Business Synergy Research Articles

Diversification, Industrial Synergy and Firm Performance of State-Owned Enterprises - Taking Coal Business Groups as an Example

Diversified industrial combination of state-owned enterprise is often not optimal, it can also maintain in the industry boom, but once the main market atrophy, the entire firm’s development will be in trouble, such as coal business groups. To solve this problem, this paper use industrial synergy as an intermediary variable and develop the traditional dualism, which is the relationship between diversification and firm performance, to trialism, which are relationships among diversification, industrial synergy and firm performance and take coal enterprises listing Corporations as an example to analyze relationships of above three points. Results show vertical business synergy in related diversification and horizontal function synergy in unrelated diversification are all have a significant positive impact on firm performance. This conclusion is confirmed the important hypothesis in theory that industrial synergy will promote firm performance and has important practical significance to guide state-owned enterprises’ management practice.

Mapping Spatial Tourism and Hospitality Employment Clusters: An Application of Spatial Autocorrelation

This article analyzes the characteristics and spatial clustering of tourism and hospitality employment clusters in Victoria, Australia. Using cluster theory as the theoretical base, three interrelated research questions are specifically addressed: What industries constitute the tourism and hospitality sector? What broader “groupings” does the sector exhibit? Are these tourism and hospitality industries clustered around strategic areas of economic and resource advantage? Using the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (at the four-digit level), industries explicitly related to tourism and hospitality were first identified and total numbers of individuals working within these industries were aggregated at a level of Statistical Local Area (similar to a suburb or a neighborhood). Results show that in 2006 employment in tourism and hospitality equate to 7.74% of total employment in Australia. “Cafés and restaurants” (22%) is the single largest tourism and hospitality-related employer, followed by “takeaway food services” (20%) and “accommodation” (16%). Using factor analysis, four broader functions were extracted to characterize the underlying structure and functional interdependency among tourism and hospitality industries. These functions include: tourism operational services, hospitality services, entertainment services, and infrastructure operational facilities services. Spatial autocorrelation measures have identified five established tourism and hospitality spatial clusters in Victoria, which we argue hold the potential to act as tourism growth foci to create business synergy and generate spill-over effects through regional collaboration, competition, and sharing of pooled resources between firms.

Treatment of Business Synergy for Transfer Pricing Purposes: Critical Analysis of Sections 367(d), 482 and 936 of the Internal Revenue Code and Government Proposals

This article addresses the legal issue arising in the United States when the Internal Revenue Service and taxpayers face cross-border transfers of intangibles in outbound transactions (i.e. situations where the acquirer is a foreign entity), specifically where synergy is the intangible to be valued and taxed under current US transfer pricing rules.

Subsidies to the press in Spain: political and business synergies in Andalusia, Catalonia, Galicia and the Basque Country

Las subvenciones a la prensa de los distintos Gobiernos en España es una necesidad no exenta de polémica por el control que se ejerce sobre ella. Su génesis se remonta a los años 60 y 70 y perviven en toda Europa sustentadas mediante el fomento del pluralismo. El objetivo de esta investigación es realizar un análisis contrastivo entre la Ley de Ayudas del Estado a la Prensa de 1984, y la legislación autonómica de Andalucía, Cataluña, Galicia y El País Vasco. Los resultados confirman el fortalecimiento de las publicaciones en las lenguas propias de las Comunidades Autónomas bilingües; el otorgamiento de estas contribuciones monetarias en exclusiva por parte de los Gobiernos autonómicos; el auge del patrocinio mediante la publicidad institucional insertada en las publicaciones periódicas de las Comunidades Autónomas; así como la concesión de ayudas financieras a medios minoritarios y la creciente valoración de proyectos de investigación periodística.

Developing a classification system for regional resource synergies

Even though there is a wide range of regional resource synergy projects throughout the world, categorisation of synergistic connections and their related benefits is not obvious. A detailed study of existing industrial regions has resulted in a proposed classification system for regional synergies based on their economic and environmental benefits. Depending on their type and effectiveness, synergies are classified into nine groups: from business synergies (strong economic and additional ecological benefits), to better waste neutralisation and disposal (economic cost and average ecological benefits), and to symbiotic synergies (strong economic and ecological benefits). The classification system forms part of a new Regional Resource Synergies Framework. Its application is illustrated here with well-known European examples (Kalundborg, Forth Valley), as well as examples from Australian (Gladstone) and Russian (Berezniki) industrial regions.

Cross-Business Information Technology Integration and Acquirer Value Creation in Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions

This study develops and tests the idea that the cross-business information technology integration (CBITI) capability of an acquirer creates significant value for shareholders of the acquirer in mergers and acquisitions (M&A). In M&A, integrating the IT systems and IT management processes of acquirer and target could generate benefits such as (a) the consolidation of IT resources and the reduction of overall IT costs of the combined firm, (b) the development of an IT-based coordination mechanism and the realization of cross-firm business synergies, (c) the minimization of potential disruptions to business operations, and (d) greater ability to comply with relevant laws and regulations and the reduction of regulatory compliance costs. We test these ideas in a sample of 141 acquisitions conducted by 86 Fortune 1000 firms. In the short run, acquirers that have high levels of CBITI capabilities receive positive and significant cumulative abnormal returns to their M&A announcements. Announcement period returns indicate that the capital markets value CBITI similarly in same-industry and different-industry acquisitions. In the long run, acquirers with high levels of CBITI capabilities obtain significantly higher abnormal operating performance. They create significantly greater value in complementary acquisitions from different industries than in related acquisitions from the same industry. The findings have important implications for M&A research and practice.

Security excellence from a total quality management approach

This paper focuses on the synergy of business and security requirements to create a holistic methodology or approach. The integration revolves around the concept of total quality management to measure the security posture and is based on the premise that security requirements must be aligned and fused with the business' objectives. The postulated security methodology has extended the total quality management and business excellence philosophies to create a new security excellence approach. The American National Institute of Standards and Technology's metrics are used as benchmarks to determine the security areas that should be addressed while the European Framework for Quality Management is used to reflect the integration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology's metrics and to represent the domains in a business excellence approach. The fusion is then extended to the Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology and, finally, to the international Standard ISO/IEC 17799 (Information technology – security techniques – Code of practice for information security management) to depict the merger between security and business domains along a TQM approach and to be transferable to any standard or regulation by being able to incorporate acceptable security requirements into the underlying framework.

Supply chain collaborative advantage: A firm’s perspective

In the past decades, firms have strived to achieve greater collaborative advantages with their supply chain partners. The objective of the study is to uncover the nature and characteristics of supply chain collaborative advantage from a focal firm’s perspective. Collaborative advantage is defined as strategic benefits gained over competitors in the marketplace through supply chain partnering and partner enabled knowledge creation, and it relates to the desired synergistic outcome of collaborative activity that could not have been achieved by any firm acting alone. The research conceptualizes supply chain collaborative advantage as the five dimensions: process efficiency, offering flexibility, business synergy, quality, and innovation. Data were collected through a web survey of U.S. manufacturing firms in various industries. Reliable and valid instruments were developed through rigorous empirical analysis including structured interviews, Q-sort, and a large-scale study. Predictive validity is evaluated by demonstrating a strong and positive relationship between supply chain collaborative advantage and firm performance. The construct and measures in this study have provided a rich and structured understanding of collaborative advantage in a supply network. The results of the structural analysis indicate that supply chain collaborative advantage indeed has a bottom-line influence on firm performance.

Entrepreneurial mobility in the development of the Austrian Kurorte in the nineteenth century

In the course of the nineteenth century some hydrothermal resorts, mainly located in the Austrian Alpine area and frequented by guests with modest incomes, managed to emerge from a situation of stagnation in which they were used only by the local population and their fame was confined to only a circumscribed geographical area, to assume the role of centres of international attraction. Several of these spas and health resorts developed through stages that were in many respects similar. These Kurorte attained their most substantial growth when they managed to achieve a business synergy between local and external economic forces interested in their development. The study of some cases of success reveals that there could be several forms of collaboration between external and local business interests and with the active involvement of the local public administration, which aimed at adjusting supply to demand. On the other hand, when the aim of entrepreneurship and capital from outside was not so much development of the Kurort as the marketing of a product produced at the spa, thus, when supply sought to impose new paradigms, which were to be accepted by demand, the Kurorte did not achieve any effective economic take-off.

Study of business sorting methodology in the development and exploitation of medical information resources

In the process of development and exploitation of information resources for the medicalsector, business synergy and information exchange/sharing become more and more frequent across departments. How to effectively sort massive information resources involved in the departments has become a bottleneck. The author proposed a complete set of thoughts to sort relations among businesses, from the aspects of functionality layer, service layer, and data layer, in view of the business problems to resolve by the departments. Key words: Medical information resource; Business sorting; Business synergy; Information sharing

Life Spectacles: Media, Business Synergy, and Affective Work in Neoliberal China

The way in which Chinese media communicates the meanings of everyday life has been significantly reconfigured since the late 1970s. ‘Folk television’ or ‘life television’ has been developed as a popular television genre that focuses on ordinary people and their lived experiences. This phenomenon reflects the neoliberal development of China’s cultural institutions in general and the privatization of television production and distribution in particular. Meanwhile, cultural enterprises also shape the way in which Chinese citizens conduct themselves. In such domains as leisure and consumption, operators of theme built environments such as theme parks, theme shopping malls, and even residential communities deploy spatial planning and engineering techniques to subtly train their users to behave in a particular way to become proper citizens. This type of business through real estate development, a dominant sector of the Chinese economy, contributes to the national project of managing social risks in China’s neoliberal process. To illustrate how media and leisure companies engage in cultural production appropriate to China’s neoliberal development, this paper examines both a television production of news about ‘ordinary people’ and a theme park operation of ethnic festival by focusing on the relationship between media convergence, business synergy, and affective work.

Chief Synergy Officer

PurposeChief strategy officers (CSOs) or other executives in similar roles have a range of responsibilities in the organization, often including communicating corporate strategy to key stakeholders, promoting decision making that sustains change and engendering commitment to strategic plans. This paper aims to suggest that the CSO often adds the most value to the organization by identifying and helping to capture synergies from different products and services the company can provide. In essence, playing the role of chief synergy officer.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper a number of case examples of businesses that have been able to unlock new sources of value by changing the scope of how the company meets customer needs are considered. Example businesses cited in the paper include automated vending services, travel agency, financial services and social networking. The paper then draws lessons that can be applied broadly across any business seeking to increase efficiency and value by changing the scope of services offered.FindingsExecutives with responsibility for strategy should not assume that the role of increasing the firm's efficiency is only the job of those with operating responsibilities. CSOs can support this objective through business synergies that come from changing the scope of what the company does. Often this can come from expansion into new activities where overlapping functions (sales, contracting, sourcing, research and development, etc.) can be shared, thereby spreading indirect costs across multiple products, customer groups, channels or parts of a vertically integrated firm. The paper also provides a number of lessons for achieving this successfully.Originality/valueBusiness managers that have responsibility for strategy should not think of themselves as only documenting and communicating strategic plans. Instead they should emphasize identifying ways to improve the efficiency and value of the firm by changing the scope of its activities, and capturing untapped synergies between functions and business lines

Sources of net present value gains in the acquisitions of corporate real estate

PurposeAcquisitions of properties are carried out by corporate firms for development, investment and operational uses. Acquisitions of corporate real estate announced by listed non‐property companies are found to have positive stock price reactions. This paper seeks to identify the reasons why acquisitions of corporate real estate are a positive net present value (NPV) investment to the acquiring firms.Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws theoretical explanations from real estate and finance literature to identify the reasons for the acquisitions to be positive NPV investments to non‐property listed companies.FindingsThe sources of gains in property acquisitions are worth, marriage value and business synergy. These explanations provide the reasons why the announcement of property acquisitions by listed companies could lead to positive wealth gains in the capital market.Originality/valueThis paper offers the explanations behind the positive stock price reactions upon the announcements of corporate real estate acquisitions.

Kim Richards, RN

Kim Richards, RN

How Culture Helped Dow AgroSciences Succeed in Achieving Business Objectives of an Acquisition

AbstractWhen Mycogen Seeds, a subsidiary of Dow AgroSciences (DAS), purchased Cargill Hybrid Seeds, there were good business reasons to do so. But DAS knew that achieving the promising business synergies depended upon successfully blending not just the businesses, but the culture in which the critical people would work. So they established a cross‐functional integration team whose efforts both embodied a culture of respect for each individual and built as smooth a path as possible to achieve the underlying business objectives. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

ABSTRACT: Managing Deep Water Operations in a Depressed Economy (A New Business Synergy)

ABSTRACT: Managing Deep Water Operations in a Depressed Economy (A New Business Synergy)

The Decentralization Controversy

Despite the popularity of decentralization, decentralized functions tend to lag in innovation, take longer to complete projects, deliver mediocre quality, sacrifice business synergies, and add little value to clients‘ strategic thinking. Here's why many firms are “recentralizing.”

Business synergy does not always pay off

Building synergy among the Strategic Business Units (SBUs) is a strategy goal of many diversified firms. The implicit assumption is that potential synergies among the SBUs can generate a product-market portfolio with a higher profitability by allowing a firm to operate more effeciently and/or effectively in managing its scarce resources. Using PIMS data on 1638 manufacturing SBUs, this paper explores the relationship between synergy and profitability for six types of businesses.