Learning by a dominant firm

This paper is concerned with the optimal output decisions of a dominant firm in the presence of imperfect information about the rival's reactions. The model is multi-period with the profits in each period being independent of those in other periods. Consequently, if the rival's reaction parameter were known to the dominant firm, a myopic policy would be optimal, In the presence of imperfect information about the rival's unknown reaction parameter, the dominant firm acts in a Bayesian manner by updating its prior distribution based on the observations of the rival's outputs. Because of the multiplicative shape of the rival's reaction function, the Bayesian updating rule is a function of the dominant firm's decision variable, i.e. its output decisions. This creates a dependence of the future value of the dominant firm on the present output decision, and hence a myopic policy is not, in general, optimal. It is shown that through output experimentation the dominant firm will tend to overproduce and, consequently, will increase its expected discounted profits (market value).     

The dominant firm with convex technology

The paper analyses a dominant firm model in which firms have convex production sets. The model is shown to be determinate, and to be expressible by a set of (n+1) equilibrium conditions. A previous attempt to obtain comparative statics results is criticized as being invalid, and a new framework for comparative statics is developed.     

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.     

会计师事务所核心竞争力培育浅探

本文以战略管理领域的资源基础论为依据,提出会计师事务所品牌是其核心竞争力的源泉.同时借鉴国际四大会计师事务所的发展历程,指出品牌来源于高质量服务、规模化连锁服务网络、合理的组织结构、独一无二的企业文化的力量耦合,并对本土会计师事务所如何做大做强提出了建议.     

A strategic human resource perspective of firm competitive behavior

Embedded within firms are unique stores of intangible human assets that likely influence the way firms compete. We argue that the human and social capital of a firm, particularly at the upper echelon and board of director (BOD) levels, contribute to the firm's awareness of the competitive environment and its motivation and ability to undertake numerous, complex, and forceful competitive actions. We also suggest that the firm's executive compensation systems moderate the effects of these intangible human assets on firm competitive behavior. By examining how human capital, intra-firm social capital, and executive compensation influence firm competitive behavior, we advance a strategic HRM perspective of firm competitive behavior and outline several implications for future research.     

The competitive firm under price uncertainty: the role of information and hedging

We study the impact of transparency in a commodity market on the decision problem of a competitive firm under price uncertainty and hedging opportunities. Market transparency is modeled by means of the informational content of publicly observable signals which are correlated with the random price. We find that the impact of more transparency on labor employment and production depends on the firm’s technology. In particular, more transparency may result in lower average output even though on average more labor has been used in the production process. We also analyze the link between market transparency and the welfare of the firm. We are grateful to two anonymous referees who made extremely useful comments and suggestions.     

“封杀”时代的动态竞争战略

<正>时下流行“封杀”一词。“封杀”一词起源于“封杀出局”, 其含义也是“棒救比赛中的一种打法, 对方的跑垒员被迫出局。”现在封杀用在商业中,成为企业竞争的一种手段,那么,当胜败形势危机,“大佬”地位收到威胁之时,只有封杀一条路可以供选择吗?是否有一种和平共存的方式,达到利益的“双赢”呢?     

On the dynamic response of a firm to an employment subsidy with a fmd threshold

During the last two decades, policy-makers have included employment subsidies among the tools of stabilization policy. Employment subsidy programs have been introduced in Japan, Great Britain, Europe and the United States. There has been some concern, however, about the effectiveness of such programs. In this paper, we analyze how a profit-maximizing firm will respond to a marginal subsidy program with a fixed threshold, focusing on the role of inventories. We show that, in some cases, the firm may have an incentive to manipulate inventories in a way that increases its profits but lowers the cost effectiveness of the program.     

The dynamic operation of the market for partnership deeds in a duopolistic industry of a profit-maximizing firm and workers' enterprise

This paper analyses a model of the dynamic interaction of a profit-maximizing firm and a workers' enterprise (in the sense of Sertel, 1982) in an industry in which each acts as a duopolist. The framework is similar to that of Chiarella (1992). In that study labour was the only factor of production and workers were allowed to trade-off work and leisure. Here we wish to analyse the effect of the capital accumulation decision on the outcome of the duopolistic competition. In order to obtain a tractable model we drop the work-leisure trade-off. We assume dynamic adjustment in the market for partnership deeds along the lines suggested by Okuguchi (1992a, b) and analyse the equilibrium of the duopoly, its comparative statics and stability with respect to key variables.     

The dynamic adjustment of environment, strategy, structure, and resources on firm performance

Under the uncertainty of external environment, how do the firms exploit resources, adjust organizational structures, and adopted proper strategies to gain the better performance is an important issue. Many theories have been proposed to explain this phenomenon. Structure-conduct-performance model suggest that industry structure influences the firm behavior and determines the performance of individual firms and of the industry as a whole. Strategy-structure-performance model suggest that strategy must dictate organizational structure, which in turn influences performance. The environmental perspective considers external environments. Resource-Based View suggests that management must focus on the values of resources to generate sustained competitive advantages and to improve performance. Dynamic adjustment among environment, strategy, structure, and resources can become primary causes of the firm performance. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the gaps between different theories and to complement the existing theories. This paper confirmed the measurement of the constructs first and competing models were used to examine dynamic adjustment among constructs and the relationships to firm performance. The results demonstrated that most of the relationships among constructs were supported and support the dynamic adjustment of the constructs. When facing uncertain environments, firms tend to use competition strategies as well as cooperation strategies; firms tend to formalize organizational structures and to amass resources. Firms which conduct cooperation strategies and possess more resources will attain better performance levels than those that do not. As to the theoretical models, the structure-conduct-performance model and the environmental perspective were supported. Practitioners should recognize the importance of the industrial and environmental factors.     

In search of sustained competitive advantage: the impact of organizational culture,competitive strategy and human resource management practices on firm performance

We develop and test a dynamic model of co-specialized resources for competitive advantage. Using matched data from senior executives and human resource managers, we test the direct and interactive effects of high-performance human resource (HPHR) practices and organizational culture on firm performance. Although the HPHR practices were not an important influence on performance, our findings indicate that organizational culture can be a valuable resource for companies.     

Training as a source of competitive advantage: performance impact and the role of firm strategy,the Spanish case

In recent years, training has become one of the sources of competitive advantage for any business, since it constitutes a manner in which to augment the inimitability of human factor. We propose the study of this variable from two perspectives: (1) to verify its effects on business results, and (2) to analyse the existing relationship between training and business strategies. Our research has focused on Spanish businesses of more than 50 employees, which were sent a postal questionnaire.     

The cotton weaving industry in European countries: Size of firm,static and dynamic efficiency

This paper is based on the results of a field work analysis of the cotton weaving industry, focusing on the relationships between performance, size and structure of firms. The results are utilized to compare models of the industries in the main European countries and to evaluate their competitiveness in the light of both standard and some non-standard efficiency criteria.     

The marketing firm and co-creation: The case of co-creation by LEGO

This article discusses the marketer and customer co-creation process within the context of bilateral contingencies. Bilateral contingencies occur when the marketers' behavior is reinforced (and/or punished) by the customers' behavior, whereas the behavior of the customers is reinforced (and/or punished) by the marketers' actions. Using the example of the LEGO community, we discuss how the marketers in the organization can respond to behaviors resulting from co-creational customer–customer exchanges. This paper fills the knowledge gap by presenting a behavior analysis framework (theory of the marketing firm) for the empirical measurement of the co-creation process.     

The use of coercive influence strategies by dominant suppliers

This paper examines a range of coercive strategies used by dominant suppliers in both gas and electricity utility markets serving the Netherlands. The conditions are explored under which specific influence strategies are utilized. A dyadic-based interview approach generated several new insights. Contrary to prevailing views in the literature, our study indicates that dominant suppliers are not concerned about the negative effects of coercive strategies. We observe that dominant suppliers use a succession of influence strategies, which they consider effective in achieving compliance and cooperation from buyers. Dominant suppliers only recognize compliance or non-compliance of buyers to the use of coercive influence strategies, whereas buyers emphasize that they also show partial and delayed compliance. Recommendations for buyers and suppliers and suggestions for further research are provided.     

工程公司的造价管理

工程业的快速发展,为工程公司带来发展机遇的同时,也使其面临极大的风险与挑战。文章分析了国际性工程公司的发展现状,并对公司适应国际化的造价管理体系的建设提出了初步的探讨和见解。     

The theory of the marketing firm

The theory of the marketing firm locates the rationale of the modern business enterprise that lies in its responding profitably to the imperatives of marketing orientation. Economic theories of the firm generally fail to recognize these imperatives, enhanced consumer choice and sophistication, which entail marketing orientation as the rationale of the firm. The paper propose a competence theory of the firm as a metacontingency and examines the bilateral contingencies by which firms link to their consumerates, which indicate their capacities for customer orientation. The marketing firm emerges as a means of encapsulating entrepreneurship, economizing on transaction costs, and enabling the management of marketing specialization.     

Dynamic capabilities,creativity and innovation capability and their impact on competitive advantage and firm performance: The moderating role of entrepreneurial orientation

Some scholars hold that dynamic capability (hereinafter DC) is one of the keys to achieving competitive advantage (hereinafter CA) and consequently, performance in strategic management. However, the definition and effects of DCs and the role of environmental dynamism are still under discussion. In the context of a Portuguese-like economy and from a strategic process perspective, this study defines dynamic capability as the potential to systematically solve problems, enabled by its propensity to sense opportunities and threats, to make timely decisions, and to implement strategic decisions and changes efficiently, thereby ensuring the right direction. Moreover, the ambidexterity view, exploring the indirect impact of exploitative and explorative capabilities, mediated by creativity and innovation competences (hereinafter IC) gives evidence of the influence on CA and firm's performance. Using an empirical study of 387 enterprises in Portugal, it was found that DCs, creativity and IC do significantly, positively, affect performance, while entrepreneurial orientation (hereinafter EO) is a moderator.