International offshoring of services: A parity study

Conventional wisdom suggests that firms engage in international offshoring of services primarily to reduce wage costs associated with a given service activity. Drawing on international business research on the costs of doing business abroad (CODBA), liability of foreignness (LOF), and institutional theory, we investigate the factors that contribute to the location choices for services offshoring activity, including wage differentials between the home and host countries. We find that consistent with a parity perspective but contrary to conventional expectations, a country is more likely to be a destination of services offshoring as the average wage of a country increases. We also find that education level and cultural similarity are significant drivers of offshoring location choices, again consistent with a parity perspective. This study contributes to debates about the economic impact of services offshoring by showing that firms locate offshoring facilities in destinations that are closer in wages to the home country and those with higher education levels and cultural similarity.     

Knowledge versus learning in internationalization of offshoring activities in China: A case study

This paper deals with the role of existing knowledge in the learning process of the internationalizing organisation. Using an organisational routine approach to organisational knowledge, the paper explores the dual role of pre-existing knowledge in internationalisation. Organisational learning is guided by pre-existing knowledge but is also providing a hindrance to further knowledge development. Experiential learning may challenge existing assumptions in the firm which trigger organisational resistance. The empirical context of the study consists of two in-depth case studies of offshoring activities in China.     

Leadership and organizational learning: A multiple levels perspective

We review theoretical and empirical work relevant to the nexus of leadership with organizational learning. We build on the classic distinction between exploration and exploitation and the 4I framework of organizational learning [Crossan, M. M., Lane, H. W., & White, R. E. (1999). An organizational learning framework: From intuition to institution. Academy of Management Review, 24, 522–537.] to present previous research and offer research directions linking leadership constructs and processes of organizational learning at different levels of analysis. For each of these links, we discuss the mediating effect of organizational context and suggest future research directions. This review is integrated using a model and propositions that depict the role of leaders with regard to new and existing learning.     

Not more learning logs! A research based perspective on teaching reflective learning within HR professional education

The challenges of teaching reflective learning, whilst not peculiar to the HR profession, assume a poignancy given HR's claim to be the natural custodians of ‘all things learning’. The paper discusses the impact of attempts to enhance the reflective learning curriculum within one professional HR programme. Tensions in terms of the positioning of reflective learning within a predominantly functionalist management curriculum can, in part, be ameliorated. Developing a capability amongst students for reflective dialogue and careful construction of assessment work, for example, can enhance engagement with reflective learning rather than simply ‘knowing’ about it. More problematic is impact beyond the classroom. Research revealed ambivalence in respect of transfer and significance beyond the specifics of the professional programme. HR graduates need a capability that extends beyond individual reflective learning and into creating and supporting reflective learning in organizations. Herein lies the distinctive and fundamental challenge facing tutors of reflective learning within HR professional education.     

社会学习视角下运营管理决策研究

随着电子商务的快速发展与广泛应用, 在线评论随处可及, 深刻地影响了消费者与企业的决策行为.基于社会学习视角, 介绍了相关概念及社会学习机理;深入分析了运营管理决策研究的现状、挑战与契机.在此基础上, 结合产品与服务管理实践, 从研究内容角度, 阐述了其延伸的4个方向, 即质量、服务与信息、产品类型、研究主体与社会学习平台;此外, 结合研究范式演变, 指出行为实验研究与数据驱动研究将成为不可或缺的研究范式, 形成多范式交叉融合的情形.文章旨在提炼社会学习视角下运营管理决策研究的未来发展方向, 为相关研究提供参考.     

Task partitioning in new product development teams: A knowledge and learning perspective

R&D alliances and outsourcing elements of the new product development process are now commonplace practices among many firms. However, little previous work has examined how these organizational choices influence project knowledge and learning. Based on a comparison of three new product development projects in the software industry, this paper examines how task partitioning in the project influences learning and knowledge development within the firm. The paper suggests that internal development projects encourage synthetic learning and development of architectural and tacit knowledge; in contrast, outsourcing and joint ventures encourage analytic learning and development of component and explicit knowledge.     

A new perspective on quality

The U.S. health care sector consumes nearly 13 percent of our nation's gross national product, $800 billion annually. Our nation allocates the highest amount per capita to health care in the world. Yet many measures of health care outcomes from these expenditures are inferior to other developed nations. The American health care system costs too much, excludes too many, fails too often, contains much excessive and inappropriate care, and knows too little about the effectiveness of the things it does. The purpose of this article is to discuss current payers' perspectives on the potential for quality improvement in the U.S. health care system.     

A physician's perspective on capitation

Change is not on the horizon; it is already here. Capitation is only the latest form of competition with which we physicians have dealt through high school, college, medical school, postgraduate training, and even entry into practice. Capitation is a reality. It is here to stay. It will not disappear. It is a concept that must be understood, embraced, and managed to ensure financial survival. Physicians face issues of life and death on a daily basis. It is not too much for them to handle capitation.     

The organizational design of offshoring: Taking stock and moving forward

Offshoring can be defined as the relocation of organizational tasks and services to foreign locations. At the same time as the scale and scope of offshoring have reached unprecedented levels in recent years, firms have increasingly been exposed to the challenges relating to managing an organization consisting of a number of offshored activities. In this special issue introduction paper, we argue that an organizational design perspective on offshoring can benefit research and practice in understanding how firms can coordinate and integrate offshoring activities. Specifically, we argue that offshoring implies an organizational reconfiguration consisting of three stages: disintegration, relocation and reintegration. We discuss the implications of this perspective and outline a research agenda.     

Knowledge recontextualization by returnee entrepreneurs: The dynamic learning perspective

Effective knowledge recontextualization is key to successful knowledge transfer in cross-cultural context. This paper explores how returnee entrepreneurs in Vietnam learn to recontextualize their overseas knowledge while establishing new ventures back in their home country. Our dynamic learning process model suggests that (1) in the pre-founding phase, an interactive vicarious learning and intuitive learning mechanism enables returnees to make sense of overseas knowledge; (2) during the founding phase, blended learning mechanism – the balancing act between market response versus market imposing - helps returnees manage the paradoxical cross cultural tension, importantly (3) in the growth phase, the cycling between unlearning and relearning helps them discard, select and recreate new knowledge in the pursuit of sustainable entrepreneurial growth. The study advances the literature on knowledge recontextualization by clarifying key underpinning learning mechanisms essential for ensuring “effectiveness” outcomes. It also contributes to the work on returnee entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial learning by demonstrating how international entrepreneurs learn overtime to thrive in a conflicting cultural context.     

Three cases of compliance with governance regulation: an organizational learning perspective

Journal of Management and Governance - This study examines how organizations manage to comply with governance regulation. More specifically, it seeks to make sense of the processes they use to...     

Acquiring technological competencies through inter-organizational collaboration: An organizational learning perspective

Firms are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their technology strategies and are procuring know-how through a variety of collaborative methods including licensing agreements, joint ventures, minority investments, and equity acquisitions. This paper examines the relationship between an organization's learning capability and inter-organizational collaboration in acquiring technological competencies. Organizational learning is posited to be a mediating mechanism through which technological competencies are developed via varying levels of organizational interaction. A general model is developed which suggests an “efficient fit” relationship between an organization's ability to learn, characteristics of the technology, and mode of inter-organizational collaboration. The concept of a “learning gap” is introduced, and managerial implications are suggested. Finally, propositions are developed to facilitate future empirical research.     

Professional and trade associations in a nascent and formative sector of a developing economy: A case study of the NASSCOM effect on the Indian offshoring industry

As important sources that shape institutional structures in an economy, professional and trade associations play significant roles in bringing and legitimating institutional changes. This paper examines the roles of professional and trade associations' impacts on institutions associated with a nascent and formative sector of a developing economy. In empirical terms, the paper offers an in-depth case study of India's National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) on institutional changes related to the offshoring industry. The NASSCOM case shows that under appropriate conditions, professional and trade associations represent an alternative to the state in shaping the industry landscape.     

A note on the random yield from the perspective of the supply chain

Keren [The single-period inventory problem: extension to random yield from the perspective of the supply chain. Omega 2009;37:801-10] considers a supply chain in which the distributor faces a known demand and orders from the producer subject to a random production yield, and shows that the distributor may find it optimal to order more than what is needed due to supply uncertainty under a uniform distribution. However, Keren (2009) does not address the questions whether it is always optimal for the distributor to order more, or when to order more. In this note, we point out that ordering more is not always an optimal strategy and specify the condition under which this strategy becomes optimal. We also examine the profit losses of the supply chain members resulting from the random yield supply, which is another question not considered in Keren (2009). The producer is found to possibly benefit from this production yield uncertainty, although the performances of the distributor and of the entire supply chain are always undermined. Our results are obtained under a more generalized yield distribution, and can thus be applied to wider industrial domains.     

A study of the scope of occupational health services

In order to define the scope of corporate occupational health services as they exist today, a questionnaire was designed and sent to members of the College's Society of Corporate Medical Services. Industries represented in the survey include manufacturing, utilities, transportation, communications, research and development, banking, insurance, and publishing. The emphasis in this report is on data indicating trends in the provision of services.     

A parameterized perspective on packing paths of length two

We study (vertex-disjoint) packings of paths of length two (i.e., of P ₂’s) in graphs under a parameterized perspective. Starting from a maximal P ₂-packing ℘ of size j we use extremal combinatorial arguments for determining how many vertices of ℘ appear in some P ₂-packing of size (j+1) (if such a packing exists). We prove that one can ‘reuse’ 2.5j vertices. We also show that this bound is asymptotically sharp. Based on a WIN-WIN approach, we build an algorithm which decides, given a graph, if a P ₂-packing of size at least k exists in time O^*(2.448^3k)\mathcal{O}^{*}(2.448^{3k}) .     

A relational perspective on gender equality and mainstreaming

This paper offers a relational, multilevel perspective on gender equality and mainstreaming. It argues that single-level conceptualizations of equality within organizational or legal policy domain may not fully capture the multilevel and contextual nature of gender equality and mainstreaming. Based on a review of macro-level factors (e.g. laws, policies, and culture), meso-level factors (e.g. organizational interventions), and micro-level factors (e.g. intersection of gender with social class and family status) in Pakistan, the paper develops a contextual perspective on gender mainstreaming to achieve gender equality at multiple levels.