Political Business Research Articles

Limiting Labor: Business Political Mobilization and Union Setback in the States

The 1940s were heady times for the American labor movement. The tight wartime labor market and the backing of the federal government in defense industries facilitated impressive membership gains for both AFL and CIO unions. By 1945, labor unions represented almost 35 percent of the workforce—a more than fivefold increase from the early 1930s. What is more, union membership gains penetrated previously unorganized and resistant regions like the South. Unions indeed appeared on the verge of recruiting millions of new members and establishing a truly national social movement. Critics and supporters alike viewed unions as the most powerful institutions of the day. Following the war,Fortune Magazineforesaw little resistance to unionism and to the postwar southern labor organizing drives, while sympathetic scholars like C. Wright Mills viewed labor leaders as the “new men of power.”

Disparities between the Trade Policy and the Business Political Outlook of Exporters in India–An Urgent Need for Resolution

Disparities between the Trade Policy and the Business Political Outlook of Exporters in India–An Urgent Need for Resolution

Government weakness and electoral cycles in local public debt: Evidence from Flemish municipalities

Empirical research on Political Business (and Budget) Cycles is more supportive for electoral cycles in policies than in macro-economic outcomes. But even pre-electoral policy cycles receive no unanimous confirmation. In the present paper, we give credence to recent arguments that this may be due to the disregard for the political, economic and institutional context in which politicians make policy decisions. Specifically, we argue that the level of political fragmentation of the government affects both the need for and possibility to engage in opportunistic policy cycles. An analysis of local public debt data for 296 Flemish municipalities provides empirical support for this contention.

Allianz Versicherung sous le Troisième Reich

While the initial interest in the history of the Allianz insurance company and the insurance industry in the 1933-1945 was inspired by the problem of unpaid and confiscated Jewish insurance policies, there are numerous other issues that are of no less and perhaps greater importance in dealing with insurance history in the Nazi period. These included collaboration with the regime in domestic and business politics, especially during the Pogrom of November 9-10, 1938, engagement in policies of confiscation and expansion during the war, and insuring production at the Ghetto of Lodz and of SS production facilities in concentration camps. It is to Allianz’s credit, however, that they have been very open and ready to support a full account of their role during the National Socialist regime.

IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGEMENT IN SMALL HOTELS

This work explores co-dependency of Public Relations and competitive advantage based on numerous interviews with 60 managers of small hotels in Croatia. Aim of this research is to state different ways and possibilities of public relations implementation as one of the modern, efficient leading functions which gives the opportunity of adapting to changes and needs of modern market. In its first part the research covers the qualitative grading of public relations’ implementation within the limits of communication strategy in small hotels business in Croatia. Second part refers to determining the place and role of competitive advantages in small hotels’ business within the context of measuring the public relations’ influence on the increase of small hotels’ competitive advantages increase in Croatia. The research has shown that the management of small hotels rarely applies public relations as a form of a continuous action with the aim of promoting vacation, without understanding that it is the way to improve its own type of business. The reasons for this could be found in the lack of possibility of each individual hotel's positioning as a result of insufficient funds, general and specific knowledge, as well as other possibilities. Using simple and multivariate regression analysis, the thesis of strong influence of competitive advantages on the increase of competitive advantages in small hotels in Croatia has been proven and the facts and propositions of implementation of public relations in small hotels’ business with the aim of competitive advantages increase have been stated. The research has shown that the management of public relations adds to the mastering of processes of creating specific strategies and shaping business politics to improve the competitive advantages in business objects in the market conditions.

The Thaksinasation of Thailand. By Duncan McCargo and Ukrist Pathmanand. Copenhagen: Nordic Institute of Asian Studeis, 2005. 277 pp. $60.00 (cloth), $23.00 (paper). - Thaksin: The Business of Politics in Thailand. By Pasuk Phongpaichit and Chris Baker. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworm Books, 2004. 302 pp. $22.50 (paper).

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Government Weakness and Electoral Cycles in Local Public Debt: Evidence from Flemish Municipalities

Empirical research on Political Business (and Budget) Cycles is more supportive for electoral cycles in policies than in macro-economic outcomes. But even pre-electoral policy cycles receive no unanimous confirmation. In the present paper, we give credence to recent arguments that this may be due to the disregard for the political, economic and institutional context in which politicians make policy decisions. Specifically, we argue that the level of political fragmentation of the government affects both the need for and possibility to engage in opportunistic policy cycles. An analysis of local public debt data for 296 Flemish municipalities provides empirical support for this contention.

Business at the margins? Business interests in edge urban politics

AbstractThe issue of the organization, role and influence of business interests in urban politics at the edge of major cities is one that is overdue for investigation. This article provides an initial and empirically oriented investigation of the organization, role and influence of business interests in edge urban politics in Europe. We present findings from five members of a European network of self‐styled ‘edge cities’. Following the now extensive debate in academic literature regarding the applicability of US concepts such as growth machines and urban regimes to the European setting, we draw attention to a diversity of business involvement in urban politics at the edge of Europe’s capital cities. This diversity does include instances that, despite the very different ‘macro‐necessities’ structuring edge urban politics in Europe, approximate to these concepts. Moreover, the diversity apparent in edge urban business politics raises several important questions for future research on urban governance. Namely, the complex connection between the local dependence of business and the organization of its interests; the ‘jumping of scales’ by locally dependent edge urban actors, and the sometimes neglected articulation of business interests with party political organization.

Uncovering the white place: whitewashing at work

Recent work exploring the racialization of place tends to focus on the racialization of marginalized group space. This paper shifts attention toward the racialization of dominant group space, namely, the creation and maintenance of white places. Using the case study of the software workplace, I argue that white places are formed through a process of whitewashing, which simultaneously denies race and superimposes white culture. Whitewashing wields language and invisibility to deny race and promote a particular kind of multiculturalism, while cloaking the workplace in a culture of informality and business politics. The whitewashed workplace, like a whitewashed wall, is seen as colorless rather than white as white culture becomes universalized as high-tech culture. I draw my findings from in-depth interviews on workplace satisfaction, relationships, culture and diversity with black, Asian and white employees in Seattle-area software firms.

Forging Collective Capacity for Urban Redevelopment: “Power To,”“Power Over,” or Both?

This paper explores the dynamic of cooperation between economic and political elites in a public‐private partnership that was created to guide the redevelopment of downtown Santa Cruz, California, following the devastating Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989. While the public‐private partnership was instrumental in the success of post‐earthquake reconstruction of the central business district, the consensus and cooperation between progressive political leaders and local business elites in this “partnership” were often more apparent than real. This occurred not only because of the longstanding tensions between the local pro‐growth coalition and progressive political leadership of the city but also because the public‐private partnership became a mechanism for potential regime transformation. Thus, the “collective capacity” needed to proceed with post‐earthquake redevelopment of the central business district was “forged” in two senses: It was created to effect necessary redevelopment, but it was also counterfeit. Political elites sought to limit both the scope and the duration of the partnership to check the increasing power of economic elites in the aftermath of the earthquake. Although regime theory acknowledges the relationship between “power over” and “power to,” I argue that its emphasis on the latter overlooks critical sources of conflict in the creation and implementation of local urban development policy. Consequently, I further argue that an analysis of both conceptions of power is necessary to understand not only how local development policies are enacted but “who benefits” from them.

Developing Institutions — ‘Crony Capitalism’ and National Capabilities: a European Perspective

The comparative institutionalist approach to differences in national business systems necessarily highlights variations in the workings of contemporary capitalism. Less emphasis is given to similarities in historical events leading to the institutionalization of eventual forms of governance. These must include a common underlying ideational orientation of political elites to develop an industrial base from which to expand GDP. This urge to industrialize has led to a second common phenomenon — the importance of the family- or personally controlled business group (FBG). The alliance between political state and family business group is evidently a long-standing feature of national business systems. This paper suggests that such relational capitalism might also be seen as dangerously dependent on national communities that are homogenous in respect to ethnic identity. In South-East Asia, relations between the state and FBG can exacerbate inequities among multi-ethnic communities and provide institutionalized blockage to technological innovation. However, a different element of this process between ASEAN and earlier industrializers is the presence of foreign MNEs, which intrude upon state–FBG coupling and provide new options in the formation of local markets for labour and capital.

Business political activity in New Zealand from 1990 to 2005

This article describes the political activity of New Zealand's major business associations from 1990 to 2005. Two major themes are clearly evident in the political activity of business during this period. On one side, business vigorously opposed any perceived “rolling back” of the neoliberal policy reforms of 1984–93. On the other, business just as vigorously promoted further reforms that it considered to be in its interests, which it equated with those of the nation as a whole. Government performance in economic management and policy‐making was consistently assessed in terms of whether or not, and the extent to which, government was maintaining, advancing, or rolling back key elements of neoliberal policy reform. Two features of business political activity from 1990 to 2005 stand out: first, the extent of the neoliberal consensus over all major policy issues; and second, the marked continuity in advocating the retention and extension of the neoliberal policy regime for the entire period under review. On the basis of this investigation, the article concludes that the widespread scholarly neglect within political science in New Zealand of Marxist and neopluralist analyses of the role played by business in promoting neoliberal policy reform is unjustified.

Book Review: Business Politics and the State in Twentieth-Century Latin America

Book Review: Business Politics and the State in Twentieth-Century Latin America

Thaksin: the business of politics in Thailand

1. The background. Thaksin is one of Thailand's richest businessmen. With him as leader, big business has grabbed control of the Thai state to defend itself against globalization and democratization. 2. Family and business. By 1950, the Shinawatra clan was among the most powerful families of Thailand. Thaksin joined the police, but was always more involved in politics and business. He soon made his fortune by combining the two. 3. Political rise. Thaksin was drawn deeper into politics because his business depended on political regulation. His early forays were not successful. Everything changed with the 1997 crisis which created a public demand for political change. Thaksin bypassed Thailand's old party machine politics and appealed directly to small businessmen and farmers. 4. Thaksinomics. His government's economic policies, dubbed Thaksinomics, focus on growth to pull Thailand out of the crisis and leapfrog the country to first world status. His economic team treats the national economy like a business, looking for unused resources that can increase the national In practice this means more government assistance to business. 5. Managing society. Thaksin believes all other political agendas must be suppressed to achieve rapid economic growth. The media are more tightly controlled than at any time since 1976 and civil society organizations are harassed. 6. Remaking politics. Thaksin aims to replace Thailand's old politics dominated by powerful bureaucrats and local bosses by a new politics of big parties funded by business. Thaksin admires Malaysia and Singapore where single parties dominate while a powerless opposition legitimizes the parliamentary system. 7. Power and profit. The Shinawatra family business has prospered since 2001, and diversified into new areas of opportunity, often with government assistance. Stockmarket investors place a premium on the group's shares. Epilogue: Political football. Thaksin's bid for a share of Liverpool FC epitomizes his ambition for himself and for Thailand.

Understanding the Rise and Transformation of Business Collective Action in India

Scholars of business associations have recently learned a great deal about how associations contribute to development, but much less about the origins of such developmental associations. This essay introduces and assesses a new political explanation for the origins of ‘developmental associations.’ Conventional wisdom holds that developmental associations must be able to rise above political and collusive pressures and establish autonomy from states. Yet, I argue that these associations' developmental capacities emerge as a result of active state support by key actors, and in response to challenges and threats posed by competitive business organizations. Developmental associations emerge and acquire their capacities as they confront internal threats from other associations, as well as utilize the opportunities presented by the national state and international channels. In this view, functional or organizational capacity is not enough, rather, developmental business associations, must exhibit political capacity'that is the ability to manage the political environment, and respond to the structure of opportunities and threats. This explanation views developmental business associations as political organizations seeking power as well as offers a historically sensitive analysis of transformation of business politics in reforming India.

Thaksin - The Business of Politics in Thailand

Thaksin - The Business of Politics in Thailand

Forgiving Science Majors

![Figure][1] The chair of a House spending panel that oversees several U.S. civilian science agencies says he wants to do something “dramatic” to attract more students into science, math, and engineering. Last week Representative Frank Wolf (R-VA) won endorsements from presidential science adviser John Marburger and National Science Foundation Director Arden Bement, both new to his panel's jurisdiction, for a bill he's drafting. It would forgive interest on college loans for students earning science-related majors and working for 3 years in the field until their salaries exceeded four times the median U.S. income ($32,000). Borrowing an idea from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Wolf said he's looking for ways to reverse the one-way flow of students from engineering to political science or business. “I think it's the right kind of program,” said Marburger, calling it a “creative idea.” Bement went even further: “I've read Newt's book, and I liked it.” [1]: pending:yes

Business politics and the state in twentieth-century Latin America

This is the first systematically comparative and historical analysis of the incorporation of business into politics in Latin America, examining business organizing and political activity over the last century in five of the largest, most developed countries of the region. Why did business end up better organized in Chile, Colombia, and Mexico than in Argentina and Brazil? The explanation for the surprising cross-national variations lays neither in economic characteristics of business nor broader political parameters, but in the cumulative effect of actions of state actors. The book also considers the consequences of these differences in organization and finds that stronger encompassing associations offer government officials opportunities for concerted policy making with business that can enhance policy implementation. The strong hand of the state in organizing business has important implications not only for theories of collective action, but also for our understanding of civil society and its potential to promote democratization.

Intangibles in commercialisation: the case of air navigation services in the South Pacific

PurposeTo demonstrate that different approaches to commercialisation can determine the nature of intangible resources that managers can develop.Design/methodology/approachA framework linking political strategy, financial capitalisation and business strategy is developed to analyse the management of intellectual capital in the commercialisation of air navigation services in New Zealand and Fiji. Case study evidence is organised as an intellectual capital portfolio and links are drawn to subsequent business outcomes for each organisation.FindingsExplains how key decisions about financial capitalisation and business strategy at the time of commercialisation influence the subsequent management and development of intangible resources in the organisation. Identifies how political assumptions about commercialisation can constrain or enhance subsequent management success in developing intellectual capital to pursue business growth.Research limitations/implicationsThe interpretations offered, although plausible in the context of the case studies, may not generalise to other situations.Practical implicationsKey decision makers need to design commercialisation arrangements that will resource the desired intellectual capital portfolio of the commercialised organisation.Originality/valueThe paper provides a framework for establishing a linkage between strategic management decisions and the development of an intellectual capital portfolio in the context of commercialisation. The paper develops the theoretical extent of intellectual capital concepts and provides practical analysis to decision makers contemplating commercialisation issues.

International Business Asymmetries in an Enlarging Environment - Practice and Operating Developments in the EU

The perspective of a successful continental economic integration relies on specific stratified beneficial factors or combination of factors as well as on the evolution of institutional and legal business homogeneous local infrastructures. Investments and international outsourcing activities are generally stimulating the globalization processes, the consequent wave of mergers and acquisitions, especially in the finance, commerce and telecommunication sectors, are consolidating the efficient enterprises structure and their international headquartering and development. A heated debate is going on among academics and politicians and bills seeking to restrict outsourcing forwarding industrial activities have been recently discussed in several European States; it is difficult to deal with these issue dispassionately, considering the European enlargement process and no attention has been put on pre-existing and growing spectacular asymmetries in both finance logistics and transportation industry. Outsourcing and FDI and global logistics are probably a plus for the economy in the long run. Any economic change, whether arising from trade or technology, can cause painful dislocations for some activities, anyway large scale emigrations would represent a worse scenario.During the last century, the historical lag between the institutional political regulations and current business requirements and perspectives have been advocating some asymmetries in a highly diverging environment and the viable solutions adopted reflect ancient advantages and leave unexploited some local favorable provisions and natural assets. In restructuring and discovering the business and firm appropriate configuration, within the competitive frameworks, the successfully growing enterprise eventually requires a global strategic integration as an option to redevelop an international locally self-sustaining production independent units network. Pending the EU association and adhesion phases, the relocating factors are showing an integrating economy over all the European Continent with some few specific coordinating, managing and financial pooling centers. All these factors should be considered from the legislative and institutional bodies stemming from a national oriented economic pattern. The global economy as a resulting alternative to outdated autarchic attitudes in a competitive global market must reconsider some preexisting asymmetries within the European scenario.