企业集团的理论综述与探讨

本文回顾了在企业集团研究中占主导地位的三种理论框架,即经济学(以制度经济学和资源理论为主)、社会学和政治学理论。这些理论从外部市场失效或者市场机制不完全、集团以内部市场替代外部市场并以较低的交易费用使成员企业获得产品或者要素资源、社会关系、传统以及社会规范对组织行为和结构的影响、国家和政府与企业集团的关系,以及双方之间的相互影响等角度出发,对企业集团的起因、角色和组织形式做出解释。在上述三种理论的指导下,相应的实证研究检验了企业集团内部市场的作用、资源分配体制、连锁董事以及政府政策对集团多元化战略和组织结构的影响,并取得了初步成果,本文也对今后企业集团研究的方向提出了建议。     

Can Sustainable Development and the Market Co-exist?

This article looks at Shell vision of sustainable development which is based on three essential and inseparable building blocks — the creation and maintenance of economic wealth, environmental improvement and social equity. All three must be integrated and balanced for long-term success, and all three underpin the Shell approach to global markets.The process of moving towards a sustainable future is under way, but the rate of progress depends on customer choice, innovation and investment — in other words, on market forces. If governments set targets and provide a good framework, companies like Shell will take the chances and offer solutions that support sustainable development. Then the markets will decide.Shell companies see support for sustainable development as a key element in continuing business success. This article discusses some of the ways Shell works with a wide range of partners to seek ways of achieving the best balance between economic, environmental and social considerations and between short term and long-term benefits. On this basis, the market supports the aims of sustainable development and Shell companies intend to play their part by providing, responsibly, efficiently and profitably, the energy the world's growing populations will need and want in the 21^st century.     

市场导向、创新与企业表现的关系——基于中国服务业的实证研究

市场导向的采用可以产生良好的企业表现等命题已被广泛接受,然而,二者之间具体关系的实证分析尚还不足,尤其是中国服务业中二者的具体关系研究几乎空白。本文以中国服务业企业为研究对象,提出了市场导向、创新与企业表现关系的假设模型,根据570个服务企业样本数据,利用回归分析及结构方程模型进行了检验,发现中国服务业中市场导向是通过创新的介入与递推而对企业表现发挥作用的。因此,中国服务业企业在市场导向的应用过程中要注意对创新活动的支持,这样才能充分发挥市场导向的作用。     

Exploring Risk Judgments in a Trade Dispute Using Bayesian Networks

Bayesian networks (BNs) are graphical modeling tools that are generally recommended for exploring what‐if scenarios, visualizing systems and problems, and for communication between stakeholders during decision making. In this article, we investigate their potential for exploring different perspectives in trade disputes. To do so, we draw on a specific case study that was arbitrated by the World Trade Organization (WTO): the Australia‐New Zealand apples dispute. The dispute centered on disagreement about judgments contained within Australia's 2006 import risk analysis (IRA). We built a range of BNs of increasing complexity that modeled various approaches to undertaking IRAs, from the basic qualitative and semi‐quantitative risk analyses routinely performed in government agencies, to the more complex quantitative simulation undertaken by Australia in the apples dispute. We found the BNs useful for exploring disagreements under uncertainty because they are probabilistic and transparently represent steps in the analysis. Different scenarios and evidence can easily be entered. Specifically, we explore the sensitivity of the risk output to different judgments (particularly volume of trade). Thus, we explore how BNs could usefully aid WTO dispute settlement. We conclude that BNs are preferable to basic qualitative and semi‐quantitative risk analyses because they offer an accessible interface and are mathematically sound. However, most current BN modeling tools are limited compared with complex simulations, as was used in the 2006 apples IRA. Although complex simulations may be more accurate, they are a black box for stakeholders. BNs have the potential to be a transparent aid to complex decision making, but they are currently computationally limited. Recent technological software developments are promising.     

服务供应链战略互动与协同价值对合法性的影响

基于能力观和制度合法性等理论,运用实证研究的方法验证服务供应链中服务集成商与客户企业之间的战略互动关系以及集成服务和产品服务价值实现对伙伴关系合法性的作用.基于资源依赖理论和服务供应链理论阐述服务集成商与客户企业的战略互动、协同价值实现和伙伴关系合法性,并在此基础上提出三者之间的关系,即战略互动对伙伴关系合法性的影响以及协同价值实现的不同表现,特别是集成服务对以上路径的中介作用.研究结果表明,服务集成商与客户企业之间的战略互动是影响服务供应链上下游企业产生伙伴关系合法性的显著因素,尤其是服务集成商的集成服务价值实现是伙伴关系合法性形成的关键中介变量,而产品服务的价值实现并不能推动服务集成商与客户企业之间的关系合法性.     

Offshoring Business Process Services and Governance Control Mechanisms: An Examination of Service Providers from India

As emerging markets increasingly rely on service businesses through offshore outsourcing, we examine the role of governance control mechanisms in improving performance among business process outsourcing (BPO) service providers in India. Using data collected from 205 emerging market‐based BPO service providers in India, we examine the antecedents and consequences of establishing governance control mechanisms in BPO service providers. Specifically, we examine how structural (use of contracts with the client), administrative (effective allocation and demarcation of responsibilities within the firm), and relational (collaboration and information sharing with the client) mechanisms drive the performance of a BPO service provider operating in an emerging market. We also examine how key task‐related (task connectivity and task security) and client‐related (end customer orientation and global control) antecedents influence the use of different governance control approaches in this environment. Our analysis finds that both task connectivity and task security significantly impact use of structural and administrative mechanisms, whereas end customer orientation is significantly associated with the strength of the relational mechanisms governing the emerging market‐based BPO service provider and its client. Further global control significantly influences the strength of the structural mechanisms between the client and the BPO service provider. Finally, the three mechanisms have a complementary influence in driving the BPO service provider's performance.     

Regional integration and the regional risk paradox

How does regional economic integration affect the risk exposure of multinational enterprises (MNEs)? Investigating firm regionalization patterns, I uncover evidence of the regional risk paradox: as MNEs regionalize to exploit the lower risk environment offered by regional economic integration initiatives, they ultimately increase their regional risk exposure by deepening their commitment and embeddedness in regional business networks. Informed by the Theory of the Regional Multinationals and by theories of regional integration, I employ a social network lens to investigate the evolving structure of business relationships in regions governed by different regional integration frameworks. I then explore the implications of these evolving relationship network structures on the transformation of regional business risk. I find that moderately integrated regions lower transaction costs to moderately low levels, thus encouraging moderate MNE regionalization. This leads to moderate MNE embeddedness in loosely coupled regional business networks and a moderate increase in regional risk. By contrast, deeply integrated regions lower regional administrative distance to very low levels and encourage intense MNE regionalization. This leads to deep MNE embeddedness in tightly coupled regional business networks and a significant increase in regional risk.     

复杂产品系统企业集成解决方案业务转型动因实证研究

在当今这个服务经济时代,复杂产品系统企业开展集成解决方案的业务转型,为客户提供集成解决方案业务,已经成为企业获取竞争优势的有效方法。在文献资料和国内企业调研访谈的基础上,初步提出14项复杂产品系统企业开展集成解决方案业务转型的动力因素。通过对问卷收集的数据进行实证研究,验证和提取出外部环境、客户需求、服务经济效益、以期获取竞争优势、企业供给5个关键动力因素,并对实证研究结果进行分析讨论。     

The impact of international business education on career success—Evidence from Europe

In today's globalized world, career paths are becoming increasingly international, and so managers need respective cross-cultural strengths in order to act effectively in various cultural environments. Even though education—especially business education—is progressively becoming more international to meet these organizational demands, little is known about whether the extent of international business education influences careers, and in particular career success. In addressing this research deficit, we explore whether and how international business education affects career success. As the major contribution of this paper we suggest a conceptual framework which posits global identity and international experience as mediators of this relationship. The assumptions of this framework are confirmed by an investigation amongst 450 alumni of a European business school. Additional contributions include that we extend the limited body of research on the construct of international business education and its measurement, by providing an all-encompassing definition and much-needed operationalization. Furthermore, we contribute a European perspective on international business education through our empirical evidence.     

Innovative Knowledge Transfer Patterns of Group-Affiliated Companies: The effects on the Performance of Foreign Subsidiaries

The objectives of this paper are to determine the patterns of innovative knowledge transfer strategies of globalized group-affiliated companies (GACs) from emerging markets and to assess the effects of these patterns on the performance of foreign subsidiaries. The sample are comprised of 52 Korean business groups, called chaebols, which consist of 181 parent firms and their 1,068 foreign subsidiaries as of the end of 2009. In the study, we employ the perspectives of organizational learning and internal resource-based theories of the organization, and the results are assessed based on cluster and post-hoc regression analyses. The authors identify five distinct groups of innovative knowledge transfer patterns, i.e., 1) small inactivator, 2) hyperactive transferor, 3) laissez faire exploiter, 4) hands-on exchange avoider, and 5) moderate researcher. Our cluster and post-hoc regression analyses support the main hypotheses, i.e., 1) there will be differences in patterns of innovative knowledge transfer strategies of globalized GACs within chaebols; and 2) these differences will influence the performance of foreign subsidiaries. Our contribution to the extant literature is to fill the vacuum that exists in the current empirical studies on 1) a positive vs. negative balance of exploratory and exploitative innovative knowledge exchanges among GACs within a business group and 2) the phenomenal patterns of innovative knowledge transfer and their effects on the performance of foreign subsidiaries in the context of emerging market GACs. Therefore, our analyses advance the research in the area of innovative knowledge management in the context of the emerging market business groups.     

服务企业的国际化战略

本文分析了打算进入国际市场的服务企业所面临的主要挑战,然后提出了服务企业国际化的五种相互并不完全排斥的战略。它们是：直接出口服务,即最适合于面向产业市场的维修和保养服务;系统出口,指由两家或多家提供互补性解决方案的企业开展的合作出口;直接进入模式,指服务企业在国外市场直接建立子公司;间接进入模式,适用于那些不愿意直接在国外设立拥有全部或部分所有权的子公司的服务企业,通常通过授权协议或特许经营方式由当地企业提供服务;电子营销,这种方式使企业不必局限于某一特定市场。     

Performance analysis of serial supply chain networks considering system disruptions

The supply chain networks could be very fragile in global environment due to unexpected events such as emergencies, normal disruptions and industrial accidents. The supply chain members may lose their production capacities temporarily, which might have significant impacts on the performance of the whole supply chain network. This article proposes a discrete time model to characterise the unreliable production capacity in serial supply chain networks. Based on the proposed model, the exact probability distributions are available for the performance analysis of a single-stage system in the lost sales scenario. The iterative methods are developed to derive the approximate performance measures for single-stage systems in the backorder scenario and multi-stage systems in both the lost sales and backorder scenarios. The proposed methods are verified through a series of numerical experiments. The analysis results suggest that the performance of the supply chain network suffers more from the downstream-stage unreliability than the upstream-stage unreliability. Furthermore, some application examples are illustrated to show the possible solutions for practical problems.     

Business incubators as international knowledge intermediaries: Exploring their role in the internationalization of start-ups from an emerging market

This paper investigates how business incubators facilitate the international growth of start-up clients originating from emerging markets. Drawing key insights from a network perspective, we explore the processes by which business incubators create international linkages between the networks of knowledge creation and knowledge application. Our analysis of interviews and archival data on five Chinese high-tech business incubators reveals that clients-interface, market-interface, and knowledge recombination practices of the business incubators create international knowledge linkages, which in turn facilitate the international growth of their start-up clients. This role of incubators as knowledge intermediaries is achieved through several networking and learning mechanisms, including clustering and coaching of international clients, upstream and downstream networking in international markets, and client-market matchmaking internally. This study demonstrates business incubators as an efficient modality of internationalization for locally bound international knowledge and network scarce start-up clients.     

Startups internationalizing in quest of a business model: The global prospecting of process niche firms

This paper examines technology startups whose initial offering is not a tangible product or service, but rather a technology used in the production process of goods and services of other firms. These “process niche firms,” as we call them, represent an emerging and increasingly common feature of the digitized economy. As part of their search for a suitable business model – be it products, services, and/or outright licensing of intellectual property – process niche firms engage in early internationalization in order to gain relevant market knowledge and identify possible business partners. A framework is derived to examine the internationalization pattern of such firms. The paper draws on four illustrative case studies providing insight into how such process niche firms “prospect” in foreign markets prior to deciding on the business model that suits them best. Early in their life cycle, process niche firms may decide to locate their headquarters in a different country in closer proximity to relevant markets and partners, as their high knowledge intensity and dearth of tangible assets makes them highly movable. Later in their development, process niche firms will likely evolve into other types of firms, depending on the business model they ultimately choose and the process that they follow.     

Market Orientation and Company Performance: Empirical Evidence From UK Companies

There has been little empirical investigation of a relationship between market orientation and performance, which is assumed to exist in the strategic management and marketing literatures. This limited empirical evidence is equivocal, and is dominated by only two US studies. The overall aim of the study reported in this article was to build on this limited empirical evidence about a relationship, by achieving new insights from another national business culture, namely the UK. Unlike the US evidence, the results from this study suggest that the influence of market orientation on performance is moderated by environmental variables. They suggest that market orientation may not be advantageous in highly turbulent markets, and in conditions of low customer power and high technological change.     

Strategic Development of Business Models: Implications of the Web 2.0 for Creating Value on the Internet

There is virtually a consensus that, to remain competitive, firms must continuously develop and adapt their business models. However, relatively little is known about how managers can go about achieving this transformation, and how, and to what extent, different types of business models should be adapted. To illustrate the differential effect of environmental changes on different business model types, this article draws from the ‘4C’ Internet business model typology to elaborate on how a recent wave of changes on the Internet – the emergent Web 2.0 phenomenon – is affecting each of its four business model types. We argue that Web 2.0 trends and characteristics are changing the rules of the ‘create and capture value’ game, and thus significantly disrupt the effectiveness of established Internet business models. Since systematic empirical knowledge about Web 2.0 factors is very limited, a comprehensive Web 2.0 framework is developed, which is illustrated with two cases and verified through in-depth interviews with Internet business managers. Strategic recommendations on how to what extent different Web 2.0 aspects affect each business model type are developed. Executives can use the ideas and frameworks presented in the article to benchmark their firm's efforts towards embracing the changes associated with the Web 2.0 into their business model.     

PSS business model conceptualization and application*

The discussion about business models has gained considerable attention in the last decade. Business model frameworks have been developed in the literature as management methods helping companies to comprehend and analyse their current business logic and guide the deployment of new strategies. In response to calls for a deeper understanding of the application of a business model approach to product-service systems (PSS), this study develops a two-level hierarchical framework that (i) includes a set of components with pertinent, second-order variables to take into account when undergoing the shift from products to solutions; (ii) supports industrial companies, especially SMEs, in designing their future business model and in consistently planning the actions needed to implement it. The framework was applied and refined within real-life settings. The application to KINE – a robot solutions supplier – shows how key challenges faced by servitization firms may be thoroughly addressed through the adoption of a business model perspective.     

Market segmentation: an integrated framework

Contrary to the narrow, demand-oriented approach to market segmentation taken in much of the marketing and planning literature, this article illustrates a broader, integrated framework which includes both the demand and supply sides of the competitive equation. The author argues that starting with ‘product’ characteristics is both an easier and more actionable way of segmenting markets than the traditional marketing approach that typically begins with the customer or ‘people’ characteristics. This approach can be employed by a business to make decisions about entering a market segment, differentiating a brand from its competition, positioning it in the market and communicating its quality to the customers. Customers, too, generally rely on product characteristics to perceive and evaluate the quality claims made by different competitors. Thus, the article bridges an important gap between strategy formulation and strategy implementation: an area often neglected in the strategy literature. The proposed approach focuses not only on customer benefits or needs, but also on the resources necessary to satisfy them and demonstrates this with examples from Apple, Church & Dwight and many other companies. To show a practical application, the article presents a price-quality-benefit segmentation profile of the US toothpaste market which revealed three strategic groups.     

Understanding the transgenerational orientation of family businesses: the role of family governance and business family identity

The development of a transgenerational orientation is one of the most significant challenges that family businesses face and only a small number actually survive across generations. While prior research has focused on the business unit to provide us with a solid understanding of how corporate governance affects business performance and continuity, the role of the business family in the development of a transgenerational orientation has received less attention. To address this gap, this article applies a new systems and social identity theory framework to examine how family governance and business family identity can contribute to strengthening the transgenerational orientation of the business. A transgenerational orientation is defined as a decision premise to maintain the family’s control over the business across generations. Using a large data set, findings show that the presence of family governance measures and the business family’s identity are positively related to a transgenerational orientation of the business, with business family identity acting as a mediator. Thus, the development of family governance measures can foster communication within the business family and enhance the family members’ emotional investment in the business which strengthens the transgenerational orientation in the business.     

Decoupling thinking in service operations: a case in healthcare delivery system design

The notion of decoupling thinking has been well established in the manufacturing operations and supply chain management literature. This paper explores how this decoupling thinking can be applied in service operations and in particular in health care. It first reviews the relevant literature on decoupling fundamentals, the front- and back-office distinction, and new emerging decoupling thinking in service operations. Subsequently, a flow-based framework including content and process is developed for decoupling thinking in service operations. The framework provides an integrated perspective on customer contact, flow driver and flow differentiation (level of customisation). The framework hence, through flow differentiation, introduces the concept of standardisation versus customisation in a service context. This is followed by a health care case example to illustrate how the framework can be applied. The managerial implications are primarily in terms of a modularised approach to system design and management. The framework offers potential for benchmarking with other service systems as well as with manufacturing systems based on the shared foundation in decoupling thinking. Finally, suggestions are provided for further research opportunities derived from this research.