Business Commons^™

Japanese Business And Tennessee: A Look At The Past, Present, And Future, Paul D. Weiler

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Export Potential Of U.S. - Produced Switchgrass And Wood Pellets For The Eu Market, Mladen Grbovic

Masters Theses

European Union’s (EU) dependence on fossil fuel imports strongly affects its energy supply and economic and national stability. In order to reduce its dependence and maintain the leadership position in GHG emissions reductions and renewable energy consumption, EU has set ambitious targets of reducing GHG emissions by at least 20% compared with 1990, raising the share of renewable energy to 20% and increasing the levels of biofuels in transport fuels to 10% by 2020. While some of the countries, due to their large renewable potential, have already reached set targets, some are still far behind. Biomass, with 69.8% share in …

Employment Of Returnees And The Performance Of Multinational Subsidairies In China, Huanglin Wang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Returnees, those who went overseas for higher education and then returned to their home countries, represent a unique group of employees for multinational enterprises (MNEs). However, they have been ignored in the MNE staffing literature which has developed a staffing typology based on nationality, specifically parent country nationals (PCNs), host country nationals (HCNs), and third country nationals (TCNs). We propose that cultural understanding is a more appropriate criterion than nationality in categorizing staff in MNEs and compare returnees with the existing categorizations of MNE staff. Returnees may be closer to the ‘balanced individuals’ that MNEs need compared with either expatriates …

Hospital Investments In High Technology And Community Services: The Role Of Local Market Uninsurance, Lakshmi Balasubramanian

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Research in the area of financing and investment decisions made by firms focuses on maximization of shareholder wealth in an open corporation with clear separation of ownership and management. The inherent profit motive leaves no ambiguity in investment decision-making. On the other hand, several other factors come into play when the organization making the investment decision is non-profit. This dissertation investigates the influence that community uninsurance may have on investment decisions in hospitals, most of which operate as non-profit ventures. Unlike other types of non-profit organizations, hospitals do not focus on a target consumer base to generate revenues. Instead, every …

Influence Of Financial And Policy Environments On The Business Strategy Of Biotechnology Companies In India, Sumesh Mohan Arora

Dissertations

The biotechnology industry thrives on innovation and new knowledge creation, but is also capital intensive with a complex regulatory environment (Hine and Kapeleris 2007). It is seen as a sunrise industry by the Indian government (Natesh and Bhan 2009). Current literature on the business strategy of Indian biotechnology companies and the influence from external factors is very limited. The objective of this research was to qualitatively test the applicability of the Miles and Snow (1978) theory of organizational behavior which describes four strategy choices: prospector, analyzer, defender and reactor, in the context of the Indian biotechnology sector. Research on Western …

The Effect Of The Governance Environment On International Business: Three Essays, Jun Wu

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

We examine how governance environment affects business activities across countries. Using an updated framework of governance environments, we classify countries into three groups based on their dominant modes of governance: (1) rule-based (strong rule of law), (2) relation-based (weak rule of law and strong informal network based on private relations), and (3) neither-based (absence of both public rules and private network). We then examine how different governance types affect trade patterns and foreign investment flows. Chapter 2 theoretically proposes that the governance environment of a society plays a significant role in influencing international trade and foreign investment across countries. Chapter …

United States Raisin Export Market Trends In The United Kingdom, Paul Mcchesney

Agribusiness

One of the agricultural products that the United States exports to England in large quantities is raisins. Raisin exports from the United States to England increased dramatically by 84% from 2007-2008 (USDA 2009). This study was sought to discover the cause of this large increase of raisin exports from 2007-2008, as well as to assess the current international raisin market.

To determine the cause of the increase in raisin exports to England, the top four raisin exporting countries in the world were analyzed to determine if their export quantities had a factor in the United States raisin exports to England. …

Determining Consumer Interest In Georgian Wines, Julie Ann Inderbitzen

Agribusiness

This study was done in order to determine if there is a demand in California for wines originating in the Eastern European Country of Georgia. A survey was used in order to collect primary data from 100 respondents in two locations. The surveys were conducted in Pleasanton, CA and in San Luis Obispo, CA and were later analyzed using surveymonkey.com Microsoft Excel 2008. The data was analyzed using chi square tests, independent t-tests as well as observed frequencies and charts. The tests were used to determine demographic data about California wine consumers and to measure their interest in wines from …

A Sustainable Business Proposition For Selling Irrigation Pumps In Ndola, Zambia, Robert Hosbach

Biomedical Engineering

Robert Hosbach is proposing a sustainable business plan to bring a small‐scale irrigation pump to rural Ndola, Zambia. With hundreds of thousands of citizens living in poverty and semi‐annual starvation, Ndola is in need of a means to grow crops effectively in the rainy season. Their current agricultural practices rely solely on the inconsistent rainfall during this time. My pump will be constructed from locally‐available aluminum cans, epoxy, glue, and fasteners (refer to Appendix B for technical drawings of the pump). The business will employ only a small number of Zambians, but will bring a means of food and income …

The Relationship Between History, Culture, And Chinese Business Practices: Using Sociological Awareness To Avoid Common Faux Pas, Vikki A. Ballard

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

As the world continues to become more global, and as economies continue to develop, more emphasis is being placed on understanding the business environment of cultures around the world. There is perhaps no other nation or culture globally that has been discussed as much as China. This is because the United States is one of the largest foreign investors in China (Li, 2008). The importance of the Chinese market to the U.S. lies in its wealth of people and resources and the millions of new consumers joining the market every day. As a nation of 1.3 billion citizens, with a …

The Discussion Of First Mover Advantage In The Chinese Hotel Industry, Yuheng Zheng

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

China’s tourism industry has become an important player in today’s tourism market. It has been reported by the WTO (World Tourism Organization) that China will become the world’s No.1 tourist destination by 2020 with more than 100 million tourists travelling to China every year (WTO, 1999; Pine and Qi, 2004). For international hotel groups, entering a new market like China is challenging. Cultural differences, government policies, entry modes and entry timing strategies all affect the potential success of the company. This paper will focus on timing strategies for foreign companies that want to enter the Chinese lodging industry and to …

The Political And Economic Justifications Of Rice Trade Distortions In The United States And Japan, Ryan Thomas Wilson

Agribusiness

Rice is one of the most distorted commodities in the world. The United States and Japan both hold rice sector policies that significantly protect their industries and distort trade. This study identifies major rice sector policies in the U.S. and Japan, and demonstrates their probable economic consequences in terms of social welfare. U.S. producers are major beneficiaries and Japanese consumers are at a major welfare loss. This study demonstrates the use of economic analysis as a tool in policy formulation. Change to these policies is not likely, unless drastic social/economic changes were to happen.

A Study Of The Economic Effects Of Imposing Fair Trade Coffee Consumption In San Francisco, Alexander Preston Magginetti

Agribusiness

Noting the rising sales of eco-friendly and fairly traded goods in the United States, this study examines the effects of implementing a policy that would limit the supply of non-fair-trade coffee in San Francisco. The goal of this policy would be to increase the sales of the fair-trade coffee market in the United States, and benefit fair-trade coffee growers by mandating the sale of fair-trade coffee in San Francisco. This study focuses on the economic effects of the policy on consumers and producers of fair-trade coffee, regular coffee, tea, and soda.

“Fair trade” began at the end of World War …

Thoroughbreds: European Roots, Jennifer Elaine Skidmore

Agribusiness

No abstract provided.

A Study Of The Effect Of Economic Policies On The Domestic Film Market, Gyeoreh Lee

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

These days, the U.S. films’ market share in the world is almost 70 percent and many countries have devised various means, including import quota, screen quota, subsidy, and tax concessions to protect the domestic film industry by preserving local film’s market share against U.S. film domination. Retaining these policies has important symbolic reasons because market share of the domestic film is related to preserving each country’s cultural sovereignty. However, the effectiveness of the economic policies is murky. If the policies do not bring any advantageous effect to the domestic film industry, there is no rational justification for sticking with them. …

Trends In International Compulsory Licensing Of Pharmaceuticals Since The Institution Of The Trade-Related Aspects Of Intellectual Property Protection (Trips) Agreement, Reed F. Beall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement went into effect for World Trade Organization (WTO) members in 1995. The agreement defines minimum standards of patent protection that must eventually be observed by all signatories. TRIPS includes "compulsory licensing", a policy that allows for states under certain conditions to permit the use of a patented innovation without the consent of the patent holder. This paper considers instances of compulsory licenses (CLs) aimed to increase access to pharmaceuticals during urgent public health scenarios. The WTO maintains no registry of CLs; therefore, this research is an effort to catalog as many …

Spain And The 2004 Expansion Of The European Union: A Case Of Fdi Diversion?, Christopher M. Preston

CMC Senior Theses

With the expansion of the European Union there have been concerns over increasing competition for FDI attraction between member states. This study will examine to what extent, if to any extent at all, the admission of the Central and Eastern countries to the EU has raised completion for FDI in Spain. Spain and the CEECs will be compared in terms of advantages in FDI attraction. Ultimately, evidence and analysis will suggest that given current trend, there is no serious threat to diverting foreign assets from Spain to the CEECs.

Organizational Slack, International Expansion And Firm Profitability, Anran Liu

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

International expansion is a viable growth strategy for firms operating in an increasingly competitive business environment. Understanding the relationship between international expansion and firm performance has been a significant concern for theory development in the strategy and international business literature. The extant literature, however, has paid insufficient attention to the tradeoff between firm growth and profitability that may imply the existence of an optimal rate of growth. Drawing from the Penrosian perspective that emphasizes the role of resources in firm growth, this study investigates whether and how firm slack resources affect the tradeoff between international expansion and profitability. Specifically, this …

The Relationship Between Product And International Diversification: The Effect Of Asset Dispersion And Asset Diversity On Firm Performance, Yulia Muzyrya

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

There is little consensus on the diversification-performance relationship in the diversification literature. We aim to contribute to this literature by looking simultaneously at product and international diversification and the relationship between both. Furthermore, we distinguish theoretically and empirically between two different components of any diversification strategy, i.e. the degree of diversification and the type of diversification. We test our hypotheses on panel data covering 115 firms. We find that the dispersion of a firm’s activities, both internationally and in different product markets, results in higher levels of performance. Contrary, we find that higher levels in the diversity of the firm’s …