DOES ORGANIZATION MATTER? A STUDY OF PHYSICIANS' IDEAL ORGANIZATION

It is a known phenomenon that it is difficult to make organizational changes within professional organizations. One recurring observation and experience from health care studies is that it is difficult to discuss the last organizational change with professionals because the most recent change is always perceived as the worst. In order to avoid this routine response, the authors of this article asked 56 senior physicians from the Swedish health care sector what their ideal organization looks like. The authors note that there is a strong institutionalized idea among the physicians of how health care should be organized. The image is not particularly complicated: the organization should be based on the meeting between doctor and patient. One conclusion in the article is that professionals dislike change, but nevertheless, they still want it. Actual change is not the problem – only changes that are not in compliance with the professionals' opinions of organization and management.     

STOCK MARKET REACTION TO GOOD AND BAD INFLATION NEWS

This article shows that differentiating between good and bad inflation news is important to understanding how inflation affects stock market returns. Summing positive and negative inflation shocks as in previous studies tends to wash out or mute the effects of inflation news on stock returns. More specifically, we find that, depending on the economic state, positive and negative inflation shocks can produce a variety of stock market reactions. We conclude that the effect of inflation on stock returns is conditional on whether investors perceive inflation shocks as good or bad news in different economic states.     

Transferability and Naturalistic Generalization: New Generalizability Concepts for Social Science or Old Wine in New Bottles?

Interpretative qualitative social science has attempted to distinguish itself from quantitative social science by rejecting traditional or ‘received’ notions of generalization. Traditional concepts of scientific generalization it is claimed are based on a misguided objectivism as to the mechanisms operating in the social world, and particularly the ability of statements to capture such mechanisms in any abstract sense. Instead they propose new versions of the generalizability concept e.g. ‘transferability’, which relies on the context dependent judgement of ‘fit’ between two or more cases instances made by a researcher. This paper argues that the transferability concept, as outlined and argued by interpretativist methodologists, is thoroughly coextensive with notions of generalizability formalized for natural science and naturalistic social science by philosophers and methodologists of science. Therefore, it may be concluded that the interpretativist claim to a break with received scientific traditions is a premature one, at least with regard to the issue of generalization.     

The processes of defining corporate responsibility: a study of Swedish garment retailers' responsibility

Despite extensive research on corporate responsibility, little research exists on how the inter‐organizational processes of defining corporate responsibility develop. In this paper, we present a framework based on actor‐network theory (ANT) for analysing these processes. The developed framework is illustrated in a study of the redefinition of Swedish garment retailers' responsibilities for workers' rights at suppliers' factories between 1996 and 2004. We show that definition processes can be characterized as battles for the right to interpretation, and that traditionally non‐dominant actors can, at least temporarily, win these battles and dictate the development of the processes for defining corporate responsibility. We also show that definition processes can take an exclusionary form prohibiting certain actors from participating. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

The Heckscher–Ohlin model and the network structure of international trade

This paper estimates for 28 product groups a characteristic parameter that reflects the topological structure of its trading network. Using these estimates, it describes how the structure of international trade has evolved during the 1980–2000 period. Thereafter, it demonstrates the importance of networks in international trade by explicitly accounting for their scaling properties when testing the prediction of the “Heckscher–Ohlin” model that factor endowment differentials determine bilateral trade flows. The results suggest that factor endowment differentials increase bilateral trade in goods that are traded in “dispersed” networks. For goods traded in “concentrated” networks, factor endowment differentials are less important.     

Liking what others “Like”: using Facebook to identify determinants of conformity

In this paper we explore the micro-level determinants of conformity. Members of the social networking service Facebook express positive support to content on the website by clicking a Like button. We set up a natural field experiment to test whether users are more prone to support content if someone else has done so before. To find out to what extent conformity depends on group size and social ties we use three different treatment conditions: (1) one stranger has Liked the content, (2) three strangers have Liked the content, and (3) a friend has Liked the content. The results show that one Like from a single stranger had no impact. However, increasing the size of the influencing group doubled the probability that subjects expressed positive support. Friendship ties were also decisive. People were, on average, four times more likely to press the Like button if a friend, rather than a stranger, had done so before them. The existence of threshold effects in our experiment clearly shows that both group size and social proximity matters when opinions are shaped.     

Innovation speed under uncertainty and competition

Innovation speed is widely considered to be a key factor for a firm's ability to maintain competitive advantage. Primarily, empirical evidence has found contradictory interdependencies regarding the role of innovation speed. The prevailing proposition of “the faster the better” has been challenged by results of empirical studies heavily depending on the methodological setup used. In contrast, we propose a model of the complete innovation process to study innovation speed under uncertainty and competition. We find that higher market uncertainty speeds up innovation and encourages firms to innovate incrementally. Strong competition tends to reduce innovation speed and encourages rather radical innovation.     

Socialising employees’ trust in the organisation: an exploration of apprentices’ socialisation in two highly trusted companies

We present here our investigation into how corporate employers deliberately seek to foster and build employees’ trust in the organisation through socialisation tactics. Interestingly enough, such deliberate development of employees’ trust in the organisation has hitherto rarely been addressed in academic research. Using qualitative case study research methods, we have closely observed the trust socialisation process experienced by entrant employees, namely apprentices in two separate and highly trusted German companies. Our findings are consistent with former trust socialisation research in that they indicate the importance of high levels of perceived organisational support and of a convincing communication of organisational values and principles. However, our research emphasises further aspects of trust socialisation, such as psychological empowerment, the efficacy of formal organisational rules and especially sensegiving activities.     

Environmentally Sustainable Development through Stakeholder Engagement in Developed and Emerging Countries

This cross‐country study investigates the antecedents and outcomes of corporate environmental responsibility (CER) practices in developed and emerging countries. Based on stakeholder and institutional theory, we conducted an empirical study among firms in Germany, USA, India and China. We found support for a significant positive relationship between regulatory, market and social stakeholder influences, CER practices and business outcomes in the total and individual country samples. Regarding country differences, our data reveal significant similarities and differences between developed and emerging countries. Market stakeholder influences are stronger in developed countries, whereas regulatory and social stakeholder influences do not differ significantly between the two country groups. The relationship between CER practices and positive business outcomes is stronger in emerging than in developed countries. Implications for institutional theory and organizations are outlined. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment