‘Dams and flows’: boundary formation and dislocation in the financialised firm

Mainstream economic theories of the firm argue that the boundary between firm and market is determined by efficiency-enhancing logics which optimise coordination or bargaining outcomes. Drawing on social anthropological work, this paper critiques these accounts, arguing instead that firms are socially embedded and that firm boundary formation should therefore be understood as an attempt to fix the limits of certain relational rights and obligations that are moral in their conception. Consequently, boundaries are often contested and subject to renegotiation. We employ the parsimonious concepts of ‘dams and flows’ to examine how attempts to curtail the claims of some stakeholders and extend the claims of others at any one historical moment produce boundaries of different kinds. To illustrate this, we first trace the moral arguments used to advance limited liability rights to shareholders during the Companies Act in the mid-nineteenth century, which cut or ‘dammed’ obligations at a particular point and moment, directing new flows of obligation and wealth. We then explore the different moral reasoning of agency theory—the foundation of the financialised firm—which foregrounds the property rights of shareholder principles and obligations of managerial agents to them. We argue that this moral reasoning led to new dams and flows that have changed corporate governance and accounting practice, producing—counterintuitively—a reinvigorated form of managerialism, leaving the firm financially and morally unstable; its boundaries increasingly unable to contain its relational tensions.

Ruang Gender Haruskah Selalu dipisah? Ruang Kelola Wilayah Adat dan Pendekatan Ekologi Politik Feminis

Gender space generally separates space and place of land and natural resources management and utilization based on gender. The assumption these gender space segregation with firm boundary lines implicated demand to showing women's control, utilization, and management of the land and natural resources on the participatory mapping result that is mostly facilitated by JKPP in Indonesia. One of the purposes of this demand is to include women's interests over space in every decision-making process that has an impact on the women's production areas. In fact, not all places have separated the control, utilization, and management of the land and natural resources based on gender. In an agrarian society, like in Indonesia, most of the areas for control, utilization, and management of the land and natural resources are communal based, which is means that the land and natural resources are joint management by men and women. In one indigenous territory, at two different places and times, gender based management can undergo changes. Taking the case of the Balai Juhu in Hulu Sungai Tengah Regency, South Kalimantan, using a feminist political ecology framework, this article examines the complexities of gender segregation on indigenous territory

Boundary negotiations: a paradox theoretical approach for efficient and flexible modular systems

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the interplay between firm boundary decisions and the management of both efficiency and flexibility and the implications this has for modular design in the provision of advanced services.Design/methodology/approachA single case study in the defence industry employs semi-structured interviews supplemented by secondary data. Data are analysed using thematic analysis.FindingsThe findings provide a process model of boundary negotiations for the design of efficient and flexible modular systems consisting of three phases; boundary ambiguity, boundary defences and boundary alignment.Practical implicationsThe study provides a process framework for boundary negotiations to help organisations navigate the management of both-and efficiency and flexibility in the provision of advanced services.Originality/valueDrawing upon modularity, paradox and systems theory, this article provides novel theoretical insight into the relationship between firm boundary decisions and the management of both-and efficiency vs. flexibility in the provision of product upgrade services.

Mesentrial Cyst Lymphangioma in 3-Year-Old Girls: A Case Report

Mesenterial cysts are rare tumors, incidence 1: 100,000-200,000. We report the case and the treatment. Case report, 3-year-old woman with complaints of a lump in the abdomen. Complaints in the last 1 year ago, sometimes she felt pain, physical examination showed a lump of cystic impression with a size of ± 5x10 cm in the epigastric region, mobile, firm boundary. It can be diagnosed with a suspected intra-abdominal tumor with a mesenterial cyst, differential diagnosis of teratoma. Surgery was performed and a mass was found in retroperitoneal with a size of ± 20x5 cm up to the pelvic cavity, cystic and mobile, the mass could not be taken at all, we decided to do marsupialization, and left kidney is not visible. Postoperative diagnosis is retroperitoneal (type IV) mesenterial cyst lymphangioma with agenesis ren sinistra. Mesenterial cyst Lymphangioma is a tumor that is very rarely found and is benign. For a good prognosis, it depends on the type and therapy that is performed. Keywords: Mesenterial cyst lymphangioma, a tumor in children, mesenterial tumor

Platform Development: Emerging Insights From a Nascent Industry

This article investigates the emergence and development of the innovation platform in a nascent industry, through a dynamic capabilities perspective. Based on an inductive study of the U.K.’s tele-rehabilitation through gaming (TRTG) industry, we identify four capabilities that are important for successful platform development: innovation leverage, market exploration, quality control, and appropriation. A holistic framework is developed to explain how these capabilities can facilitate platform development by enabling appropriate business models and activities. We then discuss how a firm could define and redefine its firm boundary in order to deploy the four capabilities for platform development.

THE SYNERGISTIC ROLE OF INDIVIDUAL ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY AND INDIVIDUAL AMBIDEXTERITY IN OPEN INNOVATION: A MODERATED-MEDIATION MODEL

Managers employed in the dual gatekeeper-shepherd roles in open innovation contexts need to combine external knowledge inflows with existing internal knowledge to drive innovative work behaviour. This study explores how such managers leverage knowledge sources at the firm boundary, to drive innovation activities, by using their individual-level capabilities of absorptive capacity and ambidexterity. To collect data for the study, 121 technology managers employed in four large automotive equipment manufacturing firms in India were surveyed using an online questionnaire. Structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to examine the direct, moderation and mediation relationships hypothesised in the study. The results demonstrate the synergistic roles played by individual absorptive capacity and individual ambidexterity in enhancing the innovative behaviour of managers operating in an open innovation context. This study contributes to the theory related to the understudied individual-level analyses of open innovation and offers recommendations for managers looking to increase their innovativeness at work.