High‐performance work systems and workplace performance in small,medium‐sized and large firms

This article draws on the Organisational Growth and Development (OGD) life cycle model to explore the relationship between high‐performance work systems (HPWS) and performance in firms of different size, thereby extending understanding of congruence or ‘best fit’ theory within strategic HRM debates. With reference to management control theory, economies of scale and the availability of specialist managerial skills, the article hypothesises that while an HPWS–performance relationship might exist in small, medium‐sized and large firms, the relationship will be stronger in large firms than in both small and medium‐sized firms, and stronger in medium‐sized firms than in small firms. Analysis of data from the British Workplace Employment Relations Survey demonstrates, however, that there is no association between HPWS and workplace performance in medium‐sized firms, in contrast to the positive relationship between HPWS and performance found in large firms and between HPWS and labour productivity in small firms.     

The variable effects of dynamic capability by firm size: the interaction of innovation and marketing capabilities in competitive industries

Although investments in marketing and innovation capabilities theoretically help firms to compete in dynamic markets and enhance performance, company size has a strong influence on whether this is the case. In a test of a proposed conceptual model, this study of 692 small, medium, and large enterprises found that large firms prospered from building dynamic capabilities under conditions of high industry competitiveness, while investments in innovation and marketing individually diminished small firms’ performance. The effect was mixed for medium-size firms. In small enterprises, however, dynamic capability proved to be crucial in order to withstand competition. Therefore, taking into account these firms’ limited resources, managerial efforts should be focused on the integration of marketing and innovation capabilities, because each capability alone does not have a significant positive impact on performance. In medium-sized enterprises, the support of marketing capability is required to raise profitability under conditions of high industry competitiveness; otherwise, innovation would not lead to actual profits. For large enterprises, industry competitiveness was found to be a less serious threat to performance, and instead is a catalyst to the development of capabilities, suggesting that managers of such firms should focus on building long-term strategic advantages.     

Why adopt now? Multiple case studies and survey studies comparing small,medium and large firms

While a number of factors have been highlighted in the innovation adoption literature, little is known about whether different factors are related to innovation adoption in differently sized firms. We used preliminary case studies of small, medium and large firms to ground our hypotheses, which were then tested using a survey of 94 firms. We found that external stakeholder pressure and non-financial readiness were related to innovation adoption in SMEs; but that for large firms, adoption was related to the opportunity to innovate. It may be that the difficulties of adopting innovations, including both the financial cost and the effort involved, are too great for SMEs to overcome unless there is either a compelling need (external pressure) or enough in-house capability (non-financial readiness). This suggests that SMEs are more likely to have innovation “pushed” onto them while large firms are more likely to “pull” innovations when they have the opportunity.     

Costs of short-term credit for small and large firms

Changes in costs of credit for small and large firms respond differently to economic conditions and the markets are segmented. Costs for small firms are less responsive to changing economic conditions. Small firms borrow via credit card loans and from banks. Dynamic models prove the costs of funds are negative functions of quantities borrowed and positive functions of the Fed funds rate. During recessions, the decline in funds’ prices to large firms is greater than the reductions to small firms. Large firms benefit to a greater extent than small firms when prices of credit are changing.     

The size of the firm in a transitional economy: Downsizing and economies of scale: The case of Russian footwear

Did Russian reforms alter the privileged position enjoyed in Soviet times by large firms? This paper considers the size of firms in one industry (footwear) during the years 1992–2000 and its relation to productivity. Soviet footwear firms were much larger than their foreign counterparts. With the transition to a market-based economy these large firms might lose their advantage relative to smaller firms. This study finds that while firms in each size category in this industry did substantially downsize, this process did not significantly affect relative productivities. It does not appear that larger firms created in Soviet times were relatively disadvantaged.     

Business service firms,service space and the management of change

The growth of business service firms represents the latest stage in a continuing twentieth century process of technological and organizational restructuring of production and labour skills. It is associated with the rising information intensiveness of production and the development of an economy of signs. Business service activities located in service spaces drive innóva.tions both in production technology and in management systems. The co-presence of business service firms with their clients as well as other business service firms shapes the possibilities of trust between them. A detailed case study of the way in which large client firms utilize the services of independent business service companies is provided. This is followed by an examination of the relationship between small firms and business service expertise. A dual information economy may be developing in which large firms are able to search for specialist business service expertise irrespective of its location, while SMEs are tied into local providers of more generalist expertise.     

Network effects,trade, and productivity

We consider network effects in the monopolistically competitive model of trade developed by Melitz and Ottaviano (2008). We show that a larger network effect intensifies competition by allowing more‐productive firms to raise prices and earn higher profits, but forcing less‐productive firms to reduce prices and earn lower profits. As a result, low‐productivity firms are driven out of the market. We also show that when network effects are asymmetric, it may be difficult for firms from a country with a small network effect to compete with firms from a country with a large network effect.     

On the Real Effect of Financial Pressure: Evidence From Firm‐Level Employment During the Euro‐Area Crisis

Using a large panel of mainly unquoted euro‐area firms over the period 2003–2011, this paper examines the impact of financial pressure on firms’ employment. The analysis finds evidence that financial pressure negatively affects firms’ employment decisions. This effect is stronger during the euro area‐crisis (2010–2011), especially for firms in the periphery compared to their counterparts in non‐periphery European economies. When we introduce firm‐level heterogeneity, we show that financial pressure appears to be both statistically and quantitatively more important for bank‐dependent, small and privately held firms operating in periphery economies during the crisis.     

Large,entrepreneurship and regional development policy: ‘growth poles’ in the Mezzogiorno over 40 years

Large firms are often perceived by economists and policy-makers as ‘growth poles’ to promote development in backward regions. The idea behind the ‘growth poles’ is that large firms may have a leverage effect on the birth and growth of small and medium sized firms. Regional policy in Italy, particularly in the Mezzogiorno, has subsidized large external plants since the 1950s. A new wave of planning agreements in the 1990s is going to redesign and to strengthen this policy orientation. This paper offers empirical data on plant location and growth at provincial level over 40 years. There is no evidence of overall long term growth impact of large acternal plants in the Mezzogiorno, while there are interesting variations by sectors. A theoretical interpretation of the impact of large firms on local entrepreneurial resources is offered, pointing to the negative effects of large firms on the supply of local entrepreneurship. Policy implications are discussed.     

Wealth effects of food and drug administration (FDA) decisions

Government regulations are an increasingly important component of the environment in which firms operate. Regulations may subject firms to large costs and possibly regulatory-induced risks, both of which may have effects on stockholders' wealth. In this paper we investigate the valuation effects of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) product approvals, rejections and disciplinary decisions on the firms that operate in the food and drug industries. We find that FDA decisions have very large wealth effects. The large price changes associated with approval and rejection decisions suggest that a significant amount of uncertainty about FDA decisions is present almost up to the announcement day. These results are somewhat surprising given the lengthy period of time involved in developing and reviewing drugs and the continuous flow of information received by the market about their potential. We also find some evidence of information leaks preceding FDA announcements. With respect to disciplinary decisions, the evidence from the data suggests that stockholders experience large losses associated with FDA actions. Since these losses represent lost stream of future illegal income, it appears that ignoring FDA rules may be quite profitable for firms that are not caught.     

Economic efficiency of multi-product structure: the evidence from Korean housebuilding firms

The Korean housebuilding industry has been subject to structural changes since the 1980s. One of the key features is that housebuilding firms have become diversified into a range of businesses and as a result display multi-product structure. This paper examines the efficiency of the multi-product structure of Korean housebuilding firms. For the analysis, translog cost functions were estimated using data for 201 building firms for the 3 years 1993–1995. The empirical results indicate that medium-size building firms enjoy increasing returns to scale, whereas large firms experience constant returns to scale. Korean building firms exhibit significant economies of scope in their diversification activities. Large firms have the greatest economies of scope. These results are consistent with cost efficiency for the multi-product structure of Korean housebuilding firms. The estimated optimum scale suggests that many large firms should expand only through diversification.     

Inward investment and endogenous development. The convergence of the strategies of large firms and territories?

Inward investment is often understood as an inadequate instrument for self-sustained growth and as being responsible for the insufficient development of peripheral areas. Globalization and increasing competition within the markets, however, changed the firms' and regions' adjustment environment, and led to the convergence of spatial strategies of the large innovative firms and the development strategies of regional and local governments. This process contributes toward the integration of the external firms within local productive systems and, therefore, large innovative firms can play a relevant role in endogenous development processes. Although the convergence of strategies is not a phenomenon that can be generalized for all types of firms and territories, a new line of action opens up that permits improved productive restructuring and economic development, even in less favoured and peripheral regions.     

Bargains Followed by Bargains: When Switching Costs Make Markets More Competitive

In markets where consumers have switching costs and firms cannot price‐discriminate, firms have two conflicting strategies. A firm can either offer a low price to attract new consumers and build future market share or a firm can offer a high price to exploit the partial lock‐in of their existing consumers. This paper develops a theory of competition when overlapping generations of consumers have switching costs and firms produce differentiated products. Competition takes place over an infinite horizon with any number of firms. This paper shows that the relationship between the level of switching costs, firms' discount rate, and the number of firms determines whether firms offer low or high prices. Similar to previous duopoly studies, switching costs are likely to facilitate lower (higher) equilibrium prices when switching costs are small (large) or when a firm's discount rate is large (small). Unlike previous studies, this paper demonstrates that the number of firms also determines whether switching costs are pro‐ or anticompetitive, and with a sufficiently large (small) number of firms switching costs are pro‐ (anti‐) competitive.     

外商直接投资在中国的空间外溢效应研究

本文的研究结果发现,除了国外直接投资对大型企业不存在空间外溢比邻优势外,国外直接投资对中、小型企业以及港澳台地区直接投资对所有规模的企业均存在一定的空间外溢比邻优势;外商直接投资拉大了东西部企业生产率的差距,其中港澳台地区直接投资对东西部大型企业的生产率外溢差异远大于国外直接投资,港澳台地区直接投资分布相对集中于东部以及其对大型企业表现出的比邻优势使其外溢效应出现明显的区域差异,这是导致东西部生产率差异的主要因素;外商直接投资对不同规模的企业具有不同的外溢效应,加剧了我国大、小企业之间的竞争地位差异。     

诉讼风险如何影响事务所低价揽客经济后果?——来自公司盈余管理的经验证据

近年来,会计师事务所低价揽客行为频发,其经济后果受到广泛关注。在此背景下,基于诉讼风险视角,实证检验事务所低价揽客行为对企业盈余管理的影响。研究发现,存在低价揽客行为的事务所审计的客户公司有着更高程度的盈余管理,但这种关系主要由非十大所的低价揽客行为所驱动;当诉讼风险增加时,事务所低价揽客与公司盈余管理之间的正向关系有所减弱,诉讼风险的这种调节作用主要存在于非十大所审计的企业以及进行正向盈余管理的企业中。这些结果表明,与大所相比,小所的低价揽客行为在加剧企业盈余管理方面产生的经济后果更为严重,而较高的诉讼风险可缓解这一行为带来的不良后果。因此,抑制企业盈余管理,应有针对性地规范小所的审计定价行为,加大其低价揽客行为的诉讼成本。     

Talent management and dynamic view of talent in small and medium enterprises

Talent Management (TM) has become one of the key strategic issues for leaders in global organizations and the majority of research on TM focuses on the large multinational enterprise (MNE) context. Despite the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), research in the area of talent management in this context is scarce, particularly conceptual research. This paper tries to address this gap by a) providing a theoretical rationale for the difference between large and SME firms in their talent management and human resource practices; b) exploring the applicability of the notion of talent management conceptualised in large firms to the SME context. c) Proposing a framework that helps identify the characteristics of talent in SMEs. We are critical of the best practices approach and we argue that the notion of talent management is likely to be different in SMEs compared with large firms mainly due to distinct institutional and structural factors.     

Collusive Networks in Market‐Sharing Agreements in the Presence of an Antitrust Authority

This paper examines how the presence of an antitrust authority (AA) affects market‐sharing agreements made by firms. These agreements prevent firms from entering each other’s markets. The set of agreements defines a collusive network, which is pursued by antitrust authorities. This paper shows that in the absence of an AA, a network is stable if its alliances are large enough, and in the presence of an AA, more competitive structures can be sustained through bilateral agreements. Antitrust laws may have a procompetitive effect, as they give firms in large alliances more incentives to cut their agreements at once.     

企业员工绩效评估管理研究——以中国企业和在华美资企业为例

员工绩效评估是企业组织激励员工的重要的管理工具之一。本文共研究了六家不同企业(中国企业和美资企业各三家)的员工绩效评估实践。调查显示,这两类企业在员工绩效评估方面存在着系统性差异。中国传统的文化价值观,如崇拜权威,对高权力距离的认可和集体主义,可以在很大程度上解释这种差异。研究结果给管理者的启示是:人力资源管理活动同文化导向有一定的相关性。     

行业视阈下企业“并购或联盟”的选择偏好研究

企业并购和联盟的行为并不仅仅是特定的企业层面的问题,很多行业内都出现了大规模并购或联盟的风潮,这已成为了一种显著的行业性现象。在一个既定的行业中,大部分的企业都面临着相似的技术要求和市场态势。行业对于企业选择其外部成长战略的偏好有着重要的影响。在本文中,作者将提出三个行业层面的影响维度,通过两分法,将行业分为八种情景,分别讨论在不同行业情景下企业对兼并收购或战略联盟的选择偏好。