International Business Commons^™

Inclusive Business: Using For-Profit Business Models To Address Global Poverty, Samuel James Conner

Senior Honors Theses

Due to the rise of globalization, modernization, and the Internet revolution, awareness of global poverty has expanded, making its eradication a chief goal of the global development community for the twenty-first century. Though corporations are often expected to participate in social and community development initiatives without regard for profits, this paper presents inclusive business as a way for businesses to profitably engage impoverished segments of society. Inclusive businesses seek to expand their consumer bases or strengthen their supply chains by moving into new markets among the poor that have limited access to global markets and remain largely untapped. The research …

Corporate Social Responsibility, Daniel H. Brown

Senior Honors Theses

This paper will address Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its far-reaching implications. Initially, the term CSR will be introduced and defined to provide the backbone for the following discussions. The paper will address the theoretical constructs of CSR, managerial strategies for implementing CSR and the application of stakeholder theory. The thesis is built upon Dr. Archie Carroll’s four-part CSR construct. In addition, international standards of CSR, with a focus on Nike, Inc.’s actions, will be evaluated.

The Effect Of Foreign Direct Investment On Economic Growth And Its Implications, Mark Tolley '13

Honor Scholar Theses

My thesis paper examines whether or not foreign direct investment promotes economic growth in the host country. Looking into a prior study, by Li and Liu (2005), they found that FDI does spur growth; however, there has been contrasting studies that show that FDI has a negative effect on host country’s growth. I argue that, after researching conflicting arguments, foreign direct investment is correlated to positive economic growth. My econometric model takes a panel data set from 82 different countries from 1970-2011. The growth model concludes that FDI does promote positive economic growth. This is significant because it confirms my …

The Future Of International Trade: Sustainability Is Key, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

What can multinational companies do to ensure that international trade flourishes in years to come? Gerry Craggs, the Far East managing director of steel trading company Stemcor, says that companies like his need to focus on developing sustainable trading policies rather than immediate gain. "Sustainable trading is not driven by short term profit but by providing optimal medium and long-term supply chain solutions that benefit all participants," he told Perspectives@SMU on the sidelines of the 5th anniversary celebration of the university’s International Trade Institute (ITI). Craggs is also Chair of the International Trading Concentration Sub-Committee at the institute that consists …

Trust Between International Joint Venture Partners: Effects Of Home Countries, Gokhan Ertug, Ilya Cuypers, Niels G. Noorderhaven, Ben M. Bensaou

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Trust is an important factor in interorganizational relations. Interorganizational trust in cross-border relationships is likely to be influenced by the home countries of both partners. Using data on 165 international joint ventures (IJVs), we show that the perceived trustworthiness of an IJV partner is influenced by the general propensity to trust in the trustor's home country. Moreover, the trustworthiness perceived by a focal parent firm is also affected by the home country of the other IJV partner. This second effect is mitigated by experience between the partners.

Why Isn't China Exporting Automobiles? : A Model Of Technology Adoption, Nianchen Han

Honors Theses

In modern times, the automobile industry has become a relatively labor intensive industry as compared to other industries such as the food processing industry orIT industry. Normally, several people are involved in each process of an automobile production line. However, for a food processing firm such as a bottled water firm, it only takes a few people to control the huge machine in the factory. Under the Heckscher-Ohlin theorem’s assumption, a country will operate an industry that is intensive in its abundant resource. That means a labor abundant country will produce labor intensive goods and a capital abundant country will …

2013 Ijbe Front Matter, Tamra Connor

International Journal for Business Education

1. Editorial Board
2. President's Letter
3. SIEC-ISBE International

Slavery Is Bad For Business: Analyzing The Impact Of Slavery On National Economies, Monti Narayan Datta, Kevin Bales

Political Science Faculty Publications

This article, using a novel dataset, demonstrates that slavery is empirically bad for business. Building upon the work of Robert Smith, the authors analysis examines the relationship between the prevalence of slavery in a country (in terms of the proportion of the population enslaved) and several economic measures (the United Nations Human Development Index, growth domestic product in terms of purchasing power parity, access to financial services, and the Gini coefficient). In each instance, controlling for alternative explanations, greater levels of slavery are associated with a decline in economic growth and human development. The findings imply that beyond the morality …

Female Authority In A Globalizing Market, Megan R. Mccann

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

The Moderating Effects Of Environmental Dynamism On The Relationship Between Dynamic Capabilities Strategy And New Venture Performance In An Emerging Market, Ilan Alon, Hao Jiao, Koo Chun Kwong, Yu Cui

Faculty Publications

Building from resource-based view, this study developed a model of the dynamic capabilities strategy in an emerging market, especially with a particular focus on the new ventures. We generated hypotheses based on this framework, linking them with new venture performance, with the moderation role of environmental dynamism. We tested our hypotheses on a sample of new ventures in the context of China's Yangtze River Delta Region. Empirical results showed that environmental sensing capability and changing and renewal capability had significant impacts on new venture performance. Additionally, environmental sensing capability, and changing and renewal capability both had a stronger impact on …

Diffusion Of Mobile Payment Systems Among Microentrepreneurs In Kenya And Tanzania, Dionne A. Nickerson

School of Business Student Scholarship

The rapid rise of Kenya's mobile payment system, M-PESA , has grasped the attention of policy makers and private enterprise alike. In just six years M-PESA has transformed how money flows throughout Kenya, and similar systems are gaining traction elsewhere in Africa. This project examines the impact of mobile payment system adoption on the economic advancement of Kenyan and Tanzanian microentrepreneurs. This work will further the understanding of mobile payment systems’ contribution to the economic growth of microenterprises, which may have implications for poverty reduction in these two nations.

The Irish Dairy Industry: Globalisation, Competition, Recession, & Consumerism, Brian Clancy, Angela Wright

Dept. of Organisation & Professional Development Publications

In today’s global environment, the dairy farmer and his herd have lost major importance and influence as a consequence of a variety of factors, among them the Industrial revolution, continued and increasing consumerism, the technological explosion, and the ever-expanding concentration of people in urban areas. This research study examines the Irish dairy industry in its current format. The objective of this study is to look at what dairy farmers need to do to grow and expand their business efficiently and effectively. The major challenge for the industry is to attract a new generation of knowledgeable workers to the land. This …

Increasing California Dairy Exports To Japan And South Korea, Kristina Soper

Dairy Science

The opportunities for increasing exports of California dairy products to the Japanese and South Korean markets were determined by identifying current obstacles in the California dairy industry and determining the characteristics of consumers in the Japanese and South Korean markets. As the largest milk-producing state and the supplier of 7.5% of total U.S. dairy exports, California’s economic activity greatly affects the rest of the nation and the world. The trends in the California dairy industry include increasing total milk production and per-cow milk production, a diminishing number of total dairy operations, and a rising number of large dairy operations. These …

Global Companies And Global Society: The Evolving Social Contract, Ann Florini

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Globalization, privatization, and CHANging ideas about the roles of business and government are transforming the social contract under which business is allowed to operate. Global companies are also policy-makers and public goods providers, governments seek profits through state-owned enterprises and sovereign wealth funds, and everyone is trying to figure out how to partner with everyone else. As a result of global economic and social integration, more and more of the business-society interaction has played out at a transnational rather than purely national level, involving transnational corporations, transnational civil society networks and organizations, and inter-governmental organizations. Experiments with codes of conduct, …

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 …

The Road Well-Travelled: Internationalism And Globalisation, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Internationalism and globalisation involve more than the number of companies and the variety of jurisdictions in which they operate. For Stephen Wyatt, the transition to internationalism is a journey in which we are able to trace the evolution of firms making incrementally logical decisions and the natural consequence of where they are right now, whether they are incremental decisions seeking to maximise profitability or returns, or long term stability. And as those decisions continue incrementally, there is a continuum, or journey, along which they travel, that provides an opportunity

Why The Sec Is Delaying Adoption Of International Financial Reporting Standards, Clemense Ehoff Jr., Dov Fischer

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

In 2002, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) formally began a process to converge Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The SEC has repeatedly delayed its decision on whether to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards as the financial reporting system for U.S. public companies, continue with the convergence project, or reject IFRS altogether. This paper will examine several key reports issued by the SEC and the Financial Accounting Foundation to gain further insight into 1) why the SEC has repeatedly delayed its decision, and 2) what the SEC …

Private Governance, Public Implications And The Tightrope Of Regulatory Reform: The Isda Credit Derivatives Determinations Committees, John Biggins, Colin Scott

Transnational Business Governance Interactions Working Papers

Regulatory relationships in financial markets exemplify the importance and changing nature of transnational business governance interactions (TBGI). These interactions involve reciprocal forces of influence between private and public regulators. This paper examines one key case of private governance in financial markets: the emergence, structures and decision-making of Credit Derivatives Determinations Committees (DCs) of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA). The paper highlights the mechanisms or 'pathways' of interaction between ISDA, governments, courts and public regulators. Interactions between state and non-state actors are shown to occur in both operational and policy spheres. ISDA is found to be a particularly resilient …

A System Of Transnational Business Interactions: The Case Of The Living Wage, David J. Doorey

Transnational Business Governance Interactions Working Papers

The subject of transnational business governance (TBG) interactions is an emerging field of study. These interactions are complex, involving multiple public and private actors crossing vast geopolitical spaces, with sometimes shared, but often conflicting interests. This complexity makes TBG interactions both an exciting new field of inquiry for scholars, but also an extremely challenging one. In these early days of theory development, it is useful to engage in a mapping exercise that will help scholars identify and test the relationships between the many inputs and outputs of TBG interactions. This new systems framework is demonstrated by reference to the complex …

Bridging The Business Cultures Of The East And West, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

As companies in the West look to the East for business opportunities and those in the East looking westwards to expand themselves, it is no longer enough for business executives to be bilingual. Those who want to be in hot demand will have to be "bi-cultural" and understand the differences between Western and Eastern business cultures.

Venturing Into India: Singapore-India Business Ties, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

The business strategy of transplanting business models in India is one way which companies can penetrate the economic potential of the country. It is about taking proven business models and finding strategies to bring them into India where there are opportunities to scale up dramatically and where there is an opportunity to tap into local capital and management and create value for shareholders.Yet, SMEs in Singapore are "under-invested" in India ...

Chinese Overseas M&A: Overcoming Cultural And Organizational Divides, Francesca Spigarelli, Attilio Mucelli, Ilan Alon

Faculty Publications

This article contributes to the existing knowledge on the difficulties and critical aspects of the post-acquisition phase of an emerging market multinational. To establish the context, a literature review on multinational companies from emerging countries, and specifically on the internationalization initiatives of Chinese companies, is provided, along with a framework to analyze cultural and management-related differences related to mergers and acquisitions (M&As). This review and framework is followed by a case study of a Chinese motorbike M&A in Italy. The case illustrates how Chinese companies use Italy to access Western markets (and strategic logistical services), as well as a wide …

China's Business Cycle And Monetary Policy, Hailun Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Economic reform that began in 1978 became a landmark in the evolution of the Chinese economy. The Chinese economy then gradually transferred from a planned economy to a market-oriented economy. I mainly focus on China's business cycles and monetary policy after 1978 in this paper.

I use GDP growth to measure the Chinese business cycle. Instead of the level of GDP, the business cycles in the thesis I am talking about are ups and downs in the rate of growth.

In Chapter Two, I illustrated all five business cycles which have occurred over the past 30 years. I also introduced …

International Exposure Through Network Relationships: Implications For New Venture Internationalization, Stephanie A. Fernhaber, Dan Li

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

Drawing on the network literature and attention-based view, we examine the extent to which international exposure from key informal (geographically proximate firms) and formal (alliance partners) network relationships impacts new venture internationalization. Our findings are three-fold. First, international exposure from both types of network relationships positively influence new venture internationalization, and serve as substitutes for each other. Second, the effects differ based on the age of the venture. While older ventures benefit more from international exposure from alliance partners, younger ventures are more influenced by international exposure from geographically proximate firms. Third, our analysis confirms a three-way interactive effect of …

The Us Cap And Trade Initiative: Current Status And Potential Impact On Business, Bruce W. Mcclain, Heidi H. Meier

Business Faculty Publications

PURPOSE: Even during these tough economic times the current administration has proposed to revive the US “Cap and Trade” initiative and to see it through to passage. Many in the public are not aware that the idea of cap and trade is not new as similar programs have been successfully used in the US and other countries to “wind down” environmentally damaging emissions. The aim of this paper is to explain cap and trade and to project what form current proposals could take. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: This paper explains cap and trade and goes on to project what form current proposals could …

Anatomy Of The 3d Innovation Production With The Cobb-Douglas Specification, Quan Hoang Vuong, Nancy K. Napier

International Business Program

This paper focuses on verifying the relevance of two theoretical propositions and related empirical investigation about the relationship between creativity and entrepreneurship. It draws upon a creativity process that considers three “dimensions” or “disciplines” (3D) critical for creative organizations—within discipline expertise, out of discipline knowledge, and a disciplined creative process. The paper first explores the Cobb-Douglas production function as a relevant tool for modeling the 3D creative process. The next part discusses the 3D process as a production function, which is modeled following the well-known Cobb-Douglas specification. Last, the paper offers implications for future research on disciplined creativity/innovation as a …

Refining Thoughts On Culture: Insights Derived From Australia And New Zealand, Kevin D. Lo, Amanda Budde-Sung

Organization, Leadership, and Communication

Culture and cross-cultural differences are increasingly important in international business and management. However, the existing models of national culture may not accurately reflect intra-cultural and intra-regional variation. We examine Australia and New Zealand as examples of the national model of culture falling short with respect to both cultural clustering and intracultural variation. Given that both of these countries are attaining greater prominence in international business, we highlight the need to consider their uniqueness and what we can learn for both management research and practice. As we call attention to the important distinctions that

Strategies For Sustaining The Edge In Offshore Outsourcing Of Services: The Case Of India, Rajshekhar G. Javalgi, W. B. Joseph, Elad Granot, Andrew C. Gross

Business Faculty Publications

PURPOSE: Offshore outsourcing offers competitive advantages when goods and services are produced economically and with acceptable or superior quality by suppliers located outside a firm's home country. The purpose of this paper is to focus on India as a destination for offshore outsourcing of services and the challenges it faces in maintaining its leadership in this area. The paper discusses the growth of services outsourcing and the economic and environmental forces that have contributed to the outsourcing of high-end services, also known as knowledge process outsourcing (KPO). DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: This article surveys the literature of offshore outsourcing and identifies strategic drivers …

Integrated Risk Study For Chinese Commercial Banks With Fuzzy Comprehensive Appraisal Method, Hongmei Li, Haigang Zhou

Business Faculty Publications

The Basel Capital Accord II proposes that commercial banks should supervise not only credit risk but also market risk, liquidity risk and operational risk. Using the fuzzy comprehensive appraisal method based on the Basel Capital Accord II, this paper measures the integrated risk of Chinese commercial banks. Our results indicate that the average values of the four types of risks are higher than the integrated risk of the four risks, indicating an overestimated whole risk. Our results illustrate the importance of considering the correlation between the different risk sources in order to efficiently allocate financial resources.

The Soft Stuff Is The Hard Stuff: How Relationships And Communications Can Drive The Execution Of Business Strategy, Linda Clark-Santos, Nancy K. Napier

International Business Program

In this chapter, we take a somewhat contrarian approach and explore the value of “soft” skills—specifically, building strong relationships and communicating effectively—in driving the effective execution of strategy. We divided the chapter into five parts. First, we describe what happens with relationships and with communication that might contribute to the failure to execute business strategy. Next, we discuss why relationship and communication problems happen—including the power of organizational culture, competition among peers, the rise of cynicism, the isolation of executives, and the impact of organizational design. The third section focuses on what happens as a result of these problems. The …