Sustainability Northwest: An Integrative Case of a Not‐for‐Profit Organization

Sustainability Northwest (SNW) is a fictional not‐for‐profit organization (NPO) that seeks to develop thought leaders for a sustainable future. This instructional case allows professors to assign students with up to six different roles, including SNW's chair of the board, executive director, volunteer treasurer, and the external auditor. Unique learning objectives include (i) the application of the CPA Canada Handbook, Accounting—Part III to prepare an NPO's financial statements using fund accounting, (ii) the development of recommendations to improve an NPO's board of directors, (iii) the analysis of system flow documents to identify control weaknesses, and (iv) the preparation of an audit planning memo. Instructors can use this case in several milieus. First, professors can foster a student's ability to integrate technical knowledge by (i) assigning students all six roles in a capstone course to promote integration within an individual course or (ii) assigning multiple roles across multiple courses to promote integration across a program of studies. Second, instructors can focus on a particular technical skill by assigning specific roles. This case is ideal for senior‐level undergraduate students or graduate students.     

Earning Curves and Wage Curves

Using British county data for full-time male manual workers we extend earlier work to investigate wage and earning curves. We distinguish between total earnings and hourly wages for standard hours, uncontaminated by overtime premium. Using data from 1980–1995 we find that earnings behaviour is dominated by volatile hours in the short run, while wage growth is highly sensitive to the level of unemployment as in the classical Phillips curve with macro data. Macro evidence for sticky wages is thus confirmed at the local level, and the wage curve of rapid adjustment is rejected for normal hourly wages.     

Trade liberalization and institutional reforms1

The accession of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries to the European Union (EU) is expected to lead to the new member countries becoming more like the older members, including in terms of trade. In this paper, we focus on two factors promoting CEE–EU trade integration: trade liberalization and institutional reforms. Measures of trade liberalization undertaken by both parties during the 1990s were very substantial, but did not always produce the expected upsurge of regional trade flows. Much less progress has been made in improving the functioning of CEE institutions (e.g., progress in the privatization process or in reducing corruption). Countries where most important changes at the institutional level occurred were also those that most increased their trade with the EU. Comparing the impact of these two factors, we find that improving institutions in CEE countries can generate as much trade as the removal of all tariff and non‐tariff barriers. The paper also addresses the issue of the presence of reversed causality between trade and institutions, and the pro‐trade effect of institutional similarity.     

2008出国展：搭建海外贸易平台（上）

随着全球贸易的日趋自由化,我国对外贸易呈现出高速增长的良好态势。如何找到一个合理、有效的渠道让企业走进国际市场?参加海外展无疑是一条捷径。很多企业在准备开拓一个新市场的时候,首先就是寻找在这个市场有没有适合自己的展览会;尤其是一些在国际领域或是在本行业中具有相当声誉的展会,如美国国际广告展(ISA)、迪拜广告展等等,都是许多企业竞相参加的热点展会。企业通过展览会这个平台,可以获得更多客户,进而寻找到自己在国外的代理商或是设立国外的分公司,逐步打进国际市场。为了鼓励中小企业以展览会的形式走向世界,中国上海广告设备器材供应商协会组织业内企业出国参加世界知名的十几个广告展,足迹将遍布迪拜、波兹南、奥兰多、日内瓦、新加坡、圣保罗、墨西哥、约翰内斯堡、马德里、阿布扎比、莫斯科、曼谷以及伊斯坦布尔。以下就将对这十几个展会及其地区广告市场状况一一作简要介绍。     

中国2010年上海世博会展示中心开幕

为积极做好世博会宣传工作,演绎"城市,让生活更美好"的世博会主题,为世博会增光添彩,上海世博局与卢湾区政府双方友好协商,定于卢湾区上海创意之窗内设立"中国2010年上海世博会展示中心"。展示中心处于申城繁华地段的淮海中路香港新世界大厦三楼,     

From global start-ups to the borderless firm: Why and how to build a worldwide value system

Although the original concept of international new ventures included the geographic configuration of value activities, the subsequent development of the literature has gradually abandoned the concern about the geographic configuration of both input sourcing and output marketing to concentrate almost exclusively on the latter. Therefore, this paper argues that there is a need to re-focus the research so as to figure out how and why some companies are borderless. Borderless firms are defined as the result of the combination, early on, of geographically dispersed resources and capabilities, defying the home-base logic. A borderless firm presents the following characteristics (or a combination of them) from inception (or shortly thereafter): (i) value-added activities dispersed across different countries and regions; (ii) entrepreneurs not bounded by a home base; (iii) multinational founders and/or management teams; and (iv) a multinational workforce. To enquiry into this issue, the study uses five case studies of borderless firms. The results advance the understanding of the motives and processes behind the development, early on, of a borderless configuration of value activities.     

Customer satisfaction,corporate image,and service quality in professional services

This study explores the impact of corporate image and service quality on customer satisfaction in the professional service industries. Data were collected on audit firms, sending a questionnaire to financial executives of leading Italian companies. The results show that the most important variable explaining customer satisfaction was the apparent effectiveness of the audit firm. In relation to service quality, managers' satisfaction was primarily driven by their perception of audit firm's work as a useful value-adding service. The length of audit firm–auditee relation, the location of the auditor's office, and the financial executive's personal characteristics were also significant drivers of customer satisfaction.     

The impact of entry modes on the organisational design of international hotel chains

This paper reports on a study of organisation design within the international hotel chains that simultaneously employ multiple market entry modes. A multiple case study reveals the use of different divisional designs for different types of entry mode within individual chains. These are driven by the desire to maintain strong control over hotel brands. The study concludes that current designs may inhibit the international hotel chains from achieving their organisational potential and recommends that managers look to break down these ‘communities of design’ barriers.