Effects of social capital on processes in a regional strategic network

Understanding the role of social capital is vital for implementing cluster policies as regional strategic networks and cluster initiatives are influenced by the local socio-economic context and its social capital. Social capital can create value for companies by closure of the network structure (bonding), which maintains internal mutual trust but bonding can also over-embed companies in their social context, whereas sparse networks that provide links to other parts of relevant business networks (bridging) often provide greater innovation benefits. We provide a conceptual framework applied to a case study of a Swedish regional strategic network, and examples mostly of positive effects of bridging social capital and negative effects of the bonding form are identified. This is interpreted against the background of the regional dependence-oriented culture.     

Relevance of route and network profitability analysis for the network management process of network carriers

Route profitability analysis (RPA) and network profitability analysis (NPA) represent common approaches to measure the profitability of flights in the airline industry. Scientific discussion, however, lacks an in-depth understanding of their impact on the network management process or of their implementation throughout the industry and their design. Here we analyze RPA and NPA and evaluate their potential influence on network management-related decision making. We argue that both approaches vary in applicability and suitability according to airline business models (i.e. network carriers, point-to-point carriers). Furthermore, we present the findings of a study among the top 100 network carriers worldwide on the relevance of RPA and NPA. Results indicate a wide implementation of RPA and to a lesser degree of NPA. In addition, the sophistication of the profitability analysis and the application of the retrieved profitability data for planning purposes differ considerably between airlines.     

Political business cycles and monetary policy revisited–an application of a two-dimensional asymmetric Taylor reaction function

This paper uses two-dimensional asymmetric Taylor reaction functions for 16 OECD-countries to account for different reactions to the inflation rate and output by central banks before or after an election of the fiscal authorities in the respective country. Important for such an investigation is not only the period before or after an election takes place but also whether the inflation rate and output are below or above their target or potential value because this information shows whether the central bank systematically deviates from the Taylor rule. Using a Panel-GMM we observe that in the OECD-countries there are political business cycles in monetary policy with respect to the inflation and output response. However, the supporting time horizon differs between both exogenous indicators and state of variables.     

Kundenintegration — Der Vertrieb als strategisches Instrument

Kundenintegration bindet den Kunden aktiv in die Wertsch?pfung ein und hilft so, individuell abgestimmte Angebote zu entwickeln. Kundenintegration ist deshalb vor allem ein Thema für den Vertrieb als Bindeglied zwischen Anbieter und Kunde. Doch um Bedürfnisstrukturen aufzudecken und in Leistungsbündel zu überführen, muss der Vertrieb besondere Anforderungen erfüllen.     

Failures to enact the future—A social practice perspective

To be successful, organisational foresight requires a multitude of perspectives and faculties. We have adopted a social practice perspective, which we base within an interpretative world view, to better understand how organisational foresight is enacted. This offers a reading of the phenomena, of which the essential contribution is that organisational foresight is more than an organisational property; it is something that reflective people do as they engage with various inputs from the outside and as a result of the continuous interaction between activity systems and their constituting elements. A longitudinal case study illustrates the importance of understanding the construction of collective and individual meaning in working with organisational foresight. The study shows how the inherent rigidity of the existing activity system and the weak ties between these diverse subsets of the organisation may block the interaction between emerging social practices and organisational intentions resulting in ongoing failures of understanding and enactment. A model is developed to include these parameters in an augmented activity systems model. Based on this we have identified the linking of organisational levels as one of the key dimensions to be considered for which the social practice perspective holds significant explanatory strength.     

Do subsidies have positive impacts on R&D and innovation activities at the firm level?

In this paper we analyze whether and how “research” and “development” subsidies influence private R&D activity. Our empirical results show that “research” subsidies stimulate R&D spending within firms while “development” subsidies substitute such spending. At the theoretical level we find empirical support for the market failure argument that private R&D expenditure is best stimulated in areas where the gap between the social and the private rate of return to R&D is high. A policy implication is that technology programs should support research projects in the private sector in order to stimulate to more R&D.     

German business cycle forecasts, asymmetric loss and financial variables

We examine the efficiency of German forecasts for output growth and inflation allowing for an asymmetric loss function of the forecasters. We find the loss of output growth forecasts to be approximately symmetric while there is an asymmetry in the loss of the inflation forecasts. The information of financial variables seems to be adequately incorporated into the output forecasts but to a lesser extent into the inflation forecasts.