Search results

This research is one of the first studies to examine the effects of CSR disclosures on a firm’s decision to purchase back their own shares of stocks. Additionally, the authors examine whether the effect of CSR disclosures is stronger than the effect of CSR performance on the decision to repurchase shares. Examining firms in the United States, the authors find that total CSR disclosures and the CSR disclosures related to the dimensions of social, environmental, and governance are significantly and positively related to the number of shares that a firm buys back. Additionally, the authors find that the effects of CSR disclosures are stronger for total and the CSR dimensions of social and governance than for CSR performance. For the environmental dimension of CSR, both disclosure and performance scores are significant. This research expands our understanding of the impact of CSR disclosure by showing the importance it plays in the decision to buy back stock and implies that firms that repurchase their stock are more socially responsive than firms that do not. Finally, it contributes to the growing literature on how CSR disclosure has a different impact than CSR performance on firm decisions and outcomes.

The essential investments in new product development (NPD) made by industrial companies entail effective management of NPD activities. In this context, performance measurement is one of the means that can be employed in the pursuit of effectiveness.

Research related to firm export performance dates back to the early 1960s, ever since many studies have been conducted with mixed results. The three main goals of the present study were to analyze (1) the impact of the selected firm, management, and the export strategy-related variables on the export performance; (2) the possible variation in the results depending on the measure of export performance; and (3) the similarities and differences in the results depending on the type of SME – traditional exporters vs. born international companies. Based on a literature review, 14 hypotheses were developed to be tested. Consequently, the empirical part of the study is based on a survey conducted among Finnish SMEs in early 2002. The export performance was analyzed using six different types of performance measures. None of the 14 hypotheses were fully supported by all employed measures of performance. However, the export performance was positively impacted by firm size, product/service quality, international orientation, and market diversification along five measures. Additionally, the study indicated some similarities, but also some differences depending on the measure of export performance, type of the exporting SME, and the operationalizations used for the born international companies. Based on the results, management implications and proposals for future research are presented.

This empirical study conceptualizes the institutional environment within which firms function in a transition economy as a number of dimensions, representing the externally set ‘rules of the game’ as perceived by senior managers. It then proposes a mediating model of the links between that environment and the commercial performance of enterprises in which incentive intensity is a key strategic choice, influenced by perceptions of the institutional setting and the influence of that choice is carried on to commercial performance by a set of managerial orientations. The model is tested using survey data from a sample of 959 Chinese enterprises.

Corporate diversification is a strategy that enables corporations to expand their core business into other businesses. In Malaysia, corporate diversification continues to represent a fundamental organizational structure. Some two-thirds of Malaysian firms are diversified. However, when compared to developed countries such as the US and the UK, we find that firms are moving toward non-diversification. The study is based on the population framework consisting of all of the public limited companies (PLCs) listed on the Bursa Malaysia stock exchange from 2007 to 2012. A dynamic panel model system generalized method of moments (GMM) was used to analyze the diversification and firm’s performance theories.

The empirical findings demonstrated that diversification is better than non-diversification firms for the curvilinear relationship between diversification and firm’s performance (ROA and Tobin-Q) when using the entropy index and relatedness is taken into consideration. The research further concluded that related and unrelated diversification also has a positive relationship with performance, but diversification must be the dominant (focused) and cannot be too broad in nature. Diversification that is too broad may cause a positive relationship to turn in to a negative relationship toward performance in both related and unrelated instances of diversification.

Board size has received significant attention among researchers and regulators. However, the advisory role of boards has not been studied much. In this study I examine the notion that investors value larger boards for their advisory capabilities. Prior studies examine board size in the context of monitoring role of corporate boards and find opposite effects on debt holders and equity holders. Using market-based measures of total firm performance, which take both equity and debt into account; I find that larger boards are associated with greater economic value added (EVA). Using a sample of S&P 1500 firms from 2000 to 2003 and controlling for various firm and industry characteristics, I also find that the board size is positively associated with firm productivity and various other efficiency measures such as return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and Sales-Turnover ratio. I argue that firms with larger boards, valuing the advisory role of directors offer greater compensation to the directors. Overall the results indicate that large board size has a positive impact on firm's performance. The results are robust to alternative measures of firm performance and other key variables.

The main problem addressed by this research is the current debate between the negative and positive effects of industrial clusters. This debate is a result of gaps between theoretical implications and empirical evidence in both the classical agglomeration theory and the agglomeration lifecycle theory. The purpose of this study is to propose a framework for developing an index measuring both organizational cluster involvement and organizational supply chain including the three pillars (economic, social, and environmental). Furthermore, the index acts as a quantitative predictor of the stages of the life cycle of industrial clusters. Adopting a case study methodology, the applicability of the index development framework is demonstrated. First, cross-sectional exploratory interviews are performed to locate items measuring the three pillars of organizational sustainability within Egyptian communication industry. Second, an explanatory, cross-sectional approach is applied gathering data from eight professionals related to involvement and supply chain sustainability of their organizations. Analytical hierarchical process is used for weighting and aggregating individual item metrics into two indicators (Saaty, 1980). Measuring, managing, and controlling capabilities of organization's supply chains outweighs the need to manage risks. The proposed framework aids firms within a cluster in making timely decisions about what needs addressing to improve supply chain sustainability performance. Hence, all environmental, social, and economic capabilities can be effectively monitored and controlled.

Introduction: – Together with the increasing competition between businesses each day, the sales and marketing process of products and services have become increasingly difficult. For this reason, sales have become a marketing activity with an ever-growing importance to businesses. The performance of salespeople who undertake this challenge on behalf of the business is highly valuable for firms. Many researches have noted that there is a relationship between the performance of salesperson and motivation. The purpose of motivation in sales literature is to direct salespeople to exert more effort in reaching sales-oriented goals and aims. In order to ensure this, many businesses use various motivation tools/factors.

Purpose – The aim of this study is to analyse the effect of motivation factors on performance of salesperson.

Methodology – Quantitative research method was used in the study. A questionnaire was prepared with this aim in mind and administered to 315 employees working as salesperson in Çanakkale and Bursa provinces.

Findings – The findings from the analysis of the data show that the five dimensions namely satisfaction, image, relations, knowledge of product and service and advertisement related to motivation factors have a significant effect on the task performance of the salesperson.

This study explores in the context of the use of the balanced scorecard (BSC) by management, whether the use of both financial and nonfinancial measures by top managers in their evaluations influences middle-level managers’ evaluations of their subordinates. This study uses a 2×2 experimental design where the subjects (MBA students) were asked to evaluate the performance of two lower-level managers under two different manipulation conditions. Subjects acted as middle-level managers of a hypothetical company. They were provided with the same performance information of two low-level managers under both conditions. However, under one condition, subjects were provided with additional information: the top management's evaluation style which used both financial and nonfinancial measures in their performance evaluations. No additional information was provided to subjects under the other manipulation condition. We also manipulated two performance information patterns of the two low-level managers. We predict that if middle-level managers are aware that the top manager uses both financial and nonfinancial measures in the BSC to evaluate their performance, middle-level managers would develop a mindset in which they will evaluate subordinates in a similar style, evaluating their subordinates on the basis of both financial and nonfinancial measures. The results of this study support the hypotheses. The findings of this study suggest that the contagion effect exists in the use of the BSC in performance evaluations.

This study investigates whether block acquisitions lead to changes in board and CEO compensation characteristics and finds that block purchasers do not play a significant role in improving the firm’s governance practices. However, the majority of professional investors have sold their block within a year, suggesting that they do not own their stock long enough to alter governance policies nor to benefit from such changes. For the smaller number of firms where a new blockholder maintains their investment for more than a year, the use of equity based CEO compensation increases while the use of cash based compensation decreases.