Ownership structure, strategic controls and export intensity of foreign-invested firms in transition economies

This paper examines the relationships between foreign ownership, managers' independence in decision-making and exporting of foreign-invested firms in five European Union accession countries. Using a unique, hand-collected data set of 434 foreign-invested firms in Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia and Estonia, we show that foreign investors' ownership and control over strategic decisions are positively associated with export intensity, measured as the proportion of exports to total sales. The study also analyzes specific governance and control configurations in foreign-invested firms, showing that foreign equity and foreign control over business functions are complementary in terms of their effects on export intensity. Journal of International Business Studies (2008) 39, 1133–1148. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400404

Multidivisional vs metanational governance of the multinational enterprise

The effective and efficient management of diversified business firms that supply multiple products and operate in multiple, dynamic markets, especially large multinational enterprises (MNEs), builds upon a number of specific governance principles. These governance principles allow the alignment of environmental characteristics, strategy and organization. Given the rising need to “learn from the world”, Doz et al., in their influential Harvard Business School Press book entitled From Global to Metanational, have proposed a new set of governance principles described under the “metanational” umbrella concept. This paper revisits the metanational, using a comparative institutional perspective; here we contrast multidivisional and metanational governance principles. A comparative institutional analysis suggests that the metanational's application potential in terms of actually improving the effectiveness and efficiency of MNE governance may be subject to more qualification than suggested by Doz et al. Senior MNE management must therefore reflect carefully before substituting metanational governance principles for the more conventional, multidivisional ones with established contributions to managerial effectiveness and efficiency

The Yuan Tseh Lee AMiBA project

The Array for Microwave Background Anisotropy is a 7-element interferometer sited on Mauna Loa, Hawaii. The seven 60cm telescopes are mounted on a 6-meter platform, and operates at 3mm wavelength. In October 2006, the telescope was officially dedicated and renamed as the Y. T. Lee AMiBA. During 2007, scientific operations have begun, after a long process of calibration and testing. At the time of this meeting, six clusters of galaxies have been detected and mapped via the inverse Compton scattering of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation, also known as the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect. © 2008 World Scientific Publishing Company.link_to_subscribed_fulltex