Offshoring and reshoring: U.S. insights and research challenges

The phenomenon of reshoring to the U.S. has received wide attention ever since it became a political platform for U.S. politicians during the last presidential election. The economic downturn, a heightened emphasis on sustainability, and increasing customer expectations for flexibility and improved cost performance drove firms to re-consider the appropriate “shoring” decision. The intent of this research note is to add a U.S.-centric perspective to the “shoring” debate.     

Monetary policy on twitter and asset prices: Evidence from computational text analysis

In this paper, we dissect the Twitter debate about the future course of monetary policy and trace the effects of selected topics of this discourse on U.S. asset prices. We focus on the “taper tantrum” episode in 2013, a period with large revisions in expectations about future Fed policy. Based on a novel data set of 90,000 Twitter messages (“tweets”) covering the debate of Fed tapering on Twitter, we use Latent Dirichlet Allocation, a computational text analysis tool, to quantify the content of the discussion. Several estimated topic frequencies are then included in a VAR model to estimate the effects of topic shocks on asset prices. We find that the discussion about Fed policy on social media contains price-relevant information. Shocks to the discussion about the timing of the tapering, about the broader economic policy context and worrying investors are shown to lead to significant asset price changes. We also show that the effects are mostly due to changes in the term premium of yields consistent with the portfolio balance channel of unconventional monetary policy.     

Bourgeoisie Out, Expertoisie In: The New Political Economies at Loggerheads

Part I of our paper pinpoints the “political” in the new political economies: first, the distinction between political, public, and civic economies that are almost invariably confused; second, the role of power politics, force, and fraud in determining income differentials in the name of market forces. Part II pinpoints the “new” in twentieth‐century political economies: first, the emergence of a fourth factor of production in addition to labor, capital, and land, whether identified with organization, knowledge, headwork, education, brainpower, management, or information; second, the subordination of capital to this new factor; third, the formation of a new social class based on its ownership; fourth, the struggle between the owners of capital and the new class for control over decision making and for the lion's share in distribution; fifth, the reliance on government to protect and advance the interests of the new class of professionals; and sixth, the eclipse of the old class struggle between bourgeoisie and proletarians by a new class struggle between managers and managed, executives and executants, “knows” and “know‐nots.” Part III pinpoints the “loggerheads” or sources of dissension between the “human capital” and post‐capitalist variants of the new political economies: first, over whether the expertoisie constitute a new social class or a fraction of the bourgeoisie; second, over whether the new economic order constitutes an advanced stage of capitalism or the advent of a post‐capitalist society; and third, whether the “knows” exploit the “know‐nots” through their monopoly of economic and political power. Why “political,” why “new,” and why “at loggerheads”? Our essay divides into three parts our tentative answers to these questions.     

Communicating “pink”: an analysis of the communication strategies,transparency, and credibility of breast cancer social media sites

In public relations, the social media explosion has significantly impacted how organizations communicate to their various publics through sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Although previous studies have investigated dialogic communication and relationship building strategies in organizations, few have carried out this in terms of an organization's overall social media presence, especially with nonprofits. Research has found most nonprofits are not taking full advantage of social media. Moreover, the organizations that did use social media typically employed one‐way communication strategies focusing primarily on information dissemination. This study quantitatively analyzed the transparency and credibility of breast cancer nonprofits are participating on social media sites, specifically Facebook and Twitter, and how these sites affect perceptions of credibility and transparency. Overall, most top breast cancer nonprofits are active on both Twitter and Facebook but differ in terms of activity, credibility, and transparency. Organizations that tweeted more had more “likes”, more followers, and more overall tweets and were seen to be more transparent and credible by virtue of activity alone. This study also found a strong relationship between the transparency and credibility of the organization. Therefore, organizations need to use social media sites not only to communicate with their audiences but also to engage in dialogue on a regular basis. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analyzing the emotional impact of COVID-19 with Twitter data: Lessons from a B-VAR analysis on Italy

The novel coronavirus 2019 revolutionized the way of living and the communication of people making social media a popular tool to express concerns and perceptions. Starting from this context we built an original database based on the Twitter users’ emotions shown in the early weeks of the pandemic in Italy. Specifically, using a single index we measured the feelings of four groups of stakeholders (journalists, people, doctors, and politicians), in three groups of Italian regions (0,1,2), grouped according to the impact of the COVID-19 crises as defined by the Conte Government Ministerial Decree (8^th March 2020). We then applied B-VAR techniques to analyze the sentiment relationships between the groups of stakeholders in every Region Groups. Results show a high influence of doctors at the beginning of the epidemic in the Group that includes most of Italian regions (Group 0), and in Lombardy that has been the region of Italy hit the most by the pandemic (Group 2). Our outcomes suggest that, given the role played by stakeholders and the COVID-19 magnitude, health policy interventions based on communication strategies may be used as best practices to develop regional mitigation plans for the containment and contrast of epidemiological emergencies.     

Two faces of corporate lobbying: Evidence from the pharmaceutical industry

In this study, we examine how political connections increase firms’ innovation performance. By examining firm-level lobbying activities, we find that political connections lead to a greater number of medical breakthroughs among pharmaceutical firms in our sample. We then examine the underlying ways that political connections enhance innovation among medical firms. Using hand-collected data on government subsidies, we find that politically connected firms have a higher chance of receiving subsidies from federal, state, or local government agencies. These government subsidies enhance medical innovation by insulating managers from short-term threats and mitigate their career concerns by creating a “failure tolerant” environment. Overall, we show that connections between firms and politicians come with increased innovation outcomes.     

Beautifying the Slum: Cable Car Fetishism in Cazucá, Colombia

The installation of cable cars as part of slum beautification projects has begun to circulate among politicians, planners and residents as a magical solution that offers social and economic integration to historically marginalized urban areas. This paper analyzes the way in which a cable car project became a fetish for the inhabitants, politicians and planners of Cazucá, a very deprived, abandoned and stigmatized area on the outskirts of Bogotá, Colombia. The highly positive value given to the cable car project must be understood within the specific local context without judging its ‘false promises’ a priori. The promise of the cable car in Cazucá reveals at least two crucial political reasons for the current potency of such projects: a complex history of political failures and the political value cable cars have acquired nationally and internationally. We analyze how, for both residents and politicians, the mere possibility of a cable car awakened long neglected desires for visibility and created new ones, such as those related to tourism. They see the cable car as an ‘engine for social change’, a way to ensure the commitment of national and international funds, and a venue to brand the city on a global scale.     

Cultural values and public policy: The case of international development aid

This paper investigates whether the quantity and character of aggregate expenditures on foreign aid by donor governments are related to the cultural values held by the people of the donor countries. In particular, we study whether any association exists between three measures of donors’ foreign aid expenditures and two dimensions of culture. We find that the shares of national income governments spend on aid, the proportion of total aid provided in the form of grants, and the proportion of aid directed to humanitarian relief are all related in statistically significant and quantitatively important ways to the location of the cultural values of people in the donor countries on two continua, one from “traditional” to “rational” beliefs about social organization and authority, and the other from “survival” to “self-expression” as the focus of individual aspirations. These results contribute to our understanding of the political economy of aid, and to a growing literature on how culture shapes economic policies, institutions, and performance.     

Technologies of trust: actuarial theory,insurance sciences,and the establishment of the welfare state in Germany and Switzerland around 1900

The article analyzes the relation between transformations in information systems and changing forms of organization. Drawing on a historical case study, it examines the rise of actuarial theory in Germany and Switzerland around 1900 and its significance for the emergence of the first modern social insurances. So far, the history of actuarial theory has been written as the social history of the actuarial profession or the epistemic history of probability calculus. By examining the political and economic contexts of the history of actuarial theory, the article also discusses the notion of an “insurance society”. The argument concludes that Foucauldian interpretations of actuarial theory as a technology of power and a condition of modern governmentality are too monistic and should be specified. The article suggests to use the concept of a “technology of trust” to interpret the integrative power of actuarial theory in a political field marked by deep antagonisms.     

The professional manager of the future

It's just possible that a businessman's role in the year 2000 will erode seriously due to little involvement in the growing “leisure values” of an affluent culture and failure to contribute directly to the needs of what will be a strongly post-industrial society. But if we want to train managers who are able to meet the needs and interests of the wider community, how do we prepare them for something as conceptual as “social responsibility”? Is it enough to superimpose on the business curriculum some courses in the social, political or technical-environmental forces affecting the individual and his firm, i.e. make the student study more and longer before he becomes an operative “professional”?     

The Value Relevance of Accounting under Political Uncertainty: Evidence Related to Quebec's Independence Movement

The Canadian province of Quebec is a region of an advanced industrialized nation characterized by a strong independence movement and, therefore, provides an interesting context in which to test the effect of political uncertainty on the relationship between market values and accounting values. In this study we compare market‐to‐book value associations of a sample of firms headquartered in Quebec with those of a sample of Canadian firms headquartered outside Quebec, over the period 1988–2002. Our comparisons suggest that, on average, the value of Quebec‐based firms is significantly less than other Canadian firms when valuation is based on multiples of book value and earnings. In addition, we find that the “Quebec discount” decreased significantly in the period immediately following the 1995 provincial sovereignty referendum wherein Quebeckers voted (narrowly) against Quebec sovereignty. We conclude that the relative undervaluation of Quebec firms is related, at least in part, to political uncertainty associated with the Quebec independence movement.     

Ethnography and the Making of “The People”: Uncovering Conservative Populist Politics in the United States

The election of Donald Trump, the Brexit vote, and rise of conservative populism in countries around the world has led to an abundance of scholarship on populism and the white working class. Much of this work seeks to explain the underlying cause of this conservative populist politics, focusing on globalization and economic precarity, racism and anti‐immigrant sentiment, or failures of political leadership. Survey data and polling analyses, in particular, explain relationships between demographics, political opinions, and voting results. Though quantitative data on the social groups or activists most involved in populist politics are important, missing from this research are ethnographies of populism that explore how local, state, and national actors influence the meaning of “the people.” In this article, I will argue that ethnography is particularly well‐suited for exploring the coming together of local and national politics and the subtle ways that economic insecurity, racism, sexism, and Islamophobia intersect in the making of “hard working taxpayers” or “ordinary folks.” I draw from research in a predominantly white, former manufacturing town in central Maine to illustrate the significance of this ethnographic approach to populism.     

All of work? All of life? Reconceptualising work‐life balance for the 21st century

This paper argues that the study of work‐life balance to date has, in the main, adopted a restricted conception of both “work” and “life”, which does not take account of recent developments in life worlds, working arrangements and employment relationships. “Life” has hitherto been viewed as largely comprising caring activities for dependent children, whereas “work” has been premised largely on a traditional model of work, characterised by full‐time, permanent employment with one employer and a conventional understanding of what work involves. This means that extant research and theory only provides a partial view of the work‐life needs and experiences of the workforce. In the paper, we propose extending conceptions of both work and life to incorporate different life worlds and social groups and different working arrangements and employment relationships.     

The Self‐Help Myth: Towards a Theory of Philanthropy as Consensus Broker

This article presents a theoretical and methodological approach to studying how philanthropic power is maintained through the process of negotiating consensus between greatly unequal partners such as wealthy funders and social movement leaders. It is proposed that grant agreements between private foundations and social movement organizations construct idealized spaces of public participation and discursive theories of change that draw attention away from structural inequality and antagonism, ultimately generating consent. Drawing upon archival and ethnographic research on philanthropic investments in addressing migrant poverty in California's Central Valley, the article shows how consensus between foundation staff and farmworker and immigrant organizers promote funding frameworks that exclude questions that challenge relationships of power and systems of agricultural production that contribute to enduring poverty across the region. The Gramscian conceptual frames of “discursive power,” “hegemony as politics,” and “strategic articulation” are presented as a theoretical framework from which to understand the power of private philanthropy as consensus broker during historical moments of crisis.     

The Euro System as a Laboratory for Neoliberalism: The Case of Spain

Since the 1970s, neoliberalism has evolved from ideology to political agenda, from political program to public policy, and from public policy to a system that replaces democratic control over economic policy with a system of elite economic management. This process of change has been possible due to the endorsement of a meta‐political theory that destroys democracy and legitimizes technocratic despotism, financial deregulation, the debasement of labor into a new proletariat, and the purging of constitutional politics. In this article, we analyze this profound transformation of social and legal relations in the “euro system” and, specifically, in the regressive policies that have emerged from the “crisis” in Spain, a peripheral country of the European Union. The problems in contemporary Europe are a direct consequence of the neoliberal version of European economic unity. Their solution will depend on the capacity of the member states to create a social Europe that strengthens institutional democracy and develops universal systems of social protection. This, in turn, will depend on the ability of citizens to remodel state institutions in accordance with new social goals that place life at the center.     

Why politics needs marketing

This paper examines the survey evidence for the low standing of politics, politicians and political institutions in the mind of the British public, and discusses its consequences. Present public opinion about political parties in Britain, and about politicians in general, is predominantly negative. Politicians are distrusted, to a considerably greater extent than can be explained solely by their bad press. Nor is the public very familiar with politicians or political institutions. Yet it can be shown that in general (and not only in the political field) ‘familiarity breeds favourability, not contempt’. This may be feeding through into hostility towards the entire sector—not only the strictly ‘political’, but other institutions such as public services which the public associates with politics or government. Copyright © 2003 Henry Stewart Publications     

Supply chain relationships: Exploring the linkage between inter-organisational adaptation and learning

This paper aims to advance the process dimension of inter-organisational adaptation that takes places in supply chain relationships, building upon learning literature. Therefore, it summarizes and disentangles the different debates on inter-organisational adaptation and learning in the literature and establishes the theoretical linkage between both concepts. Two dyadic case studies show that the learning processes that underlie inter-organisational adaptations may be comprehensively classified based upon the direction of learning, resulting in “learning from” versus “learning with”, and based upon the span of learning, resulting in “incidental learning” versus “incremental learning”. The experiential nature of learning provides an explanation for the reinforcing character of inter-organisational adaptation, which is an alternative to the explanations presented in literature on supply chain relationships.     

Interfirm Channel Relationships,Influence Strategies and Performance in China

Abstract

This paper empirically examines the relationship between inter-firm channel relationships, influence strategies and suppliers' performance. A survey of 103 foreign partners from Sino-foreign joint ventures in the food industry in China shows that channel relationships have a major positive effect on supplier's channel performance. While the influence strategy of “threats” is negatively related to supplier's channel performance and channel relationships, “suggestive litigation” has a positive influence on performance, on the contrary to findings in Western countries. Although a business relationship with an emphasis on “legal effect” is not desired on the part of distributors, it enhances channel relationships. The influence strategy of “request” as a Western phenomenon does not work well in China, and has an inverse effect on channel relationships. Implications for practitioners and researchers are discussed.     

Cooperative choice and its framing effect under threshold uncertainty in a provision point mechanism

This paper explores how threshold uncertainty affects cooperative behaviors in the provision of public goods and the prevention of public bads. The following facts motivate our study. First, environmental (resource) problems are either framed as public bads prevention or public goods provision. Second, the occurrence of these problems is characterized by thresholds that are interchangeably represented as “nonconvexity,” “bifurcation,” “bi-stability,” or “catastrophes.” Third, the threshold location is mostly unknown. We employ a provision point mechanism with threshold uncertainty and analyze the responses of cooperative behaviors to uncertainty and to the framing for each type of social preferences categorized by a value orientation test. We find that aggregate framing effects are negligible, although the response to the frame is the opposite depending on the type of social preferences. “Cooperative” subjects become more cooperative in negative frames than in positive frames, whereas “individualistic” subjects are less cooperative in negative frames than in positive ones. This finding implies that the insignificance of aggregate framing effects arises from behavioral asymmetry. We also find that the percentage of cooperative choices non-monotonically varies with the degree of threshold uncertainty, irrespective of framing and value orientation. Specifically, the degree of cooperation is highest at intermediate levels of threshold uncertainty and decreases as the uncertainty becomes sufficiently large.     

Virtuous circle: Human capital and human resource management in social enterprises

The majority of the extant research on human resource management (HRM) draws conclusions based on evidence from for-profit organizations. In response to calls for the exploration of HRM in different contexts, this study focuses on understanding HRM in the context of social enterprises. The unique context of social enterprises and their unique workforce raise questions about the direct applicability of frameworks developed from examining HRM in for-profit organizations. The narratives provided by 20 CEOs, HR directors, and managers of social enterprises in the United Kingdom highlight the importance of “ethics of care” as the core of the HRM-related decisions in the “third sector.” In addition, we identify five distinct workforce categories and propose a typology of differentiated HRM systems that enable social enterprises to achieve their dual mission. Finally, we propose a “virtuous circle” model, highlighting “ethics of care” as the main driver for organizational outcomes, using differentiated HRM systems that better serve their needs.