Corporate governance: from accountability to enterprise

This paper discusses the development of the corporate governance debate in the UK since the formation of the Cadbury Committee to the recent reports of the Hampel Committee within the context of a general corporate governance framework. It identifies the changing emphasis in this period between accountability and enterprise aspects of governance. The literature relating to accountability and enterprise is reviewed in terms of the key areas of governance (board structure, directors' remuneration, directors' ownership, institutional shareholders; auditors, auditing and accounting information; and the market for corporate control). Issues of substitutability and complementarity of governance mechanisms are also examined. The paper argues that although there has been a shift in emphasis towards enterprise, there is a need for further rigorous UK-based research to underpin this development. Areas for future research are identified.     

Analysis of the effect of risk management practices on the performance of new product development programs

Risk management is receiving much attention, as it is seen as a method to improve cost, schedule, and technical performance of new product development programs. However, there is a lack of empirical research that investigates the effective integration of specific risk management practices proposed by various standards with new product development programs and their association with various dimensions of risk management success. Based on a survey of 291 product development programs, this paper investigates the association of risk management practices with five categories of product development program performance: (A) Quality Decision Making; (B) High Program Stability; (C) Open, problem solving organization; (D) Overall new product development project success; and (E) overall product success. The results show that six categories of risk management practices are most effective: (1) Develop risk management skills and resources; (2) Tailor risk management to and integrate it with new product development; (3) Quantify impacts of risks on your main objectives; (4) Support all critical decisions with risk management results; (5) Monitor and review your risks, risk mitigation actions, and risk management process; and (6) Create transparency regarding new product development risks. The data shows that the risk management practices are directly associated with outcome measures in the first three categories (improved decision making, program stability and problem solving). There is also evidence that the risk management practices indirectly associate with the remaining two categories of outcome measures (project and product success). Additional research is needed to describe the exact mechanisms through which risk management practices influence NPD program success.     

What are ‘unpopular causes’ and how can they achieve fundraising success?

• Recent efforts to grow and strengthen the culture of philanthropy in the UK have largely focused on two dimensions: the total amount of money donated and the effectiveness of philanthropic spending. This paper explores a third dimension: the destination and distribution of donations. A defining characteristic of charitable giving is that it is voluntary rather than coerced, and the resulting respect for donor autonomy makes people wary of promoting one cause above another or implying that any beneficiary group is more or less ‘worthy’ of support. However, the absence of much comment on, or significant research into, the destination of donations does not alter the fact that some groups succeed in attracting significant philanthropic funds whilst others struggle to secure many—or any—donations. This paper explores the concept of ‘unpopularity’ in the charity sector, especially in relation to its impact on fundraising. We unpack what this loaded phrase means, identify good practice by those seeking support and present case studies of charities that have overcome perceived unpopularity to achieve success in raising voluntary income. We suggest that by investing organisational resources and effort in fundraising, by framing the cause to maximise the arousal of sympathy and minimise concerns about beneficiary culpability and by avoiding the unintended negative consequences of self‐labelling as ‘unpopular’ no charity need assume it is their destiny to languish at the bottom of the fundraising league tables.

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

MCDA Framework for Fishing Rights Allocation in South Africa

The work discussed in this paper relates to the allocation of fishing rights within the Western Cape province of South Africa. Many of these fisheries are under threat through over-exploitation, and yet are a traditional source of livelihood in many communities. We describe a sequence of interventions during which principles and processes of multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) formed the framework for structuring the problems, for facilitating group consensus on the decision making process, and for designing a decision support template for use in future allocations. Interactions with community representatives and with the the national Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism revealed a high degree of consistency in perceptions of the management goals that need to be taken into consideration. These goals could be structured and summarized in the form of an integrated value tree, which in turn formed the basis for a formalized decision support structure that could provide a transparent, coherent and auditable basis for the allocation of fishing rights in a fully goal-directed manner.     

‘If I Should Fall From Grace…’: Stories of Change and Organizational Ethics

Although studies in organizational storytelling have dealt extensively with the relationship between narrative, power and organizational change, little attention has been paid to the implications of this for ethics within organizations. This article addresses this by presenting an analysis of narrative and ethics as it relates to the practice of organizational downsizing. Drawing on Paul Ricoeur’s theories of narrative and ethics, we analyze stories of organizational change reported by employees and managers in an organization that had undergone persistent downsizing. Our analysis maintains that the presence of a dominant story that seeks to legitimate organizational change also serves to normalize it, and that this, in turn, diminishes the capacity for organizations to scrutinize the ethics of their actions. We argue that when organizational change narratives become singularized through dominant forms of emplotment, ethical deliberation and responsibility in organizations are diminished. More generally, we contend that the narrative closure achieved by the presence of a dominant narrative amongst employees undergoing organizational change is antithetical to the openness required for ethical questioning.     

The impact of work‐life programs on firm productivity

This research examined the adoption of work‐life programs and the impact of work‐life programs on firm productivity. Human resource executives in a national sample of 658 organizations provided survey data on firm characteristics and work‐life programs. In these 658 organizations, the percentage of professionals and the percentage of women employed were positively related to the development of more extensive work‐life programs. Productivity data were obtained from CD Disclosure for 195 public, for‐profit firms. Significant interaction effects indicated that in these 195 firms work‐life programs had a stronger positive impact on productivity when women comprised a larger percentage of the workforce and when a higher percentage of professionals were employed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Motivations,experiences and perceived impacts of visitation at a Catholic monastery in New Zealand

This paper explores visitors' motivations and experiences for visiting the Tyburn monastery and retreat centre in the north island of New Zealand, and the perspectives of the nuns on the impacts of the visits. Using a qualitative research approach, the paper presents the findings of semi-structured interviews with 22 visitors and 3 nuns at the monastery; all Catholic in denomination. Findings of the research elicited three key experiential themes which were: “religious experience”, “personal experience” and “social experience”, although the overriding experience was religious. Findings also revealed that all visitors were welcome and were not treated as a burden by the nuns; in contrast to the more negative perspectives that are argued in some previous religious tourism studies. These findings thereby contribute potential knowledge of how a contemporary Catholic cloistered monastery is efficiently and uniquely managed through the Benedictine rule that is followed, which lays out principles of governing or administrating and hospitality, and which protects the devotional experience for its visitors.     

How did the wealthiest Britons get so rich?

The source of 200 of the greatest fortunes in Great Britain in 1988 is examined using data published in Money magazine. The 200 fortunes originated in 74 different industries, the most common being land-holding (n=33) and real estate trading and development (n=15). Sixty-two of the industries were judged to be competitive at the time the fortunes orginated, 12 non-competitive. Three-quarters of the fortunes originated in what were essentially competitive industries. Possible explanations include infra-marginal rents due to business acumen or ownership of scarce essential resources, short-run disequilibrium profits, the returns to innovation, luck (or observations of the very fortunate investors who played the business uncertainty lottery), or classification errors. In any case, we learn that monopoly is not the exclusive (or even most common) source of vast fortunes in Great Britain.     

Socialist Men,Liberal Measures?

The Spanish Socialist party, led by Felipe Gonzales (above), is proving far readier to liberalise the Spanish economy than its centre-right predecessors in government. Alison Wright, a specialist in Spanish economic and political affairs, welcomes this surprising development but warns Spain's liberal Socialists that they have a long way to go in restoring efficiency to her economy.