International Business Commons^™

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

Faculty Articles

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 Articles

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 …

Extractive Versus Productive Economy: A Case Study Comparison Of Peru And South Korea, Rubén Berríos

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

There are striking contrasts between a productive and an extractive economy. South Korea and Peru are used as examples. Korea is not a resource-rich country but has developed remarkably fast. Pem, on the other hand, is a resource-rich country but has shown uneven rates of growth and has had a lackluster development performance because it has relied on extractive industries that have brought boom and bust. Korea is a high performing economy that achieved high rates of growth implementing policies that emphasized productivity and promoted industrialization and free trade. Korea's success is explained in terms of its policies promoting the …

Culture And Innovation In Peru From A Management Perspective, Gregory J. Scott, Ian Chaston

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

Political stability, macro-economic caution, and the aggressive pursuit of free trade have enabled Peru to emerge as one of the fastest growing economies in Latin America. This economic expansion has created heightened interest in the evolution of corporate culture and its influence on firm performance. This paper examines organizational performance in relation to the influence of cultural values on innovation by means of a survey of upper level managers. Analysis of the survey results indicates that there was a positive relation between innovation and power distance and uncertainty. Survey findings show no relationship between innovation and individualism nor innovation and …

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

Faculty Articles

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 …

Two Essays On The Degree Of Globalization Of A Firm: Measurement, Antecedents, And Consequences, Victor B. Marshall

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

In this research I address the question: how global should a firm be? Answering this question requires addressing several related questions. First, what is a global firm, and how does one measure how global a firm is? Second, which firm capabilities are antecedents to firm globalization? And finally, what is the relationship between firm globalization and performance?

I begin by examining Rugman’s (2003, 2005) and Asmussen’s (2009) measures for the globalization of a firm and develop a new, simplified, enhanced measure, the Degree of Globalization (DOG). DOG is an easy to interpret continuous ratio variable that is mathematically and empirically …

Intellectual Capital And Firm Performance: An Empirical Study Of Software Firms In West Africa, Mohammed-Sani Abdulai, Youngsun Kwon, Junghoon Moon

The African Journal of Information Systems

This study investigates factors instrumental to the success of software industries of the 3I Nations (India, Ireland and Israel), examines the relationship between its elements, and studies the performance of software firms in West Africa. The study draws on concepts from multiple theoretical perspectives to develop a model for assessing the relationship between intellectual capital of software firms and their performance. The developed model was experimentally validated through a field survey of 83 software companies in West Africa using the Partial Least Square method. The survey results show significant relationship between the elements of intellectual capital and competitive capabilities of …

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

Faculty Articles

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 …

Deployment Evaluation Of Accounting Information Systems In Libyan Commercial Banks, Omar Sharkasi, Martin George Wynn

The African Journal of Information Systems

This article reports on the recent implementation and current deployment of accounting information systems in Libyan commercial banks. A case study approach is adopted that moves from an initial screening of the 14 main Libyan banks to a final in-depth study of just three banks. Business process modeling and systems profiling are used to assess the status of the banks in terms of systems use, process change and information systems strategy development. Libyan banks are well advanced in their installation of modern packaged software but could be used to greater effect to optimize business processes and improve efficiencies. Training and …

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

Faculty Articles

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 Articles

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 Articles

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 …

Basic Education And Education For All In Nigeria: The Role Of Multinational Corporations, Mary Plangnan Haggai

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

In spite of the concerted efforts made by the Nigerian government at funding the Universal Basic Education (UBE) in the country, 11 million children of school age are still out of school. To augment the funding, the paper proposes the involvement of multinational corporations. Participation in UBE is seen as a tangible Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project that will have direct impact on the host communities in such a way that will eliminate the hostilities of the host communities towards multinational corporations.

International Trade And Women Merchants At Gbagi Textile Market, Ibadan, Mutiat Titilope Kareem-Ojo

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

This paper examines the historical background of Gbagi textile market in Ibadan and the response to international trade among women merchants at the market. It discusses the relationship between Lebanese traders in Nigeria and Yoruba women merchants at the market. In this connection, the paper explains how the presence of the Lebanese influenced textile trade. It also examines how women merchants adapted to the changes associated with international trade relations. The paper concludes by analyzing the changes that occurred in the market via the trading activities of women merchants.

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

Faculty Articles

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 Articles

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 Articles

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 Articles

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 …