Resumo em Inglês:

This paper deals with in-house off-shoring of product development activities, here defined as the cost and efficiency motivated shifting of product development projects within the network of multinational companies (MNC) to low and medium wage countries. The aim of the paper is to develop and test a succinct model which is based on transaction cost reasoning and which explains how and why different governance forms can be combined in order to reap efficiency gains in off-shoring. The results from a structural equations model suggest support for a configuration which positively associates in-house off-shoring with local outsourcing and negatively associates in-house off-shoring with local cooperation in product development. The results are moderated by size and age of the MNC subsidiary, suggesting that larger subsidiaries are more likely to become an offshore destination and to outsource part of their product development. I argue that this combination of governance forms increases scale, flexibility and speed to market while reducing costs and knowledge leakage hazards. The results imply that the internalization theory should be extended in order to take account of off-shoring and its distinctive characteristics.

Resumo em Inglês:

This study examines conditions in which alliance networks (informal webs of bilateral entanglements between firms) may or may not evolve into multilateral alliances (broad, formal multiple-firm arrangements). I offer a theory to explain the formation of multilateral alliances based on both the resource profile and the structure of existing interfirm networks, and provide an initial test of that theory in the context of the global airline industry. Using data from 75 global airlines and their alliances, I propose a methodology to retrieve samples of alliance networks and then use regression analysis to assess how the resource profile and the structure of these networks influence their formalization into multilateral alliances. I find that multilateral alliances are more likely to emerge when alliance networks exhibit high resource diversity and network structure characterized by moderate density and high centralization. Apparently, while highly sparse networks reduce actors' awareness of their potential joint collaboration, highly dense or embedded networks substitute for the need for formal controls accompanying multilateral agreements. The effect of centralization suggests that the formation of multilateral alliances tends to be triggered by leading actors directly connected to other network members.

Resumo em Inglês:

Sometimes organizations described as benevolent, focusing on stable procedures and cordial relations are regarded as examples of collective indolence and likely to be out-competed by aggressive, merciless and stress-prone organizations. In this paper we suggest that some managers and organizations follow a requisite stress principle, according to which stress inside organizations is treated as a variable to be equated to the stress level perceived to prevail in the institutionalized environment the organization operates. We thus predict the relationship between stress-inducing practices, individual responses and performance to be recursively explained. When organizations induce stress at levels that are different from those admitted institutionally as normal levels, there will be a negative response to this induction. When induced stress levels are considered excessive, activities will be inhibited because fear will control the capacity of people to deal with situations and act in an appropriate manner. The validity of this principle implies that control of stress in organizations is as complex as the level of stress in society: it will depend on the control of stress levels coming from society. The principle consequently puts an end to any management aspirations to use stress as a managing mechanism and for inducing behavior.

Resumo em Inglês:

This paper aims to compare the performance of two modes of provision of prison services: public, and with the participation of private companies. There are few empirical studies concerning the alternative modes of governance in this sector, which differs from other public utilities in that there is an absence of network externalities and scale economies. In addition, an understanding of informal institutions is crucial for the performance of the service provider, either public or private. In this paper, we build a comparative analysis of two case studies of similar correctional facilities, one public and the other outsourced to a private company under the supervision of civil servants (hybrid governance structure), both located in the same region of Brazil. We found that the privately operated facility has achieved better performance indicators (in terms of number of escapes, riots, deaths, assistance to inmates etc.) than the public facility, which in part refutes the arguments of Hart, Shleifer and Vishny (1997) against private participation in prison services. We conclude that the reasons for these differences are related to lower levels of administrative controls; to the presence of civil servants within the privately operated prison, which contributes to reducing information asymmetries; to greater incentives for the private operator: to monitor employees, to bypass local judiciary constraints and to fulfill contractual obligations.

Resumo em Inglês:

This paper seeks to challenge some assumptions associated with Critical Management Studies (CMS). This is done based on insights originating from the Actor-Network Theory (ANT), an approach that can be considered as an empirical form of post-structuralism and that has gained prominence in social sciences. Fundamentally, this paper broadly reviews some key CMS ideas associated with this perspective ontology to argue that what CMS usually tends to take as explanation is exactly what has to be explained. Moreover, it discusses CMS' problematic view of objects and its tendency to neglect how existence is kept and maintained.