BUYER POWER AND THE ‘WATERBED EFFECT’*

When a buyer is able to obtain lower input prices from a supplier, is it possible that other buyers will have to pay more for the same input as a result? Is this bad for consumers? We present a model that analyzes the conditions under which the asymmetric exercise of buyer power can lead to consumer detriment through raising other buyers' wholesale prices (the ‘waterbed effect’).     

PLATFORM COMPETITION WITH ‘MUST‐HAVE’ COMPONENTS*

In platform‐component systems with indirect network effects, some ‘must‐have’ components are so popular with consumers that they create large, discrete indirect network effects when they become available on a platform. For example, ESPN is a must‐have component of cable TV platforms. This paper examines how platform market structures determine exclusive versus non‐exclusive contracts between platforms and components. It shows that a component provider is more likely to sign exclusive contracts with a single platform if its popularity is high, the platform market share difference is large, and cross‐platform indirect network effects are low.     

The economic modeling of strategy process: ‘clean models’ and ‘dirty hands’

We argue that our model of learning in alliances ( Khanna, Gulati and Nohria, 1998 ) is an economic model of strategy process. We discuss implications of this view for the strategy process vs. content debate, for the appropriate testing of models of strategy process, and for the role of economics in helping understand strategy process. We propose that the ‘clean models’ from economics and ‘dirty hands’ of traditional process inquiries offer research designs that are complementary rather than incompatible ( Hirsch, Michaels and Friedman, 1987 ). Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Differentiation strategies in ‘stalemate industries’

Empirical studies conducted at the Institut de Recherche de l'Entreprise (Lyon, France) show that, in ‘stalemate industries’ (cf. the BCG's typology, 1981), differentiation strategies are effective and profitable alternatives to the usual strategic recommendations. The knowledge of customers' behavior shows up several opportunities for differentiation, hidden by some kind of ‘strategic presbyopia’. Total quality or ‘zero default’ strategy (product quality regularity, punctuality of deliveries, quick response to unexpected orders, quick and correct answers to requests, short delivery times) is the major opportunity for differentiation. Such strategies are compatible with a low-cost position; excellent companies which succeeded in building this ‘total advantage’ (diferentiation + low cost) over their competitors enjoy the highest market share growth and profitability.     

Board composition,share ownership,and ‘underpricing’ of U.K. IPO firms

Using a sample of 251 IPOs in the United Kingdom, this paper examines interlinks between executive and nonexecutive characteristics, share ownership, and short‐term performance measured in terms of share offer ‘underpricing.’ It argues that executives' power and previous experience directly affect ex ante choice of nonexecutive directors and their ownership interests in the firm. These endogenously developed governance factors may be used by IPO teams strategically to reduce the extent of underpricing. However, there is a selective response of investors to different board characteristics and share ownership structure. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The ‘Flexible Firm’: Strategy and Segmentation

This paper draws together and provides further analysis of two research projects commissioned by the Department of Employment, with a focus on employers' labour use strategies in Britain. It seeks to place on a firmer statistical basis arguments about the presence and growth of the ‘flexible firm’, and it draws also on case-study data to explore some of the issues relating to flexibility and strategy. Our conclusions are that there has been a marked absence of strategy in this area, and reasons for this are explored, as are the implications for gender and segmentation in the labour market.     

‘Compunications’: a policy agenda

There are four points which are especially useful in understanding the evolving world of computers and communications in the USA.¹ The first is that the information industries, which were separate and distinct as recently as a decade ago, are now tightly intertwined and in turmoil. Second, the demands and stakes of individual consumers are undergoing significant changes. Third, there are great economic and political stakes in the information world. Finally, the stance of the US government in general is marginally adequate, at best, to cope with the turmoil.     

From ‘Entering into a Firm’ to ‘Entering into a Profession’: An Anthropological Approach to Changing Personhood in Japan

Drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, the article uses discourse analysis to examine the social dynamics involved in the construction of personhood in Japan. While the gap between powerful discourse and lived reality is a well‐documented phenomenon, there is little systematic empirical research on how to integrate individual and social levels of analysis in this process. By contrasting discourse from above and from below, the article illuminates power asymmetry and the resulting tension between discursive freedom and social exclusion among disadvantaged groups.     

Legitimizing Illegal Protest: The Permissive Ideational Environment and ‘Bossnappings’ in France

In France, in 2009–2010, on several occasions, managers announcing redundancies were held hostage by workers. Public opinion polls show widespread support for the ‘bossnappers’, while the State did not taken action against them. Employing the insights of new institutionalism and social movement theory, this article explains the legitimization of such radical, illegal action through the notion of a permissive ideational environment resulting from a tradition of trade union militancy, pre‐existing concerns over globalization and more recent fears of, and government and trade union responses to, globalization and the current economic crisis.     

Porter's ‘competitive advantage of nations’: An assessment

Porter's Competitive Advantage of Nations is an important book which bridges the gap between strategic management and international economics while contributing substantially to both. Porter's analysis of the impact of national environment on international competitive performance demonstrates the potential for the theory of competitive strategy to rescue international economics from its slide into refined irrelevance, while simultaneously broadening the scope of the theory of competitive strategy to encompass both the international dimension and the dynamic context of competition. Nevertheless, the breadth and relevance of Porter's analysis have been achieved at the expense of precision and determinancy. Concepts are often ill defined, theoretical relationships poorly specified, and empirical data chosen selectively and interpreted subjectively.     

‘Determinants’ of organizational performance: An interdisciplinary review

The paper contains a review and evaluation of empirical and case studies on the performance of whole enterprises. Research from a diverse array of academic disciplines and research traditions is included. The central focus is on identifying factors that influence organizational performance, and discussing implications for future interdisciplinary research and the strategic management of contemporary organizations.     

The constitution of ‘third workspaces’ in between the home and the corporate office

This study analyses the constitution of commercially provided work spaces situated in between the home and the corporate office. These new workspaces are enabled by digital network technologies. Theoretically, this new category of contemporary business spaces is conceptualised as ‘third workspaces’, with reference to the work of Oldenburg (1989), Soja (1996) and Lefebvre (1991 [1974]). Empirically, these workspaces are explored in two ethnographic case studies dealing with recently founded and successful third workspace providers. The grounded theory resulting from these case studies addresses the role of the material settings, the technologies, the work ideologies as well as the user practices. Overall this study offers an analytical framework for studying and managing third workspaces, and highlights the ambiguities in the constitution of third workspaces between the design and management on the one hand and the user practices on the other.     

The kill programme: an ethnographic study of ‘dirty work’ in a slaughterhouse

It has been argued that ‘dirty work’ is characterised by strong occupational and workgroup cultures. This literature has mainly focused on direct workers, but this article largely attends to indirect ‘dirty’ workers, specifically meat inspectors, through ethnographic research conducted in a UK slaughterhouse. Four arguments are developed; the first is that ‘dirty workers’ may not all display group cohesiveness; indeed, individualisation may be more evident depending upon the technology used, internationalisation and employment conditions. Second, there is complexity and diversity within ‘dirty work’ and even single occupations can contain considerable variety, rendering generalisations problematic. Third, we argue that much greater attention needs to be given to the wider contextual issues affecting ‘dirty work’, specifically changing labour markets, itinerant labour, economic conditions and technologies. Finally, we argue that stigmatised work may become more so if it is equated with the low wage economy and/or undercutting conditions of employment through exploiting migrant labour.     

INNOVATION AND MARKET STRUCTURE: AN EMPIRICAL EVALUATION OF THE ‘BOUNDS APPROACH’ IN THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY*

This paper applies Sutton's [1998] ‘bounds approach’ to the chemical industry. The approach predicts that (i) the lower bound of the ratio of the 1‐firm concentration index to product concentration is bounded away from zero at high levels of product concentration only in high R&D markets and (ii) the lower bound on market concentration is higher and increasing in product concentration in markets with higher R&D intensities. We test these two hypotheses and find that the data strongly support them. A novel feature of our analysis is the use of plant level data in defining products and the classification of products into markets based on end‐use.