Interorganisational project dynamics: A longitudinal study of perceptual distance and client-contractor collaborative relationships

Despite the importance of good collaborative relationships in interorganisational projects, clients and contractors often develop adversarial relationships due to perceptual distance about key project issues. In this case study research, we investigated how perceptual distance emerges and changes over time, and how the collaborative relationship between client and contractor develops alongside these dynamics. In this exploration, we built upon agency theory and stewardship theory as complementary perspectives for understanding client-contractor collaborative relationships. We gathered quantitative and qualitative data in two projects, conducting three assessments in about one year. We found that perceptual distance increased and decreased over time, and that a reduction was typically associated with the collaborative relationship being characterized by stewardship rather than agency. These findings suggest that a regular assessment and evaluation of partners’ perceptions of critical project issues is warranted to timely detect and counteract perceptual distance. Moreover, partners would best adopt a stewardship orientation to reduce perceptual distance, although this may take considerable effort given the distributive nature of many pre-project negotiations.     

Tax Competition and Redistribution in a Two-Country Endogenous-Growth Model

This paper examines the effects of policy coordinationin a two-country world with endogenous growth and imperfect capitalmobility. Redistribution is financed by a source-based capital-incometax. Comparing the cases in which countries do and do not coordinatetheir fiscal policies, it is shown that redistribution can beinefficiently high if fiscal policies are not coordinated. Thisis because the negative effects of fiscal policy on home savingsaffect economic growth abroad by inducing a decline in foreigninvestment. This externality can dominate the well-known tax-baseexternality.     

Capital mobility,wage bargaining,and social insurance policies in an economic union

In a two-country model with mobile capital we analyse decentralized social insurance policies. These policies are a compromise between the preferences of workers and capital owners. Due to wage bargaining, worker-based social insurance contributions are borne by capital owners. These contributions affect the profitability of investment, and consequently the direction and size of capital flows. Countries will take account of these effects in determining social insurance policy. Noncooperative decision making results in tax competition and an underprovision of social insurance. In addition, increasing economic integration, represented by increasing capital mobility, could imply a divergence of social insurance levels in the two countries.     

Multinational corporations as institutional entrepreneurs: the dynamic interplay between automobile firms and the Turkish vocational education and training system

This article analyses the two-way relationship between multinational companies (MNCs) and Turkey's vocational education and training system through case studies of Japanese and German MNCs in the automotive industry. Drawing on semistructured interviews, it addresses the initiatives the MNCs have taken to guarantee skilled employees and their interaction with the Turkish vocational education and training system. The analysis shows how the MNCs have been ‘institutional entrepreneurs’ by introducing new practices. This was possible as the host environment has been open to change but also a requirement where strong industrial relations systems constituted an essential but missing home country institution.     

Knowledge diversity and coordination: The effect of intrafirm inventor task networks on absorption speed

Research Summary: We combine the absorptive capacity and social network theory approaches to predict how intrafirm “whole” network characteristics affect the firm's speed of absorption of external knowledge to produce inventions. We start from the widely accepted view that distant, externally‐developed knowledge is difficult to absorb into the focal firm's own knowledge production. We suggest that high levels of intrafirm inventor task network diversity and task network density are essential for a diversity of knowledge inputs and coordinated actions regarding knowledge transfer, which in turn, reduces problems related to the absorption of knowledge—especially in the case of knowledge that is distant from the focal firm. The results of an event history study of 113 pharmaceutical firms that engaged in technology in‐licensing from 1986 to 2003 provide general support for our hypotheses. Managerial Summary: Firms keen to keep up with an uncertain and ever‐changing industry environment, can benefit from the speedy introduction of inventions. We examine how firms absorb licensed‐in technologies to nurture the rapid development of own related inventions. We show that a firm's absorption speed depends on the characteristics of the internal collaboration networks among the firm's inventor employees. More specifically, technologically diverse and well‐connected inventor networks improve the firm's ability to absorb external technologies quickly. This applies especially to externally acquired technologies that are unfamiliar to the firm. Depending on the distance of the acquired technology from the focal firm combined with speed‐inducing inventor network characteristics, our estimates suggest that firms can reduce the time needed for absorption by several months.     

Managing sourcing team effectiveness: The need for a team perspective in purchasing organizations

To meet today’s high demands on the purchasing function, sourcing teams have become the standard in contemporary corporate purchasing organizations. Sourcing teams are often started with high expectations. However, after making a promising start many of these teams appear to be unable to operate effectively and to meet management expectations. This study shows that sourcing team effectiveness is particularly hindered by a lack of team perspective in many purchasing organizations. In this paper, the results of a large-scale, cross-sectional survey to address the success factors for sourcing teams are discussed. We aim to clarify the factors behind sourcing team performance, taking into account the specific task and organizational context. It is concluded that purchasing executives should shift their focus towards employee involvement and team processes, to enable teams to actually meet and even surpass the expectations placed on them.     

Impact of Regulatory Enforcement on Leakages Prior to Analyst Recommendations

The financial press suggests that information is commonly leaked prior to analyst recommendations. We examine the impact that three regulatory actions (Regulation Fair Disclosure, Global Analysts Research Settlement, and the legal case against Galleon Group) have on information leakage prior to analyst recommendations. We find that all three regulatory actions have significantly reduced the leakage of information prior to analyst recommendations, even after controlling for several characteristics that explain the variation in information leakage. Our results are robust when applying an alternative method of measuring information leakage, and when forming various samples of analyst recommendations based on different criteria.     

The Tradability of Services within Canada and the European Union

This paper analyses bilateral trade flows between the provinces of Canada and between the member states of the European Union using a gravity model. On average, distance is less a hindrance for services trade than for goods trade. Language and regulation differences hamper intra-EU trade significantly. Services trade, in contrast to goods trade, is also hampered by the level of regulation in the importing country. Services trade within Canada as a share of GDP is twice the intra-EU level, and estimates suggest that intra-EU services trade could more than double if the internal market functioned like the Canadian services market.     

Flexibility in Japanese internal labour markets: The introduction of performance-related pay

The introduction of performance-related pay by Japanese firms, a development known as seikashugi, stands out as the most important adjustment in their management of regular employees. This paper discusses this development and analyses its implications for the logic of Japanese employment practices. Previous analyses and developments in other countries suggest that it could imply a breakdown of the internal labour market, a key feature of Japanese employment practices. However, drawing on theories of institutional change and two studies among Japanese firms in 2002 and 2007, this paper argues that implications have been modest in spite of the appearance of convergence. Enabled by its flexibility and a continued support for the practice of lifetime employment, the Japanese internal labour market has assimilated performance-related pay and shaped its own transformation.     

The impact of transport-and transaction-cost reductions on food markets in developing countries: evidence for tempered expectations for Burkina Faso

Reductions in transport and transaction costs are expected to have a major effect on the functioning of food markets in developing countries. For Burkina Faso, this is a relevant issue as it may have important consequences for the food markets in urban and rural deficit areas. A partial equilibrium model is presented to analyze the short-term effects of reduced costs on price formation, inter-regional cereal trade, and farmers' and traders' storage strategies. Our results show that the high expectations with regard to the direct effects of cost reductions on food prices and food availability require some nuance. The effects of a reduction of transport costs will be small. Moreover, also the unintended negative consequences on the competitive position of farmers and traders in other regions that do not profit from road construction should be taken into account. Finally, it is concluded that only if transport and transaction costs are reduced simultaneously, will both the consumers and farmers benefit significantly.