To access new markets and improve sourcing practices small to medium sized manufacturing companies (SMEs) increasingly seek suppliers and customers in distant countries. Yet these…
Abstract
Purpose
To access new markets and improve sourcing practices small to medium sized manufacturing companies (SMEs) increasingly seek suppliers and customers in distant countries. Yet these new relationships with global partners often pose problems of an agency nature. The purpose of this paper is to directly address these challenges through the proposal of an information and communication technology (ICT)-based framework.
Design/methodology/approach
There has been very little research into how lead SMEs manage their global supply chains and the challenges they face. This paper uses a case study investigation to analyze how four French SMEs – final assemblers of machinery in the farming and agri-business sector – manage their international supply chains.
Findings
It was observed that the relationships and interactions between the SMEs and their immediate upstream and downstream partners were dominated by the agency problem and fell into six distinct categories (termed “barriers” to effective supply integration), namely; asymmetries, contractual design, supplier dependence, product specifications, supply chain complexity and performance monitoring.
Originality/value
The contribution of this paper is that a conceptual frame work was developed in which ICT solutions are offered to help address the barriers to supply chain integration, thus reducing the overall risk exposure due to externalities and problems of agency.
Details
Keywords
Tony Cragg, Tom McNamara, Irena Descubes and Frank Guerin
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how small manufacturing firms develop and manage relationships with global suppliers and distributors. In so doing the authors aim to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how small manufacturing firms develop and manage relationships with global suppliers and distributors. In so doing the authors aim to contribute to knowledge about SMEs and supply chain management (SCM).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted 12 in-depth case studies of SME final assemblers of machinery in the French farm equipment sector.
Findings
The most effective form of global supply chain governance used by successful SMEs is informal networks involving managers in similar complementary firms, which serve to concatenate links with foreign suppliers and distributors.
Research limitations/implications
The principal limitation of this research is that it is specific to one sector and therefore questions of transferability are raised.
Practical implications
The important implication for managers in manufacturing SMEs is that links with other complementary local firms in the same sector need to be developed, leveraged and valued.
Originality/value
The originality of this case research is that the authors draw on inter-organisational boundaries, power asymmetries and network governance to develop a conceptual framework for the study of SMEs and global supply chains. By focusing on the perceptions of boundary-spanning managers, the authors show how, in circumstances of demand uncertainty, soft network governance is an effective strategic choice.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to report on the outreach activities of the Fine Arts Library at Ohio State University.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on the outreach activities of the Fine Arts Library at Ohio State University.
Design/methodology/approach
Outreach at Ohio State is intended to have global impact, but successful outreach is often hampered by lack of partnerships, funding restrictions, and a monolithic approach to the patron. The paper reflects on each of these issues and discusses the strategies used by the Fine Arts Library to conduct outreach with user‐focus and budgets in mind.
Findings
The paper finds that there are techniques for outreach that involve small outputs of funds but have larger impacts. Moving past a “one size fits all” philosophy for outreach allows the Fine Arts Library to connect with the patrons it is best able to serve.
Originality/value
While the phrase “think globally, act locally” is well‐known, it can often be forgotten in libraries, where the goal to reach as many people as possible is very important. This paper suggests that the returns on the local investment are incredibly important to the global missions of libraries.
Details
Keywords
Defines national culture, summarizing and comparing various models of national culture, including single and multiple dimension models, historical‐social models in high and low…
Abstract
Defines national culture, summarizing and comparing various models of national culture, including single and multiple dimension models, historical‐social models in high and low context and monochronic and polychronic cultures. Discusses their relevance to the study and practice of local and international management, and tabulates the main features of each model.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this article is to analyse and illustrate selected aspects of management in South Korea. South Korean management is placed within its South East Asian context; but…
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to analyse and illustrate selected aspects of management in South Korea. South Korean management is placed within its South East Asian context; but western influences on it are also identified. Parallels with French management are drawn. The article describes the national and business culture of South Korea. It analyses prevailing approaches to organisation and communication. It discusses and illustrates the changing role of the taipan, the family, the clan, and professional management within the context of the ownership and management of Korean enterprises. It examines working practices and relations. It analyses and comments on style of management. It deals with issues of internationalisation and globalisation. The article concludes by analysing a number of issues that are likely to affect South Korean management after the crisis of 1997‐1998, and more generally in the foreseeable future. The analysis is illustrated by a variety of case examples.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between access to rural product markets and the extent and nature of child labor. It is built on the view that if physical…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between access to rural product markets and the extent and nature of child labor. It is built on the view that if physical markets can shape rural development through, for instance, influencing prices, household production decisions, and employment, the associated activity growth could increase child labor.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the Uganda National Household Survey, the author combines two methodological approaches: first, a probit model to estimate the probability of a child engaging in labor, and second, a double-hurdle model to analyze the hours of child work.
Findings
The author finds that children increase time in domestic work when local product markets are distant, while their time in economic activity declines. A similar pattern is observed for the incidence of child labor. The likelihood of child labor in domestic activity increases for each extra hour of travel to the market, while child labor in economic activity declines. This could reflect the possibility that households may switch child work from market-oriented activities to domestic work when they are remotely located from markets. Results confirm findings from earlier cross-country studies that access to product markets may be detrimental to children. Second, they demonstrate that the effect of the markets varies, depending on the age of children, as well as the nature of the work they engage in.
Originality/value
No part of this work has been published anywhere before.
Details
Keywords
The objective of this study is to investigate how country risk, different political actions from the government and bureaucratic behavior influence the activities in industry…
Abstract
The objective of this study is to investigate how country risk, different political actions from the government and bureaucratic behavior influence the activities in industry supply chains (SCs) in emerging markets. The main objective of this study is to investigate the influence of these external stakeholders’ elements to the demand-side and supply-side drivers and barriers for improving competitiveness of Ready-Made Garment (RMG) industry in the way of analyzing supply chain. Considering the phenomenon of recent change in the RMG business environment and the competitiveness issues this study uses the principles of stakeholder and resource dependence theory and aims to find out some factors which influence to make an efficient supply chain for improving competitiveness. The RMG industry of Bangladesh is the case application of this study. Following a positivist paradigm, this study adopts a two phase sequential mixed-method research design consisting of qualitative and quantitative approaches. A tentative research model is developed first based on extensive literature review. Qualitative field study is then carried out to fine tune the initial research model. Findings from the qualitative method are also used to develop measures and instruments for the next phase of quantitative method. A survey is carried out with sample of top and middle level executives of different garment companies of Dhaka city in Bangladesh and the collected quantitative data are analyzed by partial least square-based structural equation modeling. The findings support eight hypotheses. From the analysis the external stakeholders’ elements like bureaucratic behavior and country risk have significant influence to the barriers. From the internal stakeholders’ point of view the manufacturers’ and buyers’ drivers have significant influence on the competitiveness. Therefore, stakeholders need to take proper action to reduce the barriers and increase the drivers, as the drivers have positive influence to improve competitiveness.
This study has both theoretical and practical contributions. This study represents an important contribution to the theory by integrating two theoretical perceptions to identify factors of the RMG industry’s SC that affect the competitiveness of the RMG industry. This research study contributes to the understanding of both external and internal stakeholders of national and international perspectives in the RMG (textile and clothing) business. It combines the insights of stakeholder and resource dependence theories along with the concept of the SC in improving effectiveness. In a practical sense, this study certainly contributes to the Bangladeshi RMG industry. In accordance with the desire of the RMG manufacturers, the research has shown that some influential constructs of the RMG industry’s SC affect the competitiveness of the RMG industry. The outcome of the study is useful for various stakeholders of the Bangladeshi RMG industry sector ranging from the government to various private organizations. The applications of this study are extendable through further adaptation in other industries and various geographic contexts.
Details
Keywords
In this study, we rely on the profitability of EP (earnings‐to‐price ratio) trading rules to infer the quality of earnings. Under the extrapolation hypothesis (Lakonishok…
Abstract
In this study, we rely on the profitability of EP (earnings‐to‐price ratio) trading rules to infer the quality of earnings. Under the extrapolation hypothesis (Lakonishok, Shleifer, and Vishney 1994), the profitability of an EP trading rule that is based on higher quality earnings (i.e., earnings that are more representative of the fundamental profit generating power of the firm), should have higher return predictability. Among the four specifications of the EP ratio examined, i.e., the conventional earnings‐to‐price, core earnings‐to‐price, gross margin‐to‐price, and ex‐ante earnings‐to‐price, we find that core earnings‐to‐price and gross margin‐to‐price significantly outperform the other two in predicting returns. This result suggests that investors view the earnings components that reflect the fundamental operation of the firm, such as sales, to be of higher quality than the rest. Further, the evidence indicates that an EP trading rule based on gross margin‐to‐price generates an abnormal return not fully explained by the market, size, and book‐to‐market.
Details
Keywords
This chapter assesses the impact of socially responsible investing (SRI) in terms of its role in governance. Governance refers to the rules, incentives, institutions and…
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter assesses the impact of socially responsible investing (SRI) in terms of its role in governance. Governance refers to the rules, incentives, institutions and philosophies for coordinating, controlling and supervising behaviour. The SRI sector purports to be a mechanism of market governance, such as through its codes of conduct and targeting of individual companies by engagement or divestment.
Method/approach
This subject-matter of the chapter is evaluated primarily through a conceptual and theoretical argument rather than empirical research.
Findings
Social investors’ capacity to ‘govern’ the market is constrained by gaps and deficiencies in the legal frameworks for the financial economy. Fiduciary law controlling institutional investors is the most important element of this governance framework. The SRI movement is starting to broaden its agenda and strategies to include advocacy for regulatory reform. But the SRI industry has devoted attention to its own voluntary codes of conduct, such as the UNPRI, which do not yet provide a sufficiently comprehensive or robust substitute for official regulation.
Social implications
Paradoxically, whereas SRI once stood for taking action through the financial economy when governments had failed to act, the sector is also somewhat dependent on the state to provide an empowering governance framework. But state regulation itself may be strengthened by partnership with the SRI industry, such as by utilising its codes of conduct to supplement official legal standards.
Originality/value of the chapter
The chapter deepens insights into the relationship between the SRI sector as a largely voluntary movement and its legal governance through the state or the market.
Details
Keywords
Solomon Opare, Md Safiullah, Muhammad Houqe and Tony van Zijl
This paper investigates the impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption and domestic investor protection on the relationship between United States (US…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates the impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption and domestic investor protection on the relationship between United States (US) cross-listing and earnings management.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper applies ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyses to a matched sample of cross-listed and non-cross-listed firms from 2000 to 2018, covering 38 countries.
Findings
We find that US cross-listed firms have lower real earnings management. The results also show that real earnings management is lower for US cross-listed firms that adopt IFRS and from high domestic investor protection countries. Our results further show that real earnings management is higher when cross-listed firms use Level 1 American Depository Receipts (ADRs) to cross-list but adopting IFRS and high domestic investor protection help reduce real earnings management. Using the SEC’s Rule 12h-6 as a quasi-natural experiment, we document that post-12h-6 Rule, firms in high domestic investor protection countries experience a reduction in both accruals and real earnings management. However, the result is the opposite in countries with low investor protection.
Originality/value
Our findings have implications for regulators and policymakers on the impact of ADR levels and Rule 12h-6 on earnings management.