Success factors in a CRM strategy: technology is not all

Organisations today need to create, maintain and reinforce relationships with customers. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) seems to have helped firms to better understand their relationships. However, past studies have looked at technology and customer orientations (COs) as key factors. This paper aims to analyse the simultaneous effect of Market Orientation (MO) (rather than CO), Knowledge Management (KM) and other organisational factors in order to explain how to implement a successful CRM. Findings suggest that MO and KM may influence CRM success. Data also suggest that particular organisational factors such as employees, leadership and specific know-how may be key factors in determining the success of CRM. For efficiency resource management, this paper recommends to focus not as much in technology, but on programmes for selection, training and motivation of employees which may enhance CRM objectives. Companies may also pursue a higher customer value by putting in place and reinforcing KM schemes in specific know-hows about CRM.     

High‐performance work systems and workplace performance in small,medium‐sized and large firms

This article draws on the Organisational Growth and Development (OGD) life cycle model to explore the relationship between high‐performance work systems (HPWS) and performance in firms of different size, thereby extending understanding of congruence or ‘best fit’ theory within strategic HRM debates. With reference to management control theory, economies of scale and the availability of specialist managerial skills, the article hypothesises that while an HPWS–performance relationship might exist in small, medium‐sized and large firms, the relationship will be stronger in large firms than in both small and medium‐sized firms, and stronger in medium‐sized firms than in small firms. Analysis of data from the British Workplace Employment Relations Survey demonstrates, however, that there is no association between HPWS and workplace performance in medium‐sized firms, in contrast to the positive relationship between HPWS and performance found in large firms and between HPWS and labour productivity in small firms.     

Stuck in the Middle: Off-Farm Employment and Caregiving Among Middle-Aged Rural Chinese

ABSTRACT

Using the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) 2011–12 baseline data, this contribution explores to what extent taking care of grandchildren and frail parents influences rural middle-aged Chinese adults’ off-farm employment. The findings show that, conditional on socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, taking care of grandchildren has a negative effect on rural middle-aged men's and women's off-farm job participation and hours worked. Caregiving for parents does not have the same negative effects on off-farm employment and hours worked. Furthermore, the study finds that annual earnings are also negatively affected by caregiving responsibilities, especially for women and men taking care of grandchildren.     

2×150MW CFB矸石发电机组运行

神华准能矸石发电公司两台东锅的480t/h CFB锅炉,配有2台南京的150MW汽轮机和两台南京的150MW 发电机.神华准能矸石发电公司自投产以来,从"星期机组"到现在连续安全经济运行,已近4年的时间.这期间经过公司上下的共同努力,以科学发展观和科技强企的工作指导思想,对设备系统进行技术改造,并且掌握了许多先进的运行...     

不同产地中试生产葡萄酒中白藜芦醇的含量测定

目的是建立中试生产葡萄酒中白藜芦醇的含量测定方法。方法系采用高效液相色谱法测定了白藜芦醇的含量,C_(18)色谱柱(250 mm×4.6 mm,5μm),流动相为甲醇∶水=40∶60,流速1mL/min,检测波长306 nm,柱温30℃。结果显示白藜芦醇与样品中其他组分分离效果较好,白藜芦醇在0.271 3~4.340 0μg范围具有良好线性关系,相关系数r=0.999 9;平均回收率为94.6%,RSD为1.97%(n=6)。结论为采用此法准确可靠,可用于该葡萄酒的质量控制。     

新形势下工程造价能力指标与课程体系标准研究

针对造价人才的执业环境的改变,分析行业在新形势下对咨询业务的新需求,并根据业务实践总结出BIM、PPP、全过程工程咨询等技术和管理模式的出现对造价人才的需求,在此基础上构建新形势下工程造价人才的能力指标体系,并提出了与能力标准体系呼应的核心课程体系设置思路。     

Pains and gains of environmental management system certification for the sustainable development of manufacturing companies: Heterogeneous effects of industry peer learning

Environmental sustainability is a growing global concern. Environmental management systems (EMS) could be an effective strategic tool to help firms deal with their sustainable development. However, whether EMS certification pays off financially and how it takes effect can be debated. Thus far, these questions remain largely under‐researched. In particular, the effects of EMS certification on financial performance are inconclusive, and the reasons explaining the effects are underdeveloped. This study aims to enrich the current research by exploring the mediating and moderating roles from the perspective of cost‐efficiency trade‐offs to reveal how EMS certification affects financial performance. Applying a PROCESS procedure analysis and causal mediation analysis to a sample of 1,751 Chinese listed manufacturing firms from 2008 to 2016, this study shows that the effect of EMS certification on firms' financial performance is insignificant because their operating costs burden increases while their marketing efficiency and managerial efficiency improve. For the first time, this study demonstrates the moderating role of industry peer learning, as the mediating effects decrease with the growth of industry peer learning.     

Employee share ownership in a unionised duopoly

Profit sharing schemes have been analysed assuming Cournot competition and decentralised wage negotiations, and it has been found that firms share profits in equilibrium. This paper analyses a different remuneration system: employee share ownership. We find that whether firms choose to share ownership or not depends on both the type of competition in the product market and the way in which workers organise to negotiate wages. If wage setting is decentralised, under duopolistic Cournot competition both firms share ownership. If wage setting is centralised, only one firm shares ownership if the degree to which goods are substitutes takes an intermediate value; otherwise, the two firms share ownership. In this case, if the union sets the same wage for all workers neither firm shares ownership. Therefore, centralised wage setting discourages share ownership. Finally, under Bertrand competition neither firm shares ownership regardless of how workers are organised to negotiate wages.     

Input use under cost-of-production crop insurance: Theory and evidence

There have been a number of previous studies that examined the effects of yield- or revenue-based crop insurance products on input use of farmers. However, no study has specifically investigated the input use impacts of a cost-of-production (COP) crop insurance policy, even though this type of crop insurance is the predominant one used in several other countries outside of the United States (such as the Philippines and China). This article aims to theoretically and empirically examine the effect of a COP crop insurance product on farmers’ chemical input use. Our theoretical model suggests that the effect of COP insurance on input use can either be positive or negative, with the resulting impact depending on the strengths of (a) the traditional moral hazard effect of insurance (i.e., an input use decreasing effect); versus (b) the marginal incentives to apply more inputs due to input levels being the main determinant for expected indemnity amounts in this type of insurance (i.e., an input use increasing effect). A survey data set from corn farmers in the Philippines is then used to empirically illustrate how a particular COP insurance product influences input use in a real-life context. In this case, we find that COP insurance increases the use of chemical inputs (e.g., fertilizers and total chemical expenditure), implying that the positive marginal incentive to apply more inputs dominates the negative moral hazard effect.     

均衡性转移支付、公共支出结构与经济高质量发展

本文首先从理论层面系统阐述均衡性转移支付、公共支出结构与经济增长质量三者之间的多重作用机制。其次立足“五大发展理念”构建综合指标体系对经济增长质量展开测度，本文发现我国地方经济增长质量虽然在整体上呈缓慢上升态势，但其绝对水平相对偏低，且具有较为明显的地区异质性。最后本文通过构建动态面板联立方程模型与采取三阶段最小二乘法进行实证考察，结果表明：地方政府公共支出结构与经济增长质量显著正相关，但均衡性转移支付与经济增长质量的正相关关系并不显著。标准化回归结果显示均衡性转移支付能够通过优化公共支出结构对地方经济增长质量产生间接提升效应。