Social relationship cycle for managing small intermediary businesses: Evidences from India

Small businesses in emerging markets face several challenges that are difficult for individual firms to meet on their own, and thus require creative collaboration with other businesses. Using in-depth interview-based exploratory study and the premise of social exchange and dynamic capabilities, we theorize that small businesses engage in a cyclical process with the manufacturer firm. It involves allowing products to be dumped (i.e., ‘Dumping’) in certain situations, while on other occasions providing a cooling-off period (i.e., ‘Releasing’). Based on behavioral learning, we further argue that this Dumping-Releasing cycle is a perpetuating managerial action, which managers alter across size and location of the small firm, resulting in overall superior performance for the manufacturer as well as the small firms. The hypotheses of this model were tested using 34,434 purchase instances over a 92-week period gathered from 2167 small businesses in India. How the study contributes to theory and practice, and potential research opportunities is discussed.     

试论国际竞争力的理论概念与分析方法

所谓国际竞争力，有产品竞争力，企业竞争力，产业竞争力以及国家竞争力之分。从经济学视角看，关于各类竞争力的讨论分别对应着微观，中观和宏观层次。对各类竞争力主体内容的深入剖析更为清楚地表明，由于所分析的竞争力种类不同以及分析目的不同，对竞争力的分析范式也就相应不同。在产业竞争优势理论框架下设立的经济分析范式既可以用于分析以国家为主体的产品国家竞争力，在一定意义上也可以用于分析企业国际竞争力。价值链的分析方法则提供了评价一国某一产业中某种生产经营活动具有何种国际竞争力的思路。各种显示性能指标和分析性指标可以用来测度产品和产业国际竞争力，以及说明相对竞争优势和绝对竞争优势。     

The adoption of flexible manufacturing systems in British and German companies

This article discusses the results of a research project that has examined the reasons for the comparative lag which exists in the United Kingdom in the introduction of a new manufacturing technology (the flexible manufacturing system (FMS). This technology offers considerable advantages to companies which produce items in medium to large batch sizes where there are frequent changes in manufacturing requirements, involving changes in components. Failure to introduce this technology means that British companies in certain sectors have become less competitive than some of their overseas counterparts.     

SURVIVAL OF BUSINESSES USING COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIPS TO COMMERCIALIZE COMPLEX GOODS

Authors with many theoretical and managerial perspectives argue that businesses commercializing technologically complex goods benefit when they collaborate closely with other businesses. Collaboration is viewed as a means for businesses to overcome competency limitations and to achieve the close configuration of components required for complex goods. We predict that collaborative relationships often assist businesses to produce complex goods, but that the relationships might also cause problems for the collaborating businesses. We find that firms using development-oriented and marketing-oriented collaborative relationships in the hospital software systems industry are less likely to shut down than businesses that follow independent approaches when the environment changes gradually, but businesses using collaborative relationships are sometimes susceptible to being acquired by other firms. Following a sudden environmental shock, businesses with collaborative relationships for activities central to the shock became more likely to shut down, while businesses with collaborative relationships for activities outside the focus of the shock became more likely to survive. The study critically evaluates and tests the widely stated but little-tested argument that interfirm collaboration is usually beneficial. The results address the issue of whether organizational choices affect comparative business performance.     

Choosing an optimal channel mix in multichannel environments

In the last two decades, particularly with the advent of the Internet, multichannel strategies have come to the fore in business-to-business marketing. Multichannel strategies allow firms to reach customers in multiple ways, increasing the firms' reach. In addition, multichannels allow customers to reach businesses by using their preferred channel (e.g., Internet, salesforce, or value-added reseller). The advantages of reaching increasing number of customers through multiple channels (e.g., sales, trial, profit) are partially offset by two potential negative effects of multiple channels. First, multiple channels create conflict that may dissuade some channels' members from carrying the firm's product. Second, with an increase in the number of channels carrying the product, the sales derived from each new channel drops making it difficult for a firm to recover its costs. Based on these considerations, the paper provides a framework that will allow firms to develop optimal channel mix in multichannel environments. We test the framework in the context of a software firm and provide academic and managerial implications.     

基于服务业标准化比较分析的服务创新研究

随着国际分工的深化、服务需求的增加、服务业竞争的加剧以及部分行业进入壁垒的降低,服务业呈现出国际化、标准化和定制化的发展趋势。通过对服务业标准化的国际比较分析,以及服务业不同行业标准化的比较分析,进行了基于ISO、BSI、DIN服务业标准化程度和Shostack具体服务产品有形性谱图的服务业＂无形性-标准化＂行业二维分布研究,并进一步进行了基于标准化的服务创新研究。     

Buyer Market Power and Innovative Activities

This empirical paper deals with the effects of supplier and buyer market concentration on the innovative behavior of suppliers within the German automobile industry. The data set contains firms from all size classes and covers measures of innovation input as well as innovation output. It can be shown that (a) firms' innovation and R & D-employment intensity will decline (increase) in buyer concentrations if supplier markets are low (high) concentrated; (b) buyers' pressure on input prices reduces suppliers' innovation expenditures and their incentive to develop new products; (c) a small number of competitors in suppliers markets and a large stock of customers stimulates innovative behavior; (d) small and medium sized suppliers invest more in their innovative activities but have less probability of realizing innovations than larger firms; and (e) higher technological capabilities lead to higher innovation input and output.     

大型研发企业的研发投入分析——基于全球前2000家企业研发投入数据

利用2006年全球研发投入居前2000位的企业数据,考察了这些企业研发投入的一些基本特征,如产业分布、国家分布,以及研发的集中度,并探讨了企业研发投入与企业规模之间的关系。研究结论是：研发具有产业异质性;研发在一些国家集中;企业研发的总量水平、研发比率、研发增长率与企业规模具有非线性关系．中型企业具有较高的研发投入量,而小型企业与大型企业具有较高有研发投入比,以及研发增长率。     

Modelling the effect of buyer and seller power on the margins of commodity plastics

In the last decade, large sectors of the chemical and plastics industries in the U.S.A. and West Europe have suffered drastic declines in price and gross margin during periods of low use of industry capacity. This paper shows that the major changes in gross margin observed for some commodity plastics can be modelled successfully in terms of the balance between buyer power and seller power. These industries have visibility of prices and industry occupacity and comparable concentrations of sellers and important buyers. The modelling follows Burgess (1982) in expressing buyer and seller power as simple functions of buyer and seller concentrations, industry occupacity and ‘cohesion’ between sellers. This work provides a first practical test of this new approach. It is shown that the model fits the observed data best if the ‘cohesion’ declines as occupacity declines. It is suggested that the approach would be useful in understanding the behaviour of other ‘near-commodity’, capital-intensive businesses, and in helping to distinguish between those businesses where margins are likely to remain relatively stable and those which might face drastically declining margins if the industry occupacity declines or new entrants change the balance between sellers and buyers.     

基于产业类型的财务公司业务模式比较

本文通过对先进国家财务公司业务模式的比较研究，特别是针对石油化工、汽车、信息通信和电气等四个行业的大型跨国公司附属财务公司的比较研究，发现不同行业的财务公司具有明显的业务模式特征。这种基于产业类型的财务公司的业务拓展模式有别于任何其他金融机构，这对中国企业集团财务公司的发展具有重要借鉴意义。中国的财务公司应在业务准确定位的基础上，拓展和产业相关的业务模式，这样才能在整个金融服务体系中形成自己的竞争优势，并更好地为企业集团的产业发展提供服务。     

Profitability and market share: A reflection on the functional relationship

The paper analyzes the functional relationship between profitability and market share for type of businesses in the PIMS data base. Although a linear relationship has been imposed in other studies, our result shows that empirically it seems a poor representation of the data. In addition, three observations seem to be most evident. First, small-share businesses were not per se less successful than larger business units. In the service market and the market for raw or semi-finished materials small-share businesses were just as profitable or even more profitable than larger business units. Second, some businesses were ‘stuck in the middle’, which was most evident in the service market but also in the retail and wholesale markets. Third, very large-share businesses were often less profitable. A critical market share was identified as between 65 and 70 percent. Beyond that level the ROI decreased.     

Exploiting globalization potential: U.S. and japanese strategies

This paper develops a model of global strategy that includes the constructs of industry globalization potential, the use of global strategy, the role of organization and management and the performance consequences of using global strategy. Propositions are developed as to why American and Japanese MNCs might differ in their perceptions of industry globalization potential, in their desired global strategy response, in their organizationally-derived ability to implement global strategy and in their resulting performance. The model and arguments are examined in extensive interviews with senior executives at 36 worldwide businesses belonging to some of the largest American and Japanese MNCs. Data are analyzed using a partial least squares causal model. The results show that the Japanese firms have more globalized stategies than do the Americans, and that this factor affects their performance favorably.     

Productivity Gains from the Implementation of Employee Training Programs

This study uses data on the personnel policies and economic characteristics of businesses in the manufacturing sector to measure the impact of formal training programs on labor productivity. The major finding is that businesses that were operating below their expected labor productivity levels in 1983 implemented new employee training programs after 1983 that resulted in significantly larger increases in labor productivity growth between 1983 and 1986. This higher rate of productivity growth was sufficient to bring these businesses up to the labor productivity levels of comparable businesses by 1986.     

New perspectives on farm size and productivity

The farm size and productivity debate has been limited by the focus on land or labor productivity, generally showing respective productivity advantages to smaller or larger sized farms. Our purpose is to provide new perspectives on the debate by bringing together evidence from a set of novel case studies in both rich and poor countries. Common to them are the adoption of total factor productivity (TFP) as the comparative performance measure, and the reliance on panels of farm micro data. The present article presents a synthesis of findings from five case studies in (i) Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda; (ii) Bangladesh; (iii) Brazil; (iv) Australia; and (v) the United States. The preponderance of evidence from these studies suggests that there is no single economically optimal agrarian structure; rather, it appears to evolve with the stage of economic development. Certain farm sizes face relative productivity advantages, such as small farms in Africa. But with economic and market growth, that smallholder advantage will likely attenuate, moving toward constant and eventually increasing returns to size. Yet, importantly, small farms may be quite dynamic, and need not be a drag on agricultural growth until perhaps well into the development process.     

阿塞拜疆油气工业综述

阿塞拜疆油气资源丰富,且具有分布集中、受控于外国石油公司的特点.截至2011年底,阿国油气剩余探明可采储量为21.7亿吨油当量.2009年阿国石油产量开始突破5000万吨,其中60％以上用于出口.近年来,阿国在大力发展本国石油化工产业和实施炼油工业现代化建设的同时,积极尝试拓展下游海外业务.为追求石油利益最大化,尽快使本国石油跻身跨国油公司行列,自2006年开始,阿国对其外资引进、能源开发和出口策略等不断进行调整.为扩大和深化中阿油气合作,建议:1)利用资金优势参股南里海大型油气项目的合作勘探与开发;2)加强南里海盆地基础地质研究和优选海域优质勘探资产;3)利用下游技术优势参与阿国炼油厂投资项目.     

New Product Portfolio Management: Practices and Performance

Effective portfolio management is vital to successful product innovation. Portfolio management is about making strategic choices—which markets, products, and technologies our business will invest in. It is about resource allocation—how you will spend your scarce engineering, R&D, and marketing resources. It focuses on project selection—on which new product or development projects you choose from the many opportunities you face. And it deals with balance—having the right balance between numbers of projects you do and the resources or capabilities you have available. In this article, the authors reveal the findings of their extensive study of portfolio management in industry. This study, the first of its kind, reports the portfolio management practices and performance of 205 U.S. companies. Its overall objective was to gain insights into what portfolio methods companies use, whether they are satisfied with them, the performance results they achieve with the different approaches, and suggestions for others who are considering implementing portfolio management. The research first assesses management's satisfaction with portfolio methods they employ and notes that some firms face major problems in portfolio management. Next, businesses are grouped or clustered into four groups according to management's view of portfolio management: Cowboys, Crossroads, Duds, and Benchmark businesses. The research first assesses management's satisfaction with portfolio methods they employ and notes that some firms face major problems in portfolio management. Next, businesses are grouped or clustered into four groups according to management's view of portfolio management: Cowboys, Crossroads, Duds, and Benchmark businesses. Various performance metrics are used to gauge the performance of the business's portfolio. The results reveal major differences between the best and the worst. Benchmark businesses are the top performers. Their new product portfolios consistently score the best in terms of performance—high-value projects, aligned with the business's strategy, the right balance of projects, and the right number of projects. The authors take a closer look at these benchmark businesses to determine what distinguishes their projects from the rest. Benchmark businesses employ a much more formal, explicit method to managing their portfolio of projects. They rely on clear, well-defined portfolio procedures, they consistently apply their portfolio method to all projects, and management buys into the approach. The relative popularity of various portfolio methods—from financial methods to strategic approaches, bubble diagrams, and scoring approaches—are investigated. Not surprisingly, financial approaches are the most popular and dominate the portfolio decision. But what is surprising is the dubious results achieved via financial approaches. Again, benchmark businesses stand out from the rest: they place less emphasis on financial approaches and more on strategic methods, and they tend to use multiple methods more so than the rest. Strategic methods, along with scoring approaches, yield the best portfolios; financial methods yield poorer portfolio results. The authors provide a number of recommendations and suggestions for anyone setting out to implement portfolio management in their business.     

Technology and Corporate Scope: Firm and Rival Innovation as Antecedents of Corporate Transactions

This paper studies the role of technological innovation as an antecedent of changes in corporate scope. It argues that technological innovations prompt the firm to reconfigure its corporate portfolio—to redeploy resources to areas of new opportunity while it divests out of marginal businesses. Results from a cross‐industry sample of U.S. manufacturing firms show successful innovation by a firm is followed by both expansion into new areas through complementary resource seeking acquisitions and divestment out of existing noncore businesses. This relationship is found to be moderated by the level of investible resources available to the firm, and supports the notion of scarce resources as a constraint on firm scope. In addition, firms are found to change their corporate scope in response to rival innovation. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Marketing cooperative vs. commission agent: The Turkish dilemma on the modern fresh fruit and vegetable market

In Turkey, the Wholesale Markets Law was enacted in 1995 to facilitate small-scale growers’ access to the fresh produce market. Cooperatives and commission agents have thus become the main marketing structures available to small-scale fresh produce growers, to supply supermarkets and comply with their new requirements. In this paper, we question the advantages and disadvantages that confront small farmers with respect to those marketing structures to allow for market matching or quality upgrading. Drawing on ownership and transaction cost arguments, we use an analytical framework to identify and compare the costs of these marketing organizations. Based on data collected through a large number of interviews with stakeholders, we show that commission agents and credit cooperatives tend to be more efficient than traditional cooperatives as regards sales performance and decision costs. However, the lack of apparent competition between commission agents does not allow for sufficient provision of incentives for producers to invest in high-quality production. Consequently, credit cooperatives are the only structure progressively turning to strategies of quality upgrading and supermarket supply. The flipside of such strategies is that they may lead to the marginalization of small-scale farmers.     

Changing the rules of the game: Business responses to new regulation

This study investigates business responses to new regulation by focusing on the rearrangement of interactions in business relationships involving ‘NRG’, a large multinational energy company in the aviation industry. ‘NRG’ is confronted with new environmental rules resulting from the inclusion of the aviation industry in the European Emissions Trading Scheme as of 2012. We demonstrate that business actors do not simply comply with the rules of the game; instead they elaborate responses which impact on the creation of new rules. We argue that research on business responses to new regulation is highly relevant to industrial marketing because the increasing complexity of regulation in many industrial markets provides significant opportunities and threats to businesses. We propose three guiding principles which could be used by managers in understanding, influencing and responding to new regulation.     

国际石油公司可再生能源投资策略与行动研究

国际石油公司普遍认同投资可再生能源业务是顺应未来能源发展趋势的重要选择之一,各公司结合自身情况做出相应的投资策略与行动,其中有相似之处,也各有差异。以BP、壳牌、道达尔、挪威国家石油公司、埃尼石油公司为代表的欧洲石油公司,对可再生能源领域的投资表现积极,并设置了相关职能部门进行统一管理。以埃克森美孚、雪佛龙为代表的美国石油公司对可再生能源投资保守,采取分散式管理。在可再生能源技术及业务的投资方向上,保守型公司优先选择与传统油气业务联系紧密的可再生能源项目,拓展型将油气行业核心优势拓展到可再生能源业务领域,进取型直接进入与油气业务交集较少的可再生能源领域,转型类公司则布局可再生能源垂直领域。在投资模式方面,对与公司主业联系紧密、前景明确的可再生能源业务,进行兼并购或资产投资;对暂时与公司主业关联度较低或不确定性较强的可再生能源业务,进行风险投资;针对前沿可再生能源技术领域,采取研发投入。