Anatomy of a Reversed Foreign Divestment Decision: General Motors and Its European Subsidiary, Opel.

During this recent period of economic crisis andrising unemployment, General Motors, the US multinational,announced its decision to sell off Opel, its loss-making Europeanoperations. Foreign divestment (FD) decisions are notoriouslysecret, and often very controversial, arousing strong opposition.Whilst such decisions are difficult to make, they are an essentialaspect of corporate international business strategy. Plantclosures that involve substantial lay-offs attract scrutiny fromgovernments and policy-makers. This paper explores the recentmajor divestment proposals by these two global auto producersand the subsequent negotiations with governments in the homeand host nations

Brazil and Biofuels for Autos: A Model for Other Nations

This paper examines the evolution ofgovernment policies in Brazil to encourage the switch frompetrol to ethanol, and the response of auto producers. It isshown that the USA and other nations are encouraging theuse of ethanol as an energy source, and suggests that thesuccess of Brazil may be repeated in other key automarkets

Contextual issues in the diffusion of innovation : The interaction of social networks and organizational knowledge

This paper discusses the linkages between Social Network Theory (Granovetter 1973) and Organizational Knowledge Theory (Polanyi 1966, Nonaka 1994; Nonaka, Toyama and Byosiere 2001) as it relates to diffusion of organizational innovation within large organizations. The focus is on examining these theoretical interrelationships in three case studies delving into major change projects in three large telecommunications firms. Findings indicate that weak ties are vital when the focus is on explicit knowledge while strong ties are vital when the focus is on tacit knowledge. Further, a model is posed to expand this theoretical interrelationship to include a third dimension: knowledge source

Diffusion of organisational innovation: knowledge transfer through social networks

This paper discusses the linkages between Social Network Theory (Granovetter, 1973) and Organisational Knowledge Theory (Polanyi, 1966; Nonaka, 1994; Nonaka et al., 2001) as it relates to the diffusion of organisational innovation within large organisations. The focus is on examining these theoretical interrelationships in three case studies, delving into major change projects in three large telecommunications firms. The findings indicate that weak ties are vital when the focus is on explicit knowledge. Further, a model is strong ties are vital when the focus is on tacit knowledge. Further, a model is posed to expand this theoretical interrelationship to include a third dimension: the knowledge source

Crossing the Atlantic: Integrating cross-cultural experiences into undergraduate business courses using virtual communities technology

Today’s business school academics are tasked with pedagogy that offers students an understanding of the globalization of markets and the cross-cultural communication skills needed in today’s business environment. The authors describe how a virtual cross-cultural experience was integrated into an undergraduate business course and used as an innovative pedagogical tool to give students and faculty an opportunity to build cross-cultural communication skills and develop cultural knowledge in ways similar to more costly travel abroad experiences. This experience contributes to competent and globally minded business graduates and faculty who are fit for the challenges of the global marketplace