Hungary:Diversity in Reach

Those who have been to Hungary have seen what a special, exciting country this is. It does not even cover 100,000 sq. kms., and yet is unbelievably varied. The flat plains are broken by hilly regions, and there are even some modest mountains looking down on us. We can take our ease on the banks of small streams or great rivers, beside enticing ponds or on the shores of one the biggest lakes in Europe. You can stroll down the streets of towns with individual characters filled with traditional architecture, stop at tiny villages to see wonders not to be found elsewhere, or visit coffee houses or restaurants with centuries of tradition designed to serve your pleasure. For visitors, there are three things in Hungary which are especially interesting: its natural beauty, history, and something that strikes one immediately: its perfect harmony.     

Fair Trade Organizations in Belgium: Unity in Diversity?

This article analyzes the dual process occurring in the field of Fair Trade organizations (FTOs) in Belgium. On the one hand, there has been a gradual diversification of the organizational landscape over time from pioneering volunteer-based non-profit organizations to a broader array including cooperatives, group structures, businesses and individual entrepreneurs exclusively devoted to FT. On the other hand, a process of networking is currently taking place among the various types of FTOs in the context of the creation of a Belgian Fair Trade Federation (BFTF). Drawing on neo-institutional theory, including institutional entrepreneurship, this article examines how and why these two processes have taken place. A qualitative field study in the Belgian FT sector, including interviews with 15 FTOs, offers rich empirical material which illustrates the diverse patterns of these organizations. Based on the observed combinations of different variables among Belgian FTOs, a taxonomy reflecting diverse means of conceiving and organizing FT activity is suggested. The different categories of FTOs and the evolution of these categories over time seem linked to the broader institutional evolutions of FT at the international as well as at the Belgian level. Finally, several factors are reviewed to explain why the diversity among Belgian FTOs has not been an obstacle to their collaboration.     

Romania:Gardenlike Country in Europe

Romania,the diverse country now welcomes tourists who canenjoy a wonderfully varied heritage of traditional culture,scenicsplendors and opportunities for leisure.A resurgence of endeavorand enthusiasm is revigorating the tourist facilities of the country to create a unique holiday destination.     

Smoke gets in your eyes—: Examining air quality in casino-hotels

When the managers of a major hotel-casino in Las Vegas investigated the air quality in selected back-of-the-house departments, the analysis sensitized those managers to the issues of indoor-air quality and led them to study the air quality of all public spaces as well. That study, the first attempt to quantify air quality in both front- and back-of-the-house areas of a major casino-hotel, may serve as a model for other property owners and managers concerned with guests' comfort and employees' well-being.     

Japanese Women in Management: Getting Closer to ‘Realities’ in Japan

Women managers are seldom seen in Japan. Female legislators, senior officials and managers are only 9 per cent of the total. It is also one of the main factors that have created the significant gender wage gap; female workers earned just 66.5 per cent of male worker earnings in 2002. This contribution explores reasons for the persistent phenomenon of very few female managers in the Japanese workplace despite economic and political factors favourable for ‘empowering’ women. To what extent is this situation explained by the cliché that women lack the ‘will’ to be promoted? The common explanation is that women ‘choose’ not to be promoted or leave their jobs because of their ‘attitude’ to marriage, birth and family responsibilities. Is that all? A recent study on work organization revealed the mechanism of constructing female private ‘attitudes’ and ‘choice’ within the organization. Although this new approach seems promising, this contribution argues that its local-oriented approach should be combined with macro analysis, especially focusing on the institutionalized practices beyond each workplace.     

Northwest: Enjoy the Comforts in the Sky

Northwest Airlines is the world's fourth largest airline with hubs at Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, Tokyo and Amsterdam and more than 1,500 daily departures. With its travel partners, Northwest serves nearly 750 cities in almost 120 countries on six continents. In 2002, consumers from throughout the world recognized Northwest's efforts to make travel easier. A 2002 J.D. Powers and Associates study ranked airports at Detroit and Minneapolis/St. Paul, home to Northwest's two largest hubs, tied for second place among large domestic airports in overall customer satisfaction. Readers of TTG Asia and TTG China named Northwest "Best North American airline."     

Can Marketing Help in Tackling Food Waste?: Proposals in Developed Countries

One third of food destined for human consumption is wasted globally, and much of the food waste that comes from high-income or developed countries is caused by poor marketing practices, consumer behavior, and consumption patterns. The present study focuses on developed countries to propose some marketing actions that could help in reducing food waste. A comprehensive analysis was carried out for each marketing variable, to provide a snapshot of actions and proposals that are being developed. Our study highlights the relevance of marketing in contributing to reduce food waste, through the removal of “Buy one, get one free” sales promotions, clarifying date labeling, or raising food waste awareness campaigns. The main contribution of this study is the proposal of marketing actions that help in tacking food waste.     

Training Agreements: Resolving Under-Investment in Training?

Here the authors examine UK employers’ use of training agreements and their impact on training and development practice. In particular, they review the literature on training agreements and find this to be underdeveloped and based upon little empirical data. Drawing on postal survey and focus group evidence from management trainees and an interview survey of employers, they show that training agreements are relatively widespread, and that employers mainly use agreements as a filter mechanism to assess an employee’s commitment to the training requested. The evidence suggests that training agreements do little to improve, and may negatively effect, a trainee’s commitment to the employer.     

Seven Sectors:Investment Focuses in the Future

Mr.ZhangHanye,anexpertwiththeStateDevelopmentandPlanningCommitteepredictsthatChinawillhavesevenkeysectorsattractinginvestmentinthefirst10yearsofthe21stcentury.Theyareinfrastructureconstruction,environmentalprotectionengineering,culturaleducation,keye...     

Jack Ma:A Born Leader in E-Commerce

Jack Ma is the first one who explored the application of e-commerce in China and still works in the field of Internet; he and his team have made numerous records in China's e-commerce. He set up the first business website in China; he proposed and practiced the B2B e-commerce mode for small and medium-sized enterprises in     

Business in space: The new frontier?

Space exploration and development may be for the twenty-first century what aviation, electronics, and computers, taken together, represent for the century nearing completion. What are the opportunities and obstacles in space commercialization? And what are the marketing implications of this new frontier?     

中国软件:不能仅仅Made in China

瑞星的杀毒软件登陆日本,这在2002年的中国IT行业,无疑是一件大事。因为这不仅意味着中国通用类软件从此结束了自我封闭的局面,开始走向国际化市场,更预示着中国软件行业终于开始借助企业品牌的力量,试图形成在国际市场上代表自己利益的声音。     

China's Reform:Cracking the Nuts in 1994

A number of crucial decisions on the market process of China's national economy in 1994 were made toward the end of 1993 at the National Economic Work Meeting and the national meetings on planning, system reform, banking, budget and trade. It aroused worldwide attention about "cracking the nuts" and "comprehensive advances and key breakthroughs" were mentioned in these large-scale reform plans.     

Chang'an: an Open City in Ancient Times

Xi'an, called Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), was a famous open city then and a tourist attraction today. First built at the time of the Western Han (206 BC-8 AD), Chang'an was 70 kilometres from the present-day Xi'an. Tang rulers adopted an open policy from Emperor Taizhong——the second     

Fair Trade in Italy: Too Much ‘Movement’ in the Shop?

With the advent of globalization, the track record of multinational corporations (MNCs) has been mixed at best in relation to their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) involvement in developing countries. This article attempts to cross-fertilize insights from the business-society and international business political behavior literature streams to identify relevant dimensions and contingencies that can be used to analyze the CSR of MNCs in developing countries and the extent of standardization or localization of their strategies. The article makes use of the new theoretical framework in the context of an interpretive research methodology to examine the CSR orientations of a sample of MNC subsidiaries in Lebanon. The findings reveal patterns of global CSR being diffused to developing countries, but also being diluted along the way in view of specific subsidiary endowments and host market characteristics.