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- Alarik, Björn, 1943
(author)
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From M-form to N-form: The Structure of Multinational Corporations
- 2000
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The purpose of this study is to map, illuminate and explain the recent development of the strategies, structure and control of multinational corporations. The aim is to identify crucial problems in managing and organizing multinational corporations and describe what sort of approaches are used and proposed to solve these problems. This is a literature study where an inventory and critical examination of the recent research on the strategies, structure and control of multinational corporations. The emphasis in the study is on research carried out in the last ten years. It starts out with a summary of the early research on multinational corporations, proceeds to an analysis of the process school, and ends up with a discussion about organizing international operations from a network perspective.
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- Alarik, Björn, 1943, et al.
(author)
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KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Hur svenska multinationella företag tillvaratar och sprider sina kunskaper
- 2000
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Kan kunskap administreras? Finns det verktyg med vars hjälp kunskap kan styras och kontrolleras? Skapas kunskapsutveckling och lärande genom att tillsätta knowledge managers och bygga upp databaser och nät? Av undersökningar framgår att svenska storföretag denna gång inte följt amerikanska förebilder och konsulter i fotspåren. Inget av de undersökta företagen har byggt upp en hierarki av knowledge managers eller visat upp ett heltäckande IT-system för att utnyttja och sprida kunskaper. Det verkar snarare finnas en utbredd tveksamhet till att kunskap och lärande låter sig styras och kontrolleras med särskilda verktyg och metoder. Och ju större inslaget av tyst kunskap är, desto större tycks tveksamheten vara till att kunskap kan administreras. De undersökta företagen var övertygade om att det fanns värdefulla kunskaper som inte tillvaratogs och spreds i önskvärd utsträckning, men de var samtidigt villrådiga till hur detta skulle gå till. Goda förutsättningar för lärande skapas inte med några få grepp på kort tid. Det är en långsiktig utvecklingsprocess med en mångfald insatser som framför allt går ut på att bryta ner organisatoriska gränser och byråkratiska system, skapa ett klimat som präglas av öppenhet, trygghet och delaktighet och sträva efter ett ledarskap som kännetecknas av empati, tillit och lyhördhet.
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- Bigsten, Arne, 1947, et al.
(author)
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Efficiency, Technical Progress, and Best Practice in Chinese State Enterprises (1980-1994)
- 2000
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In spite of rapid economic growth and swift structural change during the last two decades, China's industrial reform is far from complete, especially with regard to state enterprises (SOEs). Although troubled with huge financial losses, heavy debt, and substantial over-staffing, SOEs will continue to play a crucial part in the government policy to maintain social stability and economic growth in China. This study, based on samples of about 700 state enterprises during 1980-94, investigates productivity performance of the SOEs using Data Envelopment Analysis and Malmquist Index. Our empirical results show that average technical efficiency had been low among the sample SOEs. Considerable productivity growth was found, but it was mainly accomplished through technical progress rather than efficiency improvement. Regression analyses indicate that wage incentives and education had positive impacts on productivity growth, while large scale was an important determinant of whether an SOE was applying best practice technology. It is also shown that large SOEs were more likely to generate technical progress. These findings are consistent with the industrial structural adjustment program initiated by the government in 1994, which has focused on improving productive efficiency via redundancies and technology upgrading, and on building its best SOEs into conglomerates
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- Bigsten, Arne, 1947, et al.
(author)
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Growth, Income Distribution, and Poverty: A Review
- 2000
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This paper reviews the recent literature dealing with the relationships between economic growth, income distribution, and poverty. This generally fails to find any systematic pattern of change in income distribution during recent decades. Neither does it find any systematic link from fast growth to increasing inequality. Some recent empirical evidence has tended to confirm the negative impact of inequality on growth, on the other hand. Others have found that the level of initial income inequality is not a robust explanatory factor of growth, though high inequality in the distribution of assets, such as land, has a significantly negative effect on growth. Possible channels are credit rationing, reduced possibilities for participation in the political process, and social conflicts. Among the strategic elements that contributed to reduced poverty are: an outward-oriented strategy of export-led growth, based on labour-intensive manufacturing; agricultural and rural development, with encouragement of new technologies; investment in physical infrastructure and human capital; efficient institutions that provide the right set of incentives to farmers and entrepreneurs; and social policies to promote health, education, and social capital, as well as safety nets to protect the poor. Countries that have been successful in terms of economic growth are also very likely to be successful in reducing poverty. Poverty can be reduced if there is sufficient economic growth. Growth can be substantial if the policy and institutional environment is right.
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- Bigsten, Arne, 1947, et al.
(author)
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Informality, Ethnicity and Productivity: Evidence from Small Manufacturers in Kenya
- 2000
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- A rapidly increasing share of firms in Kenya consists of not only small but also informal establishments. This paper investigates the role of ethnicity and other factors in the choice of formality status at start-up. Differences in productivity, investment and growth across the formality and ethnicity divide are also investigated. The results show that while African-owned firms are more likely to start informally, enterprises owned by either professionals or persons who are older are less likely to start informally. African informal firms are more efficient than African formal firms are, but both categories are less efficient than Asian-owned formal firms are. We conclude that ethnicity is important in explaining choice of formality status, while the network implications of ethnicity account for the differences in firm productivity, investment and growth prospects. It is possible to mainstream informal enterprises by reducing cost related to business registration. However, additional analysis is needed to unpack the ethnic variable en route to developing policy interventions for improving the performance of small scale manufacturing in Kenya.
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