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The United Nations established gender equality as a top priority in its international agenda, and many stakeholders around the world have joined the effort to build a fair playing field for all. Business educators can contribute to this effort by delineating problem areas in gender equality in international business education, uncovering ways to address such problems, and inquiring into the most basic premises we entertain in this quest. Our contribution to this international agenda involves a review of the literature in international business education by focusing on the paradigms that might guide our work on gender equality in the classroom while assessing the content domains addressed and considering the conceptualizations we could use for this task. We map extant knowledge in gender equality in international business education and propose strategies for contributing to the United Nations' goal of increasing gender equality by 2030. Finally, we discuss our vision for research in teaching and learning on gender equality in business education.

A survey of 118 undergraduate business students at a major southwestern university found that most consider non-traditional education as a viable option to traditional education. However, respondents also identified disadvantages of non-traditional programs, such as cost, external validity of degrees, and impersonalized learning environment. (Author/DB)

Infidelity has been a common dark‐side phenomenon in manufacturer–distributor (M–D) relationships, which, despite its harmful effects on operating performance and long‐term viability, has received scant theoretical and empirical attention in marketing research. Using data collected from 103 manufacturers and 101 distributors located in the USA, we investigate this phenomenon by conceptualizing it as a developmental process, comprising motives, symptoms, manifestations, consequences, and remedies. Our findings show that, with a few exceptions, there are no significant differences between manufacturers and distributors with regard to their perceptions of: (a) the structural, processual, and contextual factors contributing to the emergence of infidelity; (b) the behavioral and attitudinal factors helping to diagnose partner infidelity; (c) the ambiguous, explicit, and deceptive manifestations of infidelity; (d) the possible passive, mild, or aggressive consequences of infidelity; and (e) the pre‐emptive or post hoc measures that need to be taken to cure infidelity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Nations established gender equality as a top priority in its international agenda, and many stakeholders around the world have joined the effort to build a fair playing field for all. Business educators can contribute to this effort by delineating problem areas in gender equality in international business education, uncovering ways to address such problems, and inquiring into the most basic premises we entertain in this quest. Our contribution to this international agenda involves a review of the literature in international business education by focusing on the paradigms that might guide our work on gender equality in the classroom while assessing the content domains addressed and considering the conceptualizations we could use for this task. We map extant knowledge in gender equality in international business education and propose strategies for contributing to the United Nations' goal of increasing gender equality by 2030. Finally, we discuss our vision for research in teaching and learning on gender equality in business education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calling upon stakeholder theory and the socioemotional wealth (SEW) literature, we investigate how SEW impacts the decline-stemming strategies of family firms. Drawing on a recent conceptualization of SEW, we validate a two-dimensional measurement of the construct using a content analysis technique. Our empirical test on a sample of publicly traded family firms in need of turnaround suggests that the strategic preferences of family firms change depending upon the type of SEW (extended vs. restricted) the owning family values the most. The fine-grained characterization of SEW adopted in this study accounts for within-family-firm differences and thus enables the reconciliation of conflicting findings in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the United States has been one of the leading actors in international trade, limited evidence exists as to individual U.S. company relationships with overseas customers. On the basis of a sample of 201 U.S. exporting manufacturers, the authors draw a comparison between harmonious and problematic foreign business relationships. The findings reveal that, as opposed to problematic cases, firms with harmonious relationships are more experienced, employ more people, and exhibit more active behavior toward conducting their foreign business. Such firms sell to a greater number of export markets, deal with more foreign customers, and obtain more orders. The study also shows that harmonious relationships with overseas customers are distinguished by greater dependence, trust, understanding, commitment, communication, and cooperation but less distance, uncertainty, and conflict between the parties. The article provides export management with a set of guidelines for establishing, developing, and sustaining successful export business relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents abstracts of articles related to international marketing including "The Perennial Issue of Adaptation or Standardization of International Marketing Communication: Organizational Contingencies and Performance," by Carl Arthur Solberg, "International Brand-Name Standardization/Adaptation: Antecedents and Consequences," by Aref A. Alashban, Linda A. Hayes, George M. Zinkhan and Anne L. Balazs and "Born Global or Gradual Global? Examining the Export Behavior of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises," by Øystein Moen and Per Servais.

Three strategies are identified to improve export performance of emerging market firms: the premium strategy for targeting Europe, the superior value strategy for targeting Japan, and the economy strategy for targeting the US. These approaches are tested and validated using Chinese and Romanian exporters as examples.

This research investigates COO effects in the context of the categorisation paradigm and stereotyping. When the evaluative implications of product attribute information were largely consistent with category-triggered COO affect, subjects were more likely to engage in category-based rather than piecemeal processing. The results also provided considerable support for direct and biased evidence processing often examined within the realm of stereotyping tendencies. The theoretical and practical implications of this research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing popularity of Chinese brands around the world suggests that Chinese brands are beginning to overcome unfavorable country-of-origin (COO) effects. However, whether the perception of the functional and/or the social value of Chinese brands has improved remains unclear. Based on the theory of reasoned action, this study develops a theoretical framework to explain how consumers' perceptions of functional and social attributes affect purchase intentions of Chinese brands. Survey data were collected from an individualistic (US) and a collectivistic (Mexico) country. Results show that perceptions of functional value antecede attitudes towards the brand while perceptions of social value antecede social norms. The effect of social norms on purchase intention is stronger in the US than in Mexico. Recommendations for managers of Chinese brands, and brands from other emerging markets, are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Building on literature in social psychology that discussed betrayal in interpersonal relationships, this article explored betrayal in buyer–seller relationships using data collected from a survey conducted among 109 buyers and 115 sellers in the United States. The results indicated that betrayal was a complex, multifarious, and dynamic phenomenon, consisting of a sequence of phases, namely causes, symptoms, forms, consequences, and therapies, with multiple issues being involved at each phase. Our study also revealed that the views of buyers differed from those of sellers in terms of how various relational characteristics contributed to the emergence of betrayal episodes, what behavior and attitudes helped to diagnose partner betrayal, in which forms the betrayal acts were manifested, how the victims of betrayal felt, and how betrayal problems could be handled in a working relationship. In fact, the various dimensions in each of the betrayal phases examined were consistently more frequently mentioned by buyers than sellers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was conducted on the entry of Silver Streak Restaurant Corporation into the Mexican market in 1996 to examine the international market expansion process by a small franchisor. Results showed that the key factor to the success of Silver Streak's entry into Mexico is the strategic alliance with a large Mexican firm. The Mexican firm's contribution to the success of the franchise venture include its underwriting and providing the right organizational structure, operational support and significant information about the Mexican retail market.

Purpose – Previous research on global marketing has typically focussed on marketing strategies across national markets. Yet, the cross-national mobility of individuals has increased heterogeneity within country markets. The purpose of this study is to examine how immigrant consumers perceive advertising appeals in the context of the consumer acculturation process. Specifically, our study focusses on the reactions of Mexican, American, and Mexican-American consumers to puffery-laden advertisements. Design/methodology/approach – Using two-factor theory as our theoretical prism, the study offers salient hypotheses regarding consumer perceptions of puffery-laden advertising appeals, which are then tested in a cross-national experiment in the USA and Mexico. Findings – The results show that Mexican consumers are more susceptible to puffery-laden claims than Americans. In contrast, American consumers are more susceptible to advertising that does not contain puffery-laden claims than their Mexican counterparts. Interestingly, the findings also reveal that Mexican immigrants are highly susceptible to both, puffery-laden and no puffery appeals. The mixed results show that recent Mexican immigrants struggle as they transition to the dominant American consumer culture. First and second generations of Mexican-Americans, however, react to puffery-laden advertisements just as typical American consumers. Practical implications – The paper discusses relevant implications not only for the study of puffery and acculturation of immigrant minority groups, but also for companies engaged in global advertising campaigns in countries with diverse immigrant communities. Originality/value – The paper offers a worthwhile and unique examination of consumer acculturation in an international cross-cultural setting and puts forward interesting insights regarding the application of international advertising strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on a comparison of the working relationships maintained by 201 small and medium sized manufacturers in the United States with their domestic and overseas customers. The aim of this article is to compare and contrast business relationships with each of these two groups of customers on three important aspects, namely, characteristics shaping the background of the relationship, parameters governing the latent, manifest and outcome atmosphere of the relationship and the business performance resulting from the relationship. Before presenting this research findings for each of these aspects, a review of the relevant literature on company internationalization and business relationships is given and the method adopted to conduct the study is explained. In the final sections, several conclusions and implications are provided, which are seen within the context of limitations of the study. Despite its dominant position in international trade, the United States has often been described as the world's most indifferent exporting nation. A huge domestic market, rising living standards and protective trade policies have been responsible for many small to medium size enterprises, neglecting global marker opportunities. In fact, only one third of the U.S. manufacturing units are engaged in export operations and the majority of them have adopted a half hearted approach to overseas markets.

As conventional energy resources dry up and pollution increases, utility companies and policy makers seek to develop new energy programs that are more environmentally sound and replenishable. Renewable energy has emerged as an alternative energy resource, but its marketing has not been successful despite widespread consumer concern about the environment. Using the theory of reasoned action as a theoretical framework, the current research investigates the relationship of three variables (concern with the environment, knowledge about renewable energy, and beliefs about salient consequences of using renewable energy) with consumer attitude toward paying a premium for renewable energy. As predicted by the theory of reasoned action, a positive relationship between beliefs about salient consequences and attitudes toward paying more for renewable energy was found. Overall concern levels were quite high for consumers in the sample, whereas knowledge levels were relatively low. Interestingly, it was found that consumer concern failed to translate into heightened knowledge about renewable energy. The study suggests that the consumer's environmental concern and beliefs about renewable energy to date are more emotionally charged than fact- or knowledge-based. Implications for marketing strategies and consumer education are provided. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports on the formulation and validation of a multidimensional scale designed to measure the properties of advertisement-evoked mental imagery. The scale was developed using (1) procedures suggested by psychometrics researchers, (2) three separate subject samples and (3) 55 advertisements drawn from print, radio and television media. The scale designed to measure imagery vividness, quantity, valence and sensory modality, exhibited reliability as well as discriminant, nomological and criterion validity. The analyses revealed that the dimensionality of the scale is stable whether the advertising medium is print, radio or television. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business education programs labeled as “non-traditional” continue to grow in importance and popularity and have accordingly continued to receive attention in the business educational literature. Generally lost in this literature, however, is the perception of business students regarding these programs. The purpose of our study was to examine student perceptions of non-traditional programs and to uncover the major latent themes regarding a variety of issues related to these programs. Our findings suggest that business students consider non-traditional education as a viable option to traditional education. However, respondents also voiced a number of disadvantages of non-traditional programs such as cost, external validity of degrees, and impersonalized learning environment. Implications for educators and/or administrators are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examines consumer information processing heuristics in the context of ambient task complexity. Individual consumers are often called upon to make evaluations of product and advertising stimuli while ambient events not directly related to the purchase at hand may enter the evaluative process and influence the way evaluations are made. Subjects facing a more complex task due to ambient events were found to evaluate the target stimulus in a way that was more consistent with category-based rather than piecemeal processing. Additionally, the findings provide considerable evidence for stereotype-driven evaluations and processing of attribute information. The theoretical and practical implications of this research are discussed. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the factors that affect how retailers in a border zone manage the elements of the retail trade mix with respect to foreign national consumers. Effects of competition from foreign retailers and currency devaluation on variables of the retail mix; Impact of devaluation perception on the retail competition from foreign retailers.