Business Commons^™

The Value Of International Experiences For Business Students: Measuring Business Student Attitudes Toward Study Abroad, Sean Heffron, Peter A. Maresco

Sean Heffron

The value of an international experience—especially for students of business—continues to be an area of focus at colleges and universities. Students across all disciplines within the business curriculum: accounting, economics, finance, management, marketing, or sport management are expected by employers to possess knowledge of, and appreciation for, other cultures. Using as a backdrop two unique study abroad programs that immerse students into an intercultural business experience and have them interacting with—and learning from—the local residents as well, the survey research in this study measures student attitudes before and after they study abroad and it notes the changes that students report …

A Credit Rating Model In A Fuzzy Inference System Environment, Amir Karbassi Yazdi, Thomas Hanne, Yong J. Wang, Hui-Ming Wee

Yong J. Wang

One of the most important functions of an export credit agency (ECA) is to act as an intermediary between national governments and exporters. These organizations provide financing to reduce the political and commercial risks in international trade. The agents assess the buyers based on financial and non-financial indicators to determine whether it is advisable to grant them credit. Because many of these indicators are qualitative and inherently linguistically ambiguous, the agents must make decisions in uncertain environments. Therefore, to make the most accurate decision possible, they often utilize fuzzy inference systems. The purpose of this research was to design a …

The Challenge Of Managing Safety In Africa, Joseph A. Petrick

Dr. Joseph A. Petrick

The authors provided an empirical overview of the African regional and national socioeconomic influences on safety management and the leading causes of non-natural fatalities and injuries: Motor vehicle accidents and work accidents in both the formal and informal sectors. The authors point to three different theoretical approaches to African safety management that address the fact that the rate of motor vehicle deaths, for instance, was about 18 times higher than in the U.S. Recommendations for improving African safety management were also provided.

Sustaining Governance Integrity Capacity: A Strategic Opportunity For China-Us Public Administration, Joseph A. Petrick

Dr. Joseph A. Petrick

The main purpose of this theoretical paper is to delineate the nature, value and accountability of sustaining governance integrity capacity as an intangible strategic asset by public administrators in China and the United States. This study frames professional accountability of cross-cultural public administration in terms of strategic competencies in sustaining four dimensions of governance integrity capacity (process, judgment, development and system). The study provides interlinked management and ethics theories and a six-step implementation process to operationalize and improve judgment integrity capacity in China-US public administration decision-making. Finally, the study recommends two action steps that can be taken to enhance China-US …

2018 Atrs Global Airport Performance Benchmarking Award Winners, Tae Oum, Chunyan Yu

Chunyan Yu

The ATRS Global Airport Benchmarking Project measures and compares the performance of several important aspects of airport operations: Productivity and efficiency, unit costs and cost competitiveness, financial results and airport charges. The report also examines the relationships between various performance measures and airport characteristics as well as management strategies in order to provide a better understanding of observed differences in airport performance. The 2018 report includes 204 airports and 24 airport groups of various sizes and ownership forms in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. This presentation highlights the top efficiency award winners.

Examination Of Two Decades In Used Clothing Trade: The Case Of The United States And Selected Developed Economies, Youngji Lee, Ling Zhang, Elena E. Karpova

Ling Zhang

This research examined two decades of the U.S. used clothing exports to the world. All countries (209) were classified into four groups based on the level of economic development. Between 1996 and 2012, U.S. used clothing exports shifted away from low-income economies to high-income economies. For the first time, our research demonstrated that the majority of used clothing discarded by American consumers is exported to high-income economies instead of poorest nations of the world. Next, used clothing exports and imports by volume and value in seven high-income countries were analyzed. The high-income countries not only exported but also imported significant …

Mindscapes And Individual Heterogeneity Within And Between Cultures, Kamal Fatehi, Ben L. Kedia, Jennifer L. Priestley

Jennifer L. Priestley

Most cross-cultural studies are sociologically based and assume intra-cultural homogeneity in mentality and logic among people. The application of cultural dimensions in many cross-cultural studies has inadvertently contributed to this oversight. Scores on these dimensions are supposed to indicate characteristics of national cultures. The apparent characteristics of cultures are extended to individuals as well. On that basis, we assume that all Americans are individualistic, ignoring those who might have more collectivist mentality and logic. Although some researchers have recognized the existence and importance of heterogeneity within cultures, these issues have not been fully addressed. Experience at the international level and …

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

Brandon D. Lundy

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 …

Inertia And Managerial Intentionality: Extending The Uppsala Model, Douglas Dow, Peter Liesch, Lawrence Welch

Douglas Dow

Between Kinship And Commerce: Fiduciaries And The Institutional Logics Of Family Firms, Elisabeth Brooke Harrington, Vanessa Strike

Brooke Harrington

Are We At A Turning Point For Distance Research In International Business Studies?, Douglas Dow

Douglas Dow

Tthe Requirement Of Domestic Participation In New Mining Ventures In Zambia, Muna Ndulo

Muna B Ndulo

No abstract provided.

Rise Of Born Globals And Their Association With High Technology Intensity Or Services Sector - Myths Or Reality?, Suresh Singh

Suresh Singh

Literature suggests that the proportion of born globals - firms entering foreign countries soon after birth - has increased significantly over time and such firms are associated with high technology intensity or services sector. However, there is little empirical support for these claims. To address this gap, this paper presents an empirical analysis of age at first global entry of US manufacturing and service multinationals that entered foreign countries in the last century. Only manufacturing showed a significant rise in the number of born globals. Being born global was not correlated with either having high technology intensity or being a …

Additional Evidence On The Impact Of The International Financial Reporting Standards On Earnings Quality: Evidence From Latin America, Mauricio A. Melgarejo

Mauricio Melgarejo

Linking Distributive And Procedural Justice To Employee Engagement Through Social Exchange: A Field Study In India, Soumendu Biswas, Arup Varma, Aarti Ramaswami

Arup Varma

Research linking justice perceptions to employee outcomes has referred to social exchange as its central theoretical premise. We tested a conceptual model linking distributive and procedural justice to employee engagement through social exchange mediators, namely, perceived organizational support and psychological contract, among 238 managers and executives from manufacturing and service sector firms in India. Findings suggest that perceived organizational support mediated the relationship between distributive justice and employee engagement, and both perceived organizational support and psychological contract mediated the relationship between procedural justice and employee engagement. Theoretical and practical implications with respect to organizational functions are discussed.

Replantar Un Campo: Derecho Internacional Del Trabajo Para El Siglo Xxi, Lance A. Compa

Lance A Compa

No abstract provided.

Re-Planting A Field: International Labour Law For The Twenty-First Century, Lance A. Compa

Lance A Compa

[Excerpt] In this talk I want to trace the development of the field and how international labour law has taken root in five areas: 1) trade legislation (namely, the US and EU Generalized System of Preferences), 2) trade agreements, 3) international organizations, 4) corporate social responsibility, and 5) lawsuits in national courts. In each, I try to give one or two examples of how international labour law works in practice. But first, some background on the international labour law field and my involvement with it.

Contesting Firm Boundaries: Institutions, Cost Structures, And The Politics Of Externalization, Virginia Doellgast, Katja Sarmiento-Mirwaldt, Chiara Benassi

Virginia Doellgast

This article develops and applies a framework for analyzing the relationship among institutions, cost structures, and patterns of labor–management contestation over organizational boundaries. Collective negotiations related to the externalization of call center jobs are compared across 10 incumbent telecommunications firms located in Europe and the United States. All 10 firms moved call center work to dedicated subsidiaries, temporary agencies, and domestic and offshore subcontractors. A subset of the firms, however, later re-internalized call center jobs, in some cases following negotiated concessions on pay and working conditions for internal workers. Findings are based on 147 interviews with management and union representatives, …

Management Whipsawing: The Staging Of Labor Competition Under Globalization, Ian Greer, Marco Hauptmeier

Ian Greer

The authors examine management whipsawing practices in the European auto industry based on more than 200 interviews and a comparison of three automakers. They identify four distinct ways in which managers stage competition between plants to extract labor concessions: informal, hegemonic, coercive, and rule-based whipsawing. Practices at the three auto firms differed from one another and changed over time because of two factors: structural whipsawing capacity and management labor relations strategy. In the context of economic globalization, whipsawing is an effective means for managers to extract concessions, to loosen national institutional constraints, and to diffuse employment practices internationally.

Fair Value Accounting: Affect On The Auditing Profession, Danny A. Pannese, Alan Delfavero

Danny Pannese

During this period of global markets, multinational corporations are demanding financial accounting standards with enhanced uniformity. In an effort to achieve this objective, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have been working together on the Convergence Project, aiming to develop accounting standards that closely correlate with international financial reporting standards. In September 2006 and February 2007, the FASB issued two key fair value accounting (FVA) standards which focused on providing guidelines for fair value measurement (through a classification hierarchy), expanding disclosure requirements, and also allowing business entities to increase FVA's application. However, the …

Topology Of Reciprocal Trade Agreements – A New Perspective, Suresh Singh, Sundaram Dorai

Suresh Singh

The topology of the worldwide network of reciprocal trade agreements is evolving in ways that defy conventional wisdom. It is at odds with the triad hypothesis, that is, a view of the world consisting of three mutually isolated major blocs, structured in a hub and spoke fashion - Americas with US as the hub, Europe with European Union as the hub and Asia with Japan as the hub. Moreover, many new agreements, traditionally called ‘regional’, are actually inter-regional. In order to make sense of these developments, we charted the evolution of the network using social network analysis and arrived at …

Order Of Entry Into Foreign Countries By Us Multinationals Since 1965: Role Of Psychic Distance Over Time And Across Sectors, Suresh Singh

Suresh Singh

Observations of internationalizing manufacturing firms, in the late seventies, revealed that the order in which firms enter foreign countries is influenced by psychic distance (perceived closeness based on factors such as culture, language and development level). Since then, the world has undergone rapid globalization and services have replaced manufacturing as the dominant sector of the world economy. To ascertain whether (a) psychic distance is still relevant and (b) industry sector impacts the relationship between psychic distance and order of entry, this paper analyzed the order of entry into foreign countries by US multinationals in manufacturing and services sectors since 1965. …

The Impact Of The European Union’S Policy Towards China’S Intellectual Property Regime, Natalia Wyzycka, Reza Hasmath

Reza Hasmath

Born Globals And Accidental Internationalists: Has Hennart (2014) Opened A Can Of Worms?, Douglas Dow

Douglas Dow

Investing In China: Opportunity And Barriers For Foreign Investors In A Complex Chinese Economy.Pdf, Robert Geer

Robert Geer

Do Foreign Companies Pay Higher Wages Than Their Local Counterparts In Malaysian Manufacturing?, David Lim

Prof. David Lim

This paper shows that foreign companies pay higher wages than their local counterparts in Malaysian manufacturing. Step-wise regression analysis shows that this is due to two factors. The first, and perhaps the more important, is the greater capital intensity of the production processes used by foreign companies. The second is their tendency to pay wages that they consider, or that are considered to be, commensurate with the wages that they pay in their home countries. This may be called the demonstration effect of wage remuneration in less developed countries.

Synchonizing U.S. States' Strategic Plans To Increase Exports To Emerging Markets, Jayati Ghosh, Denise M. Lucy, Françoise O. Lepage

Denise Lucy

The United States seeks to increase and expand exports to emerging markets. The majority of U.S. firms (98 percent) are small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) with only 1 percent engaging in exporting. The Federal and State Governments encourage SMEs to expand exporting through the National Export Initiative (NEI) and NEI/NEXT initiatives. This paper examines NEI’s progress and strategies by leading U.S. exporting states, export activity to BRICSA, states’ alignment with NEI and the extent to which NEI has facilitated federal and state collaboration. Further, it reviews NEI/NEXT objectives and strategies to internationalize U.S. business practices.

Foreign Investor Protection And Climate Action: A New Price Tag For Urgent Policies, Gus Van Harten

Gus Van Harten

From a climate perspective, not all investment is equal. Desirable investment in clean energy needs encouragement and protection, while undesirable investment in fossil fuels needs clear policy signals to avoid further investment in destructive activities and stranding more assets. In this paper, evidence is presented on how foreign investor protection provisions in trade and investment agreements tilt the playing field in favor of entrenched incumbents and against urgent action on climate; on the potential for a massive expansion of investor-state litigation and risks to climate policy in proposed trade deals; and on key flaws in recent European Commission proposals to …

Key Flaws In The European Commission’S Proposals For Foreign Investor Protection In Ttip, Gus Van Harten

Gus Van Harten

In November 2015, the European Commission released a proposed text on foreign investor protection in the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). In this paper, I outline key flaws in this proposal, including language buried in the text that significantly undermines the EC's proposed provisions on the investment court system (ICS) and on the right to regulate.

Regional Innovative Capacity In China: From The Perspective Of Embedded Autonomy, Ying Zhou, Xiaohua Yang, Rachel Parker, Paul Steffens

Rachel Parker

Innovation is widely considered as the core driver of nations' economic growth and competitiveness. Since the start of economic reform in 1978, the provincial governments in China have gained much autonomy, which has led to the co-existence of multi-level innovation systems, national innovation system and regional (provincial) innovation system. With the economic development and social progress, the disparities in innovative capacity (I C) among regions in China are becoming increasingly larger. Considering the unique innovation context of China and drawing upon the research on IC, this paper proposed to employ theories of embedded autonomy and governed interdependence, which was developed …