UK corporate governance and takeover performance

This chapter addresses the changing nature of corporate governance in the United Kingdom over recent decades and examines whether these changes have had an impact on the UK market for corporate control. The disappointing outcomes for acquiring company shareholders in the majority of corporate acquisitions, public discontent with some pay deals for top executives and some high profile corporate scandals led in the early 1990s to a call for governance reform. The scrutiny of governance in UK companies has intensified since the publication of the Cadbury Report in 1992 and has resulted in calls for changes in the size, composition and role of boards of directors, in the role of institutional shareholders, the remuneration and appointment of executives, and in legal and accounting regulations. We review the background to these changes and the consequences of the changes since 1990 for governance structures. Finally, we examine whether these changes have affected takeover performance in recent years. Our analysis is specific to the institutional circumstances of the UK although we refer where appropriate to takeover studies in other countries

Innovation policy as cargo cult:Myth and reality in knowledge-led productivity growth

In the immediate post-Second World War years a series of millenarian movements known as “cargo cults”3 swept through Melanesia. They emerged in the aftermath of intensive US contact in the course of the Second World War. These contacts led to a substantial increase in the material goods available to Melanesian islanders, but the end of the war meant that such material goods became less available as military withdrawal occurred. In these circumstances cargo cults emerged in which prophets would promise the return of cargoes of material goods by their ancestors (often expected to take the form of the Americans) with cargo typically shipped in the airplanes that had been such a common feature of the war experience. The means by which the return of the cargo was to be encouraged varied between different cults in different islands, but frequently involved the ritual preparation and construction of a variety of structures such as airfields, storage facilities, landing strips and associated paraphernalia. Cult members were encouraged to abandon previous cultural practices and often mimicked the behavioural characteristics of Americans (Worsley, 1957; Jarvie, 1964). The emergence of these cults did not lead to the return of material cargo

Does a “survival-by-exportingâ€\x9D effect for SMEs exist?

Exports, Firm survival, Survival methods, L1, C41, L60,

Investigation of the effects of strategic management and innovation on performance together with technological capabilities

The acceleration of technological advances has significantly improved sectoral efficiency and provided service providers the opportunity to produce an unprecedented variety of products and services. As a result, more supply has started to form in a growing number of sectors than demand. As the liberalization rate in trade increased with the influence of global organizations such as the World Trade Organization and regional organizations such as the European Union, the brand addiction and product price differences decreased, and the logic of monopoly began to disappear with the effective competition of those who challenged the markets and leading organizations. For this reason, although the importance of strategy and innovation is emphasized in the study, it focuses on the strategic importance and technological innovation capabilities of innovation, and criticisms are made in terms of strategic management