Learning,knowledge productivity and strategic progress

Learning that yields strategically valuable knowledge is vital to an organisation’s progress towards its strategic goals. In increasingly turbulent environments, all types of knowledge have value; the development of knowledge must therefore be a responsibility shared by all organisational members, includ‐ing human resource development professionals. A literature review across three related fields points to the importance of an integrative approach to learning and knowledge processes in an organisation, if they are to aid strategic progress. It suggests the particular importance of corporate vision, of organisational context and of management action, and also indicates some roles and tasks for HRD professionals.     

Manufacturing‐based relatedness,synergy, and coordination

This paper explores the basic question of whether manufacturing‐based relatedness between business units within a multibusiness firm serves as a basis for a competitive advantage at the business unit level. We developed a system for describing manufacturing relatedness that combines the study of value chain activities with 4‐digit SIC codes, then we assessed presence of manufacturing synergies. We found no evidence that, on average, organizations involved in manufacturing‐related businesses are reaping financial benefits from shared resources in manufacturing. However, some firms, through explicit commitment to coordination, do realize performance benefits from such involvement. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Unified Theory of Underreaction, Momentum Trading, and Overreaction in Asset Markets

We model a market populated by two groups of boundedly rational agents: "newswatchers" and "momentum traders." Each newswatcher observes some private information, but fails to extract other newswatchers' information from prices. If information diffuses gradually across the population, prices underreact in the short run. The underreaction means that the momentum traders can profit by trend-chasing. However, if they can only implement simple (i.e., univariate) strategies, their attempts at arbitrage must inevitably lead to overreaction at long horizons. In addition to providing a unified account of under- and overreactions, the model generates several other distinctive implications.     

The non‐professionally affiliated (NPA) worker as co‐producer of public services: how is the role experienced in UK mental health services?

Recent workforce reforms have led to the widespread expansion of non‐professionally affiliated (NPA) support and assistant roles within UK public services. Research into these roles has been confined to a limited range of settings, with a focus on the consequence of change for professional workers. This article explores the emergence of ‘co‐production’, whereby NPA workers contribute alongside the professional in a distinct, complementary way. Findings are drawn from semi‐structured interviews with frontline workers and managers within the context of mental health workforce reform. The results build a picture of NPA working life characterised in part by autonomy and responsibility. At the same time, NPA workers rely on colleagues for support and are subject to being used indirectly by professionals. Contextual influences are considered. The conceptual implications of the analysis are brought out, both for the NPA role itself and for the broader issues involved in front line service work.     

Data Envelopment Analysis: A Practical Tool to Measure Performance

This paper describes a productivity method, data envelopment analysis (DEA), and how it can be used to measure performance using multiple performance measures. DEA compares organisations or parts of organisations that share common goals and use similar resources to produce similar products, and calculates the technical efficiency with which firms convert bundles of inputs into bundles of outputs. DEA has been used in both public and private settings, and the paper describes some of its applications within Australasia. A case study of New Zealand dairy farms is used to demonstrate the benchmarking capability of DEA. While built upon solid theoretical foundations, DEA is essentially a practical tool that can be used by academics for research as well as by managers and practitioners for improved performance measurement and accountability.     

Optimal partnership contracts: Foundation and duality

We use the duality in linear programming to solve the problem of optimal contracts with moral hazards. We show the importance of allowing the partners to throw away outputs under some contingencies. A two-step procedure is used to find the optimal contracts. The first step minimizes the loss from undistributed outputs, and in the second step, a second best solution is found. A characterization of the optimal contracts in two-by-two-by-two partnership games is offered. Such contracts implement an optimal strategy profile that either has no incentive cost to implement or is near a pure strategy profile.     

THE FISCAL CHALLENGE OF COMPETITIVE MARKETS

Competition maximises consumer satisfaction but creates a financial problem for enterprises. When prices are competed down to just cover marginal costs, part of the value added by the enterprise is externalised. Government has not been efficient at recycling that value back into the economy, which is why infrastructure is severely underfunded.     

Management Accounting Education In Australian Universities: A Review Of The Current State

The teaching of management accounting at tertiary institutions drew criticism in the mid-to-late 1980s on the grounds that course content and teaching methods were not keeping pace with changes in manufacturing technologies and the business environment. A study of management accounting programs in 30 Australian universities shows that the criticisms are largely being addressed, with most programs being well up-to-date in their coverage of many of the new topics and practices that have emerged in management accounting in recent years. Nonetheless, management accounting educators continue to see a number of constraints on effective teaching in this area.