Morphology: A tool for exploring new technology

New products, new services and new approaches to doing business may be essential in order to return to a period of long term economic prosperity. A particularly powerful approach to innovation is the technique called ‘morphology’. Kondratieff's use of the morphology technique to analyse business cycles, and also an original use of morphology to analyse the categories of existence, are here applied to deduce office worker archetypes and significant business management issues as a function of economic phase. The economic phases of prosperity, recession, depression and recovery are related to the following business management issues: productivity, time management, innovation and management by objectives. These issues correspond, respectively, to the following office worker archetypes: information worker, skill worker, knowledge worker and decision maker.     

The Social Responsibility of Managers: Reassessing and Integrating Diverse Perspectives

The social responsibility of business has been a prominent issue in the academic and practitioner literatures, as well as in the curricula of business schools, for many years. While Friedman's iconic defense of profit maximization as the responsibility of management has been widely and extensively assailed, emerging positions on the role of business in society offer little clear and practical guidance to current managers, as well as Masters of Business Administration students. I argue in this article that the focus of the debate should shift to considering how the rules of the game surrounding business' behavior should be formulated and what the role of socially responsible managers should be in helping to establish those rules. My contention is that the goal of society should be to strengthen the linkage between the achievement of social objectives and profit maximization by business through “bright line” regulations and laws. Socially responsible managers will participate in setting the rules of the game by advising policymakers on how specific regulations and laws can be structured so that they most effectively condition the linkage between social objectives and profit maximization. If there is a unique social responsibility of managers beyond profit maximization, it is to participate in the policymaking process “honestly,” that is, without attempting to game the system through guile and opportunism.     

How planning and capital budgeting improve SME performance

This paper focuses on the use of strategic planning among small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK manufacturing sector. It analyses the relationship between the intensity of strategic planning, business objectives, perceived performance, changes in the business environment and the use of capital budgeting techniques. Capital budgeting is of particular interest as an area of investigation, and is one which has seldom featured in previous studies of strategic planning behaviour. These issues were investigated via a survey of UK manufacturing SMEs carried out in the winter of 1996/97.

The key results suggest that SMEs incorporate a range of objectives into their strategic planning process, with profit improvement perceived to be the most important objective, followed by sales growth. SMEs engaged in detailed strategic planning are more likely to use formal capital budgeting techniques, including the net present value method, which is consistent with maximising the companys' value. Perceived profitability and success in achieving organisational objectives were positively associated with planning detail, suggesting that strategic planning is a key component improving performance. Planning detail was also associated with a significantly higher level of perceived change in the business environment.     

The governance of social enterprises: Mission drift and accountability challenges in hybrid organizations

We examine the challenges of governance facing organizations that pursue a social mission through the use of market mechanisms. These hybrid organizations, often referred to as social enterprises, combine aspects of both charity and business at their core. In this paper we distinguish between two ideal types of such hybrids, differentiated and integrated, and we conceptualize two key challenges of governance they face: accountability for dual performance objectives and accountability to multiple principal stakeholders. We revisit the potential and limitations of recently introduced legal forms to address these challenges. We then theorize about the importance of organizational governance and the role of governing boards in particular, in prioritizing and aligning potentially conflicting objectives and interests in order to avoid mission drift and to maintain organizational hybridity in social enterprises. Finally, we discuss future research directions and the implications of this work for rethinking traditional categories of organizations, namely business and charity.     

Performance planning and control in virtual business structures

It could be argued that the development of new business models has occurred at such a pace that many of the important considerations accompanying their development have been overlooked. It is interesting to note that due to the shift away from traditional business structures such as vertically integrated, closely controlled organizations, towards virtual organizations, for which coordination is more important, we have not paid sufficient attention to the important issues of planning and control needs for these new structures. This contribution reviews recent discussion on the structure of new business models and identifies some of the attempts at introducing planning and control into these organizations. The article proposes an approach to this problem by considering the components of the new business models, their stakeholders and their objectives and offers a model which forms the basis from which research can commence.     

Operational research, social well-being and the zero growth concept

Operational Research (OR) can be regarded as the use of science and scientific methods to influence decisionsto the benefit of society. In military, industrial and government contexts, overall social objectives have so far been taken for granted: victory, profitability, expansion of production and services, and so on; but now such simple objectives are in question. Management, technology and growth are seen to conflict with humanity, quality of life and prosperity. OR at present puts much more effort into pursuing the former group than the latter. Even the scientific method is under attack as a way of deciding social issues. OR must be able to justify its methods and its application. The old simple minded objectives are still pursued, but less whole-heartedly. There will be less demand for major OR studies of that kind. If OR is to survive, it must re-examine its social role in the new world climate.     

Corporate planning and management by objectives

Management by Objectives as described in literature has major shortcomings in not stressing that MbyO should start at the ‘top’, with a clear statement of the overall objectives of the business. MbyO assignments which are operated with middle management often have disappointing results, as the gap between their objectives and those at the higher levels becomes apparent. The practical difficulties of establishing overall objectives of the business is one reason, while another is that management consultants have sometimes operated corporate planning and MbyO as two separate assignments, or ‘techniques’, whereas they are two sides of the one coin. These articles detail how to establish overall objectives, which are then a firm basis for objectives throughout the business.     

BEHAVIORAL OBJECTIVES AND THE QUANTITATIVE METHODS COURSE

The topic of behavioral objectives has recently received considerable attention in the academic community. This paper contains a comprehensive overview of issues and explores the relevance of using the behavioral objective framework for teaching quantitative methods (QM) to undergraduate business administration students. Included in the paper are (1) a discussion of the nature and meaning of behavioral objectives, (2) arguments for and against their use, (3) a rationale for their use in a QM course, and (4) a series of examples demonstrating the use of behavioral objectives in a quantitative course. The evidence-consisting of expert opinion from professionals who have successfully used behavioral objectives for teaching quantitative material, the logic of the arguments for behavioral objectives, consideration of arguments against objectives along with rebuttal to these arguments, and the available empirical studies-indicates that behavioral objectives do appear to offer considerable potential for improving QM teaching. The use of behavioral objectives is worthy of thoughtful consideration by QM teachers.     

Catholic social teaching and business ethics: A search for moral foundations

Do the social encyclicals, especially the 100-year old Rerum Novarum,have any relevance to business people and managers in the practice of their profession? To respond to this question, one must attempt to find a link between Catholic social teaching and business ethics. Establishing this relationship is the goal of this paper. It will discuss the notion of the social question, which is addressed in the social encyclicals; present the philosophical and theological foundations of the social teaching; and point to areas where the linkage between the social teaching and business ethics can be established. By reaching deep into the philosophical grounds of the social encyclicals, the analysis attempts to cut through the often muddled diversity of opinions on specific ethical issues which characterize most moral debates.     

A Model for Managing Corporate Sustainability

The world is faced with unprecedented global economic, environmental, and social challenges. Sustainable development has emerged as an organizing principle for addressing these issues. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is seen as the business contribution to sustainable development. The article defines CSR as an organization's efforts to secure resources and legitimacy for survival or competitive advantage by managing nonmarket and nonregulated issues arising from complex social and environmental problems. Supporting this definition, the “sustainability issue management” (SIM) model is presented to help managers and researchers assess and manage CSR issues. Based on ecological economics, the tool originated from a larger study. The model is used to explain and discuss how the UK Government's National Indicator 185 (requiring carbon reporting from Local Authorities) shaped the action of a supplier to Local Authorities. The case illustrates how the SIM model can help both managers and researchers understand and manage CSR issues.     

Key social issues for European business

European businessmen find themselves at the centre of a political debate which questions the existence of capitalism as we know it. Its critics would replace it or reform it by establishing a higher degree of state control or union control, by building protective trade barriers on a national or European level, and by arranging for a greater involvement of community interests in management decision-making.How should business leaders respond? Increasingly, business is becoming more ‘politicized’ and businessmen are putting their case personally, through industry and employer associations, and with the aid of external consultants and staff specialists in ‘Public Affairs’. The structures of business organizations are being changed to include representation by employees, consumers and other interests. And businesses are becoming involved in ‘social’ tasks like job creation and the provision of social services such as refuse collection, postal services, private education and private medicine. In this article, the authors trace the major social and political trends which have affected European business in the post-war period and identify the key social issues for businessmen in the 1980s.     

An integrated micro- and macrolevel discussion of global green issues: “It isn't easy being green”

Two key issues arising from globalization of world markets are the impact of business activities on the environment and threats to sustainable development. These issues are usually referred to as “green” issues. This paper presents a detailed discussion of global green issues in the context of a number of environments that include the socioeconomic, political, technological, and competitive arenas. The discussion is based on an attempt to integrate two conceptual models by Maslow (Maslow, A., 1954. Motivation and Personality. Harper & Row, New York) and Cateora (Cateora, P.R., 1983. International Marketing, 4th. ed. Irwin, Chicago, IL). The goal is to bring together both a microlevel perspective of the individual consumer and a macrolevel perspective of business through analysis in multiple environments that are affected by green issues. This integration is viewed conceptually as a recursive system of mutually reinforcing causes and effects at the micro- and macrolevels.The leitmotiv throughout the paper is that “it isn't easy being green,” either for consumers, activists, corporate leaders and managers, or public policymakers. Practical examples are presented to support and illustrate the discussion. The main finding is that a new approach is needed to business in general through a new dominant social paradigm (DSP) and to international business in particular in order to achieve both sustainable development and sustainable consumption. In conclusion, the importance of individual responsibility and action by consumers and managers alike is underlined.     

Institutional Predictors of and Complements to Industry Self‐regulation with Regard to Labor Practices

In recent years, there has been increasing managerial and academic attention given to a variety of mechanisms for companies to respond to stakeholder concerns about global business ethics. One area that merits further analysis is the role of industry‐level cooperation regarding issues in global business ethics such as labor practices. There are two main issues that we will address in this article: institutional pressures that predict when an industry will create a code of conduct and institutional complements for an industry‐level code of conduct to be “successful” with regard to responding to stakeholder concerns about international business operations. We offer a number of propositions—bringing together work from both the corporate social responsibility and (neo)institutional theory literatures—with regard to both predictors and complements of industry self‐regulation in reference to labor practices.     

We Are the Corporation: Dispersive CSR

We contend that the current trend of emphasis on corporate social responsibility (CSR) serves to divert the public's attention from the real ethical issues facing business and society. We extend the scope of social responsibility beyond business corporations to include a range of institutions. We also propose that CSRs be reconceptualized in terms of the ways that managers enable stakeholders to hold themselves and each other responsible for the ways their actions affect each other as they conduct business through the firm. In this article, we propose a new view of corporations and responsibility that reconstrues behavior currently referred to as CSR. Starting with an overview of theories of the firm, we show that the way in which a firm is conceived yields different views on CSR. A shortcoming of the theory of the firm approach to CSR is that it leads us to focus excessively on business corporations at the expense of a broader analysis of other institutional players. These theories also tend to emphasize the obligations of corporations to people rather than of people to each other. We propose that social responsibility be viewed through a systems theory paradigm instead. We then argue that corporations should be construed in terms of the people who impact them. We advance a different conception of business responsibility that is more comprehensive, inclusive, and systemic.     

e‐Business and Supply Chain Management

In recent years, the area of Supply Chain Management has generated a substantial amount of interest both by managers and researchers. This interest has also been fueled by the growth in the development and application of e‐business technologies. These technologies enable the supply chain manager to make coordinated decisions by integrating the diverse and sometimes conflicting objectives of the various trading partners in a chain. The purpose of this paper is to: (a) highlight strategic and tactical issues for analyzing supply chains in an e‐business setting based on papers published in this special issue; and (b) describe future research opportunities in this emerging interdisciplinary area.     

Strategic performance measurement in a healthcare organisation: A multiple criteria approach based on balanced scorecard

The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) methodology focuses on major critical issues of modern business organisations: the effective measurement of corporate performance and the evaluation of the successful implementation of corporate strategy. Despite the increased adoption of the BSC methodology by numerous business organisations during the last decade, limited case studies concern non-profit organisations (e.g. public sector, educational institutions, healthcare organisations, etc.). The main aim of this study is to present the development of a performance measurement system for public health care organisations, in the context of BSC methodology. The proposed approach considers the distinguished characteristics of the aforementioned sector (e.g. lack of competition, social character of organisations, etc.). The proposed measurement system contains the most important financial performance indicators, as well as non-financial performance indicators that are able to examine the quality of the provided services, the satisfaction of internal and external customers, the self-improvement system of the organisation and the ability of the organisation to adapt and change. These indicators play the role of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), in the context of BSC methodology. The presented analysis is based on a MCDA approach, where the UTASTAR method is used in order to aggregate the marginal performance of KPIs. This approach is able to take into account the preferences of the management of the organisation regarding the achievement of the defined strategic objectives. The main results of the proposed approach refer to the evaluation of the overall scores for each one of the main dimensions of the BSC methodology (i.e. financial, customer, internal business process, and innovation-learning). These results are able to help the organisation to evaluate and revise its strategy, and generally to adopt modern management approaches in every day practise.     

Trust in Islamic Business-to-Business Relationships: Evidence from Indonesia

We examine the role of trust within Islamic culture in business-to-business relationships by exploring the link between credit officers’ trust in business customers and their financing decisions. In line with our framework, which is based on the fact that Islamic culture is characterized by a collectivistic approach and clan-based social structure, we find that value-based trust is more important than competence-based trust in explaining business relationships. The results support the argument that Islamic culture business relationships are grounded more on the principles, values and norms that a partner brings to the relationship than on business skills. Our results are robust to endogeneity and multilevel issues.     

Aspects of manufacturing strategy

Abstract

It is becoming increasingly important for manufacturing organizations to articulate clear and coherent manufacturing strategies that support their long term business objectives. In particular, manufacturing strategy should take conscious account of the competitive posture adopted by the organization in each of the product/market segments in which it has decided to participate. This paper discusses the various ways in which a systemic manufacturing strategy can contribute to an organization's competitiveness, and the processes by which such a strategy can be developed. Some important and often neglected issues concerning the development of the individual components of a manufacturing strategy are examined and the problems and issues of strategy implementation are discussed.     

The social auditor

The auditor is essentially a social animal. However, beyond this lies a type of audit called social audit which tries to strike a balance between an organization's social and more traditional business objectives. After the polar contrasting views of monetarist Friedman amd Marxism have been outlined, we concentrate on considering social audit in the more common mixed economy. With no statutory or other requirement for external social audit, the onus is on organizations to take their own initiatives. Internal resistance often needs to progress through five distinct phases to reach acceptance. Some organizations appoint consumer advocates, such as Esther Peterson. There is an underlying statutory basis to social audits, but if this is extended we enter the domain of external pressure groups, such as the private independent Social Audit and the statutory National Consumer Council. Finally, the scope and motivation for internalizing social audit is discussed.     

The Internalization Theory of the Multinational Enterprise: Past,Present and Future

This paper presents an agenda for extending the theory of international business in order to explain a wider range of phenomena. This, however, has to be done with due attention to the requirements of good social science theory. Relevant criteria are set out, together with a list of issues that new theory must address. Theory needs to focus on industries as well as firms, and make greater use of formal multi‐actor models. ‘Generalizing from the particular’ should be avoided; theory needs to be derived from general social science principles that have proved successful in cognate disciplines.