There is no doubt that management practices are linked to the productivity and performance of a company. However, research findings are mixed. This paper provides a multi-disciplinary review of the current evidence of such a relationship and offers suggestions for further exploration...

This paper discusses the theory and evidence behind the logic of business process outsourcing, with a specific focus on human resource outsourcing (HRO). Market analysts project rapid growth in the global market for HRO, from around $30 billion in 2005 to just over $40 billion in 2008. The paper...

Commentators suggest that to survive in developed economies manufacturing firms have to move up the value chain, innovating and creating ever more sophisticated products and services, so they do not have to compete on the basis of cost. While this strategy is proving increasingly popular with...

The concept of “vertical architecture” defines the scope of a firm and the extent to which it is open to final and intermediate markets. A firm can make or buy inputs, and transfer outputs downstream or sell them. Permeable vertical architectures are partly integrated and partly open to the...

When do firms expand abroad? Theory to date suggests that global expansion happens when firm-specific competitive advantages outweigh country-specific difficulties in operating abroad. Differences in culture, in legislation, in administrative practices, and in the overall institutional...

Extending Teece's landmark 1986 article, we consider how innovators benefit from value appropriation and creation. We elaborate on value appropriation, first by pointing out the importance of “industry architectures”, i.e. sector-wide templates that circumscribe the division of labor; and...