A Resource Dependence Perspective on Low-Power Actors Shaping Their Regulatory Environment: The Case of Honda

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (8) ◽  
pp. 1039-1058 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ei Shu ◽  
Arie Y. Lewin

The central focus of this paper is a largely unexplored research domain relating to how low-power for-profit actors can shape their political and regulatory environment and create economic opportunities that affect their survival and growth. The paper builds on and extends the concept of “negotiating the environment” and on how organizations create their environment, with an emphasis on low-power actors. Resource dependence theory (RDT) has been very influential in exploring the many ways in which firms can decrease or overcome resource vulnerabilities in their environment with a focus on high-power actors (large companies, resource-rich companies, industrial associations, and political power of highly endowed companies). However, whether and how low-power actors can shape their political, regulatory, and economic environment was not central to RDT analysis, which is the focus of this paper. The empirical context for this research is the emergence and enactment of automobile emissions standards in Japan following the adoption in the United States of the Clean Air Act in December 1970. The focal firm is the Honda Motor Company, which, at that time, was a negligible competitor in the Japanese automobile industry and had no legitimate political or institutional standing. Yet the company was successful in undoing the cartel-like dominance of the two largest Japanese automobile manufacturers and the Japanese Environmental Protection Agency. The focus of this paper is describing the phenomenon and developing new theoretical insights relating to how low-power for-profit actors are able to negotiate their environment.

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
FREDERIC H. DECKER

Abstract:Poorer resident care in US for-profit relative to not-for-profit nursing homes is usually blamed on the profit motive. But US nursing home performance may relate to Medicaid public financing in a manner qualifying the relationship between ownership and quality. We investigated effects of Medicaid resident census, Medicaid payment, and occupancy on performance. Resource dependence theory implies these predictors may affect discretion in resources invested in resident care across for-profit and not-for-profit facilities. Models on physical restraint use and registered nurse (RN) staffing were studied using generalized estimating equations with panel data derived from certification inspections of nursing homes. Restraint use increased and RN staffing levels decreased among for-profit and not-for-profit facilities when the Medicaid census increased and Medicaid payment decreased. Interaction effects supported a theory that performance relates to available discretion in resource allocation. Effects of occupancy appear contingent on the dependence on Medicaid. Poorer performance among US for-profit nursing homes may relate to for-profit homes having lower occupancy, higher Medicaid census, and operating in US states with lower Medicaid payments compared to not-for-profit homes. Understanding the complexity of factors affecting resources expended on resident care may further our understanding of the production of quality in nursing homes, whether in the US or elsewhere.


Societies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 72
Author(s):  
Caddie Putnam Rankin ◽  
Todd Lee Matthews

This paper explores the certification of companies as B Corps from 2007 through 2016, the first 10 years of certification. B Corps are for profit companies that promise to “Be a Force for Good” in our society. Over 2600 companies in over 50 countries are certified as B Corps, responding to demands for higher accountability, ethical behavior, and contributions to their environment and community. We focus here only on B Corps in the United States and analyze a state-level database we have developed of 851 companies that became certified in the first 10 years of certification, between 2007 and 2016. In the paper we ask: What conditions in the macro environment facilitate the spread of B Corps certification? This paper uses the framework of resource dependence theory and institutional theory to explore the diffusion of certification. We hypothesize that institutional, economic, and political resources in the external environment provide conditions that support B Corps certification.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Desmond Ng ◽  
Nima Khodakarami

PurposeThis study draws on resource dependence theory (RDT) to explain a board's governance function in the United States (US) nonprofit healthcare industry. Specifically, while various nonprofit research studies have appealed to agency theory (AT) to explain the monitoring role of an outside board, RDT offers an alternative explanation that emphasizes an outside board's resource gathering role.Design/methodology/approachIn drawing on the nonprofit GuideStar database, a fixed effect (FE) panel estimation was conducted on a sample of 230 US Non Profit Healthcare Organizations (NPHCOs). This panel estimation examines the relationship between the composition of an outside board and an NPHCO’s revenue and public support performance.FindingsA key finding of this study is that the composition of an outside board involving its' number, compensation and gender impacts an NPHCO’s revenue and public support.Research limitations/implicationsThis study shows that the composition of an outside board impacts an NPHCO’s ability to gain access to external resources. As NPHCOs face increasing pressure to seek external forms of revenue support, this study suggests that boards should favor a larger number, compensation and female representation of outside members.Practical implicationsThe composition of an outsider board can offer external sources of revenue support that lower the poor's requirements for financial assistance and thus affirm an NPHCO’s identity as a charitable organization.Originality/valueAs an NPHCO’s identity as a charitable organization is dependent on serving the medical needs of the poor, an outside board not only introduces a resource gathering function that is absent in the monitoring explanations of AT, but that this resource gathering function is important to affirming this identity.


Author(s):  
Rebecca Waerder ◽  
Simon Thimmel ◽  
Benedikt Englert ◽  
Bernd Helmig

AbstractGrowing social, political, and economic uncertainties have shown that organizational resilience is becoming increasingly important for nonprofit organizations (NPOs). To ensure their long-term survival, NPOs need to respond to extreme events and adapt their services and processes. The theoretical premise of resource dependence theory assumes that interactions between an organization and its environment are crucial for the long-term adaptation to adversities. The present study investigates the contributions of nonprofit–private collaborations to organizational resilience of NPOs in light of the refugee crisis in Germany in 2015. Findings from a multiple holistic case study design indicate that collaborations of nonprofits with for-profit organizations support NPOs with stability, resources, expertise, and compassion to overcome resource-based, conceptual, and emotional challenges.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 694-716
Author(s):  
Andrew E. Scharlach ◽  
Amanda J. Lehning ◽  
Joan K. Davitt ◽  
Emily A. Greenfield ◽  
Carrie L. Graham

Guided by resource dependence theory, this mixed-methods study examined organizational characteristics contributing to the perceived sustainability of Villages, a rapidly proliferating grassroots approach for promoting social participation and service access for community-dwelling older adults. Surveys conducted with leaders of 86% of Villages in the United States in 2012 found that higher predicted confidence in their Village’s 10-year survival was associated with greater financial reserves, human resources, number of Village members, formal policies and procedures, and formal collaboration agreements. Respondents’ explanations of their confidence ratings revealed additional themes of organizational leadership and perceived community need. Member resource inputs were not found to be as salient for Village leaders’ perceptions of sustainability as was anticipated given the Village model’s emphasis on consumer involvement. Despite the lack of longitudinal prospective data, study findings suggest potential limitations of consumer-driven organizational models such as Villages, including the need for a more stable resource base.


Management ◽  
2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Cobb ◽  
Tyler Wry

The resource dependence perspective (hereafter RD) refers to a research tradition that emerged from the basic framework of Jeffrey Pfeffer and Gerald R. Salancik’s classic 1978 work, The External Control of Organizations: A Resource Dependence Perspective (Pfeffer and Salancik 1978, cited under Classic Treatments). The theoretical arguments that serve as RD’s foundation can be summarized as follows: (1) an organization’s external environment comprises other organizations, each with their own interests and objectives; (2) organizations hold power over a focal firm—and may thus constrain its behavior—if they control resources that are vital to its ongoing operation and cannot be acquired elsewhere. RD also highlights a number of strategies that organizations can utilize to deal with problematic dependence relationships; empirical research in this tradition has largely focused on this catalog of strategies. This bibliography is organized by the topic areas covered in External Control and displays representative and impactful work associated with each topic. Though RD’s influence has spread to a number of disparate fields beyond management (Gerald F. Davis and J. Adam Cobb’s article “Resource Dependence Theory: Past and Future” (Davis and Cobb 2010, cited under Reviews and Theoretical Intersections), this article focuses on scholarly work published in management journals and related fields such as strategy and economic sociology which collectively comprise the core RD literature.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 79
Author(s):  
Shivani Gupta ◽  
Josue Patien Epane ◽  
Robert Weech-Maldonado

Objective: This study used Porter’s Five Forces Model and the Resource Dependence Theory (RDT) to examine the association of competition and other market factors with the hospital’s decision to hire internationally educated nurses.Methods: A panel design was used comprising a national sample of nonfederal, acute care hospitals (n = 4,116) in the United States. Data, for the years 2008-2012, were derived from American Hospital Association’s Annual Survey and Area Health Resource File. Logistic regression with hospital random effects and state and year fixed effects was conducted to test the above mentioned association.Results: The study findings suggest that hospitals hire internationally educated nurses as a strategy to meet their staffing needs in more competitive and diverse markets. Moreover, hospitals that hire internationally educated nurses are system-affiliated, larger, and see more Medicare patients than those that do not hire them.Conclusions: Findings of this study could help health care managers to understand the influence of market factors on utilization of internationally educated nurses to fulfill their hospitals’ nurse staffing needs. Furthermore, the study findings can inform policymakers in crafting policies on the use of internationally educated nurses as a strategy to address nursing shortages.


Author(s):  
J. R. Millette ◽  
R. S. Brown

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has labeled as “friable” those building materials that are likely to readily release fibers. Friable materials when dry, can easily be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder using hand pressure. Other asbestos containing building materials (ACBM) where the asbestos fibers are in a matrix of cement or bituminous or resinous binders are considered non-friable. However, when subjected to sanding, grinding, cutting or other forms of abrasion, these non-friable materials are to be treated as friable asbestos material. There has been a hypothesis that all raw asbestos fibers are encapsulated in solvents and binders and are not released as individual fibers if the material is cut or abraded. Examination of a number of different types of non-friable materials under the SEM show that after cutting or abrasion, tuffs or bundles of fibers are evident on the surfaces of the materials. When these tuffs or bundles are examined, they are shown to contain asbestos fibers which are free from binder material. These free fibers may be released into the air upon further cutting or abrasion.


Shore & Beach ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 53-64
Author(s):  
Edward Atkin ◽  
Dan Reineman ◽  
Jesse Reiblich ◽  
David Revell

Surf breaks are finite, valuable, and vulnerable natural resources, that not only influence community and cultural identities, but are a source of revenue and provide a range of health benefits. Despite these values, surf breaks largely lack recognition as coastal resources and therefore the associated management measures required to maintain them. Some countries, especially those endowed with high-quality surf breaks and where the sport of surfing is accepted as mainstream, have recognized the value of surfing resources and have specific policies for their conservation. In Aotearoa New Zealand surf breaks are included within national environmental policy. Aotearoa New Zealand has recently produced Management Guidelines for Surfing Resources (MGSR), which were developed in conjunction with universities, regional authorities, not-for-profit entities, and government agencies. The MGSR provide recommendations for both consenting authorities and those wishing to undertake activities in the coastal marine area, as well as tools and techniques to aid in the management of surfing resources. While the MGSR are firmly aligned with Aotearoa New Zealand’s cultural and legal frameworks, much of their content is applicable to surf breaks worldwide. In the United States, there are several national-level and state-level statutes that are generally relevant to various aspects of surfing resources, but there is no law or policy that directly addresses them. This paper describes the MGSR, considers California’s existing governance frameworks, and examines the potential benefits of adapting and expanding the MGSR in this state.


1989 ◽  
Vol 21 (6-7) ◽  
pp. 685-698
Author(s):  
J. J. Convery ◽  
J. F. Kreissl ◽  
A. D. Venosa ◽  
J. H. Bender ◽  
D. J. Lussier

Technology transfer is an important activity within the ll.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Specific technology transfer programs such as the activities of the Center for Environmental Research Information, the Innovative and Alternative Technology Program, as well as the Small Community Outreach Program are used to encourage the utilization of cost-effective municipal pollution control technology. Case studies of three technologies including a plant operations diagnostic/remediation methodology, alternative sewer technologies and ultraviolet disinfection are presented. These case studies are presented retrospectively in the context of a generalized concept of how technology flows from science to utilization which was developed in a study by Allen (1977). Additional insights from this study are presented on the information gathering characteristics of engineers and scientists which may be useful in designing technology transfer programs. The recognition of the need for a technology or a deficiency in current practice are important stimuli other than technology transfer for accelerating the utilization of new technology.


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