Conflicts inherent in Corporate Codes

Codes of Conduct have enjoyed a long history as guides to human behavior. Corporate Codes of Conduct enjoy significant popularity in the U.S. and U.K. This article examines Codes in terms of their evolution (history), expectations (from possible to impossible), and enforcement (the area of greatest difficulty). The article examines trends in Corporate Codes and defines Codes as one aspect of developing corporate conscience. The article concludes with the view that useful as Codes may be, the inherent problem with Codes has been their separation over time from a moral foundation or philosophical base.     

The benefit of market-based governance devices: Reflections on the issue of growing economic inequality as a corporate concern

Growing economic inequality in advanced economies is explained by a variety of conditions and mechanisms, but a growing literature emphasises how corporate governance decisions serve to transfer wealth from labour to capital owners, including shareholders. The article introduces the term governance devices to examine how a consistent annual real wage growth (calculated to 1.20 percent) over the period 1997–2017 has been negotiated in Sweden, based on a bilateral market-based industrial agreement between the employer organisation and a confederation of trade unions. The article stresses the importance of governance decisions in counteracting secular stagnation of real wage growth, which reduces the purchasing power in an economy and incurs other externalities. Corporate governance is, therefore, a key mechanism in resolving the issue of how to allocate the residual cash being generated in the corporate production activities so that it benefits all constituencies and balances short-term returns to shareholders and medium-to long-term economic growth and stability.     

Setting corporate objectives

This paper states that ‘the resources are raw materials, people and capital. The private sector company can survive as such only by using all three resources efficiently’.These statements summarize the need not only for the setting of Corporate Objectives but the cogent and incontrovertible argument for such objectives being financial.Let no one doubt the painful process that is involved in determining the right objectives for the corporate entity or, indeed, for any entity which seeks to survive and continue.This is why the process of setting, accepting and working towards objectives has to start from the top but must continue throughout the whole organization. Who am I and where am I going?—is a question that is as valid for the Company as it is for the individual.The corporate objective of the Fisons Group is consistently to achieve profitable growth in real terms by increasing earnings per share and raising the return on capital employed.I hope you find this paper as constructive to you as it has been to me and my colleagues.     

Simple Bounds on Cumulative Intensity Functions of Renewal and G-Renewal Processes with Increasing Failure Rate Underlying Distributions

The article considers point processes most commonly used in reliability and risk analysis. Short-term and long-term behavior for the point processes used as models for repairable systems(1) are introduced. As opposed to the long term, the term short term implies that a process is observed during an interval limited by a time close to the mean (or the median) of the respective underlying distribution. A new simple upper bound is proposed on the cumulative intensity function of the renewal process and G-renewal process with an increasing failure rate underlying distribution. The new bound is compared with some known bounds for the renewal process. Finally, a formal definition of "a boundary point" between the short-term repairable system behavior and long-term behavior is introduced. This point can also be used as a lower time limit beyond which the "long-term" Barlow and Proschan bound for the renewal process with NBUE underlying distribution could be effectively applied.     

Strategic management: lessons from success and failure.

Is Corporate Planning a failure or a success? In this article David Hussey assesses the research which has been done on the planning process and concludes that Corporate Planning obviously has the potential to improve business performance but for many reasons this potential has not been realized. He then examines the attempts which are currently being made to persuade managers to ‘think strategically’, to use portfolio analysis scenarios and other techniques of strategic analysis. He asserts that to succeed, the planner or the consultant in planning must use these and other analytical approaches to help managers ‘to change the perceptual boundaries of the strategic problem’ and generate strategies and action programmes which will enable them to compete successfully in world markets.     

What’s keeping you awake at night? Challenges facing trainers in South Africa

Corporate Trainers experience many organizational challenges that require new skills. This qualitative study sought to determine the challenges faced by South African Education Training and Development university students employed as trainers in corporate roles. Findings suggest that trainers require contextual and generic soft skills to meet the requirements of their jobs and that the term trainer embraces a variety of roles of different focus and different status. While there appear to be a common set of problems facing trainers irrespective of location, the interventionist skills and employment policies of the South African government have an important influence on activity in the organization.     

Organized planning in major U.K. companies

Corporate Long Range Planning began to be fashionable in Britain in the 1960's. Now it should be possible for the managers which pioneered this development to analyse their experience for the benefit of others. This article reports the results and conclusions from a detailed study of corporate planning in 27 major British companies, each with 2–8 years experience. The aim was to discover why organized planning was introduced; what factors affected its development and what results were achieved.     

The V-matrix—A new tool for plotting earnings

The purpose of this article is to extend some of the ideas of Ciaran Walsh and Edward Mock presented in their article ‘Setting Corporate Objectives Using Required Market Earnings’ (Long Range Planning, Vol. 12 No. 5). It takes as its starting point the approach suggested by Walsh and Mock and developed a new type of corporate planning matrix: the V Matrix. It is hoped that the V Matrix will be a useful tool to help corporate planners quickly analyze past trends, assess their present position and plan future strategic actions.     

Enhancing the Quality of Reporting in Corporate Social Responsibility Guidance Documents: The Roles of ISO 26000, Global Reporting Initiative and CSR‐Sustainability Monitor

The intent of this article is to review the phenomenal growth of Corporate Social Responsibility reports published by large corporations around the world. The reports provide companies with an opportunity to inform large segments of society about the impacts of their business operations on the environmental, socio‐political, and governmental (regulatory) aspects of a society. The mostly voluntary nature of these reports, however, places the burden on the corporations creating them to (a) provide an adequate amount of information, (b) cover all the major issues that are relevant to the company and industry, and (c) provide measures of assurance as to the accuracy of information. In this article, we compare and examine three institutional approaches that have played an important role toward improving the quality and consistency of these reports. The institutions involved are ISO 26000, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)‐Sustainability Monitor. We intend to show their different approaches to guiding CSR reporting, and assess their relative strengths and limitations.     

The corporate road-map—Planning at Babcock & Wilcox

This article reports on the status of the planning program at Babcock & Wilcox. The article is divided into three parts. The first section describes the theory and structure of the B&W Corporate Strategic Plan and the plans that comprise it; the second section discusses what characterizes a good plan; and the third previews what might be in store for the Company.     

Designing computer models that work

The techniques of financial modelling are becoming more popular and accepted as a useful information processing tool. However, what is ‘financial modelling’ and does the term adequately describe current applications? Why has financial modelling been such a growth area and what are the benefits? Given a desire to build models, where does the manager begin? What type of system and language should be used and by whom? What type of computing facility is most suitable? Which modelling system should be selected and what features are important? As well as an increase in the number of financial modelling applications they are now more complex. What guidelines can one use when designing large and complex models? This article seeks to answer these questions, concentrating on the large and more complex models, particularly for long term planning and budgeting applications. Finally an example is given illustrating how a large modelling system can be constructed and maintained with little technical computer expertise.     

Corporate Social Responsibility als Integrationsherausforderung

The increasing debate on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in science as well as in practice reflects the relevance of ethical questions for management. However, it is still unclear which responsibilities can be ascribed to corporations and how they can deal with such attributions on an operational level. The blurring and ambivalence in the discussion about CSR indicate a need for a theoretical clarification which is traced back to a not yet satisfactorily resolved integration of the constructs “profits” and “ethics”. The aim of the article is to provide a theoretical structure which is tailored to offer reliable focal points for a sophisticated handling of conflicts between profits and ethics.     

The corporate board: confronting the paradoxes

Corporate governance and the role of boards is a topic hotly debated in boardrooms, associations and media across the industrialized world. However intense, discussions are largely national phenomena due to the widespread belief that boards cannot be compared on an international plane. The authors argue the contrary: that there is a great deal to be learned from such comparisons because boards in different countries are more similar than they are different. Insights are drawn from a four-year study the authors have conducted involving boards from eight countries. The full results have been published earlier this year by Oxford University Press, as The Corporate Board; Confronting the Paradoxes.     

The limits of medical quality assurance systems

Quality Assurance (QA) via the process of review systems is a retrospective look at what was. It is a picture of the past. Any such system is bound to have limitations, because the past cannot be changed. In QA, the ultimate aim should be to educate physicians as to where they made mistakes so that they can learn how to prevent them in the future. The distribution of what mistakes can be avoided, so that all physicians can learn from others' mistakes, takes the whole team closer to the aim of real QA--preventing mistakes. The first part of this article looks at QA in general terms; the second part looks at inherent biases that should be removed so that the team reaches the goal of bona fide quality.     

Alternatives to merger—Joint ventures and other strategies

Mergers are plagued by organizational upheaval, enormous costs, ‘poison pills’, high turnover and a variety of other ills. Despite these problems, merger activity is increasing. Corporate executives pursue merger as a means to grow, improve profitability, reduce dependence on one industry, invest excess cash and improve the management of acquired companies. This article suggests alternative strategies that accomplish these objectives without the repercussions that accompany merger activity.     

Planning problems of state road transport—India

This article focuses on some of the Planning Problems of State Road Transport Undertakings in India. It seeks to examine the environment in which the State Road Transport Undertakings are called upon to operate. It seeks to clarify the nature of the product and services rendered and also identify the constraints under which the State Road Transport Undertakings are called upon to operate. Finally the article seeks to examine certain strategic planning problems involved, such as nationalization of private operations, consolidation and expansion, traffic and route surveys and scheduling aspects. It is concluded that what ultimately matters is what the passenger gets and not what the undertaking plans and hence the article emphasises the importance of Operational Planning to meet the needs of the passenger as the basis of Corporate Planning for State Road Transport Undertakings. The issues examined in this article will be of relevance to State Road Transport Undertakings in other developing countries.     

To be or not to be corporate heritage oriented? A study of managers’ corporate heritage mindsets

Corporate heritage is a research topic in branding with managerial relevance to achieve competitive advantages. Research has mainly focussed on companies with a formal corporate heritage orientation, neglecting other companies. In this study, a novel framework has been developed for analysing managers' corporate heritage mindsets as a precondition for a corporate heritage orientation in a non-heritage-oriented company. Individual managers’ corporate image heritage depicts how managers perceive their company over time, hence revealing their corporate heritage mindset. This article proposes that two managerial mindset dimensions matter – corporate heritage recognition and stance. This abductive study combines theory and empirical findings from an industrial company with a long history, but no corporate heritage orientation. The proposed framework offers companies with a history a way to analyse whether corporate heritage could be recognised and employed. This article contributes to corporate heritage research by broadening the applicability of corporate heritage issues.     

基于演化博弈模型的企业集团母子公司治理研究

母子公司治理是企业集团治理的核心问题,集团内母子公司相互联系又相对独立的关系产生了新的治理问题,成为影响企业集团发挥整体优势的难题。本文运用演化博弈分析模型,充分考虑治理的动态性及子公司能动性对治理的影响,研究企业集团治理中母公司对子公司监督策略选择与子公司策略选择的互动机制,并对影响该系统演化过程稳定的重要因素进行分析,为解决企业集团母子公司间委托代理问题提供一种新的思路。研究结果表明博弈过程在3种情况下存在演化稳定策略,而不存在最优的稳定策略。通过设计合理的激励机制,如在对子公司的激励中引入提成比与子公司为集团创造收益正相关的业绩提成报酬、增加处罚力度、采取定期或不定期抽查等方式,可影响母子公司策略选择的调整速度,使博弈向(集团利益最大化、不监督)的策略演化,促进母子公司之间建立起一种互信互利的良好关系,增加集团整体收益,发挥企业集团的整体优势。