A resource dependence perspective of EMNE FDI strategy

Using Resource Dependence Theory as a lens, we explore current explanations of how and why Emerging Market Multinationals (EMNEs) seek to compete internationally through Foreign Direct Investment. We find that all three dominant explanations and much of the ongoing literature either explicitly or implicitly highlight the importance of a firm's ability to acquire and maintain resources to its own survival and ability to compete as latecomers on a global stage. Through our conceptual model we show that whether EMNEs seek to exploit existing resources, seek to augment their resource base, or pursue a combination of both it is reflected by their generic internationalization strategy. This generic strategy is also reflective of the firm's strategic focus, as well as predictive of its entry mode and resulting resource dependence. Taking this perspective informs the current literature by clarifying how an internationalization strategy alters EMNE dependence on the external environment for critical resources.     

Predicting performance in undergraduate agricultural economics*

Entry to the Bachelor of Agricultural Economics (BAgrEc) program at the University of Sydney is consistently less competitive than that for the Bachelor of Economics (BEc) and Bachelor of Commerce (BComm) programs. Given that students in the BAgrEc program undertake units in common with students in the BEc and BComm programs, it is of interest to examine the importance of school performance and first year university in the determination of success at university. This paper takes information for nine cohorts of BAgrEc students and tests their performance in first‐year core subjects against the university entrance ranking, school English and mathematics marks, gender, and type of school. The paper then uses the same information to predict which student characteristics at entry level are likely to lead to students completing the degree program. The implications of the analysis are explored.     

China and the global business revolution

As China joins the World Trade Organisation, the author questionswhether China's large firms will be able to compete on the globallevel playing field. Over the past two decades, Chinese largeenterprises have undertaken extensive evolutionary change (comparableto that of other latecomer countries such as Korea, Taiwan andSingapore) but, at the same time, the world's leading firmshave undergone a revolutionary transformation. Based on analysisderived from case studies made in the course of the China BigBusiness Programme at the Judge Institute of Management Studies,Cambridge, the author concludes that China's large firms havenot caught up with the world's leading businesses.     

The Challenge of the Global Business Revolution

This paper looks closely at a key hypothesis of Stephen Hymer,namely that a small number of giant corporations would soondominate each sector of the global economy. The article showsthat, although the nature of the large corporation has changedprofoundly, Hymer's basic insight has proven correct.     

Identifying Strategies to Mitigate Handling Risks in the Canadian Grain Supply Chain

The introduction of new generation agricultural products has generated an increased need for efficient and accurate product segregation across a number of Canadian agricultural sectors. As a key component of wheat handling in the Canadian grain industry, grading of wheat for value‐added blending has historically been accomplished by visual identification. As of 2008 in Canada, visual identification was eliminated for all primary classes of wheat and replaced by an alternative system of wheat declaration. Given the high costs of testing each truck and railcar for quality assurance, the declaration system must rely on incentives and trust as there is now considerable potential for accidental or opportunistic misrepresentation throughout the grain supply chain. This research attempts to identify cost‐effective handling strategies and policies so as to maintain the integrity of the supply chain under the new declaration system. An agent‐based simulation model is developed to capture the effects of individual heterogeneity as well as behavioral adaption to the declaration system within the modern wheat supply chain. The simulated results are used to identify superior testing strategies for handlers, along with the relative risks and costs associated with each of the testing strategies.     

A test of the relationship between person–environment fit and cross-cultural adjustment among self-initiated expatriates

Understanding an expatriate's cross-cultural adjustment to the various aspects of their host environment and organization has been a focal point of research for several decades. Person–environment (PE) fit refers to the degree of fit an individual has with various dimensions of their host environment, and past research suggests that successful PE fit positively influences adjustment. However, the strength of these relationships remains under-researched. Drawing upon data gathered from 369 self-initiated expatriate doctors working in Ireland, we examine the strength of the relationship between PE fit and cross-cultural adjustment. Our results suggest that dimensions of PE fit influence cross-cultural adjustment to varying degrees. Thus, person–job needs-supplies fit was the only fit dimension to influence interaction adjustment, while person–job demands abilities influenced both work adjustment and, to a lesser extent, interaction adjustment. Person–organization fit influenced work adjustment, while person–supervisor fit had no relationship with adjustment. These findings have implications for organizations when recruiting and supporting self-initiated expatriates.     

Globalizing Historically Black Business Schools: A Case Study of the Application of Modern Pedagogical Theories of Internationalizing Higher Education

The AACSB and AIB have each issued reports aimed at ensuring the internationalization of business schools. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) – as underresourced entities serving an underprivileged constituency – may need additional attention. Unfortunately, neither the AACSB nor AIB reports mention HBCUs. The broader literature is similarly silent with respect to importance of ensuring that HBCUs, and the black business leaders they produce, are not left behind. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of globalizing business schools at HBCUs, and to offer the Memphis Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER)-related efforts as a real-world case study of the application of broad pedagogical theory on “internationalizing business schools” in an HBCU setting.     

CONCEPTS OF POVERTY AND THE POVERTY LINE

Abstract. Various approaches adopted in developed economies to distinguishing between the poor and non-poor—to setting a poverty line—are reviewed. These include the budget standard, food ratio, 'official', subjective and relative poverty line methods, as well as the analysis of indicators of deprivation. There has been significant progress in recent years in the degree of sophistication involved, and a movement away from approaches with a quasi-absolute background. However, all the methods face formidable problems at conceptual and empirical levels, and no single approach is likely to dominate.