Large Multinational Companies Research Articles

Introduction, Rationale and Commentary on Recognizing and Celebrating Innovation in Our Industry

This article summarizes our intent and basis for recognition of innovators in our industry, including the criterion that we are using for those organizations selected. Our focus for this year is largely on the Biopharma segment, because of Covid-19 and the positive and significant impact that our industry has made in that regard. We focus on companies across the life cycle from startups ranging to the large multi-national pharma companies.

Twalk Your Talk: On the (Non)-Formative Influence of Corporate Social Responsibility Communication on Supply Chain Sustainability Measures

Corporate Social Responsibility has multiple faces that contradict each other. On the one hand there is the communication of great aspirations and ambitions. On the other hand, there is the unruly practice that complicates living up to those ambitions. These contradictions are, without being exhaustive, caused by a focus on economic performance, organizational behavior, adherence to leading supply chain paradigms, and reputation management. In general, corporate communication about social responsibility is perceived as hypocritical. This research looks at how these communications initiate sustainability measures in the distribution and supply chain functions of a large multinational company. In a single embedded case study, data collection took place using semi-structured interviews complemented with document research. The empirical results show that the supply chain managers were positively critical of the communication about implemented sustainability measures and considered them as an invitation to act. However, they assessed the organization that surrounded them to be less lenient due to the different objectives of the various functions. The respondents diverged about which sustainability measures to apply and embed in the supply chain organization. It became clear that the knowledge base of the respondents was fragmented and incoherent. Reflecting on the research results, the role of top management seems crucial when it comes to coherent policy, knowledge development, and the prioritization of sustainability measures.

Difficulties observed in hydroelectric turbine projects management: evidence from case studies

PurposeThis study aims to analyze the difficulties observed in the management of three hydroelectric turbine projects developed by a large multinational company in the metal-mechanic segment, identifying those most critical.Design/methodology/approachThrough a bibliographic search, difficulties throughout project management were identified. These difficulties were used as a research protocol to carry out three case studies in a hydroelectric turbine manufacturer. The projects selection aimed to contemplate different characteristics to encompass the diversity of their typologies. Data were analyzed through content analysis technique and the difficulties were ordered via Grey Relational Analysis (GRA).FindingsQualitative data analysis provided specific insights regarding the characteristics of each project. When analyzing the difficulties of hydroelectric turbine projects management via GRA, it is observed that those difficulties most evidenced were related to integration and communication, suppliers management and objectives definition.Originality/valueThe main contribution of this research lies in the sector under analysis. The literature about hydroelectric turbine projects is scarce. In addition, no similar studies were found in the literature.

Networks of Gratitude: Structures of Thanks and User Expectations in Workplace Appreciation Systems

Appreciation systems — platforms for users to exchange thanks and praise — are becoming common in the workplace, where employees share appreciation, managers are notified, and aggregate scores are sometimes made visible. Who do people thank on these systems, and what do they expect from each other and their managers? After introducing the design affordances of 13 appreciation systems, we discuss a system we call Gratia, in use at a large multinational company for over four years. Using logs of 422,000 appreciation messages and user surveys, we explore the social dynamics of use and ask if use of the system addresses the recognition problem. We find that while thanks is mostly exchanged among employees at the same level and different parts of the company, addressing the recognition problem, managers do not always act on that recognition in ways that employees expect.

Grassroots Innovation and Collaboration through Enterprise Crowdfunding

We describe a first experiment in enterprise crowdfunding –i.e., employees allocating money for employee-initiated proposals in an Intranet site, including a trial of this system with 511 employees in a large multinational company. Major outcomes include employee proposals addressing diverse individual and organizational needs, high participation rates, extensive inter-departmental, and the development of goals and motivations based on collective concerns.

Varieties of Capitalism, Environmental Risk and Readiness, and MNCs’ Environmental Performance

The environmental impacts of large multinational companies (MNCs) are attracting increasing scrutiny as the climate crisis intensifies. In this study, we extend prior research that has examined the role of country-level institutions on MNCs’ corporate environmental performance (CEP) by exploring interdependencies between home- and host-country conditions and between institutional and ecological country characteristics. Specifically, we theorize that multinational companies’ home-country Variety of Capitalism (VoC) affects their CEP by shaping firms’ comparative advantages in environmental performance, and by acting as an interpretive schema by which host-country conditions are evaluated and responded to. We test our theoretical propositions using a large sample of 3,994 MNCs headquartered in 72 countries over the time period 2009 to 2018 Findings show that MNCs’ environmental performance is shaped significantly by host-country characteristics, and that MNCs’ home-country VoC also significantly moderates the impacts of host-country influences on MNCs’ CEP. We find that firms’ home country variety of capitalism asymmetrically affects how home- and host-country institutional conditions influence CEP: for CME MNCs, home country institutional readiness complements firm CEP, but host-country institutional readiness substitutes for firm CEP, with the opposite being true for LME MNCs. Thus, add to debates regarding how varieties of capitalism influence forms of pro-social firm behavior by highlighting their asymmetric importance for home and host-country conditions.

Transferring Knowledge by Transferring Individuals: Innovative Technology Use and Organizational Performance in Multiunit Firms

Transferring individuals who possess relevant knowledge from one organizational unit to another—a form of resource redeployment—may help to overcome impediments to knowledge transfer. Despite the promise of this mechanism, which often occurs through intrafirm geographic mobility, relatively little research has examined how the knowledge and expertise of individuals interacts with the organizational resources of the units to which individuals move. This study examines whether intrafirm geographic mobility improves organizational performance by providing a conduit for the transfer of knowledge while accounting for the interaction between individual knowledge and factors at the organization-unit level of analysis. We analyze the performance effects of the transfer of engineers who have expertise in innovative process technologies. The results from a large multinational company show that the innovative process technology-related expertise of an individual engineer who moves to a new organizational unit is positively associated with the performance of that unit, suggesting that intrafirm geographic mobility improves organizational performance by providing a conduit for the transfer of knowledge. The results also show that the technology-related knowledge of engineers is a substitute for organization-level factors when a unit uses only technologies with which it is already familiar, whereas the technology-related knowledge of engineers is a complement to organization-level factors when units introduce new technologies. Thus, individuals who bring novel expertise to their organizational units through intrafirm mobility may be important vehicles for organizational learning and building new competences, helping to diffuse best practices.

Impact of proactive personality and leader member exchange on innovative work behavior: a job design perspective

PurposeIt has been established that innovation is determined by leadership and personality characteristics. Further inquiry in this line of research is encouraged. Accordingly, the authors propose inter-correlations between personality, leadership, innovation and job design characteristics. The purpose of this paper is to understand how proactive personality and leader member exchange can derive innovative work behavior, in employees of telecommunication industry, by increasing task feedback and task significance.Design/methodology/approachA deductive approach was used to propose hypotheses. Objective data were collected through a cross sectional survey of 292 samples from three large multinational telecommunication companies located in Islamabad (Pakistan). The survey instrument was a 25-item questionnaire adopted from previously developed and well-validated scales used by prior researches. The survey yielded findings in support of proposed hypotheses of the study.FindingsHierarchical regression analysis yielded findings, which suggested that proactive personality and leader member exchange (LMX) both have a strong positive relationship with innovative work behavior (IWB). Furthermore, task significance and task feedback were found to moderate the aforementioned relationships such that strong leader member exchange and proactive personalities resulted in increased innovative work behavior at higher levels of task feedback and task significance.Practical implicationsThe managers can raise their innovation enhancing strategies one step higher by integrating it with enhanced task feedback and significance. This can be done while working on the relationship of their employees with the leaders/managers and by encouraging proactive personalities at work. Infusing the proposed integrated and holistic framework, of innovative behavior, into their organizations will lead to better retention of key employees, higher job satisfaction and increased loyalty.Originality/valueThis paper adds significance to the extant literature by examining proactive personality and LMX as determinants of innovative work behavior and the moderating impact of job design characteristics in the context of telecommunication companies, particularly from developing countries, such as Pakistan. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that has tested the interplay between a relational concept of leadership (LMX), proactive personality, task significance and task feedback and the outcome variable innovative work behavior.

From Panic to Dispassionate Rationality—Organizational Responses in Procurement After the Initial COVID-19 Pandemic Peak

Lockdowns and social distancing from the COVID-19 crisis took many by surprise. Panic grew about the implications. Supply chains became center stage. We consider decision-making in large multinational companies and whether COVID-19 responses focused on crisis management or a strategic, rational decision-making approach. Chief procurement officers from 22 multinational companies responsible for supply, production, or distribution in front-line industrial sectors affected by COVID-19 informed this article. We propose a reconceptualization of supply chain management with a framework of crisis severity and progression. The framework helps decision-makers balance conservative status quo responses with innovative responses that may be game changers.

A Systematic Review of Factors Influencing Digital Transformation of SMEs

With the development of Information and communication technology in recent years, digital transformation and technology adoption have become crucial factors for small and medium business sustainability (SMEs). Though large multinational companies are well advanced in the early adoption of digital technologies, SMEs are relatively slow in adopting new technologies for various reasons. However, they are either in the early majority or in the late majority stage of the technology adoption life cycle. Such digital transformation of SMEs is significantly different from the large multinational enterprises due to various internal-external, micro-macro, and socio-economic factors. The researcher's view also broadly differs. Hence, understanding the factors influencing the SMEs' digital transformation is crucial in strategic decision making of digital companies, developing digital policies, and free trade agreements of International trade in services by Nations. Therefore, this study presents a systematic review of research conducted in the past 20 years and identifies the factors influencing SMEs' digital transformation. One hundred seventy-eight research articles published in academic databases of SCOPUS and Web of Science were identified and reviewed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach. Managerial implications and further research directions in this domain were recommended from the research findings.

Standardization can be good for exploration: a social capital view of the productivity dilemma in operational teams

Process Management Programs (PMPs) rely heavily on the standardization of activities to improve organizational efficiency and reliability. Standardization, however, can lead to rigidity and inertia, which may eventually inhibit exploration and innovation. While scholars have provided cognitive and routine-based arguments to cope with this dilemma, the fact that standardization is a social process that requires collaboration between individuals has been overlooked. In this paper, we propose that standardization can improve a team’s social capital and thereby facilitate the activities that enable exploration. Specifically, we hypothesize that standardization relates positively to external communication, psychological safety, and the perception of support for innovation in operational teams. These three social capital attributes mediate the relationship between standardization and exploration. We tested this multilevel mediation model by analysing 431 members of 62 operational teams in a large multinational mining company that had recently implemented a Process Management Program (Lean Management). Our multilevel mediation results confirmed that standardisation promoted exploration by enhancing the teams’ social capital. For robustness we tested our model with a second survey of 450 workers of different companies and obtained similar results. Therefore, we propose that the productivity dilemma can be balanced by improving operational teams’ social capital.

Maize breeding for abiotic stress tolerance: An alternative to face climate changes

Maize breeding faces several challenges when the matter is abiotic stresses. For many years, the focus was to develop genotypes adapted to optimal environmental conditions, however, the need to ensure yields under unsuitable and unstable conditions of a climate-changing world is undeniable. Therefore, this review is addressed to the main abiotic stresses that jeopardize maize production worldwide, presenting an overview regarding losses and impacts imposed by them, stating what has been achieved through conventional and molecular plant breeding techniques, and the future prospects on this subject. The conventional breeding added to molecular techniques bring great expectations for developing abiotic stresses tolerant maize genotypes. Universities and research companies worldwide have contributed to expand and spread basic and essential knowledge, however, the entrance of large multinational companies might revolutionize the field. Genetic modified hybrids and projects of continental coverage will introduce many innovations and alternatives to ensure food security for the increasingly growing world population.

Occupational Burnout Among Frontline Health Professionals in a High-Risk Area During the COVID-19 Outbreak: A Structural Equation Model.

Background: The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) resulted in a substantial workload and stress for frontline health professionals in high-risk areas. Little research has investigated the mechanism of occupational burnout among the frontline health professionals located in the center of the epidemic in Wuhan, China.Methods: A total of 199 frontline health professionals from Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital completed the cross-sectional survey. Mechanisms of occupational burnout (according to the Maslach Burnout Inventory–General Survey, MBI-GS) among the health professionals in Jinyintan Hospital during the COVID-19 outbreak were examined using a structural equation model (SEM).Results: The levels of the three burnout dimensions (emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and professional efficacy) were high at 34.2, 50.8, and 35.2%, respectively. Frontline health professionals in this stressful period reported significantly greater emotional exhaustion (p < 0.001) and job-related cynicism (p < 0.001), but no significant difference in professional efficacy (p = 0.449), when compared to employees in a large multinational company. The SEM results revealed that both acute stress symptoms and psychosomatic symptoms significantly predicted the emotional exhaustion and occupation cynicism dimensions of burnout.Conclusion: The study reveals the occupational burnout mechanism of frontline health professionals during the COVID-19 peak at the time of the outbreak. This study provides an important contribution to understanding the future psychological interventions necessary for frontline health professionals during an epidemic crisis.

“Sustainability reporting for sustainable supply chain management in Peru”

Previous studies have shown that the most significant impacts of companies' operations are found in their supply chains, which are generally made up of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). On the other hand, sustainability reporting is a vital tool for identifying companies' potential social and environmental impacts. It is also a critical factor that can help reduce risk and increase small businesses' competitiveness, facilitating their access to global value chains. However, the vast majority of research to date has focused on sustainability reporting by large multinational companies. In this context, this article's objectives are to broaden the debate on sustainable supply chain management and gain insight into the relationship between sustainability and competitiveness in companies. A qualitative approach is used through a case study method to investigate the Corporate Sustainability and Reporting for Competitive Business program in Peru. A sample of 72 SMEs from more than 20 sectors was analysed. The results show that the social dimension was the most reported with 52%, followed by environmental with 27% and economical with 21%. The sectors reporting the most are energy, textile, and logistics. The study also indicates that 78% of SMEs fully or partially met sustainability reporting requirements stipulated by lead companies. The program also enabled the companies to improve their strategic vision, strengthen the relationship with their respective leading companies, generate greater competitiveness, and access new markets. The main conclusions indicate academic and practical implications that will reduce the impact of operations and production on the supply chain and contribute to sustainable development. Finally, the study recommends future lines of research and the application of other methodologies.

A Study on the Willingness of Large-scale Multinational Manufacturing Employees to Expatriate to Vietnam

&lt;p&gt;越南是目前台商在新南向國家中投資最多的國家，且隨著大陸投資環境變遷，已有需多大型台商跨國製造業將製造基地遷往越南，使得台灣母公司的管理及技術等相關人才需外派台幹進駐越南，但許多員工並不願離開台灣，故考驗著公司外派制度。本研究以大型跨國製造業Y公司的員工作為研究對象，探討影響員工外派越南意願的因素。本研究提出越南整體環境、越南廠環境、公司外派政策、家庭親友支持、生涯態度、薪資期待、越南接受度，共七組影響外派意願的因素，並建立影響外派意願的因果關係模型。在模型中，共有11路徑及研究假設，並以相關分析、正典相關分析、複迴歸分析來檢定後，11假設皆成立，這表示這些因素間確實有高度相關。且以路徑分析來驗證飽和模型是否成立，結果發現11路徑有8達顯著水準，修正模型後，這七條路徑的因果關係模型成立。本研究建議公司為提升外派意願及確保外派台幹及越南廠績效，需在台時規劃相關課程及安排與越南籍員工共事等措施，讓員工進一步認識越南環境並進而接受越南及其文化，並持續優化外派政策與越南廠環境等。&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Vietnam is currently the country with the most Taiwanese investment in the new Southbound countries, and with the changes in the investment environment on the Mainland China, there are already many large-scale Taiwanese multinational manufacturing companies that need to relocate their manufacturing factories to Vietnam, making the management and technology of the Taiwan parent company relevant talents need to be sent to Vietnam, but many employees are unwilling to leave Taiwan, so the company’s expatriate system is tested. This study uses employees of large multinational manufacturing company Y as the research object, and explores the factors that affect employees’ willingness to expatriate Vietnam.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;This study puts forward seven groups of factors affecting the willingness to send out, including the overall environment of Vietnam, the environment of the Vietnamese factory, the company’s expatriate policy, family and friends support, career attitude, salary expectations, and acceptance in Vietnam, and establishes a causal relationship model that affects the willingness to expatriate. In the model, there are a total of 11 research hypotheses, and after verification by correlation analysis, canonical correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis, all 11 hypotheses are established, which means that these factors are indeed highly correlated. In addition, the cause and path analysis is used to verify whether the saturation model is valid, and it is found that 8 of the 11 cause paths reach a significant level. After the model is revised, the causal relationship model of these seven causal paths is established.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;This research suggests that in order to increase the willingness to expatriate overseas workers and ensure the performance of the expatriate Taiwanese and Vietnamese factories, the company needs to plan relevant courses and arrange to work with Vietnamese employees together while in Taiwan, so that employees can further understand the Vietnamese environment and accept Vietnam and its culture, And continuous to optimize the expatriate policy and Vietnam factory environment.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

Title: Green bonds in the world-ecology: capital, nature and power in the financialized expansion of the forestry industry in Brazil

Title: Green bonds in the world-ecology: capital, nature and power in the financialized expansion of the forestry industry in Brazil

Déjà Vu - A New Coronavirus Challenge.

Déjà Vu - A New Coronavirus Challenge.

Analysis on the profitability of clothing enterprises in China based on fuzzy comprehensive evaluation

Development of the Internet technology means that the economy is gradually becoming global, causing some large multinational companies to enter internal market of China. Clothing industry in China faces an enormous impact. Due to factors such as structural diversity, changes in market supply and demand, and increasing competition in the international market, clothing industry in China has found that its profitability has gradually weakened. Therefore, there is an urgent need to improve clothing enterprises’ profitability. This study uses expert scoring method to determine weights of return on assets, return on equity, gross margin on sales, and profit margin on cost and expenses. Linear interpolation method and membership factor assignment method are used to determine the membership degree of quantitative and qualitative factors. Finally, fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model of clothing enterprises is established, and it chooses Metersbonwe as research case. According to the judgment criteria, profitability of the case is determined to be in the downstream of the industry.

Вплив фінансових ринків, що розвиваються, на маркетингові програми: міжнародний аспект

The article is aimed at studying the impact of emerging financial markets on marketing programs in the international dimension only. Indicators influencing the economic component of emerging markets are analyzed, namely: the development of services sectors in urban areas of the countries considered (India and China); a gap in employment and income between organized and unorganized sectors in urban areas; the presence of urban slums. The study has resulted in systematizing the main indicators of infrastructure and comparative capacity in India and China, while emphasizing differences in the national cultures of the two countries. It is highlighted that the sustainability of differences in cultural value is especially relevant for large multinational companies, which are influenced by different national cultures in their daily routines. Factors influencing income inequality within the population are substantiated, and the importance of infrastructure in the state of growth is emphasized. It is noted that large differences in consumer incomes indicate the existence of several segments with very different levels of purchasing power; in turn, segments with different incomes allow some companies to create innovative opportunities. The areas of implementing marketing programs in the situation of emerging financial markets are outlined. It is noted that because all regions differ in requirements, tastes, habits, media, and preferences, price awareness is up to changes, and this can cause the development of marketing programs inside and outside the country. Research perspectives in this area, as we see them, can lie in designing an innovative marketing program, targeted at the Ukrainian consumer market and capable of forming a stable competitive advantage in the face of international competition.

A framework for comparing R&amp;D productivity at big pharma companies vs. biotech startups

Biopharmaceutical research and development (R&amp;D) productivity has been steadily declining for several decades. Preliminary evidence suggests that this trend is stabilizing or reversing. One hypothesis explaining this improvement in R&amp;D productivity is that the industry has shifted early-stage R&amp;D activity from large multinational pharmaceutical companies to more smaller venture-backed startup companies. We examine recent trends in FDA approvals and biopharmaceutical R&amp;D investment to develop a framework to evaluate whether small companies are more productive at R&amp;D than larger companies.