Exuberant Proclivity toward Non-Standard Employment: Evidence from Linked Employer–Employee Data

In most industrialized countries, temporary and non-standard forms of employment have become a pervasive feature of the labor market. At the firm level, however, their diffusion is less uniform than expected. While some firms exhibit high propensity to use non-standard labor, others make no use of it. The most conventional explanations (market uncertainty, production regimes, competitive pressure) fail to account for such heterogeneity. In this article, the authors develop an alternative explanation that links non-standard employment to the firm-specific availability of managerial resources: Whenever the latter are relatively scarce, firms make larger use of non-standard labor to reduce coordination and operating costs. Using a linked employer–employee panel of manufacturing firms from the Emilia-Romagna region (Italy), the authors provide empirical support for this explanation. The result is robust to different estimation strategies and controlling for alternative drivers of non-standard employment. This finding suggests that the use of non-standard labor is motivated by the firm’s needs to compensate for specific managerial scarcities.

Relative Importance Analysis of Safety Climate Evaluation Factors Using Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP)

Various studies have confirmed that the increasing quality of safety climate has a positive influence on reducing the occurrence of accidents. The quality of safety climate is comprehensively affected in three domains: management, site, and enterprise. At the company level, it is challenging to manage all areas at a high level due to limited managerial resources. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a strategy that improves the safety climate step by step. For the efficient execution of the strategy, it is necessary to analyze the relative importance of each evaluation factor of the safety climate and allocate managerial resources accordingly. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the relative importance of safety climate evaluation factors using the analytical hierarchical process (AHP) technique. For this study, AHP questionnaire and analysis are conducted, and the relative priorities of safety climate evaluation factors are derived. As a result, (E) workers’ safety priority and risk non-acceptance is the most important dimension among seven dimensions as the weight is 0.1900. In addition, (E1) compliance with safety regulations, even if the process is tight, is the most important one between items as the weight 0.6663. The results of this study will be used as basic data for institutional improvement and policy making for a high-quality safety climate at construction sites.

Government Strategies to Minimize the COVID-19 Fallout on MSMEs in India

Currently, the whole country is going across a stressful era. Pandemic has swept the whole planet into its grasp and has smudged the lives of citizens as well as the global economies as a result. COVID-19 has been one of the 2020 mega tragedies. The correlation is clear since the primary issue does seem to be unemployment and financial losses, which causes a huge decrease in consumer spending for all industrialized nations. Consequently, workers have been eliminated, and consumers have a drastic lack of their wages, creating a large fall in prices. Findings reflect that economies all around the world are suffering from COVID-19, which has made the entire world panic and the pandemic virus has taken over almost 195 countries in its grip. It is quite evident that the enterprises in the MSME sector are the most vulnerable ones in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic because of their size, the scale of operation, limited financial managerial resources, and more importantly, they do not have the capacity to deal with something so unexpected.

Does international expansion constrain growth? Business groups, internationalization, institutional distance, and the Penrose effect

Purpose This paper aims to use the institutional and information-processing perspectives to explore their association with between internationalization and the Penrose effect phenomenon for business groups (BGs). Design/methodology/approach The authors use ordinary least squares regression models to test arguments about data pertaining to 101 Taiwanese BGs’ foreign direct investments. Findings The results indicate that greater levels of depth and scope in the process of internationalization during one period may negatively affect rates of growth in the following period. The results further demonstrate that institutional distance moderates the relationship. Research limitations/implications Using the perspective of information-processing demands, the authors provide alternate explanations regarding the relationship between the process of internationalization (depth, scope and rhythm) and the Penrose effect. Originality/value Owners and managers should focus on both the depth and the scope of internationalization. BGs are likely to incur high dynamic adjustment costs, which then limit the rate of BGs’ growth. Managers should balance international market uncertainty with current managerial resources when determining how deeply and broadly to expand internationally and where to enter. In addition, as recent major panel studies suggest, management capabilities and practices can improve significantly, which has a positive effect on firm growth and performance. This does require the careful development and acquisition of the managerial resources needed for internationalization.

Driving acquisition performance: how much integration is enough?

Purpose This paper aims to develop a generalizable framework for acquisition performance. Design/methodology/approach This paper attempts to simulate a controlled experiment by examining the strategies and performance of the same acquired company under different acquirers. The inductive methodology is used to derive a generalizable framework about the key factors impacting the performance of the acquired firm. Findings This study finds that the acquired firm’s performance is better when the environment is munificent and the acquirer uses an appropriate level of integration. Several antecedents of each of these dimensions were identified. Research limitations/implications Because the inferences are based on a small sample, the study’s framework needs to be tested in other settings and possibly empirically tested in larger samples to improve its generalizability. Practical implications Every year, corporations around the world spend large sums of capital on acquisitions and significant managerial resources on integrating the acquired firms, with decidedly mixed results. The framework proposed in the paper can help managers to improve the performance of their acquisitions. Originality/value Unlike prior studies that have quantitatively analysed mixed samples of acquisitions and often arrived at inconclusive results, this study uses the inductive approach based on a few case studies to derive a framework that can be applied across industries. The framework accounts for the key industry and transaction-related contingent factors that can influence the performance of acquisitions under varied circumstances.

Mediated effect of export assistance on export performance of Serbian manufacturing SMEs

PurposeThe purpose of this paper was to examine the intervening role of export-related resources in the relationship between export assistance (EA) and export performance (EP) as well as the role of competitive intensity as a driver for the adoption of EA programmes by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).Design/methodology/approachThe proposed model was tested on the sample of 119 SMEs that export from the Republic of Serbia. The data were gathered through an online survey. In order to test the hypotheses, partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used.FindingsThe results revealed that export-related resources (intellectual, relational and managerial resources) fully mediate the relationship between EA and EP. It was shown that competitive intensity in export markets had a positive effect on the amount of EA that SMEs receive from the government, EU and other organisations.Research limitations/implicationsThe number of firms that participated in the survey is small. Furthermore, the responses may be biased due to the auto-selection of SMEs. The research included only SMEs from different manufacturing industries. Thus, the implications of the research cannot be applied to the service sector.Practical implicationsThe findings of the conducted research are relevant for the managers of SMEs since they show the importance of using EA as an external resource. The use of EA improves EP through the enhancement of intellectual, relational and managerial resources. The results of this study also support further government investment in EA as it was found that EA is an effective tool for the improvement of EP of SMEs.Originality/valueThe effect of EA on EP was tested in Serbia, the research context in which this effect was not tested before. Besides, the proposed model gives insights into the factors that affect engagement in EA programmes, which is a topic rarely examined in the literature.

Home country institutional drivers and performance outcomes of export market orientation: the moderating role of firm resources

PurposeAnchored mainly on the institutional theory and resource-based view, this study endeavors to investigate the interplay between home country institutional environment (economic, regulatory and socio-cultural environment), export market orientation and export performance. Besides, this study also aims to examine the moderating role of firm resources (knowledge-based and managerial resources) in the associations between home country institutions and export market orientation.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on data from a sample of 221 exporting firms in Turkey, the conceptual model is empirically examined by structural equation modeling.FindingsThe findings reveal that regulatory environment is conducive to the improvement of export market orientation, which is instrumental in cultivating export performance. Importantly, empirical evidence also proves that higher levels of knowledge-based and managerial resources strengthen the linkage between home country institutions and export market orientation.Originality/valueIntegrating institutional theory with the resource-based view, this research considerably contributes to the current understanding of the export market orientation phenomenon by filling the knowledge gap on the differential impacts of home country’s economic, regulatory and socio-cultural environment on export market orientation. Moreover, this study provides worthwhile insights into the moderating effect of knowledge-based and managerial resources on home country institutions and export market orientation and the interrelationship between export market orientation and export performance in an emerging economy.

FEATURES OF USING PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR OF THE REGION ON THE BASIS OF AN AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY

In the current conditions of unstable financial situation in the world, the most important task should be to increase the efficiency of agricultural production, which is the basis of the country's stability. The introduction of project management in the agro-industrial sector can become a growth point not only for individual organizations, but also for the economy of the region as a whole. The purpose of this study is to develop practical recommendations for using project activities in the management of the agricultural sector at the regional level. In studying the project management problem, the following methods were used: general scientific methods for analyzing science works, methods of systemic, comparative analysis, abstract-logical, expert-analytical and sociological methods. The algorithm of university's project activities implementation, on the basis of which its strategic goals are achieved, is considered in detail. A model of modern agricultural project management at the regional level is presented; its problems and solutions are identified. The effect of introducing project-oriented activities in the agricultural sector at the regional level, as well as the need to improve the economic mechanism for developing agriculture in the region, is substantiated. The results of the study are consistent with the hypothesis put forward. In accordance with it, the proposed measures will contribute to the effective implementation of project-oriented management in the regional economy of the agro-industrial complex on the part of factors of managing agricultural sector in the region. The implementation of the proposed development areas will significantly improve existing methods of managing the agro-industrial complex of the region, since the introduction of project management will allow not only to concentrate financial and managerial resources, but also to obtain sustainable indicators of agricultural development.

Higher Education Interaction Factors in Improving Quality of Preparation

In Russian National Security Doctrine 2020, one of the improvements of higher education is the development of “interaction of educational organizations and research centers with industrial enterprises”. The document “development of secondary vocational education system in order to prepare qualified workers in accordance with the best world standards and advanced technologies” is interpreted as an important condition for ensuring national security in the field of science, technology and education. In our opinion, it’s cannot be realized without the involvement of the economic, technological and managerial resources of industrial enterprises, and, consequently, the organization of the network interaction of higher educational organizations and enterprises. This study is devoted to the organization of networking of institutions of higher education with enterprises, which was developed in accordance with the basic requirements of employers. The effectiveness of this approach to learning was proven during a research experiment.