R & D and marketing dialogue in high-tech firms

Based on an empirical study of more than 200 R & D and marketing managers from high-technology companies, we conclude that (1) there is a great deal of consensus between R & D and marketing managers on the relative importance of the areas requiring integrated efforts; (2) companies successful in their new product program achieve a significantly greater degree of R & D marketing integration; (3) company size does not affect the level of integration achieved; and (4) the companies that achieve a high degree of R & D/ marketing integration do so by concentrating on all 19 areas proposed in the article and do not merely focus on a few key areas.     

Drivers of ad spend trends among global marketers

This research study attempts to examine whether there is consistency in the advertisingto-sales ratio (%) pattern for global marketers in their home region and at a worldwide level, through a systematic sequence of analyses. It attempts to understand the variation in the advertising spend to sales ratio for the home region and global markets for a sample of marketers by analysing along the variables of category (surrogate for advertising task), region (home base) and companies themselves. This has been done by applying the C&RT technique of the automatic interaction detector (AID) family. The key point emerging from this analysis is that, at every level, the category is the main determinant for explaining the variation in global advertising to spend ratio as well as the home region advertising to spend ratio.     

Is financial reporting shaped by equity markets or by debt markets? An international study of timeliness and conservatism

We hypothesize debt markets—not equity markets—are the primary influence on “association” metrics studied since Ball and Brown (1968 J Account Res 6:159–178). Debt markets demand high scores on timeliness, conservatism and Lev’s (1989 J Account Res 27(supplement):153–192) R ², because debt covenants utilize reported numbers. Equity markets do not rate financial reporting consistently with these metrics, because (among other things) they control for the total information incorporated in prices. Single-country studies shed little light on debt versus equity influences, in part because within-country firms operate under a homogeneous reporting regime. International data are consistent with our hypothesis. This is a fundamental issue in accounting.     

Institutional versus non-institutional credit to agricultural households in India: Evidence on impact from a national farmers’ survey

A goal of agricultural policy in India has been to reduce farmers’ dependence on informal credit. To that end, recent initiatives are focused explicitly on rural areas and have a positive impact on the flow of agricultural credit. Despite the significance of the above initiatives in enhancing the flow of institutional credit to agriculture, the links between institutional credit and net farm income and consumption expenditures in India are not very well documented. Using large, national farm household level data and IV 2SLS estimation methods, we investigate the role of institutional farm credit on farm income and farm household consumption expenditures. Findings show that, in India, formal credit does indeed play a critical role in increasing both net farm income and per capita monthly household expenditures of Indian farm families. Finally, we find that, in the presence of formal credit, social safety net programs like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) may have unintended consequences. In particular, MGNREGA reduces both net farm income and per capita monthly household consumption expenditures. On the other hand, in the presence of formal credit, the Public Distribution System may increase both net farm income and per capita monthly household consumption expenditures.     

Redesigning the human resources function at Lafarge

This article describes the detailed process of redesigning and implementing the human resources (HR) function at Lafarge. The article argues that a well‐articulated and integrated approach of (1) recruitment, selection, and induction, (2) retraining and redeployment, (3) a performance appraisal system, (4) a compensation and reward mechanism, and (5) rightsizing and (6) integration is required to be aligned with the overall business strategy of the organization. It also reinforces that the foundation of a value‐added HR function is a business strategy that relies on people as a source of competitive advantage. Key challenges for Lafarge in the future include (1) maintaining the change momentum, (2) fast and effective integration of acquired companies and transfer of “best practices,” and (3) attracting and retaining a diverse workforce through their internationalization program. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Managing diversity through human resource management: an international perspective and conceptual framework

This paper critically reviews the literature on managing diversity through human resource management (HRM). We discuss the major issues and objectives of managing diversity and examine the state of human resource diversity management practices in organizations. Our review shows that inequality and discrimination still widely exist and HRM has focused mainly on compliance with equal employment opportunity (EEO) and affirmative action (AA) legislation. Less attention has been paid to valuing, developing and making use of diversity. Our review reveals limited literature examining how diversity is managed in organizations through effective human resource management. We develop a framework that presents strategies for HR diversity management at the strategic, tactical and operational levels. Our review also discusses the implications for practice and further research.     

Dynamics of the Relationship Between the Terms of Trade and the Trade Balance in Developing Countries of Asia,Africa and Latin America

The objectives of this study are to examine the relationship between the terms of trade and trade balance to GDP ratios for a large number of developing economies using data on barter terms of trade, real exchange rate and trade balances. The literature on the subject postulates J-curve or S-curve between terms of trade and trade balance and we examine whether there is any evidence of a J-curve or S-curve relationship in time series data over the period 1970–1999. We find that for a few economies in Asia, Africa and Latin America, the existence of a S-curve is supported. However, for a large number of countries, neither a strict J-curve nor S-curve relationship holds.

     

Borrower runs

Microfinance institutions and other lenders in developing countries rely on the promise of future loans to induce repayment. However, if borrowers expect that others will default, and so loans will no longer be available in the future, then they will default as well. We refer to such contagion as a borrower run. The optimal lending contract must provide additional repayment incentives to counter this tendency to default.     

Is Grameen Lending Efficient? Repayment Incentives and Insurance in Village Economies

Many believe that a key innovation by the Grameen Bank is to encourage borrowers to help each other in hard times. To analyse this, we study a mechanism design problem where borrowers share information about each other, but their limited side contracting ability prevents them from writing complete insurance contracts. We derive a lending mechanism which efficiently induces mutual insurance. It is necessary for borrowers to submit reports about each other to achieve efficiency. Such cross-reporting increases the bargaining power of unsuccessful borrowers, and is robust to collusion against the bank.