Leveraging the common and outsourcing the distinct: institutional difference and multinational company identity in emerging economies

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the challenges of outsidership faced by multinational companies (MNCs) accessing emerging economies. The paper departs from popular conceptualisations of culture drawing instead on social identity theory as part of an institutions-based view, to explain how employing a singularities approach can allow the identification of commonalities of Indianness and Australianness that can be leveraged to ameliorate negative socially embedded business norms that pose a challenge to MNC success in emerging economies. This study shows that despite recognised formal (regulatory) and informal (cultural) differences, managers of Australian MNCs operating in India were able to innovatively identify and exploit cultural commonalties/singularities to ease cultural adjustment and mitigate intergroup conflict, allowing them to achieve an innovative institutional fit. The paper discusses how, using this approach, sole-venture MNCs can access many of the benefits provided by collaborative entry modes while preserving MNC identity. We further propose that the singularities approach can provide a valuable starting point to develop culturally appropriate competence training initiatives.     

Strategic Design Responsiveness: An Empirical Analysis of US Retail Store Networks

This study uses a service operations management (SOM) strategy lens to investigate chain store retailers' strategic design responsiveness (SDR)—a term that captures the degree to which retailers dynamically coordinate investments in human and structural capital with the complexity of their service and product offerings. Labor force and physical capital are respectively used as proxies for investments in human capital and structural capital, whereas gross margins are proxies for product/service offering complexity. Consequently, SDR broadly reflects three salient complementary choices of SOM design strategy. We test the effects of “brick and mortar” chain store retailers' SDR on current and future firm performance using publically available panel data collected from Compustat and the University of Michigan American Customer Satisfaction Index databases for the period 1996–2011. We find that retailers that fail to keep pace with investments in both structural and human capital exhibit short‐term financial benefits, but have worse ongoing operational performance. These findings corroborate the importance of managers strategically maintaining the complementarity of design‐related choices for improving and maintaining business performance.     

An improved alternative estimation procedure for current population mean in presence of positively and negatively correlated auxiliary variables in two-occasion rotation patterns

Abstract

The present study confirms the influential role of a positively and a negatively correlated auxiliary variables in enhancing the precision of estimates of current population mean in two occasion rotation (successive) sampling. Exponential-type estimators of current population mean have been proposed for three different situations: (i) the information on a positively correlated auxiliary variable is readily available on both occasions (ii) the information on a negatively correlated auxiliary variable is readily available on both occasions and (iii) the information on both positively and negatively correlated auxiliary variables are readily available on both the occasions. The characteristics of the proposed estimators have been explored and their efficacious performances are compared with the natural and recent contemporary estimators. Optimum replacement strategies of the proposed estimation procedures have been formulated. Simulation and empirical studies are carried out to justify the proposition of the proposed estimators and appropriate recommendations have been put forward to the survey practitioners.     

互联网借贷能否实践"扶弱解难"的普惠金融理念——基于"人人贷"数据的分析

本文研究了存在随机产出风险时供应链上游高技术生产企业的专利运作战略.分别构建了3种最常见专利战略——独占、授权和共享下的供应链上下游决策模型.独占战略下,上游供应商自己生产零件并向下游制造商供货,但生产过程存在随机产出风险;授权战略下,供应商不生产零件但把技术授权给代工厂商并收取专利许可费;共享战略下,供应商把专利共享给代工厂商,当其随机产出实现且不能满足下游订单时由代工厂商来补足订单.研究结果表明,对供应商而言,若下游制造商面临的市场规模较小,则授权战略占优;若市场规模较大,此时哪种战略更好取决于其供应的可靠性:当可靠性较低时独占战略占优,当可靠性较高时共享战略占优.与分散决策相比,集中决策下授权战略占优的区间扩大,而独占战略占优的区间缩小.此外本文还发现,对供应商而言最优的专利战略和社会最优(即对整条供应链而言最优的专利战略)之间存在一定程度的偏离,且偏离的程度随启动成本的降低而加剧,随可靠性的降低而缓解.     

构建网络的人力资源实践对组织绩效的影响:人力资源柔性的中介作用

人力资源实践是战略人力资源管理研究中的热点问题.有研究表明,探究社会网络在人力资源实践中的应用有利于进一步揭示人力资源实践的构成及其对组织绩效的作用机理.本文以615份有效问卷为样本,应用多元回归分析方法,研究构建网络的人力资源实践对组织绩效的影响以及人力资源柔性的中介作用.研究结果表明,构建网络的人力资源实践对人力资源柔性和组织绩效都有显著作用,而人力资源柔性在其中起到部分中介作用.研究结论为社会资本理论在人力资源实践中的应用提供了重要启示.     

中国经济结构再平衡与长期增长

在经济新常态下,中国经济由原来的高速增长转向追求中高速和质量型的增长,这是中国经济转型与产业升级的必然选择。解决中国经济突出的结构性问题,实现经济结构转型与产业升级,也就是经济结构再平衡,使经济增长由主要依赖规模扩张转向主要依赖技术进步,是中国经济长期可持续增长的保障,也是中国多年来致力的发展与改革目标,是一项需要长期努力的任务。经济结构再平衡有赖于经济长期发展的支持;经济长期发展和增长周期延长,才能为经济转型与升级的结构再平衡提供时间、空间的回旋。我们要紧紧抓住国家新型城镇化战略和“一带一路”战略的实施契机,按照“四个全面”战略布局的要求,支持民营企业参与中国经济的空间结构再平衡,以全面依法治国推进中国经济结构的再平衡和长期的经济增长。     

汉语国际教育中的安徽文化传播 ——以安徽某大学为例

汉语国际教育是传播安徽文化的重要舞台.在汉语国际教育中要树立对外汉语教师地域性教学意识和地方文化意识,充分发挥对外汉语教学中安徽文化各传播途径的作用,结合语言教学多角度展示安徽文化,加强留学生体验安徽优秀传统文化的实践.     

A visualization method measuring the performance of biomarkers for guiding treatment decisions

Biomarkers that predict efficacy and safety for a given drug therapy become increasingly important for treatment strategy and drug evaluation in personalized medicine. Methodology for appropriately identifying and validating such biomarkers is critically needed, although it is very challenging to develop, especially in trials of terminal diseases with survival endpoints. The marker‐by‐treatment predictiveness curve serves this need by visualizing the treatment effect on survival as a function of biomarker for each treatment. In this article, we propose the weighted predictiveness curve (WPC). Based on the nature of the data, it generates predictiveness curves by utilizing either parametric or nonparametric approaches. Especially for nonparametric predictiveness curves, by incorporating local assessment techniques, it requires minimum model assumptions and provides great flexibility to visualize the marker‐by‐treatment relationship. WPC can be used to compare biomarkers and identify the one with the highest potential impact. Equally important, by simultaneously viewing several treatment‐specific predictiveness curves across the biomarker range, WPC can also guide the biomarker‐based treatment regimens. Simulations representing various scenarios are employed to evaluate the performance of WPC. Application on a well‐known liver cirrhosis trial sheds new light on the data and leads to discovery of novel patterns of treatment biomarker interactions. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

电子商务市场产品多元化战略的销售绩效及驱动因素研究

结合电子商务市场特征,从理论方面分析电子商务市场产品多元化战略的驱动因素及其销售绩效,利用正则表达式等数据挖掘技术形成电子商务市场的面板数据库,并对相关研究假设进行实证检验。结果表明：在电子商务市场上,产品多元化战略与企业销售绩效正相关,而市场同质化竞争程度与产品多元化战略负相关,企业经营时间、顾客好评率抑制了企业对产品多元化战略的选择。研究结论对于电子商务市场的企业产品多元化战略选择具有重要参考意义。