Managerial Selection Decisions in Multinational Corporations: Teaching International Business Using Problem-Based Learning

Companies face many challenges as they staff managerial positions in overseas operations, including decisions on whether to staff using expatriates, host-country nationals, or third-country nationals. We developed an exercise—designed to help students understand the differences between these three groups of employees—that requires students to develop a set of criteria that would form the basis for choosing the candidate they deem to be the best one. In addition, the exercise can serve as a springboard to discussion of the different training and compensation requirements for each of the three different types of employee. The steps involved in the exercise are presented together with suggestions for debriefing the exercise.     

International Market Segmentation and Cross-Export Strategies Development Case Study: Iranian Furniture Industry

ABSTRACT

By developing an international market and significant differences between countries in this regard, segmentation becomes an increasingly important concept in marketing. In this article, the international market of Iranian furniture industry is segmented and cross-exporting strategies are developed to increase the market share of Iranian furniture in each segment. To achieve this, two distance functions are introduced based on correlation between export groups to cluster countries with k-means algorithm. After market segmentation for increasing sales in each segment, cross-exporting strategies are predicted by extracting association rules in each segment based on Apriori algorithm to set export baskets.     

Transforming Educational and Business Practices in Belarus

Abstract

The Bryant College Collaborative Learning at a Distance (CLD) Program in Belarus was designed to promote collaboration across diverse cultural, political, and philosophical boundaries. CLD programs can assist the Newly Independent States (NIS) in meeting the political, social, and economic challenges associated with the transition from a centralized, administrative command economytoa more democratic and diversified society. Cost-effective, collaborative distance learning projects can help to address the problem of limited educational resources and prepare faculty, undergraduates, entrepreneurs, and NGO leaders for better understanding the role of civic responsibility as a foundation for western business practices.

The ongoing Internet-based, Bryant College CLD Program, including educational institutions, research facilities and business firms, focuses on a non-hierarchical model, emphasizing reciprocal, interactive learning and problem-solving. Components include Web-based courses, International Virtual Roundtable Discussions via E-mail, seminars on business skills and Web design, Internet protocol video conferencing between the U.S. and Belarus, a faculty exchange and training project, and a business internship program aimed at providing hands-on experience with business and NGO leaders in the U.S. This project demonstrates that Internet-based, collaborative learning can transcend cultural and language barriers and advance the development of a business environment supportive to the entrepreneurial spirit.     

“国际金融中心”需要怎样的城市形象广告片?——上海城市形象广告片的受众认知和态度比较研究

上海立志建设成为国际金融中心,打造这一城市品牌形象是一个系统工程,营销传播工作是重要的组成。本研究从广告效果空间论角度,对上海现有的四部城市形象广告进行了受众认知和态度效果的比较,并引入中外受众所代表的不同涉入度作为调节变量。我们根据结果绘制了四支广告在认知-态度二维图上的位置,并发现不同涉入度对认知效果没有调节作用,而对态度效果上则有调节作用。基于这些发现,我们提出了如何创作有效的国际金融中心城市形象广告的建议。     

医药特色国际贸易实务课程模块化实践教学模式探究

模块化的实践教学方式强化了就业导向和技能培养，既体现了医药国际贸易人才培养方式的针对性、应用型和实用性特征，又体现了教育与实践相结合的教育方针。在国际贸易实务实践教学中引入模块化方式，可形成强化实践操作能力的开放式实践教学体系，更好地体现专业特色，并培养学生自主学习、自主创新的能力，提高学生的综合素质。     

Regular Price $299; Pre-order Price $199: Price Promotion for a Pre-ordered Product and the Moderating Role of Temporal Orientation

Retailers typically use the strategy of providing a discount to induce the sale of a new product at a pre-order stage. Despite the prevalence of this strategy, providing discounts might not be effective for all consumers. The present research shows that the positive effect of a discount depends on consumer temporal orientation. Results from four experimental studies reveal that a large discount positively affects present-oriented, but not future-oriented, consumers. The findings suggest that perceived financial risk and perceived product quality sequentially mediate the effect of discount size on value toward the deal and purchase intention. A third-party product quality rating boosts quality perceptions, which in turn reduces perceived financial risk and positively enhances value toward the deal along with purchase intention. Our findings demonstrate that when the brand itself acts as a reliable signal of quality, a discount has its intended effect for both present- and future-oriented consumers. Overall, the findings of this research suggest that a retailer can use quality cues along with a discount, especially for a new brand, to appeal to the broadest group, as it will attract both future- and present-oriented consumers.     

Building long-term orientation in buyer–supplier relationships: The moderating role of culture

This research investigates buyer–supplier relationships in international markets. Research and practice have shown that buyer–supplier relationships benefit when partners to the relationship exhibit a long-term orientation. The extant literature suggests that a buyer's trust of a supplier and the supplier's performance affect the buyer's long-term orientation toward the relationship. We propose that the relative effects of trust and performance on long-term orientation are moderated by culture – specifically the individualism/collectivism dimension. Hypotheses are tested on data from two individualist and two collectivist cultures, using responses from over 600 purchasing professionals in the United States, Anglophone Canada, Francophone Canada and Mexico. Taken together, empirical findings suggest that cultural differences warrant consideration in developing successful purchasing strategies.     

A comparative study of human resource management practices in international joint ventures: the impact of national origin

This paper presents a comparative study of the effects of national origin, a company's strategic orientation and its investment profile on preference for the application of human resource management (HRM) practices as conducted in international joint ventures (IJVs). The approach extends understanding by offering a broader exploration of how national differences generate additional barriers that impact on specific HRM practices. The evidence from the study presented suggests that there is little support for national origin being a major independent influence. National distinctiveness does define the types of integration between parent companies and IJVs, but these collaborations do not necessarily reflect any specific national institutional bias. Examination of eighty-seven IJVs suggests that IJV management has a high degree of organizational autonomy in the implementation of a company's task-related inputs regardless of the national background of the foreign partner. The presence of a company's task-related effects on HRM practices plays a significant contextual role where the major attributes are the technology, management development and the compatible use of an IJV's resources. The results confirm that there is little evidence to suggest that partner-related influences derived from the partners' complementary resources and competences in the field of HRM development that are national origin specific have had significant influence over HRM development in the IJVs studied.     

Stability of international stock market relationships across month of the year and different holding intervals

Potential benefits from international diversification depend upon the stability in stock market relationships. Using monthly data of 11 international stock markets, this paper examines the stability in stock market relationships across month of the year and across different holding intervals. Empirical results show that the correlation structure is more stable than the covariance structure. While empirical evidence supports the hypothesis that the correlation structure is very stable across different holding intervals, the empirical support for the stability in correlation structure across month of the year is much weaker.     

浅谈国际商务沟通中的文化差异问题

随着世界经济联系越来越密切,国际商务沟通日益频繁,但是由于参与各国有着不同的文化背景,使得国际商务沟通中经常产生误解与分析。本文将探讨文化差异对国际商务沟通的影响及促进沟通顺利进行的对策。