International Business Commons^™

Konformity Kills, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Unconventional Thinking. More crucial now than ever before. According to Dr. Eric J. Romero, the fall of the great brands of the last millennium - Nokia, Kodak, Hewlett Packard and General Motors - are examples of how conventional thinking impedes innovation. Nowadays, it is unconventional leadership and thinking that spur competitive advantage. The importance of creativity has been emphasised in nearly all literature and journal articles published this decade, adds the author of “Compete Outside the Box: The Unconventional Way to Beat the Competition”. "The fact is, the lack of it has brought the corporate behemoths …

The Impact Of Corruption On Firm Tax Compliance In Transition Economies: Whom Do You Trust?, Anna Alon, Amy M. Hageman

Faculty Publications

Tax compliance is an important issue for governments and the public alike. To meet public needs and fund public mandates, firms around the world are expected to comply with tax laws. Factors that are related to organizational (firm) tax compliance have not been sufficiently examined in the literature. Due to the increasing global influence of transition economies, factors associated with firm tax compliance in transition economies are particularly of interest. Based on a sample of over 5,000 firms from 22 former Soviet Bloc transition economies, we find that higher levels of corruption and higher levels of particularized trust (reliance on …

"The End Of The Beginning?": A Comprehensive Look At The U.N.'S Business And Human Rights Agenda From A Bystander Perspective, Jena Martin Amerson

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

With the endorsement of the Guiding Principles regarding the issue of business and human rights, an important chapter has come to a close. Beginning with the then U.N. Secretary-General’s “global compact” speech in 1999, the international legal framework for business and human rights has undergone tremendous change and progress. Yet, for all these developments, there has been no exhaustive examination in the legal academy of all of these events; certainly there is no one piece that discusses or analyzes all the major instruments that have been proposed and endorsed by the U.N. on the subject of business and its relationship …

The Unjustified Subsidy: Sovereign Wealth Funds The Foreign Sovereign Tax Exemption, Jennifer Bird-Pollan

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

The taxation of Sovereign Wealth Funds in the United States is outmoded and due for reconsideration. Offering a tax exemption to the billion dollar investment funds owned by foreign governments is both unfair and ineffective. Founded in the principles of sovereign immunity, the foreign sovereign tax exemption, codified in I.R.C. § 892, fails to satisfy the Congressional goals that motivated its creation. This Article explains the current taxation of foreign sovereigns and, by extension, Sovereign Wealth Funds. It then illustrates that the current exemption is simultaneously too broad, providing a tax exemption for activities that are clearly nongovernmental activities, and …

Application Of The Concept Of Project Finance In Iraq- A Comparative And Analytical Study, Faris K. Nesheiwat

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

Many scholars and experts have addressed the issue of project finance, but one area that remains without detailed examination is its legal treatment under the legal systems of developing countries. The legal concepts applied under project finance are Western and are not necessarily identical to or compatible with legal concepts in Middle Eastern countries in general or Iraq in particular. In that sense, project finance is a transplanted legal concept when examined in the Middle Eastern legal framework. Although this Paper tackles the legal and strategic issues arising from the use of project finance in Iraq, its analysis and comparative …

The Role And Importance Of The Chinese Government For Chinese Outward Foreign Direct Investments, Marc Fetscherin, Philippe Gugler

Faculty Publications

Chinese outward direct investments show a strong positive trend over recent years and have attracted considerable attention from academia and the business press. Many observers and commentators express interest in the role the Chinese government plays in the activities and decision-making of Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs) in connection with their foreign direct investments (FDI). This article makes a contribution by investigating the relationship between the Chinese government and MNEs in connection with their outward foreign direct investment (OFDI). We present a 2x2 matrix where one dimension includes the interest (high/low) of the Chinese government and the other the interest of …

Immigrant Business Enterprises: A Classification Framework Conceptualization And Test, Roberto Curci, Robert Mackoy

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

This article proposes the Immigrant Business Enterprises Classification Framework to organize immigrant-owned businesses into categories associated with different levels of business integration into a host country's mainstream business community. The article applies the framework and reports the findings of structured face-to-face interviews with 199 Hispanic business enterprises (HBEs) in Indianapolis. The authors find Hispanic-owned businesses hold different characteristics depending upon the integration category in which they are classified; the findings suggest that to support immigrant entrepreneurship, governments, business development organizations, and researchers should address category-specific challenges, opportunities, and needs.

Strategic Asymmetric Multicultural Alliances In Business, Anthony James Scriffignano

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Global economics and other factors make it increasingly difficult for organizations to operate within the boundaries of one country in a rational way (e.g., leveraging best practices, profitable, achieving goals). In this study, I looked at strategic business alliances, transcending simple quid pro quo relationships to deliver ongoing partner value. I refined my study to multicultural relationships, having differing cultural identities (i.e., ideas, heritage, language, or demographics from differing geographies). Finally, I considered asymmetry (i.e., inequity in working relationship). Using a mixed-methodology design, I surveyed alliance participants and interviewed participants from selected alliances. A multi-case study addresses emergent themes of …

Handbook For Promoting Foreign Direct Investment In Medium-Size, Low-Budget Cities In Emerging Markets, Vale Columbia Center On Sustainable International Investment, Millennium Cities Initiative

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Books

In November 2009, the Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment and the Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI) released the Handbook for Promoting Foreign Direct Investment in Medium-size, Low-Budget Cities in Emerging Markets. With foreign direct investment (FDI) flows declining worldwide by an estimated 40-50% this year (following a decline of over 10% in 2008), investment promotion has become more important than ever: in a highly competitive world FDI market, promotion can make all the difference.

Investment promotion is particularly important for cities other than capital cities, as investors in manufacturing and services often locate primarily in a country’s capital …

Revisiting Doing Business In The Middle East, David Desplaces, Nancy K. Mcintyre

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

This case engages students on a number of issues common to doing business in other countries, specifically in the Middle East. It is intended to be a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of the situation. The case seeks to integrate issues of international management and cross-cultural conflict and negotiation. Students are challenged to diagnose a cross-culturally sensitive situation and develop solutions in a team environment under limiting time restraints. This case is also designed to help students understand the cultural aspects of a situation and how different solutions could have major consequences …

Spanish Foreign Direct Investments In Latin America: Internationalization Strategies And Financial Management Practices, Roberto Curci, Guillermo Cardoza

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

This study analyzes the internationalization strategies and the financial management practices of seven Spanish companies with the largest volume of investments in Latin America. The companies selected for an in-depth analysis represent approximately 80 percent of the total Spanish foreign investments during the period of analysis. Their investments have taken place mainly in service sectors such as banking, energy, and telecommunications. The study identifies the market conditions and the corporate strategies that have allowed these Spanish companies to successfully initiate and expand business activities into Latin America. The findings suggest Spanish investors have strengthened their global competitiveness and have accomplished …

Using Van Valens Procedure In Business Research To Assess Consistent Differences In Multidimensional Variability In Two Or More Groups, Mark L. Berenson, Kimberly Killmer Hollister

Department of Information Management and Business Analytics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Much business research involves comparisons in two or more groups on many dimensions. This paper primarily focuses on demonstrating and providing guidance as to how researchers should approach a multivariate analysis in the comparison of sets of corresponding characteristics in two or more independent groups. In particular, this paper demonstrates the utility of a simple but not widely known procedure developed by Van Valen (1978) that should be employed to test for the significance of differences in overall variability in the sets of corresponding characteristics in two or more groups, a test that enjoys much statistical power in detecting significant …

La Mondialisation Qui Menace L’Identité Française Et Ses Relations Avec Le Commerce, Kelly Mcbrien

Senior Honors Projects

Globalization is an integral part of our society today: economically, socially and politically. Some may see Globalization as the world coming together through the ease and speed of capital, goods, services, ideas, information, and technology across our “shrinking” borders. Others may hold a more negative view of Globalization, and may see it as simply growing conflicts between nations and cultures. One of the central problems of globalization is the fear of homogenization or Americanization. Many cultures see globalization as cultural uniformity. As Benedict Anderson has said, “one man’s imagined community is another mans political prison.” This quote can help to …

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, …

Lessons Learned, C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

In these notes from his trip to Eastern Europe and Russia, Pollard reflects on how businesses function in the former Communist bloc, the different ways he has committed to Christian causes in Europe, and the health care conference he attended in Germany.

Doing Business In The Third World- With Special Reference To India, Premchander

IIMB Management Review

Dictators, debts and declining economies are the dangers of the third world which have effectively kept away western businesses. The term third world, a product of the now defunct cold war, refers to those nations which currently constitute three fourths of the world population that are poor. This is a variegated grouping of nations with differing political systems, ranging from Westminster type democracies, neo-fascist dictatorships to monarchies -hereditary and otherwise. The sustaining economic models may be capitalist, Marxian or any acceptable mix of the two leading some writers to believe in the existence of convergent capitalism where elements of freemarket …

Complex Organisations: Export Promotion In India, S Shiva Ramu

IIMB Management Review

There are several organizations that are involved in export promotion in India. These organizations are inter-organizational in nature. Very few theories have been developed to explain the structure and the behaviour of such inter-organizations. Some of the theories have tried to explain the behaviour of inter-organizations through their formalised relations, intensity, reciprocity and exchange transactions. Most of them use either open system theory or social system or contingency theories (Negandhi 1980). Most of these theories explain the relationship between the organization and the environment. Attempts have also been made to classify different organizations. Existing theories of organization have neglected the …

Speech Given In Japan, C. William Pollard

C. William Pollard Papers

Speaking during a business trip in Japan, Pollard addresses the question of God and profit. He argues that what links the two is the corporation's duty to help people grow and develop as human beings, a goal which requires leaders willing to act like servants.