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The emergence of dyadic resource exchange relations in transition economies provides a unique opportunity to study the process by which interfirm exchange relations develop. I use data on China's 40 largest business groups and their 535 member firms in the first five years of business group formation to investigate the effects of environmental uncertainty, interfirm familiarity, and organizational flexibility on the strength of repeated interfirm resource exchange ties. I model 16,306 ordered pairs of dyadic relations as a function of organization, dyad, and regional covariates to evaluate ideas derived from resource dependence theory and research on social dilemmas. I find that even when less expensive alternatives are available, exchange ties are stronger when the sending firm has secure access to the resource and when the receiving firm is located in an uncertain environment. In addition, exchange ties are stronger between firms that had prior social connections, particularly when environmental uncertainty is high. Finally, the strength of ties decreases where the receiving firm is able to modify its basic priorities so as to do without the resource, particularly when the receiver is exposed to relatively high levels of environmental uncertainty. These results simultaneously lend support for some of the basic propositions of resource dependence theory, provide insight into the process by which interfirm relations develop, and identify relationships of interest to strategists and policy makers.

This article’s indented contribution is to provide novel theoretical insights and empirical observations on “who gets what” in the way of incomes, including wages. The article challenges the conventional wisdom about stratification, especially power and status, as an outcome or function of economic distribution. It posits that income distribution is conditional on pre‐existing social stratification expressed in antecedent differences in class, power, status and related factors.

This paper aims to explore the interlock-performance relationship among mainland Chinese firms listed in Hong Kong by taking advantage of a relationship-intensive context whereby such a link is likely to be especially important. Although strategic networks such as interlocking directorates have been found to affect a number of strategic behaviors, the link connecting board interlocks and corporate performance has remained ambiguous. Considerable light has been shed on the strategic networks of firms whose shares are listed abroad, which have been under-studied despite their rising importance in the global economy.

Data come from a particularly interesting historical period – the early 1990s prior to Hong Kong’s 1997 handover to China. Both quantitative and qualitative research have been used.

Empirically, it was found that good performance in an earlier period helps draw outside directors in a later period, and that network centrality and certain types of interlocks help improve performance, albeit with varying degrees. Overall, our results answer the question whether strategic networks such as interlocks matter for corporate performance with a qualified “yes”.

Taking advantage of a relationship-intensive context, this article explores the interlock-performance relationship among mainland Chinese firms listed in Hong Kong. Focus is specifically on the two years, 1993 and 1995, due to their specific historical importance because these two years represent the beginning of Chinese firms’ listing in Hong Kong.

Planned episodic change programs, rigid processes and traditional structures, optimized for efficiency rather than agility, are no longer appropriate in a context where competitive advantage is fueled by high-speed innovation, supported by a more entrepreneurial mindset. The purpose of this paper is to offer a review of relevant research to provide an informed case for continuous strategic transformation facilitated by enhanced organizational agility. The concept of agility is explored, defined and a framework for categorizing agility-enhancing capabilities is presented. Specific aspects of this agility framework are examined to better understand how these interrelated competencies contribute to overall corporate performance in this fast-paced world.

A range of published empirical and practitioner research articles were reviewed to study the concepts of organizational agility and transformation as critical factors contributing to sustained competitive advantage, organizational performance and survival in the increasingly competitive global context. This literature review explores how organizations are overcoming the challenges imposed by their traditional structures, cultures and leadership models and identifies dynamic competencies to be developed to achieve a greater level of corporate agility.

Increased organizational agility increases the ability to respond proactively to unexpected environmental changes. The commitment to continuous transformation and agile strategies implies changes at all levels of the organization from its structure, through its leadership and decision-making dynamics, down to the skills and interpersonal relationships of the individuals implementing the agile mission.

There is a gap in the literature with respect to agility, namely that most research focuses on the characteristics of agile organizations, with little attention given to how to develop agile capabilities and embed the commitment to continuous change deep into the corporate DNA, beyond the process level, into the psyche of the people driving the organization.

Managers should consider agility as an overarching principle guiding strategic and operational activities. Fostering agility-enhancing capabilities will be paramount in ensuring the successful integration of agility as a performance enhancing paradigm.

For small- and medium-sized companies with limited resources, this reality makes staying relevant an uphill battle but also opens windows of opportunity. The challenge of the next century for large organizations will be to rekindle their innovative agile beginnings and for start-ups to continue to foster their dynamic capabilities as they grow.

The paper provides practical and empirical evidence of the importance of enterprise agility and specific dynamic capabilities on firm performance.

This paper aims to evaluate the role of depositor-specific features in a bank resolution. As the resolution framework in the EU is rather new, there are no empirical studies referring to the efficiency of this mechanism in protecting financial stability. Thus, the authors have checked the role of societal awareness of deposit guarantee schemes and the resolution, as well as the trust in public institutions, in avoiding bank runs in the case of resolution scenarios.

The study is based on telephone interviews conducted with 1,000 Poles, including bank customers whose banks have undergone resolution in recent years, and basic statistics of the resolved banks. The authors then apply two classes of models: binary probit regression and ordered probit regression.

The findings have indicated that the trust in public institutions and the experience gained with age play a key role in overall depositor behaviour. However, for resolutions, declared trust is replaced by case-specific trust based on the obtained information.

The survey is based on a sample of Polish citizens. In the future, international surveys may help diagnose cross-country differences among depositors. Moreover, studies on communication approaches may also support finding highly effective ways to reach various cohorts of depositors.

The existing literature on depositor behaviour in bank failure scenarios has relied on an experimental approach to test various research hypotheses. The research sample is not based on an experiment but on the responses of customers whose banks have actually undergone resolution.

Rape is one of the most heinous and underreported crimes against women. However, if women knew about recent technological advances in the war on rape, maybe they would report the crime more often. For example, biting incidents in connection with violent rapes are not rare. Consequently, bite mark evidence should be carefully searched for and uncovered early on in the beginning stages of all violent rape/murder investigations. The present case study analysis of nine serial rapists and murderers reveals and captures these criminals through the modern use of odontology. Modern technology in the form of alternate lighting, the skills of the criminal investigator, odontologist, and pathologist are combined in a team effort to bring these offenders to justice. Thus it is necessary to train law enforcement officers and to educate women to make them more aware of such crucial evidence, since many of these rapists are often repeat offenders.