Fast Track Opportunities for High Achievers? A Comparative Investigation into Career Advancement Patterns for In-House and Consultancy Practitioners

Consultancy? Or in-house department? Public relations and communication graduates usually extensively debate the “pros and cons” of the industry's two key employment options. However, to date there has been a lack of research into potential differences in required skill sets, career advancement, and promotional opportunities between these two employment types. Contrary to management research, public relations scholars have largely focused on traditional career advancement determinants, such as experience in years and gender, largely failing to embrace modern management research into career advancement. Based on the author's previous research into alternative career advancement factors, which has highlighted the importance of social competencies and networking skills for PR practitioners, this article sets out to investigate potential differences in career advancement factors and career development patterns for in-house and consultancy-based practitioners.     

China in 2010: Strategic considerations

Napoleon called China a “sleeping giant.” The giant has awakened and is lumbering toward the twenty-first century. Will it flex its muscles as never before? Or will it remain a little sleepy? What factors will determine China's future and the opportunities in the China market?     

David R. Meyer. Networked Machinists: High-Technology Industries in Antebellum America

How did entrepreneurs in antebellum American industry acquirethe knowledge required to operate iron foundries and build steamengines, locomotives, machine tools, and even firearms? Didthey simply hire experts from England to teach the small numberof machinists in America new techniques—something difficultto do since the British government tried to prevent that knowledgefrom getting out? Or, did they rely on machinists who broughtwith them knowledge of new processes when they immigrated toAmerica? And, when     

The Greening of International Marketing

In the instruction of an international marketing course, what should be taught or elaborated oa regarding the "green" movement? Is this an exclusively American idea that belongs in the discussion of domestic marketing current events? Should a student's sensitivity be raised concerning the environment on an international scale? Or should the topic of "green marketing" be taught as a ethical business issue? In this paper, we attempt to examine the "green marketing" issue and provide a foundation from which it may be addressed in the international domain.     

EMU: Experiences to date and challenges for the future

Have the first two years of European Monetary Union fulfilled the expectations of its supporters? Or have the fears of the critics been confirmed? What challenges will EMU have to face in the years ahead?     

Do high interest rates defend currencies during speculative attacks?

Do high interest rates defend currencies during speculative attacks? Or do they have the perverse effect of increasing the probability of a devaluation of the currency under attack? Drawing on evidence from a large sample of speculative attacks in developed and developing economies, this paper argues that the answer to both questions is ‘no’. In particular, this paper documents a striking lack of any systematic association whatsoever between interest rates and the outcome of speculative attacks. The lack of clear empirical evidence on the effects of high interest rates during speculative attacks mirrors the theoretical ambiguities on this issue.     

Ernesto R. Gantman. Capitalism, Social Privilege and Managerial Ideologies. Aldershot, U.K.: Ashgate, 2005. viii + 185 pp. ISBN 0-7546-4186-4, $99.95.

Is management a science or an ideology? Do management theoriesexplore the best way to maximize society’s welfare byefficiently coordinating inputs to produce the most output?Or are they window dressing concealing the exploitation of labor? An Argentinean professor, Ernesto Gantman surveys two centuriesof American management theory to argue that ideology trumpsscience. (Though the book purports to be a study of managementideology generally, it is almost exclusively about the UnitedStates.) Gantman quickly     

Monitoring Employee Internet Usage

Do employers know where their employees are going when they are provided with Internet and World Wide Web access? Should they know? Or is that a breach of privacy issue? Exploring this sensitive area is a former consultant for a software company, who is completing his MBA at London Business School.     

Corporate Philanthropy - Potential Threat or Opportunity?

Is corporate giving a matter of sporadic and altruistic generosity? Or should it be seen more as “a product to be marketed to the public”? The author is Lecturer in International Business in the Department of Commerce of the University of Birmingham, Ashley Building, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT.     

The European Monetary System five years on: Achievements and prospects

The record of the European Monetary System at the five-year mark is rather a disappointment for the System’s advocates. Has the “EMS experiment” failed? Or is there potential for developing the System further to the advantage of all member countries?     

The IMF—A success story?

Is the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the mainstay of the international monetary system? Or is it an insignificant sideshow? Might its actions, or its very existence, even be harmful? The fortieth anniversary of the Bretton Woods Agreement, which was signed by 44 states on 22 July 1944, affords an opportunity to assess the activities of the Fund and to outline its possible contribution to coping with future tasks in the world economy.     

Slow recovery in the global economy

The weakness of the world economy continued even after the end of the Iraq war, with demand and output showing only modest signs of improvement. Will the expectations of recent months, which have again become distinctly more optimistic, prove to be exaggerated? Or is the global economy, thanks to highly expansive monetary policies in many countries, on the brink of sustained recovery? Is a synchronised upswing probable, or will an economic growth engine again be needed to lead the way forward?     

Why not exploit dual marketing?

What happens when industrial marketers start selling to consumers? Or when companies who serve consumers begin marketing to industry? Although not without its problems, dual marketing offers synergies that have been largely overlooked.     

Female self-employment and children

Several analyses report a positive correlation between fertility and female self-employment; however, scholars disagree about the direction of this relationship. Knowing about the causal relationship is important because the relevant mechanisms and possible implications differ tremendously. This paper studies two competing hypotheses: Is self-employment more attractive to women because they have children? Or, is it occupation-specific characteristics of self-employed women that impact their fertility? This work applies a unique approach by utilizing exogenous variation in both children and self-employment.     

Taiwan and the People's Republic of China foes or partners?

Taiwan is developing ever more perceptibly into what both Peking and Taipei consider it to be: a province of China, albeit a province sui generis—part of China and yet an independent state, enjoying world-wide recognition though denied diplomatic relations, a leading commercial power but without proper commercial treaties. The prosperity which has been generated in the island is an ever present temptation for the People's Republic. Is it tempting enough to provoke an appeal to arms? Or is Red China's perfectly legitimate interest directed primarily at the exchange of goods and technologies?     

EU data protection reform: Opportunities and concerns

Last year, the European Commission proposed a comprehensive reform of the EU’s data protection rules. The proposed regulation has been surrounded by fi erce controversy and has been the subject of frenzied lobbying by global corporations, industry groups, research centres and privacy campaigners on both sides of the Atlantic. This Forum applies cool economic reasoning to this heated issue. What are the potential economic benefi ts of EU harmonisation? Will the proposed regulation negatively impact the competitiveness and innovation of European fi rms in the global marketplace? Or could it jeopardise attempts to protect privacy as a fundamental right in civil societies?     

Service Satisfaction: An Empirical Analysis of Consumer Satisfaction in Financial Services

Does the widely accepted espectancy-disconfirmation model apply to situations within a financial services context? Or could it be, due to specific characteristics of services, that a different model applies? This paper addresses these questions and tests the relationships between consumer expectations, performance, disconfirmation, .satisfaction and repeat purchase in a lisrel model. The results would suggest that the relevancy of disconfirmation is fairly apparent and that expectations have only an indirect influence on satisfaction where financial services are concerned. The performance level of financial services however has a strong positive direct effect on satisfaction.     

存款保险制度能否降低银行系统风险

存款保险制度能否通过对可能的存款损失提供保险来降低银行风险,维护金融系统的稳定?或者会对银行道德风险行为形成逆向激励,加大了破产的可能性?目前有一种简单的模型对存款保险与银行系统风险关系及其影响因素能进行分析,并以此得出相应的结论与建议。     

Citizens’ Europe: Crowded out by economic focus

Over the last ten years the European unification project seemed to rely overwhelmingly on progress in economic terms. The most prominent achievements — the Single Market, the harmonisation of market regulation, the euro — were all driven by an economic rationale. However, attempts to rescue Europe from the ongoing financial crisis call for mutual support and solidarity, concepts that can hardly be derived from pure economic reasoning. This leads to an important question that has been too long neglected: what is the political and civic motivation for a united Europe? Besides a great desire to stabilise peace in Europe, the origins of the unification activities also included mutual interest in language, culture, habits and people in neighbouring countries. Has this been abandoned in favour of a purely economic vision? Or are the economic arguments merely the easiest to promote to the European population? What message does this send in times of mistrust in markets and dim economic prospects for the eurozone? Can a political, cultural and civic European spirit still be reinvigorated, and if so, how?