The Use of Management Contracts for Construction in Hong Kong

A traditional construction contract requires all detail design works to be completed before tendering and subsequentconstruction works can commence, and therefore requires a longer time for project completion. This paper describes ahence reduce project duration. There are advantages in management contracting, but there are disadvantages too. They arediscussed in detail in this paper. Two management contracts executed in Hong Kong are used as case studies to illustrate thesaid advantages and disadvantages. Conclusion is then made and possible further research work is also suggested.     

The façade of consultancy in the Fiji public service

In any common definition consultancy entails the provision of advice to improve the status quo. This paper examines the notion of consultancy in the Fiji public service and highlights the consultancy qualities and their contextual application in Fiji's case. The examination of the role of internal consultancy necessitates a discussion of the general framework of Fiji's political system, in particular the decision-making process, and the cultural values and practices dominant in the public service. The contemporary notion of political neutrality of the public service requires that civil servants are endowed with the qualities of ‘disinterestedness’. The character of the public service is, therefore, emphasised as ‘precise, soulless and machine-like’. This, however, is difficult to achieve in a society divided in two along ethnic lines. The paper argues that while civil servants carry out consultancy functions they are not recognised as such and the boundary between consultancy and project management is blurred by the job and work environment in the public service.     

Who is Appointed to What Position? The Politics of Appointment in Quangos of Korea

This study identifies the determinants of appointment of executives in quangos. Using data from 85 quangos in Korea over 15 years between 1993 and 2007, we investigate the degree to which various characteristics of organizational actors affect the choice of executives. Three organizational actors include presidents, sponsoring government departments, and the concerned quangos. Although results vary by executive position, the findings of the empirical analysis with multinomial probit and generalized linear mixed models support the idea that the appointment of quango executives is not the result of presidential choice but that of the interactions among the key organizational actors, with different incentives and resources, on the appointment. Compared to former bureaucrats, presidential allies are more likely to be appointed when presidents have more political support from the National Assembly and it is easier for insiders to be promoted as executives from larger and older quangos with clear legal origins.     

The importance of taxes in entrepreneurial decisions: an analysis of practicing physicians’ behavior

An irrational strong importance of taxes in an individual’s decision-making behavior is one of the most popular assumptions about the behavioral effects of taxation. However, empirical research about this phenomenon is rare. In a study of German physicians, this paper analyzes whether tax aspects are over weighted in entrepreneurial decision-making. Furthermore, factors that may influence the irrational decision-making behavior of actors are analyzed. As research method, a conjoint analysis is used that permits measurement of the relative importance of tax aspects in decisions. The first result of the study is that the majority of the respondents (practicing physicians) misestimate their own marginal tax rate. The main result of the study is that––in comparison to the neoclassical model of rational maximization of consumption utility––most of the respondents overweight tax aspects. No evidence can be found for any relationship between indicators of a possible tax aversion (e.g., low satisfaction with the tax system) and attention to tax aspects in the decisions analyzed.

Carry on Shrinking?: The Bankruptcy of Urban Policy in Detroit

Much attention has recently been focused on the bankruptcy of the City of Detroit in 2013 and the reasons for the largest municipal fiscal melt down in US history. Contrary to a view gaining currency, which dismisses Detroit as the product of exceptional forces and largely calls it the architect of its own collapse, this article argues the case that Detroit conveys more general lessons for European cities struggling with decline, not least of which is the need for interventionist regional planning to avoid predictable but avoidable urban distress. The article briefly reviews the well-documented decline of the city of Detroit measured against population, economic, fiscal and image impacts. It considers five current misreadings of the reasons for Detroit's predicament and implicit signposts for European practice before concluding with an assessment of what has been hailed as the shoots of yet another possible renaissance in the originally proclaimed Renaissance City over 40 years ago.     

The importance of self-efficacy in the moderating effects of social support on stressor–strain relationships

Abstract

Occupational stress research offers inconsistent findings on the moderating effects of social support on the stressor–strain relationship. This study contributes to the research literature by examining how social support's moderating effect is dependent on one's self-efficacy. Ninety-six US military police soldiers completed two surveys 3 months apart. The results showed that three out of four regression equations had significant three-way interactions. Organizational constraints×supervisor support×self-efficacy had statistically significant interactions in the prediction of job satisfaction and psychological well-being. Organizational constraints×co-worker support×self-efficacy had a significant interaction in the predicted of psychological well-being. These interactions explained between 5% and 10% of the variance in the dependent variables. Social support buffered the stressor–strain relationship when self-efficacy was high and reverse buffered the relationship when self-efficacy was low. These results indicate that interventions aimed at reducing strains by increasing social support should consider an individual's self-efficacy. Future research should consider incorporating content of communication to determine if high and low self-efficacy individuals receive or react differently to different types of communication content.     

Boards of Directors as Strategists in an Enacted World – The Danish Case

We argue that Boards of Directors of Danish companieshave been socially constructed as an importantdecision making body in the companies. Since 1974,employees have elected members to the Board ofDirectors. Today they can elect one third of the Boardmembers. In spite of this new composition of theBoard, it has emerged as a team that has been able toconvince the stakeholders, the press, and the publicabout its important standing in the management of thecompany.To understand this development we look at fourdifferent perspectives. (1) The changing businessenvironment that has framed the development:globalization, mergers and acquisitions, increasedcompetition, technological innovations, strategicalliances, political consumers, and ethical issues are factors that have been the motor for this change. (2)We use a radical social psychological version ofleadership theory (Meindl, 1993) to understand thesocial construction of the change of the role of theBoard of Directors that has occurred. We argue thatthe stakeholders and the society at large haveascribed importance and leadership to the Board, andthat it plays an important role as strategist in thecompanies. (3) We see the board as a theater ensemblestaging a performance for the audience (stakeholdersand the wider environment) using Erving Goffman's``Presentation of Self in Everyday Life' (1959) as atheoretical point of departure. From this point ofview, the role of the Board is to socialize newmembers, to maintain its unity, and to successfullyplay the role of strategists. (4) To understandstrategists you may understand the company and itsenvironment in either realist terms (objectiveenvironments) or in social constructivist terms(enacted environments) (Smircich and Stubbart, 1985). We adopt the enactment position.     

The use of a model in long term planning—A case history

Long term planning in companies can range from the partial simplistic approach to a structured time-consuming ritual. Either extreme can bring planning into disrepute, and both reflect the lack of the proper tools of the trade. Models, by themselves, are no panacea, but properly conceived, constructed, and developed they can transform the planning process. The key to effective and practical models is use, and this can be achieved through direct management involvement on the model's development, and by making sure the model is basically simple and flexible. This article describes how such a model was constructed using a modular approach, and how it was used effectively in long term planning.     

Managing “forced” technology transfer in emerging markets: The case of China

This paper explores how foreign multinational corporations (MNCs) manage risks associated with “forced” technology transfer (“FTT”) policies in emerging markets. Although MNCs are increasingly exposed to appropriability risks from these policies, how they respond is relatively understudied in international business (IB) research. We explore this topic based upon a survey and interviews with Western MNCs doing business in China, as well as a discussion about the recent US-China trade war. We find that, as traditional IB theory would predict, internally-oriented strategies (e.g., internalization, maintenance of informal intellectual property (IP), and control of technological centrality and sophistication) are often used to respond to FTT policies; however, the risks from such policies can sometimes be more efficiently managed by externally-oriented strategies (e.g., non-market activities and reliance on formal IP). We discuss how the co-evolution of MNCs' risk management strategies alongside changing value chains, IP institutions, and conditions determining the leverage of FTT policies appear to contribute to this phenomenon. We argue that IB research should more prominently recognize the role of externally-oriented strategies, not only internally-oriented ones, in managing the complex IP-related institutional challenges present in emerging markets today.     

The role of the board in shaping foundations’ strategy: an empirical study

This paper investigates the relationships of the choice of philanthropic strategy with board capital (diversity and networks), board activities (board processes, internal board committees, and board effectiveness), and CEO leadership. Using a sample of 110 Italian foundations, the research shows that board processes have the strongest positive association with an evolved strategic approach to philanthropic institutional grant-giving, while board diversity and strong CEO leadership are associated with the strategic approach only under certain conditions. In particular, good governance processes (e.g., training the board, self-evaluation of trustees, setting the stage for effective board and committee meetings, implementing control software, and steering meetings to improve the board’s analysis) are positively associated with evolved strategic approaches to philanthropy (e.g., signaling other funders for the best grantees, improving the performance of grant recipients, and advancing selected social fields’ state of knowledge and practice).     

Putting non-work ties to work: The case of guanxi in supervisor–subordinate relationships

Traditional Western-based theories of supervisor–subordinate relationships tend to focus on social exchanges in the work domain while omitting potential exchanges that occur in the private domain. However, there are many contexts, particularly in transitional economies lacking strong bureaucratic work structures (e.g., China, Brazil), where personal exchanges outside of the work domain serve as a critical, binding fabric in the workplace. One such example is the indigenous Chinese concept of guanxi, which captures the personal ties between supervisors and subordinates and operates as a protective mechanism for subordinates and a loyalty-inducing agent for supervisors. Using 281 supervisor–subordinate dyads from China, we explored an important antecedent and consequences of guanxi while controlling for the parallel process of the traditionally work-focused construct leader-member exchange (LMX). Results suggest that although both guanxi and LMX mediate the effects of proactive personality on affiliative OCB (i.e., interpersonal facilitation), guanxi is more strongly related to challenging OCB (i.e., taking charge) and LMX is more strongly related to task performance.     

Whose company is it? The concept of the corporation in Japan and the west

This article examines the differences in the concept of the corporation and their possible implications for corporate performance, between Japan on the one hand and the United States and Europe (Germany, UK and France) on the other. The Japanese concept is used as the standard against which the other models are compared. The concept of the corporation is defined here as the answer to the question: ‘In whose interest should the firm be managed?’¹ This is the foundation on which corporate governance and the monitoring system for the CEO is built. The analysis is focused on large publicly-held corporations with widely diffused ownership.     

Do Foreigners Cushion Native Jobs? The Case of European Regions in the 1990s

Abstract. This paper investigates whether foreigners cushion native labour during the phases of the economic cycle. The theoretical model, based on the work of Blanchard and Katz (Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 0(1): 1–75, 1992), assumes that foreigners supply labour with a higher wage elasticity than natives. The empirical analysis, based on an unbalanced panel of 161 European regions during 1988–97, shows that following a labour demand shock the variability of native employment growth is lower the higher the proportion of foreign citizens in the local labour force. These results suggest that foreigners absorb some of the effects of the shock, shielding natives from its full impact. The analysis also reveals that the main channel mediating this ‘cushioning’ effect is the inter‐regional migration of foreign workers, followed (as a far distant second) by their higher/lower unemployment rates.     

In learning mode? The role of mindsets in derailing and enabling experiential leadership development

In comparison to the vast literature on leadership theories, concepts, and behaviors, relatively less is known about why leaders often learn little from their leadership experiences, as well as how to support them in doing so. We propose that leaders learn more from their challenging leadership experiences when they are in learning mode, defined as intentionally framing and pursuing each element of the experiential learning process with more of a growth than a fixed mindset. We describe how the extent to which leaders are in learning mode stems from salient mindset cues and guides whether they work through the experiential learning process with a predominantly self-improvement or self-enhancement motive. We theorize about several other likely mediators and moderators of when being in learning mode will manifest in experiential leadership development. Practical implications at the micro, meso, and macro levels, as well as within management education are outlined.     

The Role of Entrepreneurship in the Context of Career Trajectories: Moving Back into Wage Employment or into Unemployment?

This study investigates patterns of movement from self‐employment to wage employment or to unemployment in Belgium. Non‐parametric techniques and complimentary log–log analyses are used to determine the significance of stable individual traits (e.g. gender) and of time‐dependent characteristics (e.g. family and organizational context, labour market mobility) in moving back to wage employment or to unemployment. Evidence is provided on the possibility of entrepreneurship acting as a ‘steppingstone’ between long‐term unemployment and paid work. Yet, significant relationships also emerge between ex‐ante time spent in unemployment and the possibility of continued unemployment upon self‐employment exit.     

The Timing of Capacity Investment with Lead Times: When Do Firms Act in Unison?

We study competitive capacity investment for the emergence of a new market. Firms may invest either in capacity leading demand or in capacity lagging demand at different costs. We show how the lead time and other operational factors including volume flexibility, existing capacity, and demand uncertainty impact equilibrium outcomes. Our results indicate that a type of bandwagon behavior is the most likely equilibrium outcome: if both firms are going to invest, then they are most likely to act in unison. Contrary to much received wisdom, we show that leader–follower behavior is very uncommon in equilibrium where firms do not have volume flexibility, and will not occur at all if lead times are sufficiently short. On the other hand, if there is volume flexibility in production, then the likelihood of this sequential investment behavior increases. Our findings underscore the importance of operational characteristics in determining the competitive dynamics of capacity investment timing.     

Transformations and Legitimacy in Nonprofit Organizations—The Case of Amnesty International and the Brutalization Thesis

This paper looks at organizational change in voluntary nonprofit organizations. Their 'purposive' nature makes voluntary organizations difficult to change while their tendency to oligarchic control results in this change often being imposed from the top. Amnesty International's death penalty work demonstrates the complexity of organizational change, as well as the accountability for and the legitimacy of change in nonprofits. Legitimacy should not be equated with organizational strength, and will remain subject to shifting, contested social norms concerning standards of behavior.     

What do people desire in their leaders? The role of leadership level on trait desirability

Do individuals desire different traits in leaders dependent on the leader's position in the organizational hierarchy? To address this question, participants first rated the traits they perceived their current supervisor possessed, traits they desired in their supervisor, and traits they viewed were characteristic of a leader in that role (Study 1). Next, participants rated the desirability of these same traits for 6 high-level and 6 low-level leaders (Study 2). Finally, to force them to prioritize traits, participants designed ideal high-level or low-level leaders by “purchasing” leadership traits using limited budgets of tokens (Study 3). Overall, participants highly and consistently desired trustworthiness and intelligence across leaders, yet they differentially desired other traits depending on the level of leadership. In addition, the desired–current discrepancy predicted leader–member exchange, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment, even after controlling for the prototype–current discrepancy. We discuss the implications of these findings for leadership selection, development, and promotion.     

The expected values of Hosoya index and Merrifield–Simmons index in a random polyphenylene chain

The Hosoya index \(m(G)\) and the Merrifield–Simmons index \(i(G)\) of a graph \(G\) are the number of matchings and the number of independent sets in \(G\). In this paper, we establish exact formulas for the expected values of the Hosoya index and Merrifield–Simmons index of a random polyphenylene chain, and generalize the results of Do?li? and Litz (MATCH Commun Math Comput Chem 67:313–330, 2012). Moreover, we obtain the average values of the Hosoya index and the Merrifield–Simmons index with respect to the set of all polyphenylene chains with \(n\) hexagons.