The links between international production and innovation: a double network approach

This paper examines the changing role of multinationals in the global generation, adoption and transfer of innovation. It is argued that the combination of traditional asset exploiting objectives with increasing asset seeking activities entails a transition of multinationals towards a double network structure. On the one hand multinationals are more and more characterised by the interconnection of a large number of internal units that are deeply involved in the company’s use, generation and absorption of knowledge. On the other hand, units belonging to the internal network tend to develop external networks with other firms and institutions that are located outside the boundaries of the multinational firm, in order to increase the potential for use, generation and absorption of knowledge. Extending the analysis to a more general level, it is suggested that each of the external actors with which multinationals are interconnected across countries are themselves involved in extensive webs of relationships with other firms and institutions. By becoming embedded in different local contexts, multinational firms act as bridging institutions connecting a number of geographically dispersed economic and innovation systems. As a result, they are conditioned by, and contribute to, the evolution of different contexts in which they operate.innovation, multinational firms, networks.

Contexts and Corporate Voluntary Environmental Behaviors: Examining the EPA\u27s Green Lights Voluntary Program

Why do an increasingly large number of firms choose to spend their own money and resources to protect the environment beyond the extant regulatory requirements? This article addresses this question by examining the EPA’s Green Lights (GL) voluntary program in which a firm’s policy makers made an early commitment to limiting greenhouse gases through the installation of energy-efficient lighting technology in its facilities. Two theoretical perspectives—resource-based theory and neo-institutional theory—are adopted to investigate the contexts by which a firm is encouraged to undertake voluntary environmental actions and evaluate environmental strategies associated with them. Accordingly, the authors focus on two major contexts: market contexts in which a firm adopts voluntary actions as a strategic response to market pressures and to advance competitiveness; and institutional contexts in which a firm takes voluntary postures as a strategic response to institutional pressures, to obtain institutional legitimacy and weaken regulatory scrutiny. The research results partially support both contexts and their associated strategic behaviors

Understanding the determinants of e-commerce uptake, e-service quality and e-commerce success, in the UK on-line retail sector

The primary aim of this study is to gain important new insights into e-commerce success, by empirically exploring how approaches to e-service quality, when coupled with levels of e-commerce adoption, might affect the overall success of retailers’ on-line operations. This study is governed by positivist epistemological perspective, and therefore, it was undertaken using a quantitative research methodology, based upon questionnaires. The primary data collection generated a total of 225 useable questionnaires, completed by senior managers, working within the UK’s on-line retail sector. Factor analysis and multiple regression analysis were then used to thoroughly explore the relationships between the various constructs, which comprised the research model. The results of the statistical analysis demonstrate that internal factors (e.g. as management strategy and resources) - are a stronger determinant, than external factors, of both. Perhaps more importantly, it has been shown that the perceived success of a retailer’s e-commerce operations is also strongly associated with the management approaches to e-service quality and the level of e-commerce adoption. Finally, a mediation analysis provides interesting new insights into the relationship between adoption levels, e-service quality and success: the management approaches to e-service quality significantly mediates the relationship between the level of e-commerce adoption and the perceived e-commerce success. Given the central role that e-service quality plays in this study, a customer focused study of e-service quality was also conducted, to provide a more complete and holistic view of this complex phenomenon. This supplementary study sought to explore how customers’ perceptions of e-service quality, particularly in terms of identifying those elements of service quality that influence their use of the retailers’ on-line services. An on-line questionnaire survey was designed and pre-tested before targeting it at 800 students, of whom over 25% responded. An ‘importance-performance’ analysis of this data was conducted to explore whether there were significant differences in customers’ perception of the importance against the performance of retailers’ ability to manage e-service quality. By and large, the results of this analysis should provide some reassurance to the on-line retailers, as the customers generally believed that the retailers were performing well in the areas that were most important to them. However, when the results of the customer and retailer studies were compared, some interesting imbalances were revealed. For example, the retailers perceived the provision of privacy policies to be extremely important, whilst generally; the customers weren’t too concerned with this aspect of e-service quality. The thesis concludes by highlighting its contribution to the body of current knowledge, reviewing the limitations of the research and exploring the implications for practice of the many interesting new insights generated through this empirical study

Extractive Industries

"New initiatives recognize that resource wealth can provide a means, when properly used, for poorer nations to decisively break with poverty by diversifying economies and funding development spending. Extractive Industries: The Management of Resources as a Driver of Sustainable Development explores the challenges and opportunities facing developing countries in using oil, gas, and mining to achieve inclusive change. While resource wealth can yield prosperity it can also, when mismanaged, cause acute social inequality, deep poverty, environmental damage, and political instability. There is a new determination to improve the benefits of extractive industries to their host countries, and to strengthen the sector's governance. Extractive Industries provides a comprehensive contribution to what must be done in this sector to deliver development, protect often fragile environments from damage, enhance the rights of affected communities, and support climate change action. It brings together international experts to offer ideas and recommendations in the main policy areas. With a breadth of collective insight and experience, it argues that more attention must be given to the development role of extractive industries, and looks to the future to explain how action on climate change will profoundly shape the sector's prospects.

Varieties of flexibilisation? The working lives of information and communications technology professionals in the UK and Germany

One feature of ‘flexibilisation’ concerns the growth of more individualised employment arrangements and career trajectories less connected to employing organisations. Informed by the Varieties of Capitalism approach, which emphasises the embeddedness of employment practices within discrete types of capitalist market economy, and based on rich qualitative data from interviews with 32 self-employed and directly-employed ICT professionals in the UK and Germany, we investigate comparative variation in their experience of flexibilisation. The research findings indicate some commonality, particularly in respect of perceptions of independence, but also highlight notable differences with regard to work pressures and insecurity. The paper advances theory by characterising two discrete varieties of flexibilisation, a ‘liberalised’ form evident in the UK, and a more ‘regulated’ type apparent in Germany, contributing to a better understanding of comparative differences in flexibilisation

Coopetition For The Greater Good. Exploratory study of coopetition management mechanisms in the pharmaceutical industry

The pharmaceutical industry has experienced a remarkable surge in "coopetition," wherein rival companies join forces to pursue shared objectives, leading to a dynamic business environment fraught with tensions resulting from the coexistence of strong, contradictory forces of competition and cooperation. Despite its growing importance, research examining coopetition implementation and management, especially considering contextual influences shaping its dynamics, remains limited. This study aims to fill this gap by exploring the mechanisms of coopetition implementation and management in the pharmaceutical industry, focusing on the interrelation of different elements of coopetition execution and the contextual environment. Adopting an interpretivist philosophy and a qualitative, exploratory approach, this research engaged with industry insiders to explore how large, global pharmaceutical companies effectively manage dyadic coopetition. Key findings highlight the significance of the formation stage in mitigating tensions throughout the coopetition lifecycle. The operationalization stage emphasizes emotional and analytical capabilities across organizational levels, in addition to the balancing capability manifested through various coopetition management principles identified in the literature: separation, integration, arbitration, and a novel variant of co-management principles, alongside a unique approach - unilateral control, all complemented by supportive organizational adaptations. Moreover, diplomacy and learning capabilities were identified as crucial components of coopetition capabilities. The termination stage brings persisting tensions due to legal pressures and competitive vigilance. The research also brings to light the complex interplay between legal and regulatory institutional pressures and coopetition dualities. The research complements and contributes to coopetition management literature by proposing a multi-level, multi-stage view of tensions. It offers a nuanced understanding of how these tensions are navigated throughout the drug development cycle and highlights the importance of addressing the often-overlooked termination stage of coopetition. Furthermore, it highlights the complex relationship between institutional pressures and dualities. Overall, the study provides valuable insights into the nuanced mechanisms employed by large pharmaceutical companies to holistically manage and maintain balanced coopetition. Keywords: coopetition, pharmaceutical, management, execution, coopetition capability, regulated industries, legal pressures, coopetition lifecycle

Embedding generic employability skills in Greek accounting education studies: Development and impediments.

The aim of this thesis is to explore the response of Greek Higher Education (HE) Institutes to the rapidly-changing global evolutions that lead to the introduction of skills and competences (professional skills) within accounting courses. The introduction of professional skills in HE accounting courses constitutes a "paradigm shift" and signifies the transformation of future accountants (especially management accountants) from "bean counters to business advisors and successful management team members" who will be capable of supporting their employers to overcome global challenges and take informed decisions. The European Union and the Bologna Process have devoted considerable resources and efforts, through the establishment of European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS), to promote professional skills and competences and, through them, the employability prospects of HE graduates. The thesis employs the New Institutional Sociology (NIS; DiMaggio and Powell, 1983, 1991) combined with the typology of Oliver (1991) with regard to the increasing privatisation of HE (Meyer and Rowan, 2006) and specifically institutional isomorphism (coercive, mimetic, normative) as a tool to analyse the pressures and barriers to skills introduction in HE accounting courses. The study employs a Mixed Methods Methodology and a 3-Phase Sequential Exploratory Design (Creswell and Plano Clark, 2007) to investigate the views of three groups of stakeholders: accounting teachers, business administration and accounting students and accountants, via interviews, questionnaires, documentary analysis, web-based research, and informal discussions. The main findings are: Professional skills are considered important by all stakeholders in Greece, but a gap exists between the importance assigned to skills and their delivery by the educational process. The skill in most need of attention is "the ability for students to identify and solve unstructured problems". There are convergent and divergent isomorphic pressures regarding the introduction of professional skills in H.E accounting courses, both internal and external. The internal divergent isomorphic pressures come from three groups: the educational system (i.e. lack of communication, support and motivation), the teachers (i.e. non-reflective practices, lack of training), and the students (i.e. absenteeism, cultural and educational background). The external divergent isomorphic pressures come from the market (i.e. structure and attitude), the state (i.e. tax system) and the employers (i.e. ignorance). The convergent isomorphic pressures are exerted on an individual, organisational and national level and are identified as institutional (coercive, normative, mimetic, normative-mimetic and mimetic-coercive) as well as competitive pressures.Greek HE Institutions have so far adopted strategies of defiance, manipulation, avoidance and compromise in response to skills introduction