models. Econometric models are estimated for each question explaining engagement in 3R activities. Empirical results suggest that sociodemographic characteristics do specify engagement in 3R related activities. In particular, age and income are the most influential factors that determine this engagement. In addition, our study reveals that four out of five Greek consumers identify global climate change as the most important issue of our time. However, only one in five of the respondents are willing to change their lifestyle in order to mitigate the negative environmental impacts of our everyday activities; compared with men, women are more willing to do so. One in two consumers report that eco‐friendly products are more expensive than standard ones. However, when questioned as to whether they would pay a higher price for products with less environmental impact, almost four out of five responded favourably.     

Diffusion of account planning in Indian ad agencies

Account planning is recognised as a best practice in British and American advertising. Despite reports of its global growth, information on its use around the world is limited. This study focuses on account planning in India, a region of considerable importance to international advertisers and advertising agencies. Using a two-stage organisational innovation diffusion framework, it examines planning initiation and assimilation in the Indian ad industry. It also investigates the impact of organisational factors on its diffusion. Results from the web survey (154 respondents from 101 agencies) indicate that, while initiation is widely reported in India, planning assimilation in agency activities is limited. Size and global agency affiliation (structural variables) affect initiation; leadership commitment and agency innovativeness (managerial and cultural variables) impact both initiation and assimilation. Similarities and differences with account planning use in UK and US agencies are discussed.     

Customized Targeting Strategies for Category Coupons to Maximize CLV and Minimize Cost

It is standard procedure to use short-term measures for designing customized marketing campaigns and evaluating their success. We consider the integration of customer lifetime value (CLV) thinking into the category selection problem for targeted coupons. This problem involves two primary considerations: should the coupon be a category-specific one? – and, if so, should short-term or rather long-term objectives govern the choice of category? Our paper is the first to address these questions by analyzing the effects of different customized targeting strategies for category coupons on short-term marketing costs and long-term CLV using an analytical model. We develop these targeting strategies with the help of a data-driven customer segmentation framework based on the dimensions of churn, frequency, and loyalty. Using data from a German hypermarket chain, we identify four refined targeting strategies that enable multi-category retailers to exploit the full potential of customized marketing by optimizing the trade-off between marketing cost and CLV considerations. Our analysis reveals that the targeting strategy most likely to be employed by retail practice – as compared with the one most commonly used – can yield a substantially higher CLV even as it reduces wasteful marketing costs.     

The Renminbi and Poor‐country Growth

Discussions on how best to exit from global imbalances to create a more balanced world economy have ignored the impact on poor countries of proposals to redress these imbalances. This paper aims at filling that gap. It gauges the degree of renminbi (RMB) undervaluation; presents evidence on RMB undervaluation and China’s GDP growth rate; surveys the role of the real effective exchange rate – both its level and its stability over time – for underpinning growth in developing countries, especially in large dual economies such as China and India; and finally, presents new evidence on growth linkages between China and poor countries for the last two decades and surveys literature on potential displacement effects of RMB appreciation. The analysis allows broad conclusions to be drawn about the potential developing‐country beneficiaries and losers from various renminbi adjustment scenarios in the forthcoming years.     

Global talent management: Literature review,integrative framework,and suggestions for further research

The environment for most organizations today is global, complex, dynamic, highly competitive, and extremely volatile, and is likely to remain so for years to come. In addition to these external conditions, most organizations are also facing several global challenges including those related to: talent flow; the managing of two generations of employees, viz., older or mature workers and younger workers; and a shortage of needed competencies. One major result of these challenges for organizations is that they have to be global and that they have to be systematic in managing their human capital if they wish to have any hope of gaining and sustaining a competitive advantage in the years ahead. Many human resource practitioners and consultants (HR professionals) are now recognizing this, especially those that operate globally, the multinational enterprises. Academics are also showing a strong interest as evidenced by their work in the new area referred to as “global talent management”. In this article we review that academic work and attempt to organize that literature by creating an integrative framework for understanding and advancing further research in global talent management. To guide this research our framework highlights several selected challenges in global talent management, and several drivers of those challenges. It also highlights the potential role of IHRM activities in addressing those selected challenges. A discussion of possible criteria of global talent management effectiveness completes the framework. Hopefully this integrative framework may guide further academic research on global talent management and might also inform the work of HR professionals.     

Food waste paradox: antecedents of food disposal in low income households

This article aims to identify antecedents of food waste among lower‐middle class families – a paradox, given the financial constraints this population faces. The importance of this research is evident in escalating environmental pressures for better use of our planet's scarce resources. Given that most of the world is low‐income, any behavioral change in this population is likely to have a considerable impact. Empirical data were collected from 14 lower‐middle income Brazilian households, based on observations, in‐depth interviews, photographs and a focus group (n = 6). Five major categories of food waste antecedents were identified: (1) excessive purchasing, (2) over‐preparation, (3) caring for a pet, (4) avoidance of leftovers and (5) inappropriate food conservation. Several subcategories were also found, including impulse buying, lack of planning and preference for large packages. Surprisingly, findings show that strategies used to save money – such as buying groceries in bulk, monthly shopping trips, preference for supermarkets and cooking from scratch – actually end up generating more food waste. This mitigates the savings made during the purchasing phase.     

Blockchain in Additive Manufacturing and its Impact on Supply Chains

Additive manufacturing (AM) appears to be a particularly attractive use case for blockchain. This research combines inductive in‐depth interviews with the Delphi method to explore what potentials blockchain technology in AM creates, which adoption barriers firms need to overcome, and how supply chains will be affected by the integration of these two potentially disruptive technologies. The results suggest opportunities that are related to intellectual property (IP) rights management, the monitoring of printed parts throughout their lifecycle, process improvements, and data security. The most important barriers for blockchain adoption in AM are an absence of blockchain‐skilled specialists on the labor market, missing governance mechanisms, and a lack of firm‐internal technical expertise. By addressing important limitations of AM, blockchain is expected to improve the competitiveness of AM in parts’ production, catalyzing the trend toward more decentralized manufacturing resulting in more agile, resilient, and flexible supply chains and reduced logistics costs. Beyond that, blockchain‐based AM platforms are expected to enhance supply chain visibility, drive supply chain digitalization, support supply chain finance, and contribute to the emergence of shared factory systems.     

CSR and stakeholder salience in MNE subsidiaries in emerging markets

The purpose of this study is to identify the key stakeholder groups pressuring multinational enterprises (MNEs) in emerging markets (EMs), also if the pressure is global or local, to develop corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies. Drawing on stakeholder salience and institutional theories, all the stakeholder groups acknowledged and analysed in the literature were identified and examined to understand if they were perceived by MNEs in China as effective in pressuring them to engage in CSR strategies and activities. Results demonstrate that only stakeholder groups with power – government power or voting power – are perceived as having enough pressure to make MNEs’ Chinese subsidiaries engage in CSR, which is contrary to current theories. Our results allow us to theorise on an extension of the concept of utilitarian power and political power when analysing stakeholder salience in EMs. This research has important implications for managers as balancing and working with limited resources and correctly identifying and prioritising key stakeholders are vital to successfully improving performance.     

Explaining the trends in the UK cross-border mergers & acquisitions: An analysis of macro-economic factors

Most of the growth in international production over the past decades has been via cross-border mergers and acquisitions (CBM&As). Yet prior studies examining the trajectory of cross-border M&A activities as an entry mode of FDI have focused on industry and firm level factors. Dunning (2009) emphasised the importance of macroeconomic variables which may explain foreign direct investment and called for more research to improve our understanding on the effects of macroeconomic variables. Building on prior studies, this study attempts to investigate the role of macroeconomic influences on CBM&As activities in the UK over the 1987–2006 period. This study finds that GDP, exchange rate, interest rate and share prices have significant impact on the level of outward UK CBM&As. On the other hand, GDP, money supply and share price have statistically significant impact on the UK CBM&As inflows.     

Trade liberalization and the environment: The case of intra-industry trade

Abstract

While a large body of literature examines the environmental impact of trade on the environment, this discussion focuses largely on the context of inter-industry trade. Empirical evidence has long suggested that an increasing share of international trade takes the form of intra- rather than inter-industry trade. In an attempt to fill this gap, the present paper uses a price-setting duopoly model of intra-industry trade to highlight the environmental consequences of trade liberalization when oligopolistic rivalry rather than comparative advantage drives international trade. We find that the environmental impact of trade liberalization depends mostly on two factors, namely, on the nature of pollution (i.e. whether it is local, transboundary or global) and on which country liberalizes trade (i.e. whether it is the ‘clean’ country or the ‘dirty’ country).     

International Inequality and the COVID-19 Pandemic

The lockdowns and stimulus programmes that governments have adopted to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated economic crisis have affected the distribution of income and production within and between countries. Considering both, current evidence indicates that the EU-wide and global inequality of disposable income did not change dramatically in 2020. However, the unequal impact on the wealth and health of people is likely to worsen income inequality in the future.

     

React to the future: political visualization,emotional reactions and political behavior

Abstract

This study explores the mediating role political visualization – the process of imagining future political scenarios – plays in determining how political advertising affects voting behaviour. Specifically, we theorize that when partisans are exposed to political ads that are narrative (compared to non-narrative) in nature, they will engage in more political visualization. Partisans will then experience emotional reactions to these imagined futures – specifically, enthusiasm for the in-group candidate and anger towards the out-group candidate. These emotional reactions, in turn, will make a partisan more likely to vote for the in-group candidate and less likely to vote for the out-group candidate. We test this model by employing an experimental design where American partisans were presented a political ad (in the form of an email) that is either narrative or non-narrative. Results provide support for most of our expectations and suggest that visualization may play an important role in determining the influence of a political ad.