Country Segmentation of the International Tourism Market Using Propensity to Travel and to Spend Abroad

ABSTRACT

Two new segmentation variables for the global international tourism market were operationalized. These variables were used to segment the countries of the world into nine market segments, which include heavy travelers, heavy spenders (HH); heavy travelers, medium spenders (HM); heavy travelers, light spenders (HL); medium travelers, heavy spenders (MH); medium travelers, medium spenders (MM); medium travelers, light spenders (ML); light travelers, heavy spenders (LH); light travelers, medium spenders (LM); and light travelers, light spenders (LL). The profile of these country segments were further examined using discriminant analysis. Implications of findings for targeting and promotion strategies are discussed, and directions for future research are given.     

Senior female international managers: empirical evidence from Western Europe

Abstract This paper is an assessment of the international career transitions made by senior female managers in Western Europe. The perspective explored is that of currently employed senior female managers in a wide range of companies, who have made at least one international career move. The article is based on data collected from interviews with fifty senior female international managers. The voices of the female managers illustrate difficulties they encounter in a 'man's world', and confirm that there is still much improvement to be made in order to accommodate and entice more women to senior management assignments. The study, for the first time, assesses an exclusively senior sample of female international managers in Western Europe. Previous studies have established that, throughout Europe, women's promotion into senior domestic management positions has been very slow, despite legislative changes, including the European Union's social protocol, to enforce issues related to equal opportunity such as equal pay and measures against sex discrimination (Davidson and Cooper, 1993). This article examines a number of explanations from the relevant literature and analyses the empirical data collected from the fifty interviewees in order to develop an understanding of senior female international career progressions in Europe. From the data, a model of the typical senior female international path was developed (Linehan, 2000). This research is particularly relevant, as existing European studies have not specifically addressed issues pertaining to senior female international managers.     

International capital structure differences among the G7 nations: a current empirical view

Historical research domestically and internationally suggests that differences in capital structures exist for industry classification, firm size and nationality. However, the data for most of these previous studies are based on book values, include a limited number of countries, are not up-to-date, and specifically do not cover the period of the late 1980s when there were important developments in the globalization of financial markets. In addition, no single study specifically compares all seven of the world's major industrial nations (G7 Nations). Financial theory would suggest that in an efficient global market the capital structure of identical firms in different nations would be the same. If international market imperfections still exist through the 1980s, current capital structures and costs may be different among similar firms in different nations; and business advantages (or disadvantages) may provide profits (or costs) to firms incorporated in different countries. The intent of this research is empirically to update the literature with recent international data on both a book value and market value basis and to include for the first time in a single study all the G7 Nations. The results suggest significant financial structure differences still exist among the G7 countries. Specifically, on a market value basis France, Italy and Germany tend to use a higher proportion of total debt, US, UK, Canada and Japan tend to use less debt, and France, Italy and Canada tend to use a higher proportion of institutional debt (non-spontaneous funds) than the US, UK, Japan and Germany.     

Workplace risks and stressors as predictors of burnout: The moderating impact of job control and team efficacy

Air medical healthcare (AMH) professionals care for critically-ill individuals while conveying them to healthcare centres from distant, and frequently dangerous, locations. AMH professionals experience additional health and safety issues beyond the “typical” stressors faced by other healthcare professionals. Therefore, we integrated the safety and psychosocial health literatures to examine the relationship between workplace stressors (risk perception, worries, and patient-care barriers) and two components of burnout (emotional exhaustion; depersonalization), and the moderating impact of job control and team efficacy for 106 Canadian AMH professionals. Worries over medical hassles and barriers to patient care uniquely predicted emotional exhaustion. Lack of perceived control over one's job was related to exhaustion and depersonalization after controlling for stressors. Job control and team efficacy buffered some of the stressor-burnout relationships. Copyright © 2009 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Congruence of Brand Image and Corporate Image: An International Business Perspective

ABSTRACT

While there is a widespread understanding among academicians and practitioners alike that corporate branding is one of the most critical objectives of a successful marketing strategy, the majority of the studies in this area have focused on the western multinationals. This paper empirically examines the degree of congruence between consumer brand image and the retailers' corporate image in the retail industry using an Asian sample.     

Entrepreneurial strategic posture and learning effort in international ventures: The moderating roles of operational flexibilities

Drawing from the attention-based view, this article extends the study of international entrepreneurship by investigating how the contribution of international ventures’ entrepreneurial strategic posture to their actual learning efforts in foreign markets depends on various flexibilities that underlie their operations. The results from a sample of international Chinese ventures indicate that an entrepreneurial strategic posture enhances international learning effort more to the extent that the ventures possess greater cognitive and political flexibilities. Somewhat paradoxically, greater structural flexibility impedes the translation of an entrepreneurial strategic posture into international learning effort. The findings have important implications for the growing body of research that adopts an international new venture perspective.     

International financial integration and risk sharing among countries: A production-based approach

This paper develops a production-based model for analyzing a role of asset trade in pooling risks among countries and provides new evidence for the international consumption-output puzzle and risk sharing among countries. Efficient risk sharing rules among countries are the same as the conditions for full financial integration. Input prices and interest rates as well as technology shocks are found to be the driving variables for cross-country output co-movements. The international correlation puzzle reflects an inability to account for production risk sharing among countries in previous studies. The degree of international risk sharing is substantial relative to earlier estimates, which is largely realized from pooling production risks rather than consumption risks among countries.     

The coincidence of patent thickets—A comparative analysis

The growth of patent thickets—technology fields that are characterized by a large overlap of rights between different right holders—poses a challenge for innovators. Patent thickets are argued to create strong friction in innovation due to a pronounced potential for holdup. So far, we do not know whether patent thickets coincide in all patent systems or if differences exist that policy makers and managers must take into account when aiming to disentangle and to navigate patent thickets, respectively. To address this gap, we measure patent density of technology fields in the patent systems of the United States, the German patent system governed by the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA), and the European patent system governed by the European Patent Office (EPO). Our comparisons reveal both interesting differences and similarities between the analyzed patent systems. Although the United States and the EPO patent system show similar relative patent density patterns across technology fields, the German patent system strongly differs from the previous two. This implies that such deviations need to be taken into account by policy makers when considering regulatory measures as well as by companies in their intellectual property strategy.     

Network Production,Efficiency And Technological Options: Toward A New Dynamic Theory Of Telecommunications ‡

In this work we propose a new model for the analysis of telecommunications (Tlc) networks production. This represents an extension of the fund-flow model by Georgescou-Roegen originally applied to the manufacture and agriculture sectors. The adopted framework enables us to describe the functioning of a Tlc network - and the technique underlying the different types of Tlc traffic - by means of a system of multi-production where the production time profile has been clearly defined. One of the most innovative elements of our analysis is the ability to analytically represent the qualitative features of technological options. It also signals new productive options connected to new Tlc services and the introduction of new network facilities. In this way we hope to both further a theoretical understanding of the technological dynamics of the Tlc sector, and provide guidance as to the strategic choices of the economic actors involved.     

SUPPLY-USE FRAMEWORK FOR INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ANALYSIS

The technical variation between countries in the production of goods and services, in terms of not only input coefficients, but also emission coefficients, creates scope for international trade to reduce environmental pressures. For this purpose we extend the theory of trade and the environment as to accommodate technical variation between countries in production and emissions. We use and steer close to the extended input and output tables, which include emission data. By treating environmental standards analogous to capital and labor capacity constraints, the aggregation problem for economic and environmental measures gets the same format as the well-understood aggregation problem for labor and capital. In a pilot application we determine the gains to free trade in products and emission permits.