Business Commons^™

The Paradox Of Plenty: Why Guyana’S Local Content Law Needs A Reality Check, Vivian M. Williams

Publications and Research

The effectiveness of coercive local content requirements to the development of resource rich developing countries is an area attracting increasing global attention. Local content requirements are especially popular in the extractive sector though empirical studies show that they do not fulfill their intended purpose. Now recognized as the world's fastest growing economy after becoming an oil producing country, Guyana has passed a local content law. The real concern is not merely whether local content requirements fail to fulfill their objectives but whether they create market distortions that lead to the resource curse. This issue was addressed by Baruch's Adjunct Assistant …

Implementing The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals In International Business, Ivan Montiel, Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra, Junghoon Park, Raquel Antolín-López, Bryan W. Husted

Publications and Research

Building on the concept of externalities, we propose an explanation of how multinationals can contribute to the enactment of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals as part of their ordinary investments. First, we suggest grouping the 17 Sustainable Development Goals into six categories based on whether they increase positive externalities – knowledge, wealth, or health – or reduce negative externalities – the overuse of natural resources, harm to social cohesion, or overconsumption. Second, we propose placing these categories within an extended value chain to facilitate their implementation. Third, we argue that multinationals’ internal investments in host-country subsidiaries to improve their …

Value Distribution And Markets For Social Justice In Global Value Chains: Interdependence Relationships And Government Policy, Lilac Nachum

Publications and Research

Global value chains are highly prone to distortions in value distribution among participants. Their global fragmentation and relational governance undermine the effectiveness of regulatory intervention in amending these distortions. In this paper, I propose a new mechanism to administer value distribution that is in tune with the nature of these production systems. Building on interdependence theory, I suggest that interdependencies inherent in the co-specialized nature of supply chains give participants the power to alter the trade-offs between investment in social causes and economic gains and to incentivize socially desired behavior. I show how the interdependence logic manifests at varying levels …

How Should We Understand The Digital Economy In Asia? Critical Assessment And Research Agenda, Kai Li, Dan J. Kim, Karl R. Lang, Robert J. Kauffman, Maurizio Naldi

Publications and Research

By Asian digital economy, we refer to high-tech developments, business and social transformations, and information- driven changes in the region’s growth. We discuss its background and foundations, significance in Asia and contribution to removal of historical barriers in traditional business. We assess how new value chains are transforming country-level involvement in worldwide manufacturing and note “smiling curve theory” predictions about the global value chain in Asia for high-tech firms and their economies. The takeaway is that the digital economy in Asian nations involves revamping business processes through technology innovation, government policies for growth, and digital entrepreneurship. We analyze the “digital …

Race To Learn: Knowledge Characteristics And Resource Structure, Chandan Acharya, Isabel Rechberg, Xiaodan Dong

Publications and Research

Purpose

This paper studies the impact of the interactive effect of knowledge characteristics – tacitness, specificity and availability— and resource structure —complementarily and asymmetric—on learning race behavior among International Joint Venture (IJV) partners in China.

Design/methodology/approach

Preliminary in-depth interviews with three IJV managers were conducted to develop and evaluate the tentatively developed questionnaire. The finalized survey questionnaire was distributed to middle and top-level managers of IJVs, resulting in a total of 124 usable surveys. The psychometric properties of data were evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha and confirmatory factor analysis, and hypotheses were tested using a Generalized Linear Model.

Findings

The results …

What Impedes The Success Of Late Mover It Clusters Despite Economically Favorable Environments? A Case Study Of An Indian It Cluster, Harini Mittal, Punit Saurabh, Devang Rohit, Kathak Mehta

Publications and Research

The Information Technology (IT) industry in India, is one of the major contributors to the country’s growth story. It is organized in a few strong and dominant clusters across the country. Recent research focuses on the emergence, growth and success of the seven big IT clusters that account for 96.55  of total software exports from the country. Unlike the six successful late mover clusters, there are several other late mover IT clusters that have not experienced similar growth. Why do some of the late mover IT clusters in India succeed while others fail to take off despite favorable economic conditions? …

Supporting The Changing Practices Of Teaching In Business At Queens College, City University Of New York, James Tasato Mellone, Edward F. Wall Iii, Qiong Xu

Publications and Research

This investigation sheds light on the teaching practices of Queens College (QC) faculty in Business. It identifies the Business faculty’s teaching support needs in order to develop ideas for improving Library services to them. This report is the result of research conducted under the guidance of Ithaka S+R, and in accordance with Office of Regulatory Compliance procedures at QC. Using a grounded theory approach to qualitative research, the investigators conducted in-person audio-recorded semi-structured interviews of seven full-time QC faculty who teach Business courses. Evidence derived from the transcribed interviews informed analysis of the current state of QC’s Business teaching experience, …

Dominion Road In Auckland, New Zealand And Chinese Community, Wendy W. Tan

Publications and Research

Dominion Road, located at Auckland, New Zealand, runs north-south across most of the central areas of the town. It has been known as having a colorful mix of shops and being described as "United Nations of restaurants". However, around the Balmoral town center, Chinese-owned businesses have topped all other ethnic groups, so a proposal to designate this Road as the first Chinatown of Auckland City has been heard. The author did a literature search in this respect and also made a visit to this area. This article (in Chinese) is her understanding of the status quo after this site visit.

Crossing Borders In Business And Economics Classrooms: Implementing Telecollaboration To Advance Diversity And 21st Century Skills, Marta Fondo, Schiro Withanachchi

Publications and Research

The emerging changes in global societies challenge businesses as teams work across borders. Consequently, higher education promotes student interaction from diverse cultural backgrounds using technological tools without restricting time, cost, motivation or mobility. In this regard, telecollaboration engages students in a learning process that develops 21st century skills with peers from diverse language, socio-cultural, and educational backgrounds. This article presents a telecollaboration project designed and implemented by Queens College, City University of New York, and Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, an online university in Barcelona, in which 196 Economics and Business undergraduate students from the United States and Mexico enhanced intercultural …

Corporate Governance & Sustainability Of The Global Value Chain: Bangladesh Ready-Made Garment Industry Post-Rana Plaza Investigation Into Fairness Of Value Appropriation By Global Apparel Brands, Manufacturers And Labour, Yoshiteru Uramoto, Lilac Nachum Prof

Publications and Research

On 24 April 2013 more than 1,100 people died in the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse in Bangladesh. TV cameras focused on the victims of this horror – the garment workers, their unsafe and pitifully low incomes. Improvements were promised, by the factory owners, their international buyer customers, Bangladesh Government and civil society groups. This study sought to examine to what extent these promises had been delivered upon. Bangladesh is the world’s second largest exporter of ready-made garments. The industry has played a central role in the country’s economic development and poverty alleviation. It is widely agreed that labor safety …

Healthcare: An Industry Unlike Any Other Goes Global, Lilac Nachum

Publications and Research

The healthcare industry has been transformed in recent years from what was traditionally an entirely domestic industry into one that has now become a global industry increasingly defined by market-oriented principles. Against the forces that have driven the globalization of the industry others are arrayed that have resisted globalization and anchored the industry in national systems of healthcare delivery and consumption. This interplay between the global and the local is emerging as a predominant feature of the industry that is shaping its contemporary dynamics and will likely have significant consequences in the years to come. In this paper, I seek …

Symptomatic Leadership In Business Instruction: How To Finally Teach Diversity And Inclusion For Lasting Change, Linda L. Ridley

Publications and Research

Are business faculty complicit in mythologizing business concepts by ignoring historical precedence?

The refusal to examine in totality the history of discrimination and racism allows us to perpetuate a mythology of white supremacy that is enhanced through impotent diversity programs repeated throughout corporate America. This paper examines the importance of demythologizing the business curriculum through symptomatic thinking, which allows faculty and students to untangle the quagmire of diversity and inclusion in corporate America. Students are thereby equipped with tools for behavior transformation in the workplace that uses a symptomatic, rather than symbolic approach, to decision making and problem solving.

William Henry Aspinwall (1807-1875), Janet Butler Munch

Publications and Research

William Henry Aspinwall (1807-1875) was a 19th century New York City "merchant prince."

Financial Information Resources For Special Librarians, Di Su

Publications and Research

Speed has always been a competitive factor and corporate asset in business world. The growth of the Internet has created an equal opportunity for information service professionals in both big and small companies to improve their efficiency. The prominent advantages of Web source are currency, accessibility, and thus, the speed. You are provided with instant updates on issues like rules, official statements, interpretations, statistics, etc., and these documents can be accessed twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. There are so many valuable Web sites on the Internet that it is impossible to include them all in this article, …

Quick Access: Find Statistical Data On The Internet, Di Su

Publications and Research

In a typical business library, current or historical quotes on interest rates, foreign exchange rates, stocks, etc. are requested frequently. This article reviews and annotates a selected list of sources on the Internet that provide most popular statistical data in an accounting library.