The role of independent intermediaries: The case of small and medium-sized exporters

The article examines how small and medium-sized exporters collaborate with intermediaries in foreign markets by studying the level of control, i.e. the delegation of decisions rights and task solution. It goes one step further than previous research, since it examines degrees of control and participation rather than just discrete types of intermediary modes (agents, importers, dealers, etc.). Associations with performance as well as the role of product and distributor characteristics are analyzed.Empirical data based on a sample of product-market ventures in 227 small and medium-sized Norwegian export firms are analyzed by a structural equation modelling approach. The article provides empirical evidence that managers keep control of decision making to an extent that may have a negative impact on export performance. The empirical study indicates that firms should participate more in task solution but less in decision making in their collaboration with foreign intermediaries.     

Indian and British personnel specialists' understanding of the dynamics of their function: an empirical study

This paper highlights the need for cross-national HRM comparisons from a cognitive perspective. It examines the perceptions of top Indian and British personnel specialists regarding their function. The influence of national culture, national institutions and dynamic business environment on HRM is evaluated. An interview based “visual cards sorting” technique is used to tap the comparative thinking of respondents. The research was conducted in 48 manufacturing (24 Indian and 24 British) firms. The sample firms were closely matched on a number of control variables. A number of differences and similarities were found in the thinking of Indian and British managers regarding their HRM functions. The impact of certain dimensions of national culture, different national institutions and some aspects of competitive business environment on Indian and British HRM practices and policies helps to highlight the context specific nature of HRM function. The findings of the study have both research and practical implications. The analysis opens avenues for future research.     

Country Relational Distance,Organizational Power and R&D Managers: Understanding Environmental Challenges for Foreign R&D in China

This study examines the challenges of foreign research and development (R&D) in China, based on interviews with 32 senior R&D managers. It confirms the findings from previous research that many barriers still exist in China for foreign R&D, and such barriers include institutional environment, infrastructure and labour management. Among the three categories, issues related labour management, such as increasing labour cost and mobility, lack of experience and creativity and cultural differences among the research staff, prove to be most challenging for management, while China's institutions and infrastructure do not seem to pose big problems for foreign companies. This study also finds that responses from R&D managers are not consistent, and the differences could be largely explained by three types of factors: relational distance between the parent country and China, the strength and experience of foreign companies, and the manager's personal experience and closeness with China. Further research is needed to explore these issues due to the small sample size of this study.     

Book Reviews

The rise of graduate business schools occurred during a period of enormous growth, followed by dramatic decline in the fortunes of American business. Because so many M.B.A.-educated executives had difficulty managing their companies' response to dramatic changes in markets and technology, this study examines how business education has influenced managerial attitude and practices. Columbia and Harvard Business Schools were examined to see how, as well, their educational approaches provided managers with the skills, information and confidence to make both entrepreneurial and operational decisions. Both schools effectively prepared their graduates for operational decisions, but did not successfully provide their managers with the skills and knowledge to facilitate entrepreneurial decisions. Moreover, the study also found that American business was not actively engaged in the direction of graduate business education. Thus, the reliance of American business upon graduate business schools may have had consequences for America's business.     

Designing Effective International Business Programmes for Senior Export Executives

In nearly all developing countries, the need to upgrade the marketing management skills of business executives in international trade is increasing rapidly. The capacity of existing training institutions, however, needs to be strengthened in order to meet the future requirements of the business community. To date, most training is provided by business schools, institutes of foreign trade, or other similar training institutes which have limited experience in executive development, particularly in international business. Organizing training for business executives differs greatly from that for business students. Training institutions and trainers involved in providing programmes to experienced target groups must introduce new approaches, methods, tools and structures when organizing such training. Programmes need to be practical and relevant to participants. Trainers of export business executives should regard themselves as training managers accountable for the delivery of effective training programmes enabling participants to apply immediately their newly acquired skills and now-how in their respective organizations.     

The Effect of Moral Philosophy and Ethnocentrism on Quality-of-Life Orientation in International Marketing: A Cross-Culturaal Comparison

This paper examines the effects of moral philosophy and ethnocentrism on quality of life orientation in international marketing. It also provides a cross-cultural comparison of ethical values between Koreans and Americans. International quality-of-life (IQOL) orientation refers to marketers' disposition to make decisions to enhance the well-being of consumers in foreign markets while preserving the well-being of other stakeholders. It is hypothesized that marketers' moral philosophy and ethnocentrism influence the development of marketers' IQOL. Specifically, the higher the IQOL orientation of international managers, the higher their moral idealism, the higher their moral relativism, and the lower their ethnocentrism. Also, it is hypothesized that American managers are likely to score higher on moral relativism but lower on moral idealism compared to their Korean counterparts. Also, Korean managers are expected to be more ethnocentric than American managers. Data were collected from business professionals who enrolled in professional MBA courses both from the U.S. and Korea. The results provided support for the hypothesized relationships. Managerial implications of these relationships are discussed.     

Traces of foreign retailers – local knowledge-spillovers and strategy adaption within retail internationalization

ABSTRACT

Since the 1990s certain retail companies have evolved into some of the largest and most dispersed transnational corporations worldwide. However, within the ‘new era of retail distribution’ retailers are increasingly divesting from foreign markets. This study addresses these recent and under-explored dynamics by revealing the traces transnational retail corporations leave after divesting from a country. It explores the aspect of learning of host market retailers from entering transnational corporations (TNCs) and examines how foreign knowledge is adjusted in the business strategies of these local actors. It takes a fresh empirical slant using qualitative interviews with host market retail managers including former TNCs’ subsidiaries operating under domestic ownership. The emerging economy of Turkey serves as an empirical example. The paper finds that foreign retailers transfer firm-specific resources to the local retail through (1) demonstration and imitation, (2) vertical linkages with suppliers, (3) joint ventures and acquisitions, and (4) labor turnover of TNC trained staff. Certain successful local companies adjust the foreign knowledge based on their local knowledge and strengths, their high level of flexibility and deep territorial embeddedness, and create ‘hybrid’ business strategies. These findings suggest that dynamic capabilities are crucial to successful retailing in an international competitive environment. TNC managers should work with local staff in partnerships of equals and managers of locally operating companies should incorporate new knowledge by hiring TNC trained staff.     

How to retain local senior managers in international joint ventures: The effects of alliance relationship characteristics

How can international joint ventures keep their local senior managers from quitting? Drawing on international business literature, social exchange theory, and social integration theory, this study examines how the characteristics of an alliance relationship affect local senior managers' turnover intentions. The findings from 139 ventures in China show that decision-making participation and social integration help retain local senior managers. However, the effects of participation and social integration decrease with high levels of foreign ownership control. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

National Security Export Control Regimes: Determinants and Effects on International Business

Countries restrict exports for a number of reasons ranging from national security, foreign policy to the preservation of scarce resources. Most of the restrictions are imposed on military and high‐technology products. This article focuses on national security controls exercised on dual‐use goods, that is, commercial products with current or potential military applications. The article develops a typology of paradigms for national export control regimes: high state–low business, low state–high business, high state–high business, and low state–low business. It then introduces a theoretical model of the economic and political determinants and effects of such paradigms. The study presents national case studies and examines the effects of the four paradigms on international business. The article fills important gaps in our understanding of national export control regimes and their implications for managers of international business firms. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Corporate Ethics in Norwegian Business and Industry

How can a confederation of business and industry influence companies and make them more aware of ethical issues? This article examines the work of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO), and the results it has achieved. The author is Assistant Director of NHO, P.b. 5250, Majorstua, 0303 Oslo, and she has been responsible for its business ethics programme for the past three years. This article comes to us through the agency of our Associate Editor for Norway, Dr Heidi von Weltzien Høivik, of the Norwegian School of Management, who has recently been instrumental in founding a Norwegian Centre for Business Ethics.     

Impact of International Business Education on Ethnocentricity

Abstract

As evidenced by recent surveys of American managers, there is a serious shortage of qualified candidates on the US job market. This shortage is most evident in two specialization areas: high-technology knowledge workers and internationally competent managers. Indeed, American companies rate lack of qualified high-technology personnel as their number one reason for slower than desired business expansion. The other less glamorized, yet serious shortcoming of the American educational system is its inadequate training of cross-culturally competent workers for this truly global post-industrial era. In response to this human resources crisis, realizing that “the future economic welfare of the US will depend substantially on increasing international skills in the business community,” the United States Department of Education began an active campaign of promoting international education and research in several major American universities in the late 1980s. Since 1988, nearly 40 universities have been awarded tens of millions of dollars to engage in such activities as developing formal international business curricula, offering foreign language courses, promoting internationally-oriented research, provoking international education and research dialogues among the faculty, exchange programs between American and foreign universities for students and the faculty and similar activities. This research is a first attempt in evaluating the impact of one such program on the internationalization level of American students. It will be shown that the international education program at one major American university has successfully produced a cadre of more global and less ethnocentric workforce for American corporations.     

Managerial assessments of export performance: What do they reflect?

Export performance is often measured by managers’ subjective assessments, but little is known about what such assessments reflect. This article addresses this gap in the literature by analyzing the association between subjective and objective measures of export performance. We examined which aspects managers take into consideration when subjectively assessing the export performance of their firm. We also examined whether managers’ assessments had any predictive power concerning the future development of their firm’s export sales.Our empirical evidence is based on Norwegian small and medium-sized enterprises operating mainly in business-to business markets. Our analyses show that managers’ subjective assessment of export performance at the firm level is significantly associated with the percentage of the total firm sales that are exported. This is true for assessments of economic as well as non-economic performance. Subjective assessments, however, were not associated with actual export sales levels or with export growth.     

Transferring Western Management Knowledge to China: Perceptions of Graduates from an American Executive MBA Program

As is well-known, China’s rapid economic growth over the past decades has been impressive and this growth has driven the demand of qualified managers and professionals by both foreign and Chinese enterprises. This paper examines perceptions of the graduates of an American Executive MBA program, who experienced the transfer of Western management knowledge through team teaching and virtual student teams. The findings show that graduates are generally satisfied with their overall educational experience and its impact on their career in terms of promotions and compensation. Furthermore, the team teaching and global virtual student teams are viewed as valuable experiences.     

International perspectives on the profile of highly talented international business professionals

There is a global demand for talented managers and leaders. To meet this demand, higher education institutions are developing talent programs. However, international perception of talent is diffuse. In this study, our profile of highly talented international business professionals was internationally validated by 172 participants, representing East Asia and Western Europe. Results indicate consensus on three domains: communicating, achieving results, and seeing patterns and interrelationships in a global context. Strikingly, diverse country-specific interpretations of the accompanying behaviors were observed. The findings contribute to the talent literature and offer insights for educational practitioners when developing competence frameworks for talent or professionalization programs.     

Construction of owner–manager identity in corporate social responsibility discourse

This article examines the different discursive resources on which small business owner–managers draw when understanding their sense of self in relation to corporate social responsibility. In the small business context, identity provides a justifiable framework to study corporate social responsibility, as decisions regarding socially responsible activities are mainly taken by managers and stem from their sense of who they are in the world. On the basis of 25 thematic interviews with owner–managers, two broad discursive resources were found that describe how they actively seek to create and legitimise their sense of self within the discussion on corporate social responsibility. These discursive resources are called being altruistic and being instrumental. The findings emphasise that the essential and also the most challenging feature in small business owner–managers' identity work is the process of reconciling economic values with the social and ethical aspects of business life.     

A cross‐cultural comparison of achievement and power orientation as leadership dimensions in three European countries: Britain, Ireland and Turkey

This paper compares attitudes towards achievement and power orientation as between Turkish, British and Irish managers and discusses the issue from a business ethics point of view. The concept of achievement and power orientation and its impacts on business ethics is discussed. This research is part of a larger cross‐cultural study that examines leadership styles and managerial attitudes in Britain, Turkey and Ireland. Intensive structured interviews were conducted for data gathering process. Results revealed that Irish and Turkish managers show a higher achievement orientation level than their British counterparts. On one hand this situation may give some advantages to Turkish and Irish managers in developing leadership qualities, on the other hand, it can also lead to some difficulties in ethical business practices. Therefore, corporate social responsibility becomes a more important issue to be pursued in Turkey and Ireland. British and Irish managers, however, showed a higher power orientation level than Turkish managers. The low level of power orientation of Turkish managers can be explained by cultural and historical conditions that still affect modern Turkish society. Previous cross‐cultural studies support the results of this paper.     

Graduate students as surrogates for managers in experiments on business decision making

Most laboratory research in business has used graduate or undergraduate business students as subjects. These subjects have been assumed to be suitable surrogates for business managers and, therefore, the experimental results should be applicable to real businesses. This experiment compared the decision making of line managers no lower than second level with that of students with no managerial experience. The level of educational achievement was held constant between the two groups. There were no significant differences between these two groups in making production scheduling decisions.     

Viewpoint

In Russia the number of business schools is growing very fast. The most important task a1 present is to make managers develop a certain attitude towards their business activity, and, particularly, develop a desire to conduct business in a civilized way. If this task is to be performed, the experience gained by foreign managers must be regarded as very important. We can hardly expect to learn how to manage our economy by continuing to study foreign experience for many years. But this experience can be crucial in destroying outdated management stereotypes and approaches as well as in encouraging our managers to work in a new fashion.     

Lessons learned from Brazilian multinationals’ internationalization strategies

Internationalization of emerging market multinationals is a recent phenomenon gaining importance in the global economy. This foreign expansion of a new breed of companies has challenged established theories and practices in the field of international business (Cuervo-Cazurra, 2007). This article addresses the issue of whether or not there is something to learn from these emerging market companies and their foreign expansion. Focusing on the international trajectories of four Brazilian multinationals (i.e., Odebrecht, Embraer, Stefanini, and Marcopolo), this study analyzes their strategies and managerial processes during and after the recent economic crisis with regards to internationalization. Our qualitative fieldwork suggests that the trajectories of these Brazilian multinationals are quite unstructured and evolve as a reaction to the opportunities they face in international markets. It seems all four companies in our sample shared a strong entrepreneurial spirit and a high motivation to expand their international operations despite the crisis and the obstacles they faced. Our findings and suggestions in terms of lessons learned should provide valuable implications for multinational managers from other emerging markets by providing a better understanding of how Brazilian multinationals expand internationally, deal with economic crisis, and manage relationships with local and foreign institutions.     

Business Ethics in New Zealand Organisations: Views from the Middle and Lower Level Managers

This study is carried out to assess the state of business ethics in New Zealand organisations from the point view of middle and lower level managers. The survey results clearly indicate that companies in New Zealand give low priorities to ethics with other values in the corporate culture. A significant number of respondents also believe that pressures from the top to achieve results and the organisational climate and ruthless competition help create an unethical environment. A greater emphasis on ethical content in the business curricula has been overwhelmingly supported by the respondents. Moreover, the majority of respondents also think that the ethical standard in New Zealand businesses has declined in the past decade.Finally, a number of suggestions have been put forward by the respondents to develop and maintain a high standard of ethical environment. These include mandatory moral/ethical education both in the educational institutions and in commerce and industry, commitment of top management and written and published code of ethics.