The efficacy of talent management in international business: The case of European multinationals

The focus of this study is on the efficacy of talent management (TM) practices to the performance and operations of international businesses. There are relatively limited dedicated studies on the value and effectiveness of TM as an identifiable international practice and its contribution to international business. Anecdotal research and consultants' reports have argued for an increase in the return on investment where TM practices are aligned with the business strategy. Conceptually, human capital theory is adopted to explain investment in high potentials in addition to the resource‐based view, which help explain the development of internal sources of competitive advantage, which are rare, inimitable, nonsubstitutable, and valuable. This article builds on knowledge by qualitatively examining managerial experiences of TM practices within 17 European internationally operating businesses with employees ranging from 800 to 200,000. An exploratory qualitative approach is adopted, with semistructured interviews as the main data collection tool. Findings accentuate the significance of developing the most valuable source of competitive advantage—people. We argue that, if TM is effectively implemented can result in the development of unique competences, which can ease the burdens of cross‐border business challenges and lead to sustainable competitive advantage.     

Rural banking in Nigeria: Empirical evidence of indicative policy variables from Anambra State

Ten years after the establishment of the Rural Banking Scheme (RBS) in Nigeria, there are clear indications that the problems and issues which led to the scheme are still prevalent. These include a low level of rural savings mobilization, inadequate use of banking services, and lack of credit for rural people. The central assumptions of the scheme were that increasing the physical proximity of banks to rural people enhances rural savings mobilization and, in turn, increases the flow of funds to the rural sector. Consequently, Nigeria established a quasi-commercial bank type of rural banking system, by means of legislation requiring commercial banks to open branches in rural areas. This study questions the validity of the underlying assumptions, and sets out to investigate the appropriate mix of policy variables necessary for establishing an effective rural banking system in Nigeria and other developing countries. Rural residents were surveyed to find out which variables are important in determining rural bank use. Discriminant analysis showed that four variables were significant in discriminating between rural bank users and non-users. These variables were household income, years of formal education, gender of respondent, and the awareness of the existence of the rural bank branch. The proximity of the bank to the respondent's residence was not a significant determining variable. These findings have important implications for rural bank designers and implementors in Nigeria and other developing countries. They suggest that the current emphasis on the physical distance, as a critical factor in rural bank development, should be replaced by a broader and a more comprehensive strategy which would incorporate and utilize an appropriate mix of policy variables to enhance the effectiveness of the rural banks in Nigeria.     

Circular business models in high value manufacturing: Five industry cases to bridge theory and practice

The transition to a circular economy (CE) requires companies to evaluate their resource flows, supply chains, and business models and to question the ways in which value is created. In the high value manufacturing (HVM) sector, this evaluation is critical, as HVM enables value in nonconventional forms, beyond profit, including unique production processes, brand recognition, rapid delivery times, and highly customized services. We investigate the role of value, cost, and other factors of influence in the selection of a circular business model (CBM) for HVM. Explored through five case studies using a qualitative evaluation of circularity, we then contribute to the emerging field of CBMs by modifying the CBM canvas that can capture the nontraditional value, traditional value, cost, and other influencing factors enabled via CBM adoption in HVM. Finally, the important role of digital technologies for incentivizing and enabling CBM adoption, is clarified.     

On nonlinear dependencies in African stock markets

Ferreira, Dionisio, and Correia (2018. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and Its Applications. 505, 680–687) showed that African stock markets at different time frames (before the Lehman Brothers financial crisis, during the crisis, and after the crisis) do not satisfy the efficient market hypothesis. Here, we provide evidence by means of six different nonparametric tests, and the fit of GARCH(1, 1), TGARCH(1, 1) and EGARCH(1, 1) models accounting for day of the week and month of the year effects that the majority of African stock markets do comply with the efficient market hypothesis.