Governance, organizational capabilities, and restructuring in transition economies

This paper focuses on the links between governance, firm capabilities and restructuring following the large-scale privatization process in Central and Eastern European transition economies using an integrative approach. Restructuring in these countries has been motivated by political and institutional changes and less so by market forces. Accordingly, political processes have produced political solutions such as “give-away” privatizations to insiders. These privatizations, in contrast to divestitures to outside owners, have realized less substantive restructuring because non-market incentives, such as too much managerial equity ownership, have created managerial entrenchment. In addition, we propose a connection between governance and organizational learning suggesting that learning is inhibited by excessive managerial ownership and lack of board knowledge regarding its oversight function. Furthermore, this entrenchment and poor board functioning may be perpetuated in financial-industrial groups, which have emerged as substitutes for market intermediaries in emerging economies. Thus, we propose that outside ownership involvement and the development of organizational capabilities may facilitate restructuring in the Central and Eastern European context. Our theoretical arguments are supported by case study evidence from transition economies.     

Methodological Issues in the Design of Online Surveys for Measuring Unethical Work Behavior: Recommendations on the Basis of a Split-Ballot Experiment

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in unethical work behavior. Several types of survey instruments to collect information about unethical work behavior are available. Nevertheless, to date little attention has been paid to design issues of those surveys. There are, however, several important problems that may influence reliability and validity of questionnaire data on the topic, such as social desirability bias. This paper addresses two important issues in the design of online surveys on unethical work behavior: the response scale for questions regarding the frequency of certain types of unethical work behavior and the location of the background questions in an online survey. We present the results of an analysis of a double split-ballot experiment in a large sample (n = 3,386) on governmental integrity. We found that, when comparing response scales that have labels for all categories with response scales that only have anchors at the end, the latter provided answers with higher validity. The study did not provide support for the conventional practice of asking background questions at the end.     

Varieties of Moral Issue and Dilemma: A Framework for the Analysis of Case Material in Business Ethics Education

This paper builds on a number of ideas concerning the nature, management and representation in case studies, of moral issues and dilemmas as experienced by people in organisations. Drawing on some cases used in teaching business ethics, and utilising a checklist of questions derived from the more general theoretical analysis, suggestions are offered regarding the contributions which such cases can make in developing students' understanding and potential for performative competence in real life situations. The distinction between issues and dilemmas is emphasised, and different types of issue are identified. The status of self-interest as an issue, and as contributory to personal dilemmas, is given particular attention. The paper also addresses the distinction between cognitive and non-cognitive attributes required by individuals if they are to deal with such situations. Within the cognitive category attention is paid to the contribution of ethical and other theory, and to the need for moral imagination and judgement.     

An economic analysis of EC guidelines on state aid for the rescue and restructuring of companies in difficulty

The present Community guidelines on state aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty, a type of aid that is widely regarded as particularly distortive to the single market, will expire on 9 October 2004. The Commission has already identified a number of issues which it regards as problematic. This article draws attention to a number of further issues which also require clarification.     

Internal marketing: Concepts,measurement and application

Internal marketing issues have been discussed widely for a number of years yet this remains an area in marketing with many fundamental questions unanswered. Previous research has not satisfactorily addressed a number of crucial issues in its development. The lack of attention to detail has hindered its progress and thus relegated it to the sidelines. As part of a wider study which investigates internal marketing from a transaction cost perspective, this paper sets the scene and explores the different views and applications of internal marketing. It addresses those fundamental questions that have not been thoroughly considered in the past. What are the principles that form the foundations for internal marketing? Does internal marketing belong in all organizations? Is internal marketing merely synonymous with good human resource management or should the organization pursue internal marketing in conjunction with external marketing activities? Then, with the transaction cost framework in mind, this paper considers how internal marketing can be measured and whether it is necessary, merely nice, irrelevant or indeed illegitimate.     

Will the ethics of business change? A survey of future executives

This article reports the results of a study of attitudes of future business executives towards issues of social responsibility and business ethics. The 455 respondents, who were MBA students during 1985 at one dozen schools from various regions in the United States, were asked to respond to a series of open-ended and closed-ended questions. From the responses to the questions the authors were able to conclude that future executives display considerable sensitivity, though to varying degrees, towards ethical issues in business. Women, in particular, tend to evince strong feelings regarding such issues. Thomas M. Jones is Associate Professor of Organization and Environment at the School of Business Administration, University of Washington. He is the author of several articles which have been published in journals such as Academy of Management Review and California Management Review. Frederick H. Gautschi, III, is Associate Professor of Engineering Management at Old Dominion University. His articles have been published in Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy and Industrial and Labor Relations Review.     

Ist der Fahrplan der Energiewende noch einzuhalten?

The German energy transition represents a policy-driven, sustainability-oriented restructuring of both supply- and demand-side components of the entire energy system by 2050. Whereas the development of renewable energies in the electricity sector is right on track, due to the feed-in tariffs of the German Renewable Energy Sources Act, many other crucial requirements for a successful transition are not, amongst others the improvement of energy effi ciency and the decarbonisation of the transport sector. Contrary to the public discussion, the primary future challenges do not consist in limiting electricity prices or abandoning feed-in support schemes, but rather in coordinating the variety of actors as well as appropriately matching the different system elements (grids, technologies, energy sectors, demand and supply side, etc.). Much remains to be done. By highlighting some examples like the need to take into account future implications of climate change for the energy sector, the consequences of the current crisis in the European Union’s emissions trading scheme and the need for a cautious adjustment of the EEG, the paper argues that the major challenges regarding the German energy transition mainly go beyond the current policy-driven and short-term discussion of energy prices. Germany’s pioneering attempt to integrate steadily increasing share of non-dispatchable electricity from renewable sources is challenging the stability of the system. Several characteristics in the current selfregulating system are identifi ed and analysed, which reveal themselves as potential weaknesses or shortcomings in the upcoming system.     

Realisations of Venture Capital Investments: The Case of Management Buy-outs in the UK

One of the most rapidly developing sectors of the financial services industry in the UK has been venture capital, and with it the growth of management buy-outs. As these markets have matured, increasing attention is being paid to issues associated with the realisation of gains for both institutions and equity-holding management. This article seeks to contribute to this area by examining the issues involved in the realisation of investments in management buy-outs. Based on detailed interviews with 24 managers of buy-outs which have exited, and on information drawn from the Centre for Management Buy-out Research database, the article considers the relative merits of flotations, trade sales, capital restructurings, secondary buy-outs, share redemptions etc. The article also addresses the agency cost issues involved in controlling buy-outs to enable institutions to achieve realisation of their investments at a price and timing which enable their targets to be met.     

Dimensions of marketplace exclusion: representations,resistances and responses

ABSTRACT

This positioning paper explains and develops the concept of marketplace exclusion, which has received little attention to date in the field of marketing and consumer research. Essentially the concept refers to the mechanisms through which certain individuals and communities are barred from the resources and opportunities provided by the market. Participation in the market and the accompanying rights and responsibilities that allow individuals to act as legitimate consumers is essential for social cohesion and social relations. However, one consequence of consumer culture has been a shift away from values of community and citizenship towards those of materialism and competition. Marketplace exclusion encompasses big questions of poverty, sexism and racism to individual consequences such as isolation and alienation. The paper examines various causes and types of exclusion and discusses key research questions and methodological issues in studying this topic. Finally, it introduces the papers included in this special issue of CMC.     

Firm Size and Innovation in European Manufacturing

The paper investigates the differences between small, medium-sized and large firms regarding their performance in the introduction of new products and processes. After a review of the relevant literature, two models are proposed and tested in search for different business strategies and innovation inputs connected to product and process innovations. The empirical analysis uses innovation survey (CIS 2) data at the industry level for 22 manufacturing sectors, broken down in three firm size classes, for eight European countries. Special attention is devoted to tackling the issues of possible endogeneity of the regressors and of unobserved sectoral heterogeneity. The results – strengthening the findings of previous studies – show that product and process innovations, though having some complementarities, are associated to different innovative inputs and strategies pursued by firms. Systematic differences also emerge between the behaviour of large firms and SMEs.      

Training Reform in the Australian Automotive Industry

The past decade of training reform in the Australian automotive industry has been driven by Government and enterprise plans for the restructure of the industry. These plans have emphasised changes to manufacturing practices and work practices, as the way to revitalise the manufacturing sectors of the industry. The provision of workplace training has been a significant factor in the implementation of these plans and development of a training system with distinctive industry features has been one outcome of this programme of industry restructuring.     

An Equitable Trust in The Building Industry in 1794

Japanese manufacturing in the developed regions of Europe and North America has been strongly associated with the more competitive sectors of Japan's high growth economy, such as consumer electronics, semi-conductors and transport equipment. During the earliest years of Japanese productive investment in Europe, however, a significant number of projects from Japan's less competitive chemicals sector were being established. These projects, together with those from other chemicals-related sectors of Japan's domestic industry, will be shown to have emerged in response to the widespread concern over environmental and pollution issues which dominated public affairs in Japan during the decade after 1965.     

The 2010 FIFA World Cup and South Africa: A study of longer-term effects and moderators of country reputation

Word-of-mouth (WOM) communication has long been an important source of information influencing consumer attitudes and purchase behaviour. Despite this, relatively little attention has been directed at important questions regarding how WOM is measured. This paper focuses on two measurement issues: who to measure (the giver or receiver) and when to measure (immediately after the message is received or over time). Based on information processing and related theories, three hypotheses were developed and tested. Using a survey approach, respondents' WOM communications were matched to a receiver and the evaluation of the communication was assessed for both groups. It was found that the giver and receiver of a WOM communication did not evaluate the message in the same way, even at the time of transmission. In addition, the evaluation by the receiver was unstable over time. As time passed the evaluation regressed towards the scale mean. Implications for research and management practice are discussed.     

我国中小型传统物资企业向现代物流企业转型的策略分析

现代物流企业是我国中小型传统物资企业的发展方向,中小型传统物资企业向现代物流企业转型势在必行。本文通过对我国中小型物资企业转型中涉及的问题进行了分析,并提出相应的对策措施。     

‘The price is different depending on whether you want a receipt or not’: examining the purchasing of goods and services from the informal economy in South-East Europe

ABSTRACT

Research on the informal economy has largely focussed on supply-side issues, addressing questions like what motivates individuals to work in the informal economy and how can governments tackle this phenomenon. To date, much less attention has been given to demand-side aspects, examining issues around who purchases goods and services from the informal economy, why, and to what extent there are variations according to demographic, socio-economic and geographic dimensions. This paper addresses this imbalance by examining the purchasing of goods and services from the informal economy in South-East Europe. Firstly, this paper identifies the prevalence of such informal purchasing in South-East Europe as well as who undertakes such purchasing. Next, it examines the relative significance of cost factors, social factors and failures in the formal economy, in motivating such purchasing. Finally, it explores variability in the significance of these motivators based on individual-level factors, within and across three South-East European countries.     

The Effects of Internet Commerce on the Revenue Base of State and Local Governments

Abstract

Internet sales for 2000 are projected to be $850 billion. This explosion in growth of sales on the Internet has not been all good news to the U.S. business community. Both business and government have taken notice of taxation issues related to these electronically generated revenues. Sales taxes have been the primary focus of this attention. Many issues have been raised but the primary one is whether or not sales taxes should be collected from “cyberspace” customers. Many difficult questions have been raised and remain to be solved. One federally appointed commission has been formed, submitted recommendations to Congress and has dissolved. A National Governors' Association committee is currently in place to study the issues and provide suggestions to State legislatures in 2001.     

企业并购中的供应链协同与整合

并购和供应链管理是2 1世纪企业管理的主要发展趋势,如何在企业并购中通过对供应链的重组和整合实现协同效应,对企业获得竞争优势和实现其战略目标具有重要的意义。对企业并购中供应链协同和整合中的相关问题进行探讨,研究企业并购对供应链的影响、供应链协同机会的识别和供应链的整合机制等,这些研究为在企业并购的实践中最大化实现协同效应提供了理论依据和实施借鉴     

The Death Care Industry: A Review of Regulatory and Consumer Issues

Although virtually every person in the United States will purchase or consume a funeral‐related product or service, relatively little is understood about the processes a consumer undertakes in making these expensive decisions in stressful circumstances. Regulation of the industry has been contentious from the outset, and there have been numerous questions as to regulatory effectiveness. This article outlines and discusses issues related to the death care industry with particular attention to consumer interests.     

Do outside directors and new managers help improve firm performance? An exploratory study in Russian privatization

In the context of privatization and restructuring in Russia, we test two standard agency theory hypotheses, namely, (1) outside board members and (2) new managers are positively related to firm performance. Based on a survey of 314 privatized firms, the evidence offers little support for the hypotheses. Historically, results refuting theories have been launch pads for scientific progress. Our findings, therefore, raise interesting questions about whether the underlying theory is appropriate, whether there are methodological problems, or whether there are institutional factors in Russia’s transition economy that need to be accounted for when we test agency theory in a new setting. We address these questions and discuss their implications for corporate governance theory, practice, and public policy.     

Marketing in retailing: a research agenda

Although specific retailing subjects related to marketing have been extensively

researched and presented in academic literature, the overall topic of marketing in

retailing has received little attention. This paper identifies and discusses some

principal marketing in retailing issues that warrant empirical assessment.

Research attention to the questions raised in this paper will provide strategic

Guidelines to retailers seeking to improve the marketing performance of their

organizations.