International dimensions of management: The trans-national efficacy of a venture development model

Entrepreneurship is commonly held to be a vital force in the US and other economies. Yet, little is known regarding the efficacy of entrepreneurial efforts developed in one country but attempted elsewhere. In response to calls for testable theoretical models, scholars have begun to investigate empirically the attendant phenomena associated with the venture development process. This article describes efforts to test in another nation a nine-stage entrepreneurial process model of venture development derived and validated in the USA. While some development stages appear to exist similarly across borders, others may not be present. Further, the sequence of stages in the US-derived model may differ when compared internationally.     

Driver behaviour and business outcomes: An alternative approach to the psychology of the owner–manager

Previous psychological approaches to the study of owner–managers are reviewed and an alternative model based on the transactional analysis concept of Drivers is put forward. This model is tested out via a series of interviews and observations of 20 owner–managers of small and medium–sized businesses based in the North East of England. The relationship between driver behaviour and business performance is explored and the negative consequences of driver behaviour for the business are identified. Driver behaviour is also viewed as potentially beneficial and the inherent positive aspects of driver behaviour are proposed as the opposite end of a continuum of behaviours which are at the heart of business success. On a methodological level the need for an approach grounded in the owner–managers behaviour is confirmed.     

WHICH INDUSTRIES TO BAIL OUT FIRST IN ECONOMIC RECESSION? RANKING US INDUSTRIAL SECTORS BY THE POWER-OF-PULL

There have been intense debates regarding which industrial sectors should be prioritized for receiving bailout in economic recessions. This paper takes a network perspective to rank sectors according to the Power-of-Pull (PoP), i.e. a sector's power to pull the overall economy. An eigenvector method is employed to assess the PoP of sectors in the USA, using input–output data from 1998 to 2010. The results support bailout to the motor vehicle sector, but argue against bailout to public infrastructure, health care and information technologies design and service sectors, and also reveal the continual decline of PoP ranking of computer and electronics manufacturing sector over time. These results confirm some but also show little support to some other economic revival policies of the Obama Administration in the USA.     

Classification of ownership patterns in Korean conglomerates

This study classifies the ownership structure of conglomerates considering the conglomerates' choices of pyramidal vs. horizontal structures and the magnitude of equity held by the controlling shareholders, namely the owner family. It proposes four patterns of ownership structure: (1) horizontal ownership with a high family stake, (2) horizontal ownership with a low family stake, (3) pyramidal ownership with a high family stake, and (4) pyramidal ownership with low family stake. Further, an attempt has been made to identify the series of economic variables contributing to the varying patterns of ownership structure in the 30 largest Korean conglomerates.     

Rural–urban migration,urban unemployment and the structural transformation of a dual economy

This paper restructures the Harris–Todaro model in such a way that rural–urban migration in the presence of urban unemployment brings in the structural transformation desired for a developing dual economy by expanding the industrial sector before any policy is introduced to cure the domestic factor market distortion. Furthermore, migration may also help to eliminate unemployment as well as the wage gap in the economy. When international trade is introduced in this restructured dual economy, trade policies would have new implications; for example, unlike in the original Harris– Todaro structure, the import tariff may bring full employment and eliminate wage gaps between the sectors.     

Investigating the different approaches to importance–performance analysis

Importance–performance analysis (IPA) is an analytic technique that generates a two-dimensional importance–performance grid, where the values of importance and performance across attributes are plotted against each other. This technique is used to assist service and other firms in prioritizing areas for service improvement when resources are limited. This study contributes to service theory by first performing a comprehensive literature review of four different and commonly used approaches to IPA. Survey data from the ports sector are then used to elucidate the value and the distinctiveness of these four different approaches, and it is also shown how the underlying theoretical assumptions led to somewhat varying, and contradictory interpretations. Subsequently, novel guidelines for integrating results from these four different approaches are proposed. The study advances service theory by detailing the integration of the different approaches to make sense of the importance and performance of diverse service attributes. The integrative approach developed in this paper also provides practitioners with clearer guidance for the application of IPA.     

North–South terms‐of‐trade trends from 1960 to 2006

The composition of exports of developing countries is increasingly dominated by manufactured goods. This has not changed the fact that their major trading partners continue to be the developed countries. In order to properly assess the distribution of gains from trade, there is a pressing need to analyze the movements in the terms of trade of developing countries with respect to the developed ones. A statistical analysis of the North–South terms of trade reveals that the terms of trade have turned against the South since the 1960s. However, the terms‐of‐trade deterioration is neither continuous nor evenly distributed over different country groupings. The existence of a structural break in the mid‐to‐late 1970s together with the greatest adverse terms‐of‐trade movements against the highly indebted and least developed countries attest the discontinuity and unevenness of this process.     

Enforcing and re-enforcing trust: Employers,managers and upper-white-collar employees in Finnish manufacturing companies, 1920–1980

In this article employee–employer relations with respect to upper-white-collar employees in Finnish large-scale companies are investigated. The period is from the 1920s to the 1980s. The article shows that the employee–employer relations were during the whole period based on mutual trust. In spite of significant transformations in the labour market practices and in interest formulation and unionisation among these employees, it was in the interests of both parties to maintain these trustful relations. However, the tools with which to maintain such relations changed and adapted. The process was not easy, and was marked by elements of conflict and tension. The elements of trust had to be actively strengthened and rebuilt, especially in the 1960s and 1970s. But as the post-war economic and societal model was marked by a striving for consensus and the smoothing out of conflicts in order to promote industrialisation and growth, the institutional model also supported the maintaining of mutual trust and loyalty between the employees and the employers.     

The first wave of the Soviet oil offensive: The Anglo-American Alliance and the flow of ‘Red Oil’ to Finland during the 1950s

During the 1950s, many observers regarded the expansion of Soviet oil exports as a serious threat to Western political and economic interests. Finland was the first non-communist European country that started to buy Soviet oil on a large scale. This made the country vulnerable to Soviet political pressure. An examination of the Finnish case indicates that Anglo-American governments adopted a much more complex attitude towards the emergence of the Soviet Union as an exporter of oil than the Cold War rhetoric would suggest. The US and British governments were not automatically willing to support their oil companies or to try to block Soviet oil exports. Instead of seeing Soviet oil exports to Finland simply as a threat to Western interests, the Foreign Office and the State Department considered the precise implications that Finnish purchases of Soviet oil would have on Western strategic interests on a case-by-case basis. Many other government departments were more interested in promoting their own departmental interests.     

Development of the ‘Travelcard’ Concept in Urban Public Transport

Traditionally, urban bus operators have collected fares in cash for each trip. Some limited mechanisation has occurred in ticket issue at stations. Partly for reasons of operating convenience, there has recently been a shift to simpler fares and prepayment, notably through the introduction of ‘Travelcards', that is, tickets or passes permitting unlimited use of the network (or zones thereof) for a defined period. These cover both all-bus systems, and bus/rail networks (such as the West Midlands PTE system). They are now used in all main British conurbations, following introduction of the London Transport bus/rail Travelcard in May 1983. The Travelcard in effect redefines the ‘product’ being sold. Instead of the public transport service being perceived as a series of separate journeys, payment is made periodically for use of the network as a whole. Cost perception is thus put on a similar basis to that for the private car. The marginal money cost for each trip becomes zero. Interchange penalties associated with re-booking are eliminated. Payment may be made by cheque or credit card, rather than cash, further changing the perception of costs. Product quality is also enhanced through speeding up of services (one-person- operated buses), and enabling the user to select the quickest and/or most convenient route in a network by removing the interchange penalty.