Flexibility,Firm-Specific Turbulence and the Performance of the Long-lived Small Firm

The hypothesis that flexibility enhances the long run prospects of the small firm is explored by examining precipitating causes of organizational change within it, and consequential adjustments. The study is fieldwork based and uses evidence gathered directly from entrepreneurs. New measures of flexibility and firm-specific turbulence are used to explain long-run performance, measured over 28 distinct attributes. Econometric estimates (using GLS and Heckman selectivity correction) are reported, on the relationship between flexibility, firm-specific turbulence and performance. Firm-specific turbulence is shown to have a negative effect on performance, but the latter is enhanced by increasing the flexibility of the small firm.JEL classification: C42, D21, G33, L2, M13, M21.     

股权结构与公司治理绩效实证分析

本文以深、沪两市101家上市公司为样本，分行业竞争环境强弱从股权属性、股权集中度与公司治理绩效的关系进行实证分析，发现行业竞争环境强的上市公司其治理绩效与法人股比例呈三次函数关系，与流通股比例无显著相关关系；行业竞争环境弱的上市公司其治理绩效与国有股比例、法人股比例呈三次函数关系，与流通股比例无显著相关关系；行业竞争环境强的上市公司，股权分散型优于国有控股型，国有控股型优于法人控股型；行业竞争环境弱的上市公司，法人控股型结构优于国有控股型，国有控股型优于股权分散型。最后根据实证分析的结果，提出构建合理股权结构的结论性建议。     

CEO Share Ownership and Firm Value

This study examines the effect of CEO ownership on firm performance. The findings suggest that CEO ownership and firm performance are jointly determined. Firm performance affects CEO ownership positively and in turn, CEO ownership has a positive effect on firm performance. Our results also show that firms managed by founder CEOs have better performance and that the CEO duality structure is beneficial in a turbulent environment.     

Korea's Direct Investments in China: Technology, Experience, and Ownership Factors in Performance

This paper is designed to empirically examine what determines the performance of Korea's foreign direct investment (FDI) in China. Three main determinants are hypothesized to influence the performance of Korea's FDI. They include technology, internationalization experience, and ownership patterns associated with Korea's investments in China. Data were collected from surveys with 91 Korean investors. Our empirical analysis suggests that the labor intensity of technology involved in FDI and the appropriateness of manufacturing technology to the local conditions influence the investment performance. In addition, the results indicate that the internationalization experiences of the Korean investors also affect the profitability of FDI. Another finding of note is that the level of local ownership had a positive impact on performance. But, more interestingly, its effects were moderated by the investor's prior internationalization experiences; in other words, the investors with limited internationalization experiences performed well on a minority ownership venture.     

Efficiency and Firm Ownership: Some New Evidence

The paper investigates the effect of state ownership on efficiency of firmsusing an econometric model that allows for the separation of technical from allocative efficiency in adynamic setting. The estimation results, based on a sample of international airlines, suggest that state ownershipis associated with lower technical and allocative efficiency. State ownership's effect on technical efficiencyis mainly a dynamic one – lowering the rate of cost decline, whereas its effect on allocativeefficiency is static – raising the level of costs. Thus lower technical, rather than allocative, efficiency isthe main reason for state-owned firms to be less efficient than their private counterparts.     

营销价值观与组织绩效关系的实证研究:兼论企业所有制的影响

本文重点讨论了营销学中作为指导企业营销活动的价值观——市场导向与利益相关者导向的理论架构，并检验了利益相关者导向与组织绩效之间的关系。同时，还针对文献中欠缺的中国企业所有制的影响，进行了分析。研究结果发现，利益相关者导向对中国企业的组织绩效具有积极影响。但中国不同所有制的企业，在利益相关者导向和组织绩效上差异很大。     

Alliance Concentration in Multinational Companies: Examining Alliance Portfolios,Firm Structure,and Firm Performance

Research summary: This article explores the distribution of alliances across firms' internal structure. Focusing on multinational companies, we examine the impact of alliance portfolio concentration—i.e., the extent to which alliances are concentrated within a limited number of geographic units—on focal firms' performance. Relying on Knowledge‐Based View (KBV) insights, we hypothesize that an increase in alliance portfolio concentration positively influences firm performance and that alliance portfolio size negatively moderates this relationship. Our empirical results enrich the emerging capability perspective on alliance portfolios, point to the relevance of conceptualizing focal firms in alliance portfolio research as polylithic entities instead of monolithic ones, and provide new insights into how firms create value by potentially recombining externally accessed knowledge. Managerial summary: In the setting of multinational companies, we examine whether alliance activities are concentrated in a limited number of subsidiaries or are highly dispersed across multiple subsidiaries. We find that, over time, firms exhibit different patterns in terms of alliance portfolio concentration. In addition, the results show that, for MNCs with a relatively small alliance portfolio, an increase in alliance portfolio concentration is positively related to their financial performance. However, when MNCs' alliance portfolios are relatively large, the relationship between alliance portfolio concentration and firm performance becomes negative. Jointly, these findings suggest that the distribution of alliances across firms' internal structure is an important factor in shaping potential knowledge recombination benefits from alliance portfolios. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Organizing Flexibility: The Flexible Firm in a New Century

Research on organizational flexibility should examine the linkages between numerical and functional flexibility. Unfortunately, studies of each type of flexibility generally neglect the other. Moreover, the most popular conception of the interplay between these two forms of flexibility — the core–periphery model — is incomplete in important ways. I discuss evidence and limitations of the core–periphery model of the flexible firm, and outline some promising attempts to conceptualize how organizations may combine functional and numerical flexibility. I focus mainly on the USA and the UK, though I also review evidence and issues involved in cross‐national differences in organizational flexibility.     

产权、管理与企业绩效

20世纪90年代中期以来，关于企业困境问题，社会上流行着管理论和产权论两种对立的观点。本文评价了两者的观点及其改革主张后，指出双方的偏颇，认为产权与管理是密切相关的，而非对立的，并从产权安排与管理制度以及产权运行与管理活动两个层次论述了产权与管理的关系。产权安排决定管理制度，体现为管理制度；管理制度则服从和依赖于产权安排，但体现产权安排；产权运行即为管理活动。在此基础上，本文提出一个关于产权、管理与企业绩效的分析框架。     

股权结构、治理效率与公司绩效

公司制这处关于企业委托－代理制的制度安排有可能会诱发代理人以额外津贴的方式占有公司资源，由于代理人的收益不直接与股权收益相联系或很少联系，从而引致了所有者与管理者的目标存在分歧，所有者通常以利益最大化（或股东价值）为目标，而管理者则有其他的利益目标（比如高报酬、较低的努力程度、豪华的办公条件等）。因此，委托人对代理人进行监督是必然的。一般认为，小股东是广泛分散且不干预公司运营的缺位所有者的同质集团。考虑到成本与效益的匹配，大股东会比小股东更有动机去监督管理者作出有利于企业价值最大化的决策。因此，在其他情况相同的条件下，公司的股权结构越分散，委托人对代理人的有效监督程度越低，对公司绩效可能越有不利的影响。     

企业网络位置、间接联系与创新绩效

企业间合作创新的重要性已逐渐被学界和企业界所重视,为探讨企业在合作创新网络中的网络位置、间接联系对创新绩效的影响,本研究以深圳市IC产业为例应用社会网络分析方法和管理学相关理论进行实证分析。结果表明,占据网络中心和富含结构洞的网络位置有利于提升企业创新绩效;企业的间接联系也是提升创新绩效的重要因素;并且,间接联系对企业创新绩效的影响还依赖于企业的网络位置,位于网络中心的企业要比位于网络边缘的企业从间接联系中获得更少的创新收益,而拥有丰富结构洞的企业要比拥有较少结构洞的企业从间接联系中获得更多的创新收益。     

Resource Dependency,Innovative Strategies,and Firm Performance in BOP Markets

Low‐income markets have attracted the interest of academics, politicians, and business leaders alike. In recent years, numerous companies such as Unilever, Cemex, Tetrapak, and Vodafone have provided evidence that low‐income markets offer commercial business opportunities and that private companies can realize profitable business activities while simultaneously contributing to the alleviation of poverty. However, companies are challenged by constraining conditions such as poor infrastructure, nonexistent distribution channels, illiteracy, corruption, lack of enforceable legal frameworks, and violent conflicts when entering those markets. In order to succeed, companies develop new strategies, introduce innovative business models, and develop novel capabilities. Three innovative practices are commonly named in the literature that should enable companies to operate successfully in low‐income markets: (1) integrating the local population and local entrepreneurs to cocreate products; (2) cooperating with nontraditional or fringe stakeholders; and (3) building local capacity, which means improving the market conditions of low‐income markets. This study applies a resource dependence perspective as it provides valuable explanations on the interaction between companies and their environment, how companies cope with environmental constraints, and how the environment and different strategies affect business outcomes. By integrating a resource dependence perspective, the study theoretically frames the strategic recommendations of the literature and answers the underlying research question of whether environmental conditions of low‐income markets cause the execution of innovative practices and whether such practices influence the outcome of companies operating in low‐income markets. The research hypotheses are tested in a structural equation model against data of 103 firms operating in low‐income markets. The study reveals that companies integrate local actors to cocreate products and cooperate with nontraditional and fringe stakeholders to reduce resource dependency. Local capacity building, which means improving the local environment, is only applied by companies when strong partnerships with nontraditional and fringe stakeholders are established. Finally, the study shows that partnerships with nontraditional and fringe stakeholders as well as local capacity building have a positive effect on organizational performance. Thus, when companies aim to enter low‐income markets, they should not follow the recommendation of the transaction cost theory and internalize resources, but rather cooperate with nontraditional partners and invest in the local environment. Moreover, the study shows that market entries into low‐income markets require long‐term commitments to engage in partnerships with regional authorities, local community groups, and nongovernmental organizations. Without these partnerships, it is not possible to reduce high resource dependencies and to establish successful businesses in low‐income markets. Thus, governments should create general conditions that facilitate the creation of partnerships between nontraditional actors and companies, and assist them to improve environmental conditions in these markets.     

Supercenters,Unionized Labor,and Performance in Food Retail

This study examines the impact of unionized labor on supermarket performance, as measured by profit and sales, accounting for the competitive presence of supercenters. The results confirm prior research that shows that supercenters have negative effects on supermarket performance. Unionized supermarkets generally outperform nonunionized supermarkets. However this effect disappears when accounting for supercenters, largely because unionized stores are less likely to compete with supercenters. I find no evidence for a significant union effect on supermarket performance. The deleterious effects of supercenters are stronger for unionized stores. Unionized supermarkets utilize less full‐time labor and more labor‐saving technology than do nonunionized ones.     

Employee Ownership and Company Performance

This paper investigates how Britain's largest employee-owned firm, the John Lewis Partnership, performs relative to its major competitors. In the context of John Lewis's unique constitutional structure, employee ownership appears to offer significant advantages in the market place. It is difficult to assess the relative importance of particular policies; as a group, employee ownership, open information flows, high wages, and profit share are clearly associated with high productivity.     

Unemployment,Labor Market Flexibility,and Absenteeism: A Pan‐European Study

Using micro‐data from the European Union's Labour Force Survey for 28 countries this study investigates the incidence and intensity of individuals' sickness‐absence behavior, and assesses the importance of labor market characteristics like unemployment and the extent of atypical contracts and second job‐holding on individuals' sickness absence. The results identify that unemployment affects sickness absence through different pathways, exerting a negative effect on the probability of being absent and a positive effect on the duration of absence. In addition, the degree of second job‐holding and part‐time contracts in the labor market is found to be negatively related to individuals' sickness absence.     

Information Sharing and Firm Performance in Japan

North American firms have begun to show greater interest in sharing private business information with unions and employees, a labor relations practice widely institutionalized in Japan. This study uses a survey of Japanese joint consultation committees and publicly available business data to examine the effects of information sharing on a firm's profitability, productivity, and labor cost. The results generally show a positive association of information sharing with profitability and productivity and a negative association with labor cost.     

国有控股、最高决策者激励与公司绩效

国内研究认为股权结构、董事会和高管激励对公司绩效有影响，而上市公司“国有一股独大”的国情使前两者不会有实质性作用；对于后者的研究则忽略了最高决策者在公司中的重要性。本文以1993—2002年数据为样本，研究国有股代理人(董事长和总经理)激励对公司绩效的影响。发现董事长是公司最高决策者，除政治激励能显著改善绩效外，最高决策者金钱激励、国有股权性质、两职合一、债权人治理等都和绩效没有显著关系；意味着只有将政治激励所附带的财富效用降低到一定程度，金钱激励才可能成为有效治理机制。     

The Geography of Real Property Information and Investment: Firm Location,Asset Location and Institutional Ownership

Using a sample of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), we show that institutional investors exploit location‐based information asymmetries by overweighting firms headquartered locally and those with greater economic interests in the investor's home metropolitan statistical area (MSA). This asset allocation strategy is associated with superior portfolio performance. In a difference‐in‐difference‐in‐differences analysis of investor headquarters relocations, we find that investors tend to increase their ownership of REITs that have property holdings in the market to which the investor relocates. Our findings highlight the importance of understanding the relation between information advantages and the geography of firm's operations, as well as the implications on ownership patterns and portfolio construction.     

业绩期望落差、股权集中度和企业环保投入

基于企业行为理论,以 2011~2015 年重污染上市公司为研究样本,本文理论分析并实证检验了业绩期望落差与企业环保投入的关系,并进一步考察了股权集中度的调节作用。研究结果表明：（1）当企业实际绩效低于渴望水平时,业绩期望落差与环保投入呈 U 型关系,即业绩期望落差存在一个阈值,低于该阈值时,业绩期望落差与环保投入负相关,高于该阈值时,业绩期望落差与环保投入正相关;（2）与股权集中度低的企业相比,股权集中度高的业绩期望落差与环保投入之间的 U 型关系将减弱。     

International Diversification, Industrial Diversification and Firm Performance of Hong Kong MNCs

Although multinational corporations (MNCs) are not new to business research, Asian MNCs and their performance have yet to be widely studied. This study investigates the relationship between international diversification, industrial diversification and firm performance of MNCs from Hong Kong. In contrast to previous findings, the results show that Hong Kong MNCs are more internationally diversified, but not performed better, than domestic firms. Also, among Hong Kong MNCs, international diversification has a positive impact on profitability and sales growth, but not on the profitability. Industrial diversification also enhances profitability stability but reduces profitability significantly. Neither the hypothesized inverted U-shaped relationship between international diversification and performance nor the interaction effect from both international and industrial diversification strategies on performance can be validated. Implications are discussed with reference to the local context.