Business and Culture in South-East Asia: Its Relevance for Britain

This paper introduces various elements of the relationships between business organisations and practices and cultural values and behaviour with reference to the Asian and particularly the South-East Asian region. It then summarises findings on the perceptions and evaluations of British business people of the role of culture in doing business in Asia as these were revealed in a study conducted on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry in 1992. A major conclusion is that British business people tend not to assign a significant role to culture and language and that the business community experiences problems in finding suitable materials on this dimension of their dommercial activities in Asia. The low priority given to cultural undertstanding presents a barrier to Britain's commercial success in this economically dynamic region of the world.     

Green Product Development and Product Portfolio Management: Empirical Evidence from an Emerging Economy

Few studies have explored the relationship between green products development (GPD) and product portfolio management (PPM). When considering evidence from emerging economies, the knowledge gap is even deeper. Consequently, the objective of this work is to analyze how green and traditional practices of new product development (NPD) influence product portfolio and NPD performance. In addition, we explore how GPD opens new markets and technology opportunities. The empirical evidence is based on a sample of firms that are developing products and belong to innovative industrial sectors in Brazil. In general, the framework developed and tested in this research indicates the following: (i) the adoption of GPD practices significantly influences product portfolio performance; (ii) the adoption of GPD practices tends to generate positive results with regard to obtaining technological and market opportunities; (iii) the adoption of traditional PPM practices influences the dependent factors. Unexpectedly, correlations between a firm's size or age and its performance were not confirmed. This is the first empirical evidence relating GPD, PPM, and market and technology opportunities in Brazil. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Control and commitment HR practices,job satisfaction and turnover intentions: a comparison between local and multinational firms in China

There is a growing body of literature and debate around control versus commitment human resource management (HRM) systems and their impacts on employees. However, the impacts of these constructs have not been widely examined in more emerging economies. Taking a specific sample of educated professionals working for multinational and local firms in China, this study investigated employee perceptions of control and commitment HR practices, job satisfaction and turnover intentions. A total of 311 respondents completed a structured survey questionnaire. Results revealed that those working for multinational firms reported more positive perceptions of their employers' control and commitment HR practices. In multinational firms, the use of commitment HR practices predicted lower intentions to leave. However, in domestic firms a lack of control HR practices predicted higher turnover intentions. Theoretically, the study adds to discussions about the nature and roles of these constructs, their impacts on HR outcomes and how institutional mechanisms might shape the degree of HRM homogeneity and hybridity across organizations in China. Practically, the study provides guidance to international and local firms on how to improve their HRM effectiveness to achieve a higher retention of their most talented professionals.     

Assessing the effectiveness of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award model with municipal government

This study examines the applicability of the MBNQA 2002 criteria to the government sector and contributes to the growing body of literature that addresses the need for performance metrics for government organizations. As the MBNQA is being proposed and pilot tested in government organizations, this work provides support for the transference and application of the model to government services in a municipal government.This study demonstrates the first structural model test using Partial Least Square (PLS) of an instrument that was based on a one-to-one item to criteria correspondence. We collected data from a city government and used PLS to analyze the survey data and tested the MBNQA model fit. The findings of this study show that the proposed Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) criteria-based instrument provides a viable set of measures for a municipal government to review and measure their business (organization) processes. These measures can enhance decision making about resource allocations because such measures allow evaluation of processes and a better understanding of the integration among these processes.     

Targeting agricultural research and extension for food security and poverty alleviation: A case study of fish farming in Central Cameroon

Over 5 years of participatory on-farm research, market access, profitability, farming systems productivity and economic sustainability were compared on 100 small-scale farms in Central Cameroon. Integration technology based on the use of agricultural by-products as fishpond inputs was the driver for intensification. Over all farms, fishpond productivity increased from 498 kg to 1609 kg fish/ha (2145 kg/ha/yr). During the project period, the number of active fish farmers increased from 15 to 192 (including 55 farms which participated only through information exchange). Over all farms, net returns from aquaculture increased by 5 times over pre-project levels. Productivity, intensity and profitability increased more significantly in periurban areas with good market access, compared to rural areas. Among farmers with good market access, average net income from the aquaculture enterprise rose from $118 up to $1485. Research-Extension Team (RET) support cost an average of $61,300 per year. Over 5 years, rural farmers recaptured 23% of the relevant RET investment compared to 442% by periurban farmers. Likewise, increase in production attributable to RET intervention was higher for periurban (253%) compared to rural (11.3%) fish farmers. Within 3 years of the end of extension support, rural farmers had returned to pre-project production levels, whereas periurban farms had better maintained their productivity and profitability. Findings indicate that, in areas with little or no access to markets, the number of fishponds and fish farmers can be increased and yields improved, increasing local food supplies, but sustainability in the absence of extension subsidies is questionable. To achieve either of the two principal goals for the sector, food security and/or poverty alleviation, investments need to be made in improving the availability of quality technical assistance to targeted farmers and finding means of reducing social conflict arising from perceived inequalities in the accrual of the benefits of development.