Partnership in practice

This paper examines human resource management practices adopted in a group of eight case study firms and their tendencies towards versus away from partnership. The analysis is based on data collected during interviews with 124 employees (75 in organisations tending towards partnership and 49 in organisations tending away from partnership) and senior managers, conducted in 1997-1998 for the Job Insecurity and Work Intensification Survey (JIWIS). Drawing on the perspectives of senior managers and employees, we examine the tendency of firms towards and away from partnership in employment relations; and in keeping with the JIWIS methodology (Burchell et.al., 2001) we combine quantitative and qualitative evidence in our analysis. Specifically, we are interested in what partnership looks like in these different contexts, the reasons it is pursued (or not), the degree to which companies have been successful in achieving their partnership objectives (from the perspective of both management and employees), and the conditions that have either facilitated or impeded partnership in relationships with employees

Attitude of Romanian Consumers Related to Products’ Ecological Labelling

The consumers play an important role in the protection of environment by their choices when they purchase products. Consequently, with a view to manufacture products with minimum impact on environment as well as to influence the conduct of consumers and improve the ecological performance of products and services, the ISO 14000 standards were elaborated for ecological labelling and analysis of life cycle of products and national and regional systems of ecological labelling of products were introduced. Also, in order to support a healthy and non-polluting environment, the European Commission adopted, pursuant to some specialised studies, a legislation related to the assignment of the condition of ecological product to different categories of products and services, having as purpose the environment protection and ensuring a durable consumption. At the same time, in order to improve the range of instruments of environment protection, financial and technical instruments were introduced as well The European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme – EMAS, but also the European ecological label Eco-label. The European ecological label is useful in order to supply to the consumers essential information that may allow them to make choices knowingly, acting as well as a passport that authorises the free circulation of products on the European territory. All the European Union’s states adopted the communitarian ecological label. Consequently, the integration of Romanian in the European Union imposed a range of measures related to the procedure of granting the ecological label. In Romania, there is a specific legislative frame concerning the determination of the procedure of granting the ecological label and of their conditions of use. Each group of products to which a label is assigned is governed by a specific legislation that sets forth the granting criteria. The main objectives of article concern the featuring of some fundamental elements related to eco-labelling by emphasizing the main theoretical-methodological and conceptual delimitations, the presentation of this phenomenon on international, European and national level, ending in an analysis related to the attitude of Romanian consumers towards the ecological labelling of products.eco-labelling, the European ecological label, eco-labelling in Romania, consumers

Partnership in Practice

This paper examines human resource management practices adopted in a group of eight case study firms and their tendencies towards versus away from partnership. The analysis is based on data collected during interviews with 124 employees (75 in organisations tending towards partnership and 49 in organisations tending away from partnership) and senior managers, conducted in 1997-1998 for the Job Insecurity and Work Intensification Survey (JIWIS). Drawing on the perspectives of senior managers and employees, we examine the tendency of firms towards and away from partnership in employment relations; and in keeping with the JIWIS methodology (Burchell et.al., 2001) we combine quantitative and qualitative evidence in our analysis. Specifically, we are interested in what partnership looks like in these different contexts, the reasons it is pursued (or not), the degree to which companies have been successful in achieving their partnership objectives (from the perspective of both management and employees), and the conditions that have either facilitated or impeded partnership in relationships with employees.industrial partnership, corporate governance, cooperation

Crowdfunding as a Financing Resource for Small Businesses

Although small businesses borrowed $1 trillion in 2013 from traditional lenders, 35% of small business owners were unable to obtain adequate financing and subsequently sought alternative sources such as crowdfunding. Guided by the pecking order theory, the purpose of this exploratory case study was to explore how 6 small business owners in Tennessee successfully used crowdfunding to start, grow, or sustain their businesses. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and a review of crowdfunding project data on the internet platform including the project description, target goal, amount achieved, number of backers, and locations of the funders. Data were inductively analyzed, first into coded phrases, then categories, and finally emergent themes. Findings revealed that these small business owners tapped into a strong social media network of potential funders for increased funding opportunities. They also advocated that project descriptions consist of high-quality project content and videos, 9 to 11 reward levels, and valuable rewards to entice funders to contribute to the campaign. These small business owners also noted that they devoted more time than originally anticipated during the planning, execution, and fulfillment phases, and they all faced preliminary transaction, fulfillment, and shipping costs when using crowdfunding. The risks included not receiving any funding, negative customer feedback, and poor reputation. These stories have implications for positive social change by illuminating the necessary resources to establish a successful business through employment of a social change mechanism. With funding for growth, the small business owner, family, and local community will promote economic prosperity

Professional Ethics in the Construction Industry

The results are provided of a small, but reprersentative, questionnaire survey of typical project managers, architects and building contractors concerning their views and experiences on a range of ethical issues surrounding construction industry activities. Most (90%) subscribed to a professional Code of Ethics and many (45%) had an Ethical Code of Conduct in their employing organisations, with the majority (84%) considering good ethical practice to be an important organisational goal. 93% of the respondents agreed that "Business Ethics" should be driven or governed by "Personal Ethics", with 84% of respondents stating that a balance of both the requirements of the client and the impact on the public should be maintained. No respondents were aware of any cases of employers attempting to force their employees to initiate, or participate in, unethical conduct. Despite this, all the respondents had witnessed or experienced some degree of unethical conduct, in the form of unfair conduct (81%), negligence (67%), conflict of interest (48%), collusive tendering (44%), fraud (35%), confidentiality and propriety breach (32%), bribery (26%) and violation of environmental ethics (20%)

Two case studies on electronic distribution of government securities: the U.S. Treasury Direct System and the Philippine Expanded Small Investors Program

The case study on the U.S. Treasury Direct examines the evolution of the electronic distribution systems for marketable and nonmarketable government securities, the main objectives, and the basic legal infrastructure and the preconditions enabling the system. The U.S. experience highlights that the enabling environment and infrastructure (for example, in terms of information databases such as Pay.Gov) make a large difference in terms of both the security and convenience that customers can expect in the use of the system. The system also achieved important cost savings for the Bureau of the Public Debt. The case study on the Small Investors Program of the Philippines looks at a program that the Philippine government has been experimenting with to sell its securities directly to retail investors over the Internet. The recently revised version of the program-called the Expanded Small Investors Program-aims to increase access to government securities and distribute them more widely, develop better savings products, and enhance competition in the primary markets for these securities. The authors analyze whether the program's main goals can be achieved while mitigating the risks. Their analysis suggests thatthere are good reasons to believe that the new program will succeed. Still, regular and responsive assessments and adjustments will be required as the program moves forward.International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Environmental Economics&Policies,Fiscal&Monetary Policy,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Financial Intermediation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Financial Intermediation,Insurance&Risk Mitigation,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform