Tina Harrison and Kathryn Waite
To provide an investigation of e‐commerce development via an examination of the forces shaping web site development among intermediaries in an extended supply chain.
Abstract
Purpose
To provide an investigation of e‐commerce development via an examination of the forces shaping web site development among intermediaries in an extended supply chain.
Design/methodology/approach
A two‐stage research design combining qualitative and quantitative methods. Unstructured interviews conducted in the spirit of phenomenology elicited a range of critical incidents of web site development which were further examined via a quantitative survey of intermediaries to test for relationships between critical incidents and web site adoption.
Findings
Adopter groups were identified which showed statistically significant differences in terms of the critical incidents driving web site development as well as differences in terms of key company characteristics. The timing of web site adoption was also found to affect the subsequent use of the technology, with early adopters making more advanced use.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations associated with the use of retrospective data and respondents’ abilities to recall events, although attempts were made to minimise these through external validation.
Practical implications
Provides useful insights for providers of financial services in understanding how to progress the adoption of web site technology by intermediaries, suggesting the development of networks of relationships involving IT suppliers rather than simply focusing on relationships with preferred intermediaries.
Originality/value
Addresses a research gap in terms of business‐to‐business e‐commerce and offers practical guidance on how to widen participation in the financial services supply chain.
Details
Keywords
Lisa Hall, Catherine Maughan, Michaela Wilkes, Tony Thorpe, Joanne Forrest and Angela Harrison
The purpose of this paper is to explore how one tertiary enabling programme designed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students uses a specifically designed pedagogy which…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how one tertiary enabling programme designed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students uses a specifically designed pedagogy which goes beyond a focus on discrete academic skills to help students develop the resilience and knowledge about learning they need to be successful in tertiary learning contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
A narrative methodology is used to explore how graduates analysed and evaluated their experience of the course.
Findings
The stories show that for these students, resilience is a dynamic and multifaceted construct. Strength, confidence and resilience for these students come from seeing and valuing the strength and resilience that already exists in Indigenous people and Indigenous knowledge systems and using this as a basis for developing their own resilience.
Originality/value
This focus on resilience can provide a transformative experience for students who have largely been marginalised from the mainstream educational system, assisting them to build the crucial “cultural capital” required to be successful in their tertiary studies, while reinforcing the strength and knowledge they already bring with them. Through this process students are offered a way of navigating the higher education landscape on their own terms.
Details
Keywords
Abstract
Details
Keywords
Life studies are a rich source for further research on the role of the Afro‐American woman in society. They are especially useful to gain a better understanding of the…
Abstract
Life studies are a rich source for further research on the role of the Afro‐American woman in society. They are especially useful to gain a better understanding of the Afro‐American experience and to show the joys, sorrows, needs, and ideals of the Afro‐American woman as she struggles from day to day.
Chengwei Liu and Chia-Jung Tsay
Chance models – mechanisms that explain empirical regularities through unsystematic variance – have a long tradition in the sciences but have been historically marginalized in…
Abstract
Chance models – mechanisms that explain empirical regularities through unsystematic variance – have a long tradition in the sciences but have been historically marginalized in management scholarship, relative to an agentic worldview about the role of managers and organizations. An exception is the work of James G. March and his coauthors, who proposed a variety of chance models that explain important management phenomena, including the careers of top executives, managerial risk taking, and organizational anarchy, learning, and adaptation. This paper serves as a tribute to the beauty of these “little ideas” and demonstrates how they can be recombined to generate novel implications. In particular, we focus on the example of an inverted V-shaped performance association centering around the year when executives were featured in a prominent listing, Barron’s annual list of Top 30 chief executive officers. Our recombination of several chance models developed by March and his coauthors provides a novel explanation for why many of the executives’ exceptional performances did not persist. In contrast to the common accounts of complacency, hubris, and statistical regression, the results show that declines from high performance may result from the way luck interacts with these executives’ slow adaptation, incompetence, and self-reinforced risk taking. We conclude by elaborating on the normative implications of chance models, which address many current management and societal challenges. We further encourage the continued development of chance models to help explain performance differences, shifting from accounts that favor heroic stories of corporate leaders toward accounts that favor their changing fortunes.
Details
Keywords
Sara Fernández, Ángela Triguero and Esteban Alfaro-Cortés
The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) on innovation and profitability in large European firms.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) on innovation and profitability in large European firms.
Design/methodology/approach
Using information from a unique micro-longitudinal database of top European R&D investors and information from the European Commission (EC) Merger Control Authority, dynamic panel estimations with firm-level fixed effects are performed. Moreover, the paper presents a qualitative case study of a merger in the European electronic and electrical equipment industry.
Findings
The analysis of a sample of 562 M&As authorized by the EC Merger Control Authority shows that mergers positively influence the R&D intensity and profitability of top companies in the European Union over the period 2004–2012. Furthermore, empirical evidence shows that the timing and magnitude of these effects differs. In particular, the positive effect of mergers on R&D intensity is found for the short and large term while they influence profitability only in the large term.
Originality/value
This paper makes several contributions. First, unlike other studies on this topic, it investigates the effects of M&As using firm-level panel data on the top 1,000 European R&D companies instead of only examining a case study. Second, a unique data set has been used, which collects information on large European firms from the European Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard and the EC antitrust authority. Finally, the paper accounts for the casual link between innovation effort and profitability when evaluating the potential effect of M&As on the R&D intensity and profitability of large European firms.
Details
Keywords
In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of…
Abstract
In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.