Business Commons^™

The Expanded View Of Individualism And Collectivism: One, Two, Or Four Dimensions?, Jennifer L. Priestley, Kamal Fatehi, Gita Taasoobshirazi

Faculty and Research Publications

Recent research to analyze and discuss cultural differences has employed a combination of five major dimensions of individualism–collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, femininity– masculinity (gender role differentiation), and long-term orientation. Among these dimensions, individualism–collectivism has received the most attention. Chronologically, this cultural attribute has been regarded as one, then two, and more recently, four dimensions of horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism. However, research on this issue has not been conclusive and some have argued against this expansion. The current study attempts to explain and clarify this discussion by using a shortened version of the scale developed by Singelis et …

Trade Agreements And Economic Growth, Xuepeng Liu

Faculty and Research Publications

This paper studies the growth effects of regional trade agreements (RTAs), taking into account the WTO participation of RTA members. Assuming smaller preference margins of RTAs for WTO members than non-members, I show in a model a stronger growth effect of RTAs for non-WTO members than that for WTO members. Based on a comprehensive set of 270 RTAs and a large panel dataset covering 177 countries over the period of 1960-2007, the regression results show that RTAs promote growth for non-WTO members, while their growth effect is insignificantly different from zero for WTO members. This implies that the complementarity between …

A Measure Of International Managers' Mindset, Kamal Fatehi, Fariborz Ghadar

Faculty and Research Publications

This paper aims to identifying managerial mindset by constructing a cognitive or integrative geocentrim index. Going international is either an extension of successful domestic business operations or a requirement for remaining competitive. It is imperative for firms to be a part of the international market. Therefore, firms should want to know how internationalized are their operations. To gain such knowledge requires measuring the degree of internationalization, which, in turn, is related to “managerial mindset”.

Keirestsu Centrality - Profits And Profit Stability: A Power Dependence Perspective, Lance Eilot Brouthers, Yan Gao, Stuart Napshin

Faculty and Research Publications

Prior studies compare keiretsu member firm and independent firm performance. Here, we use historical and power dependence perspectives to theorize that the Japanese keiretsu system primarily benefits the most central firms. We test this by examining the performance of two types of keiretsu firms (central firms and other member firms) within two types of keiretsu (horizontal and vertical). We hypothesize and find that: (1) central vertical keiretsu firms are more profitable than central horizontal keiretsu firms; (2) central horizontal keiretsu firms have greater profit stability than central vertical keiretsu firms; (3) central vertical keiretsu firms are more profitable than non-central …

Negotiating Development: Valuation Of A Guesthouse Project In Southern Guinea-Bissau1, Brandon D. Lundy

Faculty and Research Publications

This paper provides a case study illustrating the crossroads between the agendas of international/national economic development with that of the development objectives of local communities. It shows how a community development project connects villagers to the larger world – both practically and imaginatively. This study takes a single case, the process of developing a guesthouse building project among the Nalú of southern Guinea-Bissau, to illustrate how a local attempt to connect to the outside world is intersected by community relations, NGOs, and development discourse. Through a community study using ethnographic methodology including participant observation, interviews, and focus groups, the village …

Culture Determines Business Models: Analyzing Home Depot's Failure Case In China For International Retailers From A Communication Perspective, May Hongmei Gao

Faculty and Research Publications

This article is a result of a longitudinal case study regarding Home Depot's operation in China. From 2006 to 2011, the author conducted 37 in-depth interviews with Home Depot executives, managers, lawyers, employees, suppliers, and consumers, as well as its Western and Chinese competitors. These interviews generated 500+ pages of transcripts and field notes. Home Depot entered China in 2006 by acquiring 12 stores from a Chinese company, Home Way. However, by September 2012 all Home Depot stores in China had been closed.

This interview-based single-case-study research has these notable contributions. First, this research stresses the importance of host culture …

The Role Of Family Ownership In International Entrepreneurship: Exploring Nonlinear Effects, Salvatore Sciascia, Pietro Mazzola, Joseph H. Astrachan, Torsten M. Pieper

Faculty and Research Publications

Empirical research on international entrepreneurship is growing, but results on the role of family ownership in this phenomenon are inconsistent. We believe these inconsistencies owe to prior researchers having not yet investigated nonlinear relationships. Drawing on opposing perspectives of stewardship and stagnation, we explore potential benefits and drawbacks of family ownership for international entrepreneurship and explore nonlinear relationships among these two variables. Using a sample of 1,035 US family businesses and applying ordinal regression analysis, we find an inverted U-shaped relationship between family ownership and international entrepreneurship: International entrepreneurship is maximized when family ownership stands at moderate levels. We discuss …

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Insights For Internal Auditors, Audrey A. Gramling, Dana R. Hermanson, Heather M. Hermanson

Faculty and Research Publications

Douglas Faggioli, president and CEO of Nature's Sunshine Products (NSP) made the above remarks as he accepted, on behalf of NSP, a 2004 "100 Best Corporate Citizens" award from Business Ethics magazine. NSP received the award two years in a row. Less than two years later, NSP would discover a bribery scheme in its Brazil operations that would expose it to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Faggioli and the company's CFO, Craig Huff, along with NSP, would be plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit, and the SEC would fine each officer $25,000. …

Big 4 Auditor Affiliation And Accruals Quality In Bangladesh, M. Humayun Kabir, Divesh Sharma, Md Ainul Islam, Amiros Salat

Faculty and Research Publications

Purpose – Bangladesh is an emerging economy and international audit firms operate there through affiliated local audit firms. The Bangladesh audit market can be characterized as an intensely competitive small audit market with relatively poor demand for high-audit quality. In addition, Bangladesh has a relatively small and under developed but growing capital market that is characterized by poor corporate regulation and weak investor protection. The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between Big 4 affiliated auditors and accruals quality in Bangladesh.

Design/methodology/approach – Following prior literature, this paper uses both absolute discretionary accruals and signed discretionary accruals …

Turkey: Another $1 Trillion Emerging Economy?, Murat Doral

Faculty and Research Publications

The strategic location of Turkey makes it a very important country in terms of geopolitics as well as economics. Turkey is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. It is where East meets West without clashing with each other but merging with each other. Even though, industry, trade, and finance are all dominated by the expansive and crowded Istanbul, other cities and towns in Anatolia –the Anatolian Tigers- are industrializing rapidly and now participating in the global economy. Today, Turkey has the largest economy in the greater Middle East. Depending of the source, Turkey …

Labor Migration Challenges In Economic Planning: A Case Study Of Astana, Bolat L. Tibekov, Kamal Fatehi, Foad Derakhshan, Jim Herbert

Faculty and Research Publications

The end of the cold war removed a major barrier against free trade and consequently, globalization of business spread economic developments around the world, created job opportunities, particularly in industrial sectors, which led to migration of many people who were in search of a better life. Newly independent countries have emerged and many have been, or are in the process of, integrating into various trade packs of the free market system. This labor migration has taken place at various levels. This work studies the attributes of domestic migration and the challenges it has created for economic and urban planning. The …

Facilitators And Obstacles Of Intercultural Business Communication For American Companies In China: Lessons Learned From The Ups Case, Hongmei Gao, Penelope Prime

Faculty and Research Publications

This article analyzes how the execution of business strategy for global enterprises is shaped by the dual challenges of communicating in a different national culture and working in a changing economic environment. The article develops a framework from the UPS case in China to illustrate the key components of strategy for US companies operating businesses in China. The article proposes that Chinese-American communication effectiveness can be achieved through overcoming five obstacles: cultural multiplicity, relationship/ task orientation, time concept, business style difference, and language use, while utilizing five facilitators:pragmatism, gender equality, English, American pop culture, and a "big country mentality."

Performance, Bias, And Efficiency Of Foreign Exchange Correlation Forecasts, Stefano Mazzotta

Faculty and Research Publications

This paper evaluates the performance, bias, and the efficiency of option-implied and return-based correlation measures using 12 years of daily data on foreign exchange and over-the-counter (OTC) currency option. The sample includes five years of rates for the Polish zloty and the Czech koruna with respect to the euro and the U.S. dollar. The results show that implied correlation is a good predictor of realized correlation and is, generally, unbiased and efficient.

Raising Capital Overseas, John D. Gould, John P. Mcallister, Larry L. Orsini

Faculty and Research Publications

The article states that more and more companies are trying to raise capital by listing their securities for sale on foreign exchanges.More and more companies are trying to raise capital by listing their securities for sale on foreign exchanges. However, the way financial statements are prepared varies from one country to the next. U.S. companies looking to raise capital abroad must consider the myriad rules regarding financial statement presentation just as foreign companies listing stock in the United States must adhere to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Similarly, the costs of reconciling U.S. accounting standards …