Completion or Abandonment of Mergers and Acquisitions: Evidence from the Newspaper Industry, 1981–2000

Regulatory and technological changes have resulted in a surge in merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the newspaper industry since the 1980s. This study investigates the “success” of these activities focusing on a particular facet of acquisition performance. We study the completion likelihood of an announced transaction, using a sample of M&A announcements from the newspaper industry (1981–2000). Results show that although firm-level characteristics are relevant, transaction-specific and regulatory factors are even more important. Not surprisingly, the attitude of the transaction—whether hostile or friendly—is a key factor, as are the method of payment and the percentage of control sought by the acquirer. The latter in particular reaffirms the prevailing view on the importance of regulatory influences on media M&As.     

Essential oils and fragrances from natural sources

The study of a perfume includes extraction of scented ingredients from botanicals, behavior of chemical components, and careful blending of scents to achieve the desired composition. Essential oils may be found in roots, flowers, leaves, fruit, seeds or bark of the plant. Growing and harvesting conditions are optimized for the production of the best fragrances. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Transnational corporations and human resource development

Conclusions The relationships between TNCs and human resource development are complex and multi-faceted. The operation of TNCs have the potential to make a considerable contribution to human resource development, particularly in developing countries. The contributions of TNCs to human resource development lie mainly in the areas of education and training. In education, their role is largely confined to direct or indirect investment in the provision of tertiary-level education, especially in business management. The major role of TNCs in the development of human resources stems from the training and other learning opportonities they provide to their staff in various forms. Such training may be valuable for workers in developing countries and others in which opportunities for acquiring vocational, technical and management skills are limited. Training and other forms of learning provided by TNCs are directed towards all categories of workers, although the main focus is on managerial and technical personnel. Evidence suggests that the size and scope of TNCs enable them to provide substantial formal and informal learning opportunities for employees. Moreover, the learning provided by TNCs often relates to new or different production and management methods. Under appropriate conditions, the contributions of TNCs to knowledge, skills and management experties of their employees can be disseminated more widely in the host economy and complement domestic human resource development in promoting growth and strengthening competitiveness. As the tendency of TNCs to pursue complex integration strategies proceeds and the links between parent companies and their affiliates become more complex, the training requirements that are needed to manage successfully the corporate production system and its geographically dispersed segments are likely to increase and become more sophisticated. Foreign affiliates may be progressively involved in higher value-added and more specialized activities, and more training needed to improve the quality of local personnel. The commitment to training in affiliates could be considerably reinforced by the growing interdependence between operations at home and in the various affiliates. This may lead to a wider distribution of training packages throughout the TNC. The trend towards complex integration strategies and the increasing competition for foreign direct investment (FDI) make it more important than ever for developing countries to build up their own human resource capabilities. In addition to providing the basis for the development of the domestic economy, such capabilities would allow labour and national enterprises to interact more effectively with TNCs. They would contribute to increasing the volume and raising the quality and sophistication of the FDI that a country could attract, thereby strengthening the prospects for further human resource development. At present, only a limited number of developing countries attract sizeable shares of FDI, particularly in areas that are technologically sophisticated. For those countries, foreign affiliates linked to TNCs’ value chains are an important complement to national programmes and efforts for upgrading human resources. However, other developing countries that do not-offer similar locational advantages may also benefit, in terms of improving their human resource development from FDI and the emerging integrated international production system. They need to consider how to formulate and co-ordinate policies so as to maximize the benefits to their human resource capabilities. Original language: English Padma Mallampally (India) Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago. From 1982 to 1988 she was employed by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok on transnational corporations. Prior to that she was a lecturer in economics at Delhi University. She now works as a Transnational Corporations Affairs Officer, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, New York.     

Apprendre par le dialogue : le cas des pharmaciens d’officine en interaction avec leurs clients

Learning through dialogue: the case of retail pharmacists’ interactions with their customers – This article seeks to highlight certain identity processes that are mobilized through dialogue in the workplace and that promote learning (or information gathering) in this context. These processes are studied in the population of retail pharmacists, much of whose work centres on interactions with customers. Dutch psychologist Hubert Hermans’ theory of the dialogical self is used as a theoretical framework. The main hypothesis developed in the article is that to understand the problems of the customers who come into their pharmacies and adapt to their requests, pharmacists must adopt a series of I positions in their dialogues with them. French pharmacists in Paris and the Paris region were observed and interviewed. The four dialogue extracts studied here underline the diversity of I-positions implemented in pharmacist-customer dialogues. The diversity of registers that pharmacists are able to deploy in their interactions appears to be inherent to their professionalism and a necessary aspect of their work. These results open up perspectives for further research into the association of workplace learning and identity transformation.