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Management science, operational and financial risk of overseas enterprises.

This case is mainly applicable to international business course and project management course.

Since 1992, the Great Mekong sub-regional economic cooperation between China and ASEAN countries was officially launched and set free economic zone. Hydropower is starting to develop in recent years in Cambodia, and it is a good significance to Cambodia's industry. Furthermore, most of hydropower plants in Cambodia are built by Chinese companies. Thus, this paper will analyze the current risk and condition of Kamchay hydropower, as well as the development of Chinese enterprise for Cambodia economic and social development.

This case study provides students concepts on international business, project management, and operational risk of overseas enterprises. The principle of project contracting, labor cooperation, and project financial in international process are considered together with the implications they have for advancing understanding of the problem of the host country's government interests and the various risk of enterprises in international BOT projects.

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This study aimed to identify a specific taxonomy of entry modes for international construction contractors and to develop a decision-making mechanism based on case-based reasoning (CBR) to facilitate the selection of the most suitable entry modes.

According to the experience orientation of the construction industry, a CBR entry mode decision model was established, and based on successful historical cases, a two-step refinement process was carried out to identify similar situations. Then the validity of the model is proved by case analysis.

This study identified an entry mode taxonomy for international construction contractors (ICCs) and explored their decision-making mechanisms. First, a two-dimension model of entry mode for ICCs was constructed from ownership and value chain dimensions; seven common ICC entry modes were identified and ranked according to market commitment. Secondly, this study reveals the impact mechanism of the ICC entry mode from two aspects: the external environment and enterprise characteristics. Accordingly, an entry mode decision model is established.

Firstly, sorting out the categories of entry mode in the construction field, which provide an entry mode list for ICCs to select. Secondly, revealing the impact mechanism of ICC entry mode, which proposes a systematic decision-making system for the selection of ICC entry mode. Thirdly, constructing a CBR entry mode decision-making model from an empirical perspective, which offers tool support and reduces transaction costs in the decision-making process.

The study on entry modes for ICCs is still in the preliminary exploratory stage. The authors investigate the entry mode categories and decision-making mechanisms for ICCs based on Uppsala internationalization process theory. It widens the applied scope of Uppsala and promotes cross-disciplinary integration. In addition, the authors creatively propose a two-stage retrieval mechanism in the CBR model, which considers the order of decision variables. It refines the influence path of the decision variables on ICCs' entry mode.

Companies and government departments, as well as non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) in developing countries, are trying to adopt information and communication technology (ICT) in their daily activities. Among these companies are small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) which are also trying to get on board. However, these SMEs are faced with myriad challenges in the adoption of ICT. The purpose of this paper is to compare the challenges faced by SMEs in both Ghana and Botswana. Statistical inferences have been drawn that conclude that there are similarities in the challenges faced by these two countries, but also there are surprising differences between them.

Targeted SMEs in both Botswana and Ghana were approached with a carefully designed questionnaire. Top ranking staff, such as Directors/Managers/CEOs, were asked to fill the questionnaires. Data collected were captured and analyzed using SPSS ANOVA and 2‐t Pearson correlations.

The results indicate that both Botswana and Ghana share a number of challenges, but also surprisingly there are a number of differences in the way SMEs perceive their problems in these two developing countries. For instance, both agree that frequent power disruption is a hindrance to SMEs in their adoption of ICT, but that SMEs do not consider lack of technical know‐how to be a hindrance.

The paper seeks to bring to light the comparative challenges facing two developing countries in Africa. Most papers are on individual countries, but this one seeks to compare Ghana and Botswana.

Various factors may influence project finance when a multi-sourced debt financing strategy is used for financing capital investments, in general, and public infrastructure investments, in particular. Traditional indicators lack comprehensive consideration of the influences of many internal and external factors, such as investment structure, financing mode and credit guarantee structure, which exist in the financing decision making of BOT projects. An effective approach is, thus, desired. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper develops a financial model that uses an interval number to represent the uncertain factors and, subsequently, conducts a standardization of the interval number. Decision makers determine the weight of each objective through the analytic hierarchy process. Through the optimization procedure, project investors and sponsors are provided with a strategy regarding the optimal amount of debt to be raised and the insight on the risk level based on the net present value, as well as the probability of bankruptcy for each different period of debt service.

By using an example infrastructure project in China and based on the comprehensive evaluation, comparison and ranking of the capital structures of urban public infrastructure projects using the interval number method, the final ranking can help investors to choose the optimal capital structure for investment. The calculation using the interval number method shows that X2 is the optimal capital structure plan for the BOT project of the first stage of Tianjin Binhai Rail Transit Z4 line. Therefore, investors should give priority to selecting a capital contribution ratio of 45 per cent for this investment.

In this paper, some parameters, such as depreciation life, construction period and concession period, are assumed to be deterministic parameters, although the interval number model has been introduced to analyze the uncertainty indicators, such as total investment and passenger flow, of BOT rail transport projects. Therefore, more of the above deterministic parameters can be taken as uncertainty parameters in future research so that calculation results fit actual projects more closely.

This model can be used to make the optimal investment decision for a project by determining the impact of uncertainty factors on the profitability of the project in its lifecycle during the project financial feasibility analysis. Project sponsors can determine the optimal capital structure of a project through an analysis of the irregular fluctuation of the unpredictable factors in project construction such as construction investment, operating cost and passenger flow. The model can also be used to examine the effects of different capital investment ratios on indicators so that appropriate measures can be taken to reduce risks and maximize profit.

This study is motivated to provide a theoretically informed, data-driven assessment of the consequences associated with the participation of non-human bots in social accountability movements; specifically, the anti-inequality/anti-corporate #OccupyWallStreet conversation stream on Twitter.

A latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic modeling approach as well as XGBoost machine learning algorithms are applied to a dataset of 9.2 million #OccupyWallStreet tweets in order to analyze not only how the speech patterns of bots differ from other participants but also how bot participation impacts the trajectory of the aggregate social accountability conversation stream. The authors consider two research questions: (1) do bots speak differently than non-bots and (2) does bot participation influence the conversation stream.

The results indicate that bots do speak differently than non-bots and that bots exert both weak form and strong form influence. Bots also steadily become more prevalent. At the same time, the results show that bots also learn from and adapt their speaking patterns to emphasize the topics that are important to non-bots and that non-bots continue to speak about their initial topics.

These findings help improve understanding of the consequences of bot participation within social media-based democratic dialogic processes. The analyses also raise important questions about the increasing importance of apparently nonhuman actors within different spheres of social life.

The current study is the first, to the authors’ knowledge, that uses a theoretically informed Big Data approach to simultaneously consider the micro details and aggregate consequences of bot participation within social media-based dialogic social accountability processes.

The study aims to identify and rank the critical success factors (CSFs) for BOT projects in India.

The study was conducted based on an extensive literature review and focus group discussions. Through structured questionnaire, a survey was conducted with executives from leading construction, consultancy and government organizations. A total of 150 questionnaires were sent out of which 60 responses were received. Analytical hierarchy process method was used to analyze the data.

Concession agreement, short-construction period, selection procedure of concessionaire, sufficient long-term demand and sufficient net cash inflow emerged as the top five factors critical for the success of the BOT projects in India.

The identified CSFs should influence the policy development towards BOT projects and are expected to enhance the success rate of these projects.

The study has made much-needed contribution to the extant literature on BOT projects. The findings would be valuable in assisting government (owner) and private participants to have a better understanding of the critical factors leading to success of these projects. The results from the current study are crucial as not many studies have been conducted in India as compared to China and West.

The decision on market entry mode, or how to enter a selected market, is of critical importance for international contractors' profit making and sustainable growth. Based on a previous study, which successively identified ten basic entry modes specifically for international construction markets, this paper aims to focus on differentiating these entry modes in terms of organizational setting characteristics, compatibility, transferability, feasibility regarding different markets, and strategic effects so as to develop a systematic and comprehensive selection method for international construction market entry modes.

Market entry cases were collected through extensive archival analysis and interviews of practitioners. By a comparative analysis, how the entry modes differ by organizational setting characteristics is analyzed, and how they can be combined or sequenced to deliver a market entry process is empirically explored. The strategic effects which constitute the basis for selection among the entry modes and their combinations are identified, which include risk exposure, return, resource commitment, control, and flexibility.

How the basic entry modes can be combined and sequenced is mapped. The applicability of selected entry modes regarding 42 main country markets is reported. It is found that mobile entry modes and permanent entry modes differ in resource commitment, investment risk and strategic flexibility. Based on the results of the comparative case study, a process model for market entry mode selection is proposed.

The study provides theoretical implications for future studies to develop the market entry mode selection method. Practitioners can also obtain a better understanding of the relationship between the basic entry modes as well as the constraints and principles governing the selection between them.

The present study investigated the nature of Public–Private Partnership (PPP) in various subsectors of social and commercial infrastructure in India for better understanding of significant characteristics, attributes and factors governing the public private participation. The Indicator Analysis approach has been adopted to study a total of 119 Public–Private-partnered projects involving four qualitative and three quantitative indicators to help build a detailed profile of partnered projects in various subsectors of social and commercial infrastructure in India. The subnational government has been unravelled as the dominant form of government participation across all the subsectors of the social and commercial infrastructure in India. The infrastructure projects in the subsector of tourism have registered high average cost and time overruns. Further, Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) mode has been identified as the most preferred PPP entry mode in the social and commercial infrastructure in the Indian economy. Since, the Indian economy comprises a large workforce, investment in social and commercial infrastructure projects through PPP mode can tap and harness the demographic dividend, which is critical for sustaining the growth of developing and emerging economies. The study provides a detailed account of qualitative and quantitative information about the nature of social and commercial infrastructure sector that shall facilitate successful implementation of the PPP projects in this soft infrastructure sector, which has a substantial bearing on the economic growth and human development in the Indian economy.

The study analyzes significant parameters defining the credit worthiness, economic viability and managerial efficiency of special purpose vehicles (SPVs) of infrastructure development firms engaged in the execution of road projects under PPP model in India.

The study is based on a comprehensive review of credit rating reports of major rating agencies. In particular, 18 special purpose vehicles (13 BOT-toll–based and 5 BOT-annuity–based road projects) during the period 2010–2019 were considered to conduct a comparative analysis of their rating progression. Considering both financial as well as nonfinancial parameters, their segregation was done on the basis of strengths, constraints and key rating sensitivities influencing the ratings of SPVs involved in road projects under PPP model.

Promoters' credibility emerged as an important factor affecting PPP credit ratings. Other prominent factors included nature of stretch and regulatory terms and conditions and the project's potential to generate cash flows. Inability of PPP projects to generate the projected levels of toll collections was a major constraint and hampered ratings over time. Growth in traffic was a key sensitive area in a toll-based project. Interestingly, despite the fixed nature of revenues, BOT (annuity) projects were impacted by rating changes.

Fewer sample projects (for which the data were available) was a constraint. Future research could consider larger data sets to provide deeper insights. An examination of credit rating parameters using rating reports of projects in other developing nations could provide meaningful implications. The findings of this research however cannot be undermined as the study bridges a gap in existing literature pertaining to the examination of PPP model from a credit rating perspective.

This study would guide project developers, government agencies and awarding agencies of PPP road projects to anticipate the challenges and take adequate steps to mitigate them.

Research in the area of PPP projects is skewed toward risk assessment with respect to financial parameters. The present study emphasizes the rating framework of SPVs. Comprehensive examination of factors affecting project ratings in the form of projects' strengths, constraints and sensitivities would provide inputs to academics and researchers.

The build‐operate‐transfer (BOT) arrangement is becoming one of the prevailing ways for infrastructure development in China to meet the needs of China's future economic growth and development. Despite tremendous opportunities, the undertaking of infrastructure business in China involves many risks and problems which are mainly caused by China's embryonic legal structure and immature economic market. Further strategies in risk allocation and management are especially important for successful investments in China. Choosing the right path for a BOT project investment is crucial since each project involves different legal rights, different obligations and different risk implications. The present paper describes the structuring and risk allocation, as well as the Government guarantees in a China BOT transport project, the Shanghai Yan'an Donglu Second Tunnel (YD2nd Tunnel). It is also the first BOT project implemented in Shanghai. The project features and the guarantees provided by the Government are described in the present paper.