The impact of M&A experience on strategic HRM practices and organisational effectiveness: evidence from Greek firms

Experience with mergers and acquisitions makes companies develop practices that enable them to handle the process more effectively. This study examines the practices that successful companies, with acquisition experience, adopt when managing their personnel. We examine strategic Human Resource (HR) practices that differentiate top-performing from non-top performing companies, using the 1999 Cranet data. Increased HR involvement in strategic decisions, formalisation of HR practices, building organisational capability through training and development activities, line management devolvement and internal labour market opportunities are the main strategic HR practices adopted by successful companies.     

A Fundamental Theorem of Asset Pricing for Large Financial Markets

We formulate the notion of “asymptotic free lunch” which is closely related to the condition “free lunch” of Kreps (1981) and allows us to state and prove a fairly general version of the fundamental theorem of asset pricing in the context of a large financial market as introduced by Kabanov and Kramkov (1994). In a large financial market one considers a sequence (Sⁿ)_n=1^∞ of stochastic stock price processes based on a sequence (Ωⁿ, Fⁿ, (F_tⁿ)_t∈In, Pⁿ)_n=1^∞ of filtered probability spaces. Under the assumption that for all n∈ N there exists an equivalent sigma‐martingale measure for Sⁿ, we prove that there exists a bicontiguous sequence of equivalent sigma‐martingale measures if and only if there is no asymptotic free lunch (Theorem 1.1). Moreover we present an example showing that it is not possible to improve Theorem 1.1 by replacing “no asymptotic free lunch” by some weaker condition such as “no asymptotic free lunch with bounded” or “vanishing risk.”     

Technology, entrepreneurship and company performance in textile and clothing SMEs

This article examines the relationship between technology, entrepreneurial human capital and company performance in a sample of textile and clothing SMEs in Great Britain. General conclusions suggest that firms with a computer network are more likely to have a formal management team. Networked firms appear to be larger: smaller companies are making increasing use of computer networks.     

Pathways of stakeholder influence in the Canadian forestry industry

We draw on the stakeholder influence literature to propose and empirically test hypotheses regarding the direct and indirect pathways of perceived influence that stakeholders exercise within the domain of corporate sustainability. Our results allow us to examine the interaction between different types of stakeholder pressure and different types of stakeholder influence strategy. We show that stakeholders who do not control resources critical to the focal firm's operations are able to pressure a firm indirectly via other stakeholders on whose resources the firm is dependent. We contribute to the stakeholder perspective by showing how stakeholders who are affected by the focal firm's operations can enhance their salience via stakeholders who can affect the firm. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Career priorities within dual career households: an analysis of the impact of child rearing upon gender participation rates and earnings

The impact of child rearing upon male and female participation rates and earnings within 130 dual career households is investigated. Female participation rates and earnings in households with children are significantly lower than both comparable males and females without children. No significant gender differences exist in pay in childless households.     

Reviews

THE 150th ANNIVERSARY OF THE CO-OP MOVEMENT.

Birchall, J. 1994: Co-op, the People's Business: Manchester University Press, £25.00 cloth, £14.99 paper.

TRAINING FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

Merseyside TEC and West London TEC, 1994: Economic Development Workbook: Briefings on Key Economic Development Topics, HMSO. Available from Nicholas Johnston, West London TEC, Sovereign Court, 15-21 Staines Rd, Hounslow, Middlesex, TW3 3HA. Price £45.00 + VAT (£7.88) to TECs, LECs and Government Regional Offices; £50.00 + VAT

(£8.75) to all other organisations.

THEORIES OF LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

Bingham, R. and Meir, R. (eds) 1993: Theories of Local Economic Development Perspectives from Across the Disciplines, Sage, £20.50 paper.

RURAL ECONOMIES.

Lowe, P. and Murdoch, J. 1993: Rural Sustainable Development. Rural Development Commission. Strategy Review: Topic Paper 1.

North, D. and Smallbone, D. 1993: Small Business in Rural Areas. Rural Development Commission. Strategy Review: Topic Paper 2.

Rogers, A. 1993: English Rural Communities: An Assessment and Prospect for the 1990s. Rural Development Commission. Strategy Review: Topic Paper 3.

Tarling, R., Rhodes, N.J., Broom, G. 1993: The Economy and Rural England. Rural Development Commission. Strategy Review: Topic Paper 4.

Clout, H. 1993: European Experience of Rural Development. Rural Development Commission. Strategy Review: Topic Paper 5.

All available free of charge from the Rural Development Commission, 141 Castle Street, Salisbury, Wilts, SP1 3TP.     

Further Evidence on the Role of Gender in Financial Performance

Using a sample of 160 sole proprietors and controlling for other determinants of performance, we hypothesize and find support for the view that gender is not a significant direct explanation of financial performance differences among small accounting practices. The control variables we employ are practice characteristics, motivations, and individual owner characteristics. Our results indicate that although financial performance appears to be significantly different for females' and males' sole proprietorships, these performance differences are explained by several variables other than gender directly. At the same time we find that gender moderates the effects of other practice and personal characteristics on financial performance. One of the more interesting results is that women with a stronger motivation to establish a public practice to balance work and family experienced more positive financial outcomes, while for men the same motivation reduced financial performance.     

Mechanism design in an integrated approach towards revenue management: the case of Empress Cruise Lines

This paper investigates an integrated form of revenue management through the case of Empress Cruise Lines (ECL). The case highlights a multidisciplinary approach towards how demand and supply factors should be integrated in the form of four decision sets in revenue management decisions – the value set, the segmentation set, the sensitivity set and the forecasting/allocation set. Also, the use of mechanism design allows the firm to separate markets for better forecasting of revenue from each segment. The case also shows that segments could be incentivized to behave differently, and to behave in alignment with ECL's policies so that capacity could be optimally allocated and revenue maximized.