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This dissertation focuses on the search for the possible normative foundations of corporate social responsibility (CSR). This is an in-depth analysis of the notion of a standard, its function as a management tool, and its limits outside any ethics.The subject is treated in a transdisciplinary manner : the theoretical contribution of management sciences is based on the empirical study of law revealing utopias, feasible or not, under CSR. Are these so-called ethical responsibilities, a new ideology, a kind of social dream which cares little for the actual steps in the construction of a new society? or are they a new power okknowledge, a project of political organization, based on the axiology of human rights? The study of the place of law in the CSR is a way to revisit many theories of organizations, including on governance, stakeholders, democracy, sustainable development, risk and responsibility. This study concludes with the need for prior compliance with the law, in the creation of the standard and use of management tools. The object of the research is at the crossroads between management and legal sciences. Nevertheless, it allows a critical reflection on the flexibility of the rule of law and regulation by standards which have become more and more soft and fuzzy, causing the privatization of the global economic system. Taking the measure of the normative changes in global governance, this dissertation proposes to overcome the challenge of conflicts of norms, by introducing a new ethic of responsibility. In France, the idea would be to design the corporate social responsibility like the legal fiction of corporate citizenship. A true extension of preventive responsibility would be born by the legal entities under their sphere of influence. ; Cette thèse sur travaux porte sur la recherche des fondements normatifs possibles de la Responsabilité Sociale de l'Entreprise (RSE). C'est une analyse approfondie de la notion de norme, de ses fonctions en tant qu'outil de gestion, de ses limites en dehors de toute ...

The value of cultural heritage such as the Rock- Hewn Churches of Lalibela (RHCL), cannot be obtained using market price. Non market valuation technique has to be used to value them. However, such studies in the developing world in general and Ethiopia in particular are scarce. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to estimate the total economic value of RHCL using non-market valuation methods. The total number of respondents used in the empirical analysis was 200. The study uses the Individual Travel Cost Method to estimate the use value of RHCL and the Dichotomous Contingent Valuation Method to investigate the mean WTP for the non use value of the RHCL. The truncated negative binomial method (TNBM) was employed to derive the demand function for use value of RHCL. The logit model and bivarite probit model were used to estimate the non use value of RHCL. To know basic determinants of maximum WTP we also applied the standard Tobit model. The regression result showed that travel cost, monthly income, age, education and knowledge are important determinants of the recreational demand of the site. On the other hand, the first bid price, the second bid, monthly income, and gender are important determinant of WTP for the non use value part of the site. The Tobit model depicted that income gender and age are important determinants of the maximum willingness to pay (MWTP). The result of the study also showed that the potential annual use value of the RHCL was estimated to be 759,687,113 ETB per annum and the annual non use value of the site is 42,525,661 ETB. Therefore, the annual total economic value of the site is approximately 42 times higher than the current revenue. Furthermore, the entrance fee that would maximize income was 11.32 USD per four days. Finally, we recommend that efforts should be made by the government and other relevant stakeholders to improve the site and maximize the benefits that can be derived from the RHCL. Future research areas are also suggested

AbstractThis research intends to find the answers of two problems. First, the factors that led to the unimplemented jurisdiction of the General Court of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) that perform general crime as mandated by Decree No. VII / MPR / 2000 and Act No. 34 of 2004. Second, the perception of the military conception of justice with jurisdiction over soldiers who committed the crime. This study is a normative- empirical law that uses secondary data and primary data. The data collected by the study of documents and interviews. The data analysis using qualitative methods. The results showed that first the jurisdiction of the General Court of the soldiers who committed the crime can not be implemented because of the general Act No. 31 of 1997 on Military Justice has not been revised by Law Military Justice as new, second that some of the military still wants the soldiers who committed the crime, criminal acts both military and general crime, is in the jurisdiction of Military Justice.Keywords: Jurisdiction Court, Indonesian Army Forces (TNI)l, Crime.AbstrakPenelitian ini bertujuan untuk menemukan jawaban atas dua permasalahan. Pertama, faktor-faktor yang menyebabkan belum diimplementasikannya yurisdiksi Peradilan Umum terhadap prajurit Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI) yang melakukan tindak pidana umum sebagaimana diamanatkan oleh Ketetapan MPR Nomor VII/MPR/2000 dan Undang-Undang Nomor 34 Tahun 2004. Kedua, persepsi kalangan militer mengenai konsepsi peradilan yang berwenang mengadili prajurit TNI yang melakukan tindak pidana. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian hukum normatif-empiris yang menggunakan data sekunder dan data primer. Pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan studi dokumen dan wawancara. Analisis data dilakukan dengan menggunakan metode kualitatif. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa, pertama yurisdiksi Peradilan Umum terhadap prajurit TNI yang melakukan tindak pidana umum belum dapat diimplementasikan karena Undang-Undang Nomor 31 Tahun 1997 tentang Peradilan Militer belum direvisi dengan Undang-Undang Peradilan Militer yang baru, kedua bahwa beberapa kalangan militer tetap menghendaki agar prajurit TNI yang melakukan tindak pidana, baik tindak pidana militer maupun tindak pidana umum, berada pada yurisdiksi Peradilan Militer.Kata Kunci: Yurisdiksi Peradilan, Prajurit TNI, Tindak Pidana

Tort reform legislation developed as a response to a series of insurance crises and reactions that blamed the personal injury compensation system for those problems. Since measures of tort reform have been adopted, many researchers have analyzed their effects within and beyond the legal system, assessing how they affect damages, insurance claims, health costs, and physician supply. Our study analyzes an underdeveloped area of research: the effect of tort reform on the filing of cases in court. Using two databases of state court filing data over 12 years, we examine how a damages cap for medical negligence claims affects case filings in the years immediately after its adoption. With several test states, we find that when a state adopts med mal damages caps, there is a statistically significant drop of 23 percent in med mal filings. We confirm this effect by also measuring the effect of a cap's nullification, and find that in the aftermath of a cap's removal case filings increase by 29 percent. Our work can therefore confirm and quantify the effect of damages caps on case filing. Yet the finding is much more salient when we consider it in the context of a new and interesting study published in the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies. In their 2013 study, Myungho Paik, Bernard Black, and David Hyman found that filings of med mal torts have decreased in the last decade, not only in tort reform states but also in states without it! If so, our finding of a statistically significant drop in med mal filings in response to tort reform has a "doubling-down" effect: there is one reduction in filings due to tort reform, and also a background reduction in filings based on larger, non-statutory changes. We believe that our findings regarding the effect of tort reform on med mal filings and the "doubling-down" effect significantly modify the cost-benefit analysis of tort reform. The positive impacts of tort reform have been significantly oversold, and the effects of tort reform disproportionately impact certain vulnerable ...

В статье анализируются представления британских военных чинов, ответственных за умиротворение Горной Шотландии в первой половине XVIII в. Материал касается репрезентации, интерпретации и использования этнографической информации о мятежном крае в процессе его этнического картографирования. Риторические стратегии сочинений военных чинов и их цели, роль и последствия так же являются предметом анализа. ; The article analyses the views of the British Military responsible for the pacification of the Scotland Highlands in the first half of the XVIIIth century. The material deals with the representation, interpretation and use of ethnographic information about rebellious country in the process of its ethnic cartography. The article analyses the rhetoric strategies of the texts by the Military and their aims, role and consequences. The author studies the Highland Problem on the basis of data collected by Captain Edward (Edmund) Burt and Captain John Barlow in the Highlands of Scotland (taking into account the features of data accumulation process on this subject before and after the last Jacobite Rebellion 1745-1746). The author analyses this material according to the following guides: the evidence provided by most famous commentators on the Scotland Highlands state and on the Highland Problem in particular, the traditions of analyzing official and non-official documentary on the Highland Problem, the sense of active corporative unity that was spread among the militaries during the first half of the XVIIIth century and colonial issues and policies on other imperial margins. The author makes conclusion that the data collected and arranged by captains Burt and Barlow was not sufficient for their research results and rather represented the idea of ideal Highlands of Scotland which should be brought to life after strong social reorganization. Construction of ethnographic situations, invention of ethnographic traditions and search for the possible limits of knowledge about the Highlanders and the Highlands served to make empirical issues more concrete from the administrative point of view and up to the new level of colonial knowledge. In such circumstances ethnic cartography was used to integrate military and political geography and administrative ethnography of the Highland Problem solution.

Цель. Изучение специфики создания образа власти посредством СМИ в условиях трансформации политических процессов в Челябинской области. Методы. Использован сравнительный и сопоставительный метод (создание образа власти на федеральном, региональном, муниципальном уровнях); метод научной абстракции, без которого невозможно построение теоретических моделей в области PR. Также использован метод контент-анализ, благодаря которому проанализированы материалы печатных и аудиовизуальных СМИ. Использован метод классической логики. Результаты. Исходя из имеющихся эмпирических данных о создании образа власти посредством СМИ, делается вывод о наступлении нового этапа в развитии как журналисткой профессии, так и развития самого института СМИ в области построения образа власти. Проявившиеся тенденции связаны с поиском самоидентификации российского PR, а также с политическими тенденциями, проявившимися в российских реалиях. Научная новизна. Научная новизна заключается в исследовании специфических черт в построении образа власти в региональных и муниципальных СМИ, их взаимосвязи между собой и принципиальных различиях. Впервые анализу подвергаются материалы предвыборной кампании двух чиновников разного уровня власти, но со схожими стартовыми позициями. ; Purpose. Study of specificity of making power image using mass media in conditions of transformation of political processes in Chelyabinsk region. Methods. The authors used comparative and contrastive method (formation of power image on federal, regional, municipal levels); method of scientific abstraction which is necessary for making theoretical models in PR sphere. They also used content-analysis method which is used for analyzing materials of print and audio-visual mass media; method of classical logics. Results. Proceeding from the existing empirical data on forming the power image by mass media the author makes a conclusion about a new stage in the development of journalism as a profession and development of mass media institute itself in the sphere of power image formation. The appeared trends are connected with search of the Russian PR self-identification and also political trends appeared in the Russian reality. Scientific novelty. Scientific novelty is in research of specific features in building power image in regional and municipal mass media, their relations between them and divergences of principles. It's the first time of analyzing materials of election campaign of two executives from different power levels, but with similar starting points.

Abstract The association of military blast exposure and brain injury was first appreciated in World War I as commotio cerebri, and later as shell shock. Similar injuries sustained in modern military conflicts are now classified as mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). Recent research has yielded new insights into the mechanisms by which blast exposure leads to acute brain injury and chronic sequelae, including postconcussive syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, post-traumatic headache, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a tau protein neurodegenerative disease. Impediments to delivery of effective medical care for individuals affected by blast-related TBI include: poor insight into the heterogeneity of neurological insults induced by blast exposure; limited understanding of the mechanisms by which blast exposure injures the brain and triggers sequelae; failure to appreciate interactive injuries that affect frontal lobe function, pituitary regulation, and neurovegetative homeostasis; unknown influence of genetic risk factors, prior trauma, and comorbidities; absence of validated diagnostic criteria and clinical nosology that differentiate clinical endophenotypes; and lack of empirical evidence to guide medical management and therapeutic intervention. While clinicopathological analysis can provide evidence of correlative association, experimental use of animal models remains the primary tool for establishing causal mechanisms of disease. However, the TBI field is confronted by a welter of animal models with varying clinical relevance, thereby impeding scientific coherence and hindering translational progress. Animal models of blast TBI will be far more translationally useful if experimental emphasis focuses on accurate reproduction of clinically relevant endpoints (output) rather than scaled replication of idealized blast shockwaves (input). The utility of an animal model is dependent on the degree to which the model recapitulates pathophysiological mechanisms, neuropathological features, and neurological sequelae observed in the corresponding human disorder. Understanding the purpose of an animal model and the criteria by which experimental results derived from the model are validated are critical components for useful animal modeling. Animal models that reliably demonstrate clinically relevant endpoints will expedite development of new treatments, diagnostics, preventive measures, and rehabilitative strategies for individuals affected by blast TBI and its aftermath.

The question of why states maintain nuclear weapons typically receives short shrift: it's security, silly. The international is a perilous place, and nuclear weapons represent the ultimate self-help device. Other 'factors' like status and domestic interests provide the background music. This thesis seeks to unsettle this complacency by drawing on Foucault to reconceptualise nuclear weapon-armed states as nuclear regimes of truth, refocusing on the processes through which governments produce and maintain country-specific discourses that enable their continued possession of nuclear weapons. Building on Derrida's observation that nuclear weapons are a "fabulously textual" phenomenon, this thesis argues that because nuclear weapons are represented to work by not being used (deterrence) their utility depends on hypotheticals, and therefore remains transcendental. Consequently, maintaining a nuclear regime of truth requires considerable discursive imagination and labour to constitute the benefits of possessing nuclear weapons—whether that be status, security or both at the same time. To investigate these nuclear regimes of truth, this thesis critiques and modifies Lene Hansen's Foreign Policy/Identity Nexus: developing a more flexible Weberian conception of legitimacy, theorizing how Hansen's degrees of otherness can illuminate status seeking, borrowing from nukespeak and Lakoff to theorize policy representations, and adding desirability to the goal of policy makers. Using the UK nuclear weapons policy between 1980 and 2010 as an exploratory case study, this thesis provides practical insights beyond the grasp of conventional approaches to nuclear weapons research. From how Thatcher's reification of the nuclear peace correlation contributes to a 21st disarmament-taboo in UK politics, to how the end of the Cold War saw the UK replace its Security legitimacy with a new Non-Proliferation Treaty-based Prefect legitimacy that divests ethical responsibility for the world's nuclear weapons problem through the performance of a counting bombs narrative, this thesis historicizes and deconstructs the many moving parts of the UK's 21st century nuclear common sense. Ultimately, this thesis provides the theoretical legwork for future empirical investigations into other nuclear regimes of truth. ; M-IR

The evolution of the EU s Eastern Partnership initiative and especially the adoption of the Association Agreements by Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia have evoked Russia s increasing concern regarding the incremental EU-ization of the post-Soviet regional order. Moscow has adjusted its own policy toward the respective states accordingly. In the context of the 2014 Crimean issue, a number of empirically-oriented research which explore Russian foreign policy instruments towards its Near Abroad countries has grown. Even the concepts of soft power and smart power are often used by experts to portray the recent transformations in Russia s foreign policy. However, the employment of such concepts risks neglecting the fundamental and complex asymmetric interdependence between Russia and the post-Soviet republics. This study puts forward an alternative theoretical framework underpinned by the concepts of leverage and linkage , as developed by Levitsky & Way, that allows the accounting for this interdependence in a systematic manner. The thesis develops the linkage-leverage nexus approach, which enables a comprehensive analysis of Russian foreign policy instruments toward post-Soviet states in a regional environment determined by security threats, stateness issues, turbulence in domestic politics, energy, and trade-related problems. The respective analytical approach is subsequently applied to the case study of Russian-Moldovan relations. In order to demonstrate the validity of this approach the author employs a method of process-tracing that examines vast empirical data, including various documents, numerous official statements, expert opinions and media accounts, and eventually unfolds the causal mechanism of linkage-leverage nexus. The result of analysis supports the main argument of the thesis asserting that the increasing instrumentalization of the existing linkage between Russia and the countries in its Near Abroad may lead to undermining sovereignty and territorial integrity of individual states, such as Moldova. The presented conceptualization of external influence on domestic decision-making process with regard to foreign policy agenda brings closer structuralist and agent-centred International Relations approaches.

Purpose: At the dynamic innovation market, it is very difficult for an enterprise to accomplish innovation individually; technology innovation is shifting towards collaborative R&D chain mode. Thus, supplier selection based on individually innovation efficiency of enterprise is inapplicable to construct collaborative R&D innovation chain. This study is seeking to address how to select R&D innovation chain supplier in manufacturing industry. Design/methodology/approach: Firstly, Delphi method and AHP method are applied to establish an index system evaluating the suppliers of innovation chain, and then each index is weighted by experts with AHP method. Thirdly, optimized PSO algorithm is put forwarded based on the optimal efficiency of innovation chain to discriminate ideal suppliers meeting realistic conditions. Fourthly, innovation chain construction at generator manufacturing industry was taken as empirical case study to testify the improved PSO model. Findings: The innovation chain is comprised up by several enterprises, innovation performance of a single enterprise is not always positively correlated to that of one innovation chain, and the proposed model is capable to find out the best combination to construct an innovation chain. Research limitations/implications: The relations between these constructs with other variables of interest to the academicals fields were analyzed by a precise and credible data with a clear and concise description of the supply chain integration measurement scales. Practical implications: providing scales that are valid as a diagnostic tool for best practices, as well as providing a benchmark with which to compare the score for each individual plant against a chain of industrial innovation from machinery. Originality/value: Innovation chain integration is an important factor in explaining the innovation performance of companies. The vast range of results obtained is due to the fact that there is no exactness to the group of scales used. An analysis of the measurement models nor clear benchmarks as to the variety of the scales used has not been published before. ; Peer Reviewed

Purpose: At the dynamic innovation market, it is very difficult for an enterprise to accomplish innovation individually; technology innovation is shifting towards collaborative R&D chain mode. Thus, supplier selection based on individually innovation efficiency of enterprise is inapplicable to construct collaborative R&D innovation chain. This study is seeking to address how to select R&D innovation chain supplier in manufacturing industry. Design/methodology/approach: Firstly, Delphi method and AHP method are applied to establish an index system evaluating the suppliers of innovation chain, and then each index is weighted by experts with AHP method. Thirdly, optimized PSO algorithm is put forwarded based on the optimal efficiency of innovation chain to discriminate ideal suppliers meeting realistic conditions. Fourthly, innovation chain construction at generator manufacturing industry was taken as empirical case study to testify the improved PSO model. Findings: The innovation chain is comprised up by several enterprises, innovation performance of a single enterprise is not always positively correlated to that of one innovation chain, and the proposed model is capable to find out the best combination to construct an innovation chain. Research limitations/implications: The relations between these constructs with other variables of interest to the academicals fields were analyzed by a precise and credible data with a clear and concise description of the supply chain integration measurement scales. Practical implications: providing scales that are valid as a diagnostic tool for best practices, as well as providing a benchmark with which to compare the score for each individual plant against a chain of industrial innovation from machinery. Originality/value: Innovation chain integration is an important factor in explaining the innovation performance of companies. The vast range of results obtained is due to the fact that there is no exactness to the group of scales used. An analysis of the measurement models nor clear benchmarks as to the variety of the scales used has not been published before. ; Peer Reviewed

This thesis elucidates the use of powered mobility devices in a Swedish context. The overall aim was to increase and deepen the knowledge on powered mobility device use in relation to participation and accessibility in different environments and among different user groups, with a specific focus on independence and autonomy. An additional aim was to contribute to the knowledge base regarding the optimization of use of such devices. The thesis is based on four studies in which different research approaches were applied through the combination of different types of data in order to interpret the complexity of powered mobility device use. Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods were utilized. The first study was a prospective cohort study in which data was collected using structured interviews at baseline and two follow-ups. The second study was an exploratory multiple longitudinal case study. A focus-group methodology with a descriptive design was used in the third study. The fourth study was a cross-sectional study based on survey data collected from people with spinal cord injury. The main contribution of the studies that constitute the empirical basis of this thesis is that the purpose of providing people with powered mobility devices is mostly fulfilled in that such devices provide their users' with greater opportunities for participation. Nevertheless, there are also problems in terms of accessibility in various environmental arenas that have an impact on mobility. An additional important contribution is that the results show that the experiences of users of powered mobility devices should be taken seriously as they convey different aspects of how the use of such devices could be optimized. In conclusion, this thesis contributes to our understanding of the use of powered mobility devices and has the potential to optimize independence in terms of mobility and participation among users of such devices. Finally, the results have practical implications for occupational therapy in the provision of powered mobility devices. Likewise, this new knowledge about the needs of powered mobility device users in terms of accessibility are of importance to politicians, professionals and other stakeholders engaged in housing provision and physical planning.

Research Highlights and Abstract This article contributes to the literature on ideational and institutional change at critical junctures more generally, and in the context of economic crises in particular. In the context of explosive economic crises critical junctures should be conceptualised as consisting of two distinct phases—a phase of emergency crisis management and a subsequent phase of purposeful institution building. The analytical significance of the crisis management phase lies in its tendency to create path dependencies for subsequent ideational entrepreneurs and institution building efforts. Crisis management is always 'bricolage'. However, in order to understand why certain tools are 'at hand' during a crisis, one needs to take into account the variable of crisis preparedness. Contingency planning for non-normal times is a constitutive aspect of any economic policy paradigm. The empirical analysis shows that the euro area's lack of preparedness caused the ECB to assume a dominant position during the emergency phase of the crisis. This windfall gain in power for the ECB has already begun to shape the future institutional architecture of the EMU. Focusing on the experience of the euro area in general, and the ECB in particular, this article argues that in the context of explosive financial crises a phase of emergency crisis management precedes the phase of purposeful institution building. Importantly for our understanding of policy change, crisis management measures create their own path dependencies. However, albeit often improvised, crisis management decisions are not entirely contingent. The article therefore introduces the notion of preparedness, which measures the extent to which the pre-crisis policy paradigm was prepared for the joint occurrence of, in this case, a systemic banking crisis and a sovereign debt crisis. The analysis shows that the Euro area's lack of preparedness caused the ECB to assume a dominant position in the euro area during the emergency phase of the crisis. This windfall gain in power for the ECB has already begun to shape the future institutional architecture of the EMU.

This article elaborates an explanatory framework for the role of consumption practices in transitions to (enhanced) sustainability in the food system. To develop an applied practice approach we combine the concept of 'practice' with that of 'niche/regime', adopted from contemporary sociology and transitions theory, respectively. This re-combination adds to the field of applied consumption research and describes consumption beyond the boundaries of individualist and structuralist models, as well as integrates a conceptualization of the a-linear reproduction of aligning and competing consumer practices. We illustrate the methodology by showing its application drawing on data of a niche in the Belgian food system. Elaborating on the social practice model based on Giddens ((1984) The Constitution of Society. Cambridge: Polity Press), Bourdieu (( 1976 ) Outline of a Theory of Practice. New York: Cambridge University Press) and Spaargaren and Van Vliet (( 2000 ) Lifestyles, consumption and the environment: The ecological modernisation of domestic consumption. Environmental Politics 9(1): 50–76), we designate a three-tiered framework that endeavours to describe consumption practices in terms of everyday routines and habits, integrating an agency perspective with a dual perspective on structure. Consumer interviews and focus groups combined with a system analysis of the context of the alternative food practice allowed a schematization of what it implies to be a carrier of the niche practice. The practice schematizations of this niche are then considered vis-à-vis a schematization of the regime practice. The comparison shows two essential aspects: it points out that (1) although qualitative and systemic differences are found between niche and mainstream practices, in both cases the perception of the carriers (i.e. consumers) on what they need to do is to an equal extent normalized, and (2) empirical results indicate that central conceptions in the contemporary food consumption discourse, such as convenience, can in real life be redrawn by entirely different sets of interconnected routines. We reflect on the methodology and give suggestions as to how consumption governance could orientate towards practices as complementary to the traditional focus on individual consumer behaviour and consumer norm targets.

PurposeThis study attempts to investigate the relationships among organizational capabilities, strategic choice, and firm performance and examine three questions: What are the relationships between organizational capabilities and the firm's strategic choice – contract manufacturing and branding? Do branding firms perform better than contract manufacturing firms after controlling for endogeneity bias? Do firms usually choose their strategy (contract manufacturing/branding) appropriately to achieve a better performance under the conditions they encounter?Design/methodology/approachThe empirical study employs a questionnaire approach to collect data from the population of the top 5,000 Taiwanese firms listed in the yearbook published by the China Credit Information Service Incorporation for testing the validity of the model and research hypotheses. This study uses a Heckman two‐step estimation procedure and follows the procedure proposed by Shaver to examine the economic implications of strategic choice on firm performance.FindingsFirms are more likely to adopt the branding strategy when they have better marketing and R&D capabilities while they are more likely to choose the contract manufacturing strategy when they possess superior manufacturing and process capabilities; in general branding firms perform better than contract manufacturing firms after controlling for endogeneity bias; and firms achieve a better performance if their strategic choice (contract manufacturing/branding) fits the conditions they encounter.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to the marketing literature by exploring an important issue of strategic choice (contract manufacturing or branding) and contributes to the strategy literature by proposing the endogenous role of strategic choice in the relationship between organizational capabilities and firm performance.Practical implicationsFirms should take into account organizational capabilities when choosing a contract manufacturing strategy or branding strategy. Further, managers should not ignore matching their strategic choice (contract manufacturing/branding) with the conditions they encounter in order to optimize firm performance.Originality/valueThe strategic choice of branding or contract manufacturing is a prevalent phenomenon that has received little attention in the strategy and marketing literature. Based on the competence‐based perspective, this study examines the relationships among organizational capabilities, strategic choice, and firm performance.