The Influence of Knowledge Accumulation on Buyer-Supplier Codevelopment Projects

This article investigates innovation across a supply chain and considers how knowledge accumulation as a consequence of buyer‐supplier codevelopment projects can influence the projects' specifications. The setting is the semiconductor industry, and the players are chip producers who cooperate with their suppliers to modify their manufacturing equipment used to produce new semiconductor devices. Two detailed case studies were undertaken to determine the tradeoffs encountered by the buyer and supplier when setting the parameters that govern codevelopment projects. The findings from the case studies inform a conceptual framework that outlines the net payoffs to buyers when deciding whether to “make” or “buy” their production equipment. If buyers pursue the “make” option, they then have to decide the degree to which they sponsor modifications tailored to their production processes or modifications more generally applicable across the industry. More generally applicable modifications likely would prompt suppliers to invest relatively more in follow‐on knowledge creation for upgrades and field support while leading to lower equipment costs due to economies of scale from larger production runs of the new equipment. The framework suggests that when making this sequence of decisions, an innovative buyer also weighs the importance of codevelopment for securing intellectual property rights, guaranteeing early access to new equipment enabling early product launch, and achieving high production yields quickly due to “previewing” the equipment. The conceptual framework leads to a multi‐period model that focuses on the importance of knowledge accumulation for project parameterization. As captured by the model, buyers may prefer generally applicable modifications to customized ones, because generally applicable modifications may lead to greater knowledge accumulation at the supplier. This knowledge accumulation may be either “embodied” in equipment upgrades or “unembodied” in improved field support. In addition to shaping the nature of particular codevelopment projects, knowledge accumulation also may have profound implications for long‐run industry structure. As seen in the semiconductor industry, knowledge accumulation at equipment suppliers has contributed to the rise of contract manufacturers, because these manufacturers can outfit their production facilities with equipment that embodies the accumulated knowledge. These findings suggest that for both short‐run and long‐run reasons, the dynamics of knowledge accumulation merit thorough attention when members of a supply chain cooperate during the course of new product development.     

FARMERS' ATTITUDES TO RURAL ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE: RESULTS OF A SURVEY IN JEMALONG SHIRE,N.S.W.*

The Australian Government has provided adjustment assistance to the rural sector since 1970 under several schemes. The demand for assistance has been lower than expected, given the alleged size of the problem, particularly for the 'welfare' oriented provisions. The results of a survey of farmers' attitudes to the current Rural Adjustment Scheme are examined in an attempt to explain this phenomenon. Measures designed to ease financial difficulties or to facilitate on-farm adjustment were much preferred to those designed to assist farmers to leave agriculture. Considerable confusion about the scheme was evident and many farmers thought that information about the scheme was inadequate. Better extension and counselling is suggested to improve information flows to farmers. The formulation of a more structured set of eligibility criteria is also suggested to reduce the complexity and uncertainty which farmers face when they are considering lodging an application for assistance.     

Peritoneal fluid in children with intussusception: Its sonographic detection and relationship to successful reduction

A retrospective review of the abdominal/pelvic ultrasound (US) examinations in 21 consecutive children with intussusception proven on barium enema was performed to determine what is the incidence of US detected peritoneal fluid in this population and to see if the rate of reduction was different in this subset. Twelve of the 21 children (57%) had free fluid demonstrated with US. Eight of these 12 (67%) had successful reduction. Six of the nine children (67%) without free fluid were also successfully reduced.     

Managerial and Peer Influence on Ethical Behavioral Intentions in a Personal Selling Context

This article evaluates the relationship between the ethical behavioral intentions of 374 future salespeople and the ethical climate of the firm. The ethical philosophy (high or low) of top management, immediate sales managers, and the peers of potential sales people were examined to see if they influenced: (1) comfort levels with the philosophy of the firm and (2) likelihood of engaging in unethical sales behavior. Ethical behavior measures included 14 situations such as deceptive sales tactics, deceptive pricing, and unethical behavior toward the employer.     

Satisfaction,organizational commitment and future action in charity sport event volunteers

• Charity sport events (CSEs) are a key revenue source for nonprofit organizations (NPOs) with large numbers of volunteers needed for success and cost‐effectiveness. This study explored determinants of CSE volunteers' satisfaction, organizational commitment and intended future actions (CSE, other NPO activity/event volunteering, donating money). Relay for Life volunteers (N = 290) from one Australian state completed a cross‐sectional survey. Significant pathways were found from socializing/enjoyment (β = 0.17), fighting cancer (β = 0.29), financial support (β = 0.21) motives and social norm (β = 0.23) to satisfaction; 52% variance was explained. Age (β = ?0.09), survivorship (β = 0.09), region (β = 0.07), fundraising goal (β = 0.08), advocacy (β = 0.15), financial support (β = 0.25), social/enjoyment (β = 0.23) motives, social norm (β = 0.23) and satisfaction (β = 0.21) were linked with commitment; 63% variance was explained. Paths between satisfaction, commitment and intended future actions (CSE, NPO activity/event volunteering) were significant (βs = 0.17–0.43). Future targets to increase CSE volunteer satisfaction and commitment involve similar (social/enjoyment) and diverse (action‐oriented) motives, with satisfaction and commitment key contributors to future actions supporting NPOs. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

     

A Simple Approach to Better Distinguish Real Earnings Manipulation from Strategy Changes*

Researchers typically infer real earnings management when a firm's operating and investing activities differ from industry norms. A significant problem with classifying deviations from industry averages as myopic earnings management is that companies can change their operating and investing decisions for strategic business reasons rather than to mislead stakeholders. Using principal components analysis, we systematically evaluate existing measures and develop a comprehensive real activities measure to better capture earnings manipulation. Our measure reflects (i) deviations from industry averages across multiple activities and (ii) other signals of manipulation. This approach is promising because, although there are many sources of abnormal activities, manipulation is more likely the cause when managers engage in multiple income-increasing abnormal activities that coincide with other signals that indicate an elevated risk of manipulation. This simple approach results in a metric that associates negatively with future operating performance and earnings persistence, yields high-power tests, and captures manipulation reasonably well across most life-cycle stages. Importantly, this approach performs better than the standard real earnings management metrics across all dimensions. Specifically, it generates the expected reduction in future earnings and reduced earnings persistence in 82% of the tests compared to 36% and 46% in common alternatives. Also, because this innovation does not require a long time-series or rely on future period realizations for classification, it can be useful in more research settings than other recent innovations in the literature.