Rent Management – The Heart of Green Industrial Policy

At the heart of green industrial policy is rent management: government creating and withdrawing opportunities for profitable investment. This paper asks what the key factors are for rent management to succeed. Drawing on a range of literatures, the paper first deals with the critical success factors for ‘normal’ rent management and then turns to one of the most pressing and controversial issues of our time: how to bring about the transition to green energy. This is extra challenging because technological uncertainties are high, time horizons for investment are long, yet action is required now.     

Organizational identification as a determinant of customer orientation in service organizations

The marketing literature suggests that frontline employees are the central determinant of how customer-oriented a service organization is perceived to be by its customers. However, little is known about the contingencies of employees’ customer orientation (CO) beyond personality traits and broadly construed work attitudes. Based on the social identity approach, the present article develops a multilevel model whereby CO is the result of identity-based management of frontline employees. Two empirical studies in the travel industry show that employees’ CO depends on employees’ organizational identification and their leaders’ acting as role models of CO.     

Understanding postorganic fresh fruit and vegetable consumers at participatory farmers’ markets in Ireland: reflexivity,trust and social movements

This paper examines how trusting relations between consumers and vendors of organic fresh fruits and vegetables (FFVs) in a particular type of farmers’ market (FM) in Ireland are established and maintained, and what the implications of this are. First, the food system is outlined, and then its attendant problems. These problems have led to various solutions, two of which are organic food and FMs. Then, the growth in these two areas is outlined, as is the accompanying growth in the academic literature on these two areas, some of which overlaps. Various pressures, including in particular the increasing distance food travels and disconnected stallholders and products at the FM, are suggested. In light of this, a need to apply an understanding of the reflexive consumer, trust and social movements is suggested. It is found that the consumers interviewed act reflexively by choosing to go to these FMs. They prioritize the trusting relationships built up through repeated personal contact at these FMs over and above organic certification. Along with and as part of this, they prioritize local, fresh, seasonal ‘chemical‐free’ FFVs over and above imported certified organic produce. Various aspects of collective identity formation, including modes of behaviour, objects and stories, and language, are involved in this process. These elements, to some extent, act as a buffer against the pressures of distance and disconnection. Along with this, the essential meaning of the word organic is, in this particular context, reconstructed to include various socio‐environmental values missing from some certified organic produce. The word postorganic is suggested. The main methodologies used are semistructured in‐depth interviews and participant observation.     

Gemeinschaftsdiagnose im Frühjahr 2014

In 2014 and 2015 the German economy will, according to the joint economic forecast, be in an upswing that is mainly driven by strong internal demand. The institutes assess the risks coming from a possible slump of the Russian economy. Simulations with macroeconometric models show that Germany is more affected than other large economies in Europe such as France and Italy. The new minimum wage is a further risk for the German economy that it is difficult to assess. According to this forecast, the minimum wage will, when it comes into effect in 2015, mainly have an adverse effect on employment. Since in general only jobs with low productivity will be lost, the effect on production will be markedly smaller.     

New product adoption in social networks: Why direction matters

Marketing managers and researchers generally agree that analyzing data from social networks and using them to influence consumers' purchase decisions are useful strategies. However, not all social network data may identify the most influential customers. This empirical study of more than 300 students reveals the low explanatory power of friendship networks (e.g., Facebook) and undirected-advice networks (e.g., LinkedIn). Only directed-advice networks (e.g., Google +) clearly identify influential consumers. In addition, the results challenge conventional wisdom that firms should target advisers assuming that they have the strongest influence on new product adoption. This study contradicts this common assumption and reveals that structural equivalence drives product adoption more than cohesion because advisees' adoption pressures advisers to purchase the product as well. Finally, the study shows the value of social network data beyond the traditional ego-centric psychographic metrics, such as innovativeness or opinion leadership.     

The United Nations Global Compact: What Did It Promise?

Sethi and Schepers (J Bus Ethics, 2014, in this Thematic Symposium) have identified an important issue for the global economy: Providing some mechanism for requiring assurance that environmental, social, and corporate governance information provided by a business is accurate and objective. Where they have gone wrong is in trying to change the mission of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). From its inception, the UNGC has been clear that its mission is not to provide such assurance. This article first outlines the background for the historic announcement of the UNGC by the then Secretary-General of the UN, Kofi Annan. Then a summary of the major criticisms of the initiative is provided with a focus on the Sethi–Schepers article. Finally, I argue that the mission of the UNGC, to gain consensus in the global community on the shared values and moral norms that will guide the global economy, is being accomplished, although it is a work in progress.     

Hedonic shopping motivations in collectivistic and individualistic consumer cultures

We reinvestigate what constitutes hedonic customer experiences in collectivistic versus individualistic cultures using four country samples (N=2,336) in Germany and the U.S. as well as Oman and India. Across country samples, intrinsically enjoyable customer experiences are associated with the same underlying hedonic shopping motivations as shown in the original U.S. context. In comparison with individualistic cultures, we find that a hedonic shopping experience in collectivistic cultures is less strongly associated with selforiented gratification shopping, yet more strongly associated with others-oriented role shopping.     

Speedier delivery: coastal shipping times and speeds during the Age of Sail †

There is a debate about whether coastal shipping experienced substantial productivity growth prior to the advent of steam power. To study changes over the long eighteenth century, this article uses thousands of coastal journey times culled from Board of Trade crew lists between 1835 and 1844 and coastal port books for the mid‐to‐late 1600s, along with a newly digitized coastal network. Comparisons between matched samples show that journey speeds, defined as miles sailed per day, were significantly higher in the crew lists compared to the port books, and that voyage cycle times, defined as days between starting two identical voyages, were substantially lower. The study also shows that voyage times in the east coast coal trade were substantially lower around 1840 than around 1700, but the difference was much smaller when peace years are compared. These new data imply that total factor productivity growth in the east coast coal trade was significant, especially if one accounts for gains from peace after 1815. The findings contribute to the larger literature studying the rate and sources of productivity growth during the industrial revolution.