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Short-term Perceptions, Corporate Governance and the Management of R & D in Italian Companies

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  • Franco Cescon

Abstract

The aim of this paper was tomeasure the short-term perceptions of FinanceDirectors and how managers react to pressuresfrom the financial and corporate governancesystems in the management of R and Dexpenditure and innovation. The studyreplicates Demirag's U.K. study.Results do not support the proposition that thefinancial and governance systems behave in ashort-term manner in general. The bankingsystem in Italy tends to be neutral as regardsthe firm's decision making and management hasthe freedom to steer the firm forward in aframework of long-term profitability andgrowth. Italian firms are not perceived asbeing possible candidates for take-overoperations, which might exacerbate the problemof pressure to deliver short-term profits atthe expense of long-term R and D investments.However, in some sectors and under certain sizeand ownership structure conditions short-termpressures are felt more strongly: they aremainly science-based sectors as well as sometraditional sectors (engineering and constructions).In higher-pressured firms (HPFs) managementtends to place more emphasis on costs than onproduct innovation and is more likely to view Rand D as an overhead that has to be trimmedduring a recession. Moreover, the controlmechanisms tend toward short-term accountingmeasures. In addition, the prevalent sources ofshort-term pressures – where they are present– are interestingly different in Italy than inthe U.K.: while in the Anglo-Saxon context theyare perceived to come from the market andfinancial institutions, in Italy they areperceived to come from the firm ownersthemselves. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 2002

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  • Franco Cescon, 2002. "Short-term Perceptions, Corporate Governance and the Management of R & D in Italian Companies," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 6(3), pages 255-270, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jmgtgv:v:6:y:2002:i:3:p:255-270
    DOI: 10.1023/A:1019631730439
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mark Lehrer & Andrew Tylecote & Emmanuelle Conesa, 1999. "Corporate Governance, Innovation Systems and Industrial Performance," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 25-50.
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    8. Franco Cescon, 1998. "Investment Appraisal and Measures of Performance in Italian Divisionalised Companies," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 2(2), pages 191-212, June.
    9. Emanuele Bajo & Maroc Bigelli & Sandro Sandri, 1998. "The Stock Market Reaction to Investment Decisions: Evidence from Italy," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-16, March.
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    1. Sven-Olof Collin, 2007. "Governance strategy: a property right approach turning governance into action," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 11(3), pages 215-237, September.
    2. Stéphane Lhuillery, 2006. "The impact of corporate governance practices on R&D efforts: a look at shareholders’ rights, cross-listing and control pyramid," CEMI Working Papers cemi-report-2006-006, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Collège du Management de la Technologie, Management of Technology and Entrepreneurship Institute, Chaire en Economie et Management de l'Innovation, revised Apr 2009.
    3. Cristiana Parisi, 2013. "The impact of organisational alignment on the effectiveness of firms’ sustainability strategic performance measurement systems: an empirical analysis," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 17(1), pages 71-97, February.

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