Shifting Concepts of Autonomy in the Hong Kong Hospital Authority

The Hong Kong Hospital Authority is the main provider of public health care services in Hong Kong. It operates 41 public hospitals, 74 general out-patient clinics and 45 specialist out-patient clinics. This article examines the reason for its establishment as a statutory body in 1990 and offers an assessment of its success in meeting the goals of the reformers. A belief that health care service delivery would be improved is largely supported by the evidence, but this may have more to do with budget and policy consistency than management autonomy and flexibility. Statutory independence, with its promise of improved efficiency, has its limits in the highly complex field of health where there are multiple players and where professional autonomy remains a key claim. In recent times, the authority has been subject to several reform attempts and, together with the SARS epidemic in 2003, these have had a significant impact on its organizational structure and practices, in particular, on its degrees of autonomy.

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Statutory Bodies and Performance Reporting: Hong Kong and Singapore Experience

Performance reporting involving performance indicators has been adopted by statutory bodies in Hong Kong and Singapore as a means of improving their accountability. This development has considerable promise, but how has it affected the autonomy of statutory bodies and has it benefited other stakeholders? On the bases of a questionnaire survey and a content analysis of relevant websites, this article finds that any increased operational autonomy enjoyed by statutory bodies as a result of performance reporting arrangements has had only a negligible impact on the participation of citizens in the affairs of those bodies and on their accountability to citizens.     

The Government and Statutory Bodies in Hong Kong: Centralization and Autonomy

Over the past decade in Hong Kong, the relationship and accountability of statutory bodies to core government, to the legislature, and to the broader public have been the subject of continuing and, as yet, unresolved debate. Faced with scandals and other serious problems in a number of the major statutory bodies, and in the context of its own problems of lack of political support and legitimacy, the Tung administration tended to reduce the autonomy of the statutory bodies by increasing central control and integrating their functions with those of core government. Legislators have seen the problems of statutory bodies from a rather different perspective, arguing that they result from a lack of accountability and transparency. The government’s eventual concession to the need for reform has resulted, since 2003, in a review of the principles governing the work of all advisory and statutory bodies and of specific statutory bodies which have experienced serious problems. This article examines the principles contained in the review and assesses whether they are likely to lead to increased autonomy and improvements in governance standards.     

How Security Agencies Control Change: Executive Power and the Quest for Autonomy in the FBI and CIA

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency gain autonomy when they exercise executive power, performing tasks that are so urgent, secretive, or forceful that they cannot be anticipated by law. The FBI exhibited a clear instance of autonomy when, with a view to its long term responsibilities, it resisted remaking itself as a counterterrorism agency to the degree that politicians requested. The second case, involving the CIA, produced more mixed results. The agency appeared to exhibit autonomy by exercising its powerful security tasks, including control over information and covert operations, and by resisting a consensus for major organizational change. Nevertheless, its large number of administrative and analytical rather than executive tasks prevented the agency from developing the coherent, independent perspective necessary for a high degree of true autonomy.

上市公司独立董事独立性的界定与公司治理结构的关系——美国、香港地区与中国大陆的对比分析

独立董事是加强董事会的独立性、改善公司治理结构的有效手段之一。越来越多的国家的证监部门要求其上市公司引入独立董事并强调独立董事在董事会中占据一定比例。独立性是独立董事发挥作用的前提和基础。本文以美国和香港为例论述了上市公司独立董事独立性的界定与公司治理结构之间的密切关系,并在分析中国上市公司治理格局和特殊国情的基础上,提出现阶段中国应从独立于大股东、独立于可交易股份中的相对大股东、独立于经营者和独立于不正当的行政干扰四个角度来界定独立董理的独立性。     

顾客参与公司治理与公司相互持股的比较研究

通过顾客参与公司治理与公司相互持股的比较研究,从企业战略联盟的角度,得出了顾客参与公司治理实质上是代表了一种新型的企业战略联盟类型——治理权战略联盟——的结论,它与现有的包括公司相互持股在内的股权型战略联盟和契约型战略联盟相比更具生命力和优越性。在当前经济总体上由短缺经济过渡到过剩经济、卖方市场变成买方市场的背景下,通过顾客参与公司治理的形式在供需双方间建立治理权的战略联盟必将成为越来越多企业的现实选择。     

Institutional Complementarities within Corporate Governance Systems: A Comparative Study of Bankruptcy Rules

Recent research work has put forward theconcept of national system of corporate governance to describe the complex architecture of legal rules, economic mechanisms and mentalities which constrain managerial discretion in a different way according to the country considered. The role played by the legal system in this set of mechanisms is particularly important and, as part of the legal system, the bankruptcy law performs a specific function: designed as a governance device for financially distressed firms, it also acts as a monitoring mechanism for healthy ones. The aim of this paper is to investigate the mechanisms of corporate governance in the context of bankruptcy in a comparative perspective. Relying on a broad definition of corporate governance (i.e., one which takes into account the influence of all stakeholders on managerial discretion), we first examine the insolvency codes of five countries (France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States). The stance of the law (creditor-oriented vs. debtor-oriented) is discussed in relation to the legal tradition of each country. We then study the way bankruptcy law in each country articulates with the other governance mechanisms. For that purpose, a typology of those mechanisms is used, based on the type of device each kind of stakeholder is able to activate. Results of both theoretical and empirical studies on bankruptcy are used to understand which of the different devices are used in each country. The comparative approach underlines the impact of institutional differences on organizations through the incentives sent to their stakeholders.     

多维环境规制下的组织目标及组织形态演变——基于中国长江三峡集团公司的案例研究

环境力量如何渗透到组织内部影响组织形态是组织理论研究的一个基本话题。本文通过案例方法,以处于战略转型中的中国长江三峡集团公司为研究对象,分析、总结其从工程建设阶段到运营管理阶段所处环境的变化、组织目标以及组织形态的演变。研究发现,组织目标作为组织边界上链接环境与组织的机制,是整合组织内外部力量和要求并赋予组织主体性的关键要素;在追求目标实现的过程中,结构安排与文化控制塑造了组织形态。环境影响组织的力量并非是单一纯粹的,而是社会性、经济性和技术性力量的混合甚至是变异;同时,环境力量是在与组织内部动机、需求的共同作用下影响组织目标的。对此过程的深层剖析发现,环境变化引致组织任务继而组织权力格局的变化,而把握权力的群体因为对组织产出和结果的控制而控制了组织目标。     

沪、深股票市场与香港股票市场的溢出效应——基于发布“港股直通车”方案前后的比较分析

本文以沪、深、港三地股票市场的数据为样本,用VAR模型和二元GARCH模型重点研究"港股直通车"事件是否对港市与沪、深股市的收益率及波动溢出关系有显著影响.研究结果表明,"港股直通车"公布之前,港市与沪、深股市间不存在任何方向的收益率溢出效应,但存在单向波动溢出效应;"港股直通车"公布之后.港市与沪、深股市间不仅存在单向收益率溢出效应,港市与沪市间还存在双向波动溢出效应,与深市间则存在单向波动溢出效应.     

Managing Integrity: The Regulation of Post Public Employment in Britain and Hong Kong

In this article, we examine the regulatory mechanisms governing post public employment in Britain and Hong Kong in the context of changing views on how integrity should be managed in their civil services. In both places, new public management practices have increased the possibility of ‘soft’ conflicts of interest which in turn has resulted in debates over the necessary degree of regulation, the organizational form that this should take, and the extent to which ethical concerns should be more focused on the communication and inculcation of core values in civil servants. We argue that the difficulty of regulating ‘soft’ conflicts of interests is driving moves toward the greater centralisation of ethical regulation in both Britain and Hong Kong and that there appears to be a return to more traditional ways of managing integrity.

中国公司治理理论与实证研究——国家杰出青年基金项目(70525005)回溯

回顾了国家杰出青年基金资助项目"企业理论"(70525005)的研究情况,分析了该项目的研究背景及意义,介绍了该项目的主要研究内容与主要成果,列举了该项目的代表性论文和著作.     

Institutional Change and Debt-based Corporate Governance: A Comparative Analysis of Four Transition Economies

Countries in transition now represent a significant sector of the international political economy. One of the challenges that they face in moving towards market-based systems and institutions is that of transforming the structure of business enterprises into forms more compatible with capitalist economies. Corporate governance is an important part of this. We argue that, certainly during an interim stage whilst equity markets are weak or non-existent, debt finance has a useful role to play. However for this to be possible there are some important institutional changes that are necessary in order to provide the infrastructure within which debt finance can operate effectively and efficiently. We then present an overview and evaluation of the progress of change in four selected transition countries. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Emergent Management Strategies in a Public Agency: A Case Study of Alternative Fuel Vehicles

The ability of public organizations to invest in emerging technologies is dependent upon the degree to which they can effectively manage the risks of being a lead-user in a political environment. However, little is known about the dimensions and implications of the different forms of risk faced by innovative public organizations as well as the strategies employed to manage them. This paper addresses these issues by studying how one public agency implements a program of replacing its transportation fleet with alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs).

Employee strain and job satisfaction related to an implementation of quality in a public service organization: A longitudinal study

To date, few studies have focused on employee reactions to the quality-related aspects of the introduction of New Public Management (NPM). The aim of this study was to investigate the effects on employee strain and satisfaction of the implementation NPM in a public service organization. The study was designed as an empirical examination of the 'context-dependent approach' ( Edwards, Collinson, & Rees, 1998 ). This approach suggests that effects of an organizational change depend on the context of the implementation, i.e. organizational aspects (implementation strategies), job content and job context dimensions. They employed a single-case longitudinal design. The case was a large municipal service unit responsible for the public housing system of a city in Austria. The sample consisted of 217 employees. Measurements were taken before the organizational change, and at two different times during the change process. While the implementation of NPM can be considered to have been an organizational success (increase in customer satisfaction), it was accompanied by increases in job strain, and, at the same time, mixed results in job satisfaction. Less qualified employees mainly responsible for the customer interface experienced the organizational change most negatively. Using structural equation modelling, the context-dependent approach was empirically confirmed. Job control, role clarity and information were found to be the most important job and organizational resources.     

资源需求与交易成本对服务外包治理机制的作用——基于N公司的案例研究

提出了服务外包中双方的交易治理机制由客户需要的资源类型以及交易成本共同决定,并建立了需要探究的理论框架。以N公司所实施的4个不同的软件服务外包项目为研究对象,详细分析了各个项目所需求的资源、交易成本情况与项目实施中的具体治理机制之间的关系。根据案例研究结果,提出了在不同资源需求(被操作性资源与操作性资源)以及不同交易成本(交易成本低与交易成本高)时可供选择的交易治理机制。     

中国上市公司投资者关系与公司治理——来自A股公司投资者关系调查的证据

论文考察了公司治理对投资者关系管理的影响作用.论文以南京大学投资者关系管理指数(CIRINJU)作为上市公司投资者关系管理水平度量指标.研究发现,机构投资者持股、外部股权的提高能有效促进公司提升投资者关系管理水平,管理层持股与投资者关系管理呈U型关系,董事长与CEO分离与投资者关系管理呈弱正相关关系,外部董事与投资者关系管理可能存在替代关系而不是互补关系.研究还发现,上市公司海外上市或发行B股能促进公司提升投资者关系管理水平,公司规模与投资者关系管理存在显著正相关关系,财务杠杆与投资者关系弱显著负相关,公司业绩与投资者关系管理存在内生性.     

Organizational Learning in Global Purchasing: A Model and Test of Internal Users and Corporate Buyers*

This research examines a model centered on organizational learning in purchasing. Two different studies are conducted to test the hypotheses among purchasing users (Study 1) and buyers (Study 2). The user sample consists of users representing 355 strategic business units of a Fortune 500 multinational corporation. The buyer sample consists of corporate buyers of 200 multinational corporations drawn from the membership directory of the National Association of Purchasing Management (NAPM). In each study, the focus is on the learning relationships between corporate buyers and internal users in the purchasing organization. Based on the two studies, the results suggest that organizational learning in the purchasing process is influenced by the organizational culture factors of localness, transformational leadership, and openness. Organizational learning has a positive effect on information processing in the purchasing system, which, in turn, has a positive influence on the cycle time of the purchasing process.     

中国国有企业和中外合资企业中的领导风格及异化:比较与启示

本文是一项对中国国有企业与中外合资企业的比较研究,我们用组织行为学和人力资源管理中的两个重要指标——领导风格和异化来比较两类企业的管理和社会效益。对相关企业员工所回答的问卷的统计分析显示出国有企业和中外合资企业不同的领导风格和员工异化状态,文章讨论了差别的原因及其对于国有企业管理变革的启示。     

机构投资者持股对信息披露的治理作用研究——以管理层盈余预告为例

本文以我国A股上市公司2004-2007年盈余预告披露数据为例,实证检验了机构投资者对信息披露的治理作用。结果发现:(1)随着机构投资者持股比例的增加,管理层采取的盈余预告精确性提高(更具体的形式和更小的误差),及时性也增强;(2)银行、财务公司类机构、一般基金类机构对管理层盈余预告选择的积极治理作用相对较强,而养老、保险类机构对管理层盈余预告选择的积极治理作用则相对较弱;(3)处于不同持股规模时,管理层盈余预告的精确性、及时性均随着机构投资者整体持股比例增大而提高。但是,机构投资者持股比例的提高易导致了管理层盈余预告的乐观态度倾向;(4)股权分置改革后,机构投资者持股对管理层盈余预告披露选择的积极治理作用比股权分置改革前有所增强。建议大力发展机构投资者规模和专业素质以优化投资者结构,促进我国资本市场的健康发展。     

基于合作治理的公交服务控制权配置及其对效益的影响:以上海市公交服务为例

公交服务效益不佳而引发了国有化回潮的现象,其关键在于政府、公交企业和社会群体三方主体在合作中控制权配置不合理.针对此问题,基于合作治理的背景,运用非对称信息条件下的委托代理理论构建公交服务合作的效益模型,探讨公交服务各主体控制权配置及其对效益的影响,并以上海市公交服务的数据进行实证检验.结果表明:公交企业控制权配置受其自身产出水平的影响,产出水平越高的企业,其获得的控制权也就更大;公交企业控制权与效益是“倒U型”关系,只有控制权在合理范围内时才有利于效益的增加;各方主体在自身控制权范围内,其努力水平与效益是“倒U型”关系,表明政府过度干预、社会群体无效参与均不利于效益的提高.据此提出在合作中的战略、战术和执行层级中合理安排各主体控制权.