Contracting officer workload,incomplete contracting,and contractual terms

This article estimates the causal effect of retirement‐induced workload spikes on the selection of procurement terms. In a sample of 150,000 contracts from 85 procurement offices over 11 years, increases in workload decrease reliance on competitive acquisition procedures, decrease reliance on firm‐fixed‐price contracts, increase risk of renegotiation, and increase costs. These estimates are consistent with a model of endogenously incomplete contracting. The US federal government has experienced exceptional growth in acquisitions contracting over the past decade but limited growth in acquisitions manpower. This article provides some of the facts necessary to evaluate the consequences of these shifts.     

The seven ages of the leader

Leaders go through many transitions in their careers. Each brings new crises and challenges--from taking over a damaged organization to having to fire somebody to passing the baton to the next generation. These moments can be wrenching--and can threaten your confidence--but they're also predictable. Knowing what to expect can help you get through and perhaps emerge stronger. In this engaging article, Warren G. Bennis, professor and founding chairman of the University of Southern California's Leadership Institute, reflects on leadership, recounting his own experiences as a young lieutenant in the infantry in World War II, as the new president of a university, and as the mentor to a unique nursing student. Bennis also describes the experiences of other leaders he has known throughout his career. Drawing on more than 50 years of academic research and business expertise--and borrowing from Shakespeare's seven ages of man--Bennis says the leader's life unfolds in seven stages. "The infant executive" seeks to recruit a mentor for guidance. "The schoolboy" must learn how to do the job in public, subjected to unsettling scrutiny of every word and act. "The lover with a woeful ballad" struggles with the tsunami of problems every organization presents. "The bearded soldier" must be willing--even eager--to hire people better than he is, because he knows that talented underlings can help him shine. "The general" must become adept at not simply allowing people to speak the truth but at actually being able to hear what they are saying. "The statesman" is hard at work preparing to pass on wisdom in the interests of the organization. And, finally, "the sage" embraces the role of mentor to young executives.     

Business's environmental responsibility in Taiwan — Moral,legal or negotiated

This study explores both the negotiating styles and moral reasoning processes of business people and governmental officials in Taiwan, so as to provide a footing for outsiders when negotiating with Taiwanese over environmental concerns. Findings imply that Taiwanese business people and governmental officials can and will reason both at the conventional level and at the postconventional level of moral judgment. But, results of this study also indicate that Taiwanese negotiating styles do not necessarily match their levels of moral reasoning. With respect to pollution concerns, Taiwanese seem unwillingly to accept responsibility as autonomous individuals. Instead, responsibility is accepted when mandated by the law.Peihua Sheng teaches marketing and marketing research at the American College for the Applied Art, Atlanta Campus. She has taught marketing at the university level in Chinese for several years. Her research interests include business ethics, equity, and international marketing strategy.Linda Chang is a financial analyst on OTSUKA America. A native of Taiwan, she has an MBA. Her research interests are in the areas of planning and negotiation.Warren French is a professor of Marketing and the I. W. Cousins Professor of Business Ethics at the University of Georgia. His research interests include business ethics, aging, and international business. His articles have appeared in a variety of scholarly and practitioner-oriented journals.     

Randomized quasi-Monte Carlo methods in pricing securities

Today quasi-Monte Carlo methods are used successfully in computational finance and economics as an alternative to the Monte Carlo method. One drawback of these methods, however, is the lack of a practical way of error estimation. To address this issue several researchers introduced the so-called randomized quasi-Monte Carlo methods in the last decade. In this paper we will present a survey of randomized quasi-Monte Carlo methods, and compare their efficiencies with the efficiency of the Monte Carlo method in pricing certain securities. We will also investigate the effects of Box–Muller and inverse transformation techniques when they are applied to low-discrepancy sequences.     

Do foreign mergers and acquisitions boost firm productivity?

This paper examines the causal relationship between foreign mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and the productivity of acquired firms using micro-data from the UK over the period 1999–2007. Our results suggest a significant heterogeneity in the total factor productivity (TFP) effects of foreign M&A at the industry level. Overall, we uncover a systematic pattern of post-acquisition TFP effects that is consistent with the most recent theoretical models of firm heterogeneity and cross-border mergers and acquisitions as mode of foreign entry. Furthermore, we find positive aggregate effects on labor productivity due to capital deepening but not due to changes in TFP.     

Sustainability-oriented Service Innovation: fourteen-year longitudinal case study of a tourist accommodation provider

Abstract

Progressing sustainable tourism requires both an innovative transition from “unsustainable” tourism and innovative research methods to develop theory and concepts for a sustainable tourism. While there are many ad hoc examples of initiatives, there are very few examples of firms systematically recording their medium-term evolutionary progress. This case study of an accommodation provider uses longitudinal data over 14 years, deductive and inductive methods, and comparison with other similar eco-friendly providers, to provide the first exploration of sustainability-oriented innovation by a firm attempting to make transitions. Findings show how important hindsight and insight are for continuous learning, and how broader community sustainability issues influence the owners’ worldviews. Both learning and changing views are required to support innovation. A Sustainability-oriented Service Innovation model is recommended, recognising the characteristics of a service industry where innovation can be an organic process led by humans for humans and consequently more fuzzy in its progress than the clearly defined steps that are suggested by previous research. This model seeks to assist researchers and practitioners to better measure innovative progress of service firms, and develop more relevant strategies to ease transitions towards sustainable business practices.     

The Costs of China's State-owned Enterprises

MOCT-MOST: Economic Policy in Transitional Economies -