From the corset to Spanx: shapewear as a marketplace icon

This article presents the marketplace icon of shapewear—clothing that changes the shape of the human body by compressing or enhancing it. The trajectory of shapewear from the highly structured corset of the sixteenth century to the elastic Spanx of the 2000s evidences how this marketplace icon has come into being. Shapewear has materialized many evolving forms of beauty standards and gender roles as it participates in body-centered market assemblages. Market actors, such as manufacturers, designers, media, celebrities, activists, physicians, and consumers, translate shapewear to materialize intentions in the female body, shaping it accordingly. Whether promoting female autonomy or oppression, shapewear stands as a marketplace icon because it has maintained stable market appeal across time and body-centered market assemblages: it shapes the female body while symbolically articulating women’s roles.     

‘The trauma of competition’: The entry of Air Products Inc. into the industrial gases business in Britain and continental Europe, 1947–70

The British Oxygen Company (BOC) had a virtual monopoly on the supply of industrial gases (e.g. oxygen and acetylene) on the British market through the 1950s, when it was finally challenged by an American-based company, Air Products. Air Products Limited (APL) was able to undercut BOC's position, overcoming high barriers to entry to gain significant market share in this sector, which shares some features of network industries. Factors in this success included conditions imposed by the Board of Trade, APL's innovations, BOC's slow response, and favourable market conditions. APL's success had implications for the internationalisation of the industrial gases industry.     

压差法测试成品鞋透气性能的实验研究

从分析成品鞋的透气机理出发,提出用压差法测试成鞋透气性能的测试原理和仪器设计方案,并选取代表性的成鞋样品进行了实验验证,为研究和建立成品鞋透气性检测标准提供理论依据和数据参考。     

美军空中通信平台频率管理算法简介

概要介绍了空中通信平台集成技术、影响同时工作的诸多因素和实现同时工作所能采取的技术途径，重点研究分析了为兼容工作开发的频率管理算法。     

粮食仓房的气密性分析

仓房的气密性是安全储粮的关键,本文论述了仓房气密性对储粮效果的影响和国内外粮仓的气密性现状,从选用结构优、气密好的设计方案入手,通过加强建筑设计与仓储工艺的有机结合、严格管理仓房建设各环节等措施,切实提高仓房的气密性。     

Organisational capabilities and the role of routines in the emergence of a modern life insurer: The story of the AMP

In 1954 the Australian Mutual Provident Society (AMP) undertook a major organisational restructure. This reform provided the foundation upon which the Society was able to develop into a diversified financial intermediary in the following decades. This paper investigates the changing organisational structure within Australia's largest life insurer as it evolved from a branch structure to a multi-divisional form of management in the 1950s. The specialisation encouraged by the divisional system allowed the development of higher order routines upon which the executive could draw. The resulting growth and sophistication of the organisation in the late 1950s ensured higher order routines were able to develop to promote further development.     

企业成长视角的利益相关者利益要求差异研究

企业与利益相关者之间所缔结的综合性社会契约是利益相关者利益要求的根源,综合性社会契约的复杂性造成企业对利益相关者利益要求认知的差异。文章通过实证研究,从企业成长的视角,对不同规模与不同生命周期的企业对利益相关者利益要求的认知差异进行识别与分析。根据研究结果,文章建议社会各方应给予中小型企业与衰退期企业更多关心与关注,以促使其更好地回应利益相关者利益要求,强化其社会责任意识。     

The antecedents and consequences of a market orientation: the moderating role of organisational life cycles

Abstract

There is widespread agreement in the marketing literature that newly founded and established mature companies have different perspectives on marketing. However, there is little comparative research in this respect. Therefore, the current research compares the antecedents and effects of a market orientation (MO) – as one major construct in marketing research – across organisational life-cycle stages, thereby integrating organisational life-cycle theory into MO research. Our hypotheses are based on the information-processing model of Tushman and Nadler (1978 Tushman, M. and Nadler, D. 1978. Information processing as an integrating concept in organizational design. The Academy of Management Review, 3(3): 613–624. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). In order to test these hypotheses, we conduct a survey-based empirical study of 252 new high-tech ventures. Our results show that the organisational life-cycle stage does indeed exert a moderating influence on the links between MO and its antecedents, and performance consequences. The implications for the market literature are discussed in detail. A map of possible future research topics is derived.     

理论中的企业所有权:悖论性质及其超越

本文认为,无论用剩余索取权还是用剩余控制权抑或用这两种剩余权利的统一体来定义企业所有权,由于其对企业自然属性的忽视以及考察企业所有权的方法存在的问题,导致其无法规避理论上的悖论性结果。文章提出,为跨出这种理论上的悖论境地,必须寻找新的途径对企业所有权进行重新界定。在企业理论中,如果涉及到企业所有权,就简单地直接使用法律上的企业所有权概念;而研究那些"实际存在"的权利的时候,就使用产权这一概念,因为产权本来就表示一组权利。     

Writing out praise: Air Canada employees and the 1968 CEO change

In 1968, the Air Canada CEO was an individual from outside the airline industry, when previously all CEOs had been former airline pilots for the organization. In investigating why, the union writings of Air Canada, a large Crown corporation, make no reference to this 1968 CEO change. I examine how the values, beliefs, and ideas of employees affect the development of an organization's written histories. I apply actor network theory, sensemaking, critical sensemaking, and theories of “writing out” to expose and develop the concept of the noncorporeal actant as a critical influence within a network and in the writing of histories. Copyright © 2016 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Korean Air nut rage scandal: Domestic versus international responses to a viral incident

This article investigates responses of the international and domestic (South Korean) publics to one of the most hotly debated corporate scandals in recent years: Korean Air’s so-called nut rage incident. By analyzing both international and domestic media coverage of the occurrence, we reveal contrasting interpretations between the two. Whereas the South Korean public tends to generate intense debates addressing a lack of ethics in Korean Air’s public communication following the incident, international public criticism is dominated by questions regarding South Korea’s chronic chaebol system and its negative image in relation to South Korea’s unique institutional context. Korean Air’s incongruent notice of the employee as a key stakeholder is also discussed in the international media. Our research findings indicate how, rather than focusing on legal responsibility, the normative attitude of businesses toward stakeholder pressures is crucial as a means of escaping legitimacy-threatening events. The results of this study demonstrate how public responses to a single incident are diverse in global society and offer new insights regarding the importance of ethics in management leadership and public communication after a crisis incident.     

Bearing ‘the burden and heat of the day’: The experience of business failure in Douglas & Grant Ltd.

This article looks at the role of business culture in a business failure. Using the extensive records of the Scottish engineering firm of Douglas & Grant Ltd., it explores how the choices made by the firm's leaders were shaped by their values and assumptions. The article argues that the failure of the firm to manage expansion in the first decades of the twentieth century was rooted in these values, which both encouraged its leaders to take risks and constrained their ability to manage change.     

Image consultancy in the United Kingdom: recipe knowledge and recreational employment

A person's image incorporates three principal elements: how you look, sound and present yourself. Alterations in the world of work have increased the importance of image in the work place and have created a demand for a new form of recipe knowledge – impression management. This has encouraged the formation of specialist image consultancy companies, as well as the development of new techniques of image construction and management. This article provides an analysis of the image consultancy industry in the United Kingdom. It explores the geography of the industry, motivations for establishing an image consultancy firm, the networks consultants develop and the methods of client acquisition. The results of a postal survey of image consultants are reported.     

The Gendering of Air Canada: A Critical Hermeneutic Approach

Through the use of critical hermeneutics, the paper provides a deep analysis and offers clues as to how management, through the power of communication, can contribute to producing and reproducing embedded gender‐based assumptions and values through organizational culture, which can both enable and constrain organizational members. It examines gender discrimination as it relates to employment equity in a well‐known airline. We show how an organizational culture, supported by society and communicated through language, can impede progress within an organization through the power of language, and highlight a number of clues as to the processes of gender discrimination at work. Copyright © 2011 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Marketing in Chinese Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): The State of the Art in a Chinese Socialist Economy

This paper adopts the context-embedded approach to examine the marketing practices of 307 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the People’’s Republic of China by comparing the survey findings with that of Hong Kong and Guangdong SMEs. Chinese SMEs focus on regional markets to avoid direct competition with Hong Kong SMEs in the international markets and also their Guangdong counterparts in the turbulent nationwide market. To market their own brands, Chinese SMEs have to analyze the market and use superior marketing strategies in the competitive markets. Chinese SMEs do not attain the superior competitive positions as that of their Guangdong counterparts, but they use customer satisfaction surveys and claims investigation to help develop excellence in product performance. Also, Chinese SMEs have to provide value-added products and services and also a well-rounded marketing competitive strategy to gain market shares. The traditional state-owned enterprise structure in China facilitates the development of hierarchical organizational structure and joint decision making process. Thus, care should be taken in assuming that marketing tools and techniques are equally applicable across all places, even in similar cultural contexts. Socio-cultural influences and mediating environmental factors should be considered when attempting to understand the marketing practices of Chinese small firms, specifically when China is in transition to a socialist market economy.     

Areas of Corruption in the Distribution of Foreign-Made Goods Where a Firm's Size and Origin Play a Role: The Russian Experience

Drawing on interview evidence, this article explores areas whereby business corruption in Russia affects distributors of foreign goods with both local and foreign ownership and whether its effects on distributors of small and large sizes vary. The findings reveal the areas of corruption wherein distributors of foreign goods in Russia are most likely to be affected and suggest that, though widespread in Russia, corruption may have far greater effect on smaller distributors as compared to large firms. Large distributing firms can avoid involvement in corruption in some of the areas explored. This in turn may limit small-sized foreign manufacturers' capability to compete in this market, as they are most likely to be able to contract only to small-sized distributors. The study presents findings that are based on interviews with the distributors of foreign-made goods operating in Russia. The findings of the study can help to explain activities of corruption as related to the size of business firms involved in distribution of foreign products in Russia. Hence, its value to firms contemplating export to Russia. The research can also be considered a valuable platform for further research in this field.     

What a Difference a Year Makes: Time Lag Effect of Information Technology Investment on Firm Performance

How long does it take for a firm to realize the performance benefits of its IT investment? This article explores the time lag effects of IT investment on firm performance. Using longitudinal data of 1421 firm-time observations over a period of six years (1991–1996) as the initial time point of IT investment, we examined time lag effect on firm performance in a five-year time window. The performance data for the sample spans 12 years, from 1989 to 2000. The results demonstrate a strong support for time lag effects on the relationship between IT investment and firm performance. Specifically, our study found that it took an average of approximately three to four years after the year of investment for the firms in our sample to realize the greatest performance benefits. The findings offer useful implications for researchers and managers to better understand the link between IT and firm performance so that they can make wiser decisions to maximize the business value of their investments.     

Configuration of innovation and performance in the service industry: evidence from the Taiwanese hotel industry

This study attempts to state some facts about the importance of innovation in the service economy, and especially the hotel industry by classifying the configurations of innovation in Taiwanese hotels, as well as considering the types of innovation configuration that will maximise performance. Technological innovation, organisational innovation, and human capital innovation may be key sources of innovation. This study classified the configurations of innovation based on several innovation activities with two-step cluster analysis. Numerous empirical findings facilitate improved understanding of the relationship between the configurations of innovation and firm performance in the Taiwanese hotel industry.     

Survival of new firms in the Brazilian franchising segment: an empirical study

This paper investigates the survival patterns of Brazilian franchising firms for the period 1994–1999. First, we considered the (percentage) survival of newly created franchisors in the following years. Survival functions were obtained by means of the Kaplan–Meier estimator for the selected sectors and they indicated sharp declines in the survival rates over time but with differential patterns across sectors. Finally, an econometric analysis based on the Cox proportional hazard model considered the explanatory variables pertaining to size, age and support regarding the legal aspects, location choice and training. The evidence indicates that the supports provided by the franchisor have a positive impact on the probability of survival of new firms, whereas there is partial evidence favoring a positive effect of firm size on survival.