Xosé H. Vázquez

Allocating Decision Rights on the Shop Floor: A Perspective from Transaction Cost Economics and Organization Theory

This paper explores the links that the allocation of decision rights on the shop floor maintains with labor transaction attributes and several structural traits of the firm. The approach is based on the transaction cost apparatus and harnesses the theoretical and empirical background provided by organization theory. Data are presented from a wide field survey in the Spanish food and electronics industries (Standard Industry Classification (SIC) 20 and 36). Evidence not only verifies the influence of firm size, property, age, and unionism, but also shows that the allocation of decision rights is related to a particular mix of labor transaction traits. Specifically, one of the most important results is that employer opportunism offers greater explanatory power than employee opportunism.

Solving the dynamic traveling salesman problem using a genetic algorithm with trajectory prediction

The paper addresses the synergies from combining a heuristic method with a predictive technique to solve the Dynamic Traveling Salesman Problem (DTSP). Particularly, we build a genetic algorithm that feeds on Newton?s motion equation to show how route optimization can be improved when targets are constantly moving. Our empirical evidence stems from the recovery of fish aggregating devices (FADs) by tuna vessels. Based on historical real data provided by GPS buoys attached to the FADs, we first estimate their trajectories to feed a genetic algorithm that searches for the best route considering their future locations. Our solution, which we name Genetic Algorithm based on Trajectory Prediction (GATP), shows that the distance traveled is significantly shorter than implementing other commonly used methods.

An Eclectic Explanation of Shopfloor Control Using Efficiency and Power Theories

The paper identifies four control mechanisms on the shopfloor and explains their determinants. By enriching contingency and transaction cost theories with power notions, several hypotheses are tested in a dataset composed of 329 Spanish firms in the food and electronic industries. Results show that shopfloor control is shaped by efficiency concerns, power asymmetries and interdependences between control modes. In particular, control mechanisms depend on several structural traits of the firm and labour transaction attributes. However, managers’ opportunism also plays an important role through its effect on workers’ opportunism. This fact calls for the internalization of principals’ opportunistic behaviour in efficiency-driven organizational theories. Furthermore, control mechanisms also show specific interdependences through their relations with certain labour transaction attributes and organizational traits. In fact, the level of human capital can at the same time be the outcome and the cause of certain control mechanisms. A relevant by-product is therefore that the level of human capital is not necessarily the main reason — as suggested by transaction cost economics — to internalize a labour transaction within the firm.

International Generation of Technology: An Assessment of its Intensity, Motives and Facilitators

This paper assesses two decades of international generation of technology through EPO data: we quantify its volume, analyse its motives and identify several business traits that facilitate its implementation. Our database, which is composed of 65,000 firms and 465,000 patents, shows that most technological activities are still carried out in the home country of multinationals. We nevertheless find that the international generation of technology has been continuously increasing during the 80s and 90s. This growing trend partially reflects the use of global technological supply as a source of new competences; however, data verifies that adapting products and processes to foreign markets is an even more relevant motive. Lastly, after controlling for the home country and geographic diversification of multinationals, we search for structural and technological business features that make the internationalisation of their technological activities easier. Our model thus verifies the relevance of the size and technological activity of parent companies.

Watch the working capital of tier-two suppliers: a financial perspective of supply chain collaboration in the automotive industry

Purpose This paper aims to examine how lack of financial cooperation damages the operational efficiency of supply chains. The thesis is that economic and technological forces are provoking increasing financial tensions that push companies to transfer their credit needs and inventory requirements to their weakest suppliers. Thus, what might initially seem positive from an individual perspective can in fact generate losses in production efficiency for the supply chain as a whole. Design/Methodology/approach This paper uses official data collected from 116 first- and second-tier suppliers in the Spanish automotive components sector, covering nine years (2001-2009). The relationships between the key variables are analysed using panel data estimations. Findings Significant differences were found between the working capital (WC) of first- and second-tier companies, proving additionally that although this approach may temporarily improve the results of first-tier suppliers, it leads to lower production efficiency in plants throughout the value chain. Practical implications Practitioners should avoid short-sighted attitudes when organizing the supply chain on a cooperative basis, going beyond the conventional wisdom on physical and information flows between original equipment manufacturers and their suppliers to reach upstream stages and embracing financial considerations. Originality/value The paper takes a novel approach to the issue of inter-organizational collaboration in the supply chain, aiming to go beyond conventional Lean Supply practices. From an empirical point of view, while much of the research on the topic utilizes key informant insights collected using psychometric data collection techniques, this study uses different financial proxies collected from secondary panel data.

Why are Firms Challenging Conventional Wisdom on Moral Hazard? Revisiting the Fair Wage-Effort Hypothesis

Economic theory regarding moral hazard at work is somewhat at odds with recent business evidence. Whereas firms in economically and technologically stable environments could apparently follow conventional wisdom when trying to reduce moral hazard through tight supervision and incentive packages, the increasingly innovative and competitive environment is pushing firms to follow human resource practices that explicitly and consciously make managers more vulnerable to opportunistic conducts. We explain this paradox through a generalization of Akerlof and Yellens fair-wage--effort hypothesis. We argue there is a tradeoff between the effort that firms can capture from their workers (controllable effort) and the level of discretionary effort that employees can offer, upon which the particular excellence and innovative performance of the firm relies. We test our proposition on a wide dataset composed of 2882 workers. After controlling for several firm and industry traits, evidence confirms the potential role of moral hazard as an opportunity for excellence at work. Copyright 2011 The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Associazione ICC. All rights reserved., Oxford University Press.

How Can Firms’ Basic Research Turn Into Product Innovation? The Role of Absorptive Capacity and Industry Appropriability

We explain why companies seeking superior product innovation should invest in basic research. Our arguments highlight the role of absorptive capacity and examine how industry appropriability influences these relations. Based on a rich dataset of 8416 firms, we argue that basic research in firms increases their knowledge stock and flows, therefore improving their capacity to identify, assimilate, and exploit external knowledge, which allows them to enhance their product innovation performance. We also verify that strong appropriability regimes not only reduce the effect of basic research on absorptive capacity, but also affect the relation between absorptive capacity and product innovation in two ways. In businesses with a high absorptive capacity, strong appropriability regimes exert a negative influence by reducing product innovation; however, businesses with a low absorptive capacity see their level of product innovation increase. This evidence not only throws into question the attitude of many managers toward basic research; it also calls for open reflection on both the net effect of appropriability on innovative performance and the stages of the innovation process to which public resources should be allocated.

¿Que influencia tienen los stakeholders de la universidad española en la empleabilidad de sus alumnos? Propuestas de reforma

Resumen El trabajo aborda la influencia de los stakeholders de la universidad en la empleabilidad de sus alumnos. Para este analisis utilizamos una muestra de 230 centros universitarios espanoles, recurriendo a la opinion del director/decano de cada centro. Un primer analisis exploratorio confirma la influencia de los profesores y del equipo rectoral en las estrategias de empleabilidad. Otros stakeholders con mayor orientacion al mercado como los antiguos alumnos y empresarios, sin embargo, tienen una influencia comparativamente marginal. Las propuestas de reforma pasan, pues, por reequilibrar la capacidad de influencia de los stakeholders , aunque no necesariamente en todos los casos con reformas estructurales en los organos de decision. El hecho de diferenciar varias estrategias de empleabilidad nos ha permitido constatar que las reformas de gobierno corporativo pueden generar expectativas excesivamente optimistas. La razon es que, aun compartiendo a priori la consecucion de un objetivo global de empleabilidad, los stakeholders pueden apoyar ciertas estrategias y no todas, ni siquiera las mas importantes. Esto tiene mucho que ver obviamente con el impacto de cada estrategia sobre sus intereses de grupo.

The Impact of Behavioural Assumptions on Management Ability: A Test Based on the Earnings of MBA Graduates

The paper explores the consequences that different behavioral assumptions in the training of managers may have on their future performance. We argue that training with an emphasis on the standard assumptions used in economics (rationality and self-interest) is good for technical posts but may lead future managers to rely excessively on rational and explicit safeguarding, crowding out instinctive relational heuristics and signaling a “bad” human type to potential partners. In contrast, the diverse, implicit and even contradictory nature of behavioral assumptions in management theories does not conflict with innate cooperative tools and may provide a good training ground for using such tools. We present tentative confirmatory evidence by examining how the weight placed on behavioral assumptions in the core courses of the top 100 business schools influences the average salaries of their MBA graduates. Controlling for the self-selected average quality of their students and some other characteristics of schools, average salaries are seen to be significantly greater for MBA programs whose core curriculum contains a larger proportion of management courses.

The Impact of Behavioural Assumptions on Management Ability: A Test Based on the Earnings of MBA Graduates. 行为假设对管理能力的影响：基于MBA毕业生收入的检验

In this article, we explore different behavioural assumptions in the training of managers. We show that training emphasizing rationality and self‐interest, the standard assumptions used in economics, benefits those working in technical posts but may lead future managers to rely excessively on rational and explicit safeguarding, crowding out instinctive relational heuristics and signalling a deficient human type to potential partners. In contrast, the diverse, implicit, and even contradictory nature of behavioural assumptions in management theories avoids conflict with innate cooperative tools and may provide a good training ground for using such tools. Tentative confirmatory evidence shows that the weight placed on behavioural assumptions in the core courses of the top 100 business schools influences the average salaries of their MBA graduates. Controlling for the self‐selected average quality of students and some other school characteristics, average salaries are seen to be significantly greater for MBA programs that include a larger proportion of management courses in their core curriculum. 摘要. 在本文中，我们探究了管理者训练中的不同行为假设对未来表现的影响。强调理性和利己这些经济学中的标准假设的训练对于技术性的岗位是有益的，但是可能导致未来的管理者过分依赖于理性和显性的防卫，从而挤出了本能的关系性启发式，并向潜在的伙伴显示出有缺陷的人性类型。相反，管理学理论中多元化的、隐性的、甚至矛盾性的行为假设可以避免和与生俱来的合作性工具发生冲突，并可能为运用这些合作性工具提供良好的训练基础。初步的验证性证据显示，前100所商学院的核心课程中行为假设的权重影响了其MBA毕业生的平均薪水。在控制了自选择性的学生平均质量及其它一些学校特征的情况下，对于那些在核心课程中包括了更大比例的管理类课程的MBA项目来说，其毕业生的平均薪水要显著地更高。