The core competence is a capability to create a successful product mix in the future, and to sustain the competitive edge of these products. The core competence is not produced by the scattered business units, but by the strong head office and by the hybrid product division structures. These organizational structures enable the company to concentrate the key resources into the development of strategic products, to improve the interface of various departments' abilities. A head office which has strength in size and capability is also able to store and develop the specialized knowledge and supply these knowledge to various departments. The strong head office and the hybrid division structure are particularly effective where the present and future products are technology related or marketing related. Under the changing environment, the concentration of authority is necessary to construct the strong competitive power in the growth area and thus to achieve a successful financial performance.

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In this paper, we explain why firms issue convertible bonds and warrant bonds based on the managerial entrenchment approach. The entrenchment approach is based on the observation that an entrenched manager has discretion on the firm's financial policy. This approach appears to be appropriate for large listed firms where shareholders are sufficiently diversified. We consider a situation in which an entrenched manager is exposed to the threat of hostile takeover and bankruptcy. Debt creation, without retention of the proceeds of the issue, enables the manager to commit not to undertake a value-decreasing project in the future, because it will lead the firm into bankruptcy with large probability. This credible commitment raises the firm's stock price and a hostile takeover can be avoided. However, there remains a positive probability of bankruptcy, because the manager's empire-building tendency makes her undertake a value-increasing project. The project will lead the firm into bankruptcy with small probability. By issuing well-designed warrant bonds, an entrenched manager can remove the possibility of takeover and bankruptcy completely. Warrant must be designed so that it will not be exercised after a value-decreasing project is undertaken and will be exercised following a value-increasing project. The former ensures that the manager never undertakes a value-decreasing project because net debt will remain. The latter ensures that bankruptcy never occurs after undertaking a value-increasing project, because additional cash paid into the firm (to exercise the right) decreases the firm's net debt level. The market prediction that the firm will undertake only a value-increasing project raises the firm's stock price and a hostile takeover can be avoided. Thus, an entrenched manager prefers warrant bonds to straight bonds. Convertible bonds play the same role as warrant bonds in the model.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between human resource management policies in organizations and employees' career plateau. A career plateau was defined as the point in a career where the likelihood of additional hierarchical promotion is very low (Ference, Stoner, & Warren, 1977, p. 602). Career plateau contains objective phase, namely employees' position tenure and subjective phase, namely employees' perceived promotion opportunity. The facts and conclusions in this paper were drawn by using 237 executives who are all chief of a section in 10 big companies and 10 personnel executives. After using a t-test, it was clear that the length of employees' position tenure depend on whether their companies carry out the promotion test, etc., or not. Similarly, it was clear that the height of employees' perceived promotion opportunity depend on whether their companies carry out the retirement preparatory program, etc., or not. As a whole, it was clear that there are many human resource management policies which connect with career plateau on the one hand and those which don't connect with career plateau on the other hand. The implications of these findings were discussed. In particular, voluntarily participable policies or policies whose effects are objectively clarified as the promotion test tended to connect with career plateau.

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This paper examines to what extent and how IBM Corp., Philips N.V. and NEC Corp., US, European and Japanese electric, electronic and computer multinationals, develop their R&D activities on a global scale. In this paper, I will clarify their extent of internationalization and networking of R&D by these Multinationals in the field of industrial technology and basic research by taking an approach which refers to US patents and scientific papers published as results of R&D activities. The main finding of this research is that internationalization and networking of R&D activities of these companies demonstrate high standards and NEC Corp., in particular, is continuing to progress both in terms of basic research and industrial engineering. And most importantly, it may be suggested that there is a drastic evolution towards an international networking R&D structures in the fields of basic research of these multinationals. What is appropriate to all the three Multinationals is that the numbers of nationalities of the scientific institutions involved in R&D of the companies have augmented without any exeptions in terms of US patents and scientific papers. It seems most likely that globalization of competition requires the multinationals to further recognize the importance of precompetitive basic research. In this sense, it seems to be strategically inevitable for multinationals to internationalize their R&D in order to collaborate with overseas local scientific institutions. In summary, as made evident by searching through scientific papers, R&D activities of such Japanese company ad NEC appear to be evolving towards internationalization and networking at a much higher ratio than other such multinationals as IBM or Philips in terms of basic research. Fanally, it could hardly be denied that enhancing global R&D networking structures of these companies in turn implies that the more the structures play the role of subsuming the achievements of R&D activities by overseas R&D facilities and institutions, the more these newly produced technologies disperse globally and vice versa. From the findings above, although our sample is too small to draw any firm conclusions, I would dare to conclude that current trends in the globalization and networking of R&D activities by multi-national enterprises are moving toward the establishment of an integrated global-scale system for centralizing and dispersing technology production. Thus, as the multi-polar technological development structure manifests itself increasingly, the tactical importance of networking and globalization of R&D activities grows in international business strategies.

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Since the 1980's, discussions of work organization such as "team concept" in automobile industry were made actively in the U.S. However, only few attempts have so far been made at research of the relationship between team concept and labor agreement. This paper is intended as an investigation of team concept and labor agreement through the field research, and discussion of the actual pattern of team concept in the U.S. This paper consists of three subjects. First, transfer and promotion rules in labor agreement between General Motors and U.A.W. (United Automobile Workers) were analized. Though such rules seem to be clear and accurate, in fact, they are complicated, easy to understand only for persons concerned, and still debatable. Second, actual conditions of team concept in this case were investigated. So far the careful study of team concept in union sector has not been enough. Third, relationship between transfer and promotion rules and team concept were analized. As the results of analysis above, three conclusions are led as follows: First, I divided transfer and promotional cases of traditional work organization into regulated field by rules and un-regulated field by rules in the case. The most striking issue is that the new transfer rule within the same classification and occupational group by seniority order was instituted in this local agreement in 1993. This new rule was classified to local agreement paragraph 304. However, secondary job openings resulting from filling jobs were not regulated by agreement and still the questions at issue between both parties. Second, though the union demanded local agreement paragraph 304, they permitted the introduction of team concept proposed by management as the bargaining point. Third, although team concept was introduced, it did not work effectively because of some reasons such as lack of motivations.

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Although a number of studies have investigated relationships between information technology (IT) and organizations, few studies have conducted international comparisons on the theme, and even fewer have focused on national culture in their analytical framework. This research clarifies the role national culture plays in shaping the 'emergent' relationship between IT and the organizations. I develop a view that technological/organizational determinism approaches have drawbacks in the IT era, and that the emergent perspective is relevant in understanding the use of IT in organizations. I use the perspective to indicate some of the mechanisms through which national culture may influence IT use. I look for some empirical evidence about the possibility of cultural influences and their possible implications, and evidence about how such influences operate in reality. Considering the research topic, the survey approach was adopted. The data were sampled from British factories (BF) and Japanese factories (JF). Considering that national culture is a diffuse and contextual phenomenon, the aim was to collect a broad and large sample and to take a comparative approach. Two patterns of organizational IT use are conceptualised: control-oriented IT use (CIU) and individual-oriented IT use (IIU), both of which are shown to display national cultural influences. The most important finding from the study is that national culture is actually playing an important role in the emergent process shaping organizational IT use. Also, it is identified that the influence of national culture is more likely to be displayed in the dimension of CIU than in that of IIU. CIU in JF is found to be higher than that in BF due to the difference of national culture between the two countries. National culture has been less fully examined in studies on technology and organization, but my data suggests the necessity of a detailed examination of the concept in a cross-national comparison.

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At the beginning of the 1990s, Volvo struggled against serious financial conditions, and then management decided to close the Kalmar and Uddevalla plants, symbols of Swedish alternatives to auto industry. At Volvo's main assembly plant Torslanda, which is traditional Taylor-Ford type plant, KLE strategy was introduced at the same time to realize world class production and multi-products plant, in 1991. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the content of the KLE strategy, and position of the strategy on Volvo trajectory depending on interview with plant manager, production leaders and workers at Torslanda and Sovde plants in 1997 and 1998. Paper discusses about why the strategy was introduced at Torslanda and how the strategy succeeds previous experiences Volvo has developed at Kalmar and Uddevalla plants. To analyze them, paper tries to compare the KLE strategy with Uddevalla to identify relationship between them in terms of production system, workers' tasks and management policy. The KLE strategy is characterized by boundary-less organization, more competent worker in teams and integrated work. One area the KLE team takes charge of on the line and the tasks a worker is responsible for are also expanded, and the technical engineers take part in the working group in shops. Thus the KLE strategy intends flat organization and integrated work, that is, anti-Taylor-Ford working style and work organization. However, the strategy is not enough on the point of reorganizing of assembly line as Uddevalla plant showed because management could not give up their mass production strategy at Torslanda plant. The conclusion of this paper is that although the KLE strategy would be half way strategy in terms of Volvo trajectory, the strategy learns from the Uddevalla experiences in the working method under "Good work policy" of union, and also shows new challenge to cope with modularization at traditional plant. Therefore, the KLE strategy is on a new aspect of Volvo's trajectory after Uddevalla.

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