bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
What Does it Mean to be Enterprising?
Authors: Caird Sally
Published: March 2005

The last ten years in the U.K. have witnessed an acceleration of interest in enterprise education. The aims of enterprise education initiatives include helping people to start businesses; promoting awareness of enterprise; and creating the educational conditions for people to become more enterprising (Jamieson, 1984). This diversity of aims implies that enterprise is perceived differently by educationalists involved in enterprise education. This paper seeks to clarify the meaning of enterprise by exploring some key questions:

Why is enterprise considered important?

What insights are offered by enterprise education initiatives on the meaning of enterprise?

How useful is a study of entrepreneurs for a study of enterprise?

These questions dictate a need for further research to explore and clarify the meaning of enterprise. This is crucial for educationalists who wish to educate and assess enterprise as well as decide on the educational value of enterprise education. The relationship between enterprise competencies and small business owner management and employee competencies would be also clarified with an understanding of what it means to be enterprising.
State‐of‐the‐Art Developments in Expert Systems and Strategic Marketing Planning
Authors: McDonald Malcolm H. B. , Wilson Hugh N.
Published: March 2005

This paper describes a case history of the development of an Expert System in Strategic Marketing Planning codenamed EXMAR. It traces the evolution of the system from the formation of the DTI club two years ago to the launch of the prototype model. The paper outlines the technical and domain–specific obstacles encountered en route and how these were overcome. A number of conclusions are drawn from the project. The principal one is that there is a bright future for expert systems in the field of strategic management.

Professor Malcolm McDonald is the principal expert to the club. Hugh Wilson is a senior consultant with Artificial Intelligence Ltd. He was also the knowledge engineer and the project manager. For readers who would like a simple explanation of Expert Systems, please refer to Professor McDonald's paper ‘Marketing Planning and Expert Systems: an Epistemology of Practice’, Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 7, 7/8, 1989.
The Strategic Management of IT Investment Decisions: A Research Note
Authors: Sheppard Juliet
Published: March 2005

The concept that Information Technology can be used as part of an organization's strategy changes its role in the organization. Whilst investments associated with current or ‘more of the same’ computer systems are proposed by the DP manager, requests for investments associated with the use of IT as a competitive weapon come from a much wider audience. Since the size of the investment may be large and its potential impact on the organization profound there is a need to objectively analyze and manage such investments at the strategic level. Sophisticated models exist in the literature (Butler, 1988; Porter, 1988; Marsden, 1988; Synott, 1987) and there is much research to support the view that IT and corporate strategic models need to be aligned (Feeney & Brownlee, 1986; Haffenden, 1988 and Brewer, 1987). However the results from in‐depth interviews with highly placed managers suggest that the decisions are based on more informal processes and that there exists differing views on the relationship between IT and corporate strategies.
Managing Strategic Change; The Role of Symbolic Action
Authors: Johnson Gerry
Published: March 2005

As our understanding of processes of strategic management develop, it is clear that the problems of managing major shifts in strategy, which organizations face on occasions, are of a different order to the typically incremental strategy development they follow. It is also recognized that these problems are closely linked to cognitive and cultural dimensions of organizations. Research on the management processes associated with more fundamental strategic change is still sparse, but suggests that it requires substantial cognitive shifts in which intervention, often by new corporate leaders, and political and symbolic, as well as more substantial action, is likely. This paper draws together the author's and other research in related fields, to formalize explanatory models, which link organizational inertia of strategy, more fundamental strategic change, and in particular the symbolic management activities of corporate leaders as strategic change agents.
Men Managers and Women Workers: Women Employees as an Under‐used Resource
Authors: Ashburner L.
Published: March 2005

In response to current demographic changes many organizations are focusing on the recruitment and retention of women employees and issues such as nurseries, flexible working and retainer schemes are being discussed. If the objective of such initiatives is to increase the opportunity for women to participate more fully at all levels within organizations rather than just to increase the total number of women working, then the issues which need to be addressed are much wider.

This paper is based upon two studies carried out within the Building Society sector. This research, when compared with earlier studies, shows that there has been little change in the pattern of women's employment, with relatively few women reaching management. The main barriers to women's progress are identified and the research shows how many of the policies, processes and practices found within organizations were indirectly discriminatory. Underlying these organizational features were management attitudes to, and expectations of, women employees.

What is required is management education which incorporates gender awareness training and an analysis of organizational processes, to obtain an understanding of how gender strategies are incorporated into management strategies. Only then will women be able to take full advantage of the opportunities which are emerging, and only then will organizations gain a real advantage by realizing the full potential of their women employees.
The Determinants of Corporate Profitability in the UK Electrical Engineering Industry
Authors: Grinyer Peter H. , McKiernan Peter
Published: March 2005

The structure‐conduct‐performance model is extended to include managerial factors. Multiple regression of data for 45 companies in the electrical engineering industry shows market share, capital intensity, growth of sales, tightness of control of working capital and decentralisation to contribute significantly to an explanation of corporate profitability.
Key Characteristics of the Large Innovating Firm*
Authors: Pavitt K.
Published: March 2005

Large innovating firms are a major source of the world's technology, and in the 20th century have shown great resilience in absorbing successive waves of radical innovations. The key characteristics of these firms derive from the properties of their innovative activities. First, given the specific, differentiated and cumulative nature of technological development, the range of possible choices about both product and processed technologies open to the firm depends on its accumulated competence. Second, given functional and professional specialization, the implementation of technological choices requires organization and orchestration across disciplinary, functional and divisional boundaries. Third, given cumulative development and uncertainty, the improvement of these competences requires continuous and collective learning. Fourth, in the light of these characteristics, systems for allocating resources must take into account the benefits of learning by doing, as well as the benefits of outcomes. As a consequence, the technical function in large firms involves not just the implementation of innovations, but also the definition of appropriate divisional objectives and boundaries, the exploration of radical technologies, and the formation of technological expectations about the future.
The Adaption of Management Accounting Systems to Changing Market Conditions: Japanese Evidence
Authors: Gietzmann Miles , Inoue Shin'ichi
Published: March 2005

This paper considers how Japanese management accounting interfaces with the new production environments being implemented in Japan. A review of evidence on the relative importance of the set of management accounting and production engineering techniques is presented. On the basis of these results the paper presents tentative predictions about the evolutionary path of future management accounting in Japan.
Institutional Theory: Employing the Other Side of Rationality in Non‐profit Organizations1
Authors: Euske Nancy A. , Euske K. J.
Published: March 2005

The non‐profit sector has become increasingly important in diverse economic, political and social environments. It is not clear that we have effectively communicated, to colleagues, students and decision makers, theoretical developments useful for understanding and managing non‐profit organizations. This paper discusses the potential implications of institutional theory to the management of one type of non‐profit organization, the publicly supported non‐profit organization with input‐output relationships that are not well understood. We review institutional theory and discuss the implications of institutional theory to the management and evaluation of publicly supported non‐profit organizations.
Limitations to Freedom: is there a Choice for Human Resource Management?
Authors: Paauwe Jaap
Published: March 2005

There is a great variety in human resource management (HRM) practices, not only in terms of policies and personnel activities, but also with regard to the parties involved and the procedures for decision‐making. But which factors can best account for these differences? Are they due to organizational and environmental characteristics or are they basically due to the interests, preferences and power positions of the parties concerned ‐ parties like management, employees, personnel management staff, trade union representatives, members of the works council and so on?

Based on elements of industrial relations theory, organization theory and organization sociology, a research project was set up with the aim of gaining a better understanding of the factors which can shape HRM practices. The empirical part of the research consisted of paired comparative case studies from different industries. The result is a conceptual model which not only encompasses the relevant forces in the shaping of HRM, but also states the conditions determining the amount of room for manoeuvre the parties concerned have to make their own strategic choices with regard to HRM.
Technology Learning, Technology Strategy and Competitive Pressures
Authors: Dodgson Mark
Published: March 2005

This paper develops some hypotheses concerning technological learning in firms. The hypotheses are examined using a detailed study of Europe's leading dedicated biotechnology firm, Celltech Ltd. It relates how the competitive pressures facing the company, and similar US companies, have changed over the past decade, and how Celltech's technology strategy has placed considerable emphasis on technological learning in order to maintain its competitive position compared with large, multinational pharmaceutical companies. Some of the features of technological learning are examined, including: its purposive character; its differential and complex nature; its internal and external components; the complementary nature of the company's technology and human resource development strategy; and the importance of organizational considerations.
An Examination of the Economic Circumstances Surrounding Decisions to Capitalize Brands
Authors: Mather P. R. , Peasnell K. V.
Published: March 2005

The paper reports both the results of an empirical investigation into the effects of the decisions of 13 UK companies to include brands in their published balance sheets on the prices of their shares, and also an examination of the motivations for these decisions from a costly contracting perspective. Price gains appear to be positively associated with the proportionate increase in reported net assets caused by capitalizing brands. On the other hand, when allowance is made for the contemporaneous release of other information, little, if any, of the share price behaviour around the announcement dates can be attributed to the capitalization of brands ‐ a finding consistent either with the capital market having already formed unbiased expectations of brand values prior to disclosure, or with ills having serious doubts about the credibility of the valuations. Consistent with a costly contracting perspective of accounting method choice, we found that brand capitalization had a marked impact on reported gearing levels and more or less eliminated the higher gearing levels of capitalizing firms relative to similar companies, particularly as far as late adopting firms were concerned. Brand capitalization also had a particularly marked impact on book‐to‐market‐equity ratios; capitalization served to increase the ratios of capitalizing firms to approximately the levels observed on the non‐capitalizing controls.
Testing Enterprising Tendency In Occupational Groups
Authors: Caird Sally
Published: March 2005

The administration of a test of enterprising tendency showed that business owner‐managers were significantly more enterprising than other occupational groups, namely teachers, nurses, civil servants, clerical trainees and lecturers and trainers. This test, which aims to measure key characteristics of enterprising people, is described within this paper. Key enterprise characteristics may include a high need for achievement, a high need for autonomy, calculated risk‐taking, an internal locus of control and a creative tendency. The result of this pilot study may suggest that the occupation of setting up and managing a business requires an enterprising tendency, unlike other occupations. However, it could reflect the fact that business owner‐managers are the most studied sample of enterprising people and that the test is drawn from this literature. However, further studies are required to clarify distinctions within occupational groups and to determine if business owner‐managers are more enterprising than other occupational groups. It would be especially interesting to compare the enterprising tendency of business owner‐managers with managers and enterprising people from other occupational groups.
A Process Study of Strategic Change and Industry Evolution – the Case of the Irish Dairy Industry, 1958–74
Authors: Leavy Brian
Published: March 2005

The research reported in this paper sets out to study empirically the process by which an industry evolves, and to examine how this process is related to the process of strategic change at the level of the firm. In this way it extends the study of strategic change to change processes that involve strategic intention and action at national, industry and firm levels of the social structure. The particular multilevel change process chosen for empirical examination, using a longitudinal‐processual methodology, was the amalgamation process of 1958–74 in the Irish dairy industry. The paper examines the genesis, progression and outcome of this multilevel change process in its full historical context. The empirical analysis generates a descriptive and explanatory model of process which demonstrates the functionality and importance of political and cultural rationalities, alongside economic rationality, in the determination of the direction, pace and outcome of industry evolution. This model, largely induced from the data, also indicates that the Pettigrew (1985) context‐process‐outcome meta‐framework is a more empirically sound and conceptually useful framework within which to study the linked processes of industry evolution and firm level strategic change than the classic structure‐conduct‐performance model (Bain, 1968) in industrial economics. Finally, the analysis provides some useful insight into the synoptic and incremental character of strategic change processes which informs the synoptic‐incremental debate in the strategy literature.
The Importance of Creativity in the Management Field
Authors: Proctor R. A.
Published: March 2005

Creative problem‐solving is an important dimension to managerial activity. Rapidly changing business environments produce problems which managers have not previously encountered. Tried and trusted methods of approaching new problems can meet with failure. The need for creative problem‐solving methods which overcome such difficulties is of paramount importance. There are a number of established creative problem‐solving aids, such as brainstorming, lateral thinking, etc. and a new set of aids which are computer‐assisted. This paper outlines newer developments.
Asset Management Performance and Reputation Building for Large US Firms
Authors: Riahi‐Belkaoui Ahmed , Pavlik Ellen
Published: March 2005

Corporate audiences construct the reputation of firms by interpreting informational signals about the firms from various monitors. Of importance to these parties are signals about asset management. The results of our empirical study of 114 large US firms supported the general hypothesis that corporate audiences construct reputations on the basis of information about firms' asset management performance, specifically using market and accounting signals indicating size of the assets, market assessment of the value of the assets in place, asset turnover and profit margin.
The Entrepreneurial Tendencies of Managers: a Research Note
Authors: Cromie Stanley , Callaghan Ian , Jansen Maarten
Published: March 2005

In this study associations are sought between certain biographical, family, personality and career variables and the likelihood that managers will develop their own business venture. Results, based on an analysis of questionnaires completed by 194 managers, reveal that ownership of a business by self or parents together with certain personal characteristics predispose managers towards business founding. Contrary to expectations, job and career frustration does not incline managers towards proprietorship.
Patterns of Strategic Change in Health Care: District Health Authorities Respond to AIDS*
Authors: Ferlie Ewan , Bennett Chris
Published: March 2005

The literature on strategic change is based mostly on research in the private sector. This paper suggests that change in public sector organizations is equally worthy of study and can offer novel insights. Findings from research into the development of services for HIV/AIDS in NHS health districts are used to illustrate six generic themes in strategic change processes. The first theme concerns the role of context in potentiating change, and in promoting a diverse response in different localities despite unifying government guidelines. A second theme introduces the initiators of change, the ‘product champions’, a less homogeneous group than is sometimes suggested. Although personal status, energy and pro‐activity were shared characteristics, individuals differed in style and methods used to attain goals. Theme three highlights social movements as mediators of change. Consumerism has affected both private and public sector industry, but for HIV/AIDS the process has been particularly visible. The mobilising role of crisis comes next. A three phase model is suggested, linking ‘crisis‐as‐threat’ and ‘crisis‐as‐opportunity’ theories. A fifth theme concerns changes in organizational culture provoked by HIV/AIDS, and the role played by symbolism ‐ often unpredictable and not easily manipulated by management. The last theme is organizational learning; how learning about HIV/AIDS diffused through the districts, and how well learning generalizes to other issues. In conclusion, it is argued that the study of processes of change in a public sector organization can contribute to general models of strategic change and help to develop organizational theory.
French and British Top Managers' Understanding of the Structure and the Dynamics of Their Industries: a Cognitive Analysis and Comparison
Authors: Calori Roland , Johnson Gerry , Sarnin Philippe
Published: March 2005

This paper presents the findings of an exploratory study of the content of and differences between managerial frames of references with regard to the structure and dynamics of competitive environments. These frames of references are examined and compared at both the industry level and the country level; and the paper shows the influences of both industry and institutional structures and national culture on managerial thinking. It therefore contributes to the field of comparative management, as well as the growing interest in cognitive analysis in the field of management. The study is particularly significant since (a) its context is the rapidly changing industry environment of Europe, and (b) the managers are all involved in the development of strategies for their firms. Thirty three top managers (16 English and 17 French) were interviewed in four industries (brewing, car manufacturing, retail banking and book publishing) on their understanding of their industry and the strategy of their company. Content analysis of the transcribed interviews surfaces cognitive constructs which facilitate the identification of similarities and differences between managers, (a) within industries, (b) across industries, (c) within countries, (d) between countries and (e) between countries within the different industries. The analysis also provides means whereby the constructs can be represented in the form of cognitive maps.
Centres of Excellence? Assessment and Development Centres, Managerial Competence, and Human Resource Strategies
Authors: Iles Paul
Published: March 2005

The use of assessment centres for the selection of staff and for the identification of long‐term potential seems to be growing in popularity. The paper reviews research on their predictive validity and fairness and explores some reservations revealed by recent research in relation to such areas as construct and content validity, the processes of assessor decision‐making, the roles of exercises and criteria and the value of the assessors' conference. Increasingly, assessment centres have been also used for the purpose of diagnosing development needs, and the paper reviews recent empirical research on the effects of such ‘development centres’. More recently assessment and development centres have come to play a significant role in managing strategic change and in supporting programmes of culture change. This paper examines two recent case studies which illustrate the key roles that assessment and development centres may play as part of an organization's overall human resource strategy.
Competition Between Banks and Building Societies in the Retailing of Financial Services
Authors: McGoldrick Peter J. , Greenland Steven J.
Published: March 2005

Within the financial services sector there has been diversification on a vast scale, with varying degrees of success. Financial services are increasingly viewed as products, the various branch networks as channels of distribution. The competition between banks and building societies has become a major battleground in the war for consumers' financial services expenditure. Both types of organization have a strong presence in the high street and have become major users of media advertising and other marketing weaponry. Historically, they have both enjoyed strong but different forms of relationship with their customers; these differences are rapidly diminishing as each invades the other's trading territory. This paper presents results from a study of bank‐building society competition, illustrating the attributes and dimensions upon which consumers tend to base their choices. Financial services retailers are urged to base their marketing strategies upon a clear understanding of consumer needs and motives, not upon ‘me‐too’ responses to competitors' moves. As many product retailers have discovered to their cost, heavy marketing expenditure cannot be a substitute for a well founded retail marketing strategy.
Research Notes on the Best British Companies: a Peer Evaluation of Britain's Leading Firms
Authors: Saunders John , Brown Michael , Laverick Stuart
Published: March 2005

The assessment of company performance is one of the major dilemmas facing the strategic researcher. This paper reviews the alternative methods available, then uses one approach, peer assessment, to produce a guide to British company performance. Britain's best companies are identified and their profiles are examined. Their declared financial strengths and relative weaknesses in marketing and innovation are identified.
Towards an Objective Classification Scheme for Organizational Task Environments
Authors: Rasheed Abdul M. A. , Prescot John E.
Published: March 2005

This study replicates, refines, cross‐validates and simplifies a scheme of operationalization and measurement of environmental dimensions proposed by Dess and Beard (1984). Employing a sample of 60 industries and data over a 16‐year period, this study found considerable support for the viability of the three dimensions of munificence, dynamism and complexity. The data intensive and computationally complex operationalization scheme was simplified using a discriminant analysis approach and the discriminant functions were cross‐validated using an alternate data set.
The Impact of Environmental Change on the Characteristics of Top management Teams*
Authors: Üsdiken Behlül
Published: March 2005

The study reported in this paper examined the impact of environmental change on the background characteristics of top management teams. The banking sector in Turkey provided the setting for the study. Starting with a package of economic policy decisions put into effect in January 1980, the banking sector experienced a shift from a highly stable and regulated industry into one characterized by change, and at times, a highly turbulent setting. Twenty of the 28 banks that existed throughout the 1975–1986 period constituted the sample for the study. The study focussed on entire management teams, and data were collected on all incumbents (380 in total) of general manager or assistant general manager positions in these banks in the 1975–1986 period. Three biographical background variables, operationalized at the top‐management team level, were included in the analyses: age, length of time of inside service and formal education. The results provided support for the expectation that changes in environmental context affect organizational choices about characteristics of top management teams. The effects of environmental change, however, did not appear to be uniform across all variables included in the study. Size effects were also found for the average age of management teams, showing that changes in the predicted direction were more common among smaller organizations. Changes in large banks appeared to lag behind the more immediate response of smaller banks.
Age, Experience and Corporate Synergy: When Are They Sources of Business Unit Advantage?
Authors: Williamson Peter J. , Verdin Paul J.
Published: March 2005

When do older businesses have a competitive advantage over new startups? When do the corporate subsidiaries have advantages over independent firms? This paper tackles these questions by comparing the performance of businesses classified according to age and affiliation in the game of competitive survival. The research is based on an analysis of 377,000 United States business units between 1978 and 1984. Our results suggest that age confers substantial advantages in competitive environments where intangible assets, accumulated through experience, are critical to success. These include industries with high‐labour intensity, high skill levels and heavy reliance on push marketing. For other industries, e.g., where competitive advantage can be built through superior service or media hype, age advantage is generally much more limited. Affiliation with a corporate group, meanwhile, allows young businesses to overcome some of their handicap by ‘borrowing’ experience through their parent. Once a business is well established, however, affiliation is immaterial.
John Stuart Mill – Contributions to the Principles of Managemen
Authors: Buchan P. Bruce
Published: March 2005

Although John Stuart Mill was a senior officer in the East India Company (EIC), he is best known for his outstanding contributions to economic and political thought during the 19th century. Close analysis of his writings and career in the EIC also reveals an important contribution to the evolution of management thought.
Strategy and Human Resource Management Integration in Fast Growth Versus Other Mid‐sized Firms1
Authors: Buller Paul F. , Napier Nancy K.
Published: March 2005

The nature and integration of strategy and human resource management practices, and the effects of such integration on firm performance were examined in two groups of mid‐sized flrms: fast‐growth firms and a random sample of similar sized mature firms. The results indicated that the fast‐growth firms emphasized fewer human resource activities and experienced a lower degree of strategy‐human resource integration than the mature firms. Some evidence was found that the relation between the level of integration and firm performance was moderated by the organization's stage of development.
Patterns in Cross Shopping for Groceries and their Implications for Co‐operation in Retail Location
Authors: Davies Gary
Published: March 2005

One determinant of the success of a retail outlet is its location. The location strategies adopted by many retailers of convenience products, including those marketing groceries, have been based upon the principle of siting stores away from competition. Recent moves by leading grocery retailers to develop out of town and other sites jointly, where they would trade side by side, mean that methods are needed to appraise the selection of location partners to supplement or replace traditional, spatial analyses. A method based on similarity of image and cross‐shopping behaviour is proposed and tested on two substantial data bases. A concept, drawn from theory on brand switching, that customers would treat outlets seen as similar in a similar way, is found not to apply to source switching. Source switching behaviour is found instead to vary with the source itself, according to two distinct patterns. In one, shoppers cross shop more to retailers perceived to be similar; in the other, shoppers cross shop more to retailers perceived to be different. The strategies currently adopted by four grocery retailers in joint site development are appraised against the model of source switching that can be defined from these patterns. Some location alliances are predicted to be potentially more valuable to one partner than another both in the short and long term. The anomalies identified in the selection of location partners are analysed by reference to concepts drawn from the literature on co‐operation. Two different types of relationship exist between the various retail partners; a longer term alliance at each site and shorter co‐operation between head offices. It is suggested that the nature of the second could prejudice the outcome of the first.
Managerial Career Development Programmes: Effectiveness, Availability and Acceptability
Authors: Iles Paul , Mabey Christopher
Published: March 2005

Though there have been many prescriptive accounts of career development procedures and techniques, there has been little systematic research into how extensive their use is in Britain, how effective they are, or how participants in such programmes react to them. Following a review of the availability, effectiveness, and acceptability of such programmes, we report the results of a survey of 120 British managers undertaking a distance‐learning Master of Business Administration programme. In particular, findings are presented concerning the availability and usage of a range of such procedures and respondents' reactions to them in terms of their perceived fairness and usefulness for personal, organizational and career development. These studies help to identify features that characterize well‐received career development programmes.
The Adjustment of Japanese Expatriates to Living and Working in Britain
Authors: Nicholson Nigel , Imaizumi Ayako
Published: March 2005

Ninety‐one Japanese managers and professionals on international assignments in the London offices of trading houses and insurance companies responded to a wide‐ranging survey on work and non‐work adjustment. Dependent variables included standardized measures of adjustment, well‐being, mental health and modes of adjustment (personal change and role innovation). In comparisons with samples from other studies, the expatriates experienced lower work well‐being and mental health, and, compared with a sample of United Kingdom domestic job changers, engaged in less role innovation but recorded higher personal change, especially in their values. Predictor variables, including predeparture experience, family factors, self‐rated job performance, self‐efficacy, work‐non‐work spillover, social interaction and perceived company purpose in the assignment, were found to be differentially related to outcome measures. A new method of retrospectively recording changes in feelings over time in the work and non‐work domains was also applied, supplying tentative evidence for a negative shift in affect on arrival, especially in the non‐work domain, and a further fall after arrival, especially in the work domain. In most cases, this latter dip was followed by a recovery, providing some evidence in favour of the U‐curve hypothesis. Implications for theory and practice are reviewed.
Performance Related Pay in Practice: A Critical Perspective1
Authors: Procter Stephen , McArdle Louise , Hassard John , Rowlinson Michael
Published: March 2005

This paper discusses the use of performance related pay (PRP) as a means of control over the relationship between effort and reward. Taking a critical perspective, it describes how the implementation of PRP in a UK‐based electronics company has been used as a device to remove trade union influence in wage‐setting arrangements and to effect changes in employee behaviour. The opinions of supervisors, line managers, personnel managers and shop‐floor staff are discussed and the implications for management control are assessed. The paper concludes that from management's perspective the PRP system appears to have been a success, for it has in some cases ‘commercialized’ the relationship between effort and reward, and has pre‐empted expressions of employee resistance.
Organizational Form, Ownership Structure and Corporate Performance: A Contextual Empirical Analysis of UK Companies1
Authors: Ezzamel Mahmoud , Watson Robert
Published: March 2005

This paper contributes to the literature on organizational form and performance (the performance‐conduct paradigm) by examining the impact of two sets of variables that have not been examined previously: measures of environmental uncertainty and alternative forms of controlling separation of ownership from control. The paper first examines the extent to which contextual variables such as perceived environmental uncertainty and age of the organizational form moderate the relationship between organizational form and corporate performance. Next, the paper extends the analysis by examining the possible effects of ownership and control structures on performance. Measures suggested by agency theory, such as conventional ownership proxies (i.e. proportion of shares held by identifiable, homogenous groups), the proportion of non‐executive board members and Fama and Jensen's concept of separation of decision management from decision control are used in the analysis. The results indicate that these measures have direct impact on corporate performance in their own right, though the main impact is indirect through interactions with organizational form variables.
Accounting and Conceptions of Control in the American Corporation1
Authors: Hogler Raymond L. , Hunt Herbert G.
Published: March 2005

This study examines three conceptions of how capitalist firms are organized and the relationship between accounting, organization, and control. The first conceptions is based on neoclassical economic theories, and its central premise is the efficacy of contracts. The second model emphasizes Marxian ideas of class conflict and exploitation. Its organizational premise rests on hierarchy and accumulation. The third concept is sociological. Its core assumption is that firms act to create ‘organizational fields’ which assure their continued survival. Each of these three perspectives relies on accounting as a means of control. The paper argues that there is an institutional connection between accounting and corporate control; the connection is demonstrated by the way in which accounting legitimizes control through objectivity, methodology, and professionalism. Regardless of how control is theoretically conceived, accounting is a crucial aspect of control within the modern economic organization.
Management Control Systems: One View of Components and Their Interdependence1
Authors: Rotch William
Published: March 2005

Professor Robert Anthony's statement that ‘control is the process of assuring that the organization does what management wants done’ implies that systems for management control must be broadly conceived. This paper takes the view that a comprehensive view of control systems should include at least five components: performance measurement, strategy, organization structure, direction and motivation. Each of these components reflects management choices, but those choices have implications for the other components. A strategy of dynamic new product development for example, requires a flexible structure, and should have performance measures that relate to the structure and the desired achievements for that strategy. As what is measured signals what is important, the measures provide direction and the basis for incentives and rewards. The interdependence of the components is seen as a key factor in control system design. When the components support each other, the interdependence is a source of strength; conflict or even absence of support among the components can be a source of weakness. This paper describes the components and illustrates ways in which the design of control systems needs to recognize their interdependence. The process of system implementation is also reviewed, as process choices can be independent of design choices. The framework is related to prior research and writing, showing that the components are themselves complex and have been the focus of extensive study. Finally, several teaching cases are decribed in order to show how the design issues may appear in practice and how the framework can be used to help teach management control systems.
Innovation and Organizational Learning: the Case of Computer‐Aided Production Management
Authors: Bessant John , Buckingham Joanna
Published: March 2005

Recent experience of unsuccessful implementation of integrated advanced manufacturing technology suggests that much of the problem is due to a lack of innovation in organizational in parallel with the technological dimension. Discussion of this issue argues the need for some kind of ‘organizational learning’ to obtain the full benefits of AMT. This paper reviews the topic of organizational learning in technology and explores its relevance to the problem of AMT implementation through the case example of computer‐aided production management systems.
The Market Provision of Management Services, Information Asymmetries and Service Quality—Some Market Solutions: an Empirical Example
Authors: Clark Timothy
Published: March 2005

This article examines the problems of information asymmetry associated with the market provision of managerial services. Such problems are heightened by those characteristics which differentiate services from goods. Two unique, and central, characteristics of services, are intangibility and perishability. These create special problems for the market provision of services. In particular they make for difficulties in assessing quality; whereas the producer may know product quality, the buyer often does not. The asymmetry between sellers and buyers is of two types: Adverse selection and moral hazard. Adverse selection occurs when the buyer cannot observe the relevant characteristics of the seller or the conditions under which they work. The problem of moral hazard is the buyer's inability to observe the action taken by the sellers. If these difficulties are not overcome, the market could collapse as companies withdraw and internalize service provision. However, each market has a number of in‐built mechanisms which remedy the harmful effects associated with information‐related problems. The institutional arrangements which predominate in particular markets are dependent upon the trust‐producing mechanisms within those markets. Consequently, market responses to information asymmetries are far from uniform. The argument is illustrated using the example of the executive recruitment industry. In this respect the paper is a highly focused study of those mechanisms which overcome information asymmetries in one service market.
Managers' Perspectives on Making Major Investment Decisions: the Problem of Linking Strategic and Financial Appraisal
Authors: Grundy Tony , Johnson Gerry
Published: March 2005

Major investment decisions are an important factor shaping strategic change in complex organisations. Traditionally, they have been primarily regarded as the domain of financial theory, with a few notable exceptions. This paper explores how the apparent gulf between strategic and financial appraisal of major investment decisions can be bridged. The approach taken in this research study was to explore linkages between strategic and financial appraisal from managers' own perspectives. These perspectives were examined through a learning process. This enabled managers to reflect and debate on their experiences and issues ‐ upon both strategic and financial theory(s). Unlike many prior studies, this research took a qualitative approach to data analysis and interpretation. This yielded a range of insights ‐ some of these amplified findings in earlier research studies; others suggested a more radical shift in thinking on strategic/financial appraisal linkages towards a closer fusion of the two disciplines.
On Being Stuck in the Middle or Good Food Costs Less at Sainsbury's
Authors: Cronshaw Michael , Davis Evan , Kay John
Published: March 2005

The idea that successful companies should pursue only one strategy and avoid being ‘stuck in the middle’ between several strategies – originally articulated by Michael Porter – has become an important tenet of corporate strategic thinking. This paper attempts to distinguish and appraise several different interpretations of the advice.

It is sometimes interpreted as advice about market positioning in a narrow sense; it is sometimes presented as prescribing broad strategic clarity; and it is sometimes viewed more descriptively as a scheme for classifying firms by strategic outcomes.

When interpreted narrowly as referring to the appeal of a product to its target buyers, the proposition that firms should not be ‘stuck in the middle’ should not be taken to imply that companies must be down‐market or up‐market, but nothing in‐between. Such a view is belied by the evident success of companies such as Sainsbury's, which earn substantial economic rents in a mid‐market position.

Porter can be interpreted more broadly as suggesting that firms need strategic clarity and that they will do better to pursue one or other of cost or quality objectives than to seek a mix of the two. PIMS data and other evidence shows, however, that intermediate positions are indeed profitable and are successfully exploited by many firms.

We conclude that ‘don't be stuck in the middle’ is best employed as a classification scheme of strategic outcomes – it says that firms which fail in both cost and quality dimensions perform poorly.
UK International Joint Ventures: An Analysis of Patterns of Activity and Distribution
Authors: Glaister Keith W. , Buckley Peter J.
Published: March 2005

To date no study has presented data which systematically considers the detailed activity of UK firms in joint venture formation over a significant period of time. This paper attempts to rectify this position by providing key statistics on the formation of joint ventures between UK firms and partner firms in Western Europe, the USA and Japan over the 1980s. The study examines several dimensions of activity: Trends in UK joint ventures over time, geographic distribution, industry characteristics, joint venture purpose, number of partners, contractual form and the equity share of UK partners.
Cognitive Style and its Relevance for Management Practice
Authors: Hayes John , Allinson Christopher W.
Published: March 2005

This review paper addresses some of the semantic issues associated with the nature of cognitive style, identifies some of the most often cited dimensions of cognitive style, examines ways in which these styles can be classified and considers the implications of cognitive style for management practice.
Statistics in Management Education
Authors: Stray Stephanie , Naude Peter , Wegner Trevor
Published: March 2005

Results of two surveys are presented and indicate the statistical knowledge of past students from Master of Business Administration programmes, their usage of statistics together with their opinions about the statistical content of Master of Business Administration degree courses. These views are contrasted with the results of a second survey of academic staff who teach statistics on such programmes. We find that past students recommend a greater statistical content than is currently taught but, paradoxically, most of the academic staff associated with teaching the subject believe that the statistical content of their programme will decrease in future years.
An Exploratory Study of the Managerial Implications of Valuing Brands
Authors: Guilding Chris , Pike Richard
Published: March 2005

This paper reports the results of interdisciplinary research extending the work of Mather and Peasnell (1991) reported in an earlier issue of this journal. Mather and Peasnell conducted an empirical analysis of the economic circumstances surrounding decisions to capitalize brands. This study investigates the managerial implications of periodically assessing and capitalizing the value of brands. Exploratory interviews were conducted with the key players in brand valuation activity, namely marketing and finance officials in brand‐valuing companies and two senior personnel in the leading international brand‐valuing agency. The recent inception of brand valuation in the accounts of several strong branded British companies provides an excellent research opportunity to explore a relatively novel managerial activity and its internal implications. These implications are reviewed under the headings: planning and control, the accounting/marketing interface, authorization of brand‐related expenditure and brand‐related decision making. An important finding of the study is that, while the original impetus for brand valuation came from balance sheet considerations, other unforseen managerial advantages are now widely perceived to accrue from brand valuation. The majority of current brand valuation activity appears to be driven more by management information needs, which are served by the evaluation phase of the exercise, than by a desire to capitalize brands in the published statements.
Stealing from thy Neighbour: Leveraged Recapitalizations and Wealth Redistribution
Authors: Markides Constantinos C. , Oyon Daniel
Published: March 2005

Leverage‐increasing transactions such as recapitalizations and leveraged buy‐outs are known to create shareholder wealth. It has been argued that the only sources of this value are efficiency improvements and tax benefits brought about by the higher debt load. This paper shows empirically that contrary to popular belief a portion of this wealth comes at the expense of current bondholders. It is estimated that between 20 per cent and SO per cent of the value created during a leveraged recapitalization can be attributed to wealth transfers from bondholders to shareholders.