bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Genealogy of a social ecologist
Authors: Linkletter Karen E. , Maciariello Joseph A.
Published: October 2009

Purpose

Most people typically view Peter Drucker as the founder of management theory, or the originator of concepts such as management by objectives. Few are aware of his larger vision of a free society of functioning organizations, much less the intellectual influences that drove that vision. This paper seeks to discuss four individuals whose ideas informed Drucker's concept of a moral society of modern institutions: Soren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Julius Stahl, Alfred Sloan, and Joseph Schumpeter.

Design/methodology/approach

Drucker's own writings, as well as correspondence, interviews, and other archival sources, are analyzed to illustrate the influence of each of the four people. Specific examples of each influence are shown, as well as a case study of one organization that exemplifies Drucker's entire vision in action.

Findings

Drucker's life and work represent a struggle to achieve his vision of a moral society of functioning organizations. His larger vision is imprinted on his ideas of the self‐governing plant community, management by objectives, leadership integrity, and the morality of profit. However, Drucker's overall vision remains elusive in practice in large part because of its complex intellectual origins.

Research limitations/implications

Future research into additional intellectual influences on Drucker's work is suggested.

Originality/value

The paper offers an in‐depth analysis of Drucker's work with respect to the influences of Kierkegaard, Stahl, Sloan, and Schumpeter, illustrating Drucker's intellectual lineage and history. It provides an important connection between the discipline of management and the liberal arts.
Peter F. Drucker: ethics scholarpar excellence
Authors: Malcolm Susan B. , Tabor Hartley Nell
Published: October 2009

Purpose

Drucker's views about ethics are supported by the philosophical foundations of Aristotle and Confucius with regard to the responsibilities and interdependencies that exist between individuals, organizations, and societies. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate Peter F. Drucker's work in the field of ethics as being applicable to the twenty‐first century and beyond.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach used to research the topic was qualitative and constructive in nature. Primary resources relied on published scholarly work from Peter F. Drucker and Aristotle, in connection with work from other scholarly sources.

Findings

The research demonstrates the continued viability of Peter F. Drucker's work in the field of ethics, as being applicable to the twenty‐first century and beyond.

Practical implications

The paper offers substantive underpinnings for the current study of ethics in the business disciplines, while at the same time suggesting that “plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose” (The more things change, the more they stay the same).

Originality/value

As a contribution to honor the life and works of Peter F. Drucker, the paper is original in that Drucker's work in the field of ethics is highlighted. The paper is supported by ancient philosophical underpinnings that offer a foundation for Drucker's work and allow his lessons to continue for generations to come.
Disseminating Drucker
Authors: Genoe McLaren Patricia , Mills Albert J. , Durepos Gabrielle
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand how Drucker's work has been disseminated through the North American management textbook since 1940, and what this tells people about the wider issue of the social construction and dissemination of management knowledge.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is a critical hermeneutic analysis of the presence and use of Drucker in over 500 management textbooks and the socio‐political context in which both Drucker's work and North American textbooks were written.

Findings

Paradoxically, while Drucker's work was found to be the most‐referenced of any management writer in the textbooks studied, his theories – apart from discussions of “Management by objectives” and the “Knowledge economy” – were rarely discussed. It is argued that the referencing of Drucker served more to legitimize selected points made by textbook authors than to discuss and build on Drucker's work. Explanation of the paradox is explored through the socio‐political contexts in which Drucker was writing, strongly suggesting that the North American textbook has developed a dominant scientivistic trope that construct business “knowledge” through the narrow lens of behavioural science.

Originality/value

While much writing can be found on the influence of Drucker on the business world and his status as a management guru, little is found on Drucker's body of work in the management textbook, which plays a key role in management education in North American business schools. The paper builds on recent management research on the role of socio‐political context in the shaping of management theory and knowledge, and makes a new contribution to one's understanding of the shaping and contours of management knowledge.
Workplace diversity in the United States: the perspective of Peter Drucker
Authors: Oyler Jennifer D. , Golden Pryor Mildred
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The emergence of diversity in organizations is typically traced to the 1960s when legislation was enacted in the USA to prohibit discrimination against ethnicity, gender, national origin, race, and religion. However, Peter Drucker found that workplace diversity had its origin in the aftermath of World War I. In response, this paper aims to address the historical evolution of workplace diversity through the lens of Drucker.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper traces the historical evolution of Drucker's perspective on workplace diversity and the circumstances that catapulted him to advocate for understanding and valuing diversity in organizations. Further, it uses passages from Peter Drucker's published accounts to illustrate his understanding of demographic trends and how these trends impacted the competitiveness of the organization and management of workplace diversity.

Findings

Drucker's early life experiences influenced him to become a tenacious advocate for workplace diversity. As a reflection of these experiences, Drucker's understanding of human resource management led him to implore his readers to use human resource practices to leverage the power of evolving demographic trends. Drucker later refined his prescriptions on workplace diversity by incorporating several assumptions from the strategic human resource management literature into his research.

Research limitations/implications

Future workplace diversity research would benefit from evaluating Drucker's propositions on leveraging the power of demographic trends through human resource management practices.

Originality/value

This historical analysis of Drucker's vast body of research provides substantial insight into his practical arguments for understanding and valuing diversity in organizations. To the best of one's knowledge, organizational researchers and management historians have not extensively evaluated Drucker's contributions to the workplace diversity literature.
Corporate social responsibility and SMEs: exploratory study on motivations from a Malaysian perspective
Authors: Nejati Mehran , Amran Azlan
Published: October 2009

Purpose

This paper investigates the need for corporate social responsibility (CSR) in SMEs. Also, it aims to explore the motivations for practicing CSR from the perspective of Malaysian SMEs.

Design/methodology/approach

Investigating the need for CSR in SMEs is done through a literature review. For the purpose of identifying the motivations for CSR practice, ten exploratory interviews were conducted with SME managers in Malaysia.

Findings

The findings show that Malaysian SMEs were mostly practicing CSR because of their own beliefs and values, religious thoughts, and pressure and encouragement from stakeholders.

Research limitations/implications

Because this is an exploratory study, a small number of interviews were conducted. Future studies can expand this and go more in‐depth.

Practical implications

The findings of the paper provide a good understanding of Malaysian SMEs' motivations for CSR, which will be helpful for policy‐makers.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is among the first studies focusing on CSR in the Malaysian SME sector. Also, the exploratory qualitative approach of the paper can provide a better vision for future research.
The effect of selling strategies on sales performance
Authors: Moghareh Abed Ghazaleh , Haghighi Mohammad
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of selling strategies on the sales performance of a company.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper briefly reviews selling strategies and the sales performance literature. It investigates how selling strategies impact sales performance in the literature and then presents statistical evidence via a case study.

Findings

The findings of this study clearly show that managers' perception of the adoption of strategies on the part of the selling firm is associated with the adoption of some specific classes of behaviors (i.e. customer‐oriented selling, adaptive selling, relational strategy) which can contribute to the creation of strong and long‐lasting positive relationships with customers.

Research limitations/implications

Based on the limitations of our study, future research could expand the generalizability of the model by conducting a much larger survey across a number of firms in different industries with a representation of different selling situations.

Practical implications

The findings emphasize the role of developing effective selling strategies to improve sales performance. Thus, recognizing these factors and the rate of their influence will enable the top managers of companies to use effective and suitable strategies for preserving and retaining customers.

Originality/value

This paper provides insights to different dimensions of selling strategies and the way they enhance sales performance. It further clarifies the relationship by statistical evidence with a case study.
Tremendous growth got you down? How to keep up with new business via a strong infrastructure
Authors: Rooney Renate
Published: October 2009

Purpose

Sometimes when business is very good, it gets in the way of actualizing a planned strategy. This knocks a company's vision way off base and keeps company personnel from ever getting back to it. This article explores how to keep doing business but not at the expense of your vision and strategy.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on real life work conducted by RCR Associates with its clients. Supporting examples are based on CEO lectures.

Findings

Successful companies achieve their growth objectives because their growth is controlled, strategic, methodical and supported by their infrastructures.

Practical limitations/implications

Practical implications include identifying critical mistakes that often deter a company from achieving its business objectives.

Originality/value

This paper is directed to C‐level executives who are formulating growth strategies for their organizations. This paper outlines key components of a strong infrastructure and mistakes that cause companies to fail.
Delayed use of healthcare services among the urban poor in Turkey
Authors: Kisa Adnan , Yilmaz Fikriye , Younis Mustafa Z. , Kavuncubasi Sahin , Ersoy Korkut , Rivers Patrick A.
Published: October 2009

Purpose

Poor people often experience a delay in meeting their healthcare needs due to their economic situation. As a result, delayed diagnoses and treatment may increase disease severity, increase the risk of death, and enhance disease transmission in the community. The purpose of this paper is to provide important information about health service delays among the poorest people in Turkey.

Design/methodology/approach

A field study is conducted among the 92 poorest households in the Etimesgut region of Ankara in order to ascertain any delays in health services among the poor, as well as the factors related to those delays.

Findings

The results of the study show that 87 percent of the households lived on a daily income of US$2.15, and that household member's delay seeking healthcare services an average of 4.66±1.17 times in the past year. Reasons for delaying or not seeking healthcare services included the following: participants thought they would get better without doing anything (7.6 percent), by using traditional herbs (12.7 percent), by using pharmaceuticals already on hand (11.4 percent), the health facility was too far away (5.1 percent), and inability to pay (63.3 percent). Significant associations are found between the delaying behaviors, socioeconomic characteristics of households, and health status.

Practical implications

At the end of the study, policy suggestions are provided for improving medical care seeking behaviors and treatment compliance among the poor.

Originality/value

Poverty is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon that consists of income insufficiency, lack of education, malnutrition, and poor health. The relationship between poverty and poor health impacts those who live in poverty as well as communities, organizations and entire countries. Reducing health disparities and decreasing delays and difficulties in access to health care among poor households are important goals.
Attitude to schooling, wage premium and child labour
Authors: Mukherjee Diganta , Bhanu Sinha Uday
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the incidence of child labour in developing countries, focusing on the role of parental attitude towards education combined with the returns to education in deciding between child labour and child education.

Design/methodology/approach

Using an inter‐temporal decision making framework, it is assumed that parents decide on the extent of schooling for their children.

Findings

Though education enhances the productivity of a worker and thereby increases the wage of an educated worker, it was found that a portion of children drop out of school before completion and join the workforce as the returns from full schooling are not high enough. This happens even when parents intrinsically value education and also because of the wage premium, which is a strictly positive function of the time spent in school. The paper examines the effectiveness of standard policies like compulsory schooling or financial incentives in reducing the incidence of child labour and finds that the effects of some of the policies are ambiguous.

Originality/value

The existing literature mainly focuses on poverty as the main reason for the incidence of child labour and usually views child labour through the lens of credit market imperfections. Unlike the existing literature, this paper emphasises the role of parental attitude towards education and the wage premium associated with schooling.
Pre‐emptive merger in a composite good framework
Authors: Chaudhuri Manas , Kabiraj Tarun
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the question of pre‐emptive merger decisions in a composite good framework where these goods have both competitive and complementary features.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper constructs a model of partial mergers when there are three firms and three goods in the production network, but consumers need only two goods to complete their consumption. This means, two of the firms produce two competing brands while the other firm produces any complementary product. Then under vertical merger cooperation takes place between two firms producing mutually compatible or complementary goods, whereas horizontal integration occurs when cooperating firms produce goods substitutes to each other.

Findings

In such a framework, partial mergers inflict strong negative externalities on the outside firms. The paper shows that loss of profits to the non‐integrated firm is higher under horizontal integration than that under vertical integration; hence pre‐emptive incentives for vertical merger are always larger. The paper clearly distinguishes between private incentives and pre‐emptive incentives for merger. If so desired, the vertically merged firm could foreclose the market of the outside firm and emerge as monopoly. Interestingly, foreclosing in our model is never optimal. The paper also provides a welfare analysis. While all‐firm merger maximizes social welfare, under vertical merger consumers are always better off. Industry profit also goes up if the goods are not so close substitutes.

Originality/value

This appears to be the first paper that discusses the question of pre‐emptive mergers in a framework of composite goods. Since, in the structure presented a horizontal merger always reduces welfare, one implication of the result is that the antitrust authority should not remain indifferent to the forms of merger actually taking place in a country.
Nonprofit perceptions of local government performance in affordable housing
Authors: Silverman Robert Mark
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how executive directors of nonprofit organizations perceive local government performance in affordable housing. It builds on a larger body of research concerning the affordable housing activities of government and community‐based nonprofit housing organizations at the local level.

Design/methodology/approach

This analysis is based on a national survey of neighborhood housing services (NHS) organizations funded by Neighborworks® America. The survey included questions about local government performance in affordable housing and perceptions of factors influencing local government funding decisions. Survey data were supplemented with information gathered from the Neighborworks® America website.

Findings

The findings of this paper indicate that NHS organizations are not completely satisfied with local government performance. Local government performance in affordable housing received lower grades than other levels of government, as well as intermediary organizations and private financial institutions. This dissatisfaction is expressed through nonprofit fields in which these organizations are embedded. These fields have witnessed declining governmental support for affordable housing and expanding influence from philanthropic organizations and the private sector.

Originality/value

This paper highlights the need for government to assume a broader and more activist role in affordable housing policy. In essence, government needs to assume a more activist stance and forge stronger partnerships with nonprofits in response to the growing influence of intermediary organizations and the private sector in nonprofit fields. This would temper some of the excesses brought on by the devolution and nonprofitization of affordable housing policy and neoliberal influences on public policy more generally.
A total change management model for successful growth of housing associations
Authors: Lam Terence Y.M.
Published: October 2009

Purpose

In the trend of mergers and growth of housing associations in the UK for providing more efficient and diversified services, the purpose of this paper is to develop an effective management model for planning and implementation of drastic, transformational changes to their organisational structures and operations, through two international organisational contexts in the social housing sector.

Design/methodology/approach

Multiple‐case study methodology was used to examine the change policies and approaches in five major housing organisations experiencing rapid growth, including four housing associations in the UK and the Hong Kong Housing Authority, in order to verify the theoretical total change management framework, which are developed from organisational change management and project management theories.

Findings

Organisational change management measures alone cannot fully explain all the successful cases. They should be applied along with project management approaches to plan and implement governance changes to ensure successful growth of housing associations. A total change management approach should be adopted, with changes focused on organisational competencies, a clear relationship of the main board and its regional members, a wider resident involvement and a variety of partnerships, as well as implementation measures focused on allocation of sufficient resources for project management steering, monitoring of organisational performance, and bottom‐up staff involvement.

Research limitations/implications

The total change management framework is developed based on five major cases. It forms the baseline on which further research can build to develop effective change management measures in many other social housing organisation settings.

Practical implications

A total change management approach should be adopted to plan and steer changes to governance structures and operations in large housing associations.

Originality/value

This study contributes to change management for successful growth of housing organisations through development of a unique total change management model to facilitate mergers and growth.
Different roads? Evidence about the changing provision of English social housing
Authors: Gibb Kenneth , Trebeck Katherine
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contextualise and assess “controlled” evidence about emerging plural provision of social housing within an English region.

Design/methodology/approach

Two matching pairs of case study social housing provider type (stock transfer associations and arm's‐length management organisations), all established between four and seven years previously and all located within the same region, are compared and contrasted through rich qualitative interviews with stakeholders, backed by secondary and other documentary evidence.

Findings

The new models have led to considerable change for both staff and tenants across many dimensions, mainly positive, in service delivery terms. It is also apparent that regulation and inspection have a dominant impact on social providers. It can be inferred from the evidence that a key challenge for the future is the lack of a clear, long‐term vision for social housing at the national policy level.

Originality/value

The paper is a rare empirical examination of wide‐ranging change to social housing in the UK. It is also unusual in its attempt to construct a quasi‐experimental series of case studies.
Using normative messages to increase healthy behaviours
Authors: Slaunwhite Jason M. , Smith Steven M. , Fleming Mark T. , Fabrigar Leandre R.
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the impact of theory‐based poster messages on stair‐climbing behaviour in a work environment. The highest‐rated poster developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada's stairway to health program was used as a comparison condition.

Design/methodology/approach

Naturalistic observation of stair traffic was conducted in order to measure the effectiveness of poster prompts on stair‐climbing behaviour. Over a period of three years, three separate studies were conducted aimed at increasing stair‐use via experimentally manipulated and theory‐based poster messages.

Findings

Results suggest that messages derived from a norm‐based framework are more persuasive than generic information‐based posters when attempting to increase stair‐climbing behaviour.

Practical implications

Small increases in health‐related behaviours at work have important consequences for both individuals and organizations. Using poster messages derived from social psychological theory could prove advantageous for practitioners attempting to increase healthy behaviours at work.

Originality/value

This research provides the first evidence for the use of norm‐based health‐related messages targeted at increasing healthy behaviours. The study makes a theoretical contribution to the creation and application of norm‐based appeals using both simple and complex message framing. Prior to this study, there was no available research on the effectiveness of such appeals on health‐related behaviour.
Are healthy and successful organizations working accordingly to quality management?
Authors: Bäckström Ingela , Larsson Johan , Wiklund Håkan
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether healthy and successful organizations are working accordingly to Quality Management. The purpose is also to describe in more detail how they are working.

Design/methodology/approach

Three Swedish organizations that have shown excellence in leadership, internal partnership, working environment and profitability have been examined, to find out what methodologies they have used for their success. To discover whether these healthy and successful organizations are working accordingly to Quality Management, Deming's 14‐point list has been used as an analytical tool.

Findings

Identified methodologies used by the healthy and successful organizations are described. Viewed in the light of the analysis, a relationship between the three examined healthy and successful organizations and Quality Management is indicated.

Practical implications

Working with the methodologies described here, the three organizations have improved co‐worker health. Other organizations could probably adopt the identified and described methodologies to improve the health of their co‐workers and effectiveness in the organization.

Originality/value

Concerning the performance evaluation and the continuous improvement component in Quality Management, substantial contributions could be made to the health area by applying the tools that the quality area have used over a considerable period to improve the quality outcomes. Quality and health aspects have common success factors, and a focus on high quality could be seen as being positive for health outcomes.
Pursuing relevance and sustainability
Authors: Jonny Klakegg Ole
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify effective strategies to improve the governance of public projects. This paper investigates the challenges in the front end of major public investment projects and identifies problems leading to lack of relevance and sustainability. It is argued that these are the most important problems from a strategic perspective. Effective improvement strategies are derived from this perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

The results of a survey are presented, elaborating on the assessments of 80 international senior experts, supplemented with in‐depth interviews. The results are analysed and compared with published literature.

Findings

Lack of relevance comes from projects not linking to users' needs and from unclear objectives. Lack of sustainability comes from unsolved conflict over objectives, lack of commitment, and faulty economic assumptions. This knowledge leads to identification of effective improvement strategies for existing governance frameworks.

Research limitations/implications

The results can be generalized to cover Western, developed countries with an established governance framework for major public projects. Transfer to other regions of the world should only be done with careful consideration. The results cover public sector, but with some considerations can also be transferred to the private sector.

Practical implications

For those involved in improving existing governance frameworks for public projects, the process should start with the causes indicated in this paper in order to be effective.

Originality/value

Current literature on projects frequently discusses success and failure. It tends to identify the most common problems and success factors without being clear as to which problems are the most important in a strategic perspective. This paper contributes to such discussions.
Index funds and diversification in Saudi Arabia
Authors: Benjelloun Hicham , Abdullah Abdulkader M.A.
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how best to diversify in Saudi Arabia's stock market.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis proceeds as follows: first, repeated sampling with replacement from a sample of 62 actual companies' monthly stock returns from January 2001 to June 2006 is used to simulate the performance of various portfolio sizes; second, a modified Statman diversification model is used to evaluate the performance of index funds in Saudi Arabia and thus assess the size of a diversified portfolio.

Findings

This paper reaches two important findings: first, due to high index funds fees, investors are better off diversifying by purchasing stocks directly from the stock market; second, a portfolio containing five randomly chosen stocks is sufficient to achieve diversification.

Originality/value

This paper provides useful recommendations on how to achieve diversification. Additionally, it highlights the fact that index funds are too expensive to be useful in Saudi Arabia.
Islamic revival in human resource management practices among selected Islamic organisations in Malaysia
Authors: Hashim Junaidah
Published: October 2009

Purpose

In an era where religion predominantly presents an integral influence on the way most people live and work, an Islamic approach in managing human resources in Malaysia is apt. This is due to the fact that Muslim employees represent the largest percentage of the workforce in Malaysia and the Malaysian government is implementing an Islamization process in the country. The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which Muslim employees are aware of Islamic human resource management (HRM) practices and the extent to which Islamic organisations in Malaysia practice HRM based upon the Islamic approaches as outlined by the sacred Islamic texts.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a survey‐based research. It uses a self‐developed questionnaire for data collection. A total of 121 Muslim employees who work in Islamic organisations participate as respondents in this paper. Factor analysis is used for data analysis.

Findings

The results show that the selected Muslim employees in Islamic organisations in Malaysia are aware of the Islamic HRM practices which they practice frequently.

Practical implications

Religious foundations of HRM strategies are important but are rarely highlighted in the literature. This paper would become an important reference for future studies pertaining to HRM practices in the Islamic context. An introduction to Islamic human resource practices is an initial attempt to provide managers with an additional way of managing people. For Muslim human resource managers who work in Islamic organisations, i.e. those Muslim‐owned or dealing with Islamic teachings, it is an obligation for them to not only know but also to apply the Islamic approach in managing employees. Non‐Muslim managers would have a better understanding of the expected and acceptable behaviours of their Muslim employees at the workplace. Among the behaviours expected of true Muslim employees; regardless of whom they work for, are honesty, trustworthiness, and continuous determination to work for the best.

Originality/value

This paper is unique from other previous studies for instead of discussing Islamic management in general, this paper explores in depth every function of HRM based on authentic Islamic sources, as well as providing empirical evidence.
China's pattern of trade and growth after WTO accession
Authors: Zhao Longyue , Wang Yan
Published: October 2009

Purpose

World Trade Organization (WTO) accession marked a new beginning for China's economic, legal and institutional reforms and rapid integration with the rest of the world. The purpose of this paper is to review China's post‐WTO transition experience, synthesize and update studies on China's pattern of trade and structural transformation, and provide both positive and negative lessons for other developing countries.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper has broadly reviewed the latest policy changes after China's WTO accession, and literatures on China's trade and economic development issues in order to understand the Chinese success and its speciality, and draw some useful lessons for both China's decision‐makers and other developing countries.

Findings

There are two main findings: first, market liberalization alone is not sufficient, and economic system reform and the liberalization are closely related and complement and promote each other. Second, experimentations via special economic zones (SEZs) and opening to foreign direct investment (FDI), which facilitated and supported cluster development and learning‐by‐doing, are needed for industrial upgrading and export competitiveness.

Originality/value

The paper demonstrates the wisdom of China's simultaneous pursuit of domestic economic system reform, and opening to the international market. However, China has also paid a high social and environmental cost for its rapid growth. It is important for developing countries to have an exclusive, balanced and sustainable strategy in the future development.
The comparison of innovation activities and international trade effect in China and Japan in the era of knowledge economy
Authors: Zeng Zhu
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between patent innovation activities and foreign trade competitiveness and analyze China's level of independent knowledge innovation internationally, especially in comparison with Japan.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach takes the form of a statistical and econometric analysis of granted patents and trade export effect of China and Japan, based on the monthly data of foreign trade import and export and of patents granted by China's national intellectual property bureau in Japan and China, respectively, from 2004 to 2007.

Findings

Through Johansen's co‐integration test, Granger causality test and other methods, this paper verifies that a country's inventions can directly promote export trade, and its pulling effect is more visible than the total patents. Tests also manifest that the innovative activities in Japan play a more significant role in enhancing its exports than in China. Comparison of large amounts of data shows that the gap between China and Japan on independent knowledge innovation is obvious.

Research limitations/implications

These imply that in the era of knowledge economy, a country's sustainable capacity for independent innovation is the key to trade and national competitiveness.

Practical implications

China urgently needs to build a national innovation system; make great efforts to cultivate national competitive advantage centred on knowledge advantage; and improve its overall competitive strength.

Originality/value

The paper assesses the importance of innovation activities represented by patents from the quantitative view and the difference of impact degree between China and Japan.
Are sovereign wealth funds “white knights”?
Authors: Couturier Jerome , Sola Davide , Stonham Paul
Published: October 2009

Purpose

In the continuing credit squeeze, sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are still active in international lending and are eagerly sought out by large, cash‐strapped companies in the West. The purpose of this paper is to examine their nature and strategies before and after the onslaught of the credit crunch and global economic downturn in order to advise corporates on how best to design their strategies and terms in approaching the SWFs for funds.

Design/methodology/approach

An analysis is made of SWFs in their dealings with Western corporate borrowers and a case study made of Barclays Bank which, faced with three major options in 2008 to raise a large amount of cash, chose to attract funding from three Gulf SWFs.

Findings

SWFs certainly qualify as lenders of last resort (“white knights”), providing ready loans, albeit on premium terms, at a current time of severely restricted credit supply from other sources. Alternative sources of funds – stockholders and government bail‐out – also suffer from disadvantages relating to the characteristics of their loans.

Practical implications

Corporate borrowers should currently view SWFs as attractive “white knight” sources of loans when other providers are constrained. The analysis in this paper, including the experience of a major borrower, Barclays Bank, suggests that SWFs are demanding tougher terms as a result of their strong bargaining positions and historical losses, and that companies should tailor SWF loan contracts to contain maximum incentives and safeguards to produce successful results.

Originality/value

This is the first paper to analyse the new role and strategies of SWFs in the credit crisis context, as well as the required response of cash‐strapped companies seeking loans from them.
“Looking behind the veil”
Authors: Holland John
Published: October 2009

Purpose

This paper aims to use a grounded theory approach to reveal that corporate private disclosure content has structure and this is critical in making “invisible” intangibles in corporate value creation visible to capital market participants.

Design/methodology/approach

A grounded theory approach is used to develop novel empirical patterns concerning the nature of corporate disclosure content in the form of narrative. This is further developed using literature of value creation and of narrative.

Findings

Structure to content is based on common underlying value creation and narrative structures, and the use of similar categories of corporate intangibles in corporate disclosure cases. It is also based on common change or response qualities of the value creation story as well as persistence in telling the core value creation story. The disclosure is a source of information per se and also creates an informed context for capital market participants to interpret the meaning of new events in a more informed way.

Research limitations/implications

These insights into the structure of private disclosure content are different to the views of relevant information content implied in public disclosure means such as in financial reports or in the demands of stock exchanges for “material” or price sensitive information. They are also different to conventional academic concepts of (capital market) value relevance.

Practical implications

This analysis further develops the grounded theory insights into disclosure content and could help improve new disclosure guidance by regulators.

Originality/value

The insights create many new opportunities for developing theory and enhancing public disclosure content. The paper illustrates this potential by exploring new ways of measuring the value relevance of this novel form of contextual information and associated benchmarks. This connects value creation narrative to a conventional value relevance view and could stimulate new types of market event studies.
A multi‐regional representation of China's agricultural sectors
Authors: Wittwer Glyn , Horridge Mark
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to outline a version of SinoTERM, a multi‐regional computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of China that has been updated and disaggregated further to enhance the agricultural detail. A version of the model is publicly available and will be useful to CGE modelers studying Chinese agricultural issues (www.monash.edu.au/policy/sinoterm.htm).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper outlines data sources for building SinoTERM. It contains a CGE application to agriculture in China. Unlike the national input‐output table published by the National Bureau of Statistics, the master database of SinoTERM contains many agricultural sectors.

Findings

CGE models that represent a nation as a single economy may offer rich insights into winners and losers from particular policy scenarios. Multi‐regional analysis takes this a step further by comparing outcomes for regions in which particular industries are a relatively large part of the economy.

Research limitations/implications

This paper builds on the first SinoTERM paper in several ways. First, the database is disaggregated further to represent tea, sugar cane and silkworms as individual sectors in the CGE database. Second, given the extraordinary economic growth in China, the national and regional database has been updated to 2006 using data from the 2007 yearbook. Third, the paper contains an application to agriculture: it examines the impacts of productivity growth in different agricultural sectors in China.

Originality/value

The regional CGE model used in this application could be used to explore many other policy issues concerning agriculture in China.
The farmland property rights deformity: the history, reality and reform
Authors: Luo Biliang , Fu Bo
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to summarize the institutional evolution of China's farmland property rights deformity with its internal logic, analyze its property rights deformity and the invasions of these rights under the family operation background, and puts forward fundamental suggestions for reforming farmland property rights in China.

Design/methodology/approach

The concept of “public domain” raised by Barzel in 1989 is used and extended to analyze China's farmland system.

Findings

There exist five sorts of public domain and two apparent characteristics of property rights deformity: the unclear final controlling rights for some valuable attributes of goods of the “public domain”; and the “public domain” deliberately created by the government. The public domain caused by technical factors and owner's real capability are herein excluded.

Originality/value

China's past and present farmland system is a result of the government's compulsory system arrangements instead of market evolution. The expansion of public domains III and V has directly shrunk peasants' residual property rights. The concept of “public domain” is developed to reveal the essence of China's farmland property rights deformity.
Knowledge transfer between Australia and China
Authors: Courtney Lyn , Anderson Neil
Published: October 2009

Purpose

This paper aims to address the mechanisms of, and barriers to, knowledge transfer between Australia and China in the tertiary sector.

Design/methodology/approach

Individual focused interviews are conducted with one Chinese and ten Australian senior academics engaged in supervisory roles at all levels of knowledge transfer. Content and sociolinguistics analysis is conducted on the questions: How is knowledge transferred between key academic/research staff? What is the potential for commercialization of research findings between Australia and China? What role does information and communication technology (ICT) play in knowledge transfer?

Findings

Knowledge transfer between Chinese and Australian universities consists of research partnerships, collective publications, and joint degree programs. One‐way transfer of knowledge from Australia to China, rather than the desired reciprocal transfer of knowledge, appears to be most common. Barriers to bi‐directional knowledge sharing include misunderstandings surround intellectual property and cultural differences, which undermine trust between China and Australia. The participants overwhelmingly hold optimistic views about the potential of commercialization of research findings between China and Australia and report that ICT enhances communications assisted in successful knowledge transfer. However, ICT is reported to be under‐utilized because of unequal access to hardware and broadband in China as well as blocking and censorship of communication by China.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the discourse on international, intercultural and bi‐directional knowledge transfer in the tertiary sector and has implications for enhanced academic and research excellence between China and Australia. Moreover, insight into the mechanisms of successful knowledge transfer may be applicable to improve knowledge transfer between Australia and other countries.
Ethics in the construction industry: the prospects for a single professional code
Authors: Mason Jim
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to consider the potential for generating improved levels of ethical conduct within the construction industry through the introduction of a single industry‐wide professional code.

Design/methodology/approach

The Society of Construction Law's Statement of Ethical Principles (the Code) is used as a model. The paper consists of a detailed critical analysis of the Code which it places within the context of previous studies, internationally, on the role of unethical conduct within the industry, and of the role that criminal sanctions can play in addressing this.

Findings

The paper concludes that a single industry‐wide code has a contribution to make in improving the ethical standards of conduct within the industry. However, ethical improvement can ultimately only be delivered by reducing the numbers of situations where industry participants consider it necessary to seek an advantage at someone else's expense. Other measures – in particular an increase in the incidence of longer term relationships and collaborative working – are also likely to play an equally important role.

Originality/value

The paper provides a new interpretation of existing sources on business and professional ethics and offers new insights into the topic area by emphasising its relationship with collaborative working.
Novel ant colony optimization approach to optimal control
Authors: Marinus van Ast Jelmer , Babuška Robert , De Schutter Bart
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel ant colony optimization (ACO) approach to optimal control. The standard ACO algorithms have proven to be very powerful optimization metaheuristic for combinatorial optimization problems. They have been demonstrated to work well when applied to various nondeterministic polynomial‐complete problems, such as the travelling salesman problem. In this paper, ACO is reformulated as a model‐free learning algorithm and its properties are discussed.

Design/methodology/approach

First, it is described how quantizing the state space of a dynamic system introduces stochasticity in the state transitions and transforms the optimal control problem into a stochastic combinatorial optimization problem, motivating the ACO approach. The algorithm is presented and is applied to the time‐optimal swing‐up and stabilization of an underactuated pendulum. In particular, the effect of different numbers of ants on the performance of the algorithm is studied.

Findings

The simulations show that the algorithm finds good control policies reasonably fast. An increasing number of ants results in increasingly better policies. The simulations also show that although the policy converges, the ants keep on exploring the state space thereby capable of adapting to variations in the system dynamics.

Research limitations/implications

This paper introduces a novel ACO approach to optimal control and as such marks the starting point for more research of its properties. In particular, quantization issues must be studied in relation to the performance of the algorithm.

Originality/value

The paper presented is original as it presents the first application of ACO to optimal control problems.