Search

From the perspective of economic cycle, this paper describes the failure mechanism of the associated credit risk contagion among enterprises by constructing a cascade effect model, and further simulates and analyses the anti-credit risk capability of the enterprise network. It is found that the anti-credit risk capability of the associated enterprise network is enhanced with the increase of enterprises redundant resources. In the process of the prosperity and development of the economic cycle, the credit risks encountered by large enterprises are more likely to cause cascade effect in the enterprise network. This paper expands the application scope of the cascade effect model, and provides a new perspective for enterprises to manage and control credit risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this paper is to facilitate small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to adopt environmental management (EM) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. The study reveals SMEs' motivation, pressure, targets and methods for EM and CSR practices. Additionally, the paper investigates how these variables relate to employee number, turnover and geographical locations. The outcomes of the research will add value to SMEs decision-making processes in both strategic and policy levels (e.g. supplier selection) and policymakers' initiatives to make SMEs environment and socially friendly. Although there are studies on EM and CSR practices of SMEs, they mainly focus on impact of EM and CSR practices on business performance, and SMEs' motivation for adopting EM and CSR practices in specific country. Studies that reveal SMEs' motivation, pressure, targets and methods for EM and CSR practices and their relationship with their characteristics (e.g. size, turn over, and geographical location) are scant. This research bridges this gap. Our data originates from 223 carefully selected representative SMEs in the West Midlands, UK (105) and Kolkata, India (118) covering manufacturing and process industries. The relevant data was collected using questionnaires and analysed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) methods. The results reveal that perceptions of SMEs’ motivation, pressure, targets and methods of EM and CSR practices vary considerably with respect to size, turn over and geographical location. The findings are significant to policymakers, client organizations and individual SME for improving EM and CSR practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green logistics is an important aspect of production system in today’s world. It combines various efforts to quantify and control the environmental effect of production activities in an enterprise. This research is intended to emphasize upon the ways by which organizations can accomplish positive ecological effects simply by modifying their logistics practices. This paper presents a case study of an Indian automobile company by analyzing alternatives for green practices along with organizational objectives. It is imperative to focus on the green practices in context of Indian automobile sector as the volume of vehicles in India has increased considerably during last few decades. Accordingly, this paper attempts to improve the performance for sustainable adaptation of green practices of an Indian company by selecting the best alternative obtained from the use of Analytical Hierarchy Process to analyze alternatives for green practices in the assembly and packaging processes. Alternatives have been evaluated on the basis of three criteria i.e. green efficiency, factor of safety and ease of operation. The study revealed that clinch joint is the most appropriate alternative for assembly operation while carbon positive packaging material is the best alternative for packaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A resurgence of interest in Africa in recent decades has generated an intense ideological, strategic, and pragmatic debate about the most viable strategies which could be implemented to emancipate the continent from her social and economic predicaments. However, most of these policy approaches and prescriptions have been tried before in regimes that did not generate desirable social and economic outcomes. Hence, in this paper, I challenge these policy prescriptions by identifying their inherent weaknesses and limitations and presenting alternative approaches that juxtapose institutions and entrepreneurship as sustainable interventions and solutions to Africa's development challenges, which is followed by a discussion of their implications for policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines prerequisites for a successful inter-state economic corridor development program in a country with a federal system of government through an in-depth study of the design, implementation and the developmental impact of the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) in Malaysia that encompasses the states of Penang, Kedah, Perak and Perlis. The analysis suggests that the NCER has the potential to leverage on the core strengths of the state of Penang—global connectivity, mature business eco-system with a strong presence of multinational enterprises, and sizeable talent pool—in order to redress the widening inter-regional and urban–rural development divide. However, so far, the achievements have not matched the expectations primarily because of an inherent institutional limitation of the program: failure to constitute the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) with adequate power and operational flexibility to achieve the overarching goal of shared growth while ensuring compliance from all stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an optimal contracting theory of short-term firm behavior. Contracts inducing short-sighted managerial behavior arise as shareholders’ response to conflicting intergenerational managerial incentives. High-return projects may last longer than the tenure of managers who implement them. Consequently, inducing managers to act in the long-term interests of firms requires the alignment of incentives across multiple managers. Such action comes at greater costs than providing incentives for a single manager and leads to contracts that favor short-term behavior. Long-term firm value maximization is further impeded when only the quality of accepted projects–but not those of declined projects–is public. In that case, shareholders find it costly to induce long-term project selection among managers who can earn all information rents from short-term projects but must sacrifice information rents from long-term projects to future managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modern endeavors of academic community are targeting the creation of new knowledge in research and innovation areas with direct effects on improving the enterprises’ competitiveness and on the economic development of the society. The paper aims to tackle the competitiveness problem for the enterprise acting in cosmetic and personal care industry and to carefully apply the functional analysis technique on the functional area responsible for selling the products into the domestic market. The findings depict the internal variables responsible for the sustainable development and articulate, prioritize and rank the main competitiveness issues encountered by the trade department of the enterprise acting in the cosmetic industry. By modelling and ranking the main internal variables, it is established the framework for improving the work embedded in the operational processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Indigenous firms in developing countries with large domestic markets have unique advantages: the low end provides “natural” protection from foreign competition, while higher-end segments provide incentives for foreign firms to localize activities and develop channels for future capability building. Paradoxically, in their eagerness to support development efforts of local firms, states often nullify these advantages and limit the opportunities and capabilities that local firms can leverage in the upgrading process. Using the case studies of three large industrial sectors in China that faced similar prospects but had widely different outcomes, this paper develops a framework for understanding how policy shapes the growth and segmentation of markets, and thus the opportunity for industrial upgrading of indigenous firms. The cases show how restrictive demand- and supply-side policies often inadvertently limited the opportunities for upgrading through their effect on the availability of know-how, inputs, and resources required for industrial upgrading (the supply side), and through their effect on the incentives for upgrading (the demand side). Given that each segment is a crucial rung on the development ladder, industrial upgrading efforts stall when state policy inadvertently knocks out rungs on the development ladder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small and medium enterprises are fundamental to economic growth and job generation, especially in developing countries. These companies are crucial for the improvement of social conditions and technological development in poorer regions of the Americas, Asia and Africa. However, local conditions are usually very specific and demand a singular approach for sustainability. This paper presents some results of a research aimed at investigating methodologies and tools to support the application of Design for Sustainability principles adapted to the real conditions of Brazilian small and medium enterprises. These enterprises are mainly based on traditional products and technologies. The results of this research were achieved through identifying elements for development of a sustainable approach, with a focus on design of products in Brazil and other developing countries. The methodology considered variables specifically linked to the local situation. The primary focus was on small companies working in traditional production processes (or craftsmanship) in Minas Gerais State, in southeast Brazil. Four main sustainability aspects were considered: environmental, economic, social and cultural. As a conclusion, three cases of intervention focused on sustainable improvement are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial symbiosis and eco-industrial park have been developed for decades and have significant economic and environmental effects in China. To research the evolution of industrial symbiosis and eco-industrial park construction, and summary the drivers and characteristics of industrial symbiosis development in China, this study uses the National Demonstration Eco-Industrial Park, namely, the Rizhao Economic and Technology Development Area (REDA), as a case study to introduce the industrial symbiosis development process and to research the evolution of industrial symbiosis and eco-industrial park construction, and summarizes the drivers and characteristics of industrial symbiosis development in China. Based on in-depth investigation of enterprises and the government in REDA, three stages (1991–2002, 2003–2006, 2007–2011) of industrial symbiosis development are identified, 31 inter-firms symbiosis performances involving cereal oil and food, machinery, pulp and paper, textile and garment, wine refining, and biochemical industries were formed since REDA was founded in 1991. Results show the environmental benefits of industrial symbiosis performances in 2011, and argue that economic benefits, mainly resulted from stricter environmental standards, tax preference, benefits from material substitution, and financial subsidies, is the critical driver for the stakeholders to participate in industrial symbiosis. The action of governments in industrial symbiosis development is to constituting strict environmental standards, resource comprehensive utilization schemes, financial support and circular economy and eco-industrial park planning guidance. This article provides some unique characteristics of industrial symbiosis growth in a developing country from enterprises and government aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The provision of subsidised workspace for small enterprises has been a public sector concern in many developed economies since the 1960s. In recent years, the focus of economic development initiatives has shifted away from supply side initiatives, such as fiscal incentives and the direct provision of premises, towards a consideration of the collective provision of infrastructure and services, in order to meet demands of businesses and workers in cities where there is already strong demand and growth. As well as this shift from supply- to demand-side initiatives, there has been a change in the political ideological approach to land and property development, away from public sector direct provision and funding, to place greater onus on the private sector to deliver development, infrastructure and services. The introduction of ‘affordable workspace’ planning policies by local authorities in London from the early 2000s is part of this shift – building on more established key worker and affordable housing policies. This paper evaluates the success of affordable workspace planning policies in thirteen mixed use schemes in London, from the perspectives of developers and workspace providers, who are responsible for delivering and managing the affordable workspace. First, it finds that the perspective of the developer, in particular whether it sees affordable workspace policy as (a) an opportunity, (b) a ‘tool’ to secure planning permission or (c) a burden, is mostly influenced by the way in which the affordable workspace emerged within the proposal. Developers’ perspectives and the success of their partnerships with workspace providers are critical to the successful delivery of affordable workspace within the scheme. Second, the findings show that ‘affordable workspace’ is difficult to define and deliver, with different interpretations used by delivery partners and the ability of workspace providers to deliver affordability depends critically on their organisational model. Finally, the research shows that although there are clear benefits of the policy for artists and small, creative industry businesses, it is not benefiting low-value manufacturers or small family-run retail and service businesses, nor is it generally benefiting start-ups. The implications of policy outcomes for economic development are considered; overall the beneficial impacts are limited. The research concludes that the predominant model of affordable workspace policy being promoted in London will fail to meet the aspirations of policy makers, with the limited success of policy further compounded by the global recession of the late-2000s. Alternative or complementary strategies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]