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1 – 10 of 835Some capital‐intensive manufacturing businesses pose particular problems to market planners because the profit margins are often highly cyclical as seller capacity utilisation…
Abstract
Some capital‐intensive manufacturing businesses pose particular problems to market planners because the profit margins are often highly cyclical as seller capacity utilisation changes through the four‐year business cycle and may also be heavily affected by new entrants on the seller side or the emergence of strong buyers. This article examines how margins are related to market structure for Strategic Business Units in the PIMS database. Having identified that margins are related to some descriptions of market structure, it explores how the margin behaviour of capital‐intensive businesses can be modelled as changes in the relative power of buyers and sellers as the capacity utilisation of the sellers changes.
Alina Kudina, Alan M. Rugman and George S. Yip
A large and robust empirical literature demonstrates that there is a strong relationship between the performance of a multinational enterprise (MNE) and its degree of…
Abstract
A large and robust empirical literature demonstrates that there is a strong relationship between the performance of a multinational enterprise (MNE) and its degree of multinationality. We develop a new metric to capture the return on foreign assets (ROFA), which we use as an alternative metric to return on total assets (ROTA) as a dependent variable representing performance. We find a significant S‐shaped relation between ROFA and the degree of multinationality across a large set of UK firms.
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Lara Penco, Enrico Ivaldi and Andrea Ciacci
This study investigates the relationship between the strength of innovative entrepreneurial ecosystems and subjective well-being in 43 European smart cities. Subjective well-being…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates the relationship between the strength of innovative entrepreneurial ecosystems and subjective well-being in 43 European smart cities. Subjective well-being is operationalized by a Quality of Life (QOL) survey that references the level of multidimensional satisfaction or happiness expressed by residents at the city level. The entrepreneurial ecosystem concept depicted here highlights actor interdependence that creates new value in a specific community by undertaking innovative entrepreneurial activities. The research uses objective and subjective variables to analyze the relationships between the entrepreneurial ecosystem and subjective well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a cluster analysis with a nonaggregative quantitative approach based on the theory of the partially ordered set (poset); the objective was to find significant smart city level relationships between the entrepreneurial ecosystem and subjective well-being.
Findings
The strength of the entrepreneurial ecosystem is positively related to subjective well-being only in large cities. This result confirms a strong interdependency between the creation of innovative entrepreneurial activities and subjective well-being in large cities. The smart cities QOL dimensions showing higher correlations with the entrepreneurial ecosystem include urban welfare, economic well-being and environmental quality, such as information and communications technology (ICT) and mobility.
Practical implications
Despite the main implications being properly referred to large cities, the governments of smart cities should encourage and promote programs to improve citizens' subjective well-being and to create a conducive entrepreneurship environment.
Originality/value
This study is one of the few contributions focused on the relationship between the entrepreneurial smart city ecosystem and subjective well-being in the urban environment.
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Santosh K. Mahapatra, Ram Narasimhan and Paolo Barbieri
The purpose of this paper is to examine the buyer–supplier exchange dynamic in terms of the influence of product and market contingencies on the interfirm connectivity, governance…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the buyer–supplier exchange dynamic in terms of the influence of product and market contingencies on the interfirm connectivity, governance and exchange performance of interconnected dyads in multitier supply chains (MSCs).
Design/methodology/approach
Using an inductive approach, the authors analyzed the supply network of a high-end motorcycle manufacturer (OEM). Four sets of “interconnected dyads” constituting four embedded units of analysis were considered, each involving the OEM, its tier 1 and corresponding tier 2 suppliers. These interconnected dyads representing four strategic components and their sub-components offer contrasts in terms of product and market contingencies.
Findings
This analysis reveals that product and market contingencies influence patterns of dependence among firms. These in turn impact interfirm connectivity (i.e. structural characteristic), and the degree of contract formalization, collaboration and concentration of decision-making power (i.e. governance characteristics) in the interconnected dyads. The authors also found that structural and governance aspects can have mutual influence, leading to satisfactory or unsatisfactory outcomes. Propositions synthesizing the relationships among the constructs are developed.
Research limitations/implications
The constructs and their underlying relationships need to be further refined if we are to devise hypotheses and validate them at a large-scale empirical level.
Originality/value
This is one of the first studies to explore the influence of business contingencies on the complex buyer–supplier exchange dynamic in MSCs having a “beyond the dyad” perspective. The authors address why and how various types of interconnectivity are developed, and how the interplay among interfirm dependence, connectivity and governance influences the suppliers’ performance in the MSCs.
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Sarika Sharma and Sonica Rautela
This paper aims to present a literature review on the emerging field of employee moonlighting, which refers to holding more than one job at a time. It also attempts to integrate…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present a literature review on the emerging field of employee moonlighting, which refers to holding more than one job at a time. It also attempts to integrate the literature on employee moonlighting and present the related research themes.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a systematic literature review (SLR) using the basic guidelines of SLR. A search string is designed, and the prominent database is searched. The results are screened based on self-designed inclusion and exclusion criteria. The qualitative analysis of selected 89 research studies uses inductive thematic analysis and proposes a framework.
Findings
The outcome of the present study consists of a conceptual framework, themes and sub-themes related to employee moonlighting, propositions, and the pictorial representation of the overall outcome. The four key themes that emerged are determinants and traits of moonlighting intentions, the impact of moonlighting on employer and employee, policy, and economic implications, respectively.
Originality/value
The study provides insight into the factors that lead to moonlighting intentions and activity. The managers can understand and analyze these factors and can formulate policies to streamline the moonlighting activity with the organizational goals and for the company’s benefit. Academic scholars can adopt some research ideas from the themes and gaps suggested and can work on them in the near future.
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Nicola Dempsey, Mel Burton and Johanna Selin
Different models have been adopted in England over time to organise public service delivery. The purpose of this paper is to explore contracting-out, a prevalent model of public…
Abstract
Purpose
Different models have been adopted in England over time to organise public service delivery. The purpose of this paper is to explore contracting-out, a prevalent model of public service delivery in England, in relation to parks and roads maintenance delivery by examining private contractors’ performance according to local authority stakeholders.
Design/methodology/approach
Since the Conservative Government was in power during the 1980s, local authorities have been an arena for experimentation of contracting-out to private and other sectors. This paper provides a review of the academic and grey literature, and findings are presented from a large-scale online questionnaire survey (n=103) which was distributed to the relevant public realm managers in English local authorities.
Findings
The paper shows that contracting-out of parks and roads maintenance happens across the country in different ways. By and large, local authorities are satisfied with the performance of contractors, particularly as a response to economic constraints. Responsibilities, particularly for parks, are increasingly shared with non-governmental organisations, including community groups, although this is not reflected in budget distribution.
Research limitations/implications
Despite the efforts, the response rate was relatively low (32 per cent), potentially due to the e-mail communication and online nature of the questionnaire.
Originality/value
The research provides empirical evidence about how contracting-out is currently delivering public services and how it has changed in recent years. The findings suggest that responsibilities (and to a lesser extent, budgets) are increasingly shared in England between different combinations of public, private, third and community sector stakeholders. This marks a shift away from in-house public sector delivery of parks and roads services.
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THE annual election of the Library Association Council for 1946 is over. Of course, only a small part of the Council has been before the electors. The results follow an…
Abstract
THE annual election of the Library Association Council for 1946 is over. Of course, only a small part of the Council has been before the electors. The results follow an old‐established precedent, but are nevertheless curious. Why is it that country members seem not to be interested in their selection of candidates who come from the metropolitan area? There were two to be elected for London and those successful were Frank M. Gardner with 572 and Captain Richard Wright with 501 votes; there were five Country Councillors required and Miss M. F. Austin (854) and Messrs. W. A. Munford (831), F. G. B. Hutchings (817), E. Wisker (716) and E. Osborne (601) were elected. Besides the London candidates who were successful by ballot, Mr. W. B. Stevenson (447) and Mr. E. Sydney (360) will serve on the Council for shorter periods in the room of Mr. J. D. Stewart and S/Ldr. J. D. Cowley. It will therefore be seen that there is considerable disparity in the voting for the two parts of the Council. As we say, this is rather curious as it follows a long established tradition. The new members are Mr. Gardner, Mr. Stevenson, Miss Austin, Mr. Munford and Mr. Wisker; this appears to us to be a very interesting and useful team. They have already shown by definite work, mostly in the A.A.L., that they are qualified leaders amongst the younger librarians. We wish them good fortune in the carrying out of their part in the reconstruction period ahead.
Knight's Industrial Law Reports goes into a new style and format as Managerial Law This issue of KILR is restyled Managerial Law and it now appears on a continuous updating basis…
Abstract
Knight's Industrial Law Reports goes into a new style and format as Managerial Law This issue of KILR is restyled Managerial Law and it now appears on a continuous updating basis rather than as a monthly routine affair.
This article presents a cognitive framework to study dynamic/adaptive aspects of a collection of popular fit measures used in organisation research, in an attempt to highlight…
Abstract
Purpose
This article presents a cognitive framework to study dynamic/adaptive aspects of a collection of popular fit measures used in organisation research, in an attempt to highlight what there is to be gained.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a distributed e-cognition (DEC) framework to examine the current organisational literature of fit measures.
Findings
This paper highlights that most measures have a rather narrow focus and do not address dynamic/adaptive aspects in complex social systems (e.g. organisations). To both provide a way to integrate fit measures and cover the cognition gap in this literature, this article highlights the need for a more sophisticated measure.
Originality/value
This paper provides a novel approach to examining organisational fit literature through a distributed (e)-cognitive framework.
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IN these articles an attempt will be made to provide an introduction to a large subject specially serviceable to engineers. Restrictions on space make themselves felt in various…
Abstract
IN these articles an attempt will be made to provide an introduction to a large subject specially serviceable to engineers. Restrictions on space make themselves felt in various ways. Proper acknowledgments cannot be given for the sources of information beyond mention of the books of Bairstow, Lamb, Cowley and Levy, and Glauert, to which frequent reference has been made. No account can be included of the fascinating and often instructive historical development of the science; it must be assumed that proofs of various essential theorems will be sought in text‐books of Engineering, Mathematics and Physics; lastly, there can occur little opportunity for the working of illustrative examples upon which a proper grip of the subject greatly depends. The engineer of experience will detect much that, with slight generalisation, could be made capable of important use in other branches of his profession, but in this treatment we shall keep closely in view the scientific aspect of aircraft design, structural strength apart.