Role Of Government In Relation Research Articles

The impact of agile supply chain strategy on manufacturers’ ambidextrous innovation—the role of relational governance and information technology capability

The impact of agile supply chain strategy on manufacturers’ ambidextrous innovation—the role of relational governance and information technology capability

What’s ‘fairness’ got to do with it? Discourse coalitions, arguments, and discursive struggles over public funding of Ontario’s private schools

ABSTRACT The establishment of the Commission on Private Schools in Ontario in 1984 renewed long-standing debate over public funding of the Canadian province’s public schools. Engaging Maarten Hajer’s discourse coalition approach and argumentative discourse analysis, we demonstrate how actors with disparate – sometimes even competing – goals and values nevertheless formed coalitions to advocate for (or against) the policy. We also show that the debate at this time was about much more than school funding; it reflected foundational disputes over the appropriate role of government in relation to minoritized groups in Canada. In the struggle to define the meaning of a policy to fund private schools with public money, both coalitions mobilised arguments informed by discourses of Equality and Multiculturalism. However, each coalition ascribed different meanings to these discourses. That is, actors on both sides argued their policy solution promoted equality and supported multiculturalism based on different ideological understandings of these values.

How Does Inter-Organizational Relational Governance Propel Firms’ Open Innovation? A Conditional Process Analysis

To successfully implement open innovation, it is essential for firms to build close relationships with external innovators. Although many studies have suggested that relational governance, also known as social control, can effectively manage inter-organizational relationships, the role of relational governance on firms’ open innovation remains equivocal. Using a survey of 318 manufacturing firms from China, this study used a conditional process model to analyze the interplay of relational governance, open innovation, and firms’ innovation performance and examine the influence of environmental dynamism. The results demonstrate that relational governance has a positive impact on firms’ open innovation (both inbound and outbound) and innovation performance. We also found that open innovation mediates the association between relational governance and firms’ innovation performance. A high level of environmental dynamism enhances the indirect effect of relational governance on firms’ innovation performance through open innovation. These findings help clarify the interaction between relational governance and open innovation. They also deepen understanding of the value co-creation principle of open innovation.

Sistemas alimentarios globales y ley de etiquetado de alimentos en Chile

Esse trabalho tem como objetivo analisar o papel do governo chileno frente ao modelo de produção corporativa de alimentos, avaliando a política pública de rotulagem desenvolvida pelo Ministério da Saúde nos últimos anos através da Lei 20.606. Apresentam-se alguns resultados de leis de rotulagem de alimentos sobre as mudanças nos padrões de consumo, assim como seus primeiros resultados no Chile. No contexto atual, o Estado perde importância como regulador da produção e consumo de alimentos no mundo, o que faz com que o regime corporativo tenha mais liberdade para entrar na dieta familiar. O trabalho baseia-se na abordagem dos regimes alimentares para discutir o papel do Estado na regulação do consumo alimentar. São analisados estudos nacionais e internacionais que medem o impacto da implementação de políticas governamentais de rotulagem de alimentos na redução ou contenção dos níveis de excesso de peso ou obesidade. Verifica-se que, embora os mecanismos de rotulagem conduzam a uma redução global do consumo de produtos ultra processados e ajudem as indústrias a incorporar mais nutrientes nos seus alimentos, o seu consumo não é erradicado porque a população com menos renda não tem melhores alternativas para substituí-los. Ademais, políticas complementares são necessárias, como incentivos aos mercados alternativos, e com subsídios e impostos sobre os alimentos ultraprocessados.

The Etappe Kanaren: A case study of the secret supply of the German Navy in Spain during the Second World War

The secret supply of the German Navy during the Second World War has scarcely been studied until now. The goal of this article is to study one of the more active supply areas of the Etappendienst at the beginning of the war, the one known as Etappe Kanaren, as part of the Grossetappe Spanien-Portugal. In this research primary sources from German Naval War Command have been consulted. Among the main conclusions, it should be pointed out, on the one hand, the intense activity to support the Kriegsmarine during the first years of the war, despite the distance from mainland Spain and the British pressure, which finally stopped the supply operations. On the other hand, we have confirmed the active role of the Spanish government in relation to the Etappendienst: Spanish authorities allowed the supply operations, but pressure from the Allies forced the Spanish government to impede these activities.

How to reduce coordination failure in option-dated forward contracts: the compensatory role of relational governance

ABSTRACTThe aim of this study is to explore the relationship between prior ties and informal norms in achieving interorganizational coordination as an outcome of exchange efficiency. The data from the hotels operating in the Antalya tourism region show that prior ties reduce the potential for unfair rents from ex post renegotiations in flexible contractual settings. Hence, informal norms from prior ties result in enhancing efficiency of interorganizational exchange relationships with a consistent and effective management of operational risks from external environment. Overall, this study contributes to the governance literature by exemplifying compensatory role of relational governance from prior ties in coordination failure of option-dated forward contracts.

Regulating security on the Internet: control versus trust

ABSTRACTThis article focuses on the role of government in relation to cybersecurity. Traditionally, cybersecurity was primarily seen as a technical issue. In recent years, governments have realised that they, too, have a stake in securing the Internet. In their attempts to grapple with cybersecurity, governments often turn to technical solutions to ‘code away’ illegal or undesired behaviours. ‘Techno-regulation’ has become popular because it may seem to be an effective and cheap way of increasing control over end users’ behaviours and increasing cybersecurity. In this article, we will explain why using techno-regulation has significant downsides and, therefore, why it may be unwise to use it as a dominant regulatory strategy for securing the Internet. We argue that other regulatory strategies ought to be considered as well, most importantly: trust. The second part of this article explains that trust can be used as an implicit strategy to increase cybersecurity or as an explicit mechanism for the same goal.

Regulating Self-Regulation? The Politics and Effects of Mandatory CSR Disclosure in Comparison

The literature on new forms of governance suggests important trade-offs regarding the role of government in relation to corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Theories associate state regulation with clear minimum standards and high compliance, but also suggest advantages of self-regulatory approaches that allow greater flexibility and support best-practices. Given these potential trade-offs, France, Denmark, and the UK were pioneers of a hybrid approach: mandatory non-financial disclosure (NFD). This article shows that despite the different motivations for mandatory NFD in these countries, the disclosure requirements are “soft” and flexible – acknowledging demands from business “that one size regulation doesn’t fit all.” The article further examines the effects of these regulations on CSR activities in 24 OECD countries using the Asset4 ESG database. Our analysis shows that firms in countries with mandatory non-financial disclosure adopt significantly more CSR activities. However, our analysis also highlights that mandatory disclosure decreases the variance between firm activities, contrary to arguments about flexibility. Furthermore, it does not lead to a decline in corporate irresponsibility. These results have implications for our understanding of regulatory trade-offs and how to promote more effective forms of CSR.

Relational norms and collaborative activities: Roles in reducing opportunism in marketing channels

Reducing opportunism is a critical task to support channel performance and channel member satisfaction. Recent research into marketing channels focuses on the role of relational governance in curbing opportunism; this study advances this thesis by positing that relational governance encompasses both relational norms and collaborative activities (i.e., joint planning and joint problem solving). In turn, the current research investigates how these two aspects of relational governance independently and jointly check opportunism in marketing channels. The tests of the hypotheses involve 149 Chinese manufacturer–distributor relationships. The results show that relational norms have a negative effect on opportunism, but the effect of collaborative activities is contingent on the level of consistency between the relational norms and collaborative activities that mark the relationship. A low level of relational norms prompts joint planning to inhibit opportunism and joint problem solving to exacerbate it. However, a high level of relational norms reverses these effects: Joint planning fosters opportunism, and joint problem solving curbs it. Thus collaborative activities have different properties that need to be devised in accordance with relational norms if the goal is to reduce opportunism.

Adaptive institutional design in agri-environmental programs

Purpose – This paper aims to explore how and in what context adaptive governance might work in practice in relation to climate variability through the study of two successful agri-environmental programs. Design/methodology/approach – Data were obtained through semi-structured qualitative interviews with key policy informants as well as rural agricultural producers. The adaptive attributes of two successful agri-environmental programs with a proven track record in reducing vulnerability and increasing adaptive capacity of rural producers were studied, including program responsiveness, program framing, stakeholder engagement mechanisms, and the respective roles of key actors. Findings – The adaptive governance practices of program delivery through localized government personnel and organizations increased perceived responsiveness. Mechanisms of program delivery and stakeholder participation and review changed over time as well as the framing of programs. Producers and key policy informants agreed that producers responded to concretely framed issues. A possible disconnect was discovered in the anticipated role of government in relation to meeting and responding to the climate change challenge. Practical implications – This research shows a need to study changes in programs over time in relation to the attributes of adaptive management. Differing climatic events, geographies, and government and stakeholder priorities all contribute to changes in the institutional design of programs and policies. Originality/value – This paper documents adaptive governance practices in relation to two agri-environmental programs that have successfully facilitated producer adaptation to climate variability in the past, as well as the perceptions of agricultural producers of the future role of government in relation to responding to climate change.

Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Populations: The Role of English Local Government

The role of local government has recently come under debate, in the context of state retrenchment, public sector cuts and the marketisation of welfare. Recent discussions have centred on local authorities as leaders, on enterprise and on democracy, but there has been little discussion of local authorities in relation to equalities issues and minority groups. This article examines the role of local government in relation to one minority grouping, Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) people, drawing on empirical material gathered from 2007 to 2010 as part of a large Economic and Social Research Council research project. It describes the importance of equalities legislation and related implementation mechanisms in driving forward the LGB equalities agenda, explores aspects of welfare delivery to LGB people and addresses democratic processes. The article suggests that a collision of different forces is currently taking place: the legislation supports the protection of the LGB communities, but this support is undermined by the recession-related and ideologically driven public sector cuts. In addition, aggregate approaches to local democracy may override the interests of minority groups such as LGB people.

Market orientation in the mental models of decision makers: two cross‐border value chains

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine whether predictions about different degrees of market orientation in two cross‐border value chains also appear in the mental models of decision makers at two levels of these value chains.Design/methodology/approachThe laddering method elicits mental models of actors in two value chains: Norwegian salmon exported to Japan and Danish pork exported to Japan. The analysis of the mental models centers on potential overlap and linkages between actors in the value chain, including elements in the mental models that may relate to the actors' market orientation.FindingsIn both value chains, decision makers exhibit overlap in their views of what drives their business. The pork chain appears dominated by a focus on efficiency, technology, and quality control, though it also acknowledges communication as important. The salmon chain places more emphasis on new product development and good relations between chain partners.Research limitations/implicationsWhile confirming prior results regarding the role of competitive pressure, end‐user heterogeneity/dynamism, regulations, and trade associations, the results also generate new insights into the possible role of relational governance in promoting the market orientation of value chains.Originality/valueThis paper offers three novel ideas: using the concept of mental models as a possible mediator between factors that influence the degree of market orientation and market‐oriented activity; using a laddering method to elicit mental models; and considering concepts shared among actors in a value chain as possible indicators of the degree of market orientation.

Entrepreneurship and Government Policy in Former Soviet Republics: Belarus and Estonia Compared

In this paper we analyse the role of government in relation to the development of entrepreneurship in countries where private business activity was illegal until the beginning of the 1990s. By focusing on Estonia and Belarus we are concerned with countries with an ostensibly similar political heritage, yet with contrasting experiences during the post-Soviet period. Various authors have argued the need for entrepreneurship research to acknowledge the heterogeneity of environmental conditions, outcomes, and behaviours that exist with respect to entrepreneurship. Government policies and actions are a key element contributing to the heterogeneity of external conditions in which entrepreneurship occurs and are thus part of social embeddedness. The findings have implications for policy makers in transition and developing countries by emphasising the variety of ways in which the state can influence the nature and pace of private business development and the central role of institutional behaviour in this process. The findings also have implications for researchers interested in extending analysis of entrepreneurship into a wide range of business environments.

Trusted …or… trustworthy: the search for a new paradigm for computer and network security

On the occasion of the presentation of the Kristian Beckman Award for 2002 it is appropriate to pause and reflect on the state of computer and associated data network security at the start of the new millennium; appropriately in a country that itself pioneered the use of encryption some thousands of years ago. This paper sets out a number of major questions and challenges which include: • Just what is meant by ‘trusted’ or ‘trustworthy’ systems after 20 years of experience, or more likely, lack of business level experience, with the ‘trusted computer system’ criteria anyway? • Does anyone really care about the adoption of international standards for computer system security evaluation by IT product and system manufacturers and suppliers (IS 15408) and, if so, how does it all relate to business risk management anyway (IS 17799)? • With the explosion of adoption of the microcomputer and personal computer some 20 years ago, has the industry abandoned all that it learnt about security during the ‘mainframe era’; or — “whatever happened to MULTICS” and its lessons? • Has education kept up with security requirements by industry and government alike in the need for safe and secure operation of large scale and networked information systems on national and international bases, particularly where Web or Internet-based information services are being proposed as THE major “next best thing” in the IT industry? • Has the ‘fourth generation’ of computer professionals inherited the spirit of information systems management and control that resided by necessity with the last ‘generation’, the professionals who developed and created the applications for shared mainframe and minicomputer systems? Overall, this paper proposes that, like other industries before it, from the car industry to food to pharmaceuticals and drugs, the role of government in relation to its community care responsibilities cannot be ignored in societies that have now become dependent upon the safe, secure and reliable operation of computer systems and data networks; so-called “National Information Infrastructure Protection” or NIIP. Is it time for government to enact legislation that places firm and legally binding obligations on the information technology industry to create and distribute safe and secure products and systems; to be liable for deliberate, or even negligent, release of faulty software products and the like? For the computer professionals creating the necessary applications that enable such systems to be used, is it time for legal responsibility based around concepts of professional conduct and education? Finally, in relation to specialized information security professionals acting to manage such critical information systems, is it time for government registration of those IT security professionals and, if so, just what has to be the base levels of education and training needed for a person to act as such? Unlike other industries, some professionals given charge of IT security may have had little more INFOSEC education than “buying a copy of Bruce Schneier’s book” (an actual statement made to the author in relation to IT security training in a business situation and the nomination of an IT manager as the ‘security’ manager).

The Role of Government in SME Development in Transition Economies

DAVID SMALLBONE IS PROFESSOR OF SMALL and Medium Enterprises and Head of the Centre for Enterprise and Economic Development Research at Middlesex University Business School. Friederike Welter is Senior Researcher, 'Crafts and SMEs' Research Group, Rhine- Westphalian Institute for Economic Research (RWI), Essen, Germany. The paper is concerned with the role of government in relation to SME development in economies at different stages of market reform. It demonstrates that, as in mature market economies, the state is a major factor influencing the nature and pace of SME development, although more through its influence on the external environment in which business activity can develop than through direct support measures or interventions. Survey evidence from the Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova suggests that many enterprises are set up, survive and sometimes even grow despite government, because of the creativity of individuals in mobilising resources and their flexibility in adapting to hostile external environments. The problem is that in these situations the number of firms remains small and their contribution to economic development rather limited. In such a context, government still has to create the framework conditions for private sector development to become embedded and sustaining. At the same time, in countries where market reforms are at a more advanced stage (such as Poland), current priorities for government with respect to the environment for SME development include bringing legislation and regulations in line with EU standards in preparation for EU accession, encouraging the banking system to adapt and recognise the SME sector as a potential market for a range of financial products, facilitating the development of venture capital funds for that minority of SMEs that seek external equity, and working in partnership with the private sector to establish an effective support infrastructure. Although there may be a case for selective interventions in both types of circumstances, direct support measures are not the main role for government in either case.

The Economics of Thomas Robert Malthus

Samuel Hollander provides the first in-depth study of Malthus's achievement as an economist. Malthus's message has been largely misrepresented by decades of careless and biased interpretation. In this volume, Samuel Hollander re-examines these interpretations and presents a full and coherent picture of Malthus's economics. He evaluates John Maynard Keynes's famous dichotomy between the Ricardian and Malthusian methods, proving that the two were far closer to each other than is generally supposed. The relation of Malthus's ideas to those of his predecessors is thoroughly examined, for example, his roots in the Wealth of Nations are demonstrated and the physiocratic and Sraffian dimensions of his work are brought to light. Hollander extends his analysis to biographical factors; he discounts the textbook perspective on Malthus as a social-welfare pessimist and dispels the common notion of Malthus as spokesman of the land-owning classes. The standard charges against Malthus of inconsistency and intellectual dishonesty are also challenged. Samuel Hollander has produced the definitive study of Thomas Robert Malthus. A major contribution to the history of economic theory, the study has much broader appeal as a portrait of a central figure in early nineteenth-century debates over social policy -particularly those having to do with the role of government in relation to social welfare, economic growth, and trade protection.