Board interlocks and the propensity to be targeted in private equity transactions

We examine how board networks affect change-of-control transactions by investigating whether directors’ deal exposure acquired through board service at different companies affect their current firms’ likelihood of being targeted in a private equity-backed, take-private transaction. In our sample of all US publicly traded firms in 2000–2007, we find that companies which have directors with private equity deal exposure gained from interlocking directorships are approximately 42% more likely to receive private equity offers. The magnitude of this effect varies with the influence of directors on their current boards and the quality of these directors’ previous take-private experience, and it is robust to the most likely classes of alternative explanations—endogenous matching between directors and firms and proactive stacking of board composition by management. The analysis shows that board members and their social networks influence which companies become targets in change-of-control transactions.     

Ethics and Ambition

Derrick Bell is one of the US' most forthright and best-known commentators on race and ethics. Bell, now visiting professor at New York University's School of Law, attracted headlines when he became the first tenured African-American professor at Harvard Law School in 1971, only to leave in protest about the lack of African-American women on the faculty. He also resigned as dean of Oregon Law School after the school refused to hire a qualified Asian-American woman. His latest book, Ethical Ambition, applies his thinking on ethics to the world of business.     

How strategy-making processes can make a difference

Strategy-making is usually portrayed in dichotomous terms: rational vs. incremental, or formulation vs. implementation. It may, however, be more valid to think of organizations as entities capable of developing resources and skills in multiple strategy-making process modes. This paper first develops measures to identify firms with different levels and types of strategy-making process ‘capability’ then examines empirically their relationships to five dimensions of perceived performance, using data collected from a sample of 285 top managers. Results indicate that firms with high process capability–the simultaneous use of multiple strategy-making process modes–outperfom single-mode or less process-capable organizations.     

Does Training Matter? Employee Experiences and Attitudes

Investment in vocational education and training is commonly regarded as a prerequisite of competitive success. Training is also seen as a cornerstone of management initiatives designed to enhance employee involvement and co-operation in the production process. Ironically, however, commentators have rarely sought to assess employee attitudes towards, and experiences of, training provision. the claims made by advocates of a high skills strategy with respect to employee commitment and motivation have not been empirically tested. This article seeks to fill the gap through a presentation of findings from a unique survey, undertaken by the authors, designed to examine the link between training and employee attitudes.     

Schoolchildren's abilities to frame,understand and successfully manipulate food label information: enabling consumer choice through education

At a time when the major dialogue in food labelling is directed towards the volume and type of information presented, it is important to understand whether adolescents leaving education have the abilities to comprehend and use the current label as they represent the next generation of consumers. Legislation has been created to protect consumers and to enable them to make informed food choices. Food labels carry a significant volume of mandatory and voluntary information, designed to fulfil a variety of commercial and consumer functions. For these laws to be effective at an individual level, it is important that information is framed correctly, and that people can manipulate the data in an accurate and meaningful manner. In order to optimise food label information consumers require some competence across three different conceptual dimensions: maths, English comprehension, and health and nutrition. Most individuals acquire such skills at school. The pilot research that this paper describes investigates changes in the abilities to frame, comprehend and manipulate label information, of 19 schoolchildren at one secondary school in Scotland. The main research, to be conducted in 2003, will include over a thousand children from another seven Scottish schools. Statistical analysis indicates that there is a significant improvement in the dimensions of both maths and English comprehension between levels S1 and S5, whilst the health and nutrition dimension does not show such significance. Each dimension has been measured against attitudes towards the use of labels in shopping and cooking to determine if the differences between those who use labels and those who do not are significant The research also proposes a new method of presenting nutrition information to make it more meaningful to individuals across a wide spectrum of competence by reducing the number of conceptual components required to comprehend it.     

Windfall economics

An unexpected commercial success – like Bloomsbury's Harry Potter hit series – might seem like manna from heaven. But, Stuart Crainer and Des Dearlove say, unless it is managed properly it can prove a disaster.     

THE EUROPEAN UNION AND ECONOMIC DECLINE: WHY WE NEED ANOTHER LUDWIG ERHARD

In the context of the election of a woman Chancellor of Germany, it is often suggested that Angela Merkel could prove to be 'Germany's Thatcher'. But the example of the sort of leadership that is required in Germany comes not from the UK but from Germany itself. Germany needs another Ludwig Erhard. His message that free and open markets allow outsiders to come into the market economy and prosper, and his claim that markets did not need to be made 'social' because they are inherently 'social', should be understood and applied by politicians throughout the EU – including in the UK.     

Network Effects in the Governance of Strategic Alliances

We argue that the stock of prior alliances between participantsin the biotechnology sector forms a network that serves as agovernance mechanism in interfirm transactions. To test howthis network substitutes for other governance mechanisms, weexamine how equity participation and pledged funding in strategicalliances vary with two features of the way alliance participantsare positioned in the network of past deals: proximity, or howclose two firms are to one another in the network; and centrality,or how deeply a firm is embedded in the network. As centralityand proximity increase, equity participation (measured by sizeand propensity) diminishes, whereas pledged funding increases.     

Do Not‐For‐Profits Need Their Own Conceptual Framework?

This paper raises the issue of whether not‐for‐profit (NFP) oganisations require a conceptual framework that acknowledges their mission imperative and enables them to discharge their broader accountability. Relying on publicly available documentation and literature, it suggests the current Conceptual Frameworks for the for‐profit and public sectors are inadequate in meeting the accountability needs of NFPs. A NFP‐specific conceptual framework would allow the demonstration of broader NFP‐specific accountability and the formulation of NFP‐appropriate reporting practice, including the provision of financial and non‐financial reporting. The paper thus theoretically challenges existing financial reporting arrangements and invites debate on their future direction.