Speeding Up the Transformation of the Operational Mechanism And Further Developing the International Market

According to customs statistics, China's exports of machinery and electric products in 1996 were worth US$ 48.21 billion, an increase of 9.9 percent over the preceding year, and 8.4 percent higher than the growth rate of the nation's total exports. The proportion of machinery and electric product exports in the nation's total foreign trade volume\ increased from 29.5 percent in 1995 to 31.9 percent in 1996, a growth at 2.4 percent.     

The determinants of bank internationalisation in times of financial globalisation: evidence from the world's largest banks, 1980–2007

This article analyses the determinants of bank internationalisation, of the world's largest banks from the period 1980–2007. The purpose of the article is twofold. First, we show how a mixed-methods research design, in which we combine a variables-based research with three case studies, can contribute to the field of business history. The variables-based research helps to detect general trends, but the statistical analysis alone only provides a limited understanding of the factors that drive the trends. By analysing selected case studies, we provide a context within which the statistical results are better understood. The second purpose is to understand trends in the internationalisation strategies of banks from different regions, and during different time periods. Contrasting with prior research, we find that Japanese and US banks have exhibited different internationalisation pattern as opposed to the European banks. Also, the determinants of bank internationalisation differ in importance over time. Using case studies, we show the importance of the changing regulatory environment.     

The impacts of the U.S.–China trade war

Business Economics - The trade war has received an enormous amount of attention. Its impacts today have been limited because the U.S. and China have been a bit restrained. Lots of firms have gotten...     

The Illusion of Merit and the Demons of Economic Meritocracy: Which are the Legitimate Expectations of the Market?

Journal of Business Ethics - Meritocracy is gaining momentum in public discourse, being close to the determinants of people’s demand of social justice (equality of opportunity, social...     

The Accounting Standards Setting Process in the U.S.: Examination of the SEC–FASB Relationship

In the U.S. there is a close relationship between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a governmental agency legally responsible for setting accounting standards, and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), a private sector body to whom the SEC has delegated this responsibility. In this paper we examine the influence of the SEC on the FASB as evidenced by all major statements issued by the FASB. Minor statements, amendments, and strictly technical pronouncements were omitted because of their limited exposure to the political process. Our analysis reveals that the SEC applied substantial pressure on the FASB in the standard setting process and has not adopted a position of benign neglect.     

The impact of individualism on buyer–supplier relationship norms,trust and market performance: An analysis of data from Brazil and the U.S.A.

This study focuses on the impact of the cultural dimension of individualism, face-to-face communication and the effect of relational norms such as supplier involvement and trust on the market performance of buyer firms. We use the culture literature and social exchange theory to test hypotheses using a sample of Brazilian and US manufacturing firms. The data were analyzed using variance-based structural equation modeling, employing nonlinear partial least squares regression. Our findings indicate that individualism is negatively related to the involvement of suppliers in the production process but is not associated with trust in suppliers. In addition face-to-face communication seems to have a positive effect on supplier involvement and trust.     

The Credit Crunch of 2007–08: Lessons Private and Public

The current financial crisis has much in common with past crises. Poor investment strategies with respect to risk as well as poor evaluation have contributed to the current crisis. This paper presents the lessons to be learned by the private and public sectors. Why do crises keep happening? Mismatch of assets—long-term liabilities offset by short-term assets—can be profitable but is risky, and robust strategies must be able to cope with the risk. A number of measures can and should be taken by private financial entities for their own sake as well as that of the entire financial system. With respect to the public sector, one should be wary of expanding the role of regulation. What should be done, however, is to make sure that public policies are pursued through on-budget spending and taxation rather than through off-budget initiatives, such as encouraging government-sponsored enterprises to accumulate subprime debt in order to further public policy objectives. It would also be useful to reduce overall levels of private debt by reducing tax incentives to borrow.     

Networks of power and networks of capital: evidence from a peripheral area of the first globalisation. The energy sector in Naples: from gas to electricity (1862–1919)

At the moment of Italian political unification, the Mezzogiorno (i.e. Southern Italy) was affected by a deep institutional change and it entered the wave of financial market openness, attracting all forms of investments from international capital markets. Naples – after having lost its previous role as the Bourbon kingdom’s capital city – enabled projects of large scale urban planning, beginning with basic public utilities. In this process, public and private lighting was chronologically the first area of interest – parallel with railway development planning – where international finance played a role. As evidence of the dynamics which brought this peripheral European area into the orbit of the first globalisation, this article addresses the complex business of energy supply in Naples – between 1862 and World War I – both from the point of view of its financial dynamics and the parallel evolution and organisational characteristics of the business actors involved. The Social Network Analysis (SNA) will support the reconstruction of the diversified and transnational businesses which the Neapolitan energy business was integrated in, at the same time giving evidence of both the bindings linking legally independent companies and the multiple relations between the actors involved. The transition from gas to electricity during this time marked the transition from weak to strong corporate ties according to the evolutionary trends both of technology and international financial markets.     

The performance implications of demand-side diversification: evidence from the US telecommunications sector, 1990–1996

This article contributes to the emerging demand-side perspective in strategy by explaining the demand-side sources of the systematic performance differences (a) between firms that diversify to offer complementary products and those who choose not to diversify, and (b) across and within diversifying firms over time. The US Telecommunications Services sector during 1990–1996 provides a dynamic research setting to test our hypotheses concerning the value-generating effect of shared demand-side strategic assets across the diversifying firms' home- and target-market. We find that the overall quality of demand-side strategic assets of local telephone companies who chose to diversify to offer complementary long-distance services (to their local telephony customers) is higher than those who chose not to diversify. We also find that the variation in market-shares of the diversified local telephone companies in their respective target market(s) for complementary long-distance services is positively influenced by the quality of demand-side strategic assets deployed in the target markets.     

The Performance of Europe-wide Businesses: Has the Single Market Led to Scale Economies?

This article follows up earlier research which had found that in the 1970s and 1980s the incentives to invest in Europe-wide businesses had often been lacking or even negative: for example, the most profitable Europe-wide businesses were less likely to be European market leaders and were likely to have lower market shares than their principal competitors; they were less likely to be innovative, having entered the market as follower rather than leader. The author finds evidence that this started to change even before the single market and that the change has continued. The key success factors for profit in European business are coming closer into line with the success factors for growth – innovation, quality and intellectual property.     

‘Checkout’: The Analysis of Oligopolistic Behaviour in the UK Grocery Retail Market

Industrial economics is particularly concerned with the relationships between market concentration, market behaviour, pricing and market performance. When, in June 1977, Tesco launched its ‘Operation Checkout’ so began one of the most intensely competitive periods of retailing history. Checkout, which was a wide price-cutting campaign backed up by extensive advertising, provides an ideal opportunity to examine the rivalry of leading grocery companies. This paper examines the events leading up to Checkout, during the initial campaign and after; it examines the possible causes of Checkout and whether it was successful. The paper asks whether the behaviour of firms surrounding Tesco can be considered to be oligopolistic and, if so, what this may mean for the future.     

Incorporating International Accounting into the MBA Curriculum: Exploring Implications of the Financial Reporting Crisis of 2001–2009

Recent developments in the global business environment have led to important changes in accounting/auditing regulations, and have implications for the business school curriculum. While many of these issues are covered in advanced accounting courses, generally taken only by majors, the issues are sufficiently important that nonaccounting majors, at both the graduate and undergraduate level, should be aware of these issues as well. Recent developments favoring the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the United States provide an overall compelling context for incorporating these standards into the business curriculum. The purpose of this article is to provide a road map for such incorporation.     

The evolution of private equity: corporate restructuring in the UK,c.1945–2010

The article analyses the role of private equity (PE) in restructuring the UK corporate economy. It develops a theoretical synthesis to show that the evolution of the PE industry and firms in which it invested were governed by the relations of corporate governance between investor and investee companies. Effective governance relations were a necessary condition for success and complement firm specific resources to create competitive advantage. Four case studies are used to show the contrasting effects of these determining factors, Industrial and Commercial Finance Corporation (ICFC) and Slater Walker, and the two waves of buy-out centred restructuring that developed with the maturity of the PE industry after 1980. In contrast to the evolutionary approach, the periodisations utilised in this study show that structural breaks associated with points of institutional reform are also necessary to make firm specific resource and governance determinants of competitive advantage operable.     

The 2007–2009 Financial Crisis: An Erosion of Ethics: A Case Study

This case study examines five dimensions of the 2007–2009 financial crisis in the United States: (1) the devastating effects of the financial crisis on the U.S. economy, including unparalleled unemployment, massive declines in gross domestic product (GDP), and the prolonged mortgage foreclosure crisis; (2) the multiple causes of the financial crisis and panic, such as the housing and bond bubbles, excessive leverage, lax financial regulation, disgraceful banking practices, and abysmal rating agency performance; (3) the extraordinary efforts of the Federal Reserve, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the Department of the Treasury to stem the financial freefall triggered by the crisis and resuscitate financial institutions, (4) the ethical implications of the unprecedented actions by government institutions to rescue financial institutions and drag the country back from the brink of global financial collapse, and the conduct of the various parties contributing to the financial crisis, such as the shoddy behavior of mortgage brokers, the massive securitization of mortgages into overly complex bonds, the excessive leverage of financial institutions, the disgraceful work of bond rating firms, the abysmal risk management systems employed by financial institutions, and the massive operations of the shadow banking and over-the-counter derivatives markets; and (5) the major provisions of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act signed into law to in response to the financial crisis and for the purpose of correcting the egregious conduct of major financial institutions.     

Liu,Peter Yi-Chih. The Development of the Advertising Industry in Japan and Taiwan: A Comparison, 1945–1975. Taipei: International Advertising Agency,Ltd., 1975

Abstract

An increase in regulatory activity regarding false and deceptive advertising during the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s instigated an increase in the number of articles on the subject in both the academic and trade journals. Most of the developing literature centered on post hoc regulation done by formal government agencies (such as the FTC) and informal self-regulatory agencies (such as NAD/NARB). Largely overlooked was the routine but important advertising clearance process that addresses matters of falseness, deception and taste before the advertisements appear in the media. Recent trends toward de-regulation make the clearance process more important than ever before.

This article focuses on widely followed clearance procedures prevalent among major advertisers who use agencies and national media. A case example is included to show nuances and intricacies of the process. Common exceptions to the example are noted. Figures are included to model the general process and primary concerns of the involved parties.     

The community dynamics of entrepreneurship: The birth of the american film industry, 1895–1929

This paper provides insight for practitioners by exploring the collective process of entrepreneurship in the context of the formation of new industries. In contrast to the popular notions of entrepreneurship, with their emphasis on individual traits, we argue that successful entrepreneurship is often not solely the result of solitary individuals acting in isolation. In many respects, entrepreneurs exist as part of larger collectives. First and foremost, there is the population of organizations engaging in activities similar to those of the entrepreneurial firm, which constitute a social system that can affect entrepreneurial success. In addition, there is also a community of populations of organizations characterized by interdependence of outcomes. Individual entrepreneurs may be more successful in the venturing process if they recognize some of the ways in which their success may depend on the actions of entrepreneurs throughout this community. Thus, we urge practitioners and theorists alike to include a community perspective in their approach to entrepreneurship. We also suggest that one way of conceptualizing the community of relevance might be in terms of populations of organizations that constitute the value chain. For example, in the early film industry a simple value chain with three functions—production, distribution, and exhibition—is a convenient heuristic for considering what populations of organizations might be relevant. As we show in our case study of that industry, a community model offers insights into the collective nature of entrepreneurship and the emergence of new industries.Our basic thesis is that the role of entrepreneurship in the creation of new industries can be conceptualized in terms of the dynamics of a community of organizational populations. At least three implications of this view may be important for practitioners. First, the kind of widespread and fundamental economic and social change that has often been linked with entrepreneurship requires a variety of behaviors. While most definitions of entrepreneurship have recognized that entrepreneurship requires the introduction of innovation, they have tended to ignore the importance of behaviors that subsequently support that innovation. To encompass these important behaviors, we believe that a broad definition of entrepreneurial behaviors is justified. To capture this, the framework of entrepreneurial behaviors that we develop includes the variety of behaviors that are important to the success of a collective process of entrepreneurship. We believe that recognition of a variety of different behaviors that are important to the success of the entrepreneurial process can help practicing entrepreneurs to understand more fully the complex dynamics of new industry creation. In terms of our framework, the range of behaviors of potential importance to entrepreneurship includes all of the following: creating a firm that innovates, creating a new business that imitates the practices of others, innovating within an existing business, and imitating by creating change in an existing business. In addition, we recognize that the kinds of innovative change that support entrepreneurship in the context of new industry creation are not narrowly technological; other kinds of product and service changes as well as administrative innovations may also be relevant.Second, entrepreneurship in one part of the community often creates the opportunity for entrepreneurial activity elsewhere in the community. For example, the founding of movie palaces did not begin until feature length films appeared. The challenge for entrepreneurs is to recognize these opportunities and act on them. Third, and related, the long-term success of entrepreneurial behaviors in one population of the community frequently requires that supportive entrepreneurial behaviors occur in other populations in the community. For example, the success of feature length films was hastened by the development of distribution organizations to replace traveling shows and localized markets. Their success was also hastened by the movement away from nickelodeons towards larger, more comfortable exhibition outlets, such as theaters and show palaces. When the interdependence among populations in the community is stated this way, another challenge to entrepreneurs becomes clear: the facilitation and encouragement of supportive behaviors in other populations.We are not the first to propose that the community is important, but we contribute to this idea by showing in a specific context how various types of behaviors interact and ultimately promote entrepreneurship throughout the community. Our contribution for practitioners is twofold. We would urge practitioners to consider the variety of behaviors necessary to create, reinforce, and maintain fundamental and widespread change. Further, we would suggest that practitioners consider how activities in a broad community of organizations can set the stage for entrepreneurship and have a high impact on its ultimate success or failure. Thus, we would suggest that practitioners who seek to innovate should search broadly for opportunities and understand the importance of relations with businesses elsewhere in the community. The success of their entrepreneurial efforts may depend on the occurrence of supportive entrepreneurial changes in those businesses as well. Their ability to do this will be enhanced by a broad understanding of entrepreneurial behaviors and sensitivity to the opportunities that their entrepreneurial behaviors may create for others.     

International buyer behaviour–commitment relationship: An investigation of the empirical link in importing

Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm this article examines relationships between knowledge, trust, communication, volatility and sustainable competitive advantage as the exogenous and endogenous variables with importer commitment as the dependent variable. The primary data was gathered from a survey of 224 commercial and industrial firms, headquartered in Bangladesh, coming from a wide cross section of industries. Statistical analysis was carried out using Structural Equation Modelling via AMOS. The study's key findings revealed that all exogenous/endogenous variables had a significant impact on importer commitment. That is, knowledge, trust, communication, volatility and sustainable competitive advantage had a significant direct impact on importer commitment. Additionally, cultural similarity, communication, volatility and supplier opportunism all had a significant indirect impact on importer commitment. This finding makes a significant contribution to the relational side of the RBV.     

Multiple interpretations of “national culture” and the implications for International business: The case of Taiwan

This paper considers the implications for international business of cases whereby a country may have two, or more, conflicting interpretations of its “national culture”. A case study of the different ways in which Taiwanese self-initiated expatriates of the benshengren and waishengren social categories use their status as “Taiwanese” to do business in London suggests that the varying interpretations which people of the same national origin and ethnic group have of their “national culture”, as a symbol of identity, affects the social resources they can use. The paper concludes by considering new directions for studying national culture in international business, and for re-evaluating earlier research.