Six Not-So-Simple Things International Business Academics Can Do to Save the Earth

As an increasing number of businesses around the world develop environmental policies and programs international business academics can play a vital role in helping to advance business natural environment values and practices in their countries, professions, schools, classrooms, and communities. This article identifies six potential avenues for academic involvement in environmental business teaching, research, and service activities and discusses the integration of these by international business scholars. In addition, this article suggests that such an integration may have synergistic effects, resulting in the potential for the international business academic to make important contributions in each of these areas.     

收购红孩子拉开电商行业整合大幕苏宁推动电商行业良性发展

9月25日,苏宁并购母婴垂直电商"红孩子"媒体通报会在南京举行.苏宁拟出资6600万美元或等值人民币收购红孩子公司,承接"红孩子"及"缤购"两大品牌和公司的资产,业务,全面升级苏宁易购母婴、化妆品的运营.这是苏宁在电商领域的首次并购,对于苏宁"超电器化"经营和苏宁易购品类拓展、精细运营、规模提升具有重要意义,也拉开了电商行业整合大幕.     

从"黑大陆"到"灰大陆"——我看中国物流30年

中国改革开放的30年,也是中国物流的30年。30年中,我国物流业从"黑大陆"发展到了"灰大陆",这是一个非常大的进步。"灰大陆"是发展中的状态,是不太成熟的状态,应实事求是地面对"灰大陆"。"灰大陆"反映了这30年没能解决的问题之多,如我们在物流方面缺乏创新;领导体制问题没有解决,甚至存在扭曲;我们对现代物流还没有完全的真知,视野太狭窄,"过热"现象时有发生;企业的系统现代化问题没有得到真正解决。"灰大陆"状态可能会持续较长的时间,但灰色必然会逐渐消退减弱,而伴随着这个过程,我国物流业必将取得更大的发展。     

Better Living: Toward a Cultural History of a Business Slogan

This article traces the migration of the slogan "better living"from its inception in 1935 as an attempt to clean up the corporateimage of Du Pont, through its dissemination into the buildingtrades and architecture during and after World War II, and finallyinto urban planning in the postwar decades. These fields borrowedthe phrase back and forth in their promotional literature inorder to serve their own, often clashing agendas—one strandof the larger contest between the forces of free enterpriseand those of centralized planning and reform. The essay aimsto bring together aspects of business, architecture, and planningin order to explore the fertile cultural milieu these differentfields shared in the middle decades of the twentieth century.     

From Business Ethics to the Vocation of Business Leaders to Humanize the World of Business

This article is the integral text of an inaugural lecture as professor extraordinary for business ethics at the Catholic University of Brabant at Tilburg, the Netherlands. The author is professor of ethics at the Catholic University of Leuven (K.U.Leuven) and an Associate Editor of this Review.     

African Business Research: A Review of Studies Published in the Journal of African Business and a Framework for Enhancing Future Studies

ABSTRACT

The development of Africa depends on productivity and effectiveness of businesses. One objective of the Journal of African Business (JAB) is to facilitate business effectiveness through dissemination of research and practitioner knowledge. Reviewing 96 articles published over a seven year period (2000–2006) published in JAB, the study looked for patterns in the research described (i.e., disciplinary focus, geographic coverage, characteristics of authors, etc). The study also focused on the degree of correspondence (or fit) between Western theory and data provided. Four important findings are: (1) JAB published research from diverse disciplines; (2) there seems to be a bias toward Business rather than Management disciplines, (3) a majority of the research is empirical; and (4) there seems to be a lack of context-specific theories. A proposed framework and implications for future research are discussed.     

The Ethical Decision Making of Men and Women Executives in International Business Situations

While a number of studies have examined the impact of gender/sex on ethical decision-making, the findings of this body of research do not provide consistent answers. Furthermore, very few of these studies have incorporated cross-cultural samples. Consequently, this study of 222 American and Spanish business executives explored sex differences in ethical judgments and intentions to act ethically. While no significant differences between males and females were found with respect to ethical judgments, females exhibited higher intentions to act more ethically than males. This difference was true of both U.S. and Spanish executives. Further research is warranted to develop a clearer understanding of the linkage between ethical judgment and intention to act in an ethical manner. These findings have implications for global firms, particularly regarding codes of conduct and ethics training. Sean Valentine is an Assiciate Professor of Management at the University of Wyoming. His research has appeared in journals such as Human Relations, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Business Ethics, and Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management. Terri Rittenburg is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Univesity of Wyoming; she is a member of the Editorial Policy Board for the Journal of Macromarketing. Her research has appeared in journals such as Psychology and Marketing, Journal of Business Ethics, and Journal of Macromarketing.     

Business Intelligence versus Entrepreneurial Competitive Intelligence and International Competitiveness of North African SMEs

This paper aims to analyze the effects of different devices of business intelligence and entrepreneurial competitive intelligence on the international competitiveness of 300 North African SMEs. Furthermore, we will try through this paper to examine the mechanical role of the internal audit of entrepreneurial competitive intelligence in the packaging of such effects. The originality of this research lies in the attempt to better understand theoretically and empirically the particularities of each of the concepts related to entrepreneurial competitive intelligence and its internal audit on one side and its effects on the international competitiveness based on export intensity on the other side. Our results show that the competitive position of North African SMEs is strongly dependent on the entrepreneurial competitive intelligence approach because it includes essential additional actions which refer not only to a defensive attitude but also and potentially to entrepreneurial orientation.     

The contextualization of a microfinance model: From India to South Africa

Microfinance has come to be seen as the “magic bullet” to alleviate poverty across the world. Focus has been on scaling up “successful” models within, and beyond, singular cultural settings. We explore why different stakeholder groups perceived the same microfinance model as successful in India, yet less successful in South Africa. The study is an explorative case study, combining the literature on social capital and contextualization, and suggests that historical, socioeconomic, and legislative antecedents to social capital in India are different in South Africa, thus resulting in a lower perception of microfinance success in South Africa. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

坚定信心迎难而上努力实现商务事业更好更快发展

一、2008年的商务工作 2008年在省委、省政府的正确领导下,全省商务系统深入学习实践科学发展观,把发展作为第一要务,全面完成了各项工作任务,实现了商务事业平稳较快发展.     

From the Universities to the Marketplace: The Business Ethics Journey

Connecting influence and leadership, the professor of business ethics assumes a sacred moral vocation. Directed towards the student's role in the marketplace, the business ethics course enjoins consideration of the values of social responsibility for the human community in its political, economic, and familial manifestations.     

The Development of Undergraduate International Business Practicums in Small Business Schools: An Experiential Learning Framework

The value of the inclusion of experiential learning opportunities in international business education has been well established in the literature. We set out to examine industry-identified skills and experiences that could lead to enhanced employability and early career performance. Through our extensive review of theory, empirical work, leading programs, practicum channels, and our own qualitative study, we proposed frameworks to help guide small business schools best structure their undergraduate international business experiential learning offerings. Specifically, we suggest the establishment of tracks or concentrations with supplemental skill focus, emphasis on foreign language proficiency, and requiring at least two international internship or service learning practicums, preferably abroad, that include mini-consulting projects, presentations, and deliverables.     

Vulnerability and the Basis of Business Ethics: From Fiduciary Duties to Professionalism

This paper examines the role of vulnerability in the basis of business ethics by criticizing its role in giving a moral substantial character to fiduciary duties to shareholders. The target is Marcoux’s (Bus Ethics Q 13(1):1–24, 2003) argument for morally substantial fiduciary duties vis-à-vis the multifiduciary stakeholder theory. Rather than proceed to support the stakeholder paradigm, a conception of vulnerability is combined with Heath’s 2004) “market failure” view of the ethical obligations of managers as falling out of their roles as professionals involved in the institution of the market. The result is the core of a theoretically defensible and managerially motivating and deployable ethic.     

International strategy: From local to global and beyond

To survive and thrive, multinational enterprises (MNEs) have had to adapt to dramatic changes and increasing complexity in the global competitive landscape over the past 50 years. MNEs’ international strategies and the academic research on the various attributes and outcomes of these strategies have evolved accordingly. This work reviews the evolution of international strategy research over the past five decades. In particular, the research on international diversification and the timing and speed of entering international markets is closely examined. In recent years, the influence of formal and informal institutions on international strategy has become a central research topic. Furthermore, MNEs’ strategies often seek to explore and exploit critical capabilities to build advantages in international markets. Finally, emerging research themes, such as institutional complexity, business sustainability, emerging economy firms and international new ventures are highlighted.     

用活企业会计准则,解决物流企业收入与成本核算难题

现代物流在我国是一个新兴行业,其会计核算中的诸多问题还没有得到很好的解决。但根据我国修订出台的《企业会计准则》体系,物流企业的诸多难题是能够得到解决的。本文依据《企业会计准则》体系的相关规定,对物流企业的收入及成本核算的难题进行了适当论述,解决了物流企业的收入及成本的确认、计量和记录问题。     

国际商务理论在新兴经济体研究中的应用与发展

新兴市场经济体企业国际化的蓬勃发展,成为全球外商直接投资中不可忽视的重要力量。新兴市场经济体企业国际化行为成为目前国际商务领域研究的热点,但目前研究中所采用的理论大多起源于西方发达国家,学者们对这些传统理论在新兴经济体企业国际化行为的解释力上存在不同的看法。因此,本文将首先对新兴经济体及其企业国际化的独特情境进行分析,并对目前应用于新兴经济体企业国际化研究的传统理论进行介绍与论述,并分析目前新兴经济体企业国际化理论应用所面临的困境。而后将介绍目前新兴经济体企业国际化理论的新发展,并在此基础上提出一些新兴经济体企业国际化理论发展值得进一步深入思考的问题。     

Commitment to the Study of International Business and Cultural Intelligence: A Multilevel Model

Adopting a multilevel theoretical framework, we examined how metacognitive and motivational cultural intelligence influence an individual’s commitment to the study of international business (IB). Data from 292 undergraduate and graduate business students nested in 12 U.S. business school classes demonstrated that individuals’ metacognitive and motivational cultural intelligence are positively related to their commitment to the study of IB. Furthermore, there is additional commitment when the classrooms’ cultural intelligence climate is high. We discuss the implications of these findings within a classroom context that involves cross-cultural interactions.