Setting corporate objectives as a basis for action

This paper states that the purpose of corporate objectives is to initiate management action. If they do not change what management does they are worthless.There is a hierarchy of corporate needs analogous to Maslow's human needs. The corporate entity should define its objectives for each level of the hierarchy.Objectives for the lower levels should be to satisfy needs. To do more than this is wasteful.Objectives for the top, purposive level should define in practical terms a leadership position that is to be achieved by positive concentration of management effort and all other available resources.Objectives should be action orientated, unambiguous, readily understood and widely communicated.     

Setting objectives in terms of added value

The concept of added value is not new but this paper examines some new aspects of the implications of added value for corporate policy making. Whilst the concept has been recognised as a sound basis for the measurement of performance what implications has it for the wider corporate objectives which are often an accepted part of company policy? The author examines the many different ‘stakeholder’ interests from the point of view of added value and examines some of the implications and limitations of the added value concept to the nonmarketed services such as education and health.The author concludes by examining the implications of use of the added value concept for capital appraisal and investment analysis. In this context the author proposes a broadening of the views taken of capital investment analysis and postulates a number of interesting future avenues for study.     

Classifying capital projects for top management decision-making

This paper is an attempt to redress a perceived imbalance in the research and literature of capital project analysis. There is a plethora of work on the quantitative aspects of project analysis, yet empirical surveys show limited use of such techniques. There is limited work on the organizational processes of project selection, but there appears to be little or no work taking place on formal organizational systems for project selection.The more quantitative literature generally takes a deductive approach using a model developed from microeconomics based on the assumption that the objective of the firm is the maximization of owners' wealth. In this paper it is argued that there is a need to take an inductive approach and place the capital investment decision in its organizational setting. This paper looks at the formal capital budgeting system within the corporate setting.It is suggested that the specific capital investment decision takes place against the background of a set of policies and constraints, which are more or less explicit.The selection of corporate projects is a complex issue, but to provide some structure so that the problems can be processed by the organization, a capital budgeting system is designed. Part of this system is the classification of projects according to some criteria. It would therefore appear that the purpose of this classification system is to aid capital project selection within an organizational context.A consideration of classification systems for capital projects is undertaken, this is followed by a survey of the classification systems which have been proposed in the capital investment literature. Finally a classification system based upon specific criteria is proposed.     

Influence by learning how people process information

To have a successful career in management, you have to pay more attention to refining your communication skills than you ever thought was necessary. In a survey of 100 physician executives, 94 percent felt training was needed in communication skills if you are thinking about becoming a physician executive. When recruiters talk to us about the basic requirements for physician executives, one of the things they say the person needs to have is excellent communication skills. Most people have good communication skills, but what can move you into the category of excellent is paying careful attention to how the person you are talking to processes information. You can only do this if you listen before you do much talking. What do I mean by processing information? When we get up in the morning, the world is out there separate from us. We have to take in information about that world and make decisions all day long. We don't all do this in the same way. In this article, I am going to discuss four ways to process information.     

Running toward the roar

How do you embrace paradox, changing and growing without losing your sense of who you are? We talked last time about the paradox of reaching for the new, without losing your ground in the old. Paradox is the place of insight. Accepting paradox, not as a momentary distraction but as a place to live, lies at the heart of dealing successfully with change. We can see this most clearly if we ask ourselves, "What business am I in? What am I about?" In health care, this did not used to be a meaningful question. Today, it is a critical one. But to really develop, we have to seek out the situations that are the most difficult for us, work them through, hang out with them long enough to begin to be at home in the paradoxical, ambiguous, and strange circumstance.     

The purpose of a job interview is a job offer

Perhaps empathy has been overdone in recent years. Most of us would admit to some cynicism or disbelief when we hear the words, "I know how you feel." Having said that, however, I actually do know how you feel. If I can't identify exactly where you are coming from, I do know where you are likely to be going and how bumpy the ride is likely to be. I'm a physician and a physician executive. I am also an executive search consultant who is daily in the field interviewing physicians who may or may not be the right individuals for a client's situation. If I don't exactly feel your pain, at least I know its sources. I know how difficult it is to make the move from challenging clinical work to an administrative role in health care. While, as a group, physicians are multiskilled and multitalented, it's an unfortunate fact that some of the skills and talents that made you an excellent physician may be blocking you from succeeding in an executive capacity. My hope is that, through an occasional entry in this column, I can share my experiences and relate the remarkable wisdom of the impressive physician executives whom I meet every day. The first issue I'm opening up for discussion is employment interviewing: Why the interview is so important, what the interviewing process is, and how you can become more adept in this critical skill area.     

The external corporate venture capital fund—A valuable vehicle for growth

Corporate venture capital is becoming an important tool for business development. In addition to attractive financial returns corporate venture capital provides strategic benefits which result from establishing strategic alliances between small entrepreneurial companies and large mature corporations. There are several approaches to corporate venture capital. Each approach requires a different level of commitment with respect to corporate resources and yields specific strategic benefits. At present there appears to be a trend for establishing focused corporate venture capital programmes in co-operation with an external venture capital organization. The successful introduction and management of such a programme require that a few important guidelines are observed.     

Employee Volunteering and Social Capital: Contributions to Corporate Social Responsibility

As employee volunteering (EV) is increasingly regarded as a means of improving companies' community and employee relations, we investigate the contribution of EV to corporate social responsibility, specifically whether and how it contributes to social capital. We investigate the dynamics of EV in three UK companies. We explore the social relations and resources which underpin social capital creation; the roles of opportunity, motivation and ability in bringing the actors together and enhancing their capacity for cooperation; and the ways in which alternative EV modes inform the different dimensions of social capital – networks, trust and norms of cooperation. Our paper contributes to our understanding of EV and the factors that enable it to create social capital. Finally we assess the contribution of EV to the overall corporate social responsibility agenda of companies.     

以EVA为内核的人力资本产权激励制度研究

人力资本所有者凭借其贡献获得企业报酬并合理分享企业所有权是国内外公司治理领域的热点,但人力资本的价值计量难题成为对人力资本进行产权激励的制约因素.本文以公司价值管理的绩效评价指标EVA为核心,构建了总体人力资本的动态价值、"分割价值"系列模型;通过平衡记分卡(BSC)系统,结合层次分析法(AHP),计算出人力资本个体的综合相对价值,从而设计出业绩薪酬和以股权激励为主体的长期激励方案.     

跳过程下的公司证券定价和最优资本结构

由于几何布朗运动不能反映复杂经济背景下的资产价值动态,本文以双指数跳扩散过程作为资产价值过程来研究公司证券定价和最优资本结构问题。本文主要结果是：运用均衡定价的方法给出了公司证券的定价并获得了公司资本价值的解析解。通过比较静态分析揭示了跳风险对企业资本价值、最优资本结构、收益率差价等都具有显著的影响。与几何布朗运动相比,跳风险降低了公司价值和债券价值以及公司最优杠杆率,同时增加了债券的收益率差价和股权价值。     

Corporate planning for social responsibility

From his position as Senior Chaplain of a team of Industrial Chaplains, working in industry yet not part of it, the author probes the necessity for a global perspective as a setting for all decisions. The multi-national family of man with limited resources provides the context for multi-national planning and for corporate strategies. We need an ethic for society so that ethical considerations are seen to be pertinent to relationships between nations as well as relations between individuals. This paper suggests a simple model of the ethical dimensions of a global village, which will enable us to see the world perspective while operating at the corporate level and with immediate responsibilities that seem limited but are extensive.     

营运资本管理效率对公司盈利能力的影响——基于中国制造业上市公司的经验证据

本文使用2004-2006年我国沪深两市519家制造业上市公司作为研究样本,考察营运资本管理效率与公司盈利能力之间的关系.研究发现,公司盈利能力与反映营运资本管理效率的综合指标现金周期显著负相关,而且与现金周期的各组成部分应收账款周转期、存货周转期和应付账款周转期显著负相关.研究结果表明,管理层可以通过制定适当的信用政策和存货政策,将现金周期、应收账款周转期、存货周转期和应付账款周转期控制在合理的最优水平,实现营运资本的高效周转,提高公司盈利能力.     

Head for open space

Is it possible that the herd mentality, the "Follow The Other Guy" idea is not the golden road to transformation? In fact, the three questions that are most helpful in deciding your path, as a person or an organization, lie almost completely in the other direction: (1) "What am I really good at?" (2) "What am I afraid of?" and (3) "What is no one else doing?" Heading for the open space means looking for the hole in the market, searching for what no one else is doing. Only by going toward open space can you or your organization stay ahead of the pack in a turbulent health care environment. Get out in front of the pack, either as a leader or quarry, and you have a measure of control. How does the quarry control the pack that is hunting it? By choosing the terrain, choosing the ground on which the chase will take place.     

Corporate Governance und Eigenkapitalkosten - Bestandsaufnahme des Schrifttums unter besonderer Ber��cksichtigung des Informationsaspektes und Forschungsperspektiven

The present paper provides an overview of research concerning the relationship between corporate governance and the cost of equity capital. The purpose is to explore whether and to what extent corporate governance attributes manifest in firms?? cost of capital. Since the separation of ownership and control is seen as the starting point for the academic thinking on this issue, the term of corporate governance from a shareholder perspective is discussed in more detail. Apart from this terminological discussion the emphasis of this paper lies on the critical review of theoretical and empirical literature. In conducting this review, empirical concepts measuring the relevant dimensions and their potential limitations are explained. Based on these limitations I suggest opportunities for expanding research on the relationship between corporate governance and cost of equity capital, thereby showing future research directions.     

Investment Appraisal and Measures of Performance in Italian Divisionalised Companies

The aim of this study was to describe and analyse the current practice and trends in the development of management control practice as regards divisional investments in large Italian firms, using a survey questionnaire method. Some comparison with top North-American and German international manufacturing units were also made.The findings of the study supported two theoretical propositions. In the identification stage, firms tend to decentralise the process of capital budgeting and the control mechanism ensuring the link between corporate strategic objectives and capital expenditure projects at divisional level is based on guidelines produced by headquarters. In the selection stage firms which perceive a high interface level with the corporate strategic objectives in divisional capital expenditure tend to use discounted cash flow techniques when choosing one or more investment projects. When an economic approach is used to provide a comprehensive measure of performance, the theoretical framework fails to predict the relationship between corporate control and performance evaluation system in divisionalised companies. Essentially, financial control combines non-financial measures, used to understand manufacturing operations, with traditional accounting measures, used to understand the effects of manufacturing activities on the level of operating cash flow and operating income, as a comprehensive measures of performance in the medium-term of divisional investments.     

Elements of effective corporate planning

This paper focuses on several specific areas in corporate planning which heretofore have received limited attention in the literature. These areas include perception of a need for planning, analysis of planning from a process viewpoint with particular emphasis on organizational structure, and elements of effective planning. Data on which conclusions are based were developed through structured in-depth interviews with key planning executives of 14 large corporations in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan area.The study determined that the most prevalent event associated with perception of a need for more formalized planning was a change in top management. The emphasis on planning usually arose from three sets of factors—organizational, external, and performance. The typical planning process involves establishing corporate goals and objectives, setting environmental premises, collecting information and forecasting, establishing divisional goals and objectives, developing divisional plans, and revising objectives and plans if objectives are not met. The major participants in the planning process are top management, the corporate planning department, divisional general management, divisional staff groups, and intermediary planning groups.The study identified necessary conditions for effective planning which included planning knowledge and skills, planning climate, psychological commitment, and effective group behavior. The study also includes a discussion of planning weaknesses, current trends, and recommendations.     

Mergers: enhancing human resources management

The health care industry is experiencing merger mania, but the majority of its current leadership underestimates the importance that significant differences in corporate culture and employee morale play among physicians and others in implementing such organizational objectives as enhancing access, reducing cost, and improving quality of care. The key human resources management issues are discussed that are too often overlooked and frequently sidetracked in the formation of powerful health networks now so prevalent in almost every metropolitan region. The authors conclude that in America's intensely competitive managed care environment, there are a number of critical human resources management ingredients that deal makers need to achieve from these mergers in order to ensure their perceived objectives: (1) paying far greater attention to variations in corporate culture and employee morale; (2) reducing total salary and fringe benefit costs; and, (3) concurrently recruiting and maintaining a qualified and stable workforce that focuses more decisively on clinical-fiscal concerns so as to improve quality of patient care at a lower cost.     

What to do next

Why do we work? While there may be some obvious, practical answers to this question, like needing to make money to survive, there are other reasons that people work. These include working: to have stimulation and excitement--to meet new challenges and have variety in your life; for love and affection--to be with colleagues, clients, customers and to provide security and protection for family and friends; and to leave a thumbprint on the world and change individuals, systems, and institutions. For quality life, it is necessary not only to work but to enjoy your work. For physicians considering careers in medical management, the key to success is being truly excited about management activities. If you are heading towards management, you need to view some of the tasks as fun or you probably won't stay with it very long.     

Corporate planning—a conceptual critique

Corporate planning is accepted by some as being an effective, efficient, and feasible means of charting the path an enterprise takes through the future. In this paper the author questions both the concept and the contribution of corporate planning. The author examines not only the problem of budgetary analysis within a planning process but also questions the ability of corporate planning to provide the necessary perspective of the future in any identifiable or probabilistic sense. The author postulates ‘the guts of corporate planning’. In the author's own word conceptual critiques ‘may be defined as setting up your own straw man in place of the other fellow's sawdust totem’. However, this paper presents some controversial yet fundamental criticisms of the current concepts of corporate planning. It is for the reader to judge whether the straw or the sawdust is deepest.     

上市公司资本结构特点的实证分析

资本结构决策是企业融资决策的核心问题。国内学者对于资本结构的研究,无论是研究资本结构与企业价值的关系,还是研究影响资本结构的因素,都缺乏对我国上市公司资本结构的特点及分布规律的整体认识,从而把握上市公司资本结构的理论依据和实践特点,因此,本文提出我国上市公司资本结构的一些主要特点,进而分析影响上市公司资本结构的主要因素,得出企业的获利能力、流动比率、固定资产比例与负债率负相关;公司规模、公司的成长性与负债率正相关的结论,为进一步的实证分析提供了理论基础。