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This paper examines how firm investments in technology-based employee monitoring impact both misconduct and productivity. We use unique and detailed theft and sales data from 392 restaurant locations from five firms that adopt a theft monitoring information technology (IT) product. We use difference-in-differences models with staggered adoption dates to estimate the treatment effect of IT monitoring on theft and productivity. We find significant treatment effects in reduced theft and improved productivity that appear to be primarily driven by changed worker behavior rather than worker turnover. We examine four mechanisms that may drive this productivity result: economic and cognitive multitasking, fairness-based motivation, and perceived increases of general oversight. The observed productivity results represent substantial financial benefits to both firms and the legitimate tip-based earnings of workers. Our results suggest that employee misconduct is not solely a function of individual differences in ethics or morality, but can also be influenced by managerial policies that can benefit both firms and employees. Keywords: organizational studies; personnel; productivity; information systems; IT policy and management; judicial/legal; crime prevention; marketing; sales force; service operations History. Received November 11, 2013; accepted October 20, 2014, by Serguei Netessine, operations management. Published online in Articles in Advance May 13, 2015., 1. Introduction Employee theft and fraud are widespread problems in firms, with workers stealing roughly $200 billion annually from U.S. firms to supplement their income (Murphy 1993). A growing empirical [...]

This paper studies competition between firms whose 'products' (content) are generated by their customers (users). Video sharing sites, social networks, online games, etc. all rely heavily on user-generated content and have been growing significantly in the last decade. We model a Hotelling style market in which consumers have heterogeneous tastes along a circular city. In a first step, we consider two ex ante identical firms whose offerings entirely depend on user-generated content. Consumers contribute content to the firm they join and benefit from the content provided by the others, their valuation being higher the closer the content contributor is to the content consumer (i.e., there are local network effects). In such a setting, we show that ex ante identical firms can acquire differentiated market positions that spontaneously emerge from user-generated content. Moreover, such differentiation may take interesting patterns, wherein a firm simultaneously attracts multiple distinct consumer segments that are isolated from each other. Greater segregation, measured by the number of disjoint segments in each platform, reduces consumer valuation for content, but interestingly, it intensifies firm competition. We show that this insight can help us refine the set of possible equilibria. In a second step, we consider firms that explicitly differentiate their offerings by generating some content on their own. We show that user-generated content may strengthen or defeat firms' intended positioning (i.e., firms attract consumers located opposite to their chosen positions) and consumer surplus may be higher in the latter case. Finally, we allow multihoming by consumers and show that the previous equilibrium patterns remain valid, but in most equilibria, a subset of consumers (located between rival firms' core clienteles) are multihomers. More multihoming consumers imply reduced differentiation and higher degree of platform competition. We relate these findings to anecdotal evidence and explore their strategic implications for competing firms relying on user-generated content. Keywords: competitive strategy; game theory and bargaining theory; advertising and media History: Received October 15, 2012; accepted November 19, 2013, by J. Miguel Villas-Boas, marketing. Published online in Articles in Advance July 18, 2014., 1. Introduction User-generated content is an important characteristic of many fast-developing online or mobile applications. Video sharing sites (e.g., YouTube, Vine), social networks (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn), and dating communities (e.g., [...]

This paper presents a very simple characterization of the technological choices underlying M-form and U-form organizations. We first show that the externalities within a function favour the M-form, which gives higher profit, higher output level and lower prices than the U-form. The major innovation of the paper consists in the analysis of communication flows that constitute a positive externality on demand schedules. When these information flows are introduced, we find conditions under which the U-form gives output and communication flows higher than the M-form.

There is said to be a "new paradigm in business" proposing that business has far broader social and environmental responsibilities than simply making profits for shareholders. This paper examines the concept of corporate responsibility to see how far Australian business has moved towards the new paradigm. Fifty-four different stakeholders from one large business were interviewed about the meaning of corporate responsibility. Most acknowledged that business has a responsibility beyond simply making profits, however, profit remained the primary motivation in moves towards corporate citizenship, community involvement and social responsibility., Introduction On a global level, there is an increased awareness of "a new paradigm in business", recognising that corporate responsibility has moved substantially since Milton Friedman's claims that its sole […]

The development of social enterprises across the country has the potential for real and lasting change, a paper claims this week. The Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) report says [...]

An overview is provided of the development process for implementing a customer data base. An effort is made to highlight some of the pitfalls and describe the evolution of a customer marketing data-base as experienced by the authors. Key objectives of the marketing data-base are outlined in order to highlight the potential of the development. The authors believe that the issues apply to many companies in consumer or business markets and expect that the paper will act as a catalyst for marketing strategists.

Commercial applications of geodemographic data and associated techniques of market analysis are described from the perspective of companies in North America. After a discussion of the development of the industry and the types of data and services available, some important current trends are identified. Possible developments in the short-term future are reviewed, and the paper concludes with an evaluation of the prospects for the industry.

A survey of marketing information systems of companies in Queensland, Australia reveals that firms are not exploiting the full potential of external information sources. Queensland companies' use of computer technology needs to be maximized especially in the field of sales and accounting information. From these findings, the firms are advised to develop their information system to be able to formulate effective marketing strategies. The firms should consider the following: defining thew indicators of the business and classifying items into degree of importance., Introduction A good marketing information system can make decision making more efficient and effective. It can be used to help create a competitive advantage, and can even substitute for expensive [...]

Who are the 'Egosians'? What are their research interests? What do they think about EGOS initiatives? What are their expectations for future development? These are unavoidable questions for anyone who [...]

Henry Mintzberg is the Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies at McGill University in Montreal and a professor of organization at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France. Ludo Van der Heyden is the [...]