Global product development projects: measuring performance and monitoring the risks

Abstract

This article investigates the development and application of key performance indicators for global product development. Two in-depth, longitudinal case studies with multinational Danish manufacturing companies were conducted, and highlight how key performance indicators, typically used for collocated, cross-functional product development, do not provide the predictive insight required to avoid the additional risks encountered in the global product development environment. Grounded in the case study results and building on established methodologies in performance measurement literature, a framework was developed and validated in two additional Danish companies to support project managers to develop: preventive indicators, which support the avoidance of identified risks, and outcome indicators, which support the measurement towards the attainment of project objectives. The study is unique as it is one of the very few longitudinal studies of engineering design activities in a global context, providing the in-depth contextual understanding towards key risks and their influence on performance; an important step to support researchers and practitioners with the development of preventive measures.     

Culture and Crisis Communication: Nestle India's Maggi Noodles Case

Extant theoretical paradigms in the field of crisis communication are organization-centric and do not adequately recognize the role of culture. The purpose of this essay is to analyze a crisis faced by Nestle India using the framework of global public relations which defines culture broadly to include political, economic, media, societal, and activist cultures. Our analysis revealed that a multinational corporation with over a century of presence in the country struggled to align itself to the complexities of the cultures of the host country. In the case of Nestle India, whereas environmental variables such as political economy and Westernization of urban India boosted the growth of its instant noodles, the multinational also struggled to cope with the rise of media corporatization, activist pressure and the vagaries of regulatory enforcement not to speak of cultural nationalism. It is evident that Nestlé's crisis response was governed more by its traditional corporate culture than by an ability to keep pace with the changing demands of its environment, leading to the amplification of an issue into a crisis. The study concludes that multinationals that ignore culture will be forced to pay a heavy price both in terms of reputation and the bottom line.     

治理机制、行业聚集与国有工业部门绩效变动模式

1978年以来,中国国有企业的绩效呈现出U型变动模式.1992年前,在卖方市场和短缺经济的条件下,国有企业的生产率提高而利润率却大幅下降.其中的症结在于以内部人控制、软预算约束和行政干预为特征的治理机制.1992年后国有企业的绩效在谷底徘徊,并从1998年开始大幅上升.在市场竞争加剧和治理机制没有实质性改变的情况下,国有资本向高利润行业的聚集和对民间资本的进入限制是国有企业绩效整体改善的关键.当前依然应当把国有企业改革作为经济体制改革的中心环节,改革的取向是深化垄断行业改革和从战略上调整国有经济布局.     

村治模式转型：由封闭性自治到开放性自治的演进

村民自治模式具有封闭性自治的特点。在现代化进程的强烈冲击下,农村社会已经发生历史性变迁,农村社会逐步走向开放性与异质性,村民自治赖以存在的经济与社会基础逐步瓦解。农村经济与社会变迁的既有现实决定了必须建立适应当前农村社会开放性、流动性社会要求的新型自治实践模式。由“开放性自治”到“封闭性自治”的转型是农村基层民主发展的演进逻辑。     

治理能力与社会机会——基于世界治理指标的实证研究

社会机会能够提高人类的发展水平,促进社会成员个人发展质量的提高.社会成员对社会机会的广泛共享是经济社会协调发展的基本取向,也是政府治理行为追求的重要目标之一.通过对各国政府治理能力和社会机会水平之间关系的实证研究发现,治理能力的提升有助于社会机会的扩大,能够促进全社会成员共享经济和社会发展的成果.     

嵌套博弈视角下的农村公共产品治理机制研究

农村公共产品治理不是一个孤立的博弈,而是嵌套在其它博弈之中。农村基层现有的自上而下的决策体系,使参与人的策略受上级政府偏好的约束。这种嵌套形成了实质上的政府单边治理机制,这是导致农村公共产品治理效率不足的主因。农村公共产品的多样化与复杂性,要求不同的主体参与不同类型的公共产品治理。改革农村基层权力结构,建立以农户需求为导向、自下而上的公共产品决策体系,形成有利于多边治理的新的博弈结构。在改变后嵌套博弈中,农户、企业及非盈利组织都有参与农村公共产品治理的积极性,他们与基层政府、上级政府共同建立起分工协调的多边治理机制,从而提高农村公共产品的治理效率。     

Institutional Governance of Minority Religious Practices: Insights from a Study of Muslim Practices in Danish Schools

An increasing number of studies are concerned with the ways in which the religious practices of Europe's minority populations are accommodated on the political, national and local levels. In this article, I present a case study of Muslim practices in Danish schools. The study is an investigation of how and why six selected practices are governed in Danish schools: halal food, fasting, prayer, head scarves, holidays and mosques. The results underline the importance of the specific practice in question for the way in which it is governed: some practices are easily accommodated, while others are rejected outright by the schools. Furthermore, the study demonstrates how governance of Muslim practices is developed in the absence of national regulation and against the prevailing ideals in the Danish public debate. In fact, the governance developed seems to be a direct response to the number of Muslim children in school and in line with general school ideals of inclusion. However, the results also indicate that more direct involvement by local or national authorities might push schools to be more exclusive with regard to Muslim practices.     

我国独立董事独立性的两个问题

独立性是独立董事制度赖以建立和存在的基础。影响和制约我国独立董事独立性的因素主要有独立董事制度缺乏法律明确定位、独立董事任职条件不严密、选任程序不合理、行权不畅、报酬问题以及任期问题。应当明确独立董事的法律定位、建立独立董事控制下的专业委员会、确立独立董事采取公告与回避制度、充分发挥声誉激励作用、建立独立董事自律组织自律规范独立董事行为以及营造良好的外部环境和机制。     

NGOs, Global Governance and the UN: NGOs as “Guardians of the Reform of the International System”

The role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the United Nations (UN), as well as in world politics in general, is increasingly gaining the attention of scholars of international law, political science and social anthropology. Using extensive earlier research on NGO-UN relations and on the concept of global governance, it is concluded that although NGOs are becoming increasingly influential actors on the international arena, several problems impede their influence from growing within the UN. Once the inefficiencies of NGOs participation in United Nations’ bodies and institutions have been described, we propose some modalities of reform of this Organization, with the purpose of improving the involvement of world civil society in UN decision-making processes, and increasing its democratic profile. Finally, the study suggests several areas that require future research and more in-depth study in order to make predictions about how NGO-UN relations will evolve in the coming decades.

FDI’s Impact on Transitional Countries, Serbia as a Rational Choice: The FIAT-ZASTAVA Case

The privatization process and foreign direct investments (FDI) are among the most important economic issues in transitional countries. FDI has enormous influence on transitional countries that need serious structural changes. In this paper we will study FIAT’s decision to invest in the Serbian automotive industry. We will try to rationalize FIAT’s decision because Serbian car manufacturer ZASTAVA was not the only alternative for FIAT to invest in the Balkans. In order to justify FIAT’s decision we will apply the Mullins model of horizontal and vertical FDI, examine the importance of the cooperating history between two car manufacturers and compare macroeconomic conditions and Global Competitiveness of Serbia and Romania, which was the main alternative for FIAT. Finally, we will also try to explain why FIAT decided to announce the investment at the end of political campaign in Serbia when pools gave anti-European parties higher chances for victory, instead of waiting to see the outcome of the elections.