Communicating With and Motivating High Fatalists

Abstract . In three studies responses of high and low fatalists to five different types of communications messages were compared. The five types of information considered were single reward, multiple reward, reward explanations, conformity, and nonsense information. Nutritional, political, and reading behaviors were considered. Two field experiments were conducted with male heads of households and a laboratory experiment was conducted with students. The high fatalists were motivated by reward explanation information. The low fatalists were motivated by single and multiple reward information more than the high fatalists. Responses of the high and low fatalists converged, at the highest motivation level, in response to reward explanation information. Fatalism accounted for more response variance than income, education, or race characteristics. The social significance of these findings is discussed in terms of: the need to motivate the high fatalists; who the high fatalists are; the growth of high fatalism; and the transferability of this paper's communication content findings to organizations dealing with problems of high fatalism.     

Plural governance: The effect of internal production on supplier performance

We suggest that both making and buying the same product or service has several effects on supplier performance. A model is developed and tested by use of answers gathered from the Danish municipalities. The results support the three hypotheses that (1) the negative effects of technological uncertainty on supplier performance decrease when buyers combine internal production and external sourcing, (2) the negative effects of performance uncertainty on supplier performance decrease when buyers combine internal production and external sourcing, and (3) the negative effects of asset specificity on supplier performance decrease when buyers combine internal production and external sourcing. However, the moderating effects depend on how the plurality is measured. The results indicate that internal production may facilitate effective governance of the relationships with external suppliers. Implications for research on make-or-buy decisions and for practice are also discussed.     

Sources of capabilities,integration and technology commercialization

In recent years, companies have increased their use of internal and external sources in pursuit of a competitive advantage through the effective and timely commercialization of new technology. Grounded in the resource‐based view of the firm, this study examines the effect of a company's use of internal and external sources on multiple dimensions of successful technology commercialization (TC). The study also explores the moderating role of formal vs. informal integration mechanisms on these relationships. Applying a longitudinal design and data from 119 companies, the results show that internal human and technology‐based manufacturing sources are positively associated with successful TC. Formal and informal integration mechanisms also significantly moderate the relationships observed between capability sources and TC. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Employees' perceptions of HR investment and their efforts to remain internally employable: testing the exchange-based mechanisms of the ‘new psychological contract’

This study investigates the relationship between perceived investment in employee development (PIED) and the internal employability efforts that such perceptions are assumed to influence under the terms of the ‘new psychological contract’. A cross-sectional survey among 238 employees in a Norwegian IT and management consulting firm provides support that PIED relates positively to employees' openness to develop themselves and adapt to changing work requirements (‘internal employability orientation’) and their active pursuit of new competencies and career trajectories within the organization (‘internal employability activities’). However, our findings challenge widely held claims that investment in employee development elicits these responses by way of the reciprocal mechanisms of a social exchange relationship. While PIED is found to relate positively to employees' perceptions of a social exchange relationship with their organization, these positive exchange experiences are not supported to influence internal employability outcomes. Our findings do support, however, that PIED relates negatively to perceived economic exchange relationships that in turn undermine internal employability orientations. Suggestions for future research and implications for practice are discussed.     

The Shape of the Income Distribution and Economic Growth – Evidence from Swedish Labor Market Regions

We analyze the association between income inequality and economic growth using 72 labor market regions in Sweden during the period of 1990–2006. Compared with studies of cross‐country data, the regional set‐up reduces problems with omitted variable bias and endogeneity as regions within a country share the same redistributive policies and institutions. Using population register data, highly accurate measures of growth and inequality (gini, Q3, p9075, p5010) are derived. OLS cross‐section and panel estimates imply that inequality between the 90 and 75th percentiles enhances regional growth and that the share of income falling to the third quintile reduces growth. These results no longer hold when we apply regions specific fixed effects and/or system GMM.     

The Business Model in Integrated Reporting: Evaluating Concept and Application

A key feature of the International Integrated Reporting Council's (IIRC) agenda to improve corporate reporting is to encourage companies to use Integrated Reports to disclose their underlying business models. However, extant research suggests that the IIRC's distinctive business model concept is not well understood. This paper aims to unpack and critically evaluate the core features of the IIRC's business model concept. To unpack the IIRC's business model, the paper conducts a structured comparative analysis of the IIRC's model against eight influential alternatives in prior business model research. The paper then evaluates the extent to which Integrated Reporting's distinctive business model is: (1) internally coherent and consistent; and, (2) consistent with the IIRC's broader reporting objectives. The paper identifies tensions in both these areas. Since the IIRC's business model is central to its agenda to improve corporate reporting, these tensions are relevant to both Integrated Reporting research and broader discussions about whether, or how, disclosing business models advances mainstream reporting frameworks.