Short term entry barriers may be good for long term competition

Entry barriers encourage competition “for” the market as opposed to “in” the market. Efficient entrants use penetrating strategies while inefficient incumbents harvest the market before leaving. These phenomenon are explored in an infinite horizon game in which history matters. Under some circumstances, higher entry barriers induce entry of efficient firms while lower entry barriers would not. This comes from the expected benefit of future rents. Social welfare may be enhanced as well. This result suggests that a rule of reason should be applied and that entry barriers should not be considered per se anticompetitive.

Capacity Investment under Demand Uncertainty. An Empirical Study of the US Cement Industry, 1994‐2006

Uncertainty about the level of demand is thought to influence irreversible capacity decisions. This paper examines some implications of the theory literature on this topic in an empirical study of the US cement industry between 1994 and 2006. Firms in this sector have the ability to deliver cement either from domestic plants or from imports. Since cement is costly to transport via land, the difference in marginal cost between local production and imports varies across local markets. The marginal cost of imports is lower in areas with access to a sea port, decreasing the relative value of investing in local capacity sufficient to supply positive local demand shocks. In the presence of uncertain demand, firms may choose to serve these markets via both domestic production and imports. Consistent with the theory, we find a negative relationship between the average level of excess capacity and demand volatility only for coastal areas. An increase in demand volatility is associated with an increase in excess capacity only in landlocked areas. More generally, the paper shows that the cost of imports relative to the cost of domestic production affects the relationship between uncertainty and domestic capacity decisions. The results suggest that a unilateral climate policy in the US may induce a partial international relocation of capacity in carbon intensive industries, such as cement, by increasing the relative cost of domestic production.Capacity Investment, Demand Uncertainty, Imports, Cement

Modelling performance in a Balanced Scorecard : findings from a case study

Cet article s'intéresse à la mise en place de l'approche dite du "Balanced Scorecards" dans des unités opérationnelles plutôt qu'au niveau d'une direction générale. Il s'appuie sur une étude de cas. On propose de traiter les questions relatives à la coordination, à la fixation des objectifs et au contrôle en s'appuyant sur une méthodologie originale pour construire le modèle d'interaction entre les différentes entités de l'organisation. Cette méthodologie fait une part importante à l'apprentissage organisationnel permettant ainsi une compréhension mutuelle des degrés de liberté individuels et une meilleure observation réciproque. Cette approche "horizontale" est mieux adaptée à ce type de contexte que l'approche "verticale" plus traditionnelle du BCS.Pilotage;Tableaux de bord;Incitations;Apprentissage organisationnel

Capacity Investment under Demand Uncertainty. An Empirical Study of the US Cement Industry, 1994-2006

Uncertainty about the level of demand is thought to influence irreversible capacity decisions. This paper examines some implications of the theory literature on this topic in an empirical study of the US cement industry between 1994 and 2006. Firms in this sector have the ability to deliver cement either from domestic plants or from imports. Since cement is costly to transport via land, the difference in marginal cost between local production and imports varies across local markets. The marginal cost of imports is lower in areas with access to a sea port, decreasing the relative value of investing in local capacity sufficient to supply positive local demand shocks. In the presence of uncertain demand, firms may choose to serve these markets via both domestic production and imports. Consistent with the theory, we find a negative relationship between the average level of excess capacity and demand volatility only for coastal areas. An increase in demand volatility is associated with an increase in excess capacity only in landlocked areas. More generally, the paper shows that the cost of imports relative to the cost of domestic production affects the relationship between uncertainty and domestic capacity decisions. The results suggest that a unilateral climate policy in the US may induce a partial international relocation of capacity in carbon intensive industries, such as cement, by increasing the relative cost of domestic production.capacity investment, demand uncertainty, imports, cement

The lack of controllability of EVA explains its decline a field study

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Short term entry barriers may be good for long term competition

Entry barriers encourage competition “for” the market as opposed to “in” the market. Efficient entrants use penetrating strategies while inefficient incumbents harvest the market before leaving. These phenomenon are explored in an infinite horizon game in which history matters. Under some circumstances, higher entry barriers induce entry of efficient firms while lower entry barriers would not. This comes from the expected benefit of future rents. Social welfare may be enhanced as well. This result suggests that a rule of reason should be applied and that entry barriers should not be considered per se anticompetitive

A Managerial Perspective on the Porter Hypothesis -The Case of CO2 Emissions

Over the past decade, the debate on climate change has dramatically shifted. The strong evidence presented by the scientific community through the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) process established by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has largely settled the discussion about whether an action should be taken to stabilize atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs) (Parry et al., 2007). Climate change is now acknowledged as being a serious global threat which demands an urgent response. For example, the Stern Review on the economics of climate change estimates that without any global action, the overall costs and risks of climate change would be equivalent to losing at least 5% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) each year, which could rise to 20% if a wider range of risks and impacts are taken into consideration (Stern, 2006). The question is: what should be the response to address the challenge of global warming while maintaining at the same time an economic growth (Mc Kinsey Global Institute, 2008)? With this in mind, environmental concerns are becoming an increasing central topic for strategic choices and decision-making by investors around the world.Corporate Social Responsibility ; csr

A managerial perspective on the Porter hypothesis The case of CO2 emissions

investors and companies are increasingly aware that climate change and its associated needs for reducing CO2 emissions are likely to impact structurally many areas of the economy. This paper offers a contribution to understand these impacts on companies' strategy, by studying management systems. A typology is introduced based upon a two stage model. At stage one, the firm becomes aware of the risk and CO2 is a compliance issue. At stage two, the firm is involved in a more global re-assessment of its business portfolio including its relationship with suppliers and clients. The construction is based on three case studies: DuPont (chemicals), Lafarge (building materials) and Unilever (consumer goods). The implications of the analysis for investors are drawn.Corporate Social Responsibility – CO2 emissions – Management Systems – Strategy

Productive Efficiency and Contestable Markets

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Recurrent Attempts to Renovate Management ControlRevisited through a Simons' Perspective

On propose de caractériser un système de pilotage et de contrôle à partir de trois dimensions: l'implication des managers, la spécificité des outils, la relation avec le système d'incitation. Cette caractérisation constitue une extension directe de la typologie introduite par Simons (1995) pour distinguer entre contrôle interactif et contrôle diagnostic. Les tentatives récurrentes pour rénover le contrôle de gestion suite aux critiques sévères formulées par Kaplan et Johnson (1987) sont alors re-examinées. Les approches du type contrôle stratégique ou le management par la valeur apparaissent respectivement comme représentatives soit du contrôle interactif soit du contrôle diagnostic. Le cadre proposé permet de bien rendre compte des forces et faiblesses de ce type d'approches toujours très en vogue auprès des entreprises.