Readers of Macunaíma and Martin Fierro are like two ships passing in the night: Bad for business

This is an exploratory study about the knowledge of Brazilian managers about Argentina and vice versa. Expressing a deeper knowledge of the partner's culture corresponds to greater familiarity, which facilitates the construction of the confidence necessary to do business. We analyzed the academic literature on familiarity and trust, and suggest that the interrelationships of these countries' economies could be enhanced by encouraging greater familiarity among business actors in the countries. The empirical data comes from surveys of MBA students from both countries, carried out in 2008, 2014, and 2015. The results suggest a significant lack of knowledge of the other and a relative stability of expressions of distrust over time, in the case of Brazilians. We conclude that it is advisable to encourage a greater intercultural understanding among business executives of both nations because this could accelerate mutually beneficial business and empower the executives' careers in the region. We also suggest that the demand for this type of intercultural skills should arise at corporations because the demand by executives is not sufficiently informed as to garner the necessary change and because the pay‐as‐you‐go income model of business schools responds to clients' needs rather than to what should be done.     

Consumer food safety perceptions and self‐reported practices in Greece

A substantial proportion of foodborne illness is associated with food prepared in households. The primary understanding of how foods are handled in private homes comes mostly from questionnaire based studies and direct observation. The aim of this survey was to examine consumers' perceptions and knowledge of safe food handling practices in Greece. More specifically, their attitudes, opinions and self‐reported practices were studied. Data were collected from a total of 399 consumers living in Greece by the use of a self‐administered on‐line survey. The questionnaire consisted of four positive and five negative statements according to the 5‐point Likert scale, which grouped into three constructions using principal component analysis in order to investigate food safety perceptions of consumers. Furthermore, the survey included 11 demographic questions, two close‐ended questions (type yes/no) and four questions that are related to self‐reported food‐handling practices. The results showed that the most commonly known bacterium causing food‐related illness according to respondents' knowledge is Salmonella (99.7%), followed by Escherichia coli (73.9%) and Listeria (58.4%). The overall consumers' score concerning food safety was 32.8 ± 5.37 (full score was 45). No significant differences to the mean score of food safety knowledge were found according to gender, age or the incidence of foodborne illness over the past 12 months. Knowledge and awareness of safe food handling practices was enhanced at higher education levels, while homemakers were found to have deficiencies at this level. Information obtained from consumers can be used to shape educational programs and determine where food safety educational efforts would be most effective and the needed content of the messages.     

政府融资平台的经济效应与风险防范

近些年来我国地方政府融资平台发展迅速,平台数量和贷款规模均呈现较快增长态势,其在应对国际金融危机冲击、促进地方经济发展的过程中发挥了重要的积极作用。但是,由于外部体制不顺、内部运营不规范等综合原因,地方政府融资平台面临着法律风险、财政风险和金融风险等诸多挑战。在改革和完善融资平台建设的过程中需要各项政策多管齐下,积极探索和发展地方政府融资的替代渠道,加快现有平台企业的清理整顿和规范发展,尽快建立系统科学的风险预警机制和信用评级制度。     

中国贸易型对外直接投资的方式选择——基于交易治理与集聚理论的研究

贸易型对外直接投资是我国"走出去"战略的重要内容,也是我国实现国际市场合理布局的重要保障。本文以交易治理与集聚理论为基础,研究我国贸易型对外直接投资的方式选择。研究表明:具有贸易集聚功能的贸易平台是一种更具效率的贸易载体。相对于分散交易,贸易平台具有显著的降低交易成本、扩大交易规模的效应,应是我国贸易型对外直接投资的主要方式。本文并对如何建立我国境外贸易平台提出具体建议。     

WTO棉花争议案中交叉报复的研究

鉴于中国与贸易伙伴贸易摩擦的增多,深入研究WTO争端解决机制及案例对加入世贸不久的中国来说,如何更好地利用WTO争端解决机制具有重要意义。对交叉报复和对报复要求仲裁的理解是对WTO争端解决机制进行深入研究的两个重要方面。     

基于博弈分析的国际企业跨文化管理模式选择

国际企业的跨文化管理有多种模式,其中以跨文化融合模式最具优势。企业实施跨文化融合能否成功,在一定程度上取决于母国企业与进入国所在地员工之间的博弈,因此企业必须重视员工的选择,并采取一定措施引导员工积极合作,以使双方在博弈中获得双赢。在条件成立时,企业选择跨文化融合模式能使企业和员工双双受益；若条件尚未成熟,则企业可选择跨文化共生或移植等其它模式实施跨文化管理,每种模式各具优势。     

浅析我国中小企业发展外贸型电子商务企业

2011年12月11日是中国加入WTO十周年。十年里,我国的出口规模增长超过6倍。借助电子商务,国内外贸中小企业在过去十年实现了百倍的增长。中小企业发展外贸型电子商务企业有其独特的优势,同时又存在一定的问题,中小企业可以找出对策,以发展成外贸型电子商务企业并进一步发挥其应有的作用。     

保险公司企业级虚拟化平台建设

通过对保险公司应用现状和虚拟化应用的分析,着重介绍了保险公司企业虚拟化平台建设的步骤与其他信息系统建设不同点,描述了虚拟化建设存在的问题,最后对虚拟化的发展趋势进行了展望。     

江西省战略性新兴产业创新平台构建研究

近年来江西省战略性新兴产业发展势头强劲,对江西省经济增长贡献巨大,然而还存在着创新资源分散、中小企业创新成本高且能力薄弱等问题,因此构建布局合理、功能完备、运行高效的战略性新兴产业创新平台十分重要。通过分析江西省战略性新兴产业的现状及相关理论分析,提出创新平台的构想和相应的对策建议。     

出版数字物流电子数据交换平台设计

近年来,随着我国数字出版产业的快速发展,传统出版物流形态发生了裂变,出现了新型的出版数字物流形态。文章将目前新型的数字出版引入新型的物流形式——数字物流,在二者结合的基础上引入被誉为"无纸贸易"的电子数据交换技术,实现三者融合,并由此设计了一个出版数字物流电子数据交换平台,有助于降低传统物流业高昂的成本,满足当前用户个性化、多样化的需求,实现出版数字物流平台信息共享、网上查询、订单确认、网上支付、货物追踪、自助出版等功能。