Revisiting carbon disclosure and performance: Legitimacy and management views

With corporate disclosure of carbon emissions rapidly increasing, the long-standing question remains whether carbon disclosure has any influence on the improvement of carbon performance. Previous studies of environmental disclosure and performance have predominantly focused on whether disclosure is a substitute for poor performance. Little attention has been devoted to the more important question about how changes in disclosure may lead to subsequent changes in performance over time. Following the rationales taken by the legitimacy and management perspectives, we revisit the relationship between carbon disclosure and performance, with a focus on changes that disclosure may (or may not) create. Using a change analysis of Global 500 companies and their carbon emission and disclosure data released between 2008 and 2012, this study finds that the change in carbon disclosure levels is positively associated with a subsequent change in carbon performance (examined through direct and indirect carbon emission intensities). Thus, regardless of whether disclosure has been used as a legitimising tool for prior poor performance, this study confirms that carbon disclosure motivates companies and creates an ‘outside-in’ driven effect for subsequent change and improvement in carbon performance. However, the association between changes in carbon disclosure and performance is relatively weaker in high energy-intensive firms.     

Carbon Cap-and-Trade in China: A Comprehensive Framework

This article proposes a comprehensive framework to explore a possible carbon cap-and-trade scheme in China. By applying the case of China, our empirical results present the demand side and supply side of carbon-emission permits in the market and several other significant findings: (i) carbon dioxide (CO₂) marginal abatement cost varies a lot among different regions; (ii) in total, CO₂ emissions could have been reduced by 5.14 billion tons if all the provinces had achieved their anticipated environmental performance during 1997–2014; (iii) the equilibrium price of CO₂ trading is 241 RMB/ton, irrelevant to the original allocation of allowances.     

Workplace isolation: salespeople and supervisors in USA

Virtual work is becoming the norm in sales organizations because it is cost effective for the firm and can benefit customers and salespeople. However, along with these benefits, virtual work brings new challenges to organizations. One critical issue is workplace isolation (WI). This study uses responses from a sample of 346 salespeoples in the pharmaceutical field to test a model that investigates the relationships among WI, self-efficacy, leadership style, extra-role performance (ERP), satisfaction with the supervisor, and turnover intentions. Salespersons perception of managers as considerate leaders are associated with lower WI levels. Salespeople with higher levels of self-efficacy are less likely to believe that they are isolated from the company and their colleagues. WI, in turn, is significantly related to satisfaction with the supervision and ERP. Managerial implications and future research directions are presented.     

The transfer of HRM policies and practices to a transitional business system: the case of performance management practices in the US and Japanese MNEs operating in Vietnam

This paper focuses on employee performance management (PM) to explore how multinational enterprises (MNEs) localise their human resources within their subsidiaries in a developing country. It uses qualitative research methods to examine four US and four Japanese MNEs operating in Vietnam. The paper identifies both home and host country effects as significant factors in the transfer of MNEs' PM policies and practices. The US firms emphasised financial and non-financial measurements and utilised a wide range of PM management tools and techniques. These techniques, despite being unfamiliar in Vietnam and possibly considered incompatible with Vietnamese culture, were transferred successfully to the Vietnamese subsidiaries. The Japanese firms' PM approach was characterised by a more informal form of regular performance review, within a strictly top-down process and which suffered from accusations of bias and lack of transparency by Vietnamese respondents. This paper argues that the transitional period in Vietnam from a centrally planned economy to a market-oriented one has made the national business system more receptive to new and seemingly contrasting practices. It provides no evidence to support the argument that transfer of practices is more likely, where the cultures of the countries involved are relatively similar.     

前卫集团企业文化建设初探

以军工企业前卫科技集团为例论述文化建设的重要性、指导思想、体系结构、基本内容,并介绍了前卫集团组织实施企业文化建设的举措。     

城市社区文化建设的实证研究

城市社区文化建设是和谐社区建设的重要内容。合肥市、马鞍山市结合本地实际,创造和形成了完备设施、健全队伍,因地制宜、特色发展,以人为本、广泛参与,资料整合、共建共享的社区文化建设特色,满足了社区广大群众的要求,为进一步推动城市社区文化建设提供了有益的启示。     

基于绩效管理的企业文化塑造

企业文化是绩效管理体系设计和运作的前提,绩效管理可以产生维持和优化企业文化的效果,两者相辅相成。重视两者的结合,将绩效管理渗透于企业文化之中,会使企业文化在企业的发展中发挥更大的作用,为企业创造更大的效益。研究企业文化和绩效管理的关系,找出它们的结合点,分析我国企业绩效文化塑造的必要性,探索基于绩效管理的企业文化塑造的具体内容和途径,建立优秀的企业绩效文化,对我国企业具有重要的现实意义。     

Export Expansion Process for Electronics:

This paper explores the changes in Hong Kong electronics manufacturing firms regarding the development of vertical channel integration as export marketing strategy. Analysis of data suggests that Hong Kong electronics manufacturers are increasingly utilizing foreign based channel intermediaries, and establishing internalized export departments and overseas sales offices to handle their export functions. in addition, a few cases of horizontal integration exist in the form of takeovers of Hong Kong manufacturing firms by multinationals from the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom.     

A Life Cycle Model for Aboriginal Arts Performance in Tourism: Perspectives on Authenticity

This paper suggests a life cycle model for aboriginal arts performance in tourism related situations from the perspective of authenticity. It is proposed that aboriginal arts performance is subject to a change and potential revitalisation process which consists of five stages: (1) the primordial state; (2) increasing involvement; (3) situational adaptations; (4) revitalisation; and (5) management for change, conservation or decline. The paper also examines the existing literature concerning authenticity in the field of tourism. It is designed to help understand and manage the increasingly complex world in which aboriginal arts can decline, survive or change.     

How Productive Is Workplace Health and Safety?

In this paper, we investigate the causal impact of workplace health and safety practices on firm performance, using Danish longitudinal matched employer–employee data merged with unique cross‐sectional representative firm survey data on work environment conditions. We estimate standard production functions, augmented with workplace environment indicators, addressing both time‐invariant and time‐varying potentially relevant unobservables in the production process. We find positive and large productivity effects of improved physical dimensions of the health and safety environment, specifically, “internal climate” and “monotonous repetitive work”.