Business Commons^™

Sustainability- The Missing Ingredient In Strategy, Ingrid Bonn, Josie Fisher

Ingrid Bonn

While strategy has been addressed in the literature since the 1960s and sustainability has received a lot of attention recently, there has been little attention paid to the question of how sustainability considerations might be integrated into an organisation's strategy. In this paper a framework that outlines how sustainability can be addressed strategically in organisations is introduced and analysed. It is argued that all three dimensions of sustainability- economic, environmental and social- must be integrated into all aspects of an organisation's strategy and need to be addressed on an ongoing basis.

Five Decades Of Agricultural Policies In Nigeria: What Roles Has Statistics Played?, Akinboyo O. I

Bullion

All over the country and internationally, the publications of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) such as the Annual Report and Statement of Accounts, the Statistical Bulletin, Economic and Financial Review, the Bullion and Nigeria: Major Economic and Banking Indicators and those of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) have become a veritable source of data and reference materials on Nigeria. Without basic i n f o r m a t i o n o n e c o n o m i c developments, it would be very difficult for policy makers to assess economic performances. The f o …

Corporate Venture Capital, Disembodied Experimentation And Capability Development, Thomas Keil, Ekko Autio, Gerard George

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Studies invoking a capabilities lens often ascribe deliberateness in organizational decisions to develop new capabilities. Drawing on five longitudinal case studies of large, global firms in the information and communication technology sector, we examine how firms engender cognizance of their future capability needs in situations characterized by high decision-making uncertainty. We develop a theoretical account of how firms use investments in start-ups to actively engage in experimentation outside organizational boundaries, a learning process which we term as disembodied experimentation. Disembodied experimentation creates awareness of voids in the capability base of an incumbent and helps to overcome inertial restraints thereby influencing …

Impact Of Offshore Outsourcing On Competitive Advantage Of U.S. Multinational Corporations, Yoram Benit

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Offshore outsourcing became a common business practice by most U.S. and Western businesses after the Internet became viable. It is expected that by 2015 the U.S. market will outsource 3.3 million employment opportunities and will pay an estimated $136 billion in salaries to Asian countries (Hemphill, 2004). Outsourcing became a necessity for corporations to reduce cost and maintain competitiveness in the marketplace, but its effectiveness in achieving superior performance and competitive advantage needs to be explored.

The relationship among offshore outsourcing, market freedom, and competitive advantage is an important issue for multinational corporations to conduct business and gain competitive advantage. …

The Ceo's Marketing Manifesto, Nirmalya Kumar

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

CEOs are frustrated by marketing's inability to deliver results. Has the profession lost its relevance? It is argued that, while the function of marketing has lost ground, the importance of marketing as a mind-set geared toward customer focus has gained momentum. Here we challenge marketers to change their role from tactical implementers of traditional marketing functions - the tactical 4 P's - to orchestrating organization-wide, transformational initiatives aimed at profitably delivering value to customers.

Alleviating Global Poverty Through Profitable Partnerships: Moral Imagination & Economic Well-Being, Laura Hartman, P. Werhane, D. Moberg, S. Kelley

Laura Hartman

While at least one out of six in the global human population cannot meet the basic demands of survival and they have little ability to buy goods and services, this situation also presents potential new markets for multinational enterprises seeking long-term sustainability. If economic growth is a continuing and positive goal for the planet and for global companies, then, as markets in developed economies become saturated, these new markets provide fresh opportunities to satisfy this objective.

Examining Quality Improvement Programs: The Case Of Minnesota Hospitals, James Belohlav

Publications – Dreihaus College of Business

No abstract provided.

Channels 2.0 - Delivering And Deploying On-Demand Solutions, David C. Thomas

David Chandler Thomas, PhD

The software industry is going through another major shift in the underlying platform; this time, from the ‘desktop’ to the ‘webtop.’ The change is disrupting the business models of both the independent software vendor (ISV) and the channel partners who have traditionally sold or deployed software on their behalf. As new players emerge, and the market shifts, a fresh look is needed at how software should be priced, sold, configured, deployed, and supported.

Customization Vs. Standardization In Global Hotel Expansion, Nenad Praporski

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

There are numerous challenges that an international hotel chain faces when opening a property in a foreign country. The company’s response to those challenges will determine the new hotel’s overall success rate. This will in turn directly affect the corporation’s profit levels. The critical issue of this project is to define to what extent the world’s largest hotel chains utilize the theories of customization and standardization when designing a business strategy for a new property. In order to truly grasp the concept, it is essential for one to value the importance of brand standard in regards to globalization in the …

Untangling The Effects Of Overexploration And Overexploitation On Organizational Performance: The Moderating Role Of Environmental Dynamism, Heli Wang, Jiatao Li

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Because a firm’s optimal knowledge search behavior is determined by unique firm and industry conditions, organizational performance should be contingent on the degree to which a firm’s actual level of knowledge search deviates from the optimal level. It is thus hypothesized that deviation from the optimal search, in the form of either overexploitation or overexploration, is detrimental to organizational performance. Furthermore, the negative effect of search deviation on organizational performance varies with environmental dynamism; that is, overexploitation is expected to become more harmful, whereas overexploration becomes less so with an increase in environmental dynamism. The empirical analyses yield results consistent …

Examining Quality Improvement Programs: The Case Of Minnesota Hospitals, James A. Belohlav

James A. Belohlav

No abstract provided.

Going Global Poses New Challenges For Chinese Companies, Knowledge@Smu

Knowledge@SMU

Spurred on by a sustained economic boom, big businesses in China are increasingly looking to extend their success overseas. At the inaugural Ho Bee lecture at the Singapore Management University (SMU) in July 2008, Marshall Meyer described the compelling journeys of two Chinese corporations, Haier Group and Lenovo, as they ventured outside China. Meyer is professor of management at Wharton and Ho Bee professor in Chinese economy and business at SMU.

Organizational Credibility Counts, Christine G. Springer

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Publications

As economic stressors increase and voting participation decreases, it is important for public administrators to find ways to minimize the negative consequences of distrust in government and to rebuild credibility by making the necessary changes to organizational culture, improving business practices, working with the media to build new more positive relationships, and by accentuating the good news about progress made. Events like Hurricane Katrina tragically teach us how long lasting one negative event can truly be because it is truly a disaster not only for those directly affected but also for those indirectly involved due to its negative affect on …

The Analysis Of Shanghai Broad Shipping Company's Development Strategy, Lu Zhang

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Research On Development Of Yangshan Bonded Logistics Park, Qing Fan

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Research On Strategy For Cosco To Develop Logistics Services, Yadun Xu

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Research On Development Strategy Of Shanghai Port’S Container Transport, Feng Liu

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Comparative Study Of Container Logistics And Marketing Channel Design Of Shanghai Waigaoqiao And Yangshan Container Terminal, Xiaodong Chen

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Research On The Competitive Strategies Of China Shipping Container Lines, Mingzhi Song

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Research On The Integration Of Coastal Ports In Guangxi, Li Ma

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Emergence Of Nanodistricts In The United States: Path Dependency Or New Opportunities?, Philip Shapira, Jan Youtie

Philip Shapira

Multiple economic development theories suggest that research and innovation in emerging technologies will cluster in certain locations rather then distributing equally among all regions. If this is the case, this distributional pattern has implications for where future economic opportunities as well as future risks will be concentrated. In this paper, we probe nanotechnology (hereafter nano) research and commercialization at a regional level. The study examines the top 30 US “nanodistricts” or metropolitan areas which lead in nanotechnology research activity over the 1990-2006 timeframe. We explore the factors underlying the emergence of these 30 metropolitan areas through exploratory cluster analysis. We …

Eureka! Winning Ways: Analysis Of Early Client Experiences, Lynne Manrique, Kamau Bobb, David Roessner, Jan Youtie, Philip Shapira

Philip Shapira

The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has a longstanding record of helping small- and medium-sized (SME) manufacturers to identify and implement technologies and practices that improve manufacturing efficiency and product quality. More recently, MEP has begun to build a growth services portfolio to assist manufacturers with the development of new products, new customers, and new markets. Its first growth services offering, called Eureka! Winning Ways (E!WW), was piloted in late 2006 and has been implemented widely since the beginning of 2008. To explore the nature of early E!WW client experiences, as well …

Information Literacy In The New Curriculum, Michiel Moll

Michiel E Moll

South Africa has undergone major changes in the school curriculum. At the same time, international emphasis on the importance of Information Literacy has found reflections locally in many calls for the development of school libraries (e.g. Arnold, 2002: 178), but has remained a problem in the actual implementation. This is also reflected in initial teacher training which has moved Information Literacy to a skill of the teacher, rather than an essential part of the curriculum that they have to teach.

This paper first looks briefly at the changes in national curricula in South Africa, and then at the current curriculum, …

Information Literacy In The New Curriculum, Michiel E. Moll

Michiel E Moll

South Africa has undergone major changes in the school curriculum. At the same time, international emphasis on the importance of Information Literacy has found reflections locally in many calls for the development of school libraries (e.g. Arnold, 2002: 178), but has remained a problem in the actual implementation. This is also reflected in initial teacher training which has moved Information Literacy to a skill of the teacher, rather than an essential part of the curriculum that they have to teach.

This paper first looks briefly at the changes in national curricula in South Africa, and then at the current curriculum, …

Strategic Management Of Crises, Christine G. Springer

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Publications

The article discusses the duties and responsibilities of managers in assessing workplace threats. Managers should care when someone causes harm in the workplace. It is a duty of the managers to warn through a collaborative discussion about the advantages or drawbacks in a small group meeting. It is also an obligation of managers to act when an employee indicates that he or she is being harassed or threatened.

Supply Chain Management For Servitized Products: A Multi-Industry Case Study, Mark Johnson, Carlos Mena

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Manufacturers are combining products and services in order to provide greater value to the customer and to facilitate longer more profitable business relationships. Organisations that pursue this route are following a strategy of servitization which requires the effective management of supply chains. A framework was developed from the extant literature that was used as a lens for the analysis of supply chains for servitized products. This research uses case studies to explore the challenges and opportunities that face the supply chain management function within organisations that are pursuing a strategy of servitization. The case studies indicate that servitized supply chains …

Bringing It All Back Home, Arnoud Cyriel Leo De Meyer, Matthias Holweg

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

There seems little thatcan be positive for the UK manufacturing sector in oil prices above $120 abarrel, rising costs of other natural resources, inflation and growingenvironmental pressure. But there may be a silver lining. Increased transportcosts resulting from higher energy prices and carbon taxes may create anopportunity for a revival in western manufacturing.

Explaining The Spatial Organization Of Creative Industries: The Case Of The U.S. Videogames Industry, F. Ted Tschang, Jan Vang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The paper presents a picture of the spatial location of the U.S. videogames industry as a broad range of clusters of different sizes, none of them dominant, then uses a variety of qualitative evidence (including interview and ethnographic) to illustrate a theory of how these variegated clusters have emerged and continue to persist, each in their own right. In effect, our main findings are that videogame clusters do not operate as other creative industry clusters, as described by the recent theories of buzz applied to other creative industries, nor by conventional linkage arguments (either to suppliers or financier-distributors). Rather, the …

Senior Team Attributes And Organizational Ambidexterity: The Moderating Role Of Transformational Leadership, Justin J. P. Jansen, Gerard George, Frans A. J. Van Den Bosch, Henk W. Volberda

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Organizations capable of pursuing exploration and exploitation simultaneously have been suggested to obtain superior performance. Combining both types of activities and achieving organizational ambidexterity, however, leads to the presence of multiple and often conflicting goals, and poses considerable challenges to senior teams in ambidextrous organizations. This study explores the role of senior team attributes and leadership behaviour in reconciling conflicting interests among senior team members and achieving organizational ambidexterity. Findings indicate that a senior team shared vision and contingency rewards are associated with a firm's ability to combine high levels of exploratory and exploitative innovations. In addition, our study shows …

Strategic Orientation Of High-Technology Firms In A Transitional Economy, Chung-Ming Lau, Daphne W. Yiu, Ping-Kwong Yeung, Yuan Lu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Strategic orientation is a critical factor for a firm's competitiveness in a transitional economy context but it is understudied in the current literature. This article examines the antecedents of strategic orientation from both the socio-cognitive and resource-based view perspectives. The study posits that the strategic orientations of firms in a transitional economy context are influenced by the top managers' cognitions and organizational resources. Based on a national survey of high-technology firms in China, the study finds that a stronger market-focused strategic orientation was facilitated by managerial cognitions about the future of the industry and current operation and performance of the …