Showing papers by "Aalto University published in 2002"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed and tested a model of family firm governance that incorporates both formal control and social control aspects of governance, and examined the influence of different governance mechanisms on the quality of strategic decision-making.
Abstract: Governance of family firms differs from mainstream corporate governance in an important respect: Important owners, i.e., family members, may have multiple roles in the business. In this paper, we develop and test a model of family firm governance that incorporates both formal control and social control aspects of governance. Governance based on the formal control draws on agency theory, whereas the social control aspects draw on social theories of governance, addressing social capital embedded in relationships. Drawing on these theories, we examine the influence of different governance mechanisms on the quality of strategic decision making. The Family Business Governance Model is tested using survey data from 192 family firms in Finland. We use structural equation modeling in testing the empirical validity of the model. The empirical analysis largely supports our hypotheses on formal control and social control as well as their influences on the decision-making quality.
468 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the effects of integrated, enterprise-wide information systems on management accounting and management accountants' work and find that ERPS projects have led to relatively small changes in management accounting, and in most cases, advanced management accounting techniques are operated in separate systems.
468 citations
TL;DR: This article focused on the discursive construction of success and failure in narratives of post-merger integration and found that success stories are likely to lead to overly optimistic or, in the case of failure stories, overly pessimistic views on the management's ability to control these change pro...
Abstract: This article concentrates on the discursive construction of success and failure in narratives of post-merger integration. Drawing on extensive interview material from eight Finnish-Swedish mergers and acquisitions, the empirical analysis leads to distinguishing four types of discourse — `rationalistic', `cultural', `role-bound' and `individualistic' — that narrators employ in recounting their experiences. In particular, the empirical material illustrates how the discursive frameworks enable specific (discursive) strategies and moves for (re)framing the success/failure, justification/legitimization of one's own actions, and (re)construction of responsibility when dealing with socio-psychological pressures associated with success/failure. The analysis also suggests that, as a result of making use of these discursive strategies and moves, success stories are likely to lead to overly optimistic or, in the case of failure stories, overly pessimistic views on the management's ability to control these change pro...
386 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify four main themes of previous research on elite interviewing: access, power, openness and feedback, and discuss a number of procedures that might be used to balance the power of elite interviewees while maintaining the requirements of academic integrity.
345 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a longitudinal case study aims to further develop the accounting change model of Cobb et al by specifying the types of barrier which may hinder, delay or even prevent the process of management accounting change in practice.
265 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the ways in which "green consumers" reject their received subjectivity as consumers and adopt new forms of subjectivity that are more in line with their environmentalist ideology.
Abstract: This paper discusses the representation of “green consumerism” in the prevalent institutionalised discourses of green consumerism, and in the self‐narratives of people who identify themselves as ecologically oriented citizens, focusing on the construction of the self and the other in these texts The aim is to investigate the ways in which “radical” ecologically oriented citizens, who are largely “marginalised” and positioned as the other in the dominant discourses of green consumerism, engage in resistance towards western, materialistic consumption culture Drawing from the Foucauldian ideas of political struggle as the “politics of the self”, and personal ethics and moral agency as a mode of self‐formation, this paper analyses the ways in which these “green consumers” reject their received subjectivity as consumers The focus is on the practices of self, and on the ways in which they invent and promote new forms of subjectivity that are more in line with their environmentalist ideology
252 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, the impact of innovation and innovation assets on firm value was studied using a new data set covering a sample of UK firms, 1989-1995, and they found that the flow of R&D and the use of new technologies (as measured by investment in tangible assets) had significant positive impacts on market value.
Abstract: Using a new data set covering a sample of UK firms, 1989-1995, we study the impact of innovation and innovation assets on firm value. We find, for all reporting firms, that the flow of R&D and the use of new technologies (as measured by investment in tangible assets) have significant positive impacts on market value. A patent count variable is insignificant in cross section estimates, although significant but impacting negatively in panel estimates. A sample of firms reporting their R&D for the first time yields much larger estimates of the impact of R&D on market value than in the sample of all reporting firms.
179 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focused on justification, legitimization and naturalization processes in three historically significant cases in the Finnish media and revealed four distinctive discourse types: rationalistic, cultural, societal, and individualistic.
Abstract: This article concentrates on the discursive construction of mergers and acquisitions in the media. Drawing on critical discourse analysis, the article focuses on justification, legitimization and naturalization processes in three historically significant cases in the Finnish media. The analysis reveals four distinctive discourse types- `rationalistic', `cultural', `societal' and `individualistic'-and elaborates their structural characteristics. The analysis shows that rationalistic discourses typically dominate discussion, while the other discourses are subordinated to the rationalistic discursive practices. This usually means justification of particular merger or acquisition deals and legitimization of specific actions taken by management. In the longer run, this is likely to lead to naturalization of specific management practices in the mergers and acquisitions context.
178 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed a time use approach towards consumption, which made allowance for the subjectivity of needs, while still enabling the analysts to approach the concept of a sustainable lifestyle.
177 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a study of communication within a Finland-based MNC, Kone Elevators, interviews with staff globally revealed problems not only for non-native speakers, but also for native speakers of English.
Abstract: Horizontal communication between subsidiaries of the same multinational corpo ration (MNC) is a Problem faced by staff as the demands for communicating across borders are pushed downwards in the organizational hierarchy. Although the choice of English as the common corporate language alleviates some of the hor izontal communication problems, it does not solve them all-particularly not when many subsidiaries are located in non-English speaking countries. In that situation, horizontal communication between subsidiaries can be a significant casualty.In a study of communication within a Finland-based MNC, Kone Elevators, interviews with staff globally revealed problems not only for non-native speakers, but also for native speakers of English. Illustrative interview data suggests that cor porate training schemes should focus on the broad spectrum of international com munication rather than on increasing a systematic knowledge of any one language.
177 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the role of LCA in environmental management and policy is considered, and empirical data from interviews with wholesale-retail purchasers are used to illustrate how the life cycle approach influences economic agents.
TL;DR: In this paper, the impact of innovation and innovation assets on firm value was studied using a new data set covering a sample of UK firms, 1989-1995, and they found that the now of R&D and the use of new technologies (as measured by investment in tangible assets) have significant positive impacts on market value.
Abstract: Using a new data set covering a sample of UK firms, 1989-1995, we study the impact of innovation and innovation assets on firm value. We find, for all reporting firms, that the now of R&D and the use of new technologies (as measured by investment in tangible assets) have significant positive impacts on market value. A patent count variable is insignificant in cross section estimates, although significant but impacting negatively in panel estimates. A sample of firms reporting their R&D for the first dine yields much larger estimates of the impact of R&D on market value than in the sample of all reporting firms. Copyright 2002 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd
TL;DR: The authors examined how the media (re)constructs meanings in a major cross-border merger and argued that the two basic discourses are enacted in three analytically distinct discursive practices in the media: factualizing, rationalizing and emotionalizing.
Abstract: In this article, we put forward a novel way of exploring difference and contradiction in merging organizations. We examine how the media (re)constructs meanings in a major cross-border merger. Based on an analysis of press coverage, we attempt to specify and illustrate how particular issues are (re)constructed in media texts through interpretations of ‘winning’ and ‘losing’. We also show how specific discourses are drawn on in this (re)construction. In the merger studied, discourse based on economic and financial rationale dominated the media coverage. Discourse promoting nationalistic sentiments, however, provided an alternative discursive frame to the dominant rationalistic discourse. We argue that the two basic discourses are enacted in three analytically distinct discursive practices in the media: factualizing, rationalizing and emotionalizing. We suggest that the ability of different actors such as top managers to make use of different discursive strategies and resources in promoting their ‘versions of reality’ in the media (or public discussion) is a crucial avenue for research in this area.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate a sequential phenomenon that can only occur in multiperson interaction: the alignment of two or more participants into teams in the course of a disagreement, and show that the first and second dissenting turns are often produced very rapidly, often in overlap with each other.
TL;DR: In this article, the existence of risk premiums in actual audit fees after direct control of audit effort through audit hours in a legal environment (Finland) that can be characterised as mildly litigious.
Abstract: This paper documents the existence of risk premiums in actual audit fees after direct control of audit effort through audit hours in a legal environment (Finland) that can be characterised as mildly litigious. Audit fee and hour data were obtained from the internal archives of four Big Six audit firms. The results suggest that when the client is a listed company, or when the auditor's perceived business risk of the client is higher than average, the audit fee contains a risk premium. As the existence of risk premiums can be documented in the institutional setting examined in this paper, they are also likely to be found in more litigious settings.
TL;DR: In this paper, a Finnish Business Manager who works in a multinational corporation was observed for one day and most of the discourse activities during the day were tape-recorded, and copies were taken of the written materials.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the customers using the services offered by the electronic grocery stores (EGS) in the greater Helsinki area, and reveal the benefits of the EGS service and problems that the customers have faced when shopping in EGS.
19 Oct 2002
TL;DR: This paper analyzes the main characteristics of PDAs (personal digital assistants) and their influence to the guidelines for Web publishing and suggests some guidelines that should be applicable to PDA services.
Abstract: Wireless access to the Internet via PDAs (personal digital assistants) provides Web type services in the mobile world. What we are lacking are design guidelines for such PDA services. For Web publishing, however, there are many resources to look for guidelines. The guidelines can be classified according to which aspect of the Web media they are related: software/hardware, content and its organization, or aesthetics and layout. In order to be applicable to PDA services, these guidelines have to be modified. In this paper we analyze the main characteristics of PDAs and their influence to the guidelines.
TL;DR: In this paper, the implications of heterogeneity across forecasts by the central bank and private agents for the performance of interest-rate rules are studied from a learning perspective, and the authors propose a learning-based approach to evaluate the desirability of different optimal and ad hoc interest rate rules under the assumption that forecasts of the private sector and central bank are homogeneous.
Abstract: Recent models of monetary policy have analysed the desirability of different optimal and ad hoc interest-rate rules under the restrictive assumption that forecasts of the private sector and central bank are homogeneous. In this paper, we study from a learning perspective the implications of heterogeneity across forecasts by the central bank and private agents for the performance of interest-rate rules.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the random strategies women adopt in resisting patriarchal articulations of their professional identity and the kind of organizational discourses women's resistance brings about, focusing on describing the context, dynamics of contradictory tensions and ambivalence inherent in situations of resisting.
Abstract: This article explores the random strategies women adopt in resisting patriarchal articulations of their professional identity and the kind of organizational discourses women’s resistance brings about The focus is on describing the context, dynamics of contradictory tensions and ambivalence inherent in situations of resisting The article draws upon the authors’ own experiences in academia In addition to participatory observation, the authors are using themselves as research instruments that enable them to highlight the emotions and ambivalent dynamics in the construction of gendered identities and power relations in organizations
The study indicates that there are several sets of rules in motion in one and the same social situation, such as the rules of organizational behaviour, rules of friendship and the rules of gender relations in public places By describing two overtly sexualized discourses that women’s resistance brought about, the article highlights that organizational sexuality does not necessarily differ in kind or in degree from ‘street sexuality’ or sexuality in semi-public places The study’s findings argue that it is important to extend research to both informal and semi-formal organizational gatherings These liminal spaces are important sites of communicative struggles over organizational meanings and identities
TL;DR: This paper studies convergence properties of inexact variants of the proximal point algorithm when applied to a certain class of nonmonotone mappings and shows that the linear convergence property is preserved in the case when the inverse of the operator is locally Lipschitz continuous near the origin.
Abstract: This paper studies convergence properties of inexact variants of the proximal point algorithm when applied to a certain class of nonmonotone mappings. The presented algorithms allow for constant relative errors, in the line of the recently proposed hybrid proximal-extragradient algorithm. The main convergence result extends a recent work of the second author, where exact solutions for the proximal subproblems were required. We also show that the linear convergence property is preserved in the case when the inverse of the operator is locally Lipschitz continuous near the origin. As an application, we give a convergence analysis for an inexact version of the proximal method of multipliers for a rather general family of problems which includes variational inequalities and constrained optimization problems.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine sales channel strategies for international expansion as a means of compensating for constantly decreasing unit prices and margins in the personal computer (PC) industry operation in the European Union market.
Abstract: The authors examine sales channel strategies for international expansion as a means of compensating for constantly decreasing unit prices and margins in the personal computer (PC) industry operation in the European Union market. The authors describe and analyze the development from single (direct or indirect) to multiple (dual or hybrid) sales channel strategy for international expansion on the basis of four theoretical approaches. The methodology used is a qualitative research strategy. The authors conduct a longitudinal multiple case study consisting of 20 top management interviews related to four cases. They examine the development of the sales channel strategies of selected large companies in the European PC business. Multiple sales channels, especially the hybrid ones, are an optimal solution for expanding sales volumes. The results contribute to the relatively underresearched area of multiple channels, and the managerial implications drawn should be helpful not only to PC companies but also...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine empirically how two companies have learnt to incorporate environmental considerations into their managerial paradigms and identify phases of environmental learning starting from the recognition or rejection of weak signals in "pockets" of the organization, continuing through the gaining of new knowledge and experience towards competition between old and new assumptions about the business-environment relationship, and finally proceeding to potential frame-break.
Abstract: Contrary to the popular conception in the corporate environmental management literature that corporations must learn new ecocentric paradigms before they can be expected to produce environmentally sound performance, the present results suggest that cognitive–level environmental learning in organizations does not inevitably precede behaviour change. Rather, at least partially, such learning is likely to occur in the course of action. The article also proposes that external pressure can set motion, but it alone does not lead to an environmental paradigm shift. In order to undergo such a shift, organizations will have to learn a meaning of their own to support new, more environmentally sound forms of activity.
The present study examines empirically how two companies have learnt to incorporate environmental considerations into their managerial paradigms. It adopts a perspective according to which learning is portrayed as a process in which changes are brought about in the collective beliefs that the organization members hold about the relationship of their business to the natural environment (i.e. environmental management paradigm). Applying the grounded theory approach, the article identifies phases of environmental learning starting from the recognition or rejection of weak signals in ‘pockets’ of the organization, continuing through the gaining of new knowledge and experience towards ‘competition’ between old and new assumptions about the business–environment relationship, and finally proceeding to potential frame–break.
TL;DR: In this article, the existence of the cyclical solution and its global stability properties using elementary methods was proved and the occurrence of cycles in forest harvesting was given a resource economics interpretation.
TL;DR: The results showed that, in vertical lists, 4-5 words could be identified during a single fixation, whereas according to previous studies the horizontal word identification span is about 10 character spaces, which corresponds to 1-2 words.
TL;DR: In this article, an extended conceptual framework developed by previous researchers and providing an application in a health care setting is presented. The main purpose of this work is to test the usefulness and to increase the understanding of the framework in a case environment.
Abstract: It has been suggested that successful Supply Chain Management (SCM) requires the understanding and management of three important issues: who are the members in the supply chain; which supply chain processes link them; and. What type/level of integration do these supply chain processes require? This article is based on an extended conceptual framework developed by previous researchers and provides an application in a health care setting. The main purpose of this work is to test the usefulness and to increase the understanding of the framework in a case environment. The objective is to assess the applicability of this supply chain framework for managerial purposes.
TL;DR: This paper analyses how several open source companies use dual licensing: both open source and proprietary licenses for one product.
Abstract: This paper analyses how several open source companies use dual licensing: both open source and proprietary licenses for one product. Three case studies based on the experiences of companies Sleepycat Software Inc., MySQL AB, and TrollTech AS illustrate the issue. Especially the legal and economic requirements of dual licensing are identified.
TL;DR: In this paper, different methods for determination of total anionic groups were compared on a broad selection of pulps, including hexenuronic acid, determined by enzymatic hydrolysis and HPLC (High Pressure Liquid Chromatography).
Abstract: Anionic or acidic groups in pulp fibres are important for many interactions in pulping and papermaking. The total amount of anionic groups can be determined by acid-base titration, as well as different sorption and ion-exchange techniques. In this study, different methods for determination of total anionic groups were compared on a broad selection of pulps. Conductometric titration with NaOH and methylene blue sorption gave very similar results on all pulps, and both methods had a good repeatability. The methylene blue technique is especially attractive because of its simplicity. Polyelectrolyte adsorption with polybrene generally gave higher readings, was less repeatable, and was also a very laborious method. Uronic acids, including hexenuronic acid, determined by enzymatic hydrolysis and HPLC (High Pressure Liquid Chromatography), represented only 20–60% of the total anionic groups in the kraft pulps. Uronic acids analysed by acid methanolysis and GC (Gas Chromatography) usually represents 70–100% of the anionic groups in mechanical pulps.
TL;DR: The results suggest that the reading condition significantly effects both the reading measures and the emotional evaluation of the news content, and the results have several implications both on background music research and on use of background music in the news services, advertising and multimodal environments.
TL;DR: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the use of Value Efficiency Analysis (VEA) in efficiency evaluation when preference information is taken into account and briefly review the main ideas in value efficiency analysis and discuss practical aspects related to the use.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the use of Value Efficiency Analysis (VEA) in efficiency evaluation when preference information is taken into account. Value efficiency analysis is an approach, which applies the ideas developed for Multiple Objective Linear Programming (MOLP) to Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Preference information is given through the desirable structure of input- and output-values. The same values can be used for all units under evaluation or the values can be specific for each unit. A decision-maker can specify the input- and output-values subjectively without any support or (s)he can use a multiple criteria support system to assist him/her to find those values on the efficient frontier. The underlying assumption is that the most preferred values maximize the decision-maker's implicitly known value function in a production possibility set or a subset. The purpose of value efficiency analysis is to estimate a need to increase outputs and/or decrease inputs for reaching the indifference contour of the value function at the optimum. In this paper, we briefly review the main ideas in value efficiency analysis and discuss practical aspects related to the use of value efficiency analysis. We also consider some extensions.