The Impact of Perceived Organizational Support on Self-Directed Learning in Sales Training

Perceived organizational support has a positive influence on the willingness of salespeople to use self-directed learning (SDL) projects. These SDL projects can be tailored to fit a salesperson's distinct learning needs, to increase performance, and to achieve the overarching goals of collaborative members of a marketing channel. Hence, it is beneficial for channel members to create a supportive learning culture that promotes the use of SDL projects by salespeople. Salespeople within the insurance industry play an essential role inside their marketing channel. Data collected from 392 insurance salespeople in over 170 firms is used to empirically test how perceived organizational support influences the use of two types of SDL projects. Salespeople encouraged to use elective SDL projects reported higher levels of performance than those required to use compulsory SDL projects.     

The Myth of the Unscrupulous Energy User’s Dilemma: Evidence from Switzerland

Heating and warm water consumption are frequently billed based on actual consumption, and this approach can be assumed to provide a financial incentive to energy consumers to opt for energy-conserving behaviour (e.g., reducing the room temperature or using warm water economically). In many multi-flat buildings in Switzerland, tenants and homeowners still receive a heating and warm water bill that is based on a flat rate that depends on the size of the dwelling, rather than a bill that is based on the amount of energy actually consumed. In such a situation, there may be a social dilemma that leads to non-cooperative behaviour; economic theory predicts that households would choose a strategy of not sacrificing their level of comfort and, therefore, would not opt for energy-conserving behaviour. Psychological theory, on the other hand, suggests that a change in billing type might not, in and of itself, be a sufficient motivator to promote energy-conserving behaviour. This study aims to gain insight into Swiss consumers’ underlying motivations in conserving energy. It empirically tests whether and how a difference in billing type affects consumers’ current stated energy behaviour and their stated intention to conserve energy in the future. In neither of two separate studies was there any evidence of such a possible unscrupulous energy user’s dilemma. Thus, on its own, consumption-based billing might not lead to significant changes in consumer behaviour. However, it could constitute an essential part of a wider behaviour modification programme that includes more effective billing and direct feedback programmes.     

Services innovation and the transformation of work: the case of UK telecommunications

Current transformations in technologies and industrial structure of UK telecommunications have important implications for skills and work organisation. This is examined in different divisions of a large UK telecommunications firm: call centres, customer service centres, engineering sectors and the R&D department. The effect of these transformations on the development of firm competences is discussed.     

Measuring the effects of geographical distance on stock market correlation

Recent studies suggest that the correlation of stock returns increases with decreasing geographical distance. However, there is some debate on the appropriate methodology for measuring the effects of distance on correlation. We modify a regression approach suggested in the literature and complement it with an approach from spatial statistics, the mark correlation function. For the stocks contained in the S&P 500 that we examine, both approaches lead to similar results. Contrary to previous studies we find that beyond 50 miles geographical proximity is irrelevant for stock return correlations. For distances below 50 miles, we can show that the magnitude of local correlations varies with investor sentiment.     

THE POLITICAL EMBEDDEDNESS OF PRIVATE ECONOMIC TRANSACTIONS*

Governments are able to manipulate economic transactions in order to achieve foreign policy goals. This article addresses the question: can managers of multinational enterprises (MNEs) structure economic transactions in ways that will limit the costs resulting from government intervention? Using a transaction cost framework, the efficiency of alternative structures (exporting, joint ventures, licensing, or wholly owned subsidiaries) for protecting a firm's interests are assessed. We argue that the traditional focus on the dyadic relationship between supplier and buyer misses sources of transaction costs; by conceptualizing economic transactions as embedded in a political context, additional sources of transaction costs are revealed. We examine three cases of home government intervention in US MNE transactions with the Soviet Union. We find that the full range of structural alternatives is affected by government sanctions, although sanctions are imposed on exporting relationships first and removed last. We find that MNEs are, therefore, beginning to insulate international transactions by making their overseas subsidiaries more independent of US technology and supplies with the hope that the US government will be less likely to impose its will extraterritorially by intervening in foreign subsidiaries’private economic transactions.     

The role of regulatory capital in international bank mergers and acquisitions

When investigating the role of regulatory capital in bank mergers and acquisitions (M&As) we finds that US targets are better capitalized than their acquirers and non-acquired peers and that US banks maintain higher capital levels than European banks. Thus, US banks strategically raise their capital levels to avoid regulatory scrutiny. Furthermore, more value is created for targets with high excess capital and in M&As involving targets with considerably higher excess-capital ratios than their acquirers. Thus, the excess regulatory capital hypothesis is supported. Finally, market prices reflect the influence that capital has on the probability of the merger's regulatory approval.     

Corporate Expenditure on Environmental Protection

We examine the determinants of firm’s current environmental expenditure and firm’s capital investment in equipment for pollution control in Irish manufacturing industries using a Heckman selection model. The main determinants for the two types of expenditure are similar: larger, exporting and energy-intensive firms are more likely to spend. Being subject to environmental regulation also has an effect. Once the decision to commit resources has been taken, larger, older, foreign-owned, exporting and energy-intensive firms incur higher environmental expenditure. For the amount of capital investment only firm size and age play a role. This suggests that the economic and regulatory incentives in place are such that it is the largest and most polluting firms that do most to reduce pollution.     

Unemployment and employment offices’ efficiency: What can be done?

Regional employment offices provide placement services to job-seekers and employers and organize active labor market programs. In this paper, we carry out a quantitative evaluation of the employment offices’ performance in Switzerland based on production efficiency measures. We use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to estimate the performance of all employment offices and then account for factors in the local operating environment that are outside managerial control. This approach, and the ranking of employment offices, may easily be interpreted by policymakers and provides guidelines for raising the efficiency of the public employment service. Our findings suggest that there is considerable room for improved efficiency in employment service, which could lead to a lower level of structural unemployment. We also find that differences in the external operating environment have a significant influence upon the efficiency of employment offices.