A Social Exchange Perspective on Business Ethics: An Application to Knowledge Exchange

An extensive body of literature in sociology and anthropology has shown that different societies have developed different structures for exchange of items such as goods, status and information. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how social exchange theory can help illuminate many of the underlying bases of different ethical perspectives in debates about social exchanges. Social exchange theory is applied to three common types of knowledge exchange – R&D joint ventures, commercial intellectual property exchange and academic exchange. Two key factors that underlie different ethical perspectives are shown to be differences in structures for social exchange and differences in views of the alienability of knowledge from its originator.     

The Content of Freedom in Resources: The Open Source Model

Today we are facing the rising of new needs for the firms, especially for the small ones; they find themselves acting in a context characterized by the great content of information technology. This paper wants to analyse some aspects tied to the use of some particular kinds of resources, such as knowledge and organizational culture. It's necessary, especially in the new economy, to add another attribute to the four set by Barney as elements able to make the resources sustainable competitive advantage sources in 1991: this attribute is freedom, essentially as freedom of reaching and using resources. This attribute, more than coming along with the four already set, can be considered in many cases as a pre-condition to the other ones in existence.The theoretical part will be completed by the reference to a particular organizational model that is based on freedom, that is the open source model; we'll try to show how freedom is not an abstract concept in business.     

企业价值网络竞争优势的内生性阐释:知识管理

企业价值网络是核心能力和异质资源的强化平台、调整平台和保护平台。通过达到以认同为基础的信任,减少网络的交易成本,这是价值网络提高客户价值让渡效率的重要原因。在组织学习的社会化、外在化、组合化和内在化过程中,价值网络具备良好的沟通结构,能够从战略高度对整个网络的知识分配加以规划、管理,提高了学习效率。价值网络竞争优势源于其内生的知识管理优势。     

知识密集型服务业集群内企业间知识转移影响因素——环同济建筑设计产业带的实证研究

在回顾国内外相关研究的基础上,构建知识转移的影响因素模型。然后,基于知识密集型的环同济设计产业集群的调研数据对上述理论模型进行实证研究。研究结果显示:企业间亲密的关系和企业浓厚的学习文化对知识密集型服务业企业之间的知识转移有重要的促进作用;企业较强的吸收能力、企业间较近的组织距离对产业集群内知识密集型服务业企业之间的知识转移有较大促进作用;知识的模糊性对知识密集型服务业集群内企业之间的知识转移有阻碍作用;中等的知识距离比较远的知识距离更有利于产业集群内知识密集型服务业企业之间的知识转移。     

建设项目虚拟团队知识共享过程和共生演化分析

信息技术的发展使得项目团队的组织出现了虚拟化趋势。由于有限理性、信息不对称、环境的复杂多变和不确定性和知识更新等原因,项目虚拟团队的知识共享过程是先进行知识的选择性试错搜寻阶段,再将知识在各成员间进行传递,最终吸收创造新知识并实现对共享知识的价值。利用共生理论可知,项目建设虚拟团队知识共享的演化路径在于知识的"点共享"、"间歇共享"、"连续共享"、"一体化共享"等四阶段,通过多方面、多方位的合作,最终形成一个具有共同价值观的共生网络,不断提高知识共享的效率。     

中小型虚拟企业问知识转移影响因素分析

为了快速捕捉多变的、竞争的市场机遇,中小型虚拟企业需要提升其整体竞争力,而成员企业间的知识转移则是提升其整体竞争力的重要途径。本文通过对知识转移概念的综述来界定中小型虚拟企业间知识转移的定义,探索其知识转移的一般过程;并根据知识转移的一般过程、中小虚拟企业知识转移机制与影响因素模型以及中小虚拟企业知识转移影响因素关系模型,从虚拟合作、知识技术、市场因素、情境因素和风险因素五个方面对影响中小型虚拟企业间知识转移效果的因素进行分析。     

Knowledge: a variable in evaluating clothing quality

This study was designed to determine the effect knowledge has on the types of information cues used to evaluate clothing quality. Students ranked the importance of 24 product attributes for evaluating clothing quality before beginning a 15‐week university course on evaluation of clothing products and again at the conclusion of the course. Most (64%) of the intrinsic cues were ranked significantly higher on the pretest than post‐test and many of the extrinsic (75%) and aesthetic (67%) cues rated significantly lower. There were no differences in the ranking of the performance cues. However, caution should be taken when interpreting the results of the study. Although all of the cues ranked significantly higher in the post‐test were intrinsic cues, when evaluating the relative ranking of the cues in the pretest and post‐test, there were few differences. The same five aesthetic cues were in the top third on both tests and the same six intrinsic cues were in the bottom third on both tests. The findings of this study suggest that knowledge does influence how consumers evaluate quality and additional research that focuses on the effect of knowledge in consumers’ evaluation of clothing quality is needed.     

Warranty as a Signal of Quality: The Moderating Effect of Consumer Knowledge on Quality Evaluations

Prior research has shown that consumers use warranties as a signal of quality. This article explores whether prior knowledge moderates consumers' utilization of warranty information in evaluating product quality. In particular, we examine how prior knowledge impacts the relative use of warranty information when consumers are already aware of firm reputation. Indeed, we find that the extent to which warranty information is used in quality evaluations varies with prior knowledge. We report the results of two experiments, which somewhat surprisingly suggest that, for experts, a better warranty leads to perceptions of higher quality, regardless of firm reputation. Novices on the other hand, tend to perceive a better warranty as a signal of higher quality only when the firm is reputable but not when its reputation is low.     

Price Knowledge for Services: An Empirical Investigation

ABSTRACT

This study extends the price recall literature into the service sector. The authors surveyed 169 adults and asked them to recall the last price they paid for nine commonly purchased services. The findings indicate that most consumers (53%) cannot recall the last price they paid, 13% had an inaccurate price memory, and 34% remembered an accurate price. The findings also indicate that the ability to recall a price, and to recall an accurate service price varies significantly by service. Other mediating variables include frequency of usage, home ownership, and education. No other demographic variables were related to either price recall or recall accuracy.     

An epidemiological study of injury in a low socioeconomic context: implications for prevention

Epidemiological information identifying injury magnitude and risks is vital for the development of prevention and safety promotion programmes, especially for low income, marginalised communities where the incidence of injury tends to be disproportionately high. This paper, accordingly, reports on a household survey, conducted in an informal settlement southwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, and designed to gather epidemiological data for the purposes of informing the development of appropriate community-based injury prevention and safety promotion programmes. Data were collected for a one-year period prior to October 1998. An analysis of the data identified the causes of injuries, which residents were most at risk, and where and when injuries most often occurred. By way of conclusion, we make a few recommendations for preventive measures.     

Acquiring Competence at a Distance: Application Service Providers as a Hybrid Organizational Form

Application service providers (ASPs) are an innovative way for firms to outsource business functions by renting software as a service via the Internet. ASPs bring state of the art technology within the reach of firms that have been denied access to such advances in the past. The novelty of the ASP model results from the use of the Internet in the provision of services and the virtual inter-organizational tie that it creates between ASP and customer. The novelty of the ASP model has generated legitimacy concerns among the potential pool of customers, which has slowed the diffusion of this innovation. The recent dot-com fall-out has also had negative effects on the diffusion of the model. Nonetheless, the ASP model has managed to survive by adapting to the trends of the market. Entrepreneurship researchers have two reasons to pay more attention to ASPs. First, the emergence of the ASP business model has opened up opportunities for entrepreneurial activity by those seeking to capitalize on this new business model. Second, the proliferation of ASPs has the potential to affect other new ventures by altering their technology options.     

Organizational social capital as a moderator for the effect of entrepreneurial orientation on competitive intelligence

Change force in entrepreneurial strategic posture navigates an organization toward market forces, especially competitive force, through which opportunities for its sustainable growth can be identified. One purpose of this study is thus to investigate the role of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in cultivating competitive intelligence (CI). The study also seeks to establish the moderating role of organizational social capital (OSC) for the effect of EO on CI. Cross-sectional data from respondents from chemical companies in Vietnam business context were analyzed through hierarchical multiple regression. The study provided evidence on the predictive role of EO for CI. The two components of OSC – trust and goal congruence – were also found to play a moderating role for the EO–CI relationship.     

The search for skills: Knowledge stars and innovation in the hiring process

The effective utilization of knowledge has become an important part of how firms gain competitive advantage in the marketplace. However, the recruitment, search, and selection processes used to obtain workers who would develop and deploy that knowledge have not materially changed for many years, with human resources (HR) frequently automating legacy procedures. We believe that the hiring processes for exceptional knowledge workers, whom we call knowledge stars, must adapt to the current business environment. Using the framework of architectural innovation, we propose that HR’s recruitment of knowledge stars should begin before specific jobs are announced, should be done in partnership with line managers, and should be done in coordination with implementation of other workplace innovations such as the development of communities of practice and participative management. We conclude by discussing how changes in the search processes for knowledge stars fit in context with some other ongoing challenges for HR personnel.     

Exchange rate regime and external adjustment: An empirical investigation for the US

This paper analyses the relationship between the US net external position and the exchange rate regime. I find a structural break in the US net external position at the end of the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates that changed both the mean and variance of the series. On average, the US changed from a creditor to a debtor position and the variance of the external position increased during the floating period. This increase is to a large extent due to the valuation component of external adjustment that accounts for 54% of the variance of the US external position during the floating period but only 29% during the fixed exchange rate period. Further analysis shows that the exchange rate regime mainly affects the valuation channel of external adjustment. There is also evidence of another structural break in the US external position around the time of the introduction of the euro. Finally, I document asset pricing implications from the relationship between the exchange rate regime and the external adjustment process, as external imbalances predict the foreign exchange once the exchange rate regime is taken into account.     

全球价值链治理、知识转移与代工企业升级——以珠三角地区为例

代工企业在全球价值链的升级具有战略性和紧迫性,其升级并不是独立自发的,而是受到了全球价值链中各经济主体之间的组织形式和关系安排的统一约束。知识经济的发展也为代工企业的升级创造了新的机遇。全球价值链、知识转移以及代工企业的升级之间存在着密切的关系,文章通过分析全球价值链治理下的全球领先企业与代工企业之间的知识转移模型,从而提出代工企业的升级建议。     

Price structure as a marketing variable: An experimental investigation

This study examines the relative impact on preferences of price level and price-structure variables. A pair of four-factor experimental designs were developed to investigate the preferences of students for automobile price structures and recent homebuyers for various price arrangements in buying a house. The findings indicate that, for a majority of the subjects, the structural variables of down payment, interest rate, and monthly payment are more important than price level in determining overall preferences.     

A Framework for Understanding Corporate Social Responsibility Programs as a Continuum: An Exploratory Study

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs are increasingly popular corporate marketing strategies. This paper argues that CSR programs can fall along a continuum between two endpoints: Institutionalized programs and Promotional programs. This classification is based on an exploratory study examining the variance of four responses from the consumer stakeholder group toward these two categories of CSR. Institutionalized CSR programs are argued to be most effective at increasing customer loyalty, enhancing attitude toward the company, and decreasing consumer skepticism. Promotional CSR programs are argued to be more effective at generating purchase intent. Ethical and managerial implications of these preliminary findings are discussed. Julie Pirsch, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Villanova University. She researches in the areas of cause-related marketing, corporate social responsibility, and new product development. Shruti Gupta, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Management at The Pennsylvania State University at Abington, in Abington, Pennsylvania. Dr. Gupta’s research interests lie in the area of corporate social responsibility, cause-related marketing, environmental consumerism, and social marketing issues. Stacy Landreth, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of North Texas. She researches in the areas of cause-related marketing and social marketing alliances, as well as advertising source effects.     

Managing cross-border knowledge transfer for innovation: An introduction to the special issue

This introduction to the special issue maps the extant research on managing crossborder knowledge for innovation and classifies it into four clusters: knowledge spillovers and location, international alliances and R&D networks, knowledge transfer and absorptive capacity, and learning organization and capabilities. The eleven articles that compose the special issue are introduced, and a future agenda for international business research is proposed.     

跨期知识整合与新产品开发绩效关系实证研究——基于珠三角和长三角地区企业的数据

根据已有研究成果,文章首先分析了跨期知识整合的内涵和机制,并根据理论分析建立了结构方程模型,设计了"跨期知识整合对新产品开发绩效影响的调研问卷",在珠三角和长三角地区选择了上海、广州、杭州、深圳等地的多家企业进行调研,并回收了245份问卷,根据分析结果发现跨期知识整合对新产品开发绩效之间有正向影响。