A University Experience with the MBA Export Expansion Program

The University of Wisconsin's experience with the MBA Export Expansion Program have been favorable. It has been a good supplementary education vehicle for students, participating firms seem to have gained from it, and the faculty coordinator has gained useful insights regarding business behavior.The University of Wisconsin Business School has been participating in the Bureau of International Commerce’s MBA Export Expansion Program since its inception in 1970. This is a report of our experiences with it, and a discussion of some of the issues raised by these experiences.© 1973 JIBS. Journal of International Business Studies (1973) 4, 15–29

Perceived Shortages of Unskilled Labor in Labor Surplus Economies: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Dominican Republic and Mexico*

Cheap labor is a major incentive for investing in developing countries, especially for export production involving capital extensive processes utilizing unskilled labor. Unfortunately, international investors will tend to overestimate the availability of unskilled labor if they assume that workers in developing countries all have the “industrialized” traits necessary for performing even unskilled labor. These traits are: coming to work on time, following directions, accepting guidance from the boss, working on an established schedule, being sober while working, and so on. (Subsistance agriculture does not inculcate such traits, and a large portion of the labor force in most developing countries are migrants from subsistance agriculture.) Laborers also must be sufficiently healthy to come to work regularly, they must be strong enough to do the job required, and they must be emotionally stable. In addition, frictions to geographical movement could cause local shortages of unskilled labor even if the region as a whole has a labor surplus.© 1972 JIBS. Journal of International Business Studies (1972) 3, 1–18

An Attempted Integration of the Literature on the Export Behavior of Firms

Forty-three studies on the export behavior of firms involving eleven countries were assembled.(The author believes that they constitute nearly all of the available literature on the subject.) An attempt was made to integrate them into a more-or-less meaningful whole that both yields interesting implications and provides a useful background guide for future research on this subject.© 1978 JIBS. Journal of International Business Studies (1978) 9, 33–46

An Analysis of Advertisements for Positions in International Business

Conventional wisdom holds that every academic discipline should undergo continuous evaluation regarding curriculum, course content, and research focus. Many inputs could be used for such purposes: opinions of specialists (e.g., as revealed by surveys of university courses), consulting experience and research on international business problems. This note presents data on one input–the demand for higher level personnel in international business as reflected by advertisements. The methodology involved clipping advertisements of “positions available” in international business from The Wall Street Journal during the eighteen month period, October 1973 through March 1975. Then they were classified according to the qualifications specified. It should be noted that such advertisements tend to be for experienced persons rather than for newly graduated students. They do not indicate what the market looks for when recruiting students with training in International Business. Rather, such advertisements suggest what qualifications will be needed for advancement in the international activities of firms so long as future business requirements continue the same as at present. In other words, an analysis of advertisements provides information on only one dimension, albeit an important one, of the market for persons trained for international business. Attention also should be given to trends in international business problems and activities that, in the future, may create a demand for different skills than at present. One can list other methodologies needed.© 1975 JIBS. Journal of International Business Studies (1975) 6, 75–78

Variables Associated with Export Profitability

This study is an analysis of variables associated with the profitability of exporting. Such information is useful both for export management and for government agencies that wish to promote business commitment of exporting. The methodology utilizes a multiple regression analysis of data in questionnaire responses from 168 Wisconsin manufacturing firms in 1979. It provides a means for evaluating difficult-to-measure export marketing considerations (such as, export marketing channels, export methods, and foreign dealers support) from the supply-side of the demand-supply equation which can be conceptualized as export marketing analysis from the supply-side.© 1982 JIBS. Journal of International Business Studies (1982) 13, 39–55