The Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in Services

This paper has two main objectives: first, to consider country specific determinants that attract services FDI, and second, to compare the importance of these determinants vis‐à‐vis traditional determinants that attract manufacturing FDI. Using OECD countries as our sample, and 1980 to 2003 as our time period, we consider the determinants of inward FDI in a panel setting. Our results provide empirical evidence to support the view that no new theories may be necessary to explain the determinants of services FDI.     

Emergent clustering methods for empirical OM research

To date, the vast majority of cluster analysis applications in OM research have relied on traditional hierarchical (e.g., Ward's algorithm) and nonhierarchical (e.g., K-means algorithms) methods. Although these venerable methods should continue to be employed effectively in the OM literature, we also believe there is a significant opportunity to expand the scope of clustering methods to emergent techniques. We provide an overview of some alternative clustering procedures (including advantages and disadvantages), identify software programs for implementing them, and discuss the circumstances where they might be employed gainfully in OM research. The implementation of emergent clustering methods in the OM literature should enable researchers to offer implications for practice that might not have been uncovered with traditional methods.     

Competing in digital ecosystems

Digital technologies are revolutionizing traditional interdependencies among businesses. As a result, managers have begun to recognize their business environments as digital ecosystems. For firms accustomed to framing their business environments as industries, this represents a significant shift in perspective—one that requires an understanding of fresh strategic initiatives necessary to compete in the digital era. In this article, we highlight what is new and different about digital ecosystems for firm strategy. We offer frameworks that explain how digital ecosystems provide firms with new sources of value and new avenues for growth. Two sets of underlying concepts govern these frameworks: (1) production and consumption ecosystems and (2) digital envelopes and product-in-use information. We introduce and elaborate upon these foundational concepts and highlight new strategic options for firms to compete in digital ecosystems.     

Chinese Consumers’ Perception of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

The findings of this article increase our understanding of corporate social responsibility from the consumers’ perspective in a Chinese setting. Based on primary data collected via a self-administered survey in Shanghai and Hong Kong and results of similar studies conducted in Europe and the United States, we provide evidence to show that Chinese consumers are more supportive of CSR. We also show that Carroll’s pyramid of responsibilities can be applied in China. We evaluated the importance placed by Chinese consumers on the four responsibilities of firms – economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic – and find that economic responsibilities are most important while philanthropic responsibilities are of least importance. The nature of these differences is important for firms intending to use corporate social responsibility for strategic purposes.     

Provincial Disparities in Post-reform China

Using conventional and novel techniques, the present paper analyzes the main characteristics of Chinese provincial disparities during the reform period, specifically between 1978 and 200Z After dismissing the presence of spatial dependence, three main results are obtained： first, provincial inequalities have basically followed a ＂V＂ trend; second, grouping China into three large regions shows that inequality mainly lies within each region, particularly in coastal areas; and third, the analysis of intra-distribution dynamics reveals that, although there was some significant mobility in provincial relative income, particularly until 1990, the whole periodpersistence in the ranking of income levels is a major feature. This might provoke some changes in the policy approach to dealing with spatial disparities.     

Retrospection on the impact of Wallendorf and Brucks' “Introspection in consumer research: Implementation and implications”

This paper offers a retrospection of the impact of Wallendorf & Brucks' (W&Bs') (1993) contribution. The present article considers W&Bs' contributions to theory and research and uses citation analyses to consider W&Bs' impact in the literature. The number of citation references indicates that the article has substantial impact on introspection scholarship. An analysis of the contents of references confirms W&Bs' unique importance to introspection theory and research. W&Bs' influence on introspection studies is diverse and substantive, spanning a wide range of topics that W&B explicate. These contributions move W&B from noteworthy scholarship to seminal status in its contributions to introspection research.     

The value, size, and momentum spread during distressed economic periods

We study the behavior of market risk, value, small cap, and momentum premia under different macro economic scenarios. If these factors are risk factors, then these factors offer high returns to investors at times when the gain (marginal utility) of additional consumption is low (good economic times) and low returns at times when the gain (marginal utility) of additional consumption is high (bad economics times). Our results show that market risk and small cap premia behave more like risk factors while value premium does not. In fact, our results show that a portfolio with a long position in value and a short position in growth is a hedge in the down market and recessionary periods. Our results also show that a momentum premium exists under different economically distressed scenarios we studied.     

Influence of subcontracting on innovation and economic performance of SMEs in Indian automobile industry

Trans-national corporations (TNCs) expanding their production bases to developing countries having better conditions of manufacturing and domestic markets provide increasing opportunities for local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to have subcontracting relationships with these TNCs. Even though some theoretical and a few empirical studies throw light on the nature of assistance provided by TNCs to local SMEs through subcontracting relationships, none of the studies so far quantitatively analysed the role of this assistance on the innovative performance of SMEs leading to better economic performance. This paper probes the extent and diversity of assistance received by SMEs from a TNC through subcontracting and its influence on technological innovations and economic performance of SMEs, in the Indian automobile industry. Indian SMEs were able to receive mainly product related and purchase process assistance, thereby implying that subcontracting is largely confined to purchase–supply relationships. However, assistance received through subcontracting is beneficial as it promoted technological innovations of SMEs: the higher the degree of assistance, the higher the level of innovations carried out by these SMEs, which, in turn facilitated their economic performance. Thus, this paper substantiates in the Indian context that subcontracting relationship with a TNC can be an important source of technological innovations and enhanced economic performance for SMEs.     

Inherent factors of family business and transgenerational influencing tourism business in Malaysian islands

ABSTRACT

There is an indication that the existence of transgeneration enterprise has unique ability as a ‘resilient factor’ in sustainable tourism development. It bridges the relationship between resilience and sustainability. This paper highlight evidences of the relationship using two successful case studies of Small-Medium scale tourism enterprises on the islands in Malaysia, namely the islands of Langkawi and Tioman. The most important factors influencing successful family business in transgeneration enterprise by priority within the business wealth point of view are aspect of survival, followed by low-entry barriers, ‘passing the baton’, bridging relationship, ‘smallness’, and adapt and change. From the socioemotional wealth point of view, aspect of belonging followed by family welfare priorities, structural generation change, contextual embeddedness, attitude, informal decision making and friendly working environment influence the success of family business in transgeneration enterprises. Hence, sustainable tourism development in the context of local community empowerment might only be achieved once the ‘resilient factor’ is present or in place and ready at the tourism destination.