Does economic liberalization promote economic growth in Pakistan? An empirical analysis

The study aims to examine the short and long term impacts of economic liberalization on economic growth in case of Pakistan from 1971 to 2011. Economic liberalization consists of reforms in both trade liberalization and financial liberalization. This study contributes to the existing literature by constructing an economic liberalization index using principal component analysis. Our results show, firstly, that economic liberalization reforms have a positive impact on economic growth in the short run. However, trade liberalization is negatively associated with economic growth in the long-run. Secondly, the estimated coefficients through rolling window show that impact of economic liberalization on real GDP is unstable during the selected period of sample. This study recommends to policy makers to enhance human capital by having more expenditure on education sector. In addition, financial reforms by way of a sectoral credit allocation should be introduced to further promote the economic growth.     

Stakeholders’ environmental influence. An empirical analysis in the Spanish hotel industry

We draw on the insights of stakeholder theory to explore the extent to which environmental management practices are driven by (i) an attempt to enhance a firm's legitimacy, and (ii) a response to pressures arising from powerful stakeholders. The material for this investigation has been gathered from a sample of 279 Spanish hotels. The hotel industry which is only marginally affected by environmental regulation and is thus a widely neglected setting in this context, could be a particularly interesting subject for investigation, able to throw some light on the extent to which firms produce different responses to the environmental concerns of their stakeholders. Our results reveal that corporate environmental management practices may be a response to genuine environmental concerns, and we then speak of explicit environmental management, or there may also be reasons different from the environmental, in which case we speak of tacit environmental management. Our findings suggest that explicit and tacit environmental management account for a variety of organizational responses to the environmental demands of stakeholders, depending on (i) the stakeholders’ power regarding environmental issues, (ii) the stakeholders’ use of power to protect the environment, and (iii) the perceived economic advantages of environmental management activities.     

Are internal manufacturing and external supply chain flexibilities complementary capabilities?

Manufacturing flexibility is often viewed as a strategic capability that enables firms to more effectively meet heterogeneous market demands arising, in part, from increased product proliferation. However, recent studies suggest that the operational challenges associated with meeting this objective may be heavily dependent not only upon a firm's internal modification, mix, and new product flexibilities, but also upon the flexibility of its inbound and outbound supply chain partners. Drawing upon the theory of Complementarity, we examine if simultaneous utilization of both internal and external flexibilities does in fact create synergies that can improve a firm's delivery performance. Based on a sample of 158 U.S. manufacturing plants, we find that the extent to which performance enhancing synergies are generated is primarily dependent upon the type of internal flexibility that is paired with supply chain flexibilities. Additionally, we find that when synergies do exist, external supplier and logistics flexibilities generally tend to enhance the scope of flexible response, while internal flexibilities generally tend to enhance the achievability of a flexible response. Taken together, our findings suggest that the ability of firms to actually reap the synergistic benefits of an integrated system of supply chain flexibility is much more complex and nuanced than previously believed or expected.     

Does downsizing improve organisational performance? An analysis of Spanish manufacturing firms

The objective of this study is to examine the effect of downsizing on corporate performance, considering a sample of manufacturing firms drawn from the Spanish Survey of Business Strategies for the 1993–2005 period. No significant difference in post-downsizing performance arises between companies that downsize and those that do not. Likewise, we find that substantial workforce reductions through collective layoffs do not lead to improved performance levels either. Downsizing may not, therefore, be a way for managers to enhance performance. This is particularly true of Spain, where the labour market is characterised by the ring-fencing of employees' rights and substantial severance costs.     

Is privatization related to corruption? An empirical analysis of European countries

This study analyses the relationship between privatization and corruption in Europe over the period 1995 to 2013, taking into account the problems surrounding the issue of causality. There have been researches into the role of privatization in reducing corruption, but decisions about privatization itself are made by politicians, and so corruption could also affect decision making about privatizations. The empirical findings suggest that perceived corruption decreases as the number of privatization transactions increases, but the effect is contrary when privatizations are a more important in terms of annual revenues. Furthermore, our results indicate that overall, privatizations carried out since the early 1980s have not been effective in reducing corruption in Europe. Indeed, privatizations reforms are more carried out in the less corrupt countries.     

Advanced manufacturing systems: supply–demand matching of manufacturing resource based on complex networks and Internet of Things

ABSTRACT

After investigation on the existing advanced manufacturing systems (AMSs), it is found that supply–demand matching of manufacturing resource is one of the common issues to be addressed in all AMSs, and methods for addressing this issue have evolved from P2P (peer-to-peer)-based, to information centre-based, and to platform (or system)-based matching, and are moving towards socialisation and service-based solutions. In order to adapt to this trend, a new method for manufacturing resource supply–demand matching based on complex networks and Internet of Things (IoT) is proposed, and a four-layered architecture for implementing this method is designed. In this method, IoT technology is employed to realise the intelligent perception and accessing of various manufacturing resources and capabilities (MR&C), which enables logical aggregation of various distributed MR&C in the form of services. Then complex networks model and theory are used to realise the efficient manufacturing service management, optimal-allocation, and supply–demand matching. In this article, the specific key technologies for implementing the method are presented, including key technologies for manufacturing service generation and aggregation, manufacturing demand/task management, supply–demand matching of MR&C in the form of services, and value/utility adding based on manufacturing service network (MSN), manufacturing task network (MTN) and manufacturing enterprises collaborative network (ECN).     

Managers in transition: An empirical test of Kirton's adaption—innovation theory and its implications for the mid—career MBA

Adaption—innovation theory makes fundamental predictions about the differences in cognitive style of adaptors and innovators. It draws particular attention to the potential for conflict when adaptors and innovators are involved in decision-making and problem-solving in organizations. This paper reports a test of hypotheses derived from the theory in the context of a full-time MBA course for mid-career managers. It draws conclusions relating to the validity of the theory and its implications for the training of these and similar managers in transition.     

An empirical analysis of state labor markets: has worker insecurity shifted wages in the 1990s?

Labor markets in the 1990s have tightened considerably but with a surprising lack of wage inflation. There are several explanations for this behavior, where one of the more prominent explanations is that worker insecurities have depressed wage growth. This study develops an augmented Phillips curve model to test whether there are any structural shifts in wage dynamics in the 1990s. Using state data from 1980 to 1996, the empirical results are consistent with wages becoming more cyclically responsive in the 1990s. Increased long-term unemployment and permanent job losses are associated with the depressed wages in the 1990s, supporting claims that worker insecurity has dampened wage growth.     

Households’ attitudes toward earthquake protection: An empirical analysis of the impact of fiscal support in Japan

Faced with an aging society and major earthquake risk in the near future, promoting the improvement of existing houses is one of the most important issues in Japan. In this paper, we formulate two types of demand models for home safety: a model for barrier-free conversion and a model for seismic retrofit based on a logit model. We explore statistically the factors that affect the demand for each improvement using prefectural data in Japan. We also analyze statistically the significance and impact of financial support programs for improving existing houses, which the Japanese government has implemented at the prefectural and municipal level. The results clarify the differences between the determinants of each type of improvement and show that the support program for barrier-free conversion has a positive and statistically significant effect on households’ preference. However, neither the seismic test nor the seismic retrofit program conducted by prefectures has a positive impact on preference, whereas those by municipalities do affect preference.     

Are innovation and R&D the only sources of firms’ knowledge that increase productivity? An empirical investigation of French manufacturing firms

The economic literature presents knowledge accumulation as one of the most important characteristics of innovation. The accumulation of knowledge arises from complex and dynamic interactions between a firm??s own internal capacity and external expertise. Research and development (R&D) remains important in the innovation process, but it must be integrated with knowledge from other sources, such as training and knowledge capitalization. This paper investigates the relationship between such knowledge sources and the productivity of French firms. Using asymptotic least squares, a Cobb-Douglas function including R&D, innovation, training expenditure and ISO 9000 certification is estimated for 1,213 French manufacturing firms. Our results show that innovation, training and ISO 9000 certification have a positive and significant impact on firms?? productivity.     

OCB and external–internal social networks: effects on individual performance and adaptation to change

In this study, we develop and test a model that links one's internal and external social network structures to his or her willingness and ability to adapt in a changing work context. Using a survey data from 371 employees working in 133 different branches of a large financial firm, we find that individual behaviors that explain task performance and individual adaptation to change are affected by a number of supportive social ties (size of the support network) with which one receives support inside and, mostly, outside the workplace. The results also show that individual performance and adaptation to change are affected by the level of workers' organizational citizenship behavior. We also identify a mediating effect exerted by the informational network structure (mostly an internal network) on the relationship between the support network (mostly an external network) and individual task performance.     

Universities’ efficiency and the socioeconomic characteristics of their environment — Evidence from an empirical analysis

This paper investigates how the efficiency of universities is affected by the characteristics of the territory in which they operate. The theoretical framework combines two perspectives: (1) the resource dependence theory, suggesting that the location of university can determine the amount of resources available to it; (2) institutional isomorphism, according to which the characteristics of other higher education institutions located in the same area may shape the university production function and the efficiency of its operations. In order to test this framework we use data on Russian universities and a non-parametric conditional order-m efficiency estimator with two categories of contextual variables. The first group includes the social, economic and cultural characteristics of the region where the university is located, while the second deal with the characteristics of other higher education institutions located in the same region. The main contribution of this paper is that it applies efficiency models that incorporate exogenous factors associated with a geographical area in context of higher education. Our findings highlight that the managerial efficiency of universities is strongly associated with the contextual factors of the environment in which they are embedded. Important policy implication of this result is that different public policies in higher education should treat particular universities differently depending on characteristics of context in which they operate.     

What affects the extent of business process management implementation? An empirical study of Malaysia’s manufacturing organizations

This study seeks to examine the factors that affect the extent of Business Process Management (BPM) among manufacturing firms in Malaysia. The factors comprised of internal and external drivers. Data was gathered from a survey of 200 manufacturing companies of which 59 respondents participated in this study. Our statistical results indicate that business environment is the key driver that affects the extent of BPM implementation, followed by organization strategy. The findings provide insight to managers that business environment, organization strategy and BPM programs are closely linked. To promote the adoption of BPM in Malaysia, these critical drivers should be emphasized.     

Design parameters of the strategic planning process and organizational performance—a quantitative analysis of empirical research

After 50 years of research in strategic management, the design of strategic planning processes is still on the agenda for scholarly research. Using a quantitative meta-analysis, we examine empirical studies on the relationship between organizational performance and the design parameters of the strategic planning process that can be controlled by a firm. Whereas existing literature reviews focus on the effect of strategic planning on performance, this meta-analysis also considers the role of the location and participants in the strategic planning process, the distinct properties of strategic planners and the intensity of the planning method used. The effect sizes of existing primary studies are harmonized for better comparison and aggregated for a total effect. The total effect is tested for significance and checked for homogeneity.     

An empirical analysis: Did green supply chain management alleviate the effects of COVID-19?

Supply chain management played a central role during the COVID-19 crisis, as the outbreak of the pandemic disrupted the majority of all global supply chains. This paper tests whether companies that use green supply chain management (GSCM) practices benefited from a buffer effect in the context of COVID-19. Our empirical analysis, conducted on a sample of U.S. companies, shows that GSCM companies experienced less negative abnormal stock returns during the crisis. This result contributes to the literature on financial impact of GSCM, finding that GSCM is perceived as an effective risk management tool and can serve as an effective drug against COVID-19 crisis. Our paper also contributes to the business debate on the role of green supply chains in the post-COVID19 world.     

An empirical analysis of mean reversion of the S&P 500’s P/E ratios

Numerous authors have suggested that the price-earnings (P/E) ratio can be used to predict the future movement of stock prices. Such arguments are based on the belief that P/E ratios are mean-reverting. However, are the S&P P/E ratios really mean reverting? A review of the literature finds arguments on both sides, but the issue of mean reversion has not been tested adequately. Using unit roots and multiple structural breaks, we explicitly show that the P/E ratio is stationary around multiple breaks, which means that it will eventually revert to some long-run means. This result supports evidence that high P/E ratios relative to the current long-run mean will be followed by slow growth in stock prices and/or high earnings growth.     

Are there major differences in the attitudes and service quality of standard and seasonal employees? An empirical examination and implications for practice

Despite the increased use of seasonal employees by organizations, few studies have been completed on the attitudes and service quality of seasonal office workers. Using Lautsch's classification model, we analyzed the organizational context in which the standard and seasonal workers in this study were employed. Hypotheses were developed based upon the organizational analysis and social exchange theory. Results from archival data obtained from a web‐based organizational survey of 205 clerical and professional workers indicated contrary to expectations, standard and seasonal employees did not significantly differ in terms of perceptions of overall job conditions, perceived organizational support (POS), or job engagement. However, seasonal employees did report significantly fewer opportunities to work on challenging tasks, less comfortable physical working conditions, and less job security than the standard workers. As predicted, standard employees reported significantly higher levels of service quality performance than seasonal employees. Additionally, job engagement mediated the relationship between POS and service quality for both the standard and seasonal employees. Implications for managing seasonal employees are discussed.     

The impact of inventory dynamics on long-term stock returns – An empirical investigation of U.S. manufacturing companies

This paper investigates the relationship between the inventory dynamics and long-term stock returns of a large panel of U.S. manufacturing firms over the time period from 1991 to 2010. We propose two measures of inventory dynamics: one metric to assess the fluctuations of quarterly inventories within the year and a second metric to quantify relative year-over-year inventory growth. Our results indicate that within-year inventory volatility (IV) and abnormal year-over-year inventory growth (ABI) are associated with abnormal stock returns. Both metrics cannot be entirely explained by common risk factors. We find that firms with high IV and low ABI have the best long-term stock returns, and that stock performance decreases monotonically with higher ABI values. Our results are robust to various control variables including size, book-to-market value, industry and prior performance. We therefore conclude that changes in inventory levels provide valuable insights into the risks and opportunities faced by a company.