Climate change,consumer lifestyles and legitimation strategies of sustainability-oriented firms

This study explores the links between climate change, consumer lifestyles, and legitimation strategies of sustainable firms. Our findings offer new insight into this under-researched area based on qualitative case studies of four Nordic firms operating in industrial and consumer contexts. We find that climate change consciousness is a major driver for all case firms’ sustainability-focused operations, but the dynamics differed. Achieving sociopolitical legitimacy emerges as an important factor for the case firms operating in the energy sector, especially as it connects to government incentives and regulative pressures. However, cognitive legitimacy is increasingly important for them also, and the firms are trying to connect to their consumers’ lifestyles as well. In turn, for the case firms operating in the consumer (clothing) industry, functionality and the use of products are highlighted even though cognitive legitimacy based on linking to their consumers’ lifestyle is visible. Finally, the findings reveal that despite the sustainable lifestyles are increasingly important and better recognized in firm strategies and practices, other practicalities of running the business successfully in a highly competitive marketplace are relevant. Building legitimacy in such a way that captures and justifies different approaches, therefore, emerges as the connecting factor between the changing consumer behavior and pro-environmental firm practices.     

Framing the multifaceted nature of design thinking in addressing different innovation purposes

Scholars and practitioners acknowledge the role of design, and specifically design thinking, as a driver of innovation and change. Design thinking is gaining attention in the business community beyond the traditional product innovation realm and is increasingly promoted as an engine for the creation of novel user experiences, new businesses, strategic transformation, organizational and cultural change. Is it reasonable to assume that the same set of practices fits such a broad range of applications equally well? This study addresses how design thinking applications are differently framed when addressing diverse innovation purposes. Specifically, we compare two purposes: innovation of solutions, encompassing traditional product and service development projects, and innovation of direction, encompassing strategic and organizational renewal projects. Based on data collected from 146 design thinking projects conducted by European consulting firms we investigate the relationships between the design thinking practices adopted and the value generated by the projects. We then analyze how these relationships vary depending on the purpose of the innovation project, namely whether focused on innovating solutions or direction. The results show that different purposes indeed call for different practices. In projects aimed at innovating solutions, market value is positively related to capturing current user needs and envisioning future society. Conversely, in projects aimed at innovating direction, market value is positively related to challenging current assumptions.     

It’s all about culture! Institutional context and ownership concentration across Europe

It is widely recognised that the formal institutional context affects firm ownership concentration. However, the impact of the informal institutional context has received less research attention. Drawing from institutional theory, we tested our hypothesis that both the formal and informal (cultural) institutional contexts simultaneously influence firm ownership concentration. Based on a firm-level database of the largest 600 listed companies in 19 European countries for the period 2009–2015, we found that both formal and informal institutional contexts, considered independently from each other, affect the level of firm ownership concentration. However, when these institutional contexts are considered together, the significance of the formal institutional context's effect on ownership concentration disappears while the informal (cultural) institutional context remains significant. Specifically, our findings indicate that high power distance, collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, restraint, and short-term orientation favour firm ownership concentration. Overall, our findings demonstrate that the diversity in European cultures explains firms' different levels of ownership concentration across European firms, signalling that the European Union's efforts towards a common regulatory frame may not necessarily lead to a convergence of European firms' ownership structures and, consequently, of corporate governance practices.     

政府政策供给、企业网络嵌入与小微企业转型

双创升级背景下的小微企业依然是弱势群体.文章从政府政策供给与网络嵌入的双重视角切入,探究推动小微企业创新转型的作用机理,挖掘宏观政策供给、中观网络结构与微观企业行为三者间的交互路径.小微企业在小微园中的结构嵌入有益于提升小微企业的转型绩效,而关系嵌入对转型绩效的提升存在倒U型关系.资金支持政策和公共服务政策对网络嵌入与小微企业转型绩效之间的关系起到调节作用.文章提出了政策供给类型与网络嵌入形态之间的动态匹配策略,为推动小微企业转型提供了新的理论构建.政企互动与企业间互动需要相互关照、细密交织,才能为小微企业创新转型提供有力的"庇护网".     

Firm capabilities and export performance of small firms: A meta-analytical review

Despite its importance, there is no clear understanding of the impact of small firms’ capabilities (networking, innovation, and marketing) on their export performance. This article attempts to address this issue with a meta-analysis of 74 recent empirical studies comprising 76 independent samples and covering more than 30 countries. We found that innovation, marketing, and networking capabilities positively influence export performance of small firms. However, the context-dependent nature of these relationships demands a more fine-grained examination. The variations in the ES of these relationships are explained by the role of external business environmental factors prevailing in the country of origin of the firm (developing/developed country and individualism/collectivism culture). We examined the divergent results provided by empirical studies using the moderator analysis. The findings of this article shed light on the role of small firms’ capabilities in enhancing export performance in different contextual settings.     

企业吸收能力影响因素研究——基于国际技术外溢视角

以广东和福建与外资企业处于竞争合作关系的本地企业为调查对象获取样本数据,通过多元回归和非参数检验进行分析,结果表明:生存效应、情报效应和合作效应对本地企业吸收能力有显著正向的影响,不同行业、地区和自身研发投入情况下本地企业这三种外溢效应的差别和联系各不相同。最后,根据对实证研究结论的探讨,给出政策建议。     

内部控制法案应对行为与异常应计量:基于日本数据的实证研究

笔者着眼于日本内部控制法案施行前上市公司的应对行为,考察会计师事务所咨询服务的效果。通过分析2005—2007年上市公司异常应计量的变化,发现会计师事务所提供的咨询服务影响并提高了上市公司的应计质量。本研究为验证有效的内部控制能够为财务报告及相关信息的真实完整提供合理保证这一理论提供了经验数据支持,同时也为我国内部控制基本规范和配套指引的实施效果研究提供参考。     

Transfer Pricing and Sourcing Strategies for Multinational Firms

Taking advantage of low tax rates using transfer pricing and taking advantage of low production costs using offshoring are two strategies multinational firms (MNFs) use to increase profits. We identify an important trade‐off that MNFs face in setting their transfer prices: the conflict between (i) the incentive role and (ii) the tax role of the transfer price. For MNFs, we find the profit‐maximizing transfer‐pricing strategies that motivate divisional management to (i) make good sourcing decisions and (ii) take advantage of favorable tax rates. We quantify the absolute and relative maximum inefficiency in terms of the after‐tax MNF's profit change from using a single transfer‐pricing system as compared to the dual transfer‐pricing system. We show that the highest relative loss is attained when the average sourcing cost and the tax differential are high. We demonstrate that the highest absolute loss is attained when the average outsourcing cost is approximately equal to the offshoring cost. We extend our results to two practical variations in MNF structures: an MNF that faces operational constraints on its offshoring capacity and an MNF that uses compensation contracts linked to after‐tax firm‐wide profits. Our insights help MNFs' managers identify when to use single and dual transfer‐pricing systems.     

中国汽车制造业企业发展战略问题研究——企业战略使命陈述实证性分析

企业使命陈述是公司战略范畴中的基本构成,在制定过程中也如同战略框架中的其他部分一样,需要面对复杂的环境,并考虑多方面因素.不同企业的使命陈述中所包含的要素往往有很大差异,其所包含要素的内容、频数分布和不同的影响因素也会很多.本文主要针对我国汽车制造企业的使命陈述展开研究,剖析该行业中不同企业使命陈述的共同特征和差异性,揭示产生差异的原因.