JAPANESE MANAGERIAL PRACTICES IN THE MALAYSIAN ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY: TWO CASE STUDIES

The transferability of the Japanese management syndrome is examined through an analysis of the employment policies and practices of two major Japanese multinational electronics companies operating in Malaysia. the evidence suggests that the question of transferability must be considered in the specific historical context. While such companies operate from within a preferred managerial style, the case study evidence suggests that employment policy and practice is likely to be significantly constrained by business objectives and heavily conditioned by the local economic, political and legal conditions and socio-cultural values.     

Profiling environmentally responsible consumer-citizens

This paper examines differences between proven environmentally responsible individuals and the general public on six variables. An experimental choice situation of environmentally responsible decisions was combined with self report measures to test the hypotheses. The generalized social responsibility correlates of internal-external control and social class were proven to be significant univariate as well as multivariate predictors of environmental responsibility. The most significant implication for marketers is that environmentally responsible target markets may be substantial enough to warrant the use of environmentally oriented marketing programs.     

Usufructuary Mortgages in Rural South Asian Economies

A bstract . A section of the informal credit market in an agrarian society is explored, namely the usufructuary land mortgage , a type of money-lending contract that is common in rural economies of South Asia. In this type of transaction, the lender charges no explicit interest on the loan, but since the mortgagee is free to utilize the land for his own cultivation , net income from the land is, in effect, an implicit form of interest payment. Issues relating to the determination of the rate of interest and the oft-found phenomenon of undervaluation of the collateral are discussed. A model is provided that shows the proper relationship between undervaluation of collaterals and the high implicit usufruct rates of interest. This relationship can only be understood by defining the opportunity cost of money in terms of purchasing new land. It is shown that, for any rate of default less than 100%, return from money lending is lower than return from land purchase under certain circumstances. It is then argued that undervaluation of collateral may be a mechanism to compensate the lender for the opportunity cost of his funds.     

The Efficiency of Stock-Based Incentives: Experimental Evidence

The authors report the results of laboratory experiments in which subjects are offered contracts structured similar to equity compensation packages and result in subjects receiving cash payments that are a function of their effort and random factors. The authors compare the outcomes from alternative contractual forms to theoretical benchmarks and report the efficiency of the contracts to provide evidence on whether options or stocks that have same economic cost to the employer yield the same or different effort levels from the managers. Both contracts elicit lower levels of effort than would be chosen by an expected-payoff-maximizing decision maker. Effort choices under the option contract did not differ significantly from effort choices under the stock contract except for male subjects. The option contract elicits a higher effort level for these subjects and condition than the stock contract. Effort choices reflect loss aversion and regret based on past stock price realizations.     

Determinants of Student Attitudes toward Team Exams

Abstract

We examine how student attitudes toward their group, learning method, and perceived development of professional skills are initially shaped and subsequently evolve through multiple uses of team exams. Using a Tobit regression model to analyse a sequence of 10 team quizzes given in a graduate-level tax accounting course, we show that there is an anchoring effect, in that in later rounds satisfaction on all dimensions rests on the foundation laid in the initial round. Subsequently, however, self-perceptions and the perception of others may influence satisfaction on a particular dimension. We also find that the satisfaction with one's group tends to increase when students make more correct switches but decreases when there is greater disagreement among the group. Furthermore, satisfaction with team exams tends to lessen, and to an increasing extent over time, as the number of errors a student has committed on the most recent quiz increases.     

The Strategy/Structure Debate: An Examination of the Performance Implications

The relative importance of strategy and structure lies at the heart of the strategic management field, yet little is known about the associated performance implications of such changes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the financial performance impact of strategy and structure changes. We conducted an examination of 259 firms over a 36-year period using a quasi-experimental design. No significant change–performance relationships were found for tandem changes (i.e. when both strategy and structure were changed). But, we found that singular structure changes were associated with the highest performance. This finding was consistent with the theory: though strategy is important, proper deployment of firm uniqueness is paramount to performance enhancement.