上下游市场存在竞争的企业集团转移定价研究

基于不对称的竞争环境,研究了企业集团的中间产品的转移定价问题,研究结果表明,中间产品的转移定价策略取决于上游子公司和上游竞争公司之间的不对称程度:当不对称程度较大时,企业集团应采取Hirshleifer的边际成本转移定价策略;当不对称程度较小时,企业集团应采取部分非中心化结构的转移定价策略。     

When outsourcing fragments: customer creativity and technological transmutations

One of the most fundamental decisions made in firms is about what functions or activities the firm should perform within its own hierarchy, and which of these it should rely on the market to perform. Outsourcing is ‘an agreement in which one company contracts out a part of their existing internal activity to another company’. However, this article contends that outsourcing has changed, and is changing in ways that make the application of neat, legal and technically correct definitions hard to use, and even harder to apply in strategy. Under the new outsourcing paradigm, technology is not a passive ‘substance’, rather it is an active ‘force’. We aim to look at the ways in which technologies are re-shaped and transmuted by consumers. Through this analysis, we add the consumer activity to the conventional definition of outsourcing. We focus on one of the most highly anticipated and influential new products of 2007 – the Apple iPhone.     

Risk management in corporate planning

The risk distribution matrix (RDM) is to be applied in resource allocation and is a means of placing environmental risk in perspective. All forms of business operations should be included so that a company has a comprehensive picture of its commitments in safe, moderate, and high-risk countries. Corporate self-analysis is involved in the first three steps. The fourth step seeks to correct the risk profile through multiple strategies. Many years are likely to be required before a company achieves its desired profit/risk composition.

The advantage of the system is its individualization. Within the general framework given on the preceding pages, companies can make decisions based on factors unique to their industry, current position, preferred position and flexibility within the constraints identified. Ultimately, RDM provides a thorough evaluation system custom tailored to each company, insuring more profitable overseas transactions.     

跨国公司子公司自主性活动研究——从有限理性角度的分析

在跨国公司(MNCs)子公司演进模型中,子公司有着明显的自主愿望,自主权可以超越母公司的控制,引起对闲置资源的很大兴趣,激发子公司的积极性和创造性,但母公司也常常担心子公司的自主行为带有投机性,有可能偏离母公司的资源配置目标,使得MNCs迷失方向。而本论文认为母公司的有限理性是管理子公司自主性活动的主要交易成本,而非子公司的机会主义,母公司除了利用传统的克服机会主义的控制和协调工具之外,还应当重视使用内部市场机制和社会化方法,来减轻母公司的有限理性约束,形成母子公司间共同的认知地图,达成有意义的双方互利的联盟,从日益增多的子公司自主性活动中受益。     

Pyramids and the separation between direction and control of non-financial Italian family companies

This paper uses a multiple case study analysis of ten Italian business groups controlled by families to answer the following research questions: Does the controlling shareholder, through the parent company at the top of the pyramidal group, always exercise the direction activity of the subsidiaries? If not, why does the parent company not exercise that activity, delegating it to its subsidiaries? What is the degree of separation between control and direction within the group? A high percentage of our sample declares not to be directed by the parent company. However, the presence of family members on the subsidiaries’ boards and the low boards’ independence makes the separation between direction and control more apparent than real. The credibility of the separation is questioned mostly for those non-directed subsidiaries that operate in the same sector. Our analysis suggests some elements, in order to understand in which cases the direction activity by the parent (or its delegation to the subsidiaries) should be interpreted positively or negatively in terms of controlling shareholder expropriation, by proposing to use the degree of separation between direction and control as a proxy to assess indirectly the degree of that expropriation.     

基于社会网络视角的企业社会责任行为相似性研究

本文利用国泰安数据库和锐思数据库中2010年-2012年的我国上市公司管理层数据、公司财务数据,以及润灵环球责任评级2010年-2012年我国A股上市公司的企业社会责任评级数据,从社会网络的角度出发,探索我国上市公司社会责任履行行为的相似性。研究结果发现,公司之间存在的社会网络会造成企业社会责任履行行为具有一定的相似性。当企业越是处于核心地位,越是容易传播信息,控制能力越强的时候,该公司同与之相关联的公司在社会责任履行行为方面越是具有相似性。这一结论为改善我国企业社会责任履行现状提供了一个全新的思考方向。     

对话李如成：再布棋局!

前33年,对李如成意味着什么？ 62岁的雅戈尔集团股份有限公司董事长李如成的答案,一定是百味杂陈：33年前,李如成开始领导这家服装公司,通过产业扩张、股份改制、上市,并高调进军房地产与金融投资,但此后却长期深陷在“不务正业”的质疑声中,然而李如成依然故我,不事争辩;现在,李如成却提出了“严格控制房产投入、适时调整投资规模,集中资源向品牌服装投人’的新战略。难道李如成要否定自己过去设想的“实体经济＋虚拟经济”的产业模式？当再一次突出服装业务地位时,又有什么样的思考？     

Capacity rationing in rental systems with two customer classes and batch arrivals

Service differentiation is an emerging method to improve profit and to better serve high-priority customers. Such an approach has recently been introduced by one of Europe's leading rail cargo companies. Under this approach, customers can choose between classic and premium services. Premium service is priced above classic service and premium customers receive a service guarantee which classic customers do not receive. The company has to decide under which conditions it should ration its fleet capacity to classic customers in order to increase service of premium customers. We model such a situation as a batch-arrival queuing loss system. We describe the model, solve it optimally, and derive quantities of interest such as service probabilities. We further analyze it by performing numerical experiments based on the data from the company that motivated our research. We show that the potential of capacity rationing can be substantial in situations like the one we analyzed. We also derive conditions under which rationing is especially beneficial, such as under high unit fleet holding costs or in the presence of batch arrivals compared to single arrivals.     

Organization for technological change

This is the third and last in the series of articles on Planning for Technological Innovation. It deals with change, which is seldom predictable in useful detail. A company can therefore best pursue its vital purpose through a preconditioned opportunism, applied with forcefulness and pertinacity. Since forecasting is difficult, business should be organized for change and a corresponding structure is proposed, institutionalizing a readiness for adaptation. Dynamic or adaptive planning is then tested against an historic case of innovative vigour.     

Strategy and the “business portfolio”

In this article the author goes on to develop the conclusion reached in his previous article which appeared in the December edition of Long Range Planning. These conclusions concerned the requirements for strategic success for an individual business, here they are developed into their implications for strategy development in the typical multibusiness company.It is argued that relative competitive position and growth are the two fundamental parameters which must be considered in determining the strategy that an individual business should follow when viewed within the context of the company's overall ‘business portfolio’. The likely patterns of business strategy which will lead to overall corporate success are discussed and contrasted with those which can lead to disaster.The key is that strategies should be made to differ widely from business to business, as a function of the growth and relative competitive position of each business and the company's overall resource position particularly with respect to cash. The ‘across the board’ defensive measures which many companies have adopted in recent years as their response to the pressures of inflation and recession are therefore argued to be singularly inappropriate for the long term. The ‘business portfolio’ concept provides a superior approach for developing the differentiated strategic business objectives which are necessary for any company to make the most of its opportunities.     

Ayudarum: an Austrian crowdsourcing company in the Startup Chile accelerator program

The founders of Ayudarum, an Austrian crowdsourcing company that is focused on connecting students with potential employers, joined the Chilean Startup accelerator ‘Startup Chile’ to help their young company expand outside its European roots. Startup Chile had provided Ayudarum with a mentor to help them understand how to grow Ayudarum’s number of users. Ayudarum’s initial business model, which had functioned well in Europe, involved partnering with universities. Universities made the Ayudarum site available to students who, in turn, logged in with their student email account. Once there was a large base of students onboard, firms were contacted to advertise jobs on the site. Now that the founders were trying to tap into the South American market, they discovered that students did not use their university email addresses and that there were distinct cultural differences in the way students worked, found jobs, and were paid. This difference may mean that Ayudarum would need to rethink the way its business model, how different markets should be targeted, and how the most value could be derived from its membership at Startup Chile.     

Planning acquisitions and mergers

This article considers the problems and opportunities associated with acquisitions and mergers. The author argues that despite the low level of activity in this area at the present time, growth oriented companies should be considering their related long-term objectives. An appropriate acquisition may successfully project a company on a growth path which it could not hope to achieve by organic growth alone. On the other hand ill-conceived acquisitions may just as speedily drive a company to disaster. The failure rate in acquisitions can be reduced by a planned approach. This article aims to explore the steps which a company ought to take from the time it decides to expand by acquisition to the time when the acquisition is integrated into the film.     

Using input—output models for planning in groups with considerable inter-company trading

In any group where a lot of inter-company trading takes place and where the member companies are allowed a degree of autonomy, conflicts of interest will arise. Actions taken by individual companies in their own best interest will, on occasion, be detrimental to the group as a whole. Furthermore, the accounts relating to a particular company will tell head office management very little about the through-group profitability of the products concerned. Nor will the usual accounts and statistics throw much light on the extent to which individual companies or processes depend on the group's main end markets, since in many cases these companies will be largely or partly concerned with supplying other members of the organization.It follows that in such groups an information system is needed which will not reflect the organizational structure of the enterprise—as do individual company accounts—but which will provide top management with an overall group view. It should also make a contribution, both towards resolving any conflicts of interest which might occur, and to improving the overall return on group assets employed.This article examines the role of the micro input–output model in this situation with particular reference to its application in areas where conflicts of interest between the group and its member companies are likely to arise.     

The limits of price leadership: needs-based positioning strategy and the long-term competitiveness of Europe’s low fare airlines

This article argues that a strategy of low operating costs and cheap prices is not sufficient in and of itself to establish long term competitive advantage for a growing company. Companies also need to leverage their distinctive corporate capabilities and unique experiences. In the case of service sector companies such as airlines, capabilities derive from the relationship which exists between the company, its employees, and its customers, as well as the reputation which is gradually established on the basis of reliability and quality of service. Unique experiences arise from the corporate culture and route network which an airline builds over time.     

Transfer pricing—A survey using discriminant analysis

There is a considerable literature on transfer pricing. One strand of this literature is empirical and is concerned with the extent to which companies use the various transfer pricing methods. The other strand is strongly normative being directed to devising transfer pricing methods and defining the circumstances under which it is appropriate to use them. This study attempts to address both these questions by using discriminant analysis methods to predict which approach a company will use to determine transfer prices given its weightings of certain ‘determinants’ which theory suggests should be relevant to the decision. Domestic and international transfer pricing are considered separately. Discriminant analysis is shown to be quite successful in predicting the transfer pricing systems adopted by the UK companies surveyed.     

如何看待公司董事会的认知资源

本文研究了董事会在公司战略决策中的作用,董事会所具有的独特决策技能、知识与提高公司战略决策质量的关系以及董事会在发挥群体决策优势中的贡献。研究结果表明董事会不是“橡皮图章”,公司应充分地利用董事会的认知资源来为公司创造价值。     

On Pricing and Composition of Bundles

This paper addresses the problem of how to determine the composition and price of a bundle so as to maximize the total expected profit. To motivate the problem, we use as a setting a high‐tech manufacturing company that operates in a competitive environment, is not a leader in the industry, and is constantly reacting to bundles introduced by the leader. Bundles are sets of components that must meet technical constraints. The company's objective is to build a bundle and offer it in a market where it will compete with other bundles. Consumers purchase the bundle that maximizes their utility after examining all available bundles. The company selection of the bundle's components and its price is made in light of the bundles against which it will be competing and the uncertainty in the consumer choice process. The optimal decision could be found by solving a nonlinear mixed integer program, which is difficult to solve. Instead, we propose an efficient solution procedure to determine the optimal composition of the bundle and the price at which it should be offered. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of extensions of the research to cases that consider multiple segments of customers and/or multiple bundles.     

Reference model for implementing an MRP system in a highly diverse component and seasonal lean production environment

Companies are currently choosing to integrate logics and systems to achieve better solutions. These combinations also include companies striving to join the logic of material requirement planning (MRP) system with the systems of lean production. The purpose of this article was to design an MRP as part of the implementation of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) in a company that produces agricultural implements, which has used the lean production system since 1998. This proposal is based on the innovation theory, theory networks, lean production systems, ERP systems and the hybrid production systems, which use both components and MRP systems, as concepts of lean production systems. The analytical approach of innovation networks enables verification of the links and relationships among the companies and departments of the same corporation. The analysis begins with the MRP implementation project carried out in a Brazilian metallurgical company and follows through the operationalisation of the MRP project, until its production stabilisation. The main point is that the MRP system should help the company's operations with regard to its effective agility to respond in time to demand fluctuations, facilitating the creation process and controlling the branch offices in other countries that use components produced in the matrix, hence ensuring more accurate estimates of stockpiles. Consequently, it presents the enterprise knowledge development organisational modelling methodology in order to represent further models (goals, actors and resources, business rules, business process and concepts) that should be included in this MRP implementation process for the new configuration of the production system.     

双向资金占用与上市公司资本投资

关联资金占用不仅是控股股东占用上市公司资源,也有上市公司占用控股集团资金的情况,即双向资金占用。前者是控股股东掏空上市公司的一种手段,而后者可以理解为控股股东支持上市公司的一种方式。资金占用可视为一种融资手段,是内部资本市场资金配置的一种形式。本文研究发现,关联方应收项目(关联方占用上市公司资金)会抑制上市公司的资本投资规模,降低投资—现金流敏感度。而上市公司对关联方的应付项目相当于获得了成本很低的资金,起到补充投资活动现金流的作用,促进了上市公司的资本投资规模,提高了投资—现金流敏感度。     

Futures research: Is it used?

Every organization, whether it be in the profit or non-profit sector, functions in an environment from which the necessary resources (i.e. workers, machines, money etc.) are bought and to which the finished products (goods and services) are sold. For its survival it is imperative that a company or organization should be in a well-balanced relationship with its environment. Hence strategic planning deals with the adjustment problems between the organization and its environment.Over the past few decades the view of what strategy is or ought to be has undergone considerable changes. For a deeper insight into these changes this paper discusses and analyses this development briefly. The relationship between strategic management and futures research are then dealt with, and the extent to which futures research plays a part in developing a strategy. The results of practical research evidence in Holland and in other countries is discussed and the problem of the credibility of the results of futures research analysed.