Antecedents of trust in international joint ventures' (IJVS) performance in developing countries: A review of empirical evidence

Trust in international joint venture has received much attention for the last 20 years. This study highlights the importance of social capital in international joint ventures (IJVs) in developing countries. This paper assesses the impact of antecedents of trust on performance of international joint ventures in developing countries, which is based on social exchange theory. Little attention has been paid to exploring the concept in IJV. The impacts of components of inter partner-fits and relational factors on trust and the effect of trust on performance of IJVs will be considered. In addition the impact of religion and country risk on level of trust in IJVs in these countries will be evaluated. A framework has been developed based on this review analyses and integrates empirical evidence in order to identify convergence and conflict in IJV. The paper addresses a problem of relevance to both international academics and practitioners in addressing managerial implications. It is hoped that the study will provide a meaningful implication to the process of selection of IJV partners

From Corporatism to Governance: Dimensions of a Theory of Intermediary Institutions

Intermediary institutions are a multi-facetted phenomenon which has taken many different forms in the course of social evolution. This is also being testified by the evolutionary trajectories from corporatism through neo-corporatism to governance in the European settings from the mid-nineteenth century onwards. Against this background, this chapter seeks to outline the key parameters of a theoretical framework suitable for approaching and analysing intermediary institutions. The chapter pins down five central dimensions of intermediary institutions. This is done under the headings: Context, Function, Evolution, Order, and Compatibility

Power, Responsibility & Wisdom: Exploring the Issues at the Core of Ethical Decision-Making and Leadership

Decision-making ostensibly requires the exercise of Power. But that use of Power must be counterbalanced with Responsibility in order to make good decisions. Infusing Wisdom into the decision-making process necessarily incorporates an ethical component and involves both the identification and evaluation of relationships. Wise decision-making, therefore, requires the application of Wisdom which transcends simple, short-lived factual proficiency. It is this careful weighing of Wisdom, Power, Knowledge, and Responsibility which must guide our business leaders and be taught to our business students

Building Global Knowledge Pipelines The Role of Temporary Clusters

Business people and professionals come together regularly at trade fairs, exhibitions, conventions, congresses, and conferences. Here, their latest and most advanced findings, inventions and products are on display to be evaluated by customers and suppliers, as well as by peers and competitors. Participation in events like these helps firms to identify the current market frontier, take stock of relative competitive positions and form future plans. Such events exhibit many of the characteristics ascribed to permanent spatial clusters, albeit in a temporary and intensified form. These short-lived hotspots of intense knowledge exchange, network building and idea generation can thus be seen as temporary clusters. The present paper compares temporary clusters with permanent clusters and other types of inter-firm interactions. If regular participation in temporary clusters can satisfy a firm’s need to learn through interaction with suppliers, customers, peers and rivals, why is the phenomenon of permanent spatial clustering of similar and related economic activity so pervasive? The answer, it is claimed, lies in the restrictions imposed upon economic activity when knowledge and ideas are transformed into valuable products and services. The paper sheds new light on how interaction among firms in current clusters coincides with knowledge-intensive pipelines between firms in different regions or clusters. In doing so, it offers a novel way of understanding how interfirm knowledge relationships are organized spatially and temporally.Economic geography, knowledge, clusters, temporary clusters, trade fairs, conventions, pipelines

Inter-organisational learning in project based organisations: Perspectives on reciprocity

This developmental paper discusses early research findings on the role that reciprocity plays in fostering or hindering inter-organisational learning in networks. Reciprocity as a social norm in knowledge creation and sharing networks is the main theme of this research. The paper uses two case studies of networks in UK. The qualitative case studies were developed through a mixture of participant observations, semi-structured interviews and casual conversations with network administrators and participants. Reciprocal exchanges were evident in networks. However, variations in what reciprocal exchanges meant for the participants were observed. Consequently, our findings suggest that the taken-for-granted idea that reciprocity is always good should be critically challenged. Often, we have observed asymmetrical reciprocal exchanges in participants tend to expect more from the networks than they would give. Therefore, this research suggests the need for remaining circumspect about the positive outcomes of networks that are often implicitly assumed

International Co-Operations and Entrepreneurship Development: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

Even if the need to innovate has always existed, it has been accentuated in recent years due to the acceleration of technological change and the growing world competition: entrepreneurship - meant as the individual capacity to take risk, to produce innovation and to predict and act upon change – becomes a crucial factor of firms’ competitiveness. At the same time, international alliances have been recognised, above all in emerging countries, as the best way to improve local firms’ entrepreneurship and learning capability. However strategic alliances show a high degree of failure, thus posing the need to investigate the factors that can impact on their longevity and success. According to the above considerations, the aim of our paper is to investigate: a) the linkage between national culture and entrepreneurship, b) how culture affects firms’ propensity to international co-operation.entrepreneurship; knowledge; culture; individualism vs. collectivism.

Risk management for drinking water safety in low and middle income countries: cultural influences on water safety plan (WSP) implementation in urban water utilities

We investigated cultural influences on the implementation of water safety plans (WSPs) using case studies from WSP pilots in India, Uganda and Jamaica. A comprehensive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews (n = 150 utility customers, n = 32 WSP ‘implementers’ and n = 9 WSP ‘promoters’), field observations and related documents revealed 12 cultural themes, offered as ‘enabling’, ‘limiting’, or ‘neutral’, that influence WSP implementation in urban water utilities to varying extents. Aspects such as a ‘deliver first, safety later’ mind set; supply system knowledge management and storage practices; and non-compliance are deemed influential. Emergent themes of cultural influence (ET1 to ET12) are discussed by reference to the risk management, development studies and institutional culture literatures; by reference to their positive, negative or neutral influence on WSP implementation. The results have implications for the utility endorsement of WSPs, for the impact of organisational cultures on WSP implementation; for the scale-up of pilot studies; and they support repeated calls from practitioner communities for cultural attentiveness during WSP design. Findings on organisational cultures mirror those from utilities in higher income nations implementing WSPs – leadership, advocacy among promoters and customers (not just implementers) and purposeful knowledge management are critical to WSP success

Clique and elite::inter-organizational knowledge sharing across five star hotels in the Saudi Arabian religious tourism and hospitality industry

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to offer a theoretical and practical explanation for the nature and reasons for inter-organizational knowledge sharing across an informal clique of competing five-star hotels in the Saudi Arabian religious tourism and hospitality industry. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology is an adapted form of the grounded theory approach deploying a four-stage research design using qualitative interviews with key players in the industry to inform the analysis of the knowledge sharing approaches. Findings: The findings illustrate the features of the knowledge sharing approaches across the five-star hotels studied. In particular, the findings highlight the existence of a cooperative-competitive tension in the relationships and knowledge sharing between the hotels. This illustrates the existence of a tacit strategy that cooperation can lead to long-term benefits for the competitor hotels. Originality/value: The study is unique in its focus on the cooperative-competitive tension of five-star hotels in the Saudi Arabian religious tourism and hospitality industry and on this influence on the inter-organizational knowledge sharing across hotels within an oligopolistic market structure. The study also has value in using elements of oligopoly theory and of game theory, particularly, the prisoner’s dilemma, in explaining how inter-organizational knowledge sharing occurs within this market context