Consumer-defined sustainably-oriented firms and factors influencing adoption

Guided by stakeholder theory, a pair of exploratory studies identifies factors that influence firms to adopt an environmentally-friendly approach to conducting business, while providing insight into consumers' perceptions of such firms. An analysis of twenty in-depth interviews and a qualitative survey yields a conceptual model, indicating that such firms are motivated by governmental intervention, organizational values, and the potential benefits that can accrue as a result of implementation. Moreover, consumers view sustainably-oriented firms as maintaining procedures, developing products, and portraying themselves accordingly. These findings are relevant to academicians as they describe the underlying rationale for such behaviors and outline a novel conceptualization of the construct, thus invigorating future research. The results are also useful for firms as they shed light on sustainability efforts that are salient to the consumer and provide support for implementation, thereby encouraging the joint maximization of social and economic objectives.     

浅论高职法律英语课程的定位

法律英语属于行业英语,是法律知识和英语知识的结合,是高职英语课程的重要组成部分之一。开设法律英语课程对于培养高素质的应用型法律职业人才起着重要的作用。文章结合高等法律职业教育的目标和高职英语课程教学要求,从两个方面阐述了高职法律英语课程的定位问题。     

广西北部湾经济区紧缺国际化旅游人才开发对策研究

在经济全球化和区域经济一体化的大趋势下,拥有重要战略地位的广西北部湾经济区的旅游逐步走向国际化,但其人才资源现状与旅游国际化战略发展需要不相匹配,高素质、高层次的国际化旅游人才缺乏。本文分析了广西北部湾经济区旅游国际化的背景与人才需求现状,提出了从培养和引进国际化旅游职业经理人、吸纳国际旅游企业落户北部湾、建设国际旅游管理人才培训基地、建立国际旅游人才合作交流机制、整体引进国际旅游咨询公司、培养东盟小语种旅游人才等方面开发国际性旅游人才的建议。     

The value contribution of strategic foresight: Insights from an empirical study of large European companies

This paper focuses on exploring the potential and empirically observable value creation of strategic foresight activities in firms. We first review the literature on strategic foresight, innovation management and strategic management in order to identify the potential value contributions. We use survey data from 77 large multinational firms to assess how much value is generated from formalized strategic foresight practices in these firms. We show that it is possible to capture value through (1) an enhanced capacity to perceive change, (2) an enhanced capacity to interpret and respond to change, (3) influencing other actors, (4) and through an enhanced capacity for organizational learning.     

国际投资争端解决机制比较研究

随着国际投资的大量发展,国际投资争议的问题越来越多地出现,传统的方法难以解决,解决国际投资争端中心(ICSID)虽然是国际社会建立的一个专门解决国际投资争议的国际机构,但由于其对争议无强制管辖权,争议解决程序无时限和涉及国家当事人的裁决往往因国家主权豁免而得不到有效执行等缺陷,导致了该机构没有有效发挥作为多边国际投资争议解决中心所应有的作用。随着国际投资的一些问题纳入WTO体系内,其所具有的强制管辖权、确定的程序时限和有效的裁决执行方法等特点必将对多边国际投资争议机制产生巨大的影响。     

In search of the changing role of the corporate human resource function in the international firm

There has been considerable research on the issues of board-level representation by personnel/HR directors and senior HR managers' involvement in strategic decision making. Since the early 1990s there has been a growing interest in international HRM, reflecting the growing recognition that the effective management of human resources internationally is a major determinant of success or failure in international business. There is also evidence that HR constraints often limit the effective implementation of international business strategies. More recently, it has been argued that the more rapid pace of internationalization and globalization leads to a more strategic role for HRM as well as changes in the content of HRM. Yet, while there have been some attempts to integrate international corporate strategy and human resource strategy, surprisingly, the role of the corporate human resources function has been neglected, particularly in the context of the international firm. This article seeks to redress the balance. The question addressed is: what is the role of the corporate HR function in the international firm? To answer these questions empirical research was conducted in thirty UK international firms. We found an emerging agenda for corporate HR in international firms which focuses on senior management development, succession planning and developing a cadre of international managers. We conceptualize this as a strategic concern with developing the core management competences of the organization, and argue that it can be usefully analysed from the perspective of the learning organization.     

Towards a strategic model of employment reform in developing countries: explaining and remedying experience to date

The article argues for the importance of employment reform as a subject for international HRM scholarship. Employment reform has been one of the most significant, but also most neglected, recent initiatives in international HRM. Explanations by the World Bank and IMF for the poorer than expected outcomes of reform to date emphasize the importance of political commitment. They are compared with explanations for the similarly poor outcomes of downsizing in industrialized country organizations, which emphasize strategy, diagnosis, incrementalism and provision for retrenchees. Further clarification is provided by the results of field interviews in Ghana, Malaysia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Uganda and the UK. The article argues for a strategic approach to employment reform, one based on diagnosis and drawing on HRM expertise. It should take account of process factors in reform, make provision for the 'victims' of reform, loosen the link between employment reform and pay reform, and refine the role of donors in supporting reform. HRM practitioners and scholars have an important contribution to make to developing a new approach.     

The Impact of Personality Variables,Prior Experience,and Training on Sales Agents' Internet Utilization and Performance

ABSTRACT

Emerging literature on the impact of the Internet on business-to-business (B2B) marketing has primarily focused on examining this issue from the perspective of manufacturers and buyers. This study focuses on the sales agent, a third prominent actor in B2B markets, and tests a conceptual model that relates a sales agent's personality, demographic, and user-situational constructs to that sales agent's Internet utilization for selling activities. Further, the model tested in this study relates a sales agent's Internet utilization to perceived sales performance. Findings in this study indicate that internal locus of control, learning orientation, and sales related Internet training relate positively to a sales agent's Internet utilization, and that a sales agent's age relates negatively to Internet utilization. Further, the results support a positive relationship between a sales agent's Internet utilization and sales performance. This study emphasizes that the Internet can be a productive tool for sales agents. The implications of the results of this study for sales agents with respect to training and recruitment are discussed and avenues for future research are suggested.     

绿色经济视野下商业模式创新的价值取向

商业模式创新作为当代一种新型创新形态,对于发展绿色经济具有不可或缺的重要性,能充分适应绿色市场的需求及其变化,有效应对绿色市场竞争的挑战,并促进绿色技术创新走向市场。绿色商业模式创新应以经济发展与环保、节约资源的双赢为价值取向,实现生态化与市场化的统一,主要包括:将节省生产成本与节能减排要求相结合,将绿色技术创新与蓝海战略相结合,联系国情实际进行创新,将绿色文化建设与市场营销相结合,实施绿色品牌战略等。