Journal of Management Studies

Grint, Keith; Case, Peter

doi: 10.1111/1467-6486.00109pmid: N/A

Business process re‐engineering (BPR) was a leading form of organizational restructuring from the late 1980s until the late 1990s. This paper seeks to contextualize its development and account for its particularly bellicose language by reflecting on its historical antecedents in the west and its contemporary competitors in the east. We suggest that one way of reading BPR is as a form of ‘inverse colonization’ in which US managerial discourse both assimilated and revolted against the growing domination of Japanese thinking and practice. We conclude with some speculative comments on related causes of the rise of violent managerial rhetoric.

Campling, John T.; Michelson, Grant

doi: 10.1111/1467-6486.00110pmid: N/A

Since the late 1980s there has been a marked increase in the rate of union restructuring and merger in both Britain and Australia. This has been particularly prevalent in the film and broadcasting industries in both countries. This organizational change has largely been triggered by environmental turbulence which has altered the availability and control of resources required for organizational survival. Accepting the concept from strategic choice theory that trade unions are able to exercise a degree of choice over the way in which they manage and adapt to changes in their external and internal environments, the paper demonstrates how an integration of strategic choice and resource dependence perspectives can explain why organizations behave in different ways and, in particular, why trade union mergers in the film and broadcasting industries have occurred. Further, the perspective also explains why some trade unions chose not to merge. An integration of resource dependence theory with strategic choice theory explains why trade unions make particular strategic decisions. Conversely, strategic choice explains how organizations acquire resources and manage dependencies. The paper concludes by making the case for an integration of the two perspectives for future studies of organizational behaviour and change.

Andrews, William A.; Dowling, Michael J.

doi: 10.1111/1467-6486.00111pmid: N/A

Much debate has been generated about whether privatization tends to enhance firm financial performance. The research presented here seeks to identify the strategic choices that differentiated firms with superior post‐privatization performance from those with inferior post‐privatization performance. Using agency theory as a theoretical foundation, it is hypothesized that superior post‐privatization firm performance will be associated with (1) the government not retaining a significant stock holding, (2) changes in leadership, (3) management stock options being initiated, (4) employee head count being reduced, and (5) the company being restructured financially. The sample draws from 41 privatized firms from six industry classifications and 15 countries. To accommodate comparisons of small subsamples, non‐parametric statistical methods are used. Controlling for size, industry and country (economic/regulatory effects), the hypotheses are generally supported except for the one relating to headcount.

Uhlenbruck, Nikolaus; Castro, Julio de

doi: 10.1111/1467-6486.00112pmid: N/A

Privatization, especially in developing countries, presents international firms with opportunities for market entry and growth, but acquirers have to consider the distinct characteristics of a state owned enterprise (SOE) and the influence of the government as seller and policy maker. This study introduces a model, based on mergers and acquisitions literature and microeconomic theory, that explains the critical relationships among characteristics of the SOE, the government, and the acquirer. Public administration research suggests that the critical characteristics of SOEs are their sources of funding and their mode of social control of the organization, and recent work in privatizing countries emphasizes the influence of the government. The theoretical framework for the model suggested here is derived from research within the field of strategic management on mergers and acquisitions. The paper develops propositions regarding the organizational fit between private firms and those heretofore owned by governments and discusses research and managerial implications.

Adams, Mike; Hardwick, Philip

doi: 10.1111/1467-6486.00113pmid: N/A

Drawing a framework from stakeholder theory, this study uses 1994 data drawn from 100 United Kingdom listed companies to test empirically whether the level of discretionary donations made by companies to charitable, social and political causes is related to four company‐specific factors, namely leverage, company size, profitability and ownership structure. Consistent with our hypotheses, the results indicate that the decision to contribute funds to charities and other bodies is positively related to company size and profitability and negatively related to leverage. However, the study provides no support for the view that there is a link between discretionary donations and a company's ownership structure.

Wagner III, John A.; Stimpert, J. L.; Fubara, Edward I.

doi: 10.1111/1467-6486.00114pmid: N/A

This paper presents two studies that examine the commonly held belief that corporate boards are more likely to have positive effects on organizational performance when composed of outside directors. The first study – a meta‐analysis of 63 correlations – indicates that, on average, the greater presence of outsiders is associated with higher performance, but so too is the greater presence of insiders. Instead of providing evidence of a positive outsider effect, these results suggest the existence of a curvilinear homogeneity effect in which performance is enhanced by the greater relative presence of either inside or outside directors. The second study – a hierarchical polynomial regression analysis of data from 259 large US companies – confirms the existence of a curvilinear relationship between insider/outsider composition and performance measured as return on assets.

doi: 10.1111/1467-6486.00115pmid: N/A

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