Hoogovens Steel (HS) is a vertically integrated steel company, which until 1995 was functionally structured. During the eighties the steel market became saturated and more heterogeneous. In order to remain a flexible, market-oriented company, HS changed its organizational structure, by...

The purpose of this article is to examine through a case study of the merger of Telia-Telenor why firms from apparently similar national cultures can fail to form a co-operative venture. Telia and Telenor were the largest telecom operators in Sweden and Norway, respectively. Both were...

The impact of China's modernization during the past three decades (1978-2008) on the changes of Chinese behaviours is salient. However, these changes have had an even greater impact on Chinese values. Indeed, China seems to have never given up its single most important cultural characteristic,...

This article studies the factors that could affect success and failure in business negotiations with the People's Republic of China (PRC). By comparing this study with two earlier studies on the same subject conducted in the 1980s and 1990s, respectively, the article suggests that both success...

Tournaments are widely used to assign bonuses and determine promotions. Tournament-based compensation is motivating because of the link between relative performance and financial rewards. However, performing relatively well (poorly) may also yield psychological benefits (pain). This may also...

This paper uses the national firm level survey data to investigate the effects of Chinese unions on firm performance. We show that Chinese unions have a strong "State-Party voice" face and a "collective voice" face but lack of "monopoly" face. The government influence plays an important role in...

The conditions under which profit sharing affects workplace productivity have never been fully understood. Using panel data, this paper examines whether there is any link between adoption of an employee profit sharing plan and subsequent productivity growth in Canadian establishments, and...