Global Sourcing Decision‐Making Processes: Politics,Intuition, and Procedural Rationality

Global sourcing (GS) is a firmly established phenomenon in modern business practice that requires specific expertise from different organizational functions, such as purchasing, production, logistics, and research and development to analyze and select sourcing alternatives effectively. In this context, global sourcing decision‐making (GSDM) processes pose major challenges because two dimensions of functional politics, namely goal misalignment and power imbalance across functions, appear to influence procedural rationality in a manner not understood to date. Likewise, intuition also seems to play a role for the procedural rationality of GSDM processes. To elucidate the conditions under which procedural rationality is hampered or enhanced by politics and intuition, we studied five cross‐functional GSDM processes, in front of extant strategic decision‐making literature. We derive formal propositions on how functional politics and intuition influence the procedural rationality and present contingencies for the divergent role of intuition as well as functional politics in GDSM processes. Our research contributes to existing GS literature by providing a theoretical model of important microfoundations of how GSDM processes evolve. The findings also guide managers on how to structure GSDM processes such that GS projects can be conducted in a more rational fashion.     

History of the Suez Canal Company, 1858–2008. Between controversy and utility

Between 1790 and 1860, US state governments chartered 22,419 businesses, with minimum authorised capital totalling $4.58 billion, by special statute. The US, in both total and per capita terms, had considerably more corporations and authorised corporate capital than the UK, France or Prussia did over that same span. Differences in incorporation and capitalisation rates between nations were largely a function of differences in laws and politics but differences among American states resulted more from differences in the timing and character of economic development.     

The twilight world of British business politics: The Spring Sunningdale conferences since the 1960s

This article explores a previously unknown form of interaction, known as Spring Sunningdale, between the British business elite and its civil servant equivalent in Whitehall. These began in 1963 and were still continuing only a few years ago. The continuity and stability of these meetings stands in contrast to wider changes in the nature of business–government relations in Britain during this period, particularly since the election of the Thatcher government in 1979. The article analyses why there was such continuity and what the senior civil servants and the captains of industry who attended these annual meetings gained from them.     

Consumers and deregulation of the electricity market in Germany

Against the backcloth of EU regulation, this note looks at the “politics of necessity” regarding electricity provision in Germany. Electricity as a case is chosen because its provision has been undergoing a profound process of liberalisation and deregulation, and there is a considerable amount of experience with the chances and pitfalls of liberalisation in this sector. Secondly, electricity is a network industry and a natural monopoly subject to systematic market failure, which calls for regulation. The paper starts out with a closer look at the consumer as an actor in the regulation process, proposing a three-role model of the consumer as a market player, as a citizen, and as a micro-producer in households and networks. In these roles, consumers take on different social and political identities; they are affected differently by (de)regulation of essential services and have different options for reacting to quality and price issues. It then describes the legal state and the development of deregulation in the electricity sector in Germany. Selected empirical data are presented, and consumer policy implications are drawn.     

论执政能力建设的政治道德基石

政治道德是指在政治实践和政治生活中形成的合情合理、合乎正义的行为道德规范以及从政者的思想道德品质的总和。在执政能力建设中，政治道德凸显为执政为民、求真务实、廉洁高效、公平正义等执政价值理念的实现，它构成执政能力建设的坚实基础。     

认清形势，突出重点，切实加强四川高校领导班子思想政治建设

在实施科教兴国和人才强国战略的历史背号下，在全国高等教育进行管理体制和结构布局战略性大调整的重要时期，我省高等教育实现了连续多年的超常规、跨越式发展。但与此同时，我省高校领导班子和领导干部的整体理论素质，尤其是思想政治素质有待进一步提高；高校领导班子驾驭全局。科学决策和解决重大问题的能力尚需进一步培养；高校领导班子民主集中制和党委领导下的校长负责制需进一步完善；高校领导班子的党风廉政建设需进一步加强。对此。我们认为，必须深刻认识高等教育的发展趋势和面临的巨大挑战，以提高领导现代大学的能力为重点，切实加强我省高校领导班子思想政治建设。进一步推动我省高等教育事业全面、协调、可持续地向前发展。     

Violations of Service Fairness and Legal Ramifications: The Case of the Managed Care Industry

Adapted from Chan's (2000) model depicting success of litigation, this paper argues that with the application of various legislation, health maintenance organizations' (HMOs') violations of service fairness to each group: enrollees, physicians, and hospitals give rise to each group's lawsuits against the HMOs. Various authors (Bowen et al., 1999; Seiders and Berry, 1998) indicate that justice concepts such as distributive, procedural, and interactional justice can be applied to the area of service fairness. The violation of these underlying justice principles with HMOs' service unfairness to enrollees, physicians, and hospitals is examined. A general synopsis of the ethical issues in the managed care industry is provided. The various lawsuits launched by each group: enrollees, physicians, and hospitals together with the key statutes used are discussed. This paper also highlights the provisions and ramifications of the 11 April 2000 landmark agreement that Aetna made with Texas Attorney General John Cornyn to settle the 1998 lawsuit brought against the company. Lastly, the current ethical issues in the managed care industry are further discussed. The value of this paper can be adapted to the study of organizations' service fairness violations in other industries or in the educational, governmental, and not-for-profit sectors both nationally and internationally.     

素质教育下高校心理健康与思想政治教育关系

从高校素质教育重思想政治教育轻心理素质教育现状出发,通过分析其原因,指出高校进行心理健康教育已经是刻不容缓的事实,并指出高校应当采取思想政治教育与心理健康教育有机结合的方法,以取的更好的教育效果。     

民主政治是政治文明的标志

文章从政治文明的基本概念入手,通过三个层次论证了民主政治是政治文明的标志。首先,民主政治是政治文明的发展趋势,论述了政治文明具有动态性,总是与人类历史发展的一定阶段相适应;其次,民主政治可以借鉴人类的有益成果,论述了国家间在正确认识政治文明的特殊性与普遍性的前     

基于省域面板数据模型的金融集聚影响因素研究

利用联合面板数据模型,从金融集聚驱动机制角度出发,实证研究表明:信息不对称、规模经济和政府政策对金融集聚都具有显著性影响,其中信息自由流动和规模经济对金融集聚影响效应远高于政府政策效应,从而表明我国金融集聚程度提高转向依靠市场力量来驱动.其中,东部地区对信息不对称的依赖程度较大,中部地区金融集聚程度主要依靠政府政策来驱动,而西部地区由于经济基础落后,受信息不对称影响较大.