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1 – 10 of over 53000This paper analyzes the measurement of effective protective rates when there is joint production. It shows that special attention is required when tradables are jointly produced…
Abstract
This paper analyzes the measurement of effective protective rates when there is joint production. It shows that special attention is required when tradables are jointly produced with non‐tradables, and especially when there are significant changes in the prices of non‐tradables. Input‐output formulas for the Balassa and Corden methods are provided.
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Maren Hinrichs, Loina Prifti and Stefan Schneegass
With production systems become more digitized, data-driven maintenance decisions can improve the performance of production systems. While manufacturers are introducing predictive…
Abstract
Purpose
With production systems become more digitized, data-driven maintenance decisions can improve the performance of production systems. While manufacturers are introducing predictive maintenance and maintenance reporting to increase maintenance operation efficiency, operational data may also be used to improve maintenance management. Research on the value of data-driven decision support to foster increased internal integration of maintenance with related functions is less explored. This paper explores the potential for further development of solutions for cross-functional responsibilities that maintenance shares with production and logistics through data-driven approaches.
Design/methodology/approach
Fifteen maintenance experts were interviewed in semi-structured interviews. The interview questions were derived based on topics identified through a structured literature analysis of 126 papers.
Findings
The main findings show that data-driven decision-making can support maintenance, asset, production and material planning to coordinate and collaborate on cross-functional responsibilities. While solutions for maintenance planning and scheduling have been explored for various operational conditions, collaborative solutions for maintenance, production and logistics offer the potential for further development. Enablers for data-driven collaboration are the internal synchronization and central definition of goals, harmonization of information systems and information visualization for decision-making.
Originality/value
This paper outlines future research directions for data-driven decision-making in maintenance management as well as the practical requirements for implementation.
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Focusing on the telecom manufacturing industry in China as a case, this paper contends that the existing literature needs to be expanded. Product cycle theory could be applied to…
Abstract
Focusing on the telecom manufacturing industry in China as a case, this paper contends that the existing literature needs to be expanded. Product cycle theory could be applied to explain multinational corporations’ strategies of importing and localizing their products in developing countries in order to take advantage of lower labor costs and to break barriers to the local markets. However, rapid technology changes have limited the power of traditional product cycle theory while favoring the “dynamic adding‐and‐dropping” product cycle. Meanwhile, the success of “Wintelism” and the maturity of cross‐national production networks in the global market have significant impacts on developing countries’ indigenous industries. Indigenous manufacturers start to take advantage of their strength in the distribution and production value‐chain and to outsource their weaknesses to Western corporations. This model of “reversed cross‐national production networks” represents a feasible industrialization path with great potential to enable indigenous manufacturers to emerge as competitors in advanced Western markets as well as less developed markets.
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Benson Honig and Joseph Lampel
The evolution of interorganizational networks is shaped by micro and macro processes. At the micro level organizational dyads negotiate relationships in light of their own…
Abstract
The evolution of interorganizational networks is shaped by micro and macro processes. At the micro level organizational dyads negotiate relationships in light of their own cost—benefit analysis. At the macro level resources flow through networks and are mobilized by coalitions. Current research is beginning to examine integrating mechanisms which link network dynamics to dyadic relationship formation. In this paper we examine interorganizational brokerage as an integrating mechanism linking micro and macro network processes. We focus on the formation of networks in the global television industry. The Children's Television Network (CTW) has licensed and co‐produced its flagship program “Sesame Street” in many countries around the globe. Recently, it has expanded beyond a strategy based on direct first‐order linkages to one of brokerage and interorganizational entrepreneurship, entailing the formation of second‐order linkages—linkages between organizations with which CTW has direct first‐order relationships. In the aftermath of the Oslo Peace Agreement, CTW acted as a broker and sponsor of a joint venture between Israeli and Palestinian broadcasters. The main challenge facing CTW was a high degree of distrust between the parties motivated by fears of opportunistic exploitation. Such fears typically result in high transaction costs, making joint venture formation difficult, if not impossible. In its capacity as broker, CTW worked to reduce transaction costs. This was done by providing resources where needed, and by facilitating interaction and trust building between the parties. We describe CTW's tactics during the formation of this joint venture, and we analyze the outcome of the joint venture from the point of view of CTW's overall strategy. We conclude by discussing CTW's network and brokerage strategy in the aftermath of the joint venture.
Rong Ding, Henri C. Dekker and Tom L.C.M. Groot
The purposes of this paper are to provide first a detailed description of the use of interfirm cooperation by a large sample of Dutch firms of different sizes and from different…
Abstract
Purpose
The purposes of this paper are to provide first a detailed description of the use of interfirm cooperation by a large sample of Dutch firms of different sizes and from different industries, and second, to examine the governance role of financial managers in the management of cooperative arrangements.
Design/methodology/approach
Research questions are developed based on a review of previous literature and data were collected using a questionnaire administered to a large sample of Dutch firms.
Findings
The paper finds that the sample firms are generally well engaged in various types of interfirm cooperation, in particular in outsourcing arrangements and joint ventures. In addition, larger firms are on average involved in more types of cooperation than smaller firms are, and different cooperative activities and forms are frequently used in combination. On average, financial managers report to be actively involved in the management of interfirm cooperation, which ranges from monitoring yearly results, providing advice, supervising performance, to managing daily operations of the cooperation. In this management role, they mostly use frequent detailed financial and non‐financial performance information, which often not only relates to their own firm, but also to the partner firm.
Practical implications
This research provides evidence of the extensive use of interfirm cooperation in practice and identifies an important governance role of financial managers in the management of interfirm cooperation. An analysis of differences in this role across different types of cooperation and functional levels of financial managers is provided.
Originality/value
The findings provide new insights into firms' use of a broad range of interfirm cooperative activities and into the governance role financial managers in these activities. Consistent with prior studies that document an increasing propensity of firms to engage in cooperative arrangements, the results support that interfirm cooperation constitutes an important area for research in accounting. This paper provides several suggestions for future research aimed at improving researchers' and practitioners' understanding of the management of interfirm cooperation.
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Andrea Calabrò, Ulrike Mayrhofer and Alfredo Valentino
This paper aims at extending the debate on family firm internationalization by identifying cycles and waves of their internationalization processes with a specific focus on…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims at extending the debate on family firm internationalization by identifying cycles and waves of their internationalization processes with a specific focus on de-internationalization and re-internationalization.
Design/methodology/approach
Building on the Uppsala model and the resource-based view, this study analyzes the cycles and waves of internationalization of 26 German family firms in the Chinese market. Semi-structured interviews with top managers of the selected case firms were conducted, and secondary sources were used to triangulate the collected data.
Findings
The findings highlight the heterogeneity of family firm internationalization processes. Indeed, some family firms follow the sequential approach of the Uppsala model, while others choose to de-internationalize and then re-internationalize their activities. Their cycles and waves of internationalization can be explained by internal and external triggers.
Originality/value
This article contributes to the family firm internationalization literature by investigating how family firm characteristics and environmental factors shape internationalization, de-internationalization and re-internationalization paths. The novel findings enrich theoretical assumptions on family firm internationalization and highlight their varying internationalization processes, which can be explained by firm-specific characteristics, notably their unique family resources and socioemotional wealth, and contextual factors.
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Ian Palmer, Richard Dunford, Thekla Rura‐Polley and Ellen Baker
A common argument is that organizations should adopt new organizational practices, in order to respond to the hyper‐competitive business environment. The assumption underlying…
Abstract
A common argument is that organizations should adopt new organizational practices, in order to respond to the hyper‐competitive business environment. The assumption underlying this argument is that such adoption generally entails the replacement of traditional practices. We suggest, instead, that managers are more likely to be managing simultaneously both new and old organizational practices. We explore our position through an investigation of the use of remote collaboration technologies in film production. In our study of US, UK and Australian film production houses we identify seven organizational dualities which characterize remote collaborations: creative work/routines, freedom/constraint, trust/control, artistic excellence/cost effectiveness, collaboration/competition, emotional/rational and closeness/remoteness. One side of each relationship represents organizational practices commonly associated with traditional forms of organizing, while the other represents those practices commonly associated with new forms of organizing. The coexistence of these dualities suggests that new organizational forms are not replacing traditional forms but rather co‐exist with, and become incorporated into, remolded traditional forms.
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Introduction One of the fresher breezes to rustle the leaves in the Black Forest of microeconomic theory has been fueled by the “new” consumer behavior theory, based on the…
Abstract
Introduction One of the fresher breezes to rustle the leaves in the Black Forest of microeconomic theory has been fueled by the “new” consumer behavior theory, based on the household production function. The theory was developed in the early 1960s by Gary Becker, his colleagues and graduate students in the Labor Workshop at Columbia University. Becker's 1965 Economic Journal article, “A Theory of the Allocation of Time,” (1) is regarded as the seminal elucidation. But concurrently, other Workshop participants, such as Owen, Dean, Mincer, et al(2), did research on time allocation theoretics and applications, and credit for primal development of the new theory is also given to Lancaster for his 1966 paper, “A New Approach to Consumer Theory,” (3). However, one must go back to 1947 and Wassily Leontief's Econometrica article on the separability of functions (4) to find the clear Schumpeterian Vision necessary to evolution of the theory. Michael and Becker (5) have even claimed to find antecedents ranging back to 1789 and Jeremy Bentham's Principles of Legislation (6).
Strategic alliances have a variety of governance structures that can be broadly classified as joint ventures, minority equity alliances, and contractual alliances. This paper…
Abstract
Purpose
Strategic alliances have a variety of governance structures that can be broadly classified as joint ventures, minority equity alliances, and contractual alliances. This paper seeks to empirically examine the roles of four key determinants of governance structure choice, namely, joint R&D and joint marketing objectives, alliance management experience, and international partners.
Design/methodology/approach
Several hypotheses are developed regarding governance structure choice and are tested with data from 765 alliances. A multinomial logistic regression (logit) model is used for statistical analysis, with five control variables.
Findings
All hypotheses are supported, so that the roles of alliance objectives, alliance management experience, and international partners are demonstrated as being significant as determinants of governance structure choice in alliances.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations stem from the data being from a single source, one that also relies on press announcements that may be biased toward larger alliances.
Practical implications
Briefly, alliance managers should find it useful to assess the relative presence of the four determinants of structural choice studied in this investigation in order to make an informed selection of the appropriate governance structure.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the knowledge of the key determinants of governance structure choice in strategic alliances by examining empirically, with a large sample of alliances from various industries, the significant roles of four factors, namely, joint R&D and joint marketing objectives, alliance management experience, and international partners.
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Xinmin Peng, Lumin He, Shuai Ma and Martin Lockett
An alliance portfolio can help latecomer firms to acquire the necessary knowledge and resources to catch up with market leaders. However, how latecomer firms construct an alliance…
Abstract
Purpose
An alliance portfolio can help latecomer firms to acquire the necessary knowledge and resources to catch up with market leaders. However, how latecomer firms construct an alliance portfolio in terms of the nature of windows of opportunity has not been fully analyzed. This paper aims to explore how latecomer firms can build appropriate coalitions according to the nature of the window of opportunity to achieve technological catch-up in different catch-up phases.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a longitudinal case study from 1984 to 2018 of Sunny Group, now a leading manufacturer of integrated optical components and products, this paper explores the process of technological catch-up of latecomer firms building different types of alliance portfolio in different windows of opportunity.
Findings
This paper finds that there is a sequence when latecomers build an alliance portfolio in the process of catch-up. When the uncertainty of opportunity increases, the governance mechanism of the alliance portfolio will change from contractual to equity-based. Also, latecomer firms build market-dominated and technology-dominated alliance portfolios to overcome their market and technology disadvantages, respectively.
Originality/value
These conclusions not only enrich the theory of latecomer catch-up from the perspective of windows of opportunity but also expand research on alliance portfolio processes from a temporal perspective.
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