A professional services firm's competence development

The conceptualization of a firm's competence development has undergone some developments, as seen from the extant literature. However, studies or explanations of a firm's competence development over time seem to concentrate on firms that manufacture physical goods. The literature is devoid of studies on the competence development of professional services firms (PSFs). With two in-depth case studies, this paper seeks to shed light on factors that impinge on PSFs' competence development over time. An important finding of this study is that all the two PSFs' competence development over time has been influenced, in large measure, by their close and regular interaction with their respective immediate customers as well as with some significant third parties in their network of exchange relationships, where the actors mutually adapt to each other and also learn from each other. Evidences in all the two cases show that each of the firms has won and kept important customers that give them the most and frequent assignments per year, thanks to the factors that have affected their competence to meet customers' demand over time.     

On the macroeconomic effects of establishing tradability in weak property rights

The New Economy is closely associated with computing & communications technology, notably the Internet. We discuss property rights to, and trade in, the difficult-to-define intangible assets increasingly dominating the New Economy, and the possibility of under-investment in these assets. For a realistic analysis we introduce a Schumpeterian market environment (the experimentally organized economy). Weak property rights prevail when the rights to access, use, andtrade in intangible assets cannot be fully exercised. The trade-off between the benefits of open access on the Internet, and the incentive effects of strengthened property rights, depend both on the particular strategy a firm employs to secure property rights, and the protection offered by law. Economic property rights can be strengthened if the originator can find innovative ways to charge for the intangible assets. The extreme complexity of the New Economy and the large number of possible innovative private contract arrangements make it more important to facilitate the use and enforcement of private individualized contracts to protect intellectual property than to rely only on standard patent and copyright law. Enabling law is one proposed solution. Current patent legislation in the US has led to costly litigation processes weakening the position of small firms and individuals in patent disputes. The property rights of such firms and individuals could be strengthened with insurance or arbitration procedures.JEL Classification: D21, D23, D52, D82, H54, K11, K22, K41, L11, L23, M13, O14, O33An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 9th Congress of the International Joseph A. Schumpeter Society (ISS), Gainesville, Florida, USA, March 28-30, 2002. The paper is part of the Nödfor project on Schumpeterian Creative Destruction, notably the exit and bankruptcy process, based at the Ratio Institute, Stockholm.     

区域旅游产业品牌竞争力评价指标体系构建研究

区域旅游产业竞争力对区域旅游产业和旅游经济有重要的作用.以产业竞争力理论为基础.考虑旅游产业、区域环境和品牌三个方面的因素,构建了区域旅游产业品牌形成的因素模型.依据模型,从以上三个维度,具体从资源、产业水平和协调、区域硬环境和软环境、品牌的建设、营销、保护和创新等方面建立了旅游产业品牌竞争力的评价指标体系.     

跨文化交际能力培养相关因素之分析

跨文化交际（intercultural communication）是指不同文化背景的人们（people from different cultures）之间的交际。由于交际双方文化背景不同、社会环境各异、思维方式和交际方式有别，因此会对同一词、同一句话、非语言行为和事物产生不同的理解。为了消除跨文化交际障碍，在目的语的学习过程中，我们要清楚地了解跨文化交际所涉及的因素，在跨文化交际过程中，树立正确的跨文化意识，加强对词语文化内涵的理解，理解非语言行为的社会语用功能，学会正确、得体地处理文化差异和文化冲突的方法，从而达到跨文化交际的真正目的。     

Governance and competence: how can they be combined?

Transaction cost economics faces serious problems concerningthe way it deals, or fails to deal, with bounded rationality,the efficiency of outcomes, trust, innovation, learning andthe nature of knowledge. The competence view yields an alternativeperspective on the purpose and boundaries of the firm. However,the competence view cannot ignore issues of governance and,in spite of serious criticism, transaction cost economics yieldssome useful concepts to deal with them. This paper aims to contributeto the development of theory and empirical research that connectsgovernance and competence perspectives.     

An empirical study of manufacturing flexibility of exporting firms in China: How do strategic and organizational contexts matter?

Using evidence from exporting firms in China, this research aims to determine the conditions that foster manufacturing flexibility and the way in which firms support it. The contingency perspective and the competence and capability theory are utilized to develop a framework to enhance the knowledge of internal competence, external flexibility, and manufacturing performance, and the understanding of the moderating roles of strategic and organizational choice on the competence-flexibility and flexibility-performance relationships. Empirical evidence from a sample of 222 export product/market ventures confirmed the main effect that manufacturing, assembly outsourcing, and marketing competencies support a firm's manufacturing flexibility and in turn enhance manufacturing performance. Several notable moderating effects were also identified. Although a strategic emphasis on low-cost manufacturing and long-term contracting weakens a firm's transformation of core competencies into flexible capabilities, specific organizational choices regarding private ownership and direct exporting strengthen the conversion of manufacturing flexibility to superior manufacturing performance.     

工作场所地位对员工越轨创新的影响：能力面子压力与地位关心水平的作用

基于面子观与地位观整合视角，通过对多时点收集的340份有效数据进行实证分析，探讨了能力面子压力和地位关心水平在工作场所地位对员工越轨创新行为影响机制中的作用。研究结果表明，工作场所地位正向影响员工越轨创新行为;能力面子压力在工作场所地位与员工越轨创新行为间起中介作用；员工的地位关心水平正向调节工作场所地位对能力面子压力的影响，同时调节能力面子压力在工作场所地位与员工越轨创新行为间的间接影响效应，即地位关心水平越高，能力面子压力的中介效应越显著。     

企业相对核心能力:概念内涵与理论框架

核心能力理论以其强大的解释力得到了学界的广泛认可,并被普遍应用于企业竞争战略分析中。然而,核心能力理论存在的不足也使得其普适性和实际操作性都受到严重影响。那些在局部有竞争优势但在更广的范围内没有竞争优势的企业,是否有核心能力?那些现在没有竞争力的企业是否在未来会有竞争力?那些有核心能力的企业也有丧失能力的时候。基于此,本文创造性提出并界定了狭义的相对核心能力概念:在具体的竞争情境下,企业所拥有的有价值的、稀缺的、难模仿的和不可替代的累积性学识,即在具体竞争情境下满足核心能力的判定标准。进而,构建了一个具有较高理论价值和现实意义的一般分析框架,从商业模式、组织学习角度入手分析如何构建企业相对核心能力。     

高职英语教学中跨文化交际意识的导入

语言与文化二者互相依存,互相制约,决定了跨文化交际能力的培养必须包括对文化的理解和掌握,这是跨文化交际能力的一个重要组成部分。作为跨文化交际能力培养的一个重要环节,高职英语教学不仅要传授语言知识技能,更重要的是要导入用外语进行跨文化交际的信息。包括言语交际能力和非言语交际能力方面的信息。     

学习、创新与核心能力:机制和路径

学习和创新是影响核心能力的重要因素,而核心能力又是组织获取竞争优势提升绩效的基础,但国内外学术界尚未对学习、创新、核心能力与绩效之间的相互影响路径和作用机制进行实证研究。本文基于战略的资源基础观,整合学习理论、创新理论与核心能力理论,首先构建了一个新的理论模型,再以华南地区202家企业为样本运用结构方程模型进行检验和修正。其学术贡献在于明确了学习并不是企业绩效提升的直接影响因素,学习也不能直接带来企业的核心能力,学习导向必须通过创新才能提高核心能力,并进而提升绩效;创新并非直接提升组织绩效,而是有一个培育核心能力的中间过程;在中国的管理环境下,不同产业的企业其创新对核心能力有不同的影响,即创新并不必然转化为核心能力。实践意义在于为企业正确理解和运用学习、创新来构建核心能力及提升组织绩效提供借鉴。