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This paper aims to construct a scale for Jupsang leadership orientation (JSLO). We first provide a theoretical background for the concept of Jupsang, which originates from the ancient literature of Sun Tsu and Lao Tsu and the modern literature of Maoism and Deng Xiaoping in China. We used a grounded theory approach to obtain five dimensions of the Jupsang concept: agility orientation, innovation orientation, vigilant orientation, market awareness orientation, and visionary orientation. Items were generated through 12 in-depth interviews in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China and were included in a questionnaire, which we used to collect data from two large forums in Hong Kong, where 440 middle and senior executives from China attended. Using SPSS Version 25 and following the scale development procedures provided by Churchill and De Villis, we found the Jupsang scale reliable and valid. This paper contributes to providing a brand new scale for strategic leadership. Practically, it can enhance the relationship between a leader and his/her followers. Finally, we provided limitations and directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The People's Republic of China has increasingly become an attractive location for foreign capital. The flow of foreign capital into mainland China includes the so-called northbound cash flow which is a colorful term that is often used to describe capital flowing into the mainland from Hong Kong. Two markets that have become an attractive destination for northbound cash flow is the Shanghai stock exchange and the Shenzhen stock exchange. This paper investigates the impact, if any, of northbound cash flows on investor sentiment for investors residing in mainland China. In other words, the paper attempts to ascertain whether the extent of northbound cash flows influences the extent to which mainland investors feel either bullish or bearish about the market. The research objective is addressed using quantitative models and focuses on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchange. Research results indicate that northbound cash flows from Hong Kong significantly impacts investor sentiment in mainland China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of the existing literature has explicitly stated the positive effect of remittances on the development of the banking sector in an evolving market. Nevertheless, very little is known when an institution is taking into account the link between remittance flows and banking sector development. In this paper, the study draws data from 34 emerging economies within the SSA and employs a panel EGLS approach. We confirm a negative effect of remittance flows on banking sector development in the region. Besides, we also confirm that institutions affect banking sector development positively in the region. We recommend the need to develop and strengthen institutions to reduce the informal transfer of remittance in the region. Likewise, enhancing institutional infrastructure would boost the development of the banking sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically explores the relationship between the identity and concentration of different block holders and firm value for 89 industrial and service firms listed at the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) over the period 1998-2001. The paper examines the role of block holders (institutional investors who are not on the board of directors, the institutional investors who are on the board of directors, the ownership of the board of directors, and the financial policy of the firm, such as the capital structure) in controlling the managerial actions which leads, on average, to better firm valuation in the emerging market of Jordan. The paper employs a simple regression and the piecewise regression specification methodology. The results of our simple regression shows a significant and positive relationship between the ownership of the board of directors and firm value. Also, the paper found a positive and significant relationship between firm value and ownership by institutional investors whether or not they are on the board of directors. However, there is no significant relationship between ownership by management and firm value. The results of the piecewise regression analysis indicate a positive and significant relationship among the ownership of securities above 25% by the board of directors, institutional investors on the board of directors, the institutional investors not on the board of directors, and firm value. There is no significant relationship between the above-mentioned ownership and firm value for ownership below 25%. The results also indicate a significant and negative relationship between ownership by the CEO below 5% and firm value. Therefore, it seems that low ownership by management does not give them incentives to work for the interest of shareholders. Dividends are still positively and significantly related to firm value. Leverage is significantly and positively related to firm value when we relate ownership to institutional investors not on the board of directors and firm value. This might imply that creditors work as complementary monitors of value along with institutional investors who are not on the board of directors. The paper concludes that block holders are important monitors of firm value especially if they own large amounts of securities to justify the high cost of monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the link between culture, history, government policies and the development of economic institutions. Specifically, the paper discusses the impact that history and culture, including the influence of Confucianism, have played in shaping the economic institutions of South Korea and the People's Republic of China. Research results indicate that culture, history and government policies all played a role in shaping the organizational structure of these two East Asian nations. However, China's economic landscape is dominated by small and medium-sized, family-oriented firms, particularly in the rural parts of the country. The South Korean economic landscape, on the other hand, is dominated by large conglomerate firms called Chaebols which are also dominated by one family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Technological Innovation Systems (TIS) framework has become popular for analyzing innovation dynamics and as a systematic approach to understanding the development of new technologies. This paper aims to identify the main drivers and issues faced by EdTech startups and the entrepreneurs' innovation role within Kazakhstan's entrepreneurial ecosystem using the TIS framework, but from the role of the entrepreneur as the main actor, as opposed to systems. This study offers relevant information for new entrepreneurs in the EdTech field aiming for similar goals and potentially facing similar challenges faced by current entrepreneurs in that country. Data were collected from an online survey and semi-structured interviews using a quasi-quantitative and qualitative approach. The main research findings include identifying critical categories of risks and success indicators for Kazakhstan's EdTech startup entrepreneurs, including the ability to attract foreign and local investments, risk management, monetization strategies, developing trends, and government support. A total of 30 companies were analyzed, with findings suggesting that the quality of the entrepreneurial ecosystem reflects the level of economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of the present study was to analyze the internationalization and de-internationalization strategies of the Mexican airline Aeroméxico to establish a relationship between the two phenomena, the novelty of this paper being to study internationalization and de-internationalization together and not separately. To achieve the aim of this research, a qualitative case study approach was adopted, using secondary sources of information, and a model was developed to explain the relationship between the two types of policy. The results indicate that internal and external factors influenced the company's decisions in both respects. The main finding shows that internationalization and de-internationalization behaved together and that, under certain circumstances, this relationship became stronger and therefore the two became more dependent on each other. The main conclusion is that internationalization and de-internationalization are closely related since the latter was a consequence of the former. Recommendations for future research were included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To meet financial requirement for infrastructure development, the Public–Private Partnership (PPP) mechanism has been applied in a range of nations as a promising solution. However, unpredicted collapses that are linked to PPP applications have been experienced worldwide despite scientific protocols and concentrated efforts from engaged sectors. Numerous academic works have attempted to minimize PPP failures by exploring the area of risk management. However, there are limited efforts focusing on Southeast Asia. Previous studies in these markets have mainly identified risks, rather than in-depth analysis of root causes of failure, or proposing practical solution. This paper, by carrying out an evidence-based analysis of the Southeast Asia experience with an intensive focus on emerging markets, analyzes critical reasons and their underlying connections that result in PPP failure. Research outcomes also suggest using constructive strategies promoting a regulatory framework to diminish collapses that affect drivers and so enable the restoration of PPPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous researches were focused on assigned expatriates (AEs) and their cross-cultural adjustment (CCA) and their perks and incentives. Self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) employees are self-made and mostly neglected pool of talent and mostly based from individual perspective. The purpose of this paper is to test the impact of perceived organizational support (POS) on CCA of SIEs employees mediated by career satisfaction (CS) of SIEs employees. We conducted mediation analysis on 124 SIEs working in USA, and result supported our proposed model. It shows that there is positive effect of POS on CCA and CS. And POS also shows positive indirect effect on CCA through CS. Further we discussed the implication and limitation of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the relationship of investment done by domestic institutional investors (DII) and stock market returns. The paper covers a bigger definition of DII's, bifurcating them into four categories, (a) mutual fund, (b) venture capital fund, (c) financial institutions and (d) insurance companies who have invested in national stock exchange of India. The study uses CNX Nifty 50 to represent the stock market of India. ARDL bound testing cointegration model is applied to find the relationship between the Dependent variable (nifty 50) and Independent variables (mutual fund, venture capital fund, Indian financial institution and insurance companies) This analysis will help regulatory authorities to improvise on policy making on investment in stock market for insurance companies, financial institution, venture capital fund and mutual fund. The surge in domestic institutional equity inflows, will help to insulate the Indian equity market from the high velocity traders of overseas. This is the first study to undertake domestic institutional investors at a disintegrated level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capital accumulation is the first and foremost important factor to induce economic growth and development in a country. Yet, not every country in the world is bestowed with abundant capital. Thus, in this instance foreign direct investment (FDI) emerges as a good option to supply the necessary amount of capital to countries which are deprived of the necessary capital stock. Moreover, FDI, besides being a catalyst of economic development, is a significant means of transferring technology, knowledge, managerial know-how and constitutes new potentials to create employment opportunities, increase the production volume and enhance the foreign trade balance. Furthermore, the impact of FDI inflow on the economic growth is researched in this paper for Brazil by means of utilizing various econometric methods for the period of 1970–2017. According to the results of this study there is no positive causality between economic growth and FDI inflow in the short-run. Yet, there is a positive and significant causality between FDI inflow and economic growth in the long-run as well as this stems from the fact that investments lead to positive results gradually in the long-term which also means that investments shall be converted into production as much as possible. Moreover, the novelty of this paper is that it is one of the most up-to-date studies to research FDI – economic growth correlation on Brazil in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world has been globalized much more than ever before and this process integrates the economies of countries. Moreover, one means of integrating the economies of countries is trade. In this instance, the export-led economic growth emerges as a considerable determinant. Export-led economic growth is beneficial for the countries since it facilitates the inflow of foreign exchange, increases production, creates new employment opportunities and enhances the overall commercial volume. In this study, the correlation between export-led economic growth is explored for Brazil. Therefore, according to the findings of this paper as well as econometric and statistical applications, there is a bi-directional causality in Brazil since 1960s between economic development and exports in the long-run (this could also be termed as feedback); furthermore, in the short-run, there is export-led economic growth. The novelty of this paper is that, it is one of the latest studies investigating export-led economic growth for Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to examine the effect of FIIs and DIIs activities on volatility of Indian stock market. This study also examined the causal relationship between FIIs and DIIs. Design/Methodology/Approach: This study uses Nifty, Nifty Next 50, BSE Sensex, and BSE 100 to represent Indian stock market. Ganger Causality test is used to see causal relationship between FIIs and DIIs. TGARCH model is used to check volatility of Indian stock market. Practical implication: This will also help investors to make investment decisions, especially investing in these indices as they will be able to forecast effect of recent news and historical volatility of returns. Originality/value: This paper will be useful to investors investing in these four major indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since China's implementation of its open-door policy in 1979, the most effective way to obtain a foothold has proved to be to create joint ventures (JV) with a Chinese business partner. The foreign partner provides the transfer of technology, management skills, financing and access to international markets, whilst the Chinese partner contributes a production base with cheap land and labor, contacts with central and local government officials and access to the domestic Chinese market. The Chinese economy has benefited to a large extent from the creation of joint ventures in the past two decades. Hong Kong firms have used China as a production base for many years, usually with great success and to the mutual benefit of both. However, although Hong Kong firms had considerable experiences in running business and manufacturing operations in China, several have suffered substantially from their investment in joint ventures with Chinese partners. This paper evaluates various issues relating to the performance of equity joint ventures in China. The evaluation is based on a case study of four Sino-Hong Kong joint venture manufacturing firms in the electronics industry, and the findings of this paper indicate that there are number of important factors affecting the stability of joint ventures in China. Foreign investors' experiences in other areas may not be applicable to their investment in China because the operation of a joint venture in China is inevitably faced with a variety of problems that the foreign firms may not have encountered before. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper compares the determinants of bank performance between national and foreign commercial banks in UAE. It also compares the relative importance of each determinant on bank performance in the two sets of banks. This paper adopts two regression models. The results indicate that the most significant determinants of the national banks' performance were banks' size and banks' portfolio composition. Variables which had been thought to play a major role, including labor productivity, capitalization, liquidity and economic conditions, were found to be less significant. It is also found that the most significant determinants of the foreign banks' performance were capital productivity, capitalization, leverage, and economic conditions. Variables had less significant impact on foreign banks' performance were banks' portfolio composition, liquidity, concentration and costs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

National culture is becoming more and more recognized as a key element in determining the success or failure of quality initiatives. The adoption and the impact of quality management programs have differed from one country to the other. This paper outlines Quality Assurance and Total Quality Management and proposes the national culture dimensions that facilitate their implementation. The model of national culture developed by Hofstede is used for this purpose. The proposals made in this paper have considerable support from existing empirical studies and are likely provide valuable guidelines for companies and particularly MNCs in their quality management decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper explores evolution and current state of the Russian corporate governance in cultural context. Russia has a relatively short history of corporate governance, and securities market and stock capital play a less significant role, compared to the West. The evolution of culture and corporate governance is analyzed in a comparative setting. Under the Soviet framework, business and corporate developments were non-existent or severely restricted. The post-Soviet capitalism is characterized by dynamic and turbulent developments in corporate governance and business culture. The paper examines the Russian findings from the recent international studies of culture and explores cultural impact on corporate governance in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There has been an increasing devotion to the gender balance on executive boards in China. There has been an assumption that increasing the proportion of women in the highest jobs will improve company performance and corporate governance. This research paper tests this assumption by studying a sample of 305 publicly listed healthcare companies in China in the period 2016–2019. We find that the choice of gender for board chair and CEO has a more impact on company performance than merely increasing the proportion of women on boards. Assessing the impact on company performance of different gender composition of board chairs and CEOs, we use an innovative approach to measure the relationship, using a proxy measurement in R&D, sales, and marketing expenses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current paper will be addressing the investigation of the impact of the political incidents on the stock market return in Saudi Arabia. It was generated from previous inquiries that needed clarifications. Yet, from previous explorations, it became clear that an examination of this case should be conducted using a cause and effect research, relying on statistical analysis, was necessary. As a result, an experimental framework, using the positivist approach, sought to develop clarifications of the issue at hand. The tested data was collected between 2000 and 2014. They represented the closing figures on the last day of each month. Dummy variables were used to determine the effect of political turmoil on stock market behavior using regression analysis. The findings indicated that the Saudi Government attempted to control political unrest by giving subsidies, thus prevent inconsistency in political events. Finally, the study increases understanding of the stock market behavior of the decision makers in order for them to predict any changes, where preventive measures against the risk involved in stock market behavior can be taken by the authorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main topic of this project is to assess the current situation of tourism in Lebanon and to identify and interpret the actual case of how tourism industry can benefit from economic development projects in Lebanon. The main problem that Lebanon is incapable to properly use natural and cultural assets inspite of very rich potentials. In order to analyze the situation, we conducted a study through conducting a survey as data collection methods. We basically want to develop on a theory that was previously discussed and that will need further examination. This paper aims to review how Lebanon plans to review its resource management for improving tourism. our objectives are to study Beirut's rich ancient history in a wat to demonstrate that. The study conducted in Tyre, also showing similar goals, was used a reference study. The main objective of this study is to find out how tourism is viewed in Beirut and if the citizens actually are in favor of valorizing u resources or not. Therefore, the research also want to assess if it succeeded or failed overall. Today, any coastal Lebanese City, including Tyre or Beirut faces a problem in properly managing it natural or cultural resources. Therefore, cities like Tyre Saida, Jbeil and Beirut, have not utilized their resources optimally (irrespective if natural or cultural), have had records of possessing incorrect and deeply rooted values and setbacks in human capital. The literature has been formal. Aside from 2 MBA projects on economic development and tourism movement correlations were demonstrated with these two variables. One project, focusing on Tyre, whereas the second concentrating on Beirut we were able to come up with tangible examples on how resource management in Lebanon was practiced (or its absence). The selected data collection and research design points out to a mixed qualitative and quantitative research methodology, utilizing surveying as the main means of gathering information. This explains the 15 unstructured interviews and the 32 questionnaires we collected during our fat finding phase. In order to examine the current situation, in the way that the central authorities in Beirut view the valuation of our heritage as a way to improve tourism (and ultimately to improve our GDP), our study demonstrates through our findings collected both unstructured from interviews and structured surveys that a much larger population wants us to preserve our heritage as a means of improving economic development. As such, the study utilized mixed qualitative and quantitative research methods through distributing structured questionnaires and unstructured interviews. Provided our selected data collection methods, our results provided a better understanding of how tourism can be sustainable in Beirut, and how it can be beneficial to our GDP in the long run. Results showed that sustainable tourism development in Lebanon is highly dependent on the presence of all necessary resources. This can be related to the tourist profile types the city wishes to attract. However, Lebanon lacks proper administrative management and organization of its scarce resources. All results emphasized on the importance of human capital in the development of any tourist destination. These findings certainly will hold true in any other city in the region. And, to date, Lebanon has a deficient central administration unable to properly use our scarce resources (energy, fuel, water, etc.). Consequently, we as Lebanese must benefit from our rich human capital on the long-term, complete sustainable economic growth through and improving the tourism industry (in Beirut or elsewhere). Because Beirut city lacked the vision once it accepted the destruction of BEY 194, we lost a unique chance to valorize a unique heritage, giving us a chance to attract tourists, following the real estate developers' and SOLIDERE's barbaric acts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing tide of global interest in China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) launched by President Xi Jinping in 2013. The initiative has brought in its wake enormous opportunities for creating economic development infrastructure, strengthening open regionalism and accelerating the pace of trade and investment in nearly 70 countries including 27 Muslim countries. Although a large number of finance options for the BRI projects have been highlighted in literature, the strategic role of Islamic finance has not been adequately explored. This paper bridges the knowledge gap by examining the strategic role of Islamic finance in the context of the BRI. Based on an empirical study, the authors explore the dimensions of Islamic finance in attracting investments in BRI projects and test the psychometric properties of the underlying dimensions. The authors discuss important managerial implications of these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates team performance effectiveness in the relation to team members' Knowledge, Skills and Ability (KSA) in the context of an Arab country, namely Jordan. The study also examines if differences exist between its results and the results of other studies conducted in Western societies to contribute to the development of comparative research in the area of teamwork KSAs and team performance effectiveness. The study utilized Uhl‐Bien and Graen "Work Unit Effectiveness (WUE)" survey and Stevens and Campion KSA test. Data were collected from ninety‐nine (99) employees comprising twenty teams (20) in a Hygiene paper manufacturing company. The study offers practical implications for human resource management professionals for employing the best practice in evaluating teams' performance effectiveness and measuring teams' Knowledge, skills and ability in order to reconsider their training plans, selection and recruitment processes. This is the first study that adopts valid instruments of measurement, that are used and tested in other international studies, to examine the relation between teams performance in light of individuals' KSA in a non‐Western context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to explain how new cash management practices can be used to address institutional complexity in Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) and which are the effects on the organizational form. Based on a case study, cash pooling reveals to be an effective response for dealing with the financial crisis, even if shifting the complexity at an organizational level. Indeed, the MNE selected had to manage a centralized and decentralized organizational structure since the financial solution could not be adopted for all subsidiaries. The study shows that cash pooling can act as an organizational response only if a constant dialogue with subsidiaries is ensured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizational justice is found to act as an impetus that eventually triggers certain behaviors. As such, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship among dimensions of distributive, procedural, interpersonal, and informational organizational justice with "instigated workplace incivility" (equity perspective) in the tourism industry. The study also considered the interactive roles of Islamic work ethics (IWE) and trust in the leader (TIL). Data were collected from the employees working in different hotels (n = 363). Three dimensions of organizational justice had a statistically significant impact on IWI, while informational justice had an insignificant effect. Results also revealed that IWE and TIL do affect the hypothesized relationships. The study is a step toward understanding the importance of organizational justice in the tourism industry which can apply across transnational boundaries in the Islamic nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the research on luxury brands has been conducted across rich Western countries. The resulting models may reflect socio-economic and cultural attributes of these countries that do not exist elsewhere. This paper proposes a model suitable for emerging countries that are asserting themselves on the global stage thanks to globalization. This proposed model will be used to pursue a comprehensive scholary study across Sri Lanka. The main attributes of studies in luxury consumption research include consumers' attitude, identity, personality, mindset, values, social influence, and financial power. Our proposed model combines these attributes along with personal cultural orientation. The exogenous factors of this model are Self-identity, Experiential Value, Consumption Value, Individual Difference, Social Influence, Consumption Type. The endogenous factors are Brand Consciousness, Brand Love, and Attitude Toward Luxury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boston Consulting Group's Growth – Share Matrix (BCG Matrix) in its original format is a simple 2 × 2 matrix which establishes the correlation between Market Growth Rate and Relative Market Share of different firms and classify them into four categories as 'Dogs', 'Question Marks (?)', 'Cash Cows', and 'Stars'. This research paper's objectives are two-fold: First, to test whether there is a statistically significant correlation between Market Growth Rate and Relative Market Share of the Market Leader and its 'nearest' rival/'follower', and if so, to classify them accordingly and test their natures of risk – aversion; and Second, to formulate a BCG Index (BCGI) by means of two statistically correlated variables for estimating their respective BCG Index Areas (BCGIA) to perform a comparative analysis. In order to serve the purposes, an empirical time – series study of 20 years has been conducted on Wal-Mart and Amazon; the leader and its closest follower in the Wholesale market segment since they are ranked First and Fifth respectively in terms of revenue as per Fortune Global 500 list1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that affect the decision of university female students to start a business in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Most of the existing research focuses on exploring the challenges female entrepreneurs face after they start a business, but no research has investigated the challenges they encounter before they start a business. A total of 507 responses were collected from six universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Findings show that knowledge about starting a business is the most influential factor that motivates female students to establish their own business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers multinational enterprises (MNEs) as differentiated global corporate networks where subsidiaries have unique resources and are able to act with considerable autonomy. Within the broad context of transnational management research and the specific sub-topic of subsidiary management, the concept of autonomy is usually approached through the extent of (de) centralization and formalization of decision making. In this paper, we shall argue that in the management of headquarters (HQs)-subsidiary relationships, decentralization and autonomy cannot be used interchangeably. The formal and legitimate authority to take decisions represents those dimensions of autonomy which are assigned to the subsidiaries by the HQs. Other variants of autonomy can be traced to the development of the subsidiaries' own capacities (earned autonomy), and their interconnectiveness with both corporate (internal) and host-country's (external) networks (acquired autonomy). doi:10.1300/ J482v11n04_04 [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The underlying cultural values and assumptions provide a framework for interpreting events and formulating managerial responses. These assumptions and values prescribe the way individuals perceive, think about, and evaluate the world, themselves, and others. Many concepts that influence work behaviors and work environments are rooted in cultural values and norms. The meanings attached to and the application of these concepts, vary from one culture to another. Such differences have a profound influence on managerial behavior. This paper examines how these cultural differences may sometimes affect mutual perceptions of American managers by their counterparts from other cultural milieus. It also explains American managers' missteps when facing different cultural situations. The managerial implications of these differences are presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Decision making of innovation comes to the fore as sufficient justification for achieving competitiveness in a context of ever-increasing rivalry. In this formulation, decision makers are likely to form mental frames and sense-making processes in order to access complex interactions of external and organizational ingredients and make strategic decisions of innovation alternatives (service innovation, process innovation, ancillary innovation). This paper examines environmental factors that may explain managers' strategic choice of a specific type of innovation in service sector organizations located in Qatar and Greece from the viewpoint of the managers' distinct national cultures resulting in different attitudes and values. This research work examines several main-effect propositions regarding managers' perspective chosen innovation alternatives, depending on the external forces (service need, diversity of need, increase in population, and influence of context) are dealing with. We illustrate the main effect by looking at surface manifestations of managerial decisions of innovation as outward expressions of distinct characteristics lying deeper in each national culture of origin: Qatari managers prefer service innovations more than Greek managers do. Furthermore, this article reports on the findings of an exploratory study comparing national differences in innovation selection decision between Qatari and Greek top managers that develop a number of interaction effects. To confirm our propositions we gathered experimental data from 118 Greek top managers and 61 Qatari top managers. A multilevel regression analysis was used to examine and assess the relative impacts of the environmental forces on innovation strategic decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blake and Mouton's seminal work on leadership style has attracted researchers and been subjected to both praise and criticism from different frontiers. Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid (BMMG) is a two-dimensional model where the "concern for production" is plotted along the horizontal axis (X-axis) and the "concern for people" is plotted along the vertical axis (Y-axis) for a firm/organization. Clearly, BMMG model was established with reference to a microeconomic perspective in mind. This research paper's objectives are two-fold: First; to formulate a Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid Index (BMMGI) consisting of two proxy independent variables for "concern for production" and "concern for people," respectively, in a macroeconomic perspective, and second; to individually compare between the estimated and actual results of Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid Index Area (BMMGIA), calculate the deviation between the two, if any, for each sample observation by applying extrapolation and classify the countries according to the regression results. In order to serve these purposes, empirical analysis has been performed across 11 European countries for the time period of 10 years (2008–2017). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature on entrepreneurs' decision logic has either focused on effectuation or causation, lacking comparison and analysis of logics when founders come from different institutional environments. This paper presents an exploratory study examining the behaviors, beliefs, and decisions of entrepreneurs (all typical drivers for new market entries), considering those institutional differences. Research was based on the comparison of two case studies of young software companies, one from Brazil and one from Germany, each founded by two entrepreneurs with similar academic and professional backgrounds. Results indicate that apparently, business environment affects founders' decision logics with much more strength than the institutional environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of the paper is to present the research results on the impact that the value ascribed to human resources (HRs) as a strategic competitive factor of a company and the structure of FDI may exert on the advancement level of organizational leadership practices (as one of the HRM subfunctions) in multinational companies (MNCs). The structure of FDI covered: legal form of the foreign entities, type of investment, i.e., brownfield vs. greenfield, and four indices, i.e., internationalization index (II), geographical spread index (GSI), country's economic development index (EDC), and culture distance index (CDI). The research sample was composed of 200 headquarters of MNCs located in Poland. All in all, three variables seem to have the most visible impact on the activities in the area of organizational leadership development practices, i.e., ownership structure, centralization vs. decentralization practices and cultural distance. Less important, but identifiable influences come from the GS index, EDC index and the smallest one from II index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to investigate relationships between development policy, SMEs, total factor productivity, and total output in Thailand. By comparing the trends in total factor productivity growth of industrialized economies (i.e. OECD, Korea), this study aims to showcase the importance of total factor productivity progress in Thailand, thereby enabling useful policy decisions. The study employs annual time series data for 1975-2016 retrieved from the World Development Indicator. Results of the study show that manufacturing and development policy lead to total factor productivity growth in the short-run in Thailand. Findings of the study suggest that manufacturing (i.e. product innovation) and development policy (i.e. tax incentive) are positively related to total factor productivity growth in the short-run and economic development in the long-run. These capacities are determined by the same set of conditions that are closely linked to the state of total factor productivity and development policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to construct and validate a tool that measures the knowledge strategies in software organizations in India. The knowledge strategies discussed in this paper are based on the characteristics of organizational learning typology, which are classified as consolidators, transformers and co-inventors. This tool measures the extent to which the software organizations practice the consolidator strategy, transformer strategy, and co-inventor strategy. Data were collected from 39 software companies in India. The tool was tested for psychometric properties such as unidimensionality, validity, and reliability. These properties of the tool are at a very acceptable level in view of the confirmatory fit index (CFI), Bentler Bonett Coefficient, and Cronbach's alpha, which are above the recommended minimum values. Descriptive statistics were tested to quantify the extent to which knowledge strategies were being practiced across the software companies in India. ANOVA was performed to see the role of organization size and age in view of knowledge strategies. Significant differences were observed in knowledge strategies based on the organization's size and age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to find out whether, and which, strategic patterns in international business-as represented by two strategies: product differentiation and product complementarity- drive countries' bilateral trade flows. Using a modified version of the gravity model along with features of Porter's National Competitiveness theory (1990), this paper investigates which of the two major trade theories-inter-industry or intra-industry-prevails in the different regions of the world during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Results show that trade transactions were most statistically influenced by product complementarity in the 1970s, but then switched to product differentiation in the 1980s and 1990s, most probably due to the increasing role of globalization. Most regions experienced a product differentiation pattern over all three decades, except for South Asia, Africa, East Asia, and the Middle East (the latter three only in the 1970s), which show a pattern of product complementarity. The estimation of certain pertinent regional blocs reveals that EU, ASEAN, SADC, and APEC seem to create trade, while ECOWAS, GCC, SAARC, and MERCOSUR seem to have insignificant results. Interesting policy implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the relationship between technology and organizational strategy over the past 45 years and offers a conceptual framework for assessing the role of technology under alternative strategic environments. This review emphasizes the progression of the role of technology as process supporter to process enabler to process leader. The paper also presents an assessment of the rewards and risks of the use of information and information technology (IT) as a strategic competitive platform across market conditions. The unique challenge for nonprofits and public sector organizations is co-aligning technology and strategy under different environment circumstances to aggressively use information and IT as an impetus for citizen support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In organizational settings, employees learn mainly through performing their jobs am by attending training programs. Empirical evidences that compare on the types and extent of learning occur from these two methods, however are lacking and thus worthwhile examining. Hence, a questionnaire-based survey was conducted among one hundred seventy-five employees from various firms in Malaysia. This paper reports findings from the survey which addresses two main research questions: (1) What are the differences and similarities in learning outcomes of job experiences arid formal training programs? and (2) Which method is superior? The respondents were asked to rate, using a five-point scale, five learning outcomes attributable to formal training programs and job experiences: recognition, job knowledge, communication and interpersonal skills, job quantity and quality, and independence and flexibility. The mean rating shows communication and interpersonal skills as the first-ranked learning outcome from both methods. On the other hand, recognition was ranked the lowest. T-test results indicate a significant overall superiority of job experiences over formal training programs. These and other findings imply important considerations in designing job and training in organizations. This paper calls upon organizations as Well as individual employees to re-examine their approaches to workplace learning in order to obtain a synergetic learning impact from both job experiences and formal training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a survey of consumers in four emerging economies: Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Peru, and India. Results suggest that the purchase decision is influenced by factors directly related to the product or service such as price and quality and factors indirectly related to the product or service such as advertising and brand reputation. These business strategy factors were linked to marketing strategy factors such as price orientation, independence, and brand consciousness. In this sense, a firm's marketing perspective can be viewed as the basis for its competitive strategy. This link between strategies at the business and marketing levels is analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an export model which acts as an assessment tool to examine the readiness of a country to export ICT. Based on ASEP's eReadiness Model, indicators were revisited and the model was downsized to a firm's level in order to measure the e-readiness of firms to export ICT. Export-related indicators were derived from a study conducted by SRI International that quantifies the value of the country's readiness to export ICT by calculating the aggregate of all exporting firms' e-readiness and export competitiveness. The results obtained from redefining the ASEP E-Readiness model and modifying it to incorporate export indicators have resulted in the development of ASEP Export model that represents the readiness index for countries to export ICT. doi:10.1300/J482v12n03_02 [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Brand architecture may be understood in reference to an integrated approach of a firm directed towards the design and management of its brand portfolio. Broadly, brand architecture is concerned with the pedigree of brands of a firm, role of specific brands and the relationship between sub-brands. In particular, brand architecture may be considered as the way a company organizes, manages, and markets their brands. Different business strategies require different brand architectures. The paper discusses the relevance of hierarchy of brands, and the role of brand audit to manage the brand portfolio of a firm. The discussion in the paper also delineates the steps involved in architecting a brand in a firm from the managerial perspective. doi:10.1300/J482v12n03_03 [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper studies the difference in global equity portfolios allocated by the criterion of minimizing the risk by using two different risk measures, the standard deviation and the conditional value at risk. An empirical analysis is performed on a comprehensive stock exchange database. The main hypothesis of the present work is that the choice of risk measure has crucial importance in portfolio optimisation, especially in those situations when the stock markets are extremely volatile and the return distributions are non-normal. The rationale behind establishing minimum-risk portfolios is to keep track of the highest possible risk reduction benefits from international diversification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper re-examines a hypothesis that multinational enterprise (MNE) subsidiaries in Poland make a significant contribution to host country competitiveness by raising overall export performance. Multiple indicators based on UNCTAD methodology are used by the authors to analyze Poland's export competitiveness and link this competitiveness to MNE subsidiaries export propensity and innovativeness. They find a confirmation of the positive impact of MNEs on the Polish export sector that has substantially strengthened the country's capacity to compete in world markets and speeded up the transition process to the market-led system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of "Third World Multinationals" has always been, at least, slightly misleading, and has now also become obsolete, taking into account the dismantlement of most of the ideological divides between different political and economic blocks since the early 1990s, and the new rules of the games imposed by globalization. Furthermore, new multinationals emerging from China, and also from the former Soviet republics, are demanding a new and more flexible taxonomy. The present paper re-defines "Multinationals from Developing Countries" (MEDCs) and it reviews first, the current literature on multinationals, looking at the key factors which may explain the internationalization process of enterprises coming from outside the traditional, developed, and industrialised world, and also whether they may enjoy specific sources of comparative advantages, different from those ascribed to the old, established multinationals. A statistical appendix provides a brief but comprehensive survey of the current status of MEDCs, pointing out that, at the end of the day, there are roughly only four such enterprises in the usual rankings of the first one hundred multinational corporations, worldwide, and that the prospects of a forthcoming, and enhanced upgrading in the global corporate structure are heavily geared towards Asia. The data would also seem to support the argument that sheer "scale", as such, of the enterprises does not explain a greater or lower degree of "transnationalization," a conclusion which, added to that of the greater flexibility provided by the new information technologies, could be goods news for small- and medium-sized enterprises coming from the developing world. doi:10.1300/J482v11n04_05 [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) offer developing countries the chance to leapfrog into the knowledgebased economy. However, the pressure of catching up with the ICT fast track is confusing the decision making in the Arab countries and blurring priorities crucial for the suitable deployment of ICT in meeting the socio-economic development needs. This paper reports the findings of a team activity that attempted to utilize information and analytical models to suggest the suitable ICT solutions for the Arab countries. A Quality Function Deployment (QFD) process was applied to derive suitable ICT solutions for the Arab countries. The paper summarizes the region's socio-economic needs that were highlighted in the UN-ESCWA (Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia) Medium Term Plan 2002-2005. The ranked derived characteristics of adequate ICT solutions, the assessment and ranking of proposed ICT solution models, and the suitability for the various member states benchmarked against international country reference models. Each proposed ICT solution was supported by required items and corresponding proxy variables. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The global economy is a reality for nearly all industries, companies, and workers in every nation. While multinational corporations (MNCs) from developed countries have long pursued internationalization, firms from developing countries have also become global giants in the last 25 years. This paper empirically evaluates the impact of globalization on firm performance for two samples of firms: 50 MNCs from developed countries and 50 MNCs from developing countries. The results show that globalization does impact firm performance in the expected direction for both groups. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are given. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study focuses on extant internationalization theories, attempting to elucidate the entry modes adopted by Lusophone African SMEs. It offers a critical overview of the leading frameworks, focusing on their primary attributes, challenges, and pitfalls in depicting similarities in the internationalization process and shortfalls in entry mode predictions. Based on the author's challenges when investigating 29 Lusophone African SMEs in Mozambique and Angola in 2016, an integrated and more holistic framework for internationalization is proposed. It considers advancements in ICT and business digitalization via the internet, web-enabled tools, and platforms, including social media and online professional communities of practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes the results of a research conducted in Turkish Cypriot Banks during the last half of the year 2003. According to secondary data these banks do not seem to follow the world-wide trend of implementing quality principles and management systems. The research aims to investigate the organized and scientific implementation of quality management systems in the Turkish Cypriot Banks. Research findings resulted in pulling the cover from over the important point which is bank managers in the Northern Cyprus do not really consider quality management as an important mission for their bank's strategies. It is considered but only applied frequently and on an ad-hoc basis, which is not enough to render a good quality service to customers to meet their expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper studies the consumer response to the electronic brands-i.e., brands commercialized on the Internet. The results of the study suggested that, although the specific ebranding practices might allow building awareness in a short period of time, the profitability of on-line brands is likely to rely on the same factors as the traditional brand: time and financial efforts. Finally, the study also suggested that in the future, with the broadband and the consequent media convergence, marketers could not regard to an on-line brand as the opposite of a physical brand. Rather, brands have to be managed in a comprehensive way, tanking into account all alternatives based not only on the kind of product/service but also on the desired positioning. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]