The Dynamics of International Market Withdrawal

This study focuses on the decision-making process of international market withdrawal within the scope of international market portfolio management. A comparative study of eight withdrawal cases in four multinational firms results in a six-phased decision-making model that is driven by threat-rigidity behavior, failure-induced learning and political dynamics. Two types of international market withdrawal are identified. On the one hand, a tactical withdrawal is the outcome of threat-rigidity and exploitative learning at the level of executive management. A strategic withdrawal, on the other hand, is characterized by a process of failure-induced exploratory learning initiated by middle level challengers. In contrast to a tactical withdrawal, which remains an isolated decision and does not interfere with other international ventures of the business unit, a strategic withdrawal turns out to be a germ of strategic (re)orientation of the business unit’s entire international market portfolio. Whether a market withdrawal turns out to be tactical or strategic ultimately depends on the autonomy, the amount and the relevance of challengers’ market and business knowledge.Economics ;

Effectiveness in L2 Vocabulary Study – A Classroom-based Investigation of Deliberate Learning

Deliberate vocabulary study has mostly been studied within a strictly experimental framework of learning and memorization. More ecologically valid investigations embedded in existing study contexts have been rare. This study fits into the latter paradigm, investigating how students attempted to learn 90 English words over a period of three weeks and tracking their efforts via study logs and intermediate receptive and productive tests, with final testing five weeks after the study period. The results are in line with findings from earlier research. Study logs showed students mainly relied on different kinds of repetition and retrieval. Selective attention for specific items was an important predictor for short-term learning, and sufficient spacing was the most important predictor for longer-term learning. From a pedagogical point of view, a point of attention is that students mostly practised retrieval after first repeating, making retrieval less difficult and creating an impression of knowledge.L'apprentissage intentionnel du vocabulaire a été principalement étudié dans un cadre strictement expérimental d'apprentissage et de mémorisation. Des recherches avec une validité écologique plus ancrées dans des contextes authentiques d’étude sont rares. Cette étude s'inscrit dans ce dernier paradigme; elle analyse la manière dont les étudiants ont tenté d'apprendre 90 mots anglais sur trois semaines en suivant leurs efforts répertoriés dans les journaux d'étude et en effectuant des tests intermédiaires réceptifs et productifs, avec un test final après cinq semaines. Les journaux d'étude ont montré que les étudiants se sont principalement appuyés sur différents types de répétition et de récupération. Une attention sélective pour des éléments spécifiques était un prédicteur important pour l'apprentissage à court terme, et un espacement suffisant était le prédicteur le plus important pour l'apprentissage à plus long terme. D'un point de vue pédagogique, il convient de noter que les étudiants pratiquaient principalement la récupération après la première répétition, ce qui crée une impression de connaissance