How many pirates should a software firm tolerate?: An analysis of piracy protection on the diffusion of software

This paper examines the relationship between the rate of software diffusion and piracy. Literature suggests that tolerating some piracy can be justified since it speeds up software diffusion. The question is, how much should be tolerated? Using innovation diffusion models of software adoption by legal buyers and pirates, answers to this question are obtained for the three scenarios of monopoly, multiple generations of software and competitive markets. Results include, for example, that a monopoly should start with minimum protection of its software but well before the product has diffused half way, impose maximum protection and maintain it thereafter. The results provide important strategic guidelines for firms in the software industry for managing piracy.     

An analysis of the predictors of software piracy within Latin America

Corruption has become an increasingly salient issue in recent years due to the increasing pressure placed on top management teams of multinational firms to maintain high moral standards in all facets of their operations. The level and scope of corruption in a particular country is worthy of consideration as companies seek potential export markets and global partners. While macro-level academic research related to causes of corruption has burgeoned in the past decade, there is a lack of depth and breadth with respect to corruption research in Latin America. The current study analyzes patterns of software piracy (a notorious type of corruption) for 20 Latin American nations. Results indicate that economic growth, foreign direct investment, Internet usage, and development assistance relate to software piracy rates in Latin America.     

美国全球战略调整及对我国战略调整的启示

本文从美国全球战略的出发点——美国的国家利益及其威胁入手,全面分析了美国全球战略的调整,包括对外经济关系、外交、安全、军事等方面。最后,本文相应地提出了我国国家战略调整的对策建议。     

Reduce product counterfeiting: An integrated approach

There is substantial interconnection between the reduction of product counterfeiting and quality management. This article seeks to demonstrate how integrating anti-counterfeiting initiatives into quality management strategies can reduce risk in the supply chain. We explore issues pertaining to product counterfeiting, the practical application and constraints of anti-counterfeiting initiatives within the supply chain, and the intersection of anti-counterfeiting initiatives with quality management programs. Gaps in current management strategies to address these issues are identified, and a potential remedy to address these deficiencies is proposed. Practical suggestions regarding the application of quality principles to offset counterfeiting should reduce risk in the supply chain.     

全球服务产业转移与国际服务贸易发展趋势

当前,全球服务产业转移与国际服务贸易发展之间已经形成一种互动发展的态势。因此,国际服务贸易发展的一些新趋势值得关注:服务贸易成为全球产业链竞争的关键;服务外包成为新兴国家进入全球分工体系的重要途径;商业模式的创新复制成为商业存在的主要形式;国际服务业规制的改革与创新不断深化。这些都是我国在承接全球服务产业转移、发展国际服务贸易时必须认真应对的问题。     

Fitting strategic resources with product-market strategy: Performance implications

Resources, strategy, and performance inter-relationships are central to strategic marketing theory. Strategic resources are key inputs to product-market strategy that form the basis of superior firm performance. However, these inter-relationships are subject to ‘fit’ requirements. This article examines the hypothesis that greater fit between the strategic resources of marketing organizations and product-market strategy encourages superior financial and customer-market performance. This fit is most important to marketing organizations exhibiting either a Defender or Analyzer strategic orientation. No significant relationship is found for fit among Prospectors.     

Franchisor strategy and firm performance: Making the most of strategic resource investments

A key decision for entrepreneurs in many retail and service firms is whether, and how much, to use franchising. If the decision is made to franchise, the actor may assume one of two “identities” or tactics: (1) the “chain builder,” who uses a blend of company and franchised outlets, and (2) the “turnkey,” who sells business opportunities but does not own any outlets. To benefit from their chosen strategy, franchisors must put resources in place to support it. We argue that franchisors use the chain building strategy to strike a balance between standardization and innovation by building resources that foster trust and encourage knowledge sharing with franchisees. In contrast, for turnkeys, a valuable set of operational routines is the critical strategic resource. To better appreciate how franchisors choose between the chain builder and turnkey strategies, we gathered survey information from 263 franchisors. Via this data, and as described herein, we learned that franchisors perform better when they invest in resources that best support their selected strategy.     

Mindfulness: Nurturing Global Mind‐set and Leadership

In this article, we attempt to explore global leadership and global mind‐set from the perspective of mindfulness. Through a synthesis of the literature on mindfulness and scholarship on global mind‐set and global leadership, this article explicates the importance of mindfulness in developing a global mind‐set and, thereby, acquiring global leadership competencies. Taking a task‐analytic approach to global leadership, we attempt to elaborate on how mindfulness can act as an important antecedent for global mind‐set and hence for global leadership. Implications for future research and managerial practice are highlighted. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

We need to talk about strategy: How to conduct effective strategic dialogue

As researchers and consultants, we have spent the last few years helping a dozen major public and private organizations understand what went wrong with their strategic planning. We discovered that executives have a hard time with strategy because they are at a loss when the time comes to engage in strategic dialogue. Either their teams debate the organization’s values and goals when such issues should be settled, or they waste time on the details of specific projects that have yet to receive the green light. But whether the conversation is too broad or too narrow, strategy stays out of view. Drawing on recent developments in strategy-as-practice and decision-making literature, we propose a model that executives can follow to take control of strategy meetings and keep their teams on track. We ask them to focus on the right decision purpose, adjust the meeting’s communication style, and cast the right leader for the job. When these three simple rules are followed, the pillars of successful dialogue are aligned, and executives can finally talk about what matters most to them: strategy.     

Simultaneous multidimensional unfolding and cluster analysis: An investigation of strategic groups

This paper develops a maximum likelihood based methodology for simultaneously performing multidimensional unfolding and cluster analysis on two-way dominance or profile data. This new procedure utilizes mixtures of multivariate conditional normal distributions to estimate a joint space of stimulus coordinates and K ideal points, one for each cluster or group, in a T-dimensional space. The conditional mixture, maximum likelihood methodology is introduced together with an E-M algorithm utilized for parameter estimation. A marketing strategy application is provided with an analysis of PIMS data for a set of firms drawn from the same competitive industry to determine strategic groups, while simultaneously depicting strategy-performance relationships.INSEAD     

Integrating global mobility and global talent management: Exploring the challenges and strategic opportunities

Although global mobility represents an important element of many multinational enterprise's (MNEs) global talent management systems, the two areas of practice have largely been decoupled in research and practice. The current paper aims to build a dialog around the integration of these two important areas of practice and illustrate how the integration of global mobility and global talent management can contribute to the success of the MNE. Human capital and social capital theories are introduced as theoretical frames for the integration of the two areas and global talent pools and routines for managing global staffing flows are introduced as key organizational routines that can maximize the contribution of global mobility to the MNE. The paper also considers challenges and opportunities for the integration of mobility and talent and outlines some directions for future study.     

Roadmapping: (Missed) opportunities to overcome strategic challenges

Firms face various critical challenges when pursuing a coherent course of action that seeks to create value for the long term. They are required to balance myopic and hyperopic behavior. They must ensure coordination, adopt a holistic view of various functional perspectives, and foster commitment among key decision makers. They need to develop a credible and compelling line of reasoning that employees understand and can act on. Adopting the perspective of roadmapping as a strategy tool, this article advances the argument that roadmapping is especially suitable in helping firms to surmount these three critical strategic challenges. This article distills three core features of the roadmap: graphical representation, multi-disciplinary integration, and scaling. It then reviews the three critical strategic challenges and shows how roadmapping can help to overcome each of these. Following this explanation, the article describes ten key principles for effective strategic roadmapping that support firms in obtaining the strategic benefits promised. The article concludes with additional insights for practice with the intent of encouraging further exploitation of roadmapping’s potential.     

Global talent management and global talent challenges: Strategic opportunities for IHRM

The need for multinational firms to be as competitive in the global marketplace as possible has increased dramatically over the past twenty years. For international human resource management this has meant many strategic opportunities to international human resource management. An excellent example of such an opportunity is that which exists regarding the management of talent. This opportunity began to develop in the late 1990s with the advent of the challenge of “global talent management.” During the past few years this opportunity has expanded to include challenges dealing with talent shortages, talent surpluses, locating and relocating talent, and compensation levels of talent. Together, these conditions are all “global talent challenges”. In this article we describe these several global talent challenges and the strategic opportunities they present to firms and propose the implications of these for firms and for the field of international human resource management.     

Exploring alternative strategic management paradigms in high-growth ethnic and non-ethnic family firms

The primary research question examined in this paper is whether ethnic and non-ethnic family firms in the United Kingdom differ in their strategy-making. The paper uses the typology of strategic decision-making produced by Whittington [(1993). What is strategy: and does it matter? New York: Routledge] to derive contrasting predictions of strategy-making by ethnic versus non-ethnic firms. Drawing on a questionnaire study of 76 high-growth family firms, and subsequent in-depth fieldwork with 40 of these, the findings show that the ethnic origin of the controlling family has a significant influence in determining the dominance of a particular strategy paradigm. However, successful high-growth family firms are not associated with any particular school of strategy. The influence of family bonding on strategy-making was greater in ethnic family firms than non-ethnic family firms. The advent of the second generation of South Asians in family firms, and closer integration of immigrant and host communities, has not altered these apparent differences. The findings challenge researchers on family firms to adopt a multiple perspective approach to strategy-making.     

Global Business Literacy in the Classroom: Developing and Applying an Assessment Framework

This study develops and applies a framework to evaluate undergraduate Global Business Literacy (GBL) learning outcomes, which is defined here as the ability to adapt and function in the global business context and to be knowledgeable about its core issues and trends. As a first step in a multi-stage research process, we used extant expatriate and global business education literature to develop a 58-item survey. Exploratory factor analysis of pre-test survey data from 166 seniors revealed five explanatory factors that we labeled self-efficacy (SE), willingness to learn (WTL), relationship development (RD), technical competence (TC), and self-awareness (SA). Next, we used the framework to complete a post-test study of the effectiveness of a classroom-based Global Business Colloquium at improving students' perceived GBL. A paired-samples t-test revealed mean increases/decreases in scores from Time 1 to Time 2 on four factors: SE, WTL, RD, and TC, but no significant difference in SA. We discuss future research directions and recommend potential pedagogical augmentation.     

Transforming under deep uncertainty: A strategic perspective on risk management

Companies increasingly face the need for transformation in today’s rapidly changing business environment, characterized by major shifts in technology, regulation, and customer behavior. A lack of strategic risk insight and foresight leaves many incumbents insufficiently prepared in the face of such deep uncertainty. We argue that traditional risk management falls short because it predominantly focuses on strategy execution while leaving strategy formulation largely untouched. Moreover, an administrative-heavy risk management process can create strategic inertia and a misleading sense of control. In today’s dynamic business context, companies must not only increase the speed and impact of their strategy execution but also continuously explore the development of new strategies in response to disruptive events or emerging opportunities. Our research shows how leading companies develop a strategic risk management (SRM) capability to increase their resilience and agility in response to deep uncertainty. SRM takes a strategic, forward-looking perspective and focuses on strengthening processes, people, and practices for purposefully integrating risk into the strategy formulation process. This article offers a framework with three proven configurations of content and timing integration, risk management roles, and leading practices that enable effective SRM.     

Strategic partnerships and the internationalisation process of software SMEs

This research investigates the nature of strategic partnering activities of software SMEs (small-to-medium-sized enterprises), their motivations to engage in strategic partnerships as part of the internationalisation process, the key benefits achieved and the main challenges encountered. It explores managers’ perceptions of partnership activities through a qualitative research methodology focussing on Irish indigenous firms. Findings suggest that strategic partnerships were initiated to take advantage of firm synergy, reputation and credibility advantages. Partnerships also served as an important foreign market entry mechanism allowing firms to accelerate sales cycles and reduce risk in overseas markets. Challenges facing firms included partner selection and issues of control. Directions for further research are highlighted.     

The Co-evolutional Advantage: Strategic Management Theory and the Eclectic Paradigm

The eclectic paradigm has been one of the leading frameworks for explaining multinational activity over the past two decades. Yet recent trends in international business pose a challenge to the explanatory power of the paradigm. Strategic management theory, with its focus on performance differences between firms, provides a useful complement to the OLI framework in understanding the activities of the modern multinational. In particular, global competition and the management of a firm's global stocks and flows of knowledge merit closer attention.The advent of global competition requires us to shift from the existing institutional perspective of comparisons of firms and markets or of foreign firms and local firms to a firm-level perspective of comparisons of the multinational firm to its global competitors. It also necessitates a focus on firm-level capabilities in knowledge management relative to competitors, the development of these capabilities involving both macro and micro co-evolutionary processes. Our arguments incorporate these changes to extend the OLI paradigm to accommodate both an economic and a strategic management perspective.     

嵌入全球价值链与产业升级——以苏州和温州两地为例

从全球价值链理论看,嵌入不同类型的全球价值链会给发展中国家带来不同的产业升级机会。苏州和温州是以不同的方式嵌入两类全球价值链,分别代表着两类产业升级模式。虽然两地产业发展都不同程度地利用了国际直接投资和贸易的机会,但并未进入全球价值链的战略环节。因此,争取进入全球价值链的部分战略环节,规避国际产业转移和市场不确定性的风险,应该是两地产业升级的重要战略取向。