Accommodating a Foreign Object: Federalism,coordination and performance management in the reform of German employment administration

Abstract

This paper uses the case of the reform of the German employment administration to explore the usage of performance management approaches within multi-level governance settings. It traces the adoption and accommodation of the performance management approach to govern the joint service centres (called ‘Jobcenter’) at the local level within the multi-level administrative coordination regime in Germany’s federal system. A contribution is made to nascent debates about the potential of managerial tools in systems of negotiated decision-making. The paper shows how performance management is adapted to the institutional logic of multi-level administrative coordination and serves as a facilitator of cross-level coordination.     

Framing the field of international human resource management research

This article presents an overarching framework of the international human resource management field. The framework has four different levels: Macro (encompassing countries, regions and industries), the Multinational Corporation, Unit (typically subsidiary) and Individual (including teams, employees and their family members). At each level, we make a distinction between Influencing Factors, the HRM Function (encompassing both the HR department and HR policies and practices), Proximal Outcomes and Distant Outcomes of HRM. The framework allows us to examine existing research and suggest avenues for future work.     

The expert system: constructing expertise in an IT/management consultancy

Despite widespread uncertainty, if not scepticism, about the precise nature of the expertise that consultants bring to bear in their client engagements, organisations continue to employ consultants in large numbers, especially in information technology-related projects. Drawing on a participant observation study of IT/management consultancy practice, this paper seeks to explore the different ways in which consultants are seen as experts in the light of the pressures of the consultancy market place. The ongoing construction of consultancy expertise through the interaction of consultants and their clients with an array of elements, including technical knowledge, skilled practice, individual and collective experience, and commercial interests is discussed. It is suggested that, rather than being a relatively-enduring property of individuals, based on their mastery of a body abstract knowledge or their skills at managing the perceptions of their clients, the precarious and multi-faceted character of their expertise means that consultants are continuously engaged in its active construction through their situated practice.     

Vendor managed inventory: a survey of the Taiwanese grocery industry

Recent research has shown the importance of improving the supply chain competitiveness by means of strategic alliances. This study considers the retailer–supplier partnership through a vendor managed inventory (VMI) system. The characteristics of a VMI system and a retailer–supplier power relationship are discussed in some detail with a case illustration to examine the practical implementations of the system in the Taiwanese grocery industry. VMI not only has the ability to reduce costs, but also to improve service levels and create business opportunities for both parties in the supply chain. Thus, it is considered as one of the main systems in a strategic alliance.     

现代生产型企业机械设备管理探析

市场经济的高速发展为我国各领域创新改革带来重大机遇,特别是对于生产型企业而言更是如此,为了提高经济效益,在激烈竞争中脱颖而出,势必将更多关注度放到内部的设备管理中。鉴于此,本文将着重分析现代生产型企业机械设备管理情况,了解机械设备管理中存在的问题,提出具体优化策略,旨在为更好的进行机械设备管理,促进企业的持续发展。     

Diversified behavioral portfolio as an alternative to Modern Portfolio Theory

The traditional mean–variance approach has been complemented by alternative theories that use risk measures different from standard deviation of returns or involve additional distributional features of returns like skewness and kurtosis. We propose a portfolio choice model that combines different distributional characteristics of the returns in the decision-making making process, considering preferences of investors which are modeled as non-statistical uncertainties of investors using fuzzy theory. We use 20 stocks of the S&P500 from January 2013 to December 2017. We assess the obtained portfolios’ performance, and the diversified behavioral portfolios outperform than the mean–variance portfolio. This methodological proposal can be seen as a strong managerial tool to make investment portfolio decisions.     

企业社会责任之“员工本位”的思考

企业承担着对员工的社会责任,要求企业应该按照国际公认的SA8000企业社会责任标准体系的要求实施管理,保障员工最基本的劳工权,还应体现以人为本的“员工本位”管理理念,使员工积极参与到企业文化建设和民主管理过程中,创造员工的个人价值,在企业管理过程中实现个人价值与企业价值的双重目标。     

高等院校建立ISO9000质量管理体系研究

高等院校欲长期地保持并持续完善教学秩序、提高教学质量,引进先进的ISO9000族管理体系标准,建立ISO9000教学质量管理体系是一种有效的途径。文章分析了高等院校建立ISO9000质量管理体系的意义和可行性,重点探讨了高等院校构建质量管理体系时应遵循的原则。     

Assessment and selection of management consultants: A comparative cognitive study between small- and large-scale companies

This paper explores alternative ways of evaluating and ultimately hiring a generalist consultancy for short- and medium-term projects, and how this is shaped by the size of the clients’ company. What buying factors do managers of small and large firms have in mind when hiring consultants for their projects?Instead of employing surveys incorporating predefined buying factors based on what the researchers think would be important, a cognitive mapping methodology - the repertory grid technique - is applied to investigate the underlying phenomena. Using the repertory grid technique to draw mental models is a novel research technique within the supply management field. Recent behavioral supply chain management research found the behavior of managers to be critically influenced by mental models: the lenses through which managers perceive, simplify and interpret the world.Results show differences between the buying factors used in small- and large-scale companies: managers of large companies are more ‘reputation and outcome-oriented’ and managers of small businesses are more concerned with ‘how the services are rendered’. However, both constituents stressed the importance of expertise, quality and the relationship between the client and the management consultancy, although the character of such a relationship differed between small- and large-scale firms. Results also point out criteria that managers of small and large companies employ to discriminate between good and poor performing consultancies and to judge service delivery. The practical implications for both companies hiring consultancies and the consultancy companies are discussed. For consultancies, our findings can help tailoring their efforts to a differing clientele when marketing and selling their services. For companies hiring consultancies, fixating too much on particular buying factors may lead to biased decisions.     

财务共享下管理会计在中小企业的应用研究

为提高企业的综合效益,论文对管理会计在中小企业中的应用问题展开详细讨论,以此为基础,提出管理会计在财务共享模式下的具体应用策略,为中小企业未来的可持续发展及经济效益稳定增长提供有利保证。