Trust, Organizational Controls, Knowledge Acquisition from the Foreign Parents, and Performance in Vietnamese International Joint Ventures

Successful adaptation in strategic alliances "calls for a delicate balance between the twin virtues of reliability and flexibility" [Parkhe 1998]. On one hand, the joint venture must be flexible enough to respond to the uncertainties of competitive business environments because it is not feasible to plan for every possible contingency. Yet, on the other hand, unfettered flexibility invites dysfunctional behavior, such as opportunism and complacency. This delicate balance accompanies a parallel balance between trust and control of the joint venture. The primary goal of this study is to empirically examine this relationship in the context of Vietnamese international joint ventures (IJVs) by building on the model of knowledge acquisition and performance in IJVs established by Lyles and Salk [1996]. This study makes three major contributions to the literature. First it confirms several findings of the original Lyles and Salk study [1996]. Second, we strengthen Lyles and Salk's original model by incorporating multiple measures of both interorganizational trust and control as independent variables. Finally, this study represents one of the first in-depth examinations of business in the emerging Vietnamese economy.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39713/3/wp329.pd

Building Australia’s comparative advantages

This discussion paper, Building Australia’s Comparative Advantages, builds on the work of the BCA’s 2013 Action Plan for Enduring Prosperity. It seeks to start a conversation about what it will take to build an innovative economy, foster globally competitive industries and identify the types of jobs that can be created in an advanced economy like Australia. The paper focuses on actions government can take to foster an innovative and dynamic economy. The Business Council of Australia will facilitate further discussion on what businesses can do to come to terms with a global marketplace. We will also examine in detail the challenges that each sector faces to becoming globally competitive

Youth: From Classroom to Workplace?

Much attention has been devoted to the implications of the aging of the U.S. population for the future supply of labor to the nation’s employers, but little of the discourse about remedies has addressed the younger members of the working-age population. This paper examines issues such as whether the youngest replacements for retiring baby-boomers are being fully utilized in the sense that most teenagers and young adults successfully transition from the classroom to the workplace and which 16-24 year olds are, instead, more likely to impose costs on society rather than contribute to the economy as taxpayers. In addition, the report identifies risk factors for out-of-school and out-of work youth including characteristics of the neighborhoods in which they live, the proximity of those neighborhoods to jobs, and the characteristics of their families. The report concludes that the results of empirical research suggest that a comprehensive youth employment policy would include training programs that provide, among other things, work experience to young students raised in poor inner-city neighborhoods; delinquency prevention measures, particularly for low-income children with incarcerated family and friends; changes to public transportation and to housing patterns to give at-risk youth greater access to areas of job growth; enhanced enforcement of employment and housing discrimination laws; and neighborhood workforce as well as community/economic development initiatives

Transitioning to a circular economy

We are living on a finite planet. Mankind is overstepping planetary boundaries, however. In 2021, worldwide consumption has exceeded the yearly bio-capacity of the Earth (what we call the overshoot day) on the 29th of July. For industrialised countries, the situation is far worse: In 2022, Belgium reached that overshoot day on the 26th of March. In the face of these urgent challenges of sustainable resource use, there is wide agreement on the need for a transition, a fundamental societal shift, towards, amongst others, a circular economy (CE), the focus of this book. The book speaks deliberately of transitioning. This marks our focus on transition processes and activities. Discussions of ‘the transition’ easily get stuck in abstract visions, remote future goals and ideological statements about the desired world of tomorrow. By contrast, much more attention needs to be paid to concrete transformation processes that could lead towards these projected futures. Transition how? Where to? By whom? We highlight that companies are key actors in CE transitioning. This edited volume presents key outcomes from the “Transitioning Belgian companies into circularity” research chair, established by Belgian Employers’ Federation FEB/VBO. Whilst focusing on the role of companies, we show how the private sector cannot bring about such societal transformations single-handedly. We consider companies as embedded transition agents, i.e. as actors that operate as parts of broader business ecosystems

Market structure and economic transition in the Baltic Republics

Each of the four countries analyzed in this study has gone through a transition period since the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990’s. Each has tried different strategies to change their economies and each has different results. The purpose of this paper is to explore and compare the market structure of the four countries 10 years the after transition started. The data for the study comes from the Business Environment and Economic Performance study (BEEPS) 2002 sponsored by the World Bank. While the BEEPS data does not allow us to analyze the effectiveness of the different strategies employed, the data does allow us to compare 2002 market structures and thus the results of the transition.market structure, economic transition, Baltic Republics, BEEPS study

Strategic Perspectives on Sustainable Manufacturing: Aligning Policy, Motivations, and Operations for Effective Change

This thesis investigates the dynamics between manufacturing companies and politics in achieving sustainable production and consumption. The challenges posed by climate change, resource depletion, and waste accumulation require collective efforts across regional, national, and supranational levels. Qualitative expert interviews with sustainability representatives from the manufacturing industry provide valuable insights into their approaches to sustainability. The thesis explores the role of green industrial policy as a potential solution, examining its effectiveness in steering economic development towards sustainability. Transition Management serves as a guiding theory, categorizing strategic, tactical, operational, and reflexive activities to address societal system changes. The research aims to contribute empirical data from a firm-level perspective to the limited evidence on the effectiveness of green industrial policies. The findings highlight the need for policymakers to address challenges related to influence, profitability, and initiative. Measures such as targeted regulations, tax system alterations, public-private collaboration, risk-sharing instruments, and green public procurement policies are suggested to enhance the effectiveness of green industrial policies. The thesis underscores the importance of reflexivity and continuous policy evaluation in driving sustainable transitions.This thesis investigates the dynamics between manufacturing companies and politics in achieving sustainable production and consumption. The challenges posed by climate change, resource depletion, and waste accumulation require collective efforts across regional, national, and supranational levels. Qualitative expert interviews with sustainability representatives from the manufacturing industry provide valuable insights into their approaches to sustainability. The thesis explores the role of green industrial policy as a potential solution, examining its effectiveness in steering economic development towards sustainability. Transition Management serves as a guiding theory, categorizing strategic, tactical, operational, and reflexive activities to address societal system changes. The research aims to contribute empirical data from a firm-level perspective to the limited evidence on the effectiveness of green industrial policies. The findings highlight the need for policymakers to address challenges related to influence, profitability, and initiative. Measures such as targeted regulations, tax system alterations, public-private collaboration, risk-sharing instruments, and green public procurement policies are suggested to enhance the effectiveness of green industrial policies. The thesis underscores the importance of reflexivity and continuous policy evaluation in driving sustainable transitions

Blockchain Technology - China\u27s Bid to High Long-Run Growth

Despite having the second largest economy at $13 trillion, China has only recently surpassed the World Bank’s definition of the ‘middle-income range’ which is a gross national income per capita between$1,000 to $12,000 (constant 2011 international$). This is a noteworthy accomplishment since many other developing nations have fallen victim to economic stagnation within this range leading to the term “middle-income trap”. This paper will argue that one of the ways in which China escaped the middle-income trap and will continue to grow its economic influence is through the support of blockchain technology. Research and development, early technological adoption and business climate all play a role in explaining how the Chinese public and private sector have used blockchain technology to encourage economic growth. While there are many questions and misconceptions about blockchain technology and its place in China, this paper seeks only to answer a select few

Institutional incentives in circular economy transition: The case of material use in the Dutch textile industry

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.The aim of this paper is to gain insight into how requirements for transitioning to circular economy creates new organizational forms in inter-firm collaborations, and ultimately how they stimulate the emergence of new institutions enhancing sustainability. Two strands of literature, one on circular economy and one on institutional analysis, provide the theoretical background for this research. Currently a clearly formulated and unified theory on the institutions of circular economy is lacking. Therefore this research compares and contrasts empirical evidence from cases derived from the textile industry in The Netherlands, and concepts derived from institutional analysis and literature on circular economy to inductively build a cohesive conceptual framework. Using information from cases we identified two pathways to transition into circular economy and to manage circular material flows. We define these pathways Status Quo arrangements (SQ), when firms focus on optimizing up-cycling technologies and infrastructure in their circular relations and collaborations, and Product as Service arrangements (PAS), to indicate a focus on providing products in service contracts. Chain coordination, contracting, and financial mechanisms were identified as key organizational elements for creating new pathways to transition into circular materials flows. However in analyzing these elements we also highlight differences between SQ and PAS arrangements. SQ arrangements may have implications at the level of formal rules, for example by creating a new industry standards for up-cycled fabrics. PAS arrangements may have wider implications, for example by reshaping ownership in service contracts and creating cascading activities. Moving ownership to the supply chain will result in increased responsibility for materials and will create an incentive for improving quality of products, including their environmental performance. This is expected to generate positive socio-environmental impacts at a system level as well. Moreover PAS arrangements may have bottom up effects at a formal institutional level, resulting in alteration and creation of formal rules, for example in terms of new approaches to the ownership of materials

Older and Out of Work: Employer, Government and Nonprofit Assistance

This Issue Brief, prepared by the Heldrich Center research staff, examines employer, federal, state, and community-based strategies designed to help unemployed older workers obtain new skills and return to work

Entrepreneurs' exit and paths to retirement : theoretical and empirical considerations

The number of ageing entrepreneurs in micro- and small-sized companies is rapidly increasing in Finland and other European Union countries. Over half a million jobs, in over one hundred thousand companies within the EU, are lost annually due to unsuccessful, predominantly retirement-related transfers of businesses. This challenge coincides with EU Grand Challenges and has been highlighted in the Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan (European Commission 2013). It has been estimated that in Finland, some 8000 jobs are lost yearly due to the ageing of entrepreneurs. Therefore, entrepreneur ageing has implications not only for the ageing individual but also for the company and the society at large. As entrepreneurs age it becomes more essential for them to start planning when and how they transition into retirement. While they may experience several exits and subsequent re-entries into working life via buying or starting new companies, exiting ones entrepreneurial career due to old age retirement differs from exits that occur earlier during the career. In this chapter, we provide a short overview of the entrepreneur retirement and exit literature from an age perspective. Furthermore, we present a theoretical conceptualization which combines entrepreneur retirement process with exit theories. This will enable scholars to better understand the retirement process, including decision-making, transitioning, and adjustment to retirement. We also provide empirical evidence using data collected among Finnish entrepreneurs in 2012 and 2015, where we outline the types of exits and assess several factors, including age, in association with exit intentions.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed