Committed to whom? Professional knowledge worker commitment in cross‐boundary organisations

This paper examines the impact of contemporary cross‐boundary working on employee commitment. It contributes directly to the literature on employee commitment and in particular it advocates a multiplicity approach to commitment. We identify three foci of commitment which co‐exist and illustrate their dynamic interaction. Importantly, our unit of analysis extends beyond the boundaries of the firm to include the actions of professional working which capture the main influences on employee commitment. Thematic analysis of data in 12 professional service firms identifies the interaction between the foci of commitment as well as managerial responses to tensions between the commitment foci that arise within the cross‐boundary context.     

Validation of an instrument to measure absorptive capacity

Absorptive capacity is an ability firms should develop if they wish to adapt to changes in an increasingly competitive and changing environment and to achieve and sustain competitive advantage. Despite the increase in literature on absorptive capacity, some ambiguity remains in determining the dimensions that shape the construct. Thus, no measurement instrument can be adapted to these dimensions. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the literature on absorptive capacity by using a resource-based view to present an alternative measurement instrument for absorptive capacity. This instrument differentiates between the phases of acquisition, assimilation, transformation and exploitation of knowledge, as well as between the two dimensions of absorptive capacity (potential and realized), to reduce the problem of measuring and identifying the dimensions that shape this important construct. The instrument’s validity and reliability are guaranteed and have been tested using data from 168 Spanish organizations.     

Labour solidarity in crisis? Lessons from General Motors

Why was the 2008–09 economic downturn not matched by an internationally coordinated trade union response? Drawing on the evidence from General Motors, this article argues that this was due to states' extraordinary involvement in the economy during the crisis, which provided strategic alternatives to labour transnationalism at the national level.     

Who does what in enabling ambidexterity? Individual Actions and HRM practices

Abstract

In this paper, we explain how ambidexterity, the simultaneous pursuit of exploration and exploitation, is enabled at the individual level of analysis. Research on ambidexterity has been dominated by theoretical approaches focusing on the organisational level; however, we know little about how ambidexterity is enacted by employees. There is also limited work on the multilevel aspects of individual employee actions, for example, particular roles and specifically the level of seniority of the role. We address these gaps by asking: Which individual actions are undertaken by employees at particular levels of seniority in the organization to enable ambidexterity? In order to answer this question we draw on previous research to construct reliable measures of the individual actions that enable ambidexterity. The hypothesized mediation effect of these individual actions is confirmed on the basis of survey data from 212 employees from a UK-based Professional Service Firm. The findings indicate that senior employees are more likely to use ‘integration’, ‘role expansion’ and ‘tone setting’, whilst employees with specialist knowledge about their clients use ‘gap filling’ to enable ambidexterity. Finally, we draw together these findings with 35 interviews conducted to present the HRM practices which support ambidexterity.     

Who Owns the Land? Gender and Land‐Titling Programmes in Latin America

The main focus of state intervention in Latin American agriculture in the 1990s was on land-titling programs, designed to promote security of tenure and enliven land markets. A review of seven of these projects suggests that they were often designed without sufficient attention to civil codes and marital regimes that protect women's property rights. They often ignored that a household's endowment of land may consist of three forms of property: the wife's, the husband's and jointly owned property. By assuming that the family farm is owned by the male household head, these projects trampled upon women's ownership rights. Nonetheless, the share of female beneficiaries of land-titling projects has been much higher than the share of women adjudicated land under the agrarian reforms of previous decades. This is partly because the primary way that women acquire land is through inheritance, and inheritance appears to be more gender equitable than other manners of acquiring land. It is also due to the impact of the more gender-equitable agrarian legislation of the current period, itself a product of the impact of women's movements on the state.     

“Why Don’t Consumers Care About CSR?”: A Qualitative Study Exploring the Role of CSR in Consumption Decisions

There is an unresolved paradox concerning the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in consumer behavior. On the one hand, consumers demand more and more CSR information from corporations. On the other hand, research indicates a considerable gap between consumers’ apparent interest in CSR and the limited role of CSR in purchase behavior. This article attempts to shed light on this paradox by drawing on qualitative data from in-depth interviews. The findings show that the evaluation of CSR initiatives is a complex and hierarchically structured process, during which consumers distinguish between core, central, and peripheral factors. This article describes these factors in detail and explains the complexity of consumers’ assessment of CSR. These insights then serve as a basis for discussing the theoretical and managerial implications of the research findings. To this end, the article contributes to a better understanding of the role of CSR in consumption decisions.     

Sozial- und wettbewerbsrechtliche Konflikte bei der Fusionskontrolle in der Gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung in Deutschland

Since the Health Care Competition Act (Gesetz zur Stärkung des Wettbewerbs in der Gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung) came into effect on 1st April 2007, a significant consolidation process within the statutory health insurance (GKV) in Germany has begun, emphasizing the need for regulated merger control. The conflicts that currently exist between social law and competition law are limiting factors in this. This article examines in detail the existing conflicts and seeks possible solutions for regulated merger control in the field of the GKV that conform both to the regulations in social law and to the regulations regarding competition. On the basis of the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, a solution scenario is developed which would eliminate the existing areas of conflict in GKV merger control almost without exception and which could even be applied in the field of private health insurance (PKV) in the case of an ongoing assimilation of GKV and PKV.     

An exploration of the influence of food labels on South African consumers' purchasing behaviour

New labelling legislation in South Africa is expected to help consumers sustain a healthy lifestyle through the food choices they make. This study was undertaken to explore a sample of South African consumers' reasons for reading labels and the influence of food labels on their purchasing behaviour. The study was conducted using focus group discussions held with label reading consumers in Potchefstroom in the North West Province of South Africa. Findings suggested that these participants read food labels to assess the nutritional value, personal benefits, health attributes and product quality. Various purchasing influences were also identified, suggesting that consumers are in some cases motivated by food labels to purchase a product, or may be unresponsive to the label or indifferent by being aware of the information but not reluctant to buy a product that does not indicate essential information. Several indirect consideration factors such as situational factors (e.g. family), extrinsic (e.g. price) and intrinsic (e.g. taste) may contribute to the purchasing behaviour of some consumers. These findings are useful to propose a perceptual model of the way in which food labels influence purchasing behaviour of a sample of South African consumers and explain the role of food labels in the purchasing decision of label‐reading consumers. This information is especially significant for new packaging and labelling initiatives as it highlights the reasons why label‐reading South African consumers read label information.     

Technical Efficiency of Producer Cooperatives versus Private Firms: A Longitudinal Empirical Study

In this paper, we hypothesize that producer cooperatives are more efficient than private firms, even when the impact of the political and economic environment is controlled for, and irrespective of the orientation with which efficiency is assessed; that is, whether firms target the reduction of inputs or the expansion of outputs. The empirical application focuses on a longitudinal population of olive oil manufacturing firms operating in the south of Spain from 1944 to 1998. The analyses clearly show that producer cooperatives are more efficient than private firms.