Market Shares and Concentration in the EU Auditing Industry: the Effects of Andersen’s Demise

This paper describes and analyses changes at the concentration level of the audit services markets in 15-EU member-countries. The sample consists of 2,862 clients of auditing firms for the period 1998 to 2004. The findings of the research show that concentration in the aggregate sample increased over time. Concentration in the audit markets of the EU-15 member-countries exhibits substantial variation across countries while average concentration, before and after Arthur Andersen’s dissolution, has increased in 12 and declined in three countries. Results segmented by economic sectors indicate that the concentration increased in all sectors except Energy, which is the sector with the highest concentration. Overall, the empirical results suggest that there are complexities in our understanding of auditing services markets for competition purposes.

An Empirical Analysis of Strategic Groups in the Airline Industry using Latent Class Regressions

Two major controversies in strategic group research have been whether strategic groups actually exist and if so what is the best methodological approach to identify them. One perspective on strategic groups suggests that a strategic group exists if and only if the performance of a firm in the group is a function of group characteristics after controlling for firm and industry characteristics. We test this theoretical position by developing and estimating a model for the airline industry using latent class regressions. Our analysis finds evidence for the existence of four distinct strategic groups of firms in the airline industry. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

HRM and organizational performance in northern and southern Europe

This article aims to extend understanding of the firm-level impact of strategic HR practices on organizational performance. Adopting a contingency approach, it develops a structural model that considers direct and indirect influences of market growth, business strategy formalization and HRM centrality and practices on organizational performance in Europe. The study uses a comparative approach, revealing differences between northern and southern Europe. Clear differences appeared between the two clusters in the HR policies and practices correlated with higher performance, thus indicating that the link between HRM and performance may be different in different geographies.     

The roles of implementation and organizational culture in the HR–performance link

This article attempts to (1) explore the process by which a high-performance work system (HPWS) affects firm performance and (2) demonstrate the mediating role of implementation and organizational culture in the HPWS-performance link. The proposed model was tested using a sample of 243 Hong Kong and Taiwanese firms operating in Guangdong, China. The results from the present study supported the hypothesized mediation of implementation and organizational culture on the HR–performance relationship. This study offers important insights into the mediating mechanism of the HPWS-performance research. Implications for research and managerial practices are provided.     

Examining human resource management outsourcing in Hong Kong

This study explored the state of human resource (HR) outsourcing in the Asian context, a particularly important subject given its rapid proliferation in Europe and North America, the inconsistent and limited evidence from prior research, and its strategic importance to the human resource management (HRM) function. Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative data and the transaction cost, resource-based, and institutional perspectives, we found that although respondents were generally favourable towards outsourcing, that in practice its adoption and diffusion were in a nascent stage in Hong Kong. Decisions to outsource were, by and large, incremental and experimental and influenced by a range of contextual factors (e.g., availability of in-house expertise, skills and creativity, strategic priorities, legislation (coercive), availability of external service providers, and industry and peer (mimetic) influence). Despite considerable pressure to cut costs, instead of outsourcing in the first instance, firms placed greater emphasis on maximising internal resource utilization (insourcing). Implications for practice and suggestions for future research are also provided.     

The roles of service encounters, service value, and job satisfaction in achieving customer satisfaction in business relationships

Along with variables like the service process, perceived service value and customer satisfaction, job satisfaction of service employees plays a vital role in customer evaluation of service result. However, there has been little in-depth research into the nature of this relation, in particular in the context of B2B relations. In the sphere of an organization providing financial intermediation services to the banking sector and on the basis of a literature review, hypotheses are developed which establish the mediator role of service value and the moderator role of job satisfaction of service employees when delimiting customer satisfaction. Reliability and validity analysis give satisfactory results and our conclusions establish firstly that service encounter directly and significantly affects perceived service value which is the final antecedent to customer satisfaction and secondly, that the level of employment satisfaction moderates its effect on service value.     

Multinationals, technology, and the introduction of varieties of goods

Multiproduct firms and product turnover are widespread phenomena. This paper develops a theoretical framework that links advantages in R&D and variable costs with firm's ability to expand its portfolio of products. The framework is then applied to explain systematic differences in product introduction by affiliates of multinationals and firms that only operate domestically. Using firm-level data for the Chinese manufacturing sector during 1998-2000, I compare the performance of foreign and domestic firms in terms of the new varieties that they introduce and I estimate the quantitative relevance of technological factors as a determinant.I find that firms with more than 50% of foreign ownership introduce on average more than twice as many more new varieties of goods as private domestic firms. Advantages in productivity account for 32 to 62% of the difference in the number and sales of new varieties, while advantages in the cost of development account for 3 to 6% of these differences.     

Leaders and Laggards: The Influence of Competing Logics on Corporate Environmental Action

We study the sources of resistance to change among firms in the Canadian petroleum industry in response to a shift in societal level logics related to corporate environmental performance. Despite challenges to its legitimacy as a result of poor environmental performance, the Canadian petroleum industry was divided as to how to respond, with some members ignoring the concerns and resisting change (i.e., laggards) while others took action to ensure continued legitimacy (i.e., leaders). We examine why organizations within the same institutional field responded differently, delaying the industry response. We found that one population of firms was aligned with increasing pressures from its stakeholders for improved environmental performance, and the other was influenced by local cultural, political, and economic ideals less demanding of environmental actions. Our results reveal that several factors both at the institutional field level and the organizational level affected how these two populations reacted to a changing societal logic. Implications for theory, practice, and future research are discussed.     

Effects of au naturel packaging colors on willingness to pay for healthy food

This study introduces and defines a novel color family—au naturel colors—and proposes that featuring these hues on product packaging enhances consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for healthy food products, but not for unhealthy food products. This effect occurs irrespective of the fit between the colors of the product and of the packaging, and of the color lightness or saturation. Perceptions of product authenticity mediate the relationship between au naturel colors packaging and consumer WTP for the product. The results of seven studies provide support for the proposed conceptual framework, contributing to the literature on consumer responses to colors and packaging features, and allowing to draw implications for the marketing of healthy food products.     

Who's boss? Physiological measures during performance assessment

Leadership in organizations consists of a complex process, which includes the interpersonal relationship with collaborators. By using a neuroscientific approach, we evaluated the effect of the presence of unidirectional versus reciprocal feedback (provided only by the leader or by both figures), as well as the assignment of a quantitative or just a qualitative assessment. Skin conductance level and response (SCL and SCR), as well as heart rate (HR), have been recorded during a role playing. Results revealed increased emotional engagement (SCL/SCR) during no rating and reciprocal condition, as well as a stressful response (increased HR) during rating and unidirectional condition.