Ethics and taxation : a cross-national comparison of UK and Turkish firms

This paper investigates responses to tax related ethical issues facing busines

Information Literacy in the Workplace: A Cross-cultural Perspective

This cross-cultural study has two main purposes: to investigate how information literacy is perceived in the workplace and to discover how employees obtain information to carry out their jobs in an effective and timely fashion. This project applies a mix of research methods, including site visits, interviews, and a survey. More than 120 participants from forty companies were involved in this study. They were from a wide variety of industries in Taiwan and Silicon Valley, in Northern California, where many companies base offices or operations from around the world. Major obstacles in conducting cross-continent research are cost, time demands, scheduling, and adaptation to local culture. In this global economy, cross-cultural and cross-border research will help educators, such as librarians, understand the complexity of skills expected in the workplace. Much has been written on information literacy, yet very few can relate how information literacy is applied in the workplace. This primary study sheds some light to help academic librarians reposition themselves as researchers-educators integral to student success

The influence of competences and institutions on the international market orientation in foreign-owned subsidiaries

The international market orientation of foreign-owned subsidiaries, defined here as the importance of markets supplied outside their host country, can and often does, plays a vital role for managers as well as policy makers. This paper investigates how multilevel corporate competences and institutional differences stand to influence international market orientation and performance among firms. Our research is based on a survey of subsidiaries located in the mid-range, emerging economy of Taiwan. The results are analysed using SEM-PLS method. We found that competences that emerge from the subsidiary itself and competences from multinational enterprise networks serve to enhance; whereas, competences emerging from headquarters’ operations can have an adverse effect on international market orientation. Institutional differences add to the overall complexity through direct and moderating effects. This study indicates that the competence-based view of the firm can be enriched with insights from institutional theory in order to expand our understanding of subsidiary development located in emerging economies and also with their international market orientation in particular

Multinational enterprises, development and globalisation: Some clarifications and a research agenda

This paper revisits an earlier contribution (Narula and Dunning 2000) and considers how economic globalisation has changed the nature of the MNE, MNE motivations, the MNE subsidiary and the modalities by which they interact with domestic economic actors. Most developing countries, however, have responded reactively. We discuss how the opportunities and challenges for developing countries in following an MNE-assisted development strategy have changed over the last decade. The growing share of industrial activity owned and controlled by MNEs does not always result in a proportional increase in development effects, because individual MNE establishments have different potential for externalities. Concatenation is important: when stage-inappropriate MNE activities are established, crowding-out or regulatory capture is a likely outcome. We highlight the need for systematically linking MNE and industrial policies, but differently than in the import-substitution era. Attracting the 'rights kind' of MNE activity remains important, but the greater heterogeneity requires more customisation of policy tools. Lastly, we warn of the dangers of underestimating the social and political costs of structural adjustment and rapid institutional change associated with globalization.FDI, spillovers, industrial policy, governments, development, WTO, globalisation, developing countries, liberalisation

The electronics industry in central and eastern Europe: an emerging production location in the alignment of networks perspective

This paper analyses the emergence of central Europe as a new location for the production of electronics. The main factors that drive integration in the region into global production networks are also analysed, as well as prospects for upgrading the industry by using network alignment perspectives. Foreign investment is the primary vehicle of integration of CEE electronics firms into global production networks, and Hungary has moved furthest along this path, positioning itself as a major low-cost supply base in the region. Czech and Polish electronics industries are connected, in smaller, but increasing, degrees to international electronics production networks. Networks that are being built in CEE in electronics are usually confined to subsidiaries with still limited local subcontracting; they are export-oriented and are expanding. Local subsidiaries have mastered production capabilities and several subsidiaries in Hungary are European mandate suppliers in their respective lines of business. EU demand is the main pull factor, which gives cohesion to the actions of MNCs as well as to the action of local and national governments in CEE. The layer of local firms is still very weak with very limited capabilities in core technologies. This is the key weakness which prevents further alignment of networks in CEE electronics. Local governments play an important role in working jointly with foreign investors in establishing industrial parks and new capacities

Revisiting the psychic distance paradox: international retailing in China in the long run (1840-2005

This paper uses original research on the roles played by two sets of foreign entrants into Chinese retailing since the 1850s - the overseas Chinese entrants and western entrants - to explore the psychic distance paradox over the long run. It explains how the advantages of psychic closeness in Chinese retailing have always been important in reducing entry barriers, but that the increasing costs of technology have increased the significance of firm proprietary strengths in some formats, notably supermarkets, so reducing the relative importance of psychic closeness. The paper therefore illustrates how taking the long-term perspective enables more sophisticated conclusions to emerge. A cross sectional analysis of one sector – Chinese supermarkets – would confirm the psychic distance paradox; overseas Chinese have been unable to translate psychic closeness into superior performance. By contrast their historic performance in department stores and more recently in fashion chains has been superior to the format leaders. This long term perspective therefore suggests that the understanding of the psychic distance paradox needs to be moderated by additional conceptualisation.Psychic Distance, China, International Retailing, Internationalisation Process

Proceedings of 2012 Annual Meeting of the Academy of International Business-US North East Chapter: Business Without Borders

Proceedings of the 2012 Academy of International Business-US North East Chapter Fairfield, Connecticut, October 11-13, 2012. Business Without Borders. Host, John F. Welch College of Business, Sacred Heart University. Editor, Jang\u27an Tang. AIB-NE 2012 Conference Co-Chairs, Khawaja Mamun, Ph.D. and Jang\u27an Tang

Employment of Returnees and the Performance of Multinational Subsidairies in China

Returnees, those who went overseas for higher education and then returned to their home countries, represent a unique group of employees for multinational enterprises (MNEs). However, they have been ignored in the MNE staffing literature which has developed a staffing typology based on nationality, specifically parent country nationals (PCNs), host country nationals (HCNs), and third country nationals (TCNs). We propose that cultural understanding is a more appropriate criterion than nationality in categorizing staff in MNEs and compare returnees with the existing categorizations of MNE staff. Returnees may be closer to the ‘balanced individuals’ that MNEs need compared with either expatriates or locals. Therefore, they may be a good staffing choice for MNE subsidiaries in China. This study was conducted in two stages. The first stage was qualitative. Ten top executives from multinational subsidiaries in China were interviewed in order to identify and delineate the unique characteristics of returnees. They suggested that returnees understand multiple cultures, possess cross-cultural communication skills, and a global perspective; and act as a “bridge” between expatriates and locals, between a subsidiary and the other units of the MNE (including headquarters and the other subsidiaries), as well as between the MNE and the local environment. The second stage was quantitative. We first developed a theoretical model from an organizational learning perspective. We hypothesized that a subsidiary’s degree of geocentrism, ownership status, top executive background, and subsidiary age may have an impact on the employment of returnees. We further hypothesized that the ratio of returnees in a management team may have a positive impact on subsidiary performance, and that socialization and geocentrism may moderate this relationship. A survey was used to collect the primary data for hypotheses testing. Questionnaires were sent to top executives in multinational subsidiaries in mainland China. We found that joint ventures employ fewer returnees than wholly owned subsidiaries, and that returnee and expatriate top executives are more likely to hire returnees than local top executives. In addition, the relationship between subsidiary age and employment of returnees takes a downward sloping U-shape, which is similar to the relationship between subsidiary age and employment of expatriates in the literature. On the other hand, joint ventures are more likely than wholly owned subsidiaries to have a returnee as the top executive, and subsidiary age has a negative impact on the possibility of a returnee being the top executive. We also found that employment of expatriates negatively impacts employment of returnees. We did not observe any relationship between returnees and subsidiary performance. This study contributes to the literature by proposing a new criterion for staffing categorization in MNEs, by studying a new type of staff – returnees, by focusing on the subsidiary level, and by combining qualitative and quantitative data. It directs us to a promising direction in MNE staffing research and has the potential to help managers develop more effective overseas staffing strategies

A sub-regional management framework for South Pacific longline fisheries

The principal objective of this study was to determine if additional net benefits can be derived from the sub-regional longline fishery by the introduction of a new management agreement that would centre on the provision of licensing arrangements that would allow access by eligible longline vessels to multiple Exclusive Economic Zones, i.e. Multi-zone Access. [90pp.