Globalization and Confrontation: The Transformation of the Australian Coal Industry

The Australian coal industry serves as a vivid illustration of the impact of globalization on workplace organization and workplace industrial relations. In this contribution we outline the changes and developments, from the organization of production through to the product market, that are impacting on workplace organization and industrial relations of the Australian coal industry. In particular the authors highlight the attempts and strategies of management to increase productivity, to realize functional and numerical flexibilities in the deployment of labour and to deregulate employment relations. Simultaneously, trade unions are faced with institutional, legal and global competitive pressures to conform to the flexibility strategies of managers. The result has been persistent and sporadic outbreaks of industrial disputation in the midst of the erosion of employment conditions and a shift towards greater managerial control of the labour process. The forces identified as globalization are systematically transforming workplace organization and impacting on the strategies of coal mine managers and trade unions.     

Risky recreation: an exploration of factors influencing the likelihood of participation and the effects of experience

The purpose of this research was to systematically examine factors that may influence participation in risky recreational activities. Because more people participate in risky leisure activities, it is important to acquire a more in-depth understanding of the factors influencing their behaviours. We examine these issues in the context of a survey concerned with participation in the sport of mountain biking. Results revealed that experience influenced risk perceptions, expected affective outcomes, and the attractiveness or appeal of the activity. In addition, expected affective outcomes moderated the influence of experience on appeal. The likelihood of participation in a high-risk consumption activity was determined by affective outcome expectancies, appeal of the activity, risk perceptions, and prior experience. The results also indicated that the activity's appeal moderated the influence of perceived risk on the individual's likelihood of participation.     

The influence of the political environment and destination governance on sustainable tourism development: a study of Bled,Slovenia

In the context of sustainable tourism development, there are many studies about the exchange process between residents and tourism, yet this issue is practically unexplored with respect to the political environment of tourism. Therefore, this paper introduces and posits that the political environment is a necessary enabler for implementing sustainable tourism. The authors extend the established three-pillar sustainability concept by adding in the political dimension. Then they surveyed how residents' positive and negative perceptions of tourism impacts determine their satisfaction with life in the tourism destination and thus their support for tourism in their community. The model was empirically tested within the context of the long-established Alpine destination of Bled in Slovenia. The findings confirm the importance of the political environment and question the sustainability of Bled's tourism development. It is suggested that the community has relatively weak destination governance due to the underdeveloped political environment. The survey expands and deepens the tourism sustainability debate by adding in the political environment and how it relates to the emerging growth of research on destination governance. The proposed model can be adapted and applied to any destination in order to improve its governance, including the implementation of sustainable tourism development.     

Standardization vs. adaptation: consumer reaction to TV ads containing subtitled or English dubbed ads

The aim of this study is to gain a better insight into the effect of using linguistically standardized (in English) TV adverts as opposed to two types of linguistically adapted commercials (dubbed in the local language or subtitled in the local language) on attitude-towards-the-ad and attitude-towards-the-brand. We ran a between-subjects experiment in three countries (Italy, Germany, and Spain) with three different versions of commercials (English only, dubbed in the local language, and subtitled in the local language) and assessed the effect of three different versions of the ads on attitude-towards-the-ad and on attitude-towards-the-brand. Results indicate that English-only adverts were less preferred than the alternatives and led to lower brand attitudes as well. This result was consistent for three advertised products (mobile phone, canned drink, and automobile) and replicated in all three countries, showing that this effect is robust.     

The Effects of the Economic Downturn on Interdependent Buyer–Supplier Relationships

The management of strategic buyer–supplier relationships is a critical concern for sourcing managers. The selection of key suppliers and how relationships with these suppliers are managed and incentivized can dramatically affect the buying company's performance. While the extant literature focusing on industrial buyer–supplier relationships is significant, the severe economic downturn beginning in 2008 tested buyer–supplier relationships in unprecedented ways, yielding new insights. The research presented in this paper uses dyadic cases to investigate transformations within industrial relationships during the economic downturn. Propositions are formulated that focus on why and how firms responded to the downturn. Three primary types of relationships are identified. The results indicate variation in the ways buying companies managed their key supplier relationships during the downturn: some firms behaved more cooperatively and found ways to jointly confront the effects of the downturn, while others responded by behaving competitively to maximize their individual outcomes. The results further suggest that researchers need to revisit existing models of relationship development and dissolution to understand how these relationships evolve or devolve. The research also raises questions about the value of physical and human asset specificity, and social investments in curtailing opportunistic behavior in times of severe economic stress.     

风险投资网络社群行为研究述评与展望

从中观网络社群视角解读风险投资行为已成为当今理论研究的热点内容。通过相关文献梳理,描述了风险投资网络社群行为概念的产生过程。从社群内和社群间两个视角对网络社群行为类别进行研究;从社群结构、社群差异、网络节点特征等方面剖析网络社群行为的影响因素;从知识转移、资源获取与利用、第二者意见等方面探讨网络社群行为的作用。在此基础上,提出了风险投资网络社群行为的整合研究框架,并对未来研究进行了展望。     

企业组织复杂适应性的结构维度

本文基于复杂适应系统理论和组织理论,在国内外复杂适应组织相关研究成果的基础上,对企业组织复杂适应性结构维度进行了探讨。通过分析468家企业的有效样本,并利用EFA和CFA对该假设进行规范的实证分析,得出动态适应、自组学习、自发变革、自主创新、柔性协作等5大因子,并阐述了5个因子的含义及应用。     

面向用户创新社区的企业知识创新价值链模型研究

定义了用户创新社区,根据SECI模型,描述了用户创新社区中的知识创新过程。基于网络环境下知识创新和用户行为特征,构建了基于用户创新社区的企业知识创新价值链模型,分别研究了模型中提出的知识创新辅助活动和知识创新基本活动。以小米科技为例,指出了实施基于用户创新社区的企业知识创新模式的具体实施步骤和措施。     

Winners and losers from financial derivatives use: evidence from community banks

This article provides empirical evidence on how profitability of small community banks was affected by derivatives use before and after the 2008 crisis. We use an endogenous switching regressions model to estimate the sensitivity of bank profitability to risks and control for the endogenous choice to use or not to use derivatives. We then compute counterfactual effects and show how profitability would have looked without derivatives use for banks that used derivatives and how it would have looked with derivatives for banks that did not use derivatives. The results show that derivatives helped reduce the sensitivity of profitability to credit risks and improved profitability for most specialists. However, for the largest number of banks which are non-user non-specialists, devivates use would have resulted in lower return on assets had they used derivatives post 2008. Therefore, our evidence suggests that implementation of the Volcker Rule, imposing high compliance costs on community banks and, thus, discouraging hedging, may have a negative impact on profits of specialists banks but, overall, a neutral effect on profits in the community banks industry as a whole.     

工程共同体视域下重大科技示范工程过程管理模型研究

对比分析了国外现有重大科技示范工程过程管理模型,根据重大科技示范工程技术成熟度低、利益相关者目标不一致等特点,将工程共同体概念引入示范工程中。基于工程共同体中重要利益相关者的职责、交付成果,确定管理关键决策点,提出了适用于国内重大科技示范工程的过程模型。