Environmental responsibility in SMEs: does it deliver competitive advantage?

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) can gain a competitive advantage and create sustainable business by adopting environmental good practices. However, the perceptions of SMEs and their approach to environmental improvements suggest that there are some fundamental misunderstandings and difficulties in achieving this in practice. A questionnaire‐based study of SMEs and their responses to the current requirements of environmental good practice was carried out in South Yorkshire. Follow‐up interviews and factory visits were also carried out. The study aimed to assess the ability of SMEs to create a competitive advantage by adopting environmental good practice and making environmental improvements to their business. The main findings were that most organizations surveyed believed environmental issues to be issues affecting their business. However, the meeting of these requirements was seen as a cost that was not transferable to customers in terms of added benefits and few organizations could show that it led to a competitive advantage. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Retrenchment: Cause of turnaround or consequence of decline?

In a recent investigation of the turnaround attempts of 32 U.S. textile firms, Robbins and Pearce (1992) concluded that retrenchment is an integral component of successful recovery from decline. In this note we critique, replicate and provide an alternative explanation for their findings using data from the same sample of firms attempting turnarounds. Based on our analyses, we find that little evidence exists to support the assertion that retrenchment is integral to turnaround. We conclude by offering several recommendations for turnaround researchers.     

Projecting economic structure with a large-scale econometric model

The Cambridge Multisectoral Dynamic Model of the British economy is a tool for projecting economic structure annually, by 40 industries, up to the year 2000. The projections are based on assumptions of likely development and satisfy certain accounting rules. The article advocates the use of such models, emphasizes their accounting basis, and suggests a methodology for long-term economic forecasting.     

Firm Turnarounds: an Integrative Two-Stage Model*

This paper presents a model proposing that turnaround firms exhibit two classes of response to decline: (a) decline-stemming strategies that reverse the dysfunctional consequences of decline, and (b) recovery strategies that position the firm to better compete in its industry. We further propose that effective top management actions supporting both of these strategies are vital to recovering from decline. Our model of the turnaround process questions some existing assumptions about turnarounds and extends theory in several key areas. First, we argue that success in initially stemming decline requires managers to go beyond retrenchment or focusing on financial issues to include effective management of a firm's external stakeholders and internal climate and decision processes. Second, we outline important contingencies impacting each class or stage of response to decline and discuss the interaction between stages. Finally, we demonstrate how our model provides explanations for several unresolved issues regarding turnarounds and has implications for management practice.     

An evaluation of The Ethics Program at General Dynamics

The Ethics Program at General Dynamics was evaluated relative to its stated objectives and its implied objectives. The program was found to have met its specific objectives which require employees to follow rules and standards of conduct. The program did not apparently meet its implied objectives which would have created a more humanistic work environment for employees. This result apparently stemmed from program planners' intentions to use the hope for better working conditions as a motivation for employees to follow company standards. A substantial conflict was found between the philosophical bases for ethics programs and work environment improvement programs.Dr. Barker recently joined the faculty of Marist College to teach courses in organizational behavior, human resources management, and business policy. He was previously an internal change agent, at middle management levels, for General Dynamics for thirteen years. During that period, he also taught courses part time for the University of Redlands in business ethics, management theory, organizational behavior, human resources management, strategic planning, and research design.     

Building a Bridge between Marketing and Finance

Corporate finance executives are often frustrated by spending proposals from their marketing colleagues but cannot seem to be able to quantify the putative benefits. Similarly, the marketing staff is frustrated by the finance team's inability to convert soft marketing metrics, such as “awareness” and “customer satisfaction” into financial forecasts. The challenge is that neither marketers nor finance executives have been able to articulate a single analytical framework which both explains how and why brands come to flourish or flounder and how brand growth contributes to the business's short and long term bottom line. Lacking an effective way to do this now, most managers default to using the hard data they do have, namely how marketing investment is likely to impact sales this quarter and next. This reinforces the widespread focus on quarterly EPS and reduces the perceived value of the marketing department to their ability to hit three month sales targets. This degraded view of marketing's contribution and the inability to link “soft” marketing metrics to longer term financial returns impedes building long‐term brand value. This article focuses on how advances in behavioral science and financial analytics offer an effective way to bridge this gap between marketing and finance. Building that bridge requires better measures of brand health and financial performance to allocate capital and marketing resources. Undoubtedly, brand building is both an art and a science. But, the finance people can develop an evidence‐based framework explaining how some of the “softer” investments such as brand building, contribute to the value of the firm.