Intention Of Companies Research Articles

Technology acceptance of the PFAS Guide among European companies.

In 2023, European governments submitted a proposal to comprehensively ban per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), prompting a shift toward PFAS-free alternatives. However, recent research has emphasized the need for an integrated approach to chemical assessment and environmental management rather than abrupt PFAS substitution, as alternatives may pose similar or greater risks. The PFAS Guide was developed to aid corporations in this critical transition. Its goal is to simplify PFAS identification, safe substitution, and gradual elimination. This study applies the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to assess how perceived usefulness (PU) and ease of use of the PFAS Guide impact corporate intentions to adopt it. Our analysis, based on responses from 104 European companies, demonstrates a positive link between PU, ease of use, and a company's intent to adopt the PFAS Guide. This underscores the importance of corporations perceiving the PFAS Guide as a valuable and user-friendly resource, given its substantial impact on PFAS phase-out. Descriptive statistics revealed an interesting finding: 51.9% of the participants fell into the "other" group, as outlined in the PFAS Guide. This raises questions regarding the grouping of companies into various sectors. Based on our results, we propose improvements to the PFAS Guide by broadening sector representation to encompass a more diverse range of industries with sector-specific guidance, ensuring content relevance, and accentuating user experience using interactive resources. Future research should focus on the actual adoption and use of the guide to gain deeper insights into adoption rates and long-term PFAS Guide utilization. Furthermore, additional investigations should incorporate subgroup analyses, data triangulation, and a longitudinal approach to enhance our understanding of the factors that support and hinder integrated chemical assessment and environmental management. These research efforts are pivotal in guiding chemical policy and management practices, contributing to a PFAS-free future. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:2175-2188. © 2024 The Author(s). Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Indications of Creeping Acquisition through Rights Issues in Indonesian Non Financial Companies during 2018-2021

Creeping acquisition (CA) which happens all around the world could harm the market. This research discusses CA activities through rights issue (RI) transactions in the Indonesian capital market for publicly listed non-financial institution companies during 2018 – 2021. The method used in this study is a quantitative method with a cross sectional design to. The regressions used are linear and logistics, using 180 purposive samples of entities. The results of the study show that rights issuing companies experienced greater changes in investor share ownership, so do the business group rights issuing companies. Rights issuing companies experienced relatively large changes in investor ownership, namely >3% in the year prior to the issuance of the rights issue, thus increasing the company's intention to issue rights. But when viewed from the investors activities such as selling or capital expanding who loss >3%, it does not increase the company's intention to issue rights in the following year. RI with non-specific objectives does not have a stronger impact on changes in investor's share ownership of >5% in the company.

Service quality dealer identification: the optimization of K-Means clustering

Service quality and customer satisfaction directly influence company branding, reputation and customer loyalty. As a liaison between producers and consumers, dealers must preserve valuable consumer relationships to increase customer satisfaction and adherence. Lack of comprehensive measurement and standardization regarding service quality emerges as a consideration issue towards the company service excellence. Therefore, identifying the service quality performance and grouping develops into valuable contributions in decision-making to control and enhance the company's intention. This study applies the K-Means Algorithm by optimizing the number of clusters in identifying dealer service quality performance. Hence, the ultimate service quality formation will be performed. The analysis found three dealer identification categories, including Cluster One, with 125 dealers grouped as good performance; Cluster Two, with 30 dealers grouped as very good performance; and Cluster Three, with 38 dealers grouped as not good performance. In order to evaluate the efficacy of optimum k value, the lists of testing approaches are conducted and compared, whereby Calinski-Harabasz, Elbow, Silhouette Score, and Davies-Bouldin Index (DBI) contribute in k=3. As a result, the optimum clusters are determined through the highest performance of k values as three. These three clusters have successfully identified the service quality level of dealers effectively and administered the company guidelines for corrective actions and improvements in customer service quality instead of the standardized normal distribution grouping calculation.

New Product Development from the Perspective of Creating a Competitive Advantage

Abstract It is acknowledged that achieving product-based competitive advantage is a key task for a company. However, there is still a research gap in determining those specific actions in the process of developing new products that arise from companies’ efforts to achieve product-based competitive advantage. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the specific actions in the new product development (NPD) process that result from companies’ intention to introduce a new product to the market, enabling the achievement of a competitive advantage. The primary research method used in this study is deductive reasoning, supplemented by a literature review. The result of the study is the proposal of three types of actions: a) evaluating an opportunity in terms of its potential to generate a competitive advantage; b) creating a new product with high economic value; and c) assessing both the planned new product and the new product introduced to the market in terms of achieving a competitive advantage. The latter two types of actions can be undertaken at various stages of the NPD process and can pertain to the product concept itself and to specific product forms (e.g., prototypes, pilot products). These proposed actions are significant because attaining a product-based competitive advantage contributes to the achievement of other objectives related to new products (e.g., revenue generation). Therefore, it is recommended that companies incorporate these actions into their NPD process. This study contributes to the field of management by proposing few specific actions in each phase of the NPD process, which arise from a company's intention to achieve a product-based competitive advantage, addressing a previous gap in the literature.

Does the presence of executives with a legal background affect stock price crash risk?

AbstractResearch Question/IssueExecutives with a legal background have superior knowledge of the law compared with executives who do not have such a background. This study investigates how executives who are well informed of the law can reduce stock price crash risk and how this is significant from a corporate governance perspective.Research Findings/InsightsWe collected and evaluated 23,031 firm‐year observations from 2008 to 2018, which resulted in the following findings: (1) Executives with a legal background can effectively reduce stock price crash risk. (2) When the company's external or internal supervision is weak, the effect of executives with a legal background in reducing stock price crash risk is particularly prominent. (3) The executives' ability to reduce stock price crash risk is particularly conspicuous when the company's intention to hide bad news is low or when there is a high risk of the bad news being leaked.Theoretical/Academic ImplicationsStock price crash risk is a critical problem to address in the Chinese capital market. The prevailing explanation for crash risk emphasizes executives' concealment of bad news as a primary factor. Since the suppression of bad news by company executives is the main reason for stock price crash risk, observing the influence of executives on this risk is a viable direct approach. Executives with a legal background, in particular, have a critical influence on companies. They possess a superior understanding of the law compared with those who do not have such a background and are more willing to respect and abide by the law. As a result, they have a lower tolerance for inappropriate acts by the executive team, namely, concealing bad news, which reduces the risk of stock price crash.Practitioner/Policy ImplicationsIn China, the world's largest transitional economy, investor protection and information environments are still developing. Countries with less developed regulations can adopt substitutive mechanisms, such as making the employment of executives with a legal background mandatory, to facilitate the healthy development of their capitalist markets. Given the capacity of these executives to reduce stock price crash risk, thereby supporting continuous and stable development of the capital market, regulatory authorities should encourage listed companies to hire executives with a legal background. Furthermore, they should also start in‐depth promotion of and education on the rule of law among employees to improve their legal competence.

Don't Be Evil: Should We Use Google in Schools?

Google is a multinational technology company whose massive advertising profits have allowed them to expand into many areas, including education. While the company has increasingly faced public scrutiny, the use of Google software and hardware in schools has often resulted in little debate. In this paper, we conduct a technoethical audit of Google to address ethical, legal, democratic, economic, technological, and pedagogical concerns educators, students, and community members might consider. We describe how Google extracts personal data from students, skirts laws intended to protect them, targets them for profits, obfuscates the company's intent in their Terms of Service, recommends harmful information, and distorts students’ knowledge. We propose that educators and scholars more closely interrogate the tools of Google and other technology companies to move toward more democratic and just uses of technology in schools.

Sanofi-Aventis's Tender Offer for Genzyme

In October 2010, Henri Termeer, the chairman and CEO of Genzyme, received a letter from the CEO of Sanofi-Aventis announcing its intention to commence a tender offer for Genzyme. Termeer thought the offer undervalued Genzyme, given the number of promising new drugs in the company's pipeline and the success of its current drug portfolio. The case focuses on the strategic and financial considerations of a large corporate acquisition. To estimate Genzyme's fundamental value, students must conduct a discounted cash flow and other valuation analyses. This case is designed to be part of a firm-valuation module within either a first-year MBA principles course or a second-year MBA elective; it can also be taught to executives who have M&A experience and can bring extra insights regarding the strategic fit and leadership issues. Excerpt UVA-F-1716 Rev. Jun. 21, 2018 Sanofi-Aventis's Tender Offer for Genzyme On the foggy morning of October 5, 2010, Henri Termeer, the chairman and CEO of Genzyme Corporation, drove to the firm's headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Termeer usually spent his early mornings working from the indoor garden on top of the building, but on that day he went straight to his office, grabbing a cup of coffee on his way. One thing was on his mind—the letter he had received from the CEO of Sanofi-Aventis (Sanofi) announcing the company's intention to commence a tender offer for Genzyme (Exhibit 1). Termeer had been Genzyme's CEO for more than 25 years, leading the company through its growth from an entrepreneurial venture to one of the country's top five biotechnology firms. Yet the past two years had presented a significant test. Genzyme was just recovering from an unexpected contamination in 2009 at its major production facility in Allston, Massachusetts, which had led to shutting down the plant and limiting the supply of life-sustaining drugs for Genzyme's patients. As a result of the economic and reputational damages, the company's stock had plummeted, before rebounding as a result of the news of the tender offer (Exhibit2). When compared to the industry and the overall stock market during the previous decade, however, the stock had performed very well (Exhibit 3). The recent downturn in the stock price had attracted activist investors, which resulted in Genzyme entering into a cooperation agreement with Relational Investors and subsequently fending off a proxy battle with Carl Icahn. But Termeer fully understood that together the two activists controlled a substantive position of Genzyme shares and wanted to exit their positions at a gain (Exhibit 4). Sanofi, the leading French pharmaceutical company, had approached Genzyme as a potential acquisition at the start of the summer. After a few rounds of negotiating, Termeer and his board publicly rejected Sanofi's cash offer of $ 69 per share on August 29, 2010. The letter from Sanofi's CEO conveyed frustration with Termeer's unwillingness “to engage in constructive discussions” (Exhibit 1) and announced that Sanofi would be circumventing Termeer by taking the $ 69 tender offer directly to Genzyme's shareholders. . . .

Content analysis of tobacco industry data on the illicit tobacco trade in UK newspapers during the standardised packaging debate

BackgroundStandardised tobacco packaging, which commenced in the UK in May, 2016, has been vehemently opposed by transnational tobacco companies. Previous research has concluded that companies invoke the existence of an illicit trade in tobacco to oppose tobacco control policies and exaggerate its true scale. The argument they make is that such policies will further increase this trade. Independent peer-reviewed evidence does not support claims that illicit tobacco increased after the 2012 implementation of standardised packaging in Australia. In the UK, leaked Philip Morris International documents revealed the tobacco company's intention to utilise third-party “media messengers” to make the argument that the policy will exacerbate the illicit tobacco trade. We aimed to explore whether and, if so, how, transnational tobacco companies presented their data on illicit tobacco in UK newspapers during the standardised packaging policy debate and whether Philip Morris implemented its media messengers plan. MethodsArticles about illicit tobacco published in English language UK newspapers from April 1, 2013, to March 31, 2015, from LexisNexis were examined for presence, nature, and timing of tobacco industry data, which included any illicit tobacco monitoring initiative commissioned or undertaken by transnational tobacco companies in the UK or overseas. Search terms included combinations of “illegal”, “illicit”, “smuggling”, “tobacco”, “cigarette”, all four transnational tobacco companies, and known tobacco industry consultants. Findings428 articles about illicit tobacco were identified. 157 articles (37%) cited industry data, of which 90 (57%) referred to undercover test purchases, the remainder citing data from empty pack surveys, seizures, polls, or data of unknown methodology. 98 (62%) of the 157 articles mentioned ex-Scotland Yard Detective Chief Inspector Will O'Reilly, who conducts undercover test purchases for Philip Morris International; in 34 of these articles, this funding was not disclosed. Most articles were published in regional newspapers (77%, 121/157) and the majority mentioned counterfeit tobacco, so-called cheap whites, or both (72%, 113/157). However, the Institute of Trading Standards revealed that between May and November, 2014, over 70% of the illegal tobacco seized was tobacco industry contraband. InterpretationPhilip Morris International's investment in undercover test purchases appears to have enabled the tobacco industry to secure significant press coverage of its data on illicit tobacco. With over half of the articles in this study referring to a consultant working on behalf of the tobacco company, its plan to use third party media messengers as part of its anti-standardised packaging strategy appears to have been mobilised. Industry-funded third party spokesmen, notably former policemen, are now appearing in other countries, suggesting that this is an industry tactic that should be expected in other jurisdictions. Transparency in all media coverage is essential. FundingKAE-R is supported by Cancer Research UK (C27260/A20488). JLH is supported by the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies (MR/KO23195/1). AR is supported by the New Venture Fund.

Dispatches

Dispatches

Philip Morris's failed experiment in Pittsburgh.

The campaign for passage and implementation of Pittsburgh's Smoking Control Ordinance in 1987 illustrates the role controversy plays in tobacco control. Proponents of the ordinance sought at first to keep it noncontroversial, while the tobacco industry tried to defeat the ordinance by generating controversy, claiming that severe economic and social disruption would occur. After the ordinance had been in force for a year, Philip Morris tried to take over its implementation, seeking to redefine the central issue as one of social accommodation rather than health. To succeed, Philip Morris's effort had to be widely accepted and noncontroversial. Proponents of the ordinance countered with controversy to undermine the campaign and expose the company's intentions. The controversy made the established health organizations uncomfortable, causing them to play only a marginal role. Surprisingly, the people who prevailed were the nonsmokers' rights activists, a small group with limited resources.

Managers' perceptions towards automation in manufacturing

Based on a survey of managers' perceptions, the major benefits and problems related to the adoption of new automated manufacturing systems have been identified. Variables related to cost justification are perceived to be less important than variables associated with improved flexibility and product quality in influencing a company's intention to raise its level of technological sophistication in the manufacturing area. Problems associated with employee resistance are perceived to be less influential in hampering firms to raise their level of manufacturing automation than variables pertaining to start up, financial justification, and system maintenance. Of several organizational context variables examined, only the type of industry within which the firm functions and the existence of unions in the firm appear to affect managers' perceptions of the benefits of automation. None of these moderating variables seems to influence managers' perceptions of problems related to the adoption of automated manufacturing systems.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Least-cost alternatives to layoffs in declining industries

The demand for services provided by a telecommunications firm dropped sharply during the 1979 recession. The company had no history of layoffs. Because it was in a regulated industry and its rate-of-return was guaranteed, the firm was buffered from many of the usual uncertainties associated with declining demand. In spite of its secure position, history, and reputation, top management made a decision to respond quickly to the downturn and lay off 100 employees. Perhaps the layoffs were intended to be a symbolic gesture, since the number of people affected was very small relative to the total number of employees. If this was the company's intention, the impact was grossly miscalculated. Because of the unwise timing of the layoffs, they caused widespread disaffection. Employee morale and confidence in top management plummeted. The event gained in infamy, and in the corridors and washrooms of corporate headquarters it became known as the “Christmas Eve Massacre”.

Corporate planning at Rolls-Royce Motors Limited

In this article the authors describe the introduction to date of a formal planning process at a British manufacturing company which, according to its recent performance, had no pressing need to implement radical change. Is Rolls-Royce Motors' decision the symptom of a new trend in industry to overhaul planning techniques while the going is good? How was company morale used to justify a new planning style? Why did an evidently capable organization choose to engage consultancy assistance? While the company's intentions are not yet fully achieved, its experience may be of benefit to others contemplating a similar decision.