How Can Companies Go Global? Global Integrators and the Global Mindset

Companies continue to look for better and faster ways to globalise. Organisation researchers have not yet identified the many possible integrators for globalising a company, particularly those which are most powerful. This study examines the literature relative to globalisation and presents the results of a survey of senior managers/HRD professionals of 20 global companies in Asia, Europe and the Americas     

Whose Culture and How Far? Culture Presentation in Current Business English Textbook Series

International business communication is associated with cultural norms of both native and non-native business counterparts. It seems that the study of culture presentation from the perspective of English as a lingua franca in business English textbooks has been rather underexplored. To this end, cultural contents in two internationally distributed business English book series published by leading publishers were examined. It was found that the selected textbooks in the series were in favor of a representation of native speakers in global business encounters, the inner-circle culture of native speakers was the dominant culture content, and the level of cultural presentation tended to remain in the knowledge-oriented rather than communication-based level. This leads to an argument in favor of critical and reflective culture presentations in business materials.     

Relocating China＇s New Rote in Global Business in Future

As we enter the 21st century, during the first decade in this fully internationalized new world, Chinese commerce has experienced conflict, compromise and cooperation with the existing economic order.     

What Future for the EU in the Global Trading System?

The recent phase of globalisation could be characterised as “wider”, whereas the next phase to come will be “deeper”. This new phase is likely to prove bumpier than the previous one, as the issues now at stake will have more to do with values or ethics, the interpenetration of which will be both economically necessary and politically difficult. In the medium term, the growth of the European economies will become more dependent on external trade, and thus these policy challenges will need to be addressed.     

Business and the Environment: Is There More to the Story?

Actions taken to improve the environment are frequently good for profits, but many executives, including economists, are not fully aware of just how good businesss environmental record is. As a result, they often have difficulty responding to critics. This article will present three major points: 1) the environment of the United States is much improved over the past several decades, and businesss pursuit of profits has been an important factor; 2) the publics information about business and the environment is poor; and 3) this faulty information fosters the impression that business is evading its responsibilities.JEL Classification Q50     

How Can Business Ethics Strengthen the Social Cohesion of a Society?

The essay aims to show how business ethics—understood as a three-level approach—can strengthen the social cohesion of a society, which is jeopardized today in many ways. In the first part, the purpose of business and the economy is explained as the creation of wealth defined as a combination of private and public wealth that includes natural, economic, human, and social capital. Special emphasis is placed on the implications of the creation of public wealth which requires institutions other than the market and motivations other than self-regarding ones. In the second part, the question of what holds a society together is discussed through different approaches: enlightened self-interest, a new game-theoretical approach, and the concept of the common good advanced by Catholic Social Teaching, followed by my own proposal. The third part presents several perspectives for business ethics to strengthen social cohesion of a society (a) by focusing on the purpose of business and the economy to create natural, economic, human, and social capital; (b) by advancing public goods that stand the test of ethical scrutiny; and (c) by securing human rights conceptualized as public goods.     

How Can SMEs in a Cluster Respond to Global Demands for Corporate Responsibility?

This article argues why and how a participatory approach to implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) in a cluster would be beneficial for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who are members of the NCE – Subsea cluster in Bergen, Norway. The political and strategic reasons as well as internal motivation for SMEs to incorporate CSR into their business strategies are discussed with support from relevant literature. Furthermore, we offer a discussion on the characteristics of different approaches to incorporating CSR as part of business strategy and provide examples from the Norwegian context. As part of this discussion, we look into some of the clusters in Europe which have adopted a systematic approach to implement CSR as part of their agenda. We propose a means to undertake CSR as part of the cluster through a network model to address the limitations faced by the SMEs when they try to implement CSR individually. A network model (cluster approach) to CSR will motivate the uptake of CSR among SMEs when the network (cluster) is characterized by close geographical proximity and operates in the same sector. The uptake of CSR as part of the network (cluster) agenda can also lead to innovation through cooperation and competition. The particular challenges faced by the SMEs in implementing and sustaining CSR can be also minimized by being part of a network (cluster).     

How Global Are Boundaryless Careers and How Boundaryless Are Global Careers? Challenges and a Theoretical Perspective

Recent discourse in the career studies literature suggests that careers become more boundaryless and more global. The scope of these phenomena and the possible association between them remains unclear. We add to the discussion by suggesting a set of propositions to further develop the global careers discourse and use examples from contrasting global and cultural contexts. Our contribution offers a two‐dimensional framework, where not all global careers are boundaryless, and not all boundaryless careers are global. It will encourage scholars to critically reflect on national, cultural, structural, and regulatory constraints. It challenges individuals and organizations to delve into how individuals interpret their way out of their contextual systems to engage in global careers and how different contextual aspects influence the desire for and the perception of global careers. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Let China Arbitration Advance towards the World Further and Let the World Understand China Better

It is a great pleasure for me, as the president of CIETAC andCMAC, to write a few words for the first issue of the Arbitration inChina, to introduce China arbitration, especially foreign related arbitration in China (or we may say international commercial arbitration) into world.Arbitration in China has developed a great deal as the same asthat of China economy since China has adopted the open and reform policy in 1979, especially in the mid of 1990th, China international Economic and T…     

Buyer Loyalty in Business Markets: Can the Firm and Salesperson Get What They Truly Desire?

Purpose: Prior literature has acknowledged multi-foci customer loyalties (loyalty to the selling firm and salesperson-owned loyalty) and argued that both entities (selling firms and salespersons) foster customer loyalty through respective loyalty-capturing efforts (relationship investments). However, scholars have not investigated the influences of different types of interfirm relationship-specific investment (RSI) activities and salesperson behaviors (brand-building and guanxi behavior) on customer loyalty to the selling firm and salesperson-owned loyalty, especially their simultaneous (interaction) effects. The current research attempts to address this issue and examines the impacts that RSIs and salesperson behaviors have on customer loyalties.

Methodology/approach: A survey of seller–buyer dyads was conducted to test the proposed theoretical model and hypotheses. Using 192 dyadic data from customers and salespersons in the Chinese business-to-business contexts, this study specifies the direct and interactive effects of sellers’ RSIs and salespersons’ behaviors on customer loyalties.

Findings: Results indicate that selling firms’ loyalty-capturing efforts—property-based and knowledge-based RSIs—have different influences on two types of customer loyalty. Salespersons’ relationship investments—brand-building and guanxi behaviors—also have asymmetric impacts on customer loyalty. Counterintuitively, salespersons’ loyalty-capturing efforts weaken the relationships between firms’ RSIs and customer loyalties.

Originality/value/contribution: This study specifies different types of relationship investments and examines their respective and interactive impacts on two types of customer loyalty—loyalty to the selling firm and salesperson-owned loyalty. The findings indicate that firms’ and salespersons’ efforts may lead to unexpected and unintended effects on multi-foci loyalties. Therefore, the current study enriches our knowledge about multi-foci loyalty management and relationship marketing.

Practical implications: Because firms’ and salespersons’ loyalty-capturing strategies exert positive direct influences on loyalty to the selling firm and salesperson-owned loyalty, both entities may actively leverage relationship investments’ impact on customer loyalty. However, as the interactive effects derived from concurrent loyalty-enhancing activities are negative, firms need to clearly assess the nature and

characteristics of their relationship with buyers and properly design relationship investments and guide salesperson behaviors. Managers should use property-based RSIs as a primary safeguard of customer loyalty to the selling firm. Meanwhile, internal branding and training programs can help salespersons develop brand building behaviors and better understand the potential unintended outcomes that different behaviors may induce. Aligning a branding goal between the firm and salespersons can benefit both parties while avoiding counter-productive outcomes.     

How Focused are the World’s Top-Rated Business Schools on Educating Women for Global Management?

Persuaded by the observed positive link between the flow of appropriately skilled and trained female talent and female presence at the upper echelons of management (Plitch, Dow Jones Newswire February 9, 2005), this study has examined current trends on women’s uptake of graduate and executive education programs in the world’s top 100 business schools and explored the extent to which these business schools promote female studentship and career advancement. It contributes by providing pioneering research insight, albeit at an exploratory level, into the emerging best practice on this important aspect of business school behavior, an area which is bound to become increasingly appreciated as more global economic actors wise up to the significant diseconomies inherent in the under-utilization of female talent, particularly in the developing world. Among the study’s main findings are that female graduate students averaged 30% in the sample business schools, a figure not achieved by a majority of the elite schools, including some of the highest ranked. Only 10% of these business schools have a specialist center for developing women business leaders, and only a third offered women-focused programs or executive education courses, including flextime options. A higher, and increasing, percentage of business schools, however, reported offering fellowships, scholarships or bursaries to prospective female students, and having affiliations with pro-women external organizations and networks that typically facilitate career-promoting on-campus events and activities. The implications of the foregoing are discussed, replete with a call on key stakeholder groups to more actively embrace the challenge of improving the supply of appropriately trained female talent, or top management prospects. Future research ideas are also suggested.     

Current Trends and Future Challenges in the South African Advertising Industry—An Introductory Review

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to provide an introductory review of the structure of the South African Advertising Industry, to identify and discuss the main issues and future challenges in the South African Advertising Industry, and to recommend applicable managerial strategies to the main role players.

The South African society has been involved in a process of transformation, a search for identification, and a conscious effort towards non-discriminatory practices, direct or indirect, for the past eight years. This is apparent in current marketing and advertising practices, which remain firmly focussed on the new breeds of consumers-including the growing young black market. This new challenge to marketers includes a paradigm shift from established practices to an embracing of new research methods, which could address the complexities of reaching, communicating, and meeting the demands of a multicultural consumer society in South Africa. The marketing challenge also indicates the necessity of redefining the largest audience groups in categories that reinterpret race from a South African perspective.

A review of the literature was undertaken, followed by discussions with knowledgeable industry spokesmen. The survey of racial issues in South Africa forms part of an on-going project, as it is envisaged that the shape of the industry will change dramatically during the next decade.

Key managerial implications focus on perspectives and attitudes towards changing employment and empowerment ratios, that would require innovative interpretative studies to contribute towards an understanding of the current challenges. This includes the elimination of stereotypes and linguistic ethnocentrism, black empowerment, training in multicultural advertising communication, and the aligning of conflicting cultures with corporate vision.     

How Can European uses and Consumers Have Confidence in the Euro? Six Socio-Economic Hypotheses

Chronologically speaking, greater European unity is being established through the introduction of a new monetary and financial instrument. However, this does not mean that the arrival of the euro should be seen as a merely technical operation.The phasing out of national currencies and the acceptance, both intellectual and pragmatic, of a common monetary unit shared by a number of different societies is no simple matter, even in times of peace. The identification and analysis of the major categories of obstacles encountered and of concerns voiced by different groups and populations should guide the different governments in their choice of policies to accompany the transfer to the euro, with attention focused on the most economically, socially or physically isolated individuals. By taking account of the psycho-sociological impact of this monetary changeover, the political authorities will ensure that the spheres of information, communication and "education" are not left entirely in the hands of the commercial and financial institutions.Each citizen will need to build up a feeling of trust with respect to the euro, to learn how to use this new monetary code by creating a new scale of prices and a new set of monetary references. The adaptation phase, whose length will vary for each individual and in each country, will need to be specifically adapted to suit particular national, regional and even local characteristics.     

Can We Stay Ahead of the Obsolescence Curve? On Inflection Points,Proactive Preemption,and the Future of Supply Chain Management

Great companies—like great products and great nations—have always endured a four‐stage life cycle: emergence, growth, maturity, and decline. Faster clockspeeds—enabled by compressed technology cycles and accelerated by new knowledge‐sharing routines such as crowdsourcing—are shrinking life cycles. What does this mean? Entities of all kinds now find themselves in a constant race against obsolescence. We thus ask a vital question,”Can we (as a discipline) stay ahead of the obsolescence curve?” Technological and sociological inflection points promise to change the rules of engagement. For instance, 3D printing, Big Data, and drones promise to change management practice. Budget deficits, poor skill improvement, and MOOCs promise to change academe. We discuss adaptation challenges and proactive preemption as preludes to presenting various visions of the future of supply chain management.     

Business Ethics in a Transition Economy: Will the Next Russian Generation be any Better?

This study investigated students’ perceptions of ethical organizational climates, attitudes towards ethical issues, and the perceived relationship between ethical behavior and success in business organizations. Comparisons were made between the attitudes of these future managers with previously published studies of Russian managers’ attitudes. A survey of 100 business students in three Moscow universities showed that their attitudes toward ethical behavior were more negative than those of Russian managers. No significant differences were found in the perceptions or attitudes of students who had attended an ethics course and those that did not. The implications for both managers and researchers were reported.