bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Political Business Cycles in Industrialized Democratic Countries
Authors: SOH BYUNG HEE 
Published: May 2007

SUMMARYAn examination of the rates of income growth, inflation, and unemployment in twenty industrialized democratic countries reveals evidence of political business cycles. The money supply and government expenditures tend to show expansions near elections. Political business cycles are not readily detected in the countries with more extensive indexation or longer electoral terms.ZUSAMMENFASSUNGEine Untersuchung des Einkommenswachstums und der Inflations‐ und Arbeits‐losenrate in zwanzig industrialisierten demokratischen Lándern deutet auf politische Konjunkturzyklen hin. Geldvolumen und Regierungsausgaben neigen dazu, vor den Wahlen anzusteigen. Politische Konjunkturzyklen sind in den Lándern mit Teue‐rungsausgleich oder lángerer politischer Amtsdauer nicht so deutlich festzustellen.RÉSUMÉL'étude des taux de croissance du revenu, de l'inflation et du chômage dans vingt pays démocratiques industrialisés révèle l'existence de cycles dans l'économie politique de ces pays. La masse monétaire et les dépenses publiques ont tendance à s'accroître à l'approche des périodes électorates. Les cycles de l'économie politique ne sont pas aisément décelés dans les pays à indexation plus étendue ou à mandats électoraux plus longs.
Freedom, Property Rights and Innovation in Socialism*
Authors: PEJOVICH** STEVE 
Published: May 2007

SUMMARYThe central issue in this paper is the effect of alternative property rights on the flow of innovation. The basis for this issue arises from the fact that people prefera wider range of choices to a narrow one. The analysis is broken down into: the freedom to innovate, the power to innovate, the incentives to innovate, the implementation of innovation, and the evaluation of innovation. The line of reasoning in the paper is exampled by reference to the Yugoslav economy. The paper concludes that an essential problem of economic development is the freedom to search for and adopt a set of social institutions within which opportunities and incentives for innovation are enhanced. Specifically, labor participation in management collectivizes innovation, a purely individual phenomenon, and alienates the innovator from its outcome. In comparison with a private‐property, free‐market economy, self‐management reduces the number of potential innovators, their power to innovate, and incentives to innovate.
On Thoughtless Rationality (Rules‐of‐Thumb)
Authors: ETZIONI AMITAI 
Published: May 2007

SUMMARYThe recognition of the existence of imperfect information in decision‐making and the cognitive limitations of the human mind put various assumptions of the neoclassical economic paradigm in doubt. Neoclassical economists responded by arguing that decision rules, or rules of thumb, can be used to render decision without processing information. Further, neoclassicists have suggested that rational rules compete against and drive out irrational ones. This paper focuses on the use of rules of thumb and posits that the empirical evidence about the rationality of these rules is dubious and that they logicallycannotserve as a basis for rational conduct.
Cooperating Adversaries
Authors: STARK ODED 
Published: May 2007

SUMMARYIn this paper we argue that mutual altruism might explain why workers and a firm move from low‐productivity adversarial point(s) to high‐productivity cooperative point(s). The unique critical level of such altruism is identified and hence a stopping rule is provided: The mutual altruism solution to an otherwise prisoner's dilemma equilibrium depends on representing an agent's (workers, firm) preferences as a specific convex combination of his and the other agent's original utilities. The move to the cooperative point(s) is facilitated by revision of the utility functions and a consequent change in the payoffs. This, in turn, is brought about through intrafirm processes such as furnishing employees with superior compensation packages as well as through an interfirm process ‐ drawing lessons from ‘shocks’ ‐ the experience of firms which, as they were locked in low productivity equilibrium points, were weeded out.
Disaster‐Prone Technologies, Environmental Risks, and Profit Maximization
Authors: ENGLAND RICHARD W. 
Published: May 2007

SUMMARYThis paper presents a model of short‐run profit maximization by an industrial firm utilizing a disaster‐prone technology. The firm's decisions about output rate and accident prevention activities are shown to be jointly determined by market demand, production cost and prospective accident loss data. Various institutional reasons are given for believing that, in the absence of government safety regulations, even a risk‐neutral management is likely to choose an excessively high probability of a Bhopal‐style disaster.ZUSAMMENFASSUNGIn diesem Beitrag wird ein Modell der kurzfristigen Gewinnmaximierung für Indu‐strieunternehmungen entwickelt, deren Technologie die Gefahr von Katastrophen birgt. Die Entscheidungen der Unternehmung hinsichtiich Produktion und Unfall‐vorbeugung werden bestimmt durch Nachfrage, Produktionskosten und erwartete Folgekosten von Unfällen. Aus verschiedensten institutionellen Gründen dürfte sogar ein risikoneutrales Management ‐ bei Absenz staatlicher Sicherheitsvorschrif‐ten ‐ dazu neigen, eine aus gesellschaftlicher Sicht zu hohe Wahrscheinlichkeit einer bhopalartigen Katastrophe zu wählen.RÉSUMÉCet article présente un modèle de maximisation du profit pour une entreprise industrielle qui met en ceuvre une technologie à très hauts risques. Les auteurs montrent que les décisions de l'entreprise concernant le taux de production et les activités de prévention des accidents sont déterminées conjointement par la demande du marché, les cou̧ts de production et les données prospectives de pertes d'exploitation consécutives aux accidents.Cet article fournit différents raisons institutionnelles pour penser qu'en l'absence de règlementations officielles de la sécurité, une direction d'entreprise neutre envers le risque choisira vraisemblablement une probabilityé extrèmement élevée vis‐à‐vis d'un désastre du style de celui de Bhopal.
Currency Competition in Switzerland, 1826‐1850
Authors: WEBER ERNST JUERG 
Published: May 2007

SUMMARYCurrency competition provided a stable monetary standard in those Swiss cantons that deregulated their financial systems after liberal revolutions in the 1830s and 40s. The Swiss currency issuers’ concern with purchasing power stability suggests that each of them faced a real demand for notes that was sensitive to expected changes in the purchasing power of those notes. Given purchasing power stability, the circulation of a currency depended on the quality of the financial services of its issuer. Issuing and keeping notes in circulation was costly. The share of notes in the balance sheets of their issuers was therefore small except in periods when interest rates on other debt instruments were high.ZUSAMMENFASSUNGFreie Konkurrenz zwischen Währungen garantierte monetäre Stabilität in jenen Schweizer Kantonen, die nach liberalen Revolutionen zwischen 1830 und 1850 ihr Währungssystem reformierten. Die Beachtung, die die schweizerischen Notenprodu‐zenten der Kaufkraftstabilität schenkten, legt nahe, dass die reale Banknotennach‐frage von der erwarteten Kaufkraftveränderung abhing. Bei gegebener Kaufkraft ist die Zirkulation einer Währung durch die Qualität der finanziellen Dienstleistungen ihres Anbieters bestimmt. Die Ausgabe von Banknoten verursacht Kosten, und es ist teuer, sie im Verkehr zu halten. Daher war der Anteil von Banknoten in der Bilanz ihrer Anbieter gering, ausser in Zeiten, in denen der Zins auf anderen Finanzierungs‐instrumenten hoch war.RÉSUMÉLa concurrence monétaire libre eut comme résultat une stabilityé monétaire pour les cantons suisses qui avaient réformé leurs systèmes monétaires après les révolutions libérales des années 1830 et 1840. L'importance que les émetteurs monétaires suisses attribuaient à la stabilityé du pouvoir d'achat suggère que la demande pour les billets de banque dépendait de la variation escomptée du pouvoir d'achat. Pour un certain pouvoir d'achat, la circulation monétaire est déterminée par la qualityé des services financiers de l'émetteur. L'émission des billets de banque et leur maintien en circulation est une affaire cou̧teuse. Dans le bilan des émetteurs, la contribution des billets de banque était done insignifiante, sauf dans les périodes où d'autres instruments de dette étaient sujets à des intérȩts éleves.
What Can We Learn From Comparative Institutional Analysis? The Case of Telecommunications
Authors: Blankart Charles B. , Knieps GÜnter 
Published: May 2007

SUMMARYIn the paper several reasons will be investigated why there is only partial deregulation in Germany and extensive deregulation in the U. S. Purely economic reasons such as economies of scale are shown to be of little help for understanding telecommunications policy in Germany as compared to the U. S. As an alternative, a politico‐economic approach is presented. It is shown that institutional differences can help to understand the differences in deregulatory policy. In Germany, decisions on telecommunications deregulation are centralized on the federal level, whereas they are distributed on the federal and state level in the U. S. As consequence, a different interest group representation is prevailing in each country promoting deregulation in the U. S. and impeding deregulation in Germany. It is shown that the obstacles to deregulation in Germany might be overcome through an explicit compensation scheme embodying an entry tax on the one hand a price subsidy on the other.
THE AGGREGATION OF ESTIMATES IN HIERARCHIAL ORGANIZATIONS
Authors: Berry A. J. , Otley D. T. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis paper explores two issues in the formation of expectations in hierachically ordered organizations ‐ the estimates of events made by individuals at one level and the coupling of these estimates to those made at the next level in the organization. Data from two field studies are used to illustrate the changes in risk bearing imposed by close coupling of estimates at two different levels and the potential reinforcement of bias in estimation which coupling may engender.
INDIVIDUAL MODERATORS OF THE TASK DESIGN, JOB ATTITUDE RELATIONSHIP: A NOTE ON MEASUREMENT
Authors: Robey Daniel 
Published: May 2007

AbstractMany job design studies incorporate a direct measure of individual differences to test the contingency hypothesis of Hulin and Blood. This study examines two basic approaches to the measurement of potential moderators of the relationship between job design and job satisfaction. One method involved independent determination of a work value system, and predicted job satisfaction of subjects in an experimental study on job enlargement. The second method, strength of higher order needs, did not yield the same results as did the first. This difference shows that choice of an operational definition of individual differences affects research findings. For purposes of personnel selection or placement, the work values approach (method one) appears to be more useful than the need strength measure (method two).
SOME EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE RELATED TO THE CASE OF THE SUPERORDINATE INTEGRATOR
Authors: Tinker A. M. , Lowe E. A. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis empirical study seeks to characterize processes of integration in complex organizations. The need for integration is examined initially in terms of the ideas of Weber, Pugh et al., Child, Lawrence and Lorch, and Pettigrew. Subsequently integration is related to a system's view of the problem of organizational control that underlines how the environment tends to both ‘fractionalize’ and ‘factionalize’ an organizational decision‐making system. The integrative task is then represented in terms of processes that seek to effect stable combinations of interrelationships between differntiated sub‐units.The evidence is presented in the form of a series of cases and incidents obtained during a one‐year participant observation study in a large multi‐national company. The research aims to identify ‘contingency’ guidelines in the design of integrative mechanisms by exploring differences in: the characteristics of integrative sub‐systems, the organizational environments in which they operated and the kinds of (intergroup) decision conflicts in which they were engaged. This exploratory study suggests that important conditions include: the identification of the integrative unit members, how ‘ill‐structured’ the decision problems encountered are and the degree of support for integrators that is perceived to be provided by senior management.
ON ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN: FROM A LINEAR PROGRAMMING POINT OF VIEW
Authors: Obel Børge 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis paper analyses the impact of different organizational structures on the coordination problem of the multilevel organization. The two basic structures analysed is the U‐form and the M‐form within the framework of a price‐directive coordination mechanism. Issues such as vertical and horizontal decomposition, the length of the planning period, the level of aggregation, etc., are discussed. The basis for the analysis is results from decomposing of linear programming models.1
EVOLUTION AND REVOLUTION: A QUANTUM VIEW OF STRUCTURAL CHANGE IN ORGANIZATIONS
Authors: Miller Danny 
Published: May 2007

ABSTRACTThere may be hidden costs in making prompt incremental and piecemeal changes to organizational structure to cope with a new strategy or environment. We shall argue that changeless stable intervals punctuated by infrequent but revolutionary periods of ‘quantum’or multifaceted structural change may sometimes be the most economical strategy. Incremental structural changes may create severe and costly disharmonies as they destroy an integral structural configuration. These costs might outweigh the benefits of adapting structure to changes in strategy and environment. Because such costs may be high it might be necessary to delay changing until they can be justified. Such delays can require subsequent revolutionary structural changes. The applicability of this view of change for different contexts will be discussed.
THE IMPORTANCE OF BOUNDARY SPANNING ROLES IN STRATEGIC DECISION‐MAKING [I]
Authors: Jemison David B. 
Published: May 2007

ABSTRACTThe influence of boundary spanning roles on strategic decision‐making was explored in a field study in fifteen organizations. Results support the importance of boundary spanning roles in the strategic decision‐making process and the relationship of technology to the differential strategic decision‐making influence of different boundary spanning roles.
ASSESSING THE SAMPLES OF PRIOR ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCH
Authors: Miller George A. , Anderton Douglas L. , Conaty Joseph C. 
Published: May 2007

ABSTRACTThe sampling designs used in organizational research have been less than consistent across different reported studies. In this analysis we examine the reported relationships among several key organizational variables in ten separate previously published studies to determine the degree to which major differences in sample designs have influenced findings. We isolate that portion of reported associations due to unique characteristics of the samples and report the association these ‘sample design effects’ have with particular sample designs. Results indicate homogeneous samples of organizations inflate reported relationships yet leave significant sources of variation uncontrolled in sample selection. an alternative to sampling of homogeneous organizations is suggested by the fact that larger and probabilitistically selected samples are also associated with larger reported relationships among organizational variables.
THE PROCESS ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
Authors: Telem Moshe 
Published: May 2007

ABSTRACTThe concept of the PROCESS ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE (P.O.S.) represents an attempt to take current systems‐oriented organizational theory one step further. The P.O.S. is viewed as an additional type of organizational structure, existing and operating in the organizational space, side by side and integratively with the formal and informal organizational structures. Its characteristics are identified and analyzed, and a multi‐dimensional process framework designed to fit all organizations is outlined. The framework's contribution to our understanding of organizational structure and dynamics is indicated, as well as its potential usefulness as a tool for theory and practice.
PROPRIETORIAL CONTROL IN FAMILY FIRMS: SOME FUNCTIONS OF ‘QUASI‐ORGANIC’ MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Authors: Goffee Robert , Scase Richard 
Published: May 2007

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the strategies of managerial control which are used by the proprietors of family‐owned business enterprises. Interviews with the proprietors and senior managers of businesses in the building industry illustrate the ‘quasi‐organic’ nature of management structures. These grant some autonomy to senior managers without threatening proprietorial decision‐making prerogatives. Although the family firm has certain distinctive features, similar control strategies designed to ensure that delegated decisions are ‘reliable’ and ‘responsible’ are evident in various types of business enterprise. There is, then, scope for further comparative research within a conceptual framework which does not entirely divorce the family firm from other business organizations.
TECHNOLOGY AND SPAN OF CONTROL: WOODWARD REVISITED
Authors: Collins Paul D. , Hull Frank 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis study of production operations in 95 New Jersey manufacturing firms explains the widely replicated curvilinear relationship between first line supervisory span of control and Woodward's technological complexity scale. Revisiting Woodward led to the initial proposition that the relationship was a by‐product of the differing degree of task variability among the major types of production operations. A subsequent literature review of administrative requirements suggested the importance of size, complexity and automaticity on supervisory span of control. Our data indicate that variations in the span of control of production operations classified according to Woodward's scale are attributable to the underlying effects of size and task complexity. Technology, whether operationalized as Woodward's production types or automaticity of machinery explained little variation in the span of control of first line supervisors.
AN ANALYSIS OF THE TURNAROUND STRATEGY IN COMMERCIAL BANKING
Authors: O'Neill Hugh M. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractAn analysis of the content of turnaround strategies in the commercial banking industry is presented. Most prior work on turnaround strategies examined durable product industries rather than service industries. Theory developed in this past work is used to predict the content of turnaround strategies in this service industry. Discriminant analysis is used to test the predictions. The turnaround prescriptions developed in the durable goods industries are found to be valid predictors in the commercial banking industry. Suggestions are made to encourage further study of applications of the strategic paradigm in service industries.
THE NEED FOR MIDDLE‐OUT DEVELOPMENT OF MARKETING STRATEGY
Authors: Boxer P. J. , Wensley J. R. C. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe current tendency to move decision making closer to those concerned with implementing decisions in order to make use of their local market and customer knowledge is timely, particularly in relation to marketing strategy. This tendency is reflected both in the shift away from broad strategic analysis and towards encouraging strategic thinking throughout the organization; and in the emergence of more decentralized strategy development through structural innovations such as Strategic Business Units.For the manager‐in‐the‐middle who has historically had the task of relating the broad corporate strategies to the detail of delivering products and services to the customer, this shift in emphasis creates new stresses, for it is not possible for him to assume, even in the most established consumer goods companies, that the strategic development of such activities can be construed within the traditional marketing mix (4Ps) framework. Under such circumstances, he needs a framework which enables him to take account of the crucial interactions going on within the market's infrastructure itself between customers, competition and channels (3Cs).If the manager‐in‐the‐middle is then to be effective in responding to his increasingly complex responsibilities in relation to such markets, he must also be given the ability to manage the micro‐organizational context within which he delivers products and services. This micro‐organizational context is crucial because it determines the quality of the relationship that can be sustained with the customer. The higher the quality of the relationship, the tighter the coupling that can be maintained with the local market. Such tight coupling makes the relationship with the customer more defensible against competition. It therefore provides the basis for sustaining and developing the profitability of value‐adding products and services so necessary to long term corporate survival.
A CULTURAL THEORY OF INFORMATION BIAS IN ORGANIZATIONS
Authors: Thompson Michael , Wildavsky Aaron 
Published: May 2007

ABSTRACTOrganizations show an essential cultural pluralism. Taking this into account, we aim at developing a cultural theory of organizations. A central role in this theory is played by information rejection, which can follow any of four different styles: risk absorption, networking, paradigm protection, or expulsion. These can be related to different types of organizational cultures, in particular to markets, hierarchies, and sects. Different kinds of information bias institutionalize different kinds of leadership.
FACTORY MANAGERS: THEIR ROLE IN PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT AND THEIR PLACE IN THE COMPANY[1]
Authors: Edwards Paul K. 
Published: May 2007

ABSTRACTStudies of recent developments in personnel management have concentrated on personnel specialists. It is also necessary to consider how general managers view labour relations. This article analyses a survey of the senior site managers, ‘factory managers’, in 229 large manufacturing establishments. The need to examine higher levels of firms notwithstanding, the establishment level remains of crucial importance, for it is here that policies are implemented. Factory managers might be expected to see labour relations as unimportant. In fact, they saw them as crucial to the operation of the plant, and the managers played a substantial role in decisions on personnel questions. They saw labour relations not in terms of overcoming union opposition, or even of formal institutions, stressing instead the involvement of individual employees. This article analyses these findings and raises some questions about the extent and depth of British management's commitment to this new style of labour relations.