SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO LOGISTICS,MARKETING, PRODUCTION,AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

The renaming of the Council of Logistics Management (CLM) to the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) ushered in some interesting definitional dialogue and debate within the practitioner and academic communities. Inherent in emerging definitions is the notion that SCM encompasses activities traditionally considered aspects of production, logistics, marketing, and operations management. Defining SCM in such a broad scope (i.e., a “within” and “across” functions perspective), while considered by many scholars as the true representation of the essence of SCM, creates confusion regarding the appropriate organizational level within a business that is best suited for managerial decision making regarding the phenomenon. This paper contributes to the emerging SCM dialogue by highlighting the functional spaces (the “within” function perspective), relationships, and conceptual overlaps (the “across” functions perspective) between marketing, logistics, production, operations, and supply chain management. By comparing and contrasting the literature‐based conceptual boundaries of each discipline, a framework is proposed that more clearly captures the essence of the SCM decision making sphere. Managerial insights and future research implications are presented.     

我国上市公司盈余管理对策研究

由于会计信息的复杂性、信息不对称的不可克服性和舞弊危害的严重性,盈余管理成为困扰证券市场投资者、监管者、审计人员,损害证券市场健康发展的一个大问题,盈余管理是各国学者研究的焦点之一,研究的角度很多。针对在研究中发现的一些问题,对改善我国上市公司盈余管理的现状提出一些建议。     

Women, Management and Globalization in the Middle East

This paper provides new theoretical insights into the interconnections and relationships between women, management and globalization in the Middle East (ME). The discussion is positioned within broader globalization debates about women’s social status in ME economies. Based on case study evidence and the UN datasets, the article critiques social, cultural and economic reasons for women’s limited advancement in the public sphere. These include the prevalence of the patriarchal work contract within public and private institutions, as well as cultural and ethical values which create strongly defined gender roles. The discussion examines the complexities of conceptualizing women’s equality and empowerment in Islamic states. The paper reveals that there have been significant achievements in advancing women in leadership and political roles, but that there are still institutional and cultural barriers embedded in business systems. Linking feminist, development and management theoretical strands a development framework is proposed which is sensitive to the Islamic Shar’ia encompassing government, organization and individual level strategies. It is suggested that scholars should integrate literatures from gender and management, development and Middle East studies, and in particular that critical scholars of gender and organization should consider the interrelations of the national and transnational in critiques of contemporary global capitalism to understand the complexity of women and social change in the ME.     

Revisiting the standing of international business journals in the competitive landscape

Journal rankings are contentious, proliferating and bring about a significant change to research productivity and quality assessment. In this paper, we assess the quality and impact of International Business (IB) journals in relation to each other and management and business journals more broadly. In so doing, we overcome methodological limitations of previous journal rankings by adopting a novel approach that incorporates a worldwide meta-ranking. Its key advantage is the ability to look at the standing of journals both within and between subject-areas. Comparisons between subject areas are important because centralization of resource allocation decisions within institutions has ramifications for disciplines and staff involved. Results indicate that within the IB domain, JIBS continues to top the list, JWB has solidified its position and joined the upper tier of IB journals, the space below JIBS and JWB is increasingly contested, pointing to the emergence of a multi-tier set of “core” IB journals. In the wider competitive landscape of management and business journals, IB journals perform well in the upper tier, but there is a long tail of IB journals at the lower end of our meta-ranking.     

The Effects of Impression Management on Coupon Redemption across Cultures

This research examines the effects of impression management on consumers’ coupon redemption and suggests different underlying mechanisms with respect to cultural self‐construal. Four studies show that, when primed with impression management, individualistic (vs. collectivistic) consumers are more likely to redeem coupons, because individualists believe that coupon redemption creates the impression of being smart. On the other hand, collectivistic consumers are less likely to redeem coupons when coupon usage is visible to others, because they believe that coupon redemption gives the impression of being cheap. These findings are explained within the context of cultural self‐construal and regulatory focus theory.     

Using performance management to win the talent war

The talent war is a 21^st-century reality whereby organizations of all sizes, across all industries, compete to hire and retain scarce human capital. The talent war is fierce because there are few individuals within each industry who are considered top human capital such that there is not enough to go around, and these top performers generate a great deal of revenues, profit, and overall success for their organizations. In this installment of Human Performance, we describe the nature of the talent war and reasons why winning it is crucial for organizational competitiveness, sustainability, and survival. We discuss how implementing a performance management system can help organizations win the talent war by retaining these coveted top performers. Specifically, we offer the following research-based recommendations for using performance management to (1) create and maintain individualized developmental plans; (2) ensure that work is challenging, interesting, and meaningful; (3) provide clear advancement opportunities, and (4) implement contingent rewards. Implementing these recommendations can turn performance management into an effective tool to retain top talent and prevent competitors from stealing a firm's crucial source of competitive advantage.     

中小型制造企业集群的信息化模式探讨

在企业信息化建设过程中，由于各个企业在发展阶段和管理模式等方面存在较大差异，信息化模式选择成为突出问题。根据中小企业集群的演进理论，阐述了中小型制造企业集群生命周期阶段与信息化模式选择，并详细探讨了每个生命阶段的信息化模式。     

Will agriculture always remain a problem in GATT?

GATT has had extraordinarily scant “success” in the agricultural sphere up to now. To what extent is this due to the special status accorded to agriculture in GATT? Are trends discernible within GATT that might lead to an improvement in the situation? Might the Uruguay Round produce fundamentally new solutions?     

农产品流通体制改革:政策演变与路径分析

我国经济体制改革旨在用社会主义市场经济体制替代原有的计划经济体制,农产品流通体制改革具有显著的强制性制度变迁与诱致性制度变迁相结合特征,在经营形式和市场发展上更注重农产品流通的多种经营形式和市场制度安排。     

与贸易相关的知识产权保护理论最新进展及启示

在新增长理论的框架下,经济学家已注意到一个健全的知识产权保护制度对于创新和增长的重要性.在开放条件下,由于世界上绝大多数创新都首先发生在北方国家,然后再向南方国家扩散,南北贸易中南方国家的知识产权保护水平对于世界福利水平以及创新率和增长率都有着重要影响.本文评述这一领域的最新文献,并总结出对我国的启示.     

Learning from Multi-Stakeholder Networks: Issue-Focussed Stakeholder Management

From an analysis of the role of companies in multi-stakeholder networks and a critical review of stakeholder theory, it is argued that companies practise two different types of stakeholder management: they focus on their organization’s welfare (organization- focussed stakeholder management) or on an issue that affects their relationship with other societal groups and organizations (issue-focussed stakeholder management). These two approaches supplement each other. It is demonstrated that issue-focussed stakeholder management dominates in multi-stakeholder networks, because it enables corporations to address complex problems and challenges in cooperation with stakeholders. Since deliberation is the key to issue-focussed stakeholder management, it helps to cope with numerous and at times contradictory stakeholder demands and enhances the legitimacy of corporate activities. The research for this article was facilitated by the ESC Rennes Management Research Fund.     

A Stakeholder’s Perspective on Human Resource Management

In order to understand the system wherein human resource management practices are determined by the interactions of a complex system of actors, it is necessary to have a conceptual framework of analysis. In this respect, the works of scholars (Mitroff, 1983, Stakeholders of the Organizational Mind, Jessey-Bass; Freeman, 1984, Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach, Pitman) concerning stakeholder theory opened new perspectives in management theory. An organisation is understood as being part of a politico-economic system of stakeholders who interact and influence management practices. Each stakeholder tries to optimise and protect his interests (Frooman, 1999, Academy of Management Review 24, 191–205; Savage et al., 1991, Academy of Management Executive 5(2), 61–75). The framework of stakeholder analysis enables escape from a purely instrumental approach to HRM, and avoids reducing our understanding of conflicts within companies to mere antagonism between employees and their employers. It enables us to point out the existence of other stakeholders in the relationship. Notably, it allows for the incorporation into management theory of actors from the sphere of politics (president of the republic, government, national elected representatives – deputies and senators – and locally elected representatives – mayors and regional councillors, etc.) as well as their dependent administrations. All these actors are considered to be stakeholders who define the legal framework of firm management and guarantee the application of these laws.     

Innovation embedded in entrepreneurs’ networks and national educational systems

The proposition that entrepreneurs’ innovation is embedded in networking is refined. We distinguish between networking in the public sphere and networking in the private sphere, and hypothesize that innovation benefits from public sphere networking but suffers from private sphere networking. These hypotheses are tested with a representative sample of 56,611 entrepreneurs in 61 countries surveyed in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. Hierarchical linear modeling shows that, while overall networking benefits innovation, innovation is decreased by private sphere networking and increased by networking in the public sphere, especially in the professions and internationally. A further refinement is to consider entrepreneurs’ endeavors as embedded in society with its system of education for entrepreneurship. We hypothesize that the quality of a national system moderates the impacts of networks on innovation by adding value to networks. Analyses show that quality of national educational system adds innovation benefits to both public sphere networking and private sphere networking.     

Management development within the construction industry: building on success?

This article explores the notion that the workplace is a learning environment, and that the line manager is a key player determining its effectiveness. The work discusses how performance management systems may be used to clarify expectations made of line managers with regard to employee development. The work, in addition, suggests that line manager people management expertise may be a factor inhibiting workplace development for subordinates, and makes a number of suggestions about how to prepare the line manager for effective employee development. Key issues are illustrated by reference to a case study example. The case demonstrates that a high profile management development programme within a major international organisation failed to meet all objectives because of the unwillingness of the line management team to participate in the development of subordinates back in the workplace.     

Quality of International Business Journals

It is fairly common practice for researchers to ascertain the quality of journals in a field by surveying a select audience in that field for their perceptions. This research methodology has been criticized because respondents may not evaluate each journal within the framework of all journals in that area. Also, even when each journal is evaluated within the framework of all journals in a functional area, respondents may evaluate journals based on their perceptions of the im ortance of specialty areas within the discipline. The objective of this article is to determine if there are significant differences in perceived quality of international business journalsnbased on areas of research interest and whether such differences are systematic.     

The 2001 General Election: Factors Influencing the Brand Image of Political Parties and their Leaders

This paper considers the importance of building the brand image of parties and leaders in modern day politics. Firstly, the appropriateness of branding in the sphere of politics is considered. Then, brand image research on political parties and their leaders is identified and discussed. From this, the advertising (positive and negative), events and celebrity endorsements that affected the June 2001 election are discussed. Finally, some tentative conclusions on political image management are forwarded along with the likely future developments in this area.     

Strategic Orientation, Management Characteristics, and Performance: A Study of Spanish SMEs

This paper analyzes from a resource-based view the management characteristics of Spanish small and medium enterprises (SMEs) according to their strategic orientation and the consequences in terms of firm performance and business efficiency. The typology of strategies formulated by Miles and Snow has important implications for management, because depending on the strategic orientation adopted—defender, prospector, or analyzer—the firm can emphasize to a great extent some aspects of management, such as technological position, innovation, organizational design, and human resource management. Moreover, these aspects of management can largely determine firm performance and business efficiency. A sample of 1,351 Spanish SMEs provided the data for an empirical test of these issues. The results confirm the expected relationships, revealing, on the one hand, significant differences between prospector and defender SMEs regarding the key factors on which they base their management characteristics and, on the other hand, the different influences that each strategic orientation has on firm performance.     

Common European monetary policy with different financial structures

If Economic and Monetary Union comes about, it will comprise countries with different financial systems and financing practices. This implies differences as regards the transmission of impulses both within the financial sector and from the monetary sphere to the real economy. Professor Renate Ohr and Torsten Gruber take the example of the United Kingdom to illustrate the significance these differences could have for the monetary policy of the European Central Bank.     

The politicisation of whistleblowers: a case study

The focus of this article is on the political nature of whistleblowing. It argues that reprisals by management, rather than silencing the whistleblower, result in the transformation and politicisation of the individual. The process that leads to the transformation of a loyal employee into a political activist is considered through analysing the experiences of a whistleblower in the sphere of financial regulation in South Africa. The article investigates the effect of retaliation by the employer on the employee-organisational relationship. It looks in particular at the nature of the power struggle between the whistleblower and management and suggests explanations why organisations tend to respond in such a harsh fashion to whistleblowing. It concludes that the act of whistleblowing not only displays an expressive dimension, but also a political instrumental dimension that is often neglected in literature on whistleblowing.     

Relational Consequences of Perceived Deception in Online Shopping: The Moderating Roles of Type of Product,Consumer’s Attitude Toward the Internet and Consumer’s Demographics

Appropriate enablers are essential for management of intellectual capital. Through the use of structural equation modeling, we investigate whether organic renewal environments, interactive behaviors, and trust are conducive to intellectual capital management processes, as they each depend upon the establishment of a climate emphasizing mutual respect. Owing to a lack of clarity in the literature, we tested the ordering of the variables and found statistical significance for two ordering alternatives. However, the sequence presented in this article provides the best statistical fit: an organic renewal environment provides a foundation for interactive behaviors, which leads to trust, and thus is consistent with the development of intellectual capital management pro- cesses within the organization.