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Consumer innovativeness, perceived innovation and attitude towards “neo-retro”-product design
No full textInternational audienceThe purpose of this paper is to examine if “neo-retro”-product design, which is based on the reinterpretation of forms from the past, can paradoxically convey design newness and looks at how such products are perceived by innovators
How Do The Relational Investments Affect Relational Outcomes?
No full textInternational audienceThe paper integrates insights from transaction cost economics and relational exchange theory to discuss the efficacy of value-creating relational investments in affecting certain relational outcomes in context of supplier-intermediate buyer dyadic relationships. After performing PLS path modelling on a data set of 284 dyadic relationships, it has been found that value-creating relational investments made by the focal suppliers in their (intermediate) buyers positively affect various facets of satisfaction, trust and commitment (altogether, the relationship quality) of the intermediate buyers. It has been further argued that an enhancement in the relationship quality ultimately translates into an enhancement in performance of the inter - firm relationships
Common values? Fifty-two cases of value semantics copying on corporate websites
No full textInternational audienceThe present article claims that value communication literally goes without saying. Research in organizational value communication as in corporate image documents is therefore assumed to have nothing to do with the analysis of explicit value semantics. This system-theoretical claim is supported by an analysis of corporate value semantics, which is particularly focused on the copying of value semantics from one corporate website to another. As a result, we present a list of 52 companies that have copied value statements from corporate websites of RobecoSAM sector leaders listed in the DJSI. In referring to these examples, we demonstrate that the copying of value semantics makes the best case for exercising caution when it comes to the idea that value semantics promote organizational goals. Finally, we suggest that the value copying affects corporate value communication in a same vein as spam impairs the use of email and argue for an analytical turn from research in communication on values to research in value communication, which opens up new spaces for a management through allusion and, in doing so, could complement the more popular approaches to a management by value metaphors
The Impact Of Adjustment In Capital Structure In Mergers & Acquisitions On Us Acquirers Business Performance
No full textInternational audienceThis paper examines the impact of adjustment in capital structure on 850 US acquirers business performance, within five years after mergers. We consider both leverage changes and adjustment in leverage deficit as our independent variables, and use Return On Equity (ROE) and Return On Assets (ROA) to measure post-merger performance. We find that leverage changes have a negative impact on performance, in both the short and long run after Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), indicating that financial flexibility contributes to acquirers post-merger performance. The results also show that acquirers with movement toward target leverage ratio enjoy better performance after M&A, but the correlation is not significant in the long run. Therefore, high financial flexibility created by low leverage is more essential to acquirers facing costly and sophisticated post-merger integration, than target leverage ratio that minimizes financing cost immediately
Improving the efficiency of your production facility
No full textDespite the cautious optimism following the recent economic crisis, people who design, manage and maintain production facilities are still facing tough decisions. Competition from emerging economies such as the BRIC contries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), slow consumer reponse, rising prices for raw materials and uncertainty about the immediate economic future, are just a few of the issues that are continuiting to challenge production managers today
The financial crisis and the gathering of political intelligence: A cross-country comparison of SMEs in France, Sweden and the UK
No full textInternational audienceThis article reports the findings of a study that compared cross-national differences in how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) monitored political responses to the economic and financial crisis of 2007–2009. Original, empirical data collected through an online survey of 206 small business managers in France, Sweden and the UK were analysed to explore the extent that they monitored policy responses to the crisis, their motivations for doing so, and the sources of information they used for political intelligence gathering purposes. The findings show that the monitoring of political initiatives by SMEs in response to the recession varied in accordance with the extent to which their countries are affected by the recession. Also, small business managers on the whole considered it more important, despite the international nature of the crisis, to monitor political responses in national rather than supranational political settings. Contrary to our expectations, we found that SMEs across all three countries drew on similarly wide sources of information when monitoring policy responses to the crisis. Also surprising was the finding that SME managers in the UK relied heavily on official government sources when gathering intelligence on attempts to alleviate the recession’s effects
The Link Between Responsibility and Legitimacy: The Case of De Beers in Namibia
No full textInternational audienceThis article investigates the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and the reasons for which legitimacy is ascribed or denied. It fills a gap in the literature on CSR and legitimacy that lacks empirical studies regarding the question whether CSR contributes to organisational legitimacy. The problem is discussed by referring to the case of De Beers’s diamond mining partnership with the Government of Namibia. A total of 42 interviews were conducted—41 with stakeholders and one with the focal organisation Namdeb. The 41 stakeholder interviews are analysed with regard to cognitive, pragmatic and moral legitimacy as defined by Suchman (Acad Manage Rev 20(3):571–610, 1995). The main finding is that the majority of statements on organisational legitimacy refer to moral legitimacy and most issues raised in this context challenge the company’s legitimacy despite its comprehensive CSR engagement. The study demonstrates that legitimacy gaps can be a result of communication practices that raise unrealistic stakeholder expectations and that the legitimacy gained by CSR engagement in one area cannot substitute legitimacy losses caused by failures in another
The Diffusion of HR Practices in Chinese Workplaces and Organizational Outcomes
No full textInternational audienceHow relevant are human resource (HR) practices in economies undergoing significant economic transition from a command to a market-based system? Using data drawn from a large sample of Chinese establishments, the authors investigate the spread of a range of Western-style HR practices in China and estimate the relationship between the adoption of these practices and three organizational outcomes: sales per employee, total labor costs, and unit labor costs. They find a mixed result for the relationships between labor management practices and establishment productivity. While the introduction of a number of HR practices was also associated with significantly higher labor costs, the results indicate a more mixed result for the relationship between these practices and unit labor costs. Their findings further the understanding of the relationship between work practices and organizational outcomes, and they help clarify the effects of the changing economic context on HR management in China
