When competency-based pay relates to creative performance: The moderating role of employee psychological need

Although competency advocates argue that competency-based pay (CBP) can facilitate the implementation of business strategies and improve organizational performance, few empirical studies on the effectiveness of CBP have been conducted in the workplace. This study examines employees’ perceptions of CBP and their creative performance, along with the moderating role of psychological needs in this relationship. A survey design with a sample of 219 Hong Kong Chinese employees from the hotel and service sectors was adopted. The results support that employee creativity is predicted by both CBP (reward for knowledge and reward for skill) and individual characteristics (need for achievement, need for power). In addition, need for power moderates the relationship between CBP (reward for knowledge and reward for skill) and employee creativity. The implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.     

The power of video to trigger innovation: rice processing in central Benin

Participatory plant breeding began in developing countries and now some European farmers and scientists are proposing its suitability in contributing to sustainable agriculture. This paper uses both genetics and sociology to determine the conditions required. A review of the sustainability of projects implemented in developing countries initiated discussion of an organic durum wheat participatory breeding programme, which is currently being implemented in the south of France. The analysis highlighted the need for the critical participation of experts from different horizons in a socio-technical network. Multi-level interactions and cross-linked learning processes about breeding methods and sociological concepts are needed for effective communication between different stakeholders and scientific disciplines. This approach enables implementation of a range of different action systems in which the production of relevant knowledge and rules addresses the issue of the sustainable development of diverse agro-food systems, rather than the generalization of one model.     

Consumer Preferences for Fresh Tomatoes in Benin using a Conjoint Analysis

Constraints related to the technical and socioeconomic aspects of adopting tomato varieties are well documented. However, preferences relating to the demand for this fruit are rarely studied. In fact, demand for the different varieties of tomatoes might be related to consumers’ preferences for the extrinsic (color, size) and intrinsic (taste, nutritive value, water content) characteristics specific to each variety. It is therefore indispensable to determine the characteristics of tomatoes preferred by consumers. We examine consumers’ preferences for tomato attributes among a sample of 600 consumers in four representative markets in the main cities in southern Benin. The study also identifies potential segments of consumers and the market shares of each profile for each segment. The study identifies four potential tomato market segments, two of which have a strong preference for local tomatoes, namely, those that can be conserved for long periods and those with a firm consistency.     

Guanxi,political connections and resource acquisition in Chinese publicly listed private sector firms

In this study, we examined the role of guanxi as entrepreneurs’ resource-obtaining mechanism in private sector firms, using a data-set of 184 publicly listed firms in China. We found that guanxi indeed played a positive role that helped private sector firms gain easier access to resources. We also found that guanxi exerted even a greater positive effect on private sector firms’ resource obtaining compared to entrepreneurs’ political participation, due to being the lifeblood of business conduct and social interaction in Chinese culture.     

An empirical examination of IPO underpricing in the Chinese A-share market

Research in the literature shows that initial public offerings (IPOs) of common stocks are systematically priced at a discount to their subsequent initial trading price. The large underpricing magnitude in the Chinese IPO market has attracted much attention. We consider three hypotheses that may explain the IPO underpricing in China. These are the winner's curse hypothesis, the ex ante uncertainty hypothesis and the signaling hypothesis. Among these hypotheses, the winner's curse hypothesis has not been tested in the Chinese market. Using IPO data for online fixed-price offerings from November 1995 to December 1998, our results show that the winner's curse hypothesis is the main reason for the high IPO underpricing in China. The signaling hypothesis is not empirically supported in the Chinese market during the sample period.     

Energy Saving and Tourism Sustainability: Solar Control Window Film in Hotel Rooms

This paper investigates solar control film as an energy saver in the fast growing hotel sector in southern China. It investigates claims made for this low-cost retrofitted material in hotel rooms, calibrating reductions in solar gain in summer. It provides reliable and independent data about the performance and economic viability of solar control film in real hotel environments. The study found that, by limiting solar gain, the film helps limit tourism's impact on global warming and climate change. The paper also foreshadows new technical glazing developments.     

Environmental orientation and corporate performance: The mediation mechanism of green supply chain management and moderating effect of competitive intensity

This study proposes and empirically tests a model delineating the relationship among environmental orientation, green supply chain management (GSCM) activities (green purchase, customer cooperation and investment recovery) and corporate performance. Based on responses from 194 foreign invested enterprises operating in China, this study has generated several important findings. First, it demonstrates that while both internal and external environmental orientations exert a positive and significant influence on the practice of green purchase and customer cooperation, internal environmental orientation further serves as a significant driver for the practice of investment recovery. Second, it shows that the practice of these three major GSCM activities, in turn, significantly enhances corporate performance. Last, the study reveals that competitive intensity strengthens the positive influence of customer cooperation on corporate performance. Overall, the findings explicate the importance for firms, in particular those operating in a highly competitive market condition, to nurture a pro-environmental corporate culture and improve their sensitivity to salient external stakeholders' environmental demands so as to pursue greener supply chain management.     

Access to consumer credit in the UK

This paper investigates household access to consumer credit in the UK using information on 58,642 households between 2001 and 2009. Employing a treatment-effects model and propensity score matching, we find that non-white households are less likely to have financing compared to white households. We also find that even if they obtain financing, the intensity of borrowing is lower than for white households. Overall, non-white households seem to be in a weaker position to access consumer credit in the UK.