Market versus Corporate Structure in Plant-Level Innovation Performance

This paper examines the effect which market and corporate structure have on the extent of innovation for a sample of circa 300 manufacturing plants located in Scotland. Innovation is defined as the introduction of a commercially significant new product at the establishment level. The theoretical model of Geroski (1990) is extended to incorporate plant- level variables such as size, multiplant operation, the presence of R&D facilities and external/indigenous ownership. A distinction is made between the direct and indirect effects of these variables. Negative binomial estimations indicate that corporate structure influences are more important in determining the number of innovations than market structure and barrier to entry variables. Plant size, foreign ownership and the presence of R&D are all positively associated with innovation. Direct effects greatly outweigh indirect effects. Tobit estimations on the number of innovations per employee support the findings of Acs and Audretsch (1988) that smaller enterprises are more innovation intensive than larger enterprises, at least up to a limit of around 1200 employees. The positive effect of R&D arises principally from increasing the probability of a plant becoming an innovator, rather than from making a plant more innovation intensive. By contrast, the importance of size lies principally in encouraging further innovations among plants which are already innovators, but less than proportionately with the increase in employment size.     

Corporate Psychological Defences: An Oil Spill Case

Organisational psychological defences protect the self-esteem and moral integrity of the organisational personality even at the expense of sacrificing the morality of actions. This paper analyses the spectrum of defences used by an oil refinery and its parent company during an oil spill incident. A hypothetical model of defences built on Swajkowski’s four responses to accusations of organisational misconduct – refusals, excuses, justifications and concessions – is tested through this case. On the basis of empirical findings it is obvious that defences delay, impede and interrupt the mitigation and recovery actions of incidents. It is not possible to break the defence behaviour of individuals because it is a built-in psychological mechanism in all humans serving a valuable purpose of dosing the pain of injury. However, it is possible to separate individual and organisational behaviour so that automatic organisational procedures mitigate, recover and, ultimately, prevent incidents. The organisational psychological task of crisis management is to mitigate the organisation’s ego defences, recover from its emotional turmoil and prevent further traumas by making its ego stronger and more flexible. The argument of this paper is that in practice organisational defences act as bumpers against becoming too conscious of the gap between the corporate rhetoric and reality, as subconscious breaks against too fast change demands, and as batteries in their preconscious effort to prepare for the change. Organisational refusals act as bumpers, excuses as breaks and justifications as batteries, while concessions imply that a change towards a more responsible corporation is taking place. Tarja Ketola is Adjunct Professor of Environmental Management at the Department of Management, Turku School of Economics, Finland. She took her Ph. D. at Imperial College, University of London, and worked as a Lecturer in the Department of Management Studies at Brunel University before returning to Finland. Her research interests include eco-psychological leadership, strategic environmental management and corporate responsibility. She has written books and published articles in many journals, including Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Business Strategy and the Environment, Sustainable Development and Long Range Planning.     

Corporate Restructuring in the UK during the Recession

This paper reports the results of a large scale survey of how UK firms are coping with the recession. Only a relatively small number of firms report being "extremely severely" affected by the recession, and these were firms with highly dispersed ownership structures, firms that grew unusually fast in the mid to late 1980s and holding companies. Among the responses to the recession identified by the survey was a substantial degree of organizational choice, effected mainly by closing plants. The most stable organizational form seemed to be the functional organization, while holding companies were the least.     

Does Corporate Taxation Deter Multinationals? Evidence from a Historic Event in Ireland

We use a unique exogenous corporate tax policy change in the Republic of Ireland to investigate how corporate taxation affects foreign direct investment at the extensive and intensive margin. To this end, we construct exhaustive sectoral and plant level panel data and use difference‐in‐differences strategies. Our results do not provide strong evidence that the increase in corporate tax rates for exporters did affect the entry or exit of plants from the US or UK in Ireland. Entry rates of German firms seem to be negatively affected, however. At the intensive margin, there is evidence that foreign plants in Ireland reduce the size of their operations in response to the tax change.     

股权集中度与上市公司价值关系的实证研究

本文综合考虑股权的所有者属性和集中程度,分析了国家为第一大股东和法人为第一大股东的上市公司的股权集中度与公司价值之间的关系,结果发现仅在法人为第一大股东的上市公司中,股权集中度与公司价值之间存在既符合理论假说又能解释现实情况的倒U型曲线关系,负债和公司成长性对公司价值的正影响也才可以显现出来.因此,在进行股权分置改革的同时提高公司法人股持股比例,降低股权集中度,并积极推进股票全流通,是提高我国上市公司价值的关键所在.     

Defence contractors and diversification into the civil sector: Rolls-Royce, 1945–2005

A number of studies have shown that defence contractors have exhibited a marked reluctance to diversify away from defence and develop civil applications. However, the aero engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce is one defence contractor to which this does not apply. Over a 60-year period it has moved from being almost entirely dependent on defence work to a point where defence now constitutes barely one-fifth of its turnover. This article examines the development of the company's civil aerospace business over the period since 1945. It focuses specifically on the strategies used by Rolls-Royce in the civil aerospace field. These strategies are explored in the context of changes in market conditions, technology, and governance arrangements. The effectiveness of the various strategies, including their contribution to the company's current position, is evaluated.     

新兴生态系统服务工具的比较评估及其企业的可适用性

美国商务社会责任国际（BSR）最新发布报告,帮助企业将新型生态系统服务纳入其公司计划和日常决策之中。这份关于生态系统服务的报告分析比较了各种用来衡量和评估生态系统服务价值的不同工具。该报告中所称的生态系统服务指的是由动植物种群之间及其与外部环境,     

European Merger Control: Do We Need an Efficiency Defence?

The European Commission recently published a Green Paper on the review of the Merger Regulation, which, amongst other things, invites comments on whether the Merger Regulation should be amended to make explicit allowance for an efficiency defence. This paper is a contribution to this debate. After discussing the economic and political reasons that justify the introduction of an efficiency defence, it reviews the legislation and practice in the European Union, the United States and Canada. Finally, it examines the methodological and implementation problems raised by the efficiency defence and suggests a sequential approach as a way of minimizing these difficulties.     

Responses Toward Corporate Crisis and Corporate Advertising

This article investigates how individual differences affect consumer responses to corporate advertising during a corporate crisis. Study 1, based on qualitative data, showed brand ownership, involvement with the crisis, and news media exposure were important factors in understanding consumer response toward the crisis and the company. Study 2, a survey, empirically demonstrated that prior attitude toward the company was the most critical factor affecting advertising-related behaviors. The study further suggested consumers of the brand were more likely to view the company favorably, to know more about the company, and to be more involved in their following of the crisis.     

企业兼并与边界重构:一个基于现代企业理论的分析框架

兼并是企业进行外部扩张的重要手段 ,但企业兼并本身是一把双刃剑。兼并是否能够获得理想的绩效 ,在一定程度上取决于兼并后企业的边界是否最优。本文基于现代企业理论 ,从企业的交易频率、资产专用性和契约环境三个维度分析了影响企业边界的因素 ,并进一步指出企业兼并的最终极限是企业的有效边界。由于兼并不同于企业通过自身积累而进行的扩张 ,完成兼并后的企业边界往往并不是相对有效的 ,企业必须进行边界重构。企业在综合考虑边界重构成本和政策环境的基础上 ,可以采取消除边界冗余等相应措施实施边界重构。     

Corporate Identity and the Advent of Corporate Marketing

This paper places corporate identity studies in a historical context with the writer arguing that there have been four distinct phases in the area's evolution. Currently, there is increasing international and interdisciplinary contact between scholars engaged in identity research. Recent developments have led the writer to postulate that the literature on corporate identity, organisational identity and corporate communication may be regarded as forming the basic building blocks of a new, cognate area of management which in time may be known as Corporate Marketing.

However, the marketing mix as applied to organisations in their totality will need to be rethought. In this paper the 4Ps are extended to 10Ps with philosophy, personality, people, performance, perception and positioning complementing the existing 4Ps. In addition, the author identifies nine key interfaces, which need to be examined by managers and consultants when reviewing an organisation's identity. Such interfaces represent 'moments of truth' for an organisation's senior management when evaluating their organisation's identity.     

Currency crises with the threat of an interest rate defence

While virtually all currency crisis models recognise that the decision to abandon a peg depends on how tenaciously policy makers defend it, this is seldom modelled explicitly. We add the threat of an interest rate defence to the global game model of Morris and Shin (American Economic Review 88, 1998). With an endogenous defence, actions of speculators may become strategic substitutes instead of the usual complements. Nevertheless, our generalised model remains tractable and has a unique threshold equilibrium. It provides additional insights. For instance, the threat of an interest rate defence makes speculation riskier and this may be sufficient to keep speculators out when fundamentals are still relatively strong.     

UK and German defence industry change: Some perspectives on strategic marketing

Over the past decade, the European defence industry has had to respond to increasing pressures of reduced defence spending, exacerbated more recently by removal of the immediate military threat from the former Soviet Union. Under the “Options for Change “, the UK has abandoned certain weapons programmes, while Germany has had the additional economic and social problems brought on by re‐unification. The industry's options comprise conversion, diversification or specialization, thus continuing to face structure change and competition from defence imports and “off‐the‐shelf” systems and equipment. Given the high exit barriers and past “cushioning” of the industry by governments, the presence of skills and know‐how to compete effectively is questionable. The case for strategic marketing approach for those suppliers remaining is clear; as buyer (monopsonistic) power strengthens, the threat of new entrants increases and the associated competitive rivalry intensifies. However, the ingrained “defence culture “ in many supplier organizations may be an impediment to change.     

企业文化与企业诚信

企业文化的核心是价值观,实现价值观的内核是诚信,二者具有一致性.诚信是企业文化建设的起点,也是企业成功的基础.现代企业要为实现诚信提供制度保障,更要在企业文化中赋予诚信以核心地位,并将企业诚信贯穿到企业方方面面.在企业文化中落实诚信、构建诚信体系,首先要在企业内部培养诚信的企业文化,树立诚信的文化氛围;其次,要在企业外部建立产品诚信、服务诚信、销售诚信、竞争诚信等客户诚信;再次,要在企业之间以诚信结盟,实现资本与资源的有效调配和高效利用.诚信建设不会一蹴而就,要始终贯穿于企业的每一个环节和一切活动之中,持之以恒,并不断加强诚信管理.     

European Corporate Sustainability Framework for Managing Complexity and Corporate Transformation

The European Corporate Sustainability Framework (ECSF) is a new generation management framework, aimed to meet increased corporate complexity and support corporate transformation towards more sustainable ways of doing business. It is a multi-layer, integral business framework with an analytical, contextual, situational and dynamic dimension.Analytically, the framework is structured according to four focus points – the constitutional, conceptual, behavioural and evaluative perspective – providing integrative designs of complex and dynamic phenomena. The framework includes coherent sets of business philosophies, approaches, concepts and tools that structures corporate realities and generates sequences of steps in order to obtain adequate institutional structures, a road to corporate transformation and higher performance levels.     

Corporate Refocusing

During the 1980s, many conglomerates and other diversified firms reduced their diversification by refocusing on their core businesses. This paper provides an economic explanation for this phenomenon. It is argued that: (a) refocusing represents the natural response of firms to a more volatile external environment and a more competitive capital market; and (b) over-diversified firms that refocus will achieve improved profitability and a higher market value, and will thus protect themselves from hostile takeover.     

Corporate Social Responsibility

In the context of some criticism about social responsibility education in business schools, the paper reports findings from a survey of CSR education (teaching and research) in Europe. It analyses the extent of CSR education, the different ways in which it is defined and the levels at which it is taught. The paper provides an account of the efforts that are being made to mainstream CSR teaching and of the teaching methods deployed. It considers drivers of CSR courses, particularly the historical role of motivated individuals and the anticipation of future success being dependent on more institutional drivers. Finally it considers main developments in CSR research both by business school faculty and PhD students, tomorrows researchers and the resources devoted to CSR research. The conclusion includes questions that arise and further research directions.     

我国企业环境变迁与企业战略模式选择

本文对我国企业内外部环境变迁进行了分析,指出企业除对传统的环境因素进行分析外,还应关注最新动态.在动态环境下,我国企业应考虑选择建立战略柔性体系和战略联盟等以应对环境的不确定性.作者还提出了可指导企业在环境变迁条件下进行战略选择的新模式.     

On Corporate Virtue

This paper considers the question of virtues appropriate to a corporate actor’s moral character. A model of corporate appetites is developed by analogy with animal appetites; and the pursuit of initially virtuous corporate tendencies to an extreme degree is shown to be morally perilous. The author thus refutes a previous argument which suggested that (1) corporate virtues, unlike human virtues, need not be located on an Aristotelian mean between opposite undesirable extremes because (2) corporations do not have appetites; and (3) corporate virtues must serve the end of sustainable profit. If these disanalogies between corporate and human virtue no longer hold, then the stage is set for us to formulate a more adequate model of good corporate character that would encompass other-regarding virtues.     

企业人力资本与企业绩效的实证分析

实证研究了我国上市公司企业人力资本与企业绩效的关系,分析了企业人力资本与企业绩效作用的机理。对不同的行业来说,企业人力资本与企业绩效都具有正相关关系;在同一行业内,拥有高人力资本存量的企业的业绩并不一定优于拥有低人力资本存量的企业业绩,不同的行业有不同的表现。