Search results

This chapter investigates the antecedents to the development of the three components of subsidiaries’ absorptive capacity (ACAP): recognition, assimilation and application of transferred knowledge in the context of the vertical flow of social and environmental accounting and reporting (SEAR) knowledge from the HQ to acquired subsidiaries. Our analysis is based on an embedded multiple case study of a UK-based MNC, informed by 44 semi-structured interviews and capitalising on agency theory and socialisation theory. Prior knowledge is not a sufficient explanation to the development of ACAP but it is also dependent on organisational mechanisms that will trigger the learning processes. Depending on the nature and degree of the social, control and integration mechanisms, the effects of prior stocks of knowledge on ACAP may vary. Our propositions only hold for one direction of knowledge transfer. The study is based on an embedded multiple case study in one sector which restricts its generalisation. It excludes the specific relationships between the three ACAP learning processes and the existence of feedback loops. Our findings suggest that the HQ’s mix of social, control and integration mechanisms should account for initial stocks of SEAR knowledge. The contribution lies in uncovering the interaction between heterogeneous levels of prior knowledge and organisational mechanisms deployed by the HQ fostering ACAP. We address emerging issues regarding the reification of the ACAP concept and highlight the potential of agency theory for informing studies on HQ-subsidiary relations.

Storytelling helps clarify the concealed or less visible elements of reality in its authentic context. Story analysis read between the lines of written or oral narratives to obtain richer understanding of an event. However, storytelling practice is a double-edge sword. Skilled storytellers may employ the power of storytelling to reframe an event in a favorable or undesirable way.

In contemporary business world, corporations broadly employ expert authors who proficiently apply storytelling practices in corporate public documents. Accordingly, corporate public documents declare desirable corporate image and promising reflection of business activities hence the corporate attracts more stockholders and obtains extra resources.

In current business world, corporates that do not appropriately employ storytelling would fail to take the opportunity to brainwash stockholders, hence suffer from competitive disadvantage.

This case study analyses Sears Holdings Corporation public report to explore how its business activities are revealed to public stakeholders. This study also proposes hypotheses of the consequences of ineffective storytelling.

Within 18 months of exiting bankruptcy, Kmart's position was sufficiently strong to launch an acquisition of Sears, once the nation's largest retailer and also a core holding of ESL. Looks at a number of compelling issues related to Kmart's bankruptcy, restructuring, and rebirth under the control of ESL, a large hedge fund. Presents some of the key metrics that Eddie Lampert, head of ESL, had available to him as he made two decisions: first, in 2002, to amass a controlling stake in Kmart's defaulted debt during the restructuring; and second, in 2004, to launch a takeover of Sears. The first deal illustrates the decision-making process for a financial buyer, including the downside protection of Kmart's real estate holdings, whereas the second deal represents a traditional strategic acquisition. Illustrates the innovative use of real estate as a “hedge” for ESL in the event that the retail combination does not produce the required financial results. Also focuses on the role of investment bankers and the increasingly important position that hedge funds and LBO funds have carved out in the M&A market.

To outline the explosive growth in assets and influence of alternative investment managers, particularly LBO funds and hedge funds, and the transition of some larger hedge funds from shorter term trading strategies to longer term plays on distressed debt, restructurings, and turnarounds.

This chapter aims to advance economic development theory through the concept of jurisdictional advantage; demonstrating how places might strategically position themselves to gain economic advantage; then considering how this place-specific advantage might be constructed. We choose the term “jurisdiction” to define the set of actors that have a common interest in a spatially bound community. Jurisdictions are entities with a legitimate political ability to influence social and economic outcomes within their boundaries. Borrowing from the literature on corporate strategy, the uniqueness of local capabilities becomes a source of advantage for jurisdictions. We consider how to measure and construct jurisdictional advantage.

Introduction Everyone agrees that increasing levels of economic development is good, but hardly anyone agrees on how to achieve it. Theorists cannot even agree on what constitutes economic development; each writer on economic development uses his own measure or measures of development. Many of these measures represent attempts to assess levels of production and/or consumption in the economies studied. Thus, it would seem that the achievement of higher levels of production and consumption is a common goal of economic development theorists. The production‐consumption thesis is an accepted tenet in economic development planning. Unfortunately, most of the production‐consumption theories and planners have focused their attention entirely on developing the productive capacity end of the equation, under the assumption that increases in consumption will automatically follow increases in production. (See Figure I for an illustration of this dichotomy between theory and policy.)

To describe reasons why companies make bad strategy decisions despite having the most capable, motivated, experienced, well‐equipped strategists in history. To recommend practical changes companies can implement to improve strategy decision‐making.

Why do bad strategy decisions get made when so much effort goes into making them well? After all, no one gets up in the morning intending to make bad strategy decisions. This paper draws on the author's experience in scores of business war games and strategy simulations in Fortune 500 firms around the world and on the author's observations in 30 years of designing and implementing quantitative business tools.

Helps strategists uncover sources of bad strategy decisions that might not be recognized in their companies, such as overconfidence, use of inappropriate analytical tools, and excessive emphasis on accountability. Discusses remedies and alternatives such as strategy simulation, business war games, examination of uncertainty, and competitor role‐playing. Includes

Improving the quality of strategy decision‐making can hugely affect the bottom line and be a potent source of competitive advantage.

Strategy decisions are among the highest‐leverage actions management can take. This paper offers new ideas to strategists who want to make better strategy decisions, and identifies conventional solutions to avoid.

The purpose of this paper is to present and analyse part of the relevant legal instruments currently available for regulating environmentally harmful space activities.

This paper opted for a functional research method combined with a comparative methodology. To make the argument, this paper relies on the contextual analysis of primary and secondary sources of law, instrument of soft law and the relevant background material (e.g. journal articles, textbooks, law reform and policy papers).

The central section will focus on the principles of international environmental law to outline their utility in the contemporary context. Finally, the conclusive part will point out the several ways in which the use of analogies can shape the outer space regime, especially concerning how those principles that are developed to safeguard the Earth, can also be extended for the protection of the space ecosystem.

Environmental hazards are rapidly increasing and the current international law and policy on planetary protection are inadequate to meet the challenges of the near future. There is no possibility of an environment-friendly and sustainable future if not strictly connecting it with a comprehensive and transparent acknowledgement of the human mistakes made on Earth. There are valuable lessons to be learned from our past, and it is under this perspective that the trend of polluting the outer space can be reverted. This paper fulfils an identified need to study the correlation between principles of international environmental law, space law and the current situation in the outer space.

Effective strategy development and planning is an organization's most powerful means of controlling its destiny. Strategy is simply the management of change—the intelligent adaptation to external circumstances and the conscious creation of a desired future. Without a systematic, formal strategy development process, the quality of strategy is likely to be hit or miss. Only with a good long‐term strategy—and consistent implementation—will a company be able to beat competitors in meeting customer wants and needs.

This paper examines whether employee-driven practices of reverse mentoring and job crafting lead to work engagement and, in turn, to higher levels of prospective mental and physical health.

Integrating social exchange theory and the job demands and resources model as theoretical frameworks, survey data were collected from 369 Indian software developers to test the research model. Latent variable structural equation modeling was used to empirically test the hypothesized associations.

The findings reveal that both reverse mentoring and job crafting are significantly associated with work engagement. Work engagement fully mediated the negative relationship between 1) reverse mentoring and mental ill-health and 2) job crafting and physical ill-health, while it partially mediated the negative relationship between 1) reverse mentoring and physical ill-health and 2) job crafting and mental ill-health.

The results demonstrate that by implementing the practices of reverse mentoring and job crafting, managers can achieve desired levels of engagement among employees and sustain organizational productivity by promoting employee health and well-being.

This study is one of the early attempts to empirically demonstrate the associated health outcomes of reverse mentoring and job crafting.