An Evaluation Of Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives Implemented By Alcoa, Votorantim, And Vale As A Means To Aid In Poverty Alleviation In The Brazilian Regions These Mining Companies Operate, Emily A. Coleman

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis evaluates the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives implemented by Alcoa, Votorantim, and Vale as a means to aid in poverty alleviation in the Brazilian regions these mining companies operate. Even though Brazil is ranked as the eighth largest economy in the world, 50 million Brazilians are living on less than US$1 per day. The presence of large mining corporations in Brazil’s poorest regions represents an opportunity for corporate social responsibility investments to improve social, economic, and environmental conditions in these locations. This research highlights the importance of designing corporate social responsibility programs according to the specific characteristics of …

Cross Cultural Variables: Evaluating Employee Attitudes Across Four Regions Of Asia, Europe, North And Latin America, Martin Brockerhoff, Jeanine K. Andreassi Ph.D.

WCBT Working Papers

There has been an explosion of businesses moving operations overseas, setting up international joint ventures and establishing multinational enterprises. This trend has led organizational researchers as well as corporations to explore the implications of cultural differences in managing a workforce. Can the same Western management practices be used as effectively with employees in Asia as in North America? Does the application of Western management principles in multinationals affect aspects of job satisfaction in non-Western countries? This poster reports the findings from two exploratory analyses on the relationship between job attitudes and the geographic/cultural setting of business organizations. The first analysis …

The Next Catalyst For Change: How Corporate Shared Value Is Reshaping Capitalism, Emily Davenport

CMC Senior Theses

Both corporations and their global conglomerates are looking into the face of an evolving idea of capitalism. As businesses become more intertwined with society, this special relationship is becoming increasingly deterministic of the condition of the world. This paper explores the possibility that if businesses integrate shared value -- a way to combine economic and social value -- into their long-term business plans, that not only will society be better off, but the businesses themselves may be able to explore previously unrecognized potential for profits.

The Impact Of Terrorism On Foreign Direct Investment: Which Sectors Are More Vulnerable?, Shivani Agrawal

CMC Senior Theses

The impact of conflict and violence on foreign direct investment (FDI) is not a topic that has been done justice by the literature, and what few studies exist have contradictory results. This paper studies the impact that transnational terrorism has on FDI inflows by economic sector, in developed countries. Results indicate a statistically significant negative correlation between terrorist events and total FDI inflows. Amongst a list of 12 broad industrial sectors, FDI inflows for manufacturing, trade and repair, and construction were found to have a statistically significant negative correlation with terrorist events.

Monthly Seasonality In Emerging Market: Evidence From Bangladesh, Lutfur Rahman, Abu S. Amin

WCBT Faculty Publications

The presence of the seasonal anomaly in stock returns has been reported extensively in finance literature. This paper examines the presence of monthly anomaly in Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), the premier stock exchange of Bangladesh. Data used in the study include daily closing prices of DSE indices such as DSE all share prices index (DSI), DSE general index (DGEN) and DSE 20 index for a period of 01.01.2001-30.06.2010. Several hypotheses have been formulated; those hypotheses have been tested and dummy variable regression was used in the study. The result indicates that May and June returns are positive and statistically significant. …

“Choice Of Service, Choice Of Cost”- A Transformational Change Program In It - The Case Of A Global Consumer Products Company: Case Study, Barbara M. Tarasovich, Bridget Lyons

WCBT Faculty Publications

This paper presents a framework for development of a transformational change management program (Flamholtz and Randle, 2008) in an information technology (IT) organization of a global Fortune 200 consumer products company. The goal of the transformation was to build leading edge global IT service offerings, to internal and ultimately external customers. The program played a pivotal role in the company’s "Path to Growth" Strategy. This strategy included very specific targets for sales, margins and earnings growth over a five-year period. The case illustrates how a well conceived change program, integrated with an organization’s overall strategic plan, is a competitive advantage.

Problem-Based Learning Leadership Development Program In A Multi-National Company, Stephen M. Brown, Petra Garnjost, Stefan Heilmann

WCBT Faculty Publications

This paper reports on the development and implementation of a team leadership training program in a multi-national company. The European Engineering Company (EEC Group) had grown and expanded into many countries in a relatively short time frame as a result of increased demand for the company's products and services in newly developing countries. The EEC Group and the training program had additional issues of culture and basic institutional knowledge. The paper reports on the program, the conceptual framework of the International Leadership Development Program (ILDP), results, and lessons learned. The authors advocate use of a Problem-based Learning (PBL) methodology to …

The Effect Of Using E-Learning Tools In Online And Campus-Based Classrooms On Student Performance, Edith Galy, Clara Downey, Jennie Johnson

International Business and Entrepreneurship Faculty Publications and Presentations

Creating an integrative research framework that extends a model frequently used in the Information Systems field, the Technology Acceptance Model, together with variables used in the Education field, this empirical study investigates the factors influencing student performance as reflected by their final course grade. The Technology Acceptance Model explains computer acceptance in general terms. The model measures the impact of external variables on internal beliefs, attitudes, and intentions. Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use, two main constructs in the model, refer to an individual's perception of how the adoption of a new technology will increase their efficiency, and the …

What Level Of Analysis Is Most Salient For A Global Theory Of Corporate Governance?, William Q. Judge

Management Faculty Publications

W e have five rigorous and relevant new comparative corporate governance studies in this issue. Each of these studies contributes to our journal’s overarching mission of moving toward a rigorous and relevant theory of corporate governance that can be meaningfully applied throughout the world. In this editorial, I would like to focus on the multiple levels of analysis involved with arriving at a global theory.

Globalization Of Chinese Firms: Theoretical Universalism Or Particularism, Ilan Alon, John Child, Shaomin Li, John R. Mcintyre

Management Faculty Publications

Research on the globalization of Chinese and other emerging markets' companies has only just begun and is on the verge of taking off. As it does so, additional thought should be given to the ontological and epistemological underpinnings of the theories attempting to capture the phenomenon. Should Western-centric theory prevail? Be adapted? Or abandoned in favour of new indigenous approaches to theorizing, based on context? Finally, should the context itself be the basis of theorizing? While the debate will not stop here, the future may hold a multiplicity of approaches, both indigenous and internationalized, for explaining emerging markets' contexts and, …

The Secret Weapon Of Globalization: China's Activites In Sub-Saharan Africa, Kehbuma Langmia

Department of Strategic, Legal, and Management Communications Faculty Publications

The continent of Africa has become the place where advanced nations have resorted to scramble for its natural wealth. Since the era of slave trade and colonization, Africa has become the victim of exploitation from external forces.

Towards A Decision Making Model For City Break Travel, Gerard Dunne, Sheila Flanagan, Joan Buckley

Articles

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the city break travel decision and in particular to develop a decision making model that reflects the characteristics of this type of trip taking.

Method

The research follows a sequential mixed methods approach consisting of two phases. Phase One involves a quantitative survey of 1,000 visitors to Dublin, from which city break and non city break visitor cohorts are separated and compared. Phase Two entails a qualitative analysis (involving 40 in-depth interviews) that specifically examines the decision making behaviour of city break visitors.

Findings

City break trips were shown to be …

Emerging Threats For Mnc Subsidiaries And The Cycle Of Decline, Pamela Sharkey Scott, P. T. Gibbons Prof

Articles

Purpose – Subsidiary units have traditionally feared relocation of their activities to lower-cost locations. The authors identify other emerging threats which are changing how multinational corporations (MNCs) manage their subsidiary units, and develop a cycle of subsidiary decline demonstrating how these threats can undermine a subsidiary's position within the MNC.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents the results of a survey targeted at over 1,100 subsidiary CEOs of MNCs located in Ireland, a program of in-depth interviews of 24 subsidiary CEOs/directors, and a review of the literature relating to MNC and subsidiary management, are combined to identify emerging threats to subsidiary …

Sweet Diversity: Colonial Goods And The Welfare Gains From Trade After 1492, Jonathan Hersh, Hans-Joachim Voth

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

When did overseas trade start to matter for living standards? Traditional real-wage indices suggest that living standards in Europe stagnated before 1800. In this paper, we argue that welfare rose substantially, but surreptitiously, because of an influx of new goods as a result of overseas trade. Colonial luxuries such as tea, coffee, and sugar transformed European diets after the discovery of America and the rounding of the Cape of Good Hope. These goods became household items in many countries by the end of the 18th century. We use three different methods to calculate welfare gains based on price data and …

Forecasting Empty Container Volumes, Rafael Diaz, Wayne Talley, Mandar Tulpule

Economics Faculty Publications

The accumulation and repositioning of empty containers have become acute problems for container ports and are expected to intensify in the future given the expected growth in trade imbalances among trading nations. These problems are major costs and operational challenges for container ports. More accurate forecasting of volumes of port empty containers will enable container ports to develop more cost efficient plans for the repositioning of empty containers. This paper compares the Tioga Group, United Nations and Winters method (utilizing empty container volumes of three U.S. container ports) in forecasting volumes of port empty containers. The Winters method is found …

Reconsidering International Tax Neutrality, Michael S. Knoll

All Faculty Scholarship

For decades, U.S. international tax policy has shifted back and forth between territorial-source-exemption taxation and worldwide-residence-credit taxation. The former is generally associated with capital import neutrality (CIN) and the latter with capital export neutrality (CEN). One reason why national tax policy has shifted back and forth between those benchmarks is because it is widely accepted that a tax system cannot simultaneously satisfy both CEN and CIN unless tax rates on capital are harmonized across jurisdictions. In this essay, I argue that the international tax literature contains two different and conflicting definitions for CIN. Under one definition, which goes back at …

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 …

Perspectives On Quality Coordination And Assurance In Global Supply Chains, Ling Li, John N. Warfield

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

The 2007 recall of Berko Electric Toe-Space Heaters made in the US, the recall of backpack blowers made in Japan, the recalls of toys and pet food produced in China have exposed the potential of global supply chain disruptions. This product recall storm leads to the issue of quality assurance in global supply chain management. Product recalls indicate that manufacturing companies are particularly vulnerable to ensure quality when they source via a global supply chain with poor visibility. Obviously, a supply chain cannot afford this kind of sourcing and supply structure that threatens the supply-chain integrity. This special issue on …

The Internationalization Of Singapore’S State Enterprise Network: Notes From Singapore’S Gambits In The Gulf Region, Caroline Yeoh, Wilfred Pow Ngee How

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The Singapore system of state-led, market interventions and its concerted attempts at creating overseas infrastructural-industrial township projects have received its share of controversies. These state-engineered projects are premised on the exportability of Singapore’s state credibility, systemic and operational efficiencies as well as technological competencies of Singapore companies, government-linked or not, to locations where the attributes are less distinct. This paper, as part of our series on this topic, revisits the city-state’s determined efforts to encapsulate economic space for Singapore-based firms to expand beyond the region, and tests the efficacy of the ‘Singapore system’ exported to foreign locales. This research, however, …

A Comparison Of Leadership Traits Across Countries: Taiwan And United States, Chi-Shou Justin Yang

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

With the rise of new technologies, geographical and political boundaries between companies are disappearing. Managers within multinational organizations are faced with the challenge of adapting to new paradigms of leadership while leading employees who may share different backgrounds. With businesses becoming more globalized, it is important to know and understand how to lead and interact with people from other cultures. The purpose of the study is to explore and describe similarities or differences with managers from the United States and managers from Taiwan in relation to the 29 leadership traits overall as well as at individual management levels. As a …