Are long‐term incentive plans an effective and efficient way of motivating senior executives?

Research on senior executive reward has typically explored the connection between pay, performance and the alignment of interests of executives and shareholders. This article examines the relationship between reward and motivation, drawing on the psychological, behavioural economics and decision‐making literatures. Based on an empirical study of FTSE 350 senior executives, the research examines whether long‐term incentive plans are an effective and efficient way of motivating executives, taking into account risk, time discounting, uncertainty and fairness. The article concludes that the way executives frame choices, perceive value, assess probability, evaluate temporal effects and respond to uncertainty means that long‐term incentive plans (LTIPs) are generally not efficient and are often not effective in meeting their objectives. It proposes that, in its current form, agency theory does not provide a sound basis for modelling senior executive reward, and suggests five areas for development.     

Becoming empowered: organization change in a telecom company

The notion of empowerment has been used in the management discourse since at least the 1980s. As a normative model for the distribution of decision-making mandate and administrative and operative responsibilities, empowerment serves as a new shopfloor model or ideology for decentralized organizations of the new workplace. The practice of empowerment is, however, not very often empirically researched, causing a confusion about what empowerment implies in terms of shopfloor activities. This paper presents an extensive organization development programme at a Swedish telecommunication company. Rather than being an easily implemented model, empowerment appears as a complex, heterogeneous process in which the empowering of employees is embedded in local practices and workplace cultures.     

Weak Property Rights and Holdup in R&D

We study how the sequence of financing of R&D varies according to the ease with which property rights over knowledge can be defined. There are two financiers: a venture capitalist (VC) and a corporation. The knowledge acquired in costly research becomes embodied in the researcher's human capital, and she may hold up the financier and walk away with the project to develop it elsewhere. The main results are: (1) When property rights are strong, research is always funded by the VC, development is performed efficiently, and breakaways from the VC to the corporation are observed in equilibrium. (2) When property rights are weak, projects may be financed by the VC or the corporation, or may remain unfunded. (3) When property rights are weak, no breakaways occur in equilibrium; local spillovers and strong product market competition increase the likelihood that research projects will get funding. (4) The equilibrium sequence of R&D finance need not be first-best efficient. (5) In equilibrium, and controlling for the strength of property rights, VCs finance projects that are more profitable on average.     

Modeling the Transition from Enhanced Oil Recovery to Geologic Carbon Sequestration

Policy debates suggest a future role for geologic carbon sequestration. As geologic sequestration (GS) evolves from enhanced oil recovery operations to an emissions‐mitigation option, regulations must evolve to manage the risks of carbon dioxide (CO₂) migration. We develop an engineering‐economic model to understand the key deployment pathways in this transition. Major results reveal that dedicated CO₂ storage in aquifers is associated with the greatest net revenues under only a limited number of scenarios. This finding suggests that regulators should anticipate GS operations in reservoirs that were not initially intended as GS operations and, therefore, may have higher leakage rates. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A critical review of empirical research on open innovation adoption

The open innovation approach has been one of the most discussed topics in innovation management literature in the 2000s. Over the past few years, academic publications on open innovation have increased substantially. This paper attempts to summarize and review the state-of-the-art of empirical open innovation research and develop new opportunities for open innovation research in the future. In order to make the papers more comparable, a clear focus on large-scale quantitative-oriented studies was set. From a total of 282 documents, 30 studies were analyzed in detail along four key dimensions: Firstly, different methods of measuring open innovation adoption are compared. Then, the level of open innovation adoption is analyzed on a general basis. Thirdly, the level of adoption is compared at the level of the open innovation mode (inbound and outbound). Finally, the study results regarding the variables that influence open innovation adoption are compared and conclusions for future research directions are drawn.     

Regionale Vernetzung als Beitrag zum Unternehmenserfolg – Entwicklung und Management von Cluster-Initiativen

Regional networking can help companies to gain competitive advantage, provided that the network is actively coordinated and managed. For this purpose, cluster initiatives aiming at delivering potentials for success for their members arouse in many regions in previous years. Based on literature, this article analyzes the different stages of development of a cluster initiative and the specific tasks of the cluster management in these stages. Applying the relational and the resource-based view, we explain possible company’s competitive advantages resulting from cooperation. Subsequently, we distinguish each stage and describe the specific tasks of the different protagonists of a cluster. Finally, we discuss these theoretic findings of how to develop cluster initiatives and their applicability by a case study of the HESSENMETALL Cluster Initiative and derive implications for science and management.     

The transfer of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) as an urban policy for spatially targeted economic development

Urban policy transfer between the US and UK has long been of interest to researchers and practitioners. Given the recent wider context of reduced direct funding and the absence of a coherent regeneration policy, this paper considers the introduction of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) to the UK as a method of stimulating spatially targeted economic development initiatives. The paper explores whether TIF could be considered a form of policy transfer, and in doing so uncovers whether the transfer of TIF could – (a) be successful and unsuccessful under certain circumstances; (b) require the actions of certain stakeholders; and (c) be enabled via prescribed frameworks and negotiation. The results are evidenced using qualitative approaches and find that TIF is more of a modified policy ‘idea’ rather than transfer. Further discussion argues that TIF can be successful, if it considers flexible but local elements and has the capacity to balance stakeholders for development brokerage.     

CLASSIFYING MONETARY ECONOMICS: FIELDS AND METHODS FROM PAST TO FUTURE

Abstract We propose a simple, yet sufficiently encompassing, classification scheme of monetary economics. It comprises three fundamental fields and six recent areas that expand within and across these fields. The elements of our scheme are not found together and in their mutual relationships in earlier studies of the relevant literature; neither does this attempt aim to produce a relatively complete systematization. Our intention in taking stock is not finality or exhaustiveness. We rather suggest a viewpoint and a possible ordering of the accumulating knowledge. Our purpose is to promote discussion on the evolving nature and internal consistency of monetary economics at large.     

Stakeholder Engagement: Defining Strategic Advantage for Sustainable Construction

Although sustainable development is increasingly becoming a part of business plans, it is unclear what makes the economic, social and environmental dynamics strategically compatible. This research examines which of the following in sustainable development – government policy, managerial attitude and stakeholder engagement – is the most influential on the profitability of companies in the UK construction sector. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were rendered through a survey and semi‐structured interviews. Patterns of ambiguity in legislation were discovered as an obstacle for changing the sector's mind‐set. Stakeholder engagement was identified as the defining factor increasing managers' awareness, helping legislation to be effectively implemented and making sustainability highly appealing to clients. These findings indicate that to gain competitive advantage, companies should embark on long‐term strategic alliances which adopt the proposals of environmental non‐governmental organisations and closely follow public opinion. This, strengthens brand equity, allows for premium pricing, increases market share and maximizes profit. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.