Beyond Flows,Fluids and Networks: Social Theory and the Fetishism of the Global Informational Economy

In this paper we critically explore some of the arguments made by those social theorists who claim that we live in a new global economy defined by informational and technological flows, fluids and networks. By recourse to Marx's concept of fetishism we argue that these theorists often fetishise the very social changes in the global economy they are trying to describe. As a result, they articulate a ‘flat ontology’ of concrete and contingent relations that mistakenly claims to capture the most important dynamics of global capitalism. We reject this approach, preferring instead to see global capitalism as a dialectical flux between concrete and more abstract processes. These critical points are developed by drawing on Marxism to explore how these social theorists often reproduce unhelpful dualisms in social theory, how they fetishise technology, how some of their arguments run parallel to a management justification logic of the market world and finally how they present a limited explanation of global finance.     

物联网

<正>更多物品中被嵌入传感器,从而获得了通讯能力。由此构成的信息网络能够创造新的业务模式,改进业务流程,并降低成本和风险。这就是物联网带来的冲击。在大多数组织中,信息都是沿着熟悉的路径传播。专有的信息存储在数据库里,并在报告中对其进行分析,然后沿着管理链逐级上报。信息还可以源于外部——从公共来源收集信息,从互联网获取信息,或者从信     

Privatization in PolandWhat was the government trying to achieve?1

This article uses the sequencing of privatization to infer the objective pursued by the Polish government in the privatization of its large manufacturing firms in the second half of the 1990s. We construct a model of mixed oligopoly and use it to evaluate the privatization process; our analysis is based on the assumption that firms which furthered the government's objective function the most would be chosen to be privatized first. Based on the features of the firms that were chosen for early privatization, our empirical analysis suggests that welfare maximization was more important than the desire to maximize the revenues from privatization and the government's budget or to minimize employment losses.     

Organizational variables, sales force perceptions of readiness for change, learning, and performance among boundary-spanning teams: A conceptual framework and propositions for research

Sales organizations are continuously developing new ideas and approaches to be more competitive. One of the approaches taken by most successful organizations is the move from individuals to boundary-spanning, cross-functional teams. Sales teams are being employed to counter efforts by buying organizations to form buying centers. It is proffered in this paper that organizations that are ready for change are conducive to enhancement of sales team learning. Organization readiness for change is a condition impacted by a variety of organizational antecedent variables such as culture and climate. This paper proposes that sales team learning is impacted by team members' perceptions of the organization's readiness for change. In addition, we also posit the moderating influence of two environmental variables: turbulence and competitive intensity on the relationship between readiness for change and sales team learning. Sales team learning is then proposed to be related to a variety of sales outcomes. In this paper, we present a conceptual framework for understanding the contexts in which team learning occurs and the impact of team learning on team effectiveness. Throughout the paper, we present research propositions that provide opportunities for future examinations of team learning.     

The Effect of Off-farm Work on the Intensity of Agricultural Production

Changes in agricultural production methods have been associated with environmental pressure and a loss of natural habitats. This paper explores the extent to which farmer participation in off-farm work (an increasing phenomenon in most developed countries) changes the intensity of agricultural input use focusing, in particular, on fertilizer and crop protection product use. A sample selection model that accounts for both unobserved heterogeneity between farms and the potential simultaneity between farm operations and hours worked off-farm is estimated for 2,419 farms in England and Wales. The econometric evidence indicates that the input intensity of products which have well-established links to environmental damage can increase as well as decrease. The results suggest that that fertilizer intensity may decline as off-farm labor increases while the use of crop protection per hectare increases as off-farm work increases.     

Microcomputer versus mainframe usage by marketing professionals

The purpose of this research is to measure the extent of usage of microcomputers, compared to mainframe usage, by marketing professionals and to describe how microcomputers are used as an aid in marketing decision-making. A national sample of marketing professionals responded to a questionnaire concerning availability of microcomputers and mainframes, decisions and responsibilities performed with each type of computer, software and hardware used, and selected demographics. The results document considerable diffusion of hardware technology as well as widespread use and satisfaction with available software in the subset responding.     

An Examination of the U.S. Public Accounting Profession’s Public Interest Discourse and Actions in Federal Policy Making

Participation in the political process by the United States public accounting profession often blurs the role of the profession as advocates for the public interest with its role as advocates for its own private interests. In this study, we draw from prior theoretical and empirical work to investigate recent federal political activities of the public accounting profession to shed light on these sometimes contradictory roles. In particular, we investigate ten contemporary regulatory issues of interest to the AICPA. We analyze 36 AICPA legislative advocacy letters related to these issues that were provided to federal policy makers. In addition, we analyze the public accounting profession’s federal lobbying reports that were submitted during this same time period. The analysis allows us to assess the public interest discourse present in the AICPA legislative letters as well as the extent of political action taken by the profession related to these issues based on the profession’s lobbying efforts. Our analyses (1) demonstrate that the profession’s discourse and actions often reflect both public and private interest motivations, (2) allow us to categorize the profession’s advocacy efforts as arising from specific motivations, and (3) show that the profession’s public interest arguments used to advocate for their policy positions change depending upon the specific legislative issue being considered.