Large Business Enterprises Research Articles

Employees' perception toward the dimension of culture in enhancing organizational learning

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to determine employees' perception of the dimension of culture toward organizational learning readiness. The study also seeks to compare employees' work experience (longevity), work shifts and their perception toward the dimension of culture in enhancing organizational learning readiness.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire was administered to 150 employees of a manufacturing enterprise. ANOVA was utilized to investigate the relationship between longevity, work shift, and perception toward the dimension of culture in enhancing organizational learning. To determine which of the work shifts had a significant relationship with the dependent variable employees' perception toward the dimension of culture in enhancing organizational learning, a posteriori contrasts were established.FindingsThe independent variables longevity and work shift were statistically significant, while the interaction effect was nonsignificant. Omega‐squared test statistic revealed longevity and work shift each accounted for 9 percent and 7 percent, respectively of the variance in the dependent variable employee perception toward the dimension of culture in enhancing organizational learning. Moderate effect sizes for independent variables longevity and work shift were also established.Research limitations/implicationsThe application of the results of this study is limited to the one small business enterprise that participated in this study and cannot be generalized to other similar organizations. But the findings are important since they reveal that employees' work experience and work shifts make a difference when compared to the participants' perception toward the dimension of culture in enhancing organizational learning readiness of the small business enterprise studied.Practical implicationsFindings of this study show that it is important to determine the perceptions of employees toward the dimension of culture in enhancing organizational learning readiness. In addition, managers of this small business enterprise should find the results of this study useful in designing work shifts intended to promote organizational learning practices. Emphasis should be directed towards shift interface issues, knowledge dissemination, and evaluation.Originality/valueOrganizational learning has been well researched in large business enterprises. However, limited research in small business enterprises exists. This study set out to determine the employees' perception of the dimension of culture in enhancing learning readiness in a small business enterprise.

The Big End of Town: Big Business and Corporate Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia

Never before had a book been published which provides such a comprehensive study of Australian corporate leadership over the past 100 years. Written by a team of economic historians The Big End of Town, first published in 2004, is a proper business history of twentieth-century Australia. This book traces the evolution of large business enterprises in Australia, from the giants of the nineteenth century - such as Dalgety's, CSR and BHP - to the contemporary leaders in Newscorp and Qantas. It delves into why the market leaders became the major players, examines what was crucial to their success, and their roles in leading the Australian economy. By investigating their evolution this book provides a useful evaluation of the factors that have led to their competitive success and provides an essential guide for all businesses in Australia and beyond.

Private Sector Lessons for Public Sector Reform in Indonesia

Development economists often analyse the performance of particular sectors of the economy, yet they have largely ignored that of one of the most important sectors, namely, the public sector, the performance of which is demonstrably poor. They are also continually giving recommendations to the Indonesian government as to what constitutes sound economic policy, whereas there is abundant evidence that the bureaucracy has neither the incentive nor the competence to implement such policy. Civil service reform is therefore crucial to improving Indonesia's economic performance. This paper argues that the key to such reform is the adoption of human resource management practices similar to those that can be observed in successful, large business enterprises: namely, creating an environment of open and fair competition for all positions within the organisation. (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Les relations extérieures de l’halieutique japonaise

Japan's distant seafishing industry provides opportunities for supergains, y et it still remains dependent on the internal market. Its activities which are directed by the State, and implemented by the large industrial and commercial enterprises, are part of the whole evolution of the traditional corporations of the Kumiai. A study of the political, technical, and economical conjuncture and balance of power at the international level show three important periods. 1904-1941 : The imperialistic policy of the military-industrial complex supports the operations of the large enterprises. Between 1933 and 1940, Japan has several hundreds of fishing plants along the coasts of the Russian Far East; factory vessels are used for the canning of salmon and crabs in the Sea of Okhostk and the Behring Sea, and for whaling in the Antarctic and North Pacific ; industrial trawling is carried on along the coasts of the Asian continent while numerous enterprises are set up in Indo-Malaysia for coastal tuna fishing. 1948-1973 : Within the framework of the reconstruction of its economy, Japan at first resumes the same campaigns as those of the pre-War period; to these are added drifting long line fishing of tuna in the intertropical grounds and a powerful industrial trawling in North Pacific. By 1960, these activities are curtailed due to regulations imposed by USSR, USA, and the International Whaling Commission for stock protection. And then there are new competitors (Taiwan, South Korea). A general fail off after 1965 is partly compensated by the industrial trawling in the Behring Sea. 1974-1986: Significant geopolitical and economic changes force Japan to define and to redeploy its foreign fisheries. Pressured by waterside States, Japan gradually withdraws from traditional fishing grounds and endeavours to find new resources in waters which have remained international so as to maintain a balance with its internal market (tuna drifting long lines and seiners, squid fishery). New technology and profits from the internal market allow the industrial armaments to keep their competitive edge. The State strongly supports this sector through its diplomacy and the provision of funds for research and redeployment and by planning the integration of the distant fishing industry within the economical and social development of the traditional fishing cells of the Archipelago.

Are good managers required for a separation of ownership and control?

For diffuse ownership to become the norm in large business enterprises, investors need to be sufficiently confident to buy shares. Will investors follow through if serious doubts exist concerning the competence of those managing companies? This paper addresses this question, primarily by examining historical events in Britain. In the UK, ownership separated from control in large business enterprises at some point between the 1950s and the 1980s, a period during which the country's corporate executives were allegedly amateurish and complacent. The paper acknowledges that the managerial capabilities of British companies improved as the twentieth century drew to a close. Nevertheless, legitimate doubts would have existed about the quality of management as share ownership patterns were reconfigured. The paper explains what occurred in the UK by focusing on financial intermediaries such as pension funds and insurance companies. In the decades immediately following World War II, a 'wall of money', a 'cult of the equity' and a 'trapped capital' effect caused by exchange controls fostered institutional demand for shares that outweighed whatever doubts might have existed about the quality of management. Correspondingly, there was a suitable platform for diffuse share ownership to become the norm in the UK's largest companies. Copyright 2004, Oxford University Press.

Are Good Managers Required for a Separation of Ownership and Control?

Logically, in a corporate governance system where big companies are widely held and control over corporate policymaking is delegated to a cohort of full-time executives, there needs to be good managers. Still, the relevant literature has had little to say about this variable. This paper seeks to remove the quality of management variable from its relative obscurity, primarily by examining historical events in Britain. In the U.K., ownership separated from control in large business enterprises at some point between the 1950s and the 1980s, a period during which the country's corporate executives were allegedly amateurish and complacent. Correspondingly, Britain provides a robust test for the proposition that there needs to be good managers in order for a corporate economy to be dominated by companies where decision making is carried out by full-time executives and share ownership is highly diffuse. The paper acknowledges that the criticisms levelled against those managing U.K. companies may not have been fully justified. Still, there is sufficient ground for doubt about the capabilities of those running large business enterprises to wonder how demand for corporate equity could have been sufficiently robust to foster diffuse share ownership. The paper resolves this British paradox by focusing on the role played by financial intermediaries such as pension funds and insurance companies. In the decades following World War II, there was a readjustment in investment priorities by institutional investors in favour of shares. The momentum involved apparently outweighed whatever doubts might have existed about the quality of management. Correspondingly, there was a suitable platform for a separation of ownership from control.

Corporate Law and Ownership Structure: A Darwinian Link?

The matters thesis posits that a legal regime which allows investors to feel confident about owning a tiny percentage of shares in a firm constitutes the crucial bedrock underlying an economy where widely-held public companies dominate. This paper draws attention to and provides a critique of a pivotal assumption embedded within the thesis, this being that a separation of ownership and control offers inherent economic advantages and therefore is the natural state of affairs for large business enterprises. The opening sections of the paper identify the essential attributes of the matters argument and discuss how the thesis is related to the proposition that diffuse share ownership is associated with efficiency. The paper then assesses whether a separation of ownership and control is likely to provide a competitive edge. In so doing, due account will be taken of evidence that casts doubt upon the idea that this sort of ownership structure is natural in a market economy. The paper concludes with some observations on the circumstances under which the introduction of stronger legal protection for minority shareholders might foster a move towards diffuse share ownership and on certain risks associated with law reform of this character.

The Coupling of Ownership and Control and the Allocation of Financial Resources: Evidence from Hong Kong

Theoretical and empirical research regarding the impact of corporate ownership on the behaviour and performance of firms have typically focused on consequences stemming from the separation of ownership and control. While large scale business enterprise characterized by such a separation is dominant in the US, Japan and the UK, firms in which ownership and control is coupled in the hands of individuals and their families are apparent in many other large developed economies and are dominant in most emerging markets. This paper examines consequences regarding the generation and allocation of financial resources stemming from the coupling of ownership and control among Hong Kong based firms. In doing so, we join insights from the economics literature regarding the incentive and risk bearing consequences of coupled ownership and control with the extant management, sociology and history literatures regarding Chinese family business groups and develop and six hypotheses pertaining to patterns in the allocation of financial resources. Results indicate that coupled ownership and control is positively related with dividend payout levels and financial liquidity while it is negatively related to investments in capital expenditures. Consistent with these results, we also find that coupled ownership and control is positively related to short‐term (accounting) profitability.

Integrate Technical, Commercial and Interpersonal Competence Across the Entire Enterprise

Leaders must commit to bringing the into true partnership with the innovation process, and to fighting the correct battle over the worth of science and technology. The year was 1876; the place, Menlo Park, New Jersey; the event, the formation of Edison's commercial laboratory; the outcome, planned innovation. It had never been done before. The year was 1900; the place, Schenectady, New York; the event, the formation of General Electric's new corporate RD the outcome, making planned innovation a vital component of the structure of a large business enterprise. It had never been done before. That last event has just marked its 100th anniversary. We in the corporate world of planned innovation, however, have not really made too much progress since that time. Why? Other forces have been at work. During the first half of the century, the forces of role differentiation and specialization were having a deleterious long-term effect on the innovation process, primarily by creating the expectation that innovation was the specialized role of the scientist/engineer. Too bad, because that really slowed things down. Basically, people in an organization have three roles: they operate the process, they control the process, and they improve the process. During the 1920s and 1930s, these roles were differentiated to the point where the operated the process, the manager controlled the process, and the technical specialist improved the process. (Although that's an obvious overstatement, it's not too far off.) An organization, to be truly innovative, must fundamentally enlist all of its members in applying the creative process. Over the past 50 years, many firms have made significant progress in integrating the worker into the process control role, and some have made marginal progress in integrating the worker into the process of innovation. But we still have a long way to go. I firmly believe that the scientist/engineer will actually make a superior contribution to innovation when the entire fabric of the organization is geared to finding creative solutions to product and process improvement. To the extent that the scientist/engineer is viewed as owning the innovation process (particularly if that is their self image), the system loses capability. Misguided Warfare Another force began operating during the last half of the 20th century: the role of industrial R&D became the object of a misguided war in the United States, almost a technological Theory X versus Theory Y. It was a war of the glory years versus the blood bath years. From the late 1940s until, by my count, about 1963, science was in. Management couldn't wait to support it, but management also did not manage it. (Don't intervene in the innovation process-that will stifle creativity!) So, they built lots of little universities on the tops of hills and stood at the bottom waiting for the innovations to roll down. Obviously, they were disappointed. Most of us know why, but in their frustration, management bashed the heck out of the culprit. In 1963, President John Kennedy became convinced that America could put a man on the moon and bring him back by the end of the decade. …

Companies Battle Over Technology That's Free on the Web

On 17 April 1998, a grad student at Stanford posted a document called the MGuide on the Web telling readers how to build a microarray robot for a fraction of what it would cost to obtain the equipment from large commercial enterprises, such as Affymetrix Inc. of Santa Clara, California, maker of GeneChip systems (see main text). Affymetrix has never challenged the MGuide. But the company has been engaged in a furious legal battle with business rivals using the same technology, including a competitor that was born at Stanford called Synteni Inc. of Palo Alto, California.

Privatization Governance and Strategic Investors: Evidence from the Telecommunications Industry

Network industries such as telecommunications are undergoing dramatic transformation. The main drivers of this revolution are advances in information and privatization. A key feature of this transformation as well as increasing globalization as evidenced by cross-border investment and interorganizational alliances between telecom providers in developed and developing countries. Transformational agents include government, large business enterprise, and capital. The study uses a corporate governance approach to elaborate this firm-level process as ownership transformation, and ask: does privatization provide for an efficient ownership structure, one that fosters both responsiveness to owner's objection and the development of organizational capabilities? From this we draw a conceptional framework to assess privatization transactions and apply the scale instrument to a sample of telecommunications transactions in six developing and transition economies.

Protecting IT Systems from Cyber Crime

Large-scale commercial, industrial and financial operations are becoming ever more interdependent, and ever more dependent on IT. At the same time, the rapidly growing interconnectivity of IT systems, and the convergence of their technology towards industry-standard hardware and software components and sub-systems, renders these IT systems increasingly vulnerable to malicious attack. This paper is aimed particularly at readers concerned with major systems employed in medium to large commercial or industrial enterprises. It examines the nature and significance of the various potential attacks, and surveys the defence options available. It concludes that IT owners need to think of the threat in more global terms, and to give a new focus and priority to their defence. Prompt action can ensure a major improvement in IT resilience at a modest marginal cost, both in terms of finance and in terms of normal IT operation.

Images of a culture in transition: Personal constructs of organizational stability and change

An investigation was undertaken in a large government business enterprise in a bid to examine the utility of the repertory grid technique in the investigation of organizational culture and to conduct an ‘audit’ of performance culture. The development of a methodology is described to gauge the rate of up‐take of a new culture—from a public service orientation towards a customer service orientation. Schein's (1990) theoretical framework was adopted in developing a two‐stage approach to the collection of data, which incorporated qualitative (in‐depth interviews), and quantitative (survey) methods. Results indicated that there was progress in the direction of the new culture desired by management. There were three active cultures or groupings, articulated through the language of the participants, which essentially mirrored a culture in transition: those who had adopted the new culture, those who had partially adopted the new culture, and those who had not adopted the new culture. Findings confirmed that there is gain to be made of the Schein paradigm of culture, and that the repertory grid technique is unique in gathering data about the ‘carriers’ of performance culture.

Policies, procedures and standards

Describes, through practical recent experiences, an approach to implementing policies, standards and procedures in a large commercial enterprise. Presents an outline of a guide for those considering the long haul associated with such a major undertaking.

The impact of population growth on environment: The debate heats up

A proposed framework, which was introduced at the 1989 meetings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, included political constraints as well as population growth as a proximate cause with potentially important impacts on the environment in Paul and Ann Ehrlich's well-known PAT equation. PAT limitations are identified as the 1.2 billion people caught in the debt-poverty trap, less developed countries' balance of payments deficits, and "distortionary factors" that undermined economic incentives and contributed to mismanagement of resources. Such factors could be keeping farm prices low and have an impact on deterring use of environmentally sound traditional agricultural practices. Mismanagement of public lands occurs when large commercial enterprises or large scale mechanization displace population onto marginal or less productive lands. Intergroup warfare is a new form impacting on the environment. In Burma loggers are authorized to clear cut large tracts of teak forests in order to ferret out Karen guerrillas. Over 15 million refugees were thus displaced and forced to live in encampments that require trees for shelter, firewood for survival, and overgrazing of livestock. Social and economic environments are also undermined by "dependency" factors such as trade protectionism, brain drain, and limited foreign aid. The Group of 77 Non-Aligned Developing Countries proposed that discussions of the links between population and the environment be omitted from the agenda of the 1994 UN Conference on Population and Development. Basic clarifications are needed to distinguish ultimate versus proximate factors and current versus future concerns. The debate ignores distribution patterns, migration, or changing age structures. The debate blames unjustifiably rapid population growth as the ultimate cause of global environmental degradation and links population growth to a host of other social problems such as famine and refugees, while ignoring civil unrest. The evidence suggests that population limitation will probably prevent environmental degradation in poor, resource constrained countries from getting worse. Resource conservation will remain unaffected. The World Bank proposes National Environmental Action Plans or the Cleaver Schreiber proposal for a "nexus strategy" for balancing food supply and population in Africa.

Reducing personnel turnover and improving morale

Reports of the application of organization development principles and procedures appear frequently in the literature. The majority of these reports entail large business enterprises, with relatively little attention given to smaller business firms. This article provides the results of such an intervention in a small business firm (less than 50 employees), and presents a case study based on an action research model of data collection, analysis, feedback and changes effected which resulted in a dramatic improvement in the operations of this company.

Feasible Regulation for Democracy and Social Justice

A puzzling ambiguity attaches to presently influential views of the functions of law in many contemporary western societies. Law and state regulation what can be collectively termed, following Karl Llewellyn, law-government1 are being expected to do more and more to bring about major social changes and economic restructuring at a time when those who make use of law in this way proclaim its capacity to do less and less. On the one hand, present political rhetoric asserts that one of the most important tasks of law and state is to 'get off the backs' of the people and free them from restriction by greatly reducing the coercive reach of regulation. On the other hand, law-government is being used in Britain on a most extensive scale with the explicit aim of directing the recreation of a laissez-faire economic order, or a rational framework for competition,2 in conditions shaped by the existence of large-scale, transnational, and often semi-monopolistic economic enterprises. It is also being used ostensibly to create an individualistic society of independent, self-reliant citizens in the conditions of late twentieth-century society. By this latter term I mean to indicate a society in which the population is addressed en masse by powerful communications media television, popular newspapers, and so on which simultaneously shape and reflect mass tastes and opinions;3 is extensively organised in mass collectivities for example, large business enterprises, political parties, and trade unions; and is subject to a previously unparallelled technical development of centralised state surveillance and administrative or regulatory controls on the everyday life of citizens.4

What You Don't Know Can Hurt You: The Case for “Special Counsel” Investigations

Numerous episodes of corporate misconduct in recent years have intensified longstanding debates over the ethics and social accountability of large business enterprises. Many corporations have responded to incidents of proven or suspected wrongdoing by retaining lawyers to conduct investigations, which often produce reports and findings that are made public or are provided to law enforcement and regulatory agencies. This article addresses special counsel investigations on two levels: first, their practical aspects, such as the potential risks and benefits to the corporation and its managers, and how the results can be used; and second, the potential role of such investigations as a credible means of corporate self-policing. It argues that in appropriate circumstances special counsel investigations can serve both corporate self-interest and the interest of society, but that both social and practical benefits depend upon management9s willingness to ensure that they are genuinely objective, thorough, and professionally conducted.

ESTIMATING THE INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN FROM PUBLISHED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

This paper presents a new approach to estimating the longrun internal rate of return (IRR) for the firm from the accountant's rate of profit based on published financial statements. The model developed for estimating the IRR includes both capital and net working asset investments. Modelling and estimating the growth of the firm is an integral part of the approach. Furthermore, estimating the parameters describing the long‐run financing behavior of the firm is presented based on discounted average funds flow statements. Finally, the approach is applied on the financial data of a large Finnish business enterprise.

Integrated Circuits: The Coming Battle

Computerization has been hailed on the one hand as a liberating force for mankind, to, on the other, a destroyer of the human role in many manufacturing and commercial activities. There is little doubt that the possible impacts of future trends in the computer industry upon commercial and industrial activity will be the subject of continuing debate in the next 25 years. However, many commentators have expressed the view that the ‘rate’ of change could well be unacceptable and create disturbing imbalances in an already disturbingly imbalanced society. This paper examines the impact of the rapidly changing computer technology upon the computer manufacturing industry itself. These changes are of immense importance since they will affect both the distribution of technology as well as economic power. The author, in a detailed and persuasive analysis, plots the trends of ‘future shock’. These trends have impacts not only for the computer industry but for the activities of large scale manufacturing and commercial enterprises throughout the world.