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11 – 20 of over 25000Foreign competition has made the US steel and automobile industries effect decentralization operations to the middle south and west — to rural, low‐paid, non‐unionized labor, and…
Abstract
Foreign competition has made the US steel and automobile industries effect decentralization operations to the middle south and west — to rural, low‐paid, non‐unionized labor, and thus maximising profits and increasing management control. All this has led to a reruralization of the US workforce and by selling off operations, profit levels can be enhanced.
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The steel industry in the U.S. has been experiencing declining revenues and rising losses. Over half the steel mills have filed for bankruptcy. To remedy the situation, the…
Abstract
The steel industry in the U.S. has been experiencing declining revenues and rising losses. Over half the steel mills have filed for bankruptcy. To remedy the situation, the industry asked the federal government for help with the retirees’ pensions and protection from steel imports. The government imposed tariffs of 8 to 30 per cent to last for three years. Reaction to the tariffs from U.S. trade partners has been negative. The government hopes the industry will take advantage of the break to modernize and become more efficient. The history of the industry, however, sheds doubt on the industry’s ability to overcome past inefficiencies.
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Katherine Andresen and Brian H. Kleiner
Iron preceded steel in the history of the metal industry. It was used for over three thousand years, and when the British settled in North America, the first iron works was set up…
Abstract
Iron preceded steel in the history of the metal industry. It was used for over three thousand years, and when the British settled in North America, the first iron works was set up at James town, Virginia, in 1621. By the time of the American Revolution, the colonies were producing one‐seventh of the world’s supply of pig iron at thirty thousand tons. Steel is made by alloying iron with carbon to produce a hard, strong metal. It was expensive to manufacture and the United States imported most of its steel until after the Civil War. The steam age provided much growth to the iron industry in the 1800s, with enormous demand for iron rails. Pennsylvania, with its large deposits of anthracite coal, was the nation’s leading state in the iron industry. Aided by the great iron ore deposits in the Great Lakes area and cheap water transportation, the production of iron and steel drove the Industrial Revolution, and the Mid west became the centre of American heavy industry. Developments in steel processing during the mid 1800s lowered the cost of steel production and allowed the use of steel for rail roads, construction, and other industrial uses. By 1883, approximately twenty years after the Civil War, the United States produced nearly 115,000 tons of steel and the Iron Age disappeared. The American steel industry continued to grow rapidly and by 1910 it produced more than 24 million tons, which was the greatest of any country. One of the high lights of the steel industry was the establishment of United States Steel Corporation in 1901 led by J. Pierpont Morgan and Elbert H. Gary. The corporation was valued at $1.4 billion and controlled more than 60 percent of the US market. The strength of America’s steel industry continued after World War II and peaked in 1969 at 141,262,000 tons. At this time, competition from steel plants abroad with lower labour costs and newer mills started edging in on the US market. By 1975, US steel production declined to 89 million tons, but rebounded slightly in the late 1980s (Gordon). The American steel industry would not be central to the economy as it had for the previous 100 years.
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When an industry faces strong competition, it can adjust or seek protection through government trade policy. A look at the causes, course, and consequences of such competitive…
Abstract
When an industry faces strong competition, it can adjust or seek protection through government trade policy. A look at the causes, course, and consequences of such competitive shifts in the steel and consumer electronics industries shows why the battle over protectionism has heated up recently.
Albert P.C. Chan, Yang Yang and Ran Gao
The steel construction market has undergone gradual development in the past decades given its profound impacts on environment, economy and society. The purpose of this paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
The steel construction market has undergone gradual development in the past decades given its profound impacts on environment, economy and society. The purpose of this paper is to facilitate a better understanding of the major drivers and issues behind the market development of the steel construction industries around the world.
Design/methodology/approach
A three-step desktop research was conducted to select relevant research outputs published in the past 20 years. The research methodology in conducting these studies and their research trends were analyzed. Then the potential influencing factors for the market development of steel construction were identified through a content analysis of the selected studies.
Findings
A total of 59 articles were identified accordingly. These influencing factors were divided into five main themes: contextual, institutional, industrial, project-related and individual factors. In terms of the frequencies of these factors appeared in previous studies, “continuous development of standards, codes, and specifications” and “advance in product and process technology” were the top two driving forces in the market development of steel construction, while “cost issues” was the most frequently reported obstacle.
Originality/value
The study takes an initiative to establish a practical classification framework that can be dedicated to illuminating the critical issues or success factors affecting the development of the steel construction market. This framework can help policymakers, industry practitioners and researchers achieve sustaining success in steel construction in the developed, emerging and inactive markets.
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Roma Mitra Debnath and V.J. Sebastian
– The purpose of this paper applies to Indian steel manufacturing industries to evaluate the technical and scale efficiency (SE).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper applies to Indian steel manufacturing industries to evaluate the technical and scale efficiency (SE).
Design/methodology/approach
Data envelopment analysis (DEA) has been employed to calculate the relative efficiency of the steel manufacturing units. The selection criteria for the inclusion of a steel manufacturing unit in the analysis has been annual income of more than 50 crores and units manufacturing pig iron, steel and sponge iron. Within the DEA framework, the output-oriented model with constant returns to scale and variable returns to scale were studied. Four input variables, namely, gross fixed assets, total energy cost, total number of employees and currents assets were considered. Among the output variables, the four variables considered are income, sales, PBIT and PAT.
Findings
The result of the efficiency scores have been categorized into three parts. The pure technical efficiency represents local efficiency and the reason of inefficiency is due to inefficient operations. Technical efficiency indicates that the respective decision-making units are globally efficient in case the efficiency is 100 per cent. The SE explains that the inefficiency is caused by disadvantageous conditions. As the result shows, that public sector undertaking (PSUs) are operating under disadvantageous conditions as compared to private manufacturing units. One of the possible reasons of location disadvantage condition is manufacturing units for PSUs are scattered throughout India. Some of the units are located in such places where, the raw material, supply chain could be difficult. It has been found that 45 per cent of the private manufacturing units are technically as well as scale inefficient units.
Practical implications
The result of the study would benefit the steel industry to develop a performance benchmarking as steel companies must be profitable in the long term to ensure sustainable achievements.
Originality/value
This is an original study to apply DEA to get insights on productivity efficiency of the steel manufacturing units in India. Though the manufacturing units were selected on the basis of annual income, the analysis of productivity does not reflect any impact of income on the efficiency of the manufacturing firms.
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Egnalda Pereira da Silva, Evandro de Azevedo Alvarenga, Maria das Mercês Reis de Castro and Vanessa de Freitas Cunha Lins
The purpose of this study was to select an atmospheric corrosion evaluation methodology and to establish a range of relative corrosion penetration and/or progress values, which…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to select an atmospheric corrosion evaluation methodology and to establish a range of relative corrosion penetration and/or progress values, which could be used as reference in the selection of materials for the civil construction industry.
Design/methodology/approach
Salt spray, field tests, accelerated cyclic tests and accelerated field tests were used to evaluate atmospheric corrosion resistance of civil construction materials. The cyclic accelerated test and the field test with saline solution spray were found to be appropriate for atmospheric corrosion resistance evaluation.
Findings
The corrosion resistance of aluminium killed mild steel, aluminium killed copper added steel, and electrogalvanized steels, all phosphatized and painted, were evaluated by field and accelerated corrosion tests. Of the materials studied, aluminium killed mild steel showed the least resistance to atmospheric corrosion. The use of aluminium killed copper added steel is recommended for material specification in the civil construction industry.
Research limitations/implications
Salt sprays are not adequate to evaluate atmospheric corrosion resistance. There are other cyclic tests that could be tested in future work.
Practical implications
Brazilian technical standards, which specify the metallic materials used in the civil construction industry, will be changed in order to include the construction steel corrosion resistance evaluation methodology, which is proposed in this paper. As a result, the tendency of the construction materials lifetime is set to increase.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the improvement of the Brazilian Technical Standard by the inclusion of an atmospheric corrosion resistance requirement.
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Aysun Ficici, Bo Fan, C. Bülent Aybar and Lingling Wang
This paper attempts to explore the interrelationships between the split-share structure reform and privatization processes in light of the interplay between the listing…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper attempts to explore the interrelationships between the split-share structure reform and privatization processes in light of the interplay between the listing announcements of the non-traditional shares of the Chinese firms within the steel industry and market reaction to these listed shares, as well as to analyze the value gained by the firms due to the privatization processes.
Methodology/approach
The paper examines market reaction to the listing announcements of non-traditional shares as traditional shares by employing event-study methodology. To determine the success of privatization process and value creation to the firm, the paper utilizes multivariate analysis.
Findings
The exogenous factors emphasized in a topographical order, explicitly profitability, efficiency, and leverage, are related to the privatization processes and split-share structure reform that impact the market. The study supports that market reacts positively to the listing announcements of non-traditional shares. Being listed improves value to the firm.
Research limitations/implications
The limitation of this study is the lack of data on country, industry, and firm factors; and this study merely relates to one specific industry and one country.
Originality/value
The paper fills a gap in the literature by articulating the impact of privatization and split-share structure reform on both market reaction and firm value. It focuses on the impact of a dynamic process rather than the impact of a static constituent on market reaction and firm value, as the previous studies have been concentrating on. The research shows that there is an accelerated privatization process of state-owned firms in Chinese steel industry and their integration in capital markets.
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Wouter MG Van Bockhaven, Paul Matthyssens and Koen Vandenbempt
This paper aims to apply innovation networks (INs) theory to the context of domesticated markets, where innovation triggers deinstitutionalization. In such contexts, the success…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to apply innovation networks (INs) theory to the context of domesticated markets, where innovation triggers deinstitutionalization. In such contexts, the success of INs depends on their capacity to transform the business field in which they are embedded, so that it accommodates innovative business models. Such “institutional INs” beget a meso-level finality, and this poses different requirement on their effectiveness. The purpose of this paper is to confront extant models of collaborative innovation in networks with this specific context to offer exploratory insights into how innovation can be achieved in domesticated contexts and what the differential implications are for network configurations and strategic “reinstitutionalization” practices.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on an illustrative embedded case study in the Dutch steel industry, a framework offering indications on the effectiveness of discrete configurational dimensions and their fit with reinstitutionalization practices for institutional INs is suggested. The case builds on 26 semi-structured interviews and 4 focus groups with top managers in the industry. As the aim is to extend theoretical models of INs to this under-researched context, an abductive approach to theorizing, consistent with the extended case method, is adopted.
Findings
Findings suggest that collaborating to redesign an institutionalized business field collectively implies a more explicit attention to interdependencies within the business field.
Practical implications
Besides suggesting modifications to extant frames regarding heterogeneity in and the configuration of networks, this paper has some practical implications. The framework proposed offers managers some support in the largely ignored issue of developing a collective action network. With these findings, we aspire to stimulate further research into this relevant, yet underdeveloped, topic.
Originality/value
The study extends IN theory toward innovation realization in domesticated contexts. In such contexts, IN’s success depends on their capacity to transform the business field in which they are embedded, so that it enables innovative ways of creating end-customer value. Besides suggesting a new area for theorizing about innovation networks, institutional innovation networks are also a useful template for institutional innovation and collective action research. The paper offers a framework to support managers in the largely ignored challenge of developing a collective action network. In an increasingly transparent, connected and consolidated business environment, such a challenge becomes ever more essential.
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Dean Stroud and Peter Fairbrother
The purpose of this paper is to open up discussion about the relationship between trade unions and workplace learning.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to open up discussion about the relationship between trade unions and workplace learning.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on an analysis of a series of case‐studies of restructuring in the European steel industry, incorporating interviews, observation and documentary analysis.
Findings
The paper argues that trade unions often fail to address the significance of workplace learning for members, because they address workplace learning as a service. This approach fails to exploit opportunities and possibilities to extend workplace‐learning provisions, and thereby meet the wider learning and employability enhancing needs of members. The outcome is that trade union involvement in skill formation and workplace learning is marginal, and contributes to the perpetuation of traditional sector practices and regressive learning provisions.
Research limitations/implications
The paper focuses on a discussion of trade union involvement in workplace learning in the European steel industry. The implications for workplace learning practices more generally, are limited to industries where trade unions (and companies/industry) organise in relation to training and learning agendas in similar ways – and in relation to industries undergoing similar process of restructuring and “modernisation”.
Practical implications
The paper provides a critique of trade union service approaches to learning agendas and highlights for policy‐makers gaps in current learning provisions within industry.
Originality/value
This paper makes an original contribution to debates concerned with trade union involvement and participation in workplace learning. It focuses on workplace inequities in training provision, and the implications for the future of unions and the employability prospects of workforces within the European steel industry.
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