Searching for sustainable competitive advantage --From tangibles to intangibles

The purpose of this paper is to emphasize on the growing importance of the intangible assets for a firm＇s sustainable competitive advantage--by considering both the features that a strategic asset must meet and the high potential of the intangible assets to fulfill those features. First, we outline the changing environment finns are operating in--at global and industry＇s level as well; second, we emphasize on the evolving theory of the resource-based view of the firm--as the main framework integrating all the assets of a firm and its relationships with the environment; third, we underline the need for organizational and managerial change and development by making the shift from tangibles to intangibles. We find that the theory in the field evolved within last years, but the conceptual framework is far from being exhaustive and unitary. The paper may be continued with the developing of a conceptual framework which is able to identify the specific intangible assets that may become strategic, their determinants, the interconnections between them, and their integration into successful competitive strategies. The practical implications of the paper consist in offering some guidelines for firms in the search of global competitiveness through the valorization of there intangible assets. The paper emphasizes that, in order to achieve sustainable competitive advantage, strategic management must develop a comprehensive, dynamic and innovative resource-based model--unique for each firm.     

How Organizational Learning Is Supported by Performance Management Systems: Evidence from a Longitudinal Case Study

Abstract

Performance management is meant to encourage organizational change by providing better and more relevant feedback to managers. But there is no denying the complexity of learning and change. How performance management helps this process goes beyond the simple availability of performance information. In this study, we examine the learning processes in a large Belgian public organization through interviews of managers, directors, and administrators. By using 4Is framework of organizational learning—from Intuitions to Interpretation to Integration to Institutionalization—we identify critical blocks and enablers of learning and change. Critical impediments include off-topic discussions of performance information, lack of opportunity to share and discuss management practices, and limited motivation to change entrenched processes of work. Performance management also provides reliable enablers of organizational learning, such as giving credibility-by-results to new management practices, focusing discussions on processes that lead to measurable results, the ability to follow new innovations closely as they are implemented, and the possibility of creating a learning culture supported by performance information. Finally, we discuss how perceived credibility of performance information is crucial to organizational learning and how it is reinforced by use and dialogue.     

Media Motivation and Elite Rhetoric in Comparative Perspective

The exchange of diverse points of view in elite deliberation is considered a cornerstone of democracy. This study presents evidence that variations in political motivation for media use predict the tendency of politicians to present deliberative rhetoric that considers multiple points of view regarding issues and sees those views as related to one another. We surveyed 111 incumbent Members of Parliament in Belgium, Canada, and Israel and analyzed a large sample of their parliamentary speeches. The findings demonstrate that motivation to attain media coverage and act upon information from the news media leads politicians to strategically display simple and unidimensional rhetoric due to newsworthiness considerations, but only in countries where the media constitute important resources for reelection. The results contribute to extant literature by demonstrating a media effect on elite deliberation and by emphasizing the moderating role of political systems on the nature of elite rhetoric.     

Co-existing logics of change: The case of the Danish associational development championships

This article addresses modernization processes within the voluntary sector. It examines how volunteer-based sports associations (VSAs) are encouraged to work with their own self-development, when they participate in the Danish Associational Development Championships (DADC). Drawing on Foucault’s concepts of ‘governmentality’ and ‘dispositive’, the article shows how the governmental rationality of the DADC is pieced together by a number of different logics of change. This makes it ambiguous what the function of VSAs is, who they function for, and why they need to change. The article thus advances our knowledge of the socio-political nature of modernization strategies and techniques.     

Predictors of an Effective Performance Measurement System: Evidence from Municipal Governments in Turkey

The study examines the predictors of effective performance measurement in the context of Turkish municipalities. Theoretical guidance of context-design-performance model has been utilized to examine the contextual and design factors which have influenced the effective use of performance measurement systems in Turkish municipalities. It is hypothesized in the study that external support and organizational support for the use performance measurement, and technical capacity for the performance measurement are associated with quality of performance measures and effectiveness of performance measurement systems in general. The results of the study supported the hypotheses of the study regarding the relationships among organizational support, technical capacity, quality of performance measures, and effectiveness of performance measurement. Although the results confirmed that external support has an indirect effect on effectiveness of performance measurement via technical capacity and quality of performance measures, the hypothesis regarding the direct effect of it on effectiveness of performance measurement was not supported.     

政策科学的演进逻辑与范式变迁

政策科学作为一门应用性跨学科研究的新兴学科,在世界各国和各领域因其能解决社会现实问题而蓬勃发展。随着中国改革开放的不断深入,外部环境复杂多变,政策科学势必面临各种新的挑战。文章以政策科学的发展过程为研究对象,系统梳理国内外文献,归纳总结政策科学发展的三个阶段及其演进逻辑,提炼出政策科学研究范式的转换路径。同时,文章针对现阶段政策科学研究存在的问题——对民主性或科学性的盲目追求,提出今后政策科学应当促进民主与科学的融合以及跨学科研究,紧密结合中国的实际情况,创新政策科学理论与方法,推动中国政策科学的繁荣发展。     

习近平人类命运共同体思想的建构逻辑与价值外延

党的十八大以来,习近平总书记在众多国际外交场合以及国内重要会议上,反复阐述人类命运共同体思想,并进行了深刻论证。它是建构在共同国际权益观、共同利益观、共同可持续发展观的价值基础之上,以马克思共同体思想为来源,以中国优秀传统文化为动力,以历代党的领导人的思想为基础,面对当前世界性发展难题提出的中国国际秩序观。此外,它的价值实现了外延,为世界走向和平、走向共同发展、实现全球治理提供了现实可能的“中国方案”。     

Using Social Media to Increase Nonprofit Organizational Capacity

This study examines social media utilization in nonprofit organizations (NPOs) for increasing organizational capacity. Using data from a survey of human service NPOs in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the study finds that NPOs that post frequently on their social media sites and use dedicated funding are more likely to perceive social media as being effective in increasing their organizational capacity. However, NPOs that use Twitter, videos, and community-building posts are less likely to perceive social media as being effective. The study also reveals that NPOs face major challenges in social media use regarding resources, expertise, leadership and constituency.     

从物质变换裂缝视角看当代生态危机的根源

物质变换裂缝所揭示的是,在资本主义条件下,人类社会与自然界之间的物质变换的异化状态,其突出的表现就是当代生态危机问题。借助物质变换裂缝,马克思得出资本主义和生态之间是整体性的对抗关系的结论。物质变换裂缝既是对资本主义进行生态批判的切入点,又是剖析当代生态危机的理论基石。从物质变换裂缝的视角看当代生态危机产生的根源,是一个全新的理论路径。     

农民工市民化行为的文化逻辑——一项来自城市农民工安全经济学的分析尝试

在农民工市民化研究中,结构解释与文化解释构成了农民工行为分析的主要逻辑。农民工在市民化进程中,遵照"安全第一"与理性选择原则,建构起了一种生存层面安全、经济技术层面安全以及社会文化价值层面安全三者统一的安全经济学。这为地方政府制度建构与制度过密化防范提供了切入点。