Claims,Concerns and Interests In British Credit Union Development

The British credit union movement has grown rapidly over the past decade, albeit from a low base relative to other nations. That growth has been led by a natlonal credlt union pollcy network. Thls article provides a detailed appraisal of the structure of that network, the motivations of its members and the relations between them.

This study highlights the existence of contradictions in the ‘policy space’ occupied by this network that have obscured the public interest In credit union development to date. These contradictions need to be resolved if the performance of the system as a whole is to be improved and public policy goals are to be met Increasing visibtlity ensuing from repeated endorsement of credit unions by the Labour government is bringing added pressures to bear on that network. New actors may be expected to enter the credit union polltlcal market as a result The irnpacts of entry, both positive and negative, are evaluated in terms of the coheslon and effectiveness of ihe credit union policy network.     

Changes and continuities in South Korean HRM

The operating context of South Korean human resource management (HRM) has undergone radical shifts since we wrote our first piece in 1997 for a similar collection to this. This has undoubtedly influenced the practice of HRM. Therefore, the focus of this piece is to compare the current situation with the past and delineate the amount and type of such change vis-à-vis continuity in HRM. The contextual factors and issues, political and economic background, labour market situation, the 1997 Asian financial crisis and ramifications, are analysed. Then future possible scenarios and key issues are outlined.     

Factors affecting global integration of Chinese multinationals in Australia: A qualitative analysis

This study utilizes cross-level and in-depth interviews to extend empirical and conceptual studies that have identified the factors underlying the choices made by OECD based multinational enterprises (MNEs) when determining their approach to global integration. The study examines the applicability of these factors in the context of Chinese MNEs with operations in Australia. In so doing, it pioneers the use of qualitative methods to determine which factors affect emerging market MNEs’ global integration and how these elements function and interrelate. Furthermore, the study contributes to theory-building by classifying the factors affecting global integration into organizational, industrial, and environmental groupings. The implications of this study are drawn from the data analysis and directions for future studies are advanced.     

Reinforcing organizational defensive routines: An unintended human resources activity

Although human resources professionals are against the proliferation of defensive routines, they often design programs that reinforce them. This paper examines one organization in depth in order to illustrate how its human resources professionals acted in ways that unintentionally reinforced the very defensive routines that they were trying to reduce. Organizational defensive routines organized into self-reinforcing loops can result in lack of effective line leadership and increasing difficulty for management development, organizational development, education, organizational diagnosis, and compensation to achieve their objectives.     

The times they are not changin’: Days and hours of work in Old and New Worlds, 1870–2000

This paper brings a historical perspective to debates on worktime differences across OECD countries, exploiting new data sets on hours of work per week, and days and hours of work per year between 1870 and 2000. We contest the popular view that the divergence in worktimes between Europe and North America and Australia is a recent phenomenon. Since 1870 the decline in weekly and annual hours was consistently greater in the Old World; the New World has had fewer days off for the last 130 years. Labor power and inequality, held to be important determinants of worktime after 1970, had comparable effects in the period before 1913. We find that given their levels of income in 1870 New World workers supplied relatively too many hours of work.     

Resource determinants of strategy and performance: The case of British exporters

This study adopts the RBV of the firm in order to identify critical advantage-generating resources and capabilities with strong positive export strategy and performance implications. The proposed export performance model is tested using a structural equation modelling approach on a sample of 356 British exporters. We examine the individual as well as the concurrent (simultaneous) direct and indirect effects of five resource bundles on export performance. We find that four resources/capabilities: managerial, knowledge, planning, and technology, have a significant positive direct effect on export performance, while relational and physical resources exhibited no unique positive effect. We also find that the firm's export strategy mediates the resource–performance nexus in the case of managerial and knowledge-based resources. The theoretical and methodological grounding of this study contributes to the advancement of export related research by providing better specification of the nature of the effects – direct or indirect – of particular resource factors on export performance.     

THE BRITISH PETROLEUM STOCK OFFERING: AN APPLICATION OF OPTION PRICING

With the world's economic health said to be banging in the balance, Britain announced that it would proceed with its offering of British Petroleum Co. shares…. Never has a single stock offering so galvanized the attention of Wall Street, world capital markets and investors.
-Wall Street Journal, October 30, 1987