The Business Value of Health Management

For organizational development that is future-oriented, enterprises increasingly need qualified, motivated and efficient workers who are able and willing to contribute actively to technical and organizational innovations. Furthermore, customers and consumers are increasingly interested in healthy products and services. Therefore, health has become a (potential) business value of strategic importance. In interaction with all relevant stakeholders, an approach was developed for companies that want to manage their health impact in a proactive and preventive manner. The approach was termed Integral Health Management (IHM). IHM forms a strategic approach for reducing the costs of sickness absence and working disability, while the productivity and resilience of the company and its employees are increased. This brings the company direct economic benefits. Finally, it is of prime interest for employees to remain physically and mentally healthy and employable. The IHM approach distinguishes seven lines of development: (1) health as a strategic company interest; (2) the realization of a healthy primary process; (3) a safe and sound physical (work) environment; (4) an inspiring social (work) environment; (5) vital people; (6) a sound relationship with the immediate organizational environment and local community, and (7) healthy products and/or services. The inter-relationships between the seven development lines are essential for combining an improvement of the business impact on health with a strategic interest of companies and organizations. The seven lines of IHM development can easily be linked to the European Foundation for Quality Management's European Excellence Model.     

Evaluating Ethical Approaches to Crisis Leadership: Insights from Unintentional Harm Research

Leading a corporation through a crisis requires rational decision making guided by an ethical approach (Snyder et al., Journal of Business Ethics, 63, 2006, 371). Three such approaches are virtue ethics (Seeger and Ulmer, Journal of Business Ethics, 31, 2001, 369), an ethic of justice, and an ethic of care (Simola, Journal of Business Ethics, 46, 2003, 351). In this article, I consider the effectiveness of these approaches for leading a corporation after a crisis. The standard I use is drawn from recent studies that examine how people tend to react to corporate unintentional harms. I conclude from these studies that an ethic of care approach is most effective for managing corporate crises when it comes to stakeholder concerns. I conclude the article with strategies for managing a crisis using an ethic of care.     

Trade and migration flows between some CEE countries and the UK

The recent enlargement of the European Union (EU) has enhanced interest in the causes and also the consequences of migration between Central and Eastern European (CEE) and Western European countries. This paper considers the possibility that some of these consequences make themselves felt in the trade flows between migrants' countries of origin and destination. Using a panel of data covering a number of CEE countries between 1996 and 2003, we employ an augmented gravity model to examine the effects of immigration from these transition countries on their bilateral trade flows with the UK. We pay attention to a number of issues that have been raised within the literature on gravity models. We find evidence that migration positively enhances the bilateral exports of the migrants' home country; however, there is less (but some) evidence that the imports from their destination country are also enhanced.     

Repeated Richardson extrapolation and static hedging of barrier options under the CEV model

This paper proposes an accelerated static replication approach for continuous European-style barrier options by employing the repeated Richardson extrapolation technique with the Romberg sequence. This approach is developed under the constant elasticity of variance (CEV) model of Cox (1975) and Cox and Ross (1976) using the framework offered by Derman, Ergener, and Kani (1995; DEK) and its modified method of Chung et al. (2010, 2013a, 2013b) and Tsai (2014). The numerical results indicate that our method could significantly reduce replication errors for European knock-out call options and may be superior to the imposition of the theta-matching condition on the DEK method.     

The Cost Factor in Patent Systems

The objective of this paper is to assess to what extent the cost of patenting affects the demand for patents. The empirical analysis, which focuses on the patent systems of the USA, Japan, and Europe in 2003, leads to the following methodological and empirical conclusions: (1) for a proper international comparison, the size of the market and the average number of claims included in a patent must be accounted for; (2) when the cost per claim per capita (the 3C-index) is considered, a negative linear relationship appears between the cost of patenting and the number of claims that are filed; (3) after the grant of a patent by the EPO, the translation, validation and transaction costs induced by an effective protection in several European countries witness a highly fragmented and very expensive European market for intellectual property; (4) for a patent designating 13 European countries, the 3C-index is about ten (two) times higher than in the US (Japanese) system (for process and translation costs up to the grant); (5) The European market being more than twice as large as the US market in terms of inhabitants, the 3C-index suggests that there would be a clear justification for higher nominal examination fees at the EPO, that would ensure the pursuit of a rigorous granting process.     

MICRO EMPIRICAL RESULTS OF A KALECKIAN-TYPE CAPITAL ACCUMULATION MODEL COMPARED WITH MACRO RESULTS FOR SOME EUROPEAN ECONOMIES

A micro economic model of the rate of capital accumulation that corresponds to a macro Kaleckian-type post-Keynesian investment function is hypothesized. Firm-level accounting data on industrial and commercial firms over the time period 1994–2000 for three European economies and the USA are used to test the consistency of the micro model with the macro model of Hein and Ochsen (2003, Metroeconomica, 54, pp. 404–33). The micro empirical results were very consistent with the macro results, suggesting a strong micro foundation to the macro investment function. In addition country differences and industry differences were included in the analysis.     

Semistatic hedging and pricing American floating strike lookback options

We price an American floating strike lookback option under the Black–Scholes model with a hypothetic static hedging portfolio (HSHP) composed of nontradable European options. Our approach is more efficient than the tree methods because recalculating the option prices is much quicker. Applying put–call duality to an HSHP yields a tradable semistatic hedging portfolio (SSHP). Numerical results indicate that an SSHP has better hedging performance than a delta-hedged portfolio. Finally, we investigate the model risk for SSHP under a stochastic volatility assumption and find that the model risk is related to the correlation between asset price and volatility.     

Business Ethics in the Curriculum: Integrating Ethics through Work Experience

In this paper we seek to make the case for a teaching and learning strategy that integrates business ethics in the curriculum, whilst not precluding a disciplines based approach to this subject. We do this in the context of specific work experience modules at undergraduate level which are offered by Middlesex University Business School, part of a modern university based in North West London. We firstly outline our educative values and then the modules that form the basis of our research. We then identify and elaborate what we believe are the five dimensions which distinguish an integrated approach based on work experience from a disciplines-based approach, namely: process and content, internal and external, facilitation and teaching, covert and overt, and living wisdom and established wisdom. The last dimension draws on the practical relevance of the Aristotelian notion of phronesis inherent in our approach. We go on to provide two case examples of our practice to illustrate our perspective and in support of our conclusions. These are that reflection integrated into the Business Studies curriculum, using the ASKE typology of learning [Frame, 2001, Proceedings of the 9th Annual Teaching and Learning Conference (Nottingham: Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University), p. 80], in respect of personal and group process in a work experience context, provides a useful heuristic for the development of moral sensibility and ethical practice.This article is in part based on a paper that was originally presented at the 2003 Teaching Business Ethics Conference, Institute of Business Ethics and European Business Ethics Network-UK, London and we are grateful for the constructive comments that we received then.     

Zielsetzungen und Instrumentarien der europäischen Verbraucherrechtspolitik: Eine Analyse von Entwicklungen im Bereich des Zivilrechts

Objectives and instruments of European consumer policy: An analysis of developments in the area of civil law. The paper discusses the relationships and conflicts between the objectives pursued by European consumer policy and the means which are at its disposal. As a first step, the theoretical assumptions of this policy are analysed by an evaluation of the EC Programme for a Consumer Protection and Information Policy of 1975 and of the draft directives on product liability, on misleading and unfair competition, on doorstep sales, and on correspondence courses. It is suggested that the European approach toward consumer protection largely corresponds to the policies prevailing at the national level: Consumer protection is seen as a supplement to the traditional market and competition policy which used to be restricted to regulating competition between producers or suppliers of goods and services, whereas the new policy focuses on the relations between producers and consumers. Nevertheless, consumer policy adheres to the basic presumptions of market economy. It presupposes that the demands of the consumer have to be articulated and satisfied via market processes. It therefore primarily relies on regulations directed against misleading advertising, on protecting justified expectations as to the quality of goods or services by providing redress for losses sustained, and by endeavours aimed at securing a more rational behaviour of the individual consumer. The most important means to promote this policy on the European level are the directives which aim at consonance among national laws (Art. 100 EC Treaty). This is indicative of a market orientation of consumer policy in so far as the harmonization of law is seen as a device for overcoming discriminating effects or distortions of competition created by the differences among national laws thereby furthering a better functioning of the Common Market (Art. 3 h EC Treaty). This accordance of consumer policy and harmonization policy does not rest on firm ground, however. In consumer policy it becomes more and more obvious that the efforts to protect the interests of the consumer lead to further interventionist activities. This process also reveals the need for systematic adjustments or consultations between consumer policy and other fields of politics. A harmonization policy which is primarily centered on breaking down trade barriers and on overcoming discriminating effects of competition cannot respond to the needs and problems of such interventionist activities. Therefore, the harmonization of consumer law should be conceived as a process of formulating broader policies directed at a congruous development of the economic sphere and at an improvement of the living conditions in the Common Market (cf. Art. 2 and the preamble of the EC Treaty). Legal techniques which might be adopted to support such an orientation are (a) in the EC directives to lay down minimum standards for the national legislation, (b) to use a conflict-of-laws approach which would allow to respect and try to coordinate legitimate interests in the application of national consumer policies, and (c) the development of special rules responding to the international aspects of the exchange between producers and consumers. At present, however, European policy gives hardly any attention to the chances and problems of such an approach requiring a complicated coordination of the various legal techniques.     

The Stockholm Manifesto. Creating a safe environment for children in Europe

The European Child Safety Alliance is an initiative of the European Consumer Safety Association with a network of child injury prevention organizations within 25 Member States in Europe. The Alliance, launched in 2001, focuses on strategies that assist in the reduction of injury related deaths and disability amongst children 0 to 18 years of age in the European Union Members States. The Alliance work is done in partnership with stakeholders from various disciplines involved in child injury prevention in order to promote a coordinated and consistent approach across Europe.     

Designing a European restructuring mechanism without taxpayers’ money

The European Commission’s approach to the supervision and restructuring of the EU banking system has numerous shortcomings. As an alternative, this article proposes a European Resolution Authority and a European Restructuring Fund for systemically important banks and the implementation of a levy paid by banks in accordance with their systemic relevance. This levy should be designed to reduce the risk of future bailouts and the moral hazard inherent in implicit government guarantees.     

Consumer input in standardization: a case study of toy safety

Abstract

Ever since the ‘new approach’ to the achievement of the Internal Market was adopted, the importance of European Standardization has increased. The standardization institutes are now responsible for the technical elaboration of requirements touching upon health and safety of consumers. Therefore, it is of major importance for consumer movements to have an input in the process. In this study, the consumer interest articulation in the ‘new approach’ policy-making process is looked into. The role consumer organizations play in both the pre-standardization and the actual standardization stage are dealt with. Toy safety is taken as a case-study, and the information for the research was mainly gathered from interviews with about 30 representatives of European and national consumer movements, government agencies and industry involved in this field

The study shows that the influence of consumers in the pre-standardization stage, when a directive is drafted and a mandate negotiated between the European Commission and the standardization institutes, is limited

As concerns the standardization stage, consumers have representation in technical committees and working groups of the European standardization institutes. The participation of European and national representatives is compared

The main findings of this research are that consumer input in the actual standardization process is crucial, since their input in the pre-standardization phase is limited. In addition to this, the European and the national consumer representatives are not equally successful in assuring consumer input in this particular policy area. The causes for this difference are considered.     

The European Commission's Green Paper on European Contract Law

In July 2001 the European Commission published a Communication to the Council and the European Parliament, its so-called "Green Paper" on European Contract Law (COM (2001) 398). This document seeks feedback on the options sketched by the Commission for future European Community action in the contract law field.The present note, which incorporates as an Appendix the text of the Green Paper itself, is designed to explain the background to the Commission's intervention (the first section, pp. 339–350 below), to provide a brief commentary on the content of the Green Paper (the second section, pp. 350–356) and then to assess the constitutional implications of a proposed advance towards a European Contract Law (the third section, pp. 356–371). It is argued that the debate about the creation of a European contract law is properly seen not merely as a matter of cultural feasibility and of commercial desirability, but that in addition assessment of the EC's potential contribution is heavily conditioned by increasing constitutional anxieties about the EC's legitimate role in the field of market regulation. The Green Paper avoids explicit treatment of the constitutional dimension of European contract law, yet, it is argued in this note, this is in fact unavoidable in the wake of the European Court's seminal judgment of October 2000 in the so-called "Tobacco Advertising" case in which it for the first time invalidated a measure of harmonisation of laws on the basis that an insufficient connection with the process of market-building had been shown by the European Community's legislature. This demands that the constitutional validity of legislative proposals in the field of contract law be examined with care, for the EC, an entity created by an international Treaty, has been endowed with no general competence as lawmaker in this or any other field, even though past legislative practice may have tended to obscure this constitutionally fundamental principle.     

Similarities and differences in human resource management in the European Union

This study explores similarities and differences in human resource management (HRM) in the European Union (EU). Common factors in the development of European HRM are the importance of consultation, the emergence of flexible work patterns, the role of work and the employer in the life of employees, and the introduction of the Euro. National, company, and regional factors create divergence in European HRM. National factors include societal hierarchy, different cultures and mental models, societal structure, and language. Company factors include size of companies, public versus private, and multinational or local. Regional factors differentiate along north‐south and east‐west axes. The EU had relatively little impact on HRM in terms of harmonization of labor and tax laws but had major impact on the opening up of markets to foreign competition and privatization of public sector companies. While cultural diversity remains strong, the influence of large multinational companies may lead to more regional integration in the practice of HRM. European HRM is much more comfortable operating in a polycentric mode than U.S. HRM, which seeks universality and standardization. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Unbundling European operations: regional management and corporate flexibility in American and Japanese MNCS

Empirical research on the European operations of 19 American and Japanese multinational companies (MNCs) suggested, first, that the strategic importance of the region did not translate into an enhanced role for regional headquarters, and second, that American and Japanese MNCs are “unbundling” their European operations as a means of enhancing their flexibility. American MNCs preferred to carve up regional tasks for delegation to local subsidiaries, with coordination assured increasingly by “councils” bringing top European managers together. Japanese MNCs have not altered the formal organizational structure; but the recent internationalization of basic research labs in Europe has forced them to modify their previously monolithic approach to European subsidiaries.     

The CE-mark and the new European approach to product law: a system of fundamental legal safety requirements and technical specification standards

European product law consists of three parts: product liability law, a general product safety regulation and an increasing number of provisions with requirements on product group level. In recent years this third part has been revised in order to speed up the completion of the European single market. This article describes the development from the negative integration of member states’ markets to the positive integration by supranational law. The CE-mark is the symbol of the new approach to the harmonization of European product safety requirements. The modular system of conformity assessment is an important characteristic of harmonization-based product law. Advantages and disadvantages of the new European product law are discussed from the perspective of ensuring the future of the consumers’ basic right to safety in an increasingly global and therefore international market.     

Europe – Quo Vadis? Reflections on the Future Institutional Framework of the European Union

With twelve new members the decision making in the European Union via intergovernmental cooperation will become ineffective. The EU is at the Cross Roads. In order to avoid a Stagno‐Europe the EU has a choice: Either it looks for the very essentials in the common institutional framework and adjusts it accordingly or the member states agree in ceding national sovereignty to the European level. This, however, requires that the democratic deficit at the EU level is reduced. The Treaty of Nice has failed to solve these issues. The paper elaborates in detail the non‐essentials and the essentials of European integration and discusses the basics of an approach to a constitution‐like arrangement for Europe.     

How to increase multichannel shopping satisfaction? An adapted Kano based stage-gate approach to select new technologies

Today, brick-and-mortar retailers with integrated online shops have many alternatives to increase their customers’ shopping satisfaction: They could invest in (for the retailers) new physical store technologies (e.g., beacons or magical mirrors if not implemented up to now), new online shop technologies (e.g., visual tagging or webcams), or in new less technology-based improvement options (e.g. events or product testing). We propose an adapted Kano based stage-gate approach to support multichannel retailers confronted with such selection problems. The approach is applied to a major European sporting goods retailer. 37 improvement options are pre-selected and evaluated by current and potential customers. It can be shown that instore returns, instore services, reserve&collect, click&collect, customization, product testing, and magical mirrors are drivers of satisfaction for the current customers and should be implemented in contrast to, e.g., geofencing or beacons. The potential customers are more technology-savvy, but show similar categorizations as a current customer segment and so confirm the selection.     

Workforce diversity initiatives of U.S. multinational corporations in Europe

Although most U.S. multinational corporations have substantial workforce diversity management programs in their U.S. operations, they are only beginning to consider parallel efforts in their overseas subsidiaries and affiliates. The internationalization issue is particularly prominent in the European Union, where competitive, demographic, legal, and political developments make workforce diversity issues unavoidable within the next few years. Instead of simply replicating U.S. programs, however, diversity initiatives in Europe need to adapt to each employer's strategic objectives, degree of organizational integration, and local needs. The experiences of Lucent Technologies Inc. and The Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies illustrate two contrasting approaches. The former has adopted a strongly multidomestic strategy, while the latter has a more global approach. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Towards a Handbook on European Contract Law and Beyond: The Commission’s 2004 Communication “European Contract Law and the Revision of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Acquis</Emphasis>: The Way Forward”

The European contract law project has crossed the threshold between an intellectual exercise and concrete policy. The 2004 Communication on the way forward describes the procedure to implement the policy suggested by the 2003 Action Plan, and so it would now be timely to give some thought to the likely impact of the Common Frame of Reference (CFR) on future Community law. It is submitted that the CFR is indispensable for the planned crafting of full harmonisation consumer contract law. This article therefore focuses on the possible uses of the CFR for consumer legislation and attempts to make the case for a recasting of Community law on consumer protection as a first priority in the implementation of the project. Based on policy papers and policy considerations, this article suggests making a test case of the travel and tourism sectors. It also reflects further on the potential virtues of an optional instrument for consumer legislation.