bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
CORPORATE CULTURE AND MORALITY: DURKHEIM‐INSPIRED REFLECTIONS ON THE LIMITS OF CORPORATE CULTURE
Authors: Dahler‐Larsen Peter
Published: May 2007

In the May 1986 issue ofJournal of Management Studies, Ray argued that Corporate Culture protagonists have stumbled upon the central ideas of the classical sociologist Durkheim, especially those concerning morality. However, this article demonstrates important differences between corporate culture discourse and the Durkheimian concept of morality. Durkheim's views on moral autonomy, his diagnosis of the problematic nature of modern utilitarian values and his insistence on society as the source and the goal of morality are applied as a frame of reference that allows an identification, analysis and discussion of problematic assumptions about man, organization and society in corporate culture discourses.

On this basis, the article discusses the relatively limited fulfilment of the promises issued by corporate culture protagonists, which can be observed by reflecting on the past decade, as well as some alternative ideas for organizational culture practitioners and researchers.
POSTMODERN ORGANIZATIONAL ANALYSIS: TOWARD A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Authors: Hassard John
Published: May 2007

This article discusses a new approach to organizational analysis — postmodernism. We contrast modern and postmodern forms of explanation and explore a family of terms derived from these two concepts. In so doing, we discuss whether postmodernism is best described as an ‘epoch’or an ‘epistemology’, a distinction which underpins current debates. Through reference to the works of Jean Baudrillard, Jacques Derrida and Jean‐Francois Lyotard, we produce an inventory of key concepts for postmodern organizational analysis —‘representation’, ‘reflexivity’, ‘writing’, ‘differance’ and ‘de‐centring the subject’. By explicating the main arguments associated with these concepts — and by developing the middle ground between the epoch and epistemology positions — we lay conceptual foundations for a nascent postmodern approach to organization studies.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER SUCCESS: THE PERILS OF EXCELLENCE*
Authors: Miller Danny
Published: May 2007

This article examines how past performance influences the way an organization evolves, makes decisions, and adapts to its environment. It argues that compared to other periods of history, those that follow a lengthy interval of success will reveal companies that are especially apt to: (1) exhibit inertia in many aspects of structure and strategy‐making process; (2) pursue immoderation, that is, adopt extreme process orientations; (3) manifest inattention, that is, reduce intelligence gathering and information processing activity; and (4) demonstrate insularity by failing to adapt to changes in the environment. an empirical analysis of the long‐term histories of 36 companies provides tentative support for these notions.
ANATOMY OF A FATAL BUSINESS STRATEGY
Authors: Valentin Erhard K.
Published: May 2007

The reported interpretive case study is focused on the genesis and the maturation of a catastrophic division‐level business strategy and affords an uncommon glimpse of the intraorganizational dynamics of failure. A descriptive account of the focal division's history and the emergence of the fatal strategy provides the backdrop for subsequent diagnoses. Comparative analysis is used to identify salient differences between the focal strategy and the strategies of three sectoral pacesetters; then, the processes that spawned the noted differences are examined within the context of organizational and behavioural decision theory.
ORGANIZATIONAL INNOVATION: REVIEW, CRITIQUE AND SUGGESTED RESEARCH DIRECTIONS*
Authors: Wolfe Richard A.
Published: May 2007

Despite broad interest and a vast literature, understanding of innovative behaviour in organizations remains relatively undeveloped. to contribute to the development of a more cumulative knowledge base, the author presents a conceptual review of the innovation literature by summarizing and organizing prior research into three related, though often confounded, research streams and identifies major reasons for the inconsistent and inconclusive nature of the research. Strategies for conducting more generalizable innovation research are suggested.
FIELD RESEARCH METHODS IN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THEORY BUILDING AND TESTING*
Authors: Snow Charles C. , Thomas James B.
Published: May 2007

This article discusses the contributions that field methods have made to the theory‐development process in strategic management. Field studies drawn from the literature are classified according to their research goal (description, explanation, or prediction) and according to whether they built or tested theory. the overall conclusion is that field research methods will continue to be used heavily to develop strategy theory. However, certain conditions must be met to maximize the contribution of field methods to strategy research. These conditions include a balanced research agenda, multifaceted research approaches, innovative datagathering techniques, and an applied futuristic orientation.
THE REMUNERATION OF NON‐OWNER MANAGERS IN SMALL AND MEDIUM‐SIZED UK ENTERPRISES
Authors: Watson Robert , Storey David J. , Wynarczyk Pooran , Keasey Kevin , Short Helen
Published: May 2007

Virtually all prior research on small and medium sized enterprise (SME) management has focused on owner managers. This article, however, empirically examines the determinants of managerial remuneration for a sample of 97 UK SME non‐owning managerial employees. the empirical analysis, based upon data obtained from interviews with middle (i.e. non‐director level) managers and the published financial records of their employing firms lodged at Companies House, first examines the influence of firm size and performance and then augments the empirical model to include pay composition, industrial sector, external labour market and human capital variables.

The empirical results indicate that the average profitability of the employing firms is not a significant determinant of managerial remuneration. However, composition of pay appears to have a significant effect upon total remuneration since, even after controlling for other influences, managers in receipt of annual bonuses and/or profit‐sharing bonuses are estimated to earn an additional £6,600. the managers’age and qualifications, and the asset size, industry and location of their employing firms are also significant factors and collectively are able to explain a large proportion of the cross‐sectional variance in remuneration. Though there is a lack of previous empirical research on SME managerial pay.
A PROCESS STUDY OF NEW TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION IN SMALLER MANUFACTURING FIRMS*
Authors: Langley Ann , Truax Jean
Published: May 2007

Based on longitudinal case studies of new technology adoption in five smaller Canadian manufacturing firms, this article develops an inductive process model that views the technology adoption process as a partially nested set of three parallel and interacting sub‐processes that are different in nature: the strategic commitment process, the technology choice process and the financial justification process. These processes are themselves intertwined with other strategic decision processes in the firm, and influenced by a dynamic set of contextual elements that interact with one another over time. the study underlines the problems associated with a narrow conception of technology adoption as a ‘decision’while showing how various process models from the literature are useful in understanding different parts of the overall process of adoption
THE ORGANIZATION OF INNOVATION IN THE UNITED STATES AND JAPAN: NEOCLASSICAL AND RELATIONAL CONTRACTING*
Authors: Bolton Michele Kremen , Malmrose Roger , Ouchi William G.
Published: May 2007

This article discusses the role of intermediate governance structures between vertically related industries in the specific context of technological innovation. In the United States, relations between firms in vertically related industries correspond closely to the neoclassical contracting model, characterized by arms‐length, spot contracting on the open market. In Japan, inter‐firm relations are more likely to involve relational contracting, characterized by stable bonding mechanisms and a dense historical network of economic ties between the parties to the exchange. We focus upon the kinyu keiretsu type of relational contracting between firms of unequal size and power in vertically related industries, which is a special case of the more generally studied kigyo shudan, or inter‐market financial group. For illustrative purposes, we compare the contractual arrangements used to manage the development of new technology by 46 US and 27 Japanese semiconductor equipment firms. We conclude by speculating that the organization of innovation in the Japanese semiconductor equipment industry has accelerated their development of new technology and led to their extraordinarily rapid worldwide market penetration.
REFINING COMMON SENSE: TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE IN MANAGEMENT STUDIES*
Authors: Tsoukas Haridimos
Published: May 2007

Drawing on Pepper's World Hypotheses we describe four different approaches to obtaining formal knowledge in management studies. These approaches are: formism, mechanism, contextualism, and organicism. All of them are valid ways of refining common sense that resist synthesis. Applying Pepper's framework in as extremely diverse a field as management studies (focusing on organizational behaviour (OB) and strategic management (SM) in particular) we show the different assumptions and knowledge claims made by different types of theorists in management and, moreover, we shed light on the sources of conceptual rivalry that often characterize the field. By way of illustration, the Mintzberg‐Ansoff debate on the nature of strategic management is focused upon for closer examination. It is shown that analysing this debate in terms of Pepper's framework one can understand and evaluate the epistemological differences between Mintzberg and Ansoff, which stem from their adherence to contextualist and mechanistic‐cum‐formistic types of knowledge respectively.
MARKET‐DRIVEN CHANGE IN PROFESSIONAL SERVICES: PROBLEMS AND PROCESSES*
Authors: Whittington Richard , Mcnulty Terry , Whipp Richard
Published: May 2007

This article analyses the processes of market‐driven change in two professional service sectors, Research and Development (R&D) and the National Health Service. Building on these sectors’common experiences, the article proposes a general model of market‐driven change in professional services, highlighting the complex and multi‐level nature of the process. It is argued that, while market‐driven change is an increasingly practised and observed phenomenon, its complexity has been widely underestimated. For managers, the problem is one of synchrony between different levels in the change process, with the top strategic level particularly liable to lag changes at other levels. For academic observers of new market forms of control, the risk is of repeating the simplifications of early ‘labour process’analyses of hierarchical control.
THE ORGANIZATIONAL CORRELATES AND CONSEQUENCES OF SUBCONTRACTING: EVIDENCE FROM A SURVEY OF SOUTH WALES BUSINESSES
Authors: Bresnen Mike , Fowler Carolyn
Published: May 2007

Recent interest in the growth of subcontracting, as part of a broader trend towards greater ‘flexibility’in forms of employment relationship, has not as yet been matched by a full consideration of its organizational and managerial implications. In particular, the question of whether or not subcontracting has an impact upon, or is affected by, the organization's structural characteristics remains largely unexplored. the aim of this article is to report findings from a detailed study of subcontracting practices across a sample of British industry, which focuses upon the relationship between subcontracting and organizational characteristics. the results indicate several important points about the practice. Firstly, that there is wide variation in the use of subcontracting across industry, although the overall extent is limited. Secondly, that variation in the practice is significantly related to basic firm characteristics ‐ namely, industrial sector, type of production system and pattern of ownership and control. Thirdly, that, on balance, subcontracting is associated with more, not less, structural complexity. Finally, that this greater complexity is found in particular types of firms ‐ notably, outside the manufacturing sector, in mass and process production systems and amongst British independents and subsidiaries, rather than in their foreign competitors.
Determinants of International Human Resource Management Approaches and Activities: A Suggested Framework*
Authors: Welch Denice
Published: May 2007

The following article reports on the results of a qualitative, comparative case study of the management of expatriates by four Australian companies. International Human Resource Management (IHRM) is a field in its infancy and the study aims to contribute to theory‐building by examining the IHRM activities of selection, predeparture training, compensation and repatriation in the context of the organization in which these activities take place.

The purpose was to extend our understanding of IHRM beyond the descriptive studies of earlier research, though existing knowledge in the area was the starting point. Thus, while the initial focus of the investigation was on the IHRM activities, the use of an exploratory qualitative methodological approach allowed the examination of the process of expatriate management. This approach also assisted in identifying underlying relationships, patterns and trends which could be interpreted as linkages or interrelationships between IHRM activities and other organizational factors, such as stage in internationalization, type of industry, strategy and structure. It was possible to identify linkages between the four major IHRM activities, and what were defined as firm‐specific and situation‐specific variables. These linkages were then conceptualized into a suggested framework.
THE INTERPRETATION OF ORGANIZATION: A CONTEMPORARY ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUE*
Authors: Jeffcutt Paul
Published: May 2007

This article is concerned with examining the development of interest in organizational interpretation (exemplified by a decade of analyses of culture and symbolism in organization) as a rhetorical and philosophical episode in Organization Studies. the presumed ‘productivity’ of this recently developed arena of Organization Studies, for both the theory and practice of organization, is carefully considered through the discussion of a broad range of work from the past decade. This body of work is examined as a ‘genre’ of Organization Studies that both manifests particular issues for interpretation and articulates particular styles of representation.

The article argues that the rise of interest in organizational interpretation represents a late‐modern phase in Organization Studies, whereby traditional priorities and subordinations in the theory and practice of organization have been rewritten and renewed. In this way, organizational interpretation has come to articulate the most recent form ofavant‐gardeactivity in the continuing modernization of Organization Studies. In contrast, the article concludes with the consideration of a theory and practice for such work which would contribute to the articulation of a postmodern Organization Studies.
SIMPLY A QUESTION OF CULTURAL BARRIERS? THE SEARCH FOR NEW PERSPECTIVES IN THE TRANSFER OF JAPANESE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
Authors: Dedoussis Vagelis
Published: May 2007

This paper discusses the transfer of management practices from parent companies in Japan into the operations of overseas subsidiaries of Japanese enterprises. the literature reviewed as well as the findings of case studies on human resource management practices in Japanese manufacturing firms in Australia suggest that key but rather high‐cost practices associated with Japanese management including tenured employment, seniority‐based remuneration and the provision of extensive welfare benefits are absent in overseas Japanese firms. On the other hand, relatively low‐cost practices such as internal training, internal promotion and job rotation have been generally introduced into the firms researched. It appears, therefore, that the transfer of Japanese management practices is primarily affected by economic considerations rather than socio‐cultural constraints as it has frequently been argued in the literature. Thus, the development of new theoretical frameworks explaining the transfer (or its absence) of Japanese management practices is essential. the paper takes a small step in this direction by suggesting that the overseas expansion of Japanese subcontracting networks including large‐scale corporations as well as smaller size firms, produces conditions leading to the marginalization of segments of the local labour force and the emergence of the core‐peripheral workforce dichotomy at the international level.
SURVIVING JIT: CONTROL AND RESISTANCE IN A JAPANESE TRANSPLANT
Authors: Delbridge Rick
Published: May 2007

This research considers the process of management control and workers’ actions in a Japanese‐owned consumer electronics plant sited in England. the data are drawn from a period of participant observation which enabled the author to explore, in detail, the style and extent of management control and worker behaviour, and the nature of workplace relations at the plant. the author found that the incorporation of just‐in‐time JIT) and total quality management (TQM) into clearly defined management objectives had allowed a more complete combination of the control of labour with management's economic goals than that apparent under piece rate systems of control. Worker resistance and ‘misbehaviour’ persist, but in ways which are increasingly fragmentary and marginal.
ON THE STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF SOME SMALL, UK‐BASED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FIRMS*
Authors: Ackroyd Stephen
Published: May 2007

The paper reports on the discovery of some small but successful information technology firms. These firms, which are geographically and structurally highly mobile, were found in a recent survey of information technology firms in the north‐west of England. Detailed investigation of the firms as case studies, revealed that they have many distinctive and interesting properties. Eleven distinguishing characteristics in addition to small size are identified; among them being lack of hierarchy, pervious boundaries, and extreme mobility including growth by replication. In the discussion, some differences in the organization of the firms are identified, it being argued that although all the firms lack hierarchy and tend to adopt very extreme forms of matrix organization, they do this to a greater degree the less they are dependent on technology for the creation of their products, and/or on the extent to which they retain proprietary products in their range. the paper concludes with a consideration of other work on new technology firms and argues that these findings are not unique. However, it is also argued that small firm researchers have not been very creative in their use of the available frameworks to account for the existence of the firms analysed in this paper, or to understand that it is the contingencies they face which allow them to be highly mobile and adaptable.
CAN WE SPEAK OF A HIGH COMMITMENT MANAGEMENT ON THE SHOP FLOOR?*
Authors: Wood Stephen , Albanese Maria Teresa
Published: May 2007

The Commitment model à la Walton has been a key element in conceptions of human resource management (HRM). Is there though any evidence of its application to production workers? Drawing on the HRM literature the authors first develop some measures of practices which might be thought to contribute to high commitment management (HCM). Having acquired data on the extent to which organizations adopt these practices the authors then, using latent variable analysis, assess whether there is a common structure underlying it which represents some kind of HCM‐type approach to labour. In so doing they develop a construct to measure HCM relevant to manual workers. Basing the analysis on data from a representative sample of manufacturing plants in the UK, they conclude that HCM is being practised, albeit to a very varying degree.

The research also reveals a growth in the use of HCM practices between 1986 and 1990, and that this has been mainly in practices already popular in 1986; hence the increased use of HCM has been more in plants for whom it was relatively insignificant in 1986, rather than a further heightening of its significance in plants for which it was important before. Using multiple regression analysis, the authors are also able to show that organizational factors rather than factors exogenous to the organization are significantly related to both the level of HCM, and its rate of change between 1986 and 1990. of overwhelming importance is the extent of the strategic integration of personnel management. the authors draw out the relevance of the study for the wider debate about HRM. In particular the results add some support for Walton's and Guest's universalistic theories of HCM, as opposed to what have been called matching or contingency theories of HCM, according to which it is only likely to be found in specific contexts where, for example, high quality is important for competitive advantage.
THE ROLE OF MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: THE INDISSOLUBLE NATURE OF SOCIO‐POLITICAL AND TECHNICAL SKILLS*
Authors: Bloomfield Brian P. , Danieli Ardha
Published: May 2007

This paper explores the role of management consultants in the development of information technology (IT) in organizations. Contending that the process of IT systems development is characterized by the exercise of power, the central theme of the argument concerns the indissoluble nature of the technical and socio‐political skills inherent in IT consultancy practice. IT consultancy practice is not just socio‐political when winning a contract ‐ the sales pitch ‐ and technical when developing an IT system. Rather, socio‐political skills centred on the mobilization of discursive and symbolic resources are an inherent part of the construction of such systems.
THE EFFECTS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING
Authors: Molloy Steve , Schwenk Charles R.
Published: May 2007

Information technology (IT) may be defined as computer‐based technology for the storage, accessing, processing and communication of information. Many writers have suggested that the use of IT should improve strategic decisions and have developed a number of propositions about the effects of IT on strategic decision making. However, no study has yet addressed the specific effects of IT on major phases of this process. Using Mintzberg, Raisinghani and Theoret's (1976, ‘The structure of unstructured decision processes’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 21, 2, 246–75) strategic decision‐making model, this study assessed the effects of IT on the major phases of the process through an intensive examination of eight decisions in four companies. the results of the study provide new information on the specific ways IT improves decision‐making efficiency and effectiveness at each stage of the strategic decision process.
Rewards and Organizational Goal Achievement: A Case Study of Toyota Motor Manufacturing In Kentucky
Authors: Besser Terry L.
Published: May 2007

This research elaborates a theory which explains how Japanese‐managed organizations use rewards to encourage individuals to co‐operate in organizational goal achievement. I contend that in Japanese organizations the small work group and the community of fate ideology are important intermediary social constructs between individuals and rewards. I illustrate this model by showing that at Toyota Motor Manufacturing in Kentucky, rewards are not tied directly to individual performance, but instead are used to nurture the bonds within the work team and to reinforce belief in the community of fate ideology. the work team and belief in the community of fate ideology in turn, positively impact individual co‐operation in organizational goal achievement thereby enhancing the influence of the rewards on individuals.
PERFORMANCE‐RELATED PAY AND THE PROSPECTS FOR GENDER PAY EQUITY
Authors: Rubery Jill
Published: May 2007

Equal pay for work of equal value has come to be almost inextricably associated with the application of job evaluation. Current trends towards performance‐related pay systems pose a potential threat to the pursuit of greater gender pay equality as discretion in pay determination increases and there is no clear relationship between earnings and job grade. This paper examines the basis for this view drawing upon the now widespread literature and research into performance‐related pay. the argument is made that the problem for gender equality lies both in the nature of the payment system and in the context in which it is being applied, including the changes in the nature of employment relationships that are accompanying these developments. While some women may benefit, overall the moves towards a widening income dispersion and the increased importance of management discretion and appraisal are likely to disadvantage women. However, the individualization of pay is likely to lead to further fragmentation of the interests of women, reducing the likelihood of collective resistance. Opportunities to monitor pay trends will also decrease as the spread of performance‐related pay reduces the transparency of the labour market.
SUCCESS IN DECISION MAKING: DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS, DIFFERING REASONS FOR SUCCESS
Authors: Rodrigues Suzana Braga , Hickson David J.
Published: May 2007

In an attempt to elucidate some possible conditions for success in managerial decision making, data were analysed from 53 cases of decisions in eight British organizations, five business firms and three non‐business organizations (two universities and a District of the National Health Service). No clear relationships between features of the processes of making the decisions, and their successfulness were found until the business firms and the non‐business organizations were separated. Clear differences then showed up, relatively speaking, in the conditions conductive to success. In the business firms, a successful decision was more likely to result from a decision‐making process in which resources were available. In other words, in business a successful decision is most likely when sufficient information and sufficient means of implementation are to hand. By contrast, in the universities and the Health District, a successful decision was associated more with thesocial qualitiesof the decision‐making process itself. In other words, in non‐business organizations a successful decision is most likely when the right people participate and the people at the very top do not interfere too much.
REDISCOVERING HEGEL: THE ‘NEW HISTORICISM’ IN ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT STUDIES
Authors: Reed Michael I.
Published: May 2007

This paper advances the argument that a particular form of culturally, rather than materialistically, based historicism dominated organization and management studies in the 1980s. the 1970s were dominated by a materialistically based form of historicism in which economic, technological and organizational imperatives were deemed to drive the evolutionary dynamics, trajectories and outcomes of institutional and organizational transformation. In sharp contrast, the 1980s witnessed the rise of culturally or ideationally based forms of historicist thought and analysis in which the explanatory and political significance of factors located in a society's or organization's ‘material base’ were substantially downgraded in favour of variables embedded in their ‘ideological superstructures’. the paper traces the emergence, progress and implications of this cultural historicism in relation to four distinct, but interrelated discourses ‐ enterprise, flexibility, quality and human resource management. It also suggests that this analysis raises a number of fundamental theoretical and methodological issues concerned with three different approaches to the study of the interconnections between intellectual and institutional change in ‘late’ or ‘post’‐modern societies ‐ that is, the history of ideas, the sociology of knowledge, and technologies of government. the paper concludes with the argument that each of these broad approaches needs to be brought into clearer theoretical and methodological alignment in order to develop a more subtle and sophisticated understanding of the dynamics of, and elective affinity between, intellectual and institutional change. It also suggests that this need for a clearer theoretical alignment between these three approaches will become particularly pressing in the 1990s as an alternative discourse of citizenship emerges to challenge the ideological hegemony of the discourse of enterprise with its roots in cultural historicism.
THE IMPORTANCE OF INDUSTRY STRUCTURE FOR THE DETERMINATION OF FIRM PROFITABILITY: A NEO‐AUSTRIAN PERSPECTIVE
Authors: Hill Charles W. L. , Deeds David L.
Published: May 2007

This paper is concerned with exploring the degree to which industry structure determines firm performance. Most of the business policy literature follows Porter in arguing that industry structure has an important influence on firm level profit rates. the arguments contained in this paper take a counter position. It is argued that a plausible alternative to the hypothesis that industry structure matters is the hypothesis that (holding demand constant) individual firm differences are the most important determinant of firm profitability.
THE NATURE AND TRANSFORMATION OF CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS: A REVIEW OF RECENT LITERATURE AND A RESEARCH AGENDA
Authors: Ferlie Ewan , Pettigrew Andrew
Published: May 2007

In this paper we suggest that the study of attempts to secure headquarters level change may now be of increasing significance. Evidence of a wave of HQ level change is beginning to accumulate and requires further investigation. the twin purposes of this paper are: (1) in descriptive terms, to gather such evidence as is already available about the nature and extent of HQ level change; to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the extant literature; to suggest where further descriptive work needs to take place; and (2) in explanatory terms, to build some initial and alternative organizational and managerial theories that could inform the study of HQ change; to propose a medium‐term research agenda that can be tested in the field.
GREEN STAKEHOLDERS: INDUSTRY INTERPRETATIONS AND RESPONSE*
Authors: Fineman Stephen , Clarke Ken
Published: May 2007

This paper argues that industrial responses to ‘green’ pressures may fruitfully be explored using a stakeholder framework. However, the common view of an objective configuration of stakeholders is replaced with one that favours an interpretive perspective. Managers are viewed as crucial mediators of stakeholder influence; how they identify, define and construct stakeholders is an important feature of the meaning of greening and an industry's subsequent response. A qualitative study of managers in four UK industries ‐ supermarkets, automotives, power and chemicals ‐ is reported. the effect of a small number of stakeholders ‐ campaigners and regulators ‐ is examined in some detail, distinguished differentially according to their perceived legitimacy and the threat they pose to industry. Also examined is the large group of traditionally powerful stakeholders ‐ customers, creditors and employees ‐ who fail markedly to impact on industry's greening. the implications of the findings for pro‐environmental change and stakeholder theory are discussed.
HUMAN RESOURCES AS STRATEGIC ASSETS: AN EVOLUTIONARY RESOURCE‐BASED THEORY*
Authors: Mueller Frank
Published: May 2007

The paper proposes an evolutionary approach to strategic human resources. This means that, first of all, truly valuable strategic assets are unlikely to result directly from senior management policies. Rather, what is truly valuable is the ‘social architecture’ that results from ongoing skill formation activities, forms of spontaneous co‐operation, the tacit knowledge that accumulates as the unplanned side‐effect of intentional corporate behaviour. Thus, corporate prosperity not seldom rests in the social architecture that has emerged slowly and incrementally over time, and may even predate the tenure of current senior management. Given the low visibility of such spontaneous co‐operation, it is even more likely to be resistant to easy imitation and therefore a valuable strategic asset.
SCALE, PERFORMANCE AND THE NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF LOCAL AUTHORITY SERVICES
Authors: Boyne George A.
Published: May 2007

New public management (NPM) arguments on strategy and structure suggest that performance is enhanced if large organizations are disaggregated into smaller units. the NPM perspective reflects the views of public choice theorists who claim that big organizations are unresponsive to public needs, inefficient and fail to achieve their formal goals. These arguments have underpinned many recent changes in the structure of public services at both central and local levels.

This paper uses data on six local government services to test the NPM hypothesis that there is a negative relationship between scale and performance. Five dimensions of performance are analysed: service coverage, quality, speed of provision, efficiency, and administrative effectiveness. Scale is measured through indicators of service output, caseload and needs. the impact of scale is tested in multivariate statistical models which control for other potential influences on variations in performance across local authorities.

Only around half of the statistical evidence suggests that the smallest local units are the best performers. In addition, even when performance does decline with scale, this trend is reversed in the very largest units. Thus, contrary to NPM arguments, the biggest organizations are seldom the poorest performers.
High Commitment Management and Payment Systems
Authors: Wood Stephen
Published: May 2007

This paper extends the analysis of high commitment management (HGM) reported in a previous Journal of Management Studies article (Wood and Albanese, volume 32, number 2) by examining its linkage to payment systems. It opens with an overview of what the literature on HCM portrays as the pay systems that are most compatible with it. Then it reports research, based on data from a representative sample of manufacturing plants in the UK, which examines what pay systems in practice are used in conjunction with HCM. It also assesses whether, as we might expect, plants using piecework and individual bonuses are less likely to adopt such an approach. Finally, the paper examines whether changes in payment systems are made as managements attempt to heighten their use of HCM.

Contrary to the claims of many writers, there is no systematic association between the use of HCM and the use of performance or contingent pay systems, such as merit pay and profit‐sharing schemes. the study does, however, show that those plants in which merit pay is paid as a permanent increase in the basic wage are likely to have higher levels of HCM (and rates of change in it) than are those in which merit pay is simply paid as a bonus. Individual bonus systems appear to be associated with plants which are not pursuing high commitment management to any great extent. Finally, the research shows that for the period 1986 to 1990 payment system changes in British manufacturing, though highly varied, tended to be introduced in association with a greater use of HCM and not introduced as a substitute for this. Moreover, the research suggests that these were lagging other changes, rather than leading them.
‘Sameness’ and ‘Difference’ Revisited: Which Way Forward For Equal Opportunity Initiatives?
Authors: Liff Sonia , Wajcman Judy
Published: May 2007

Recent interest in ‘managing diversity’ has reopened debates about forms of equality in the workplace. Approaches to equality developed in the 1970s and 1980s have been characterized as an attempt to ensure that if individuals bring the same abilities to work, or perform in the same way, they should receive the same access to jobs and employment benefits, regardless of social group membership. Managing diversity appears to be about a more positive valuing of difference. Benefits are seen to derive from different perspectives and approaches and these should be nurtured and rewarded rather than suppressed. Feminists have long argued about the extent to which women are the same as, or different from, men, and about the political consequences of adopting these positions. Recent theoretical developments have led to some novel solutions to this dilemma. These include asserting claims to both ‘sameness’ and ‘difference’, the deconstruction of ‘difference’, and the reconstruction of ‘sameness’ on women's terms. This paper explores approaches to equal opportunities through both established and novel theoretical perspectives. It argues that existing practice cannot be fitted neatly into the conventional distinctions between ‘sameness’ and ‘difference’, and explores the potential characteristics and strengths and weaknesses of equality initiatives based on the new theoretical perspectives.
Strategic Motives For International Alliance Formation*
Authors: Glaister Keith W. , Buckley Peter J.
Published: May 2007

This paper considers the strategic motivation for international alliance formation for a sample of UK firms with partners in western Europe, the United States and Japan. the relative importance of a set of strategic motives is identified and related to extant theory. A parsimonious set of strategic motives for the sample studied is provided by means of factor analysis. the paper identifies the main strategic motives for alliance formation by UK firms as intrinsically linked to the market and geographical expansion of the firm and that the main strategic motives are underpinned by the theories of strategic positioning and organizational learning. This study also finds that some of the often suggested motives for alliance formation found in the literature, in particular aspects of risk reduction associated with new projects, appear not to be particularly important motivating factors. Hypotheses are tested on the relationship between the relative importance of individual strategic motives and a number of characteristics of the sample ‐ contractual form of the alliance, relative partner size, primary geographical location of the venture, industry of the alliance and partner nationality. Implications of the findings for future theorizing on alliances and their motives is identified.
Re‐Engineering the Sense of Self: the Manager and the Management Guru*
Authors: Jackson Bradley G.
Published: May 2007

Conventional explanations of the enormous popularity of management gurus have centred on the need for managers to find relatively quick and simple solutions to their organizations' complex problems and the gurus' adeptness with marketing technology to promote these solutions. A few writers have also recognized the role that management gurus play in responding to managers' needs to make sense of themselves. Management gurus appeal to the manager's social or externally directed esteem needs by legitimating and celebrating the manager's role in society. the spiritual and charismatic quality of the gurus' work resonates with the manager's personal or internally driven needs by providing a sense of hope and purpose.

The relationship between the management guru and manager is further explored with an analysis of the rhetorical techniques employed by the two leaders of the re‐engineering movement, Michael Hammer and James Champy. Adopting a dramatistic or dramaturgical perspective, I describe how these writers skilfully manipulate the managers'sense of themselves to provide a compelling rationale for launching or supporting a re‐engineering initiative within their organizations. the inherent dramatic appeal of the re‐engineering process is an important reason for the movement's phenomenal popularity and, paradoxically, its lack of universal success.
THE IMPLICATIONS OF STOCHASTIC DEMOGRAPHIC ASSUMPTIONS FOR MODELS OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF INHERITED WEALTH
Authors: Jenkins Stephen
Published: May 2007

The paper extends existing distributional models to incorporate two sets of ‘stochastic’ demographic assumptions: (a) where the number of heirs is randomly determined, and (b) where the gender of a given child is randomly determined (but the total number of heirs is non‐stochastic). The consequent increase in heterogeneity of family types might be expected to increase the inequality of family wealth and reduce the degree of intergenerational inheritance, relative to the ‘deterministic’ case, but it is shown that this conclusion is very much conditional on the other assumptions made; about the pattern of marriage and estate division in particular.
PROCYCLICAL RETAIL LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY*
Authors: Thurik A. R. , Kleijweg A. J. M.
Published: May 2007

The influence of lagged adjustment and consumer spending on retail labour productivity is investigated. Both influences result in a procyclical productivity pattern.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND COURNOT EQUILIBRIUM: EXISTENCE, UNIQUENESS AND COMPARATIVE STATICS *
Authors: Collie David
Published: May 2007

This paper proves the existence and uniqueness of Cournot equilibrium in models of international trade under oligopoly. The existence of Cournot equilibrium is established without the usual assumption that profit functions are concave. Instead the proof uses a weaker‘aggregate concavity’condition. A simple proof is used to establish the uniqueness of the equilibrium. And, the paper considers the implications of the assumptions, used to prove the existence and uniqueness of the equilibrium, on the comparative static results.
A NOTE ON COMPUTATION OF THE DOUBLE‐HURDLE MODEL WITH DEPENDENCE WITH AN APPLICATION TO TOBACCO EXPENDITURE
Authors: Jones Andrew M.
Published: May 2007

This note shows how the sample likelihood of the full double‐hurdle model with dependence can be reformulated to allow estimation with standard econometric software. An illustrative example is provided, using data on tobacco expenditure by households in the 1984 UK Family Expenditure Survey.
ASYMMETRIC INFORMATION FLOWS IN CUSTOMER MARKETS
Authors: Sibly Hugh
Published: May 2007

In customer markets an information asymmetry exists between a firm's current customers and prospective customers. When a firm changes its price, current customers are instantly aware of the price change, while potential customers are informed slowly of the change. The paper explicitly models this information imperfection and the associated asymmetry in firms' customer flows. The main result of the paper is that, because of the information asymmetry, there will be a range of marginal cost and demand over which the firm has no incentive to change price. It is also shown that prices will be more upwardly flexible than downwardly flexible. The size of the range, and the extent of downward price inflexibility, depends on the rate at which information is transmitted to customers.
A NOTE ON EXPORT UNIT VALUE INDICES IN COMPETITIVENESS VARIABLES
Authors: King Alan
Published: May 2007

Several reasons have been suggested for why export unit value data is an unreliable proxy for export prices and hence may result in the estimated coefficients of export models being both biased and inconsistent. The purpose of this note is to consider the role of exporters' choice of invoicing currency in contributing to this problem.
SEARCH EXTERNALITIES IN MACROECONOMIC THEORY
Authors: Wing Gerhard
Published: May 2007

The paper gives a survey of the basic features of macroeconomic models with search externalities. It presents a simple static general equilibrium model with search externalities. Within this context the main results characterizing steady state in dynamic search models are reproduced in a simple context. Specifically, the link between transaction technology and strategic complementarity is analysed. It is shown that increasing returns to scale in the transaction technology create feed‐back effects and multiple, Pareto‐ranked equilibria may arise. With economies of scale in matching, fluctuations in the economy can be large even with a low elasticity of search activity. The formal equivalence to models with investment externalities is analysed. In an application to the labour market, the allocative role of wages in the presence of search frictions and hysteresis effects are discussed. General conditions are given under which the set of welfare ranked equilibria is described by a closed loop. Finally, it is shown that with a more general transaction technology, even with constant returns to scale multiple equilibria may occur in the presence of externalities.
RELATIVE INEQUALITY, ABSOLUTE INEQUALITY, AND WELFARE: LARGE SAMPLE TESTS FOR PARTIAL ORDERS
Authors: Bishop John A. , Chakraborti S. , Thistle Paul D.
Published: May 2007

ARSTRACT

Two general welfare criteria, mean‐relative Lorenz and mean‐absolute Lorenz dominance, induce partial orders on income distributions. We propose asymptotically distribution‐free inference procedures, based on the union‐intersection principle, for these two welfare criteria. Unlike classical tests, our procedures allow one to distinguish among dominance, equality, and noncomparability. We show that union‐intersection tests must be used to test for partial orders, and that the statistical ordering is acyclic. The tests are applied to compare the UK distribution of real family income to five other countries.
ON THE REVISITED ILLYRIAN MODEL AND PERVERSITY: THE CASE OF THE LONG‐RUN1
Authors: Kahana Nava , Weiss Avi
Published: May 2007

The modified theory of the Illyrian firm was developed, in part, to correct a perversity exhibited by the traditional theory of the Illyrian firm — that output rises in response to a fall in output price or a rise in fixed costs. We show that while this revised model has solved the problem for the short‐run the problem remains in the long‐run, and this long‐run perversity may have important policy implications for the short‐run as well. We also show that the under‐production problem associated with the traditional LMF is mitigated (and perhaps even reversed) in the modified LMF.
WHY WAS UNEMPLOYMENT IN POSTWAR BRITAIN SO LOW?*
Authors: Broadberry S. N.
Published: May 2007

Why was Unemployment in Postwar Britain So Low?

This paper takes a fresh look at the low unemployment in postwar Britain, which is seen as exceptional rather than the norm. During the 1950s and 1960s low unemployment was reconciled with stable inflation through the exercise of wage restraint. Yet the postwar settlement which underpinned this wage restraint also allowed the entrenchment of restrictive practices, which inevitably slowed the growth of productivity and the feasible real wage, thus contributing to Britain's relative economic decline.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE EARNINGS DISTRIBUTION: HOW ARE HOUSEHOLDS AND INDIVIDUALS RELATED?*
Authors: Parker Simon Charles
Published: May 2007

This paper investigates the links between individual and household distributions of earnings. Using a sample of 1991 data from the UK, considerable complexity is uncovered in the structure of the household earnings distribution. This is due to heterogeneity of earners and positive ‘clustering’ of earners within households. The structure of the clustering behaviour of earners for different household types is estimated, and the contribution of clustering to overall earnings inequality is evaluated. Perhaps surprisingly in view of the observed clustering behaviour, it is found that clustering has reduced overall inequality, although the mean‐adjusted distribution of individual earnings is insignificantly different from the distribution of household earnings.