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The strategic management literature emphasizes the concept of business intelligence (BI) as an essential competitive tool. Yet the sustainability of the firms’ competitive advantage provided by BI capability is not well researched. To fill this gap, this study attempts to develop a model for successful BI deployment and empirically examines the association between BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage. Taking the telecommunications industry in Malaysia as a case example, the research particularly focuses on the influencing perceptions held by telecommunications decision makers and executives on factors that impact successful BI deployment. The research further investigates the relationship between successful BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage of the telecommunications organizations. Another important aim of this study is to determine the effect of moderating factors such as organization culture, business strategy, and use of BI tools on BI deployment and the sustainability of firm’s competitive advantage.

This research uses combination of resource-based theory and diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory to examine BI success and its relationship with firm’s sustainability. The research adopts the positivist paradigm and a two-phase sequential mixed method consisting of qualitative and quantitative approaches are employed. A tentative research model is developed first based on extensive literature review. The chapter presents a qualitative field study to fine tune the initial research model. Findings from the qualitative method are also used to develop measures and instruments for the next phase of quantitative method. The study includes a survey study with sample of business analysts and decision makers in telecommunications firms and is analyzed by partial least square-based structural equation modeling.

The findings reveal that some internal resources of the organizations such as BI governance and the perceptions of BI’s characteristics influence the successful deployment of BI. Organizations that practice good BI governance with strong moral and financial support from upper management have an opportunity to realize the dream of having successful BI initiatives in place. The scope of BI governance includes providing sufficient support and commitment in BI funding and implementation, laying out proper BI infrastructure and staffing and establishing a corporate-wide policy and procedures regarding BI. The perceptions about the characteristics of BI such as its relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, and observability are also significant in ensuring BI success. The most important results of this study indicated that with BI successfully deployed, executives would use the knowledge provided for their necessary actions in sustaining the organizations’ competitive advantage in terms of economics, social, and environmental issues.

This study contributes significantly to the existing literature that will assist future BI researchers especially in achieving sustainable competitive advantage. In particular, the model will help practitioners to consider the resources that they are likely to consider when deploying BI. Finally, the applications of this study can be extended through further adaptation in other industries and various geographic contexts.

Purpose: The purpose of the chapter is to determine the connection between organizational culture and specifics of the process of decision making in modern business systems and to determine the directions of managing the organizational culture depending on the set criteria of decision making.

Methodology: A proprietary classification of the types of organizational culture of modern business systems according to the criterion of employees' involvement into decision making is offered. This classification uses two dimensions of employees' involvement into decision making for classification of the types of organizational culture of modern business systems. First dimension: interest of business manager in involvement of employees into the process of decision making. Second dimension: employees' inclination for participation in the process of making of managerial decisions. The factors that influence these dimensions are determined.

Conclusions: Connection between organizational culture and specifics of decision making in modern business systems according to the criterion of employees' involvement in decision making is determined. The minimal level of involvement envisages independent decision making by business manager without participation of employees. In this case, a lot of problems of the business system remain unsolved and possibilities remain unused. Resource intensity of decision making is the highest, and their practical implementation is complicated by employees' dissatisfaction, but this process is conducted very quickly. The medium level of involvement envisages either collective discussion, but decision making by business manager, or collection of feedback by business manager with low interest in it from employees. In this case, resource intensity of decision making is lower, and decisions could be made and implemented faster. The highest level of involvement is connected to collective decision making by employees and business manager. This allows determining problems and using possibilities of the business system with minimal resources. Though the duration of the process of decision making is the highest, solutions are implemented quickly due to employees' support.

Originality/value: The determined specifics show the necessity for considering the influence of the organizational culture on specifics of the process of decision making in modern business systems. It is substantiated that no type of organizational culture of modern business systems according to the criterion of employees' involvement in decision making can provide a guarantee of decisions' optimality. The directions of managing the organizational culture depending on the set criteria (completeness, speed, resource intensity) of decision making are recommended.

Literature on face‐to‐face intercultural business communication (IBC) suggests that language, culture, business culture, and interpersonal context variables lead to misunderstandings, but these predictors have not been studied with regard to e‐mail communication. This exploratory study identifies variables that cause e‐mail miscommunication, reduce work accomplishment, and harm business relationships. We conducted a survey to capture the effect of common predictors and asked respondents to share the most commonly employed strategies when communication problems arose. We offer a multi‐dimensional model for further research.

Literature and textbooks about intercultural communication and management often feature cultural differences rather than similarities. Japanese culture is frequently distinguished in business and management contexts from Western culture. This process arguably leads to an overemphasis of the uniqueness of Japanese culture. A review of relevant literature, however, reveals that the tendency to overemphasise the uniqueness of Japanese culture is one shared by both Western and Japanese scholars. This paper discusses how the discourse has emerged in business and intercultural literature by tracing the influence of historical and economic factors. It also explores the implications of describing Japanese business culture in relation to practices in the West for both managers and students internationally. International students of business, who are grappling with intercultural communication literature as it pertains to Japan and the West, need to engage in critical ways with the discourse adopted in the literature. The intention therefore of the paper is to illuminate how a “differences‐focused” approach in texts could promote a stereotypical and potentially facile view of Japanese culture rather than one that encourages a more meaningful and informed understanding that appreciates the context in which the uniqueness of Japanese culture has hitherto been presented.

In recent years multi‐cultural practices and values have become significantly conspicuous in corporate business. Cultures and managerial values become co‐terminous when organisations cross boundaries. The synergy between corporate culture and managerial values institutes cross‐cultural practices garnering effective strategic options, helping to perform a set task successfully. This has a far‐fetching effect on what people in different cultures perceive and how these cultural values affect business affairs in an altogether different environment. In essence, organisational practices are based on culture and most organisations avoid cultural risks to manage their businesses. Skills, capabilities, knowledge, technology and experiences are better facilitated by a cross‐cultural approach, particularly in geo‐centric organisations. This paper aims to discuss the phenomenon as a global norm, with the implication of its effect on business practices.

The approach adopted in this paper is based on the critical review and discussion of extant literature emphasising the effect of cross‐culture on business practices in a culture‐specific environment.

The paper illustrates how business practices and managerial values are functional to cultural synergy.

Irrespective of the significant effect of cross‐culture on business practices, it has been challenged by many contradictions, paradoxes and conflicts that have not been reviewed in this paper.

The paper outlines the interconectedness of cross cultural business practices and managerial values.

The concept of company culture is now playing an ever‐increasing role in the continuing endeavour to work towards ever better company management, particularly in the industrial field. This monograph reviews the history and development of both national and company cultures, and then goes on to demonstrate the significance of a culture to proper company management. Well‐managed companies will have both a “quality culture” and a “safety culture” as well as a cultural history. However, it has to be recognised that the company culture is subject to change, and effecting this can be very difficult. Of the many national cultures, that of Japan is considered to be the most effective, as is demonstrated by the present dominance of Japan on the industrial scene. Many industrialised nations now seek to emulate the Japanese style of management, but it is not possible to copy or acquire Japan′s cultural heritage. The text is illustrated by a large number of practical examples from real life, illustrating the way in which the company culture works and can be used by management to improve company performance.

Family businesses are value-based enterprises, contributing significantly to wealth creation. Although extensive research is conducted on family businesses, there is no study investigating how the cultural traits in the Arab world affect the organizational culture of family businesses. This paper discusses how the cultural characteristics in the Arab world shape family enterprises and explores how the Arab world's organizational culture enables family firms to establish competitive advantage underpinned by founder centrality, the concept of family, and business principles spanning many generations.

A thorough search of the extant literature was done in Scopus, Web of Science, EBSCO, and ScienceDirect using a combination of keywords such as Arab culture, family businesses, family firm culture, organizational culture, cultural traits, management strategies, and entrepreneurial strategies. Selected articles were classified according to their content, reviewed, and analyzed.

This study makes a few critical contributions about the nature, and the origins of organizational culture in family firms, entailing the founder's centrality and stewardship theory. Specifically, family firms in the examined region appear to have a stronger firm culture compared to non-family businesses. Also, organizational culture affects family businesses considering the firm-level outcomes, such as hereditary transition success, family inertia, etc.

This paper adds to the existing theoretical knowledge and underlines the cultural traits and family firm culture in the Arab world. A framework is presented, offering practical recommendations to managers of family firms striving to advance their competitiveness.

This paper aims to trace the evolution of nationality‐based business organisations in Malaysia and review whether national culture, as determined by the nationality‐based work values, beliefs and orientations of the owners and managers of organisations, influences the values, orientations and practices of organisations.

In‐depth literature review and “key‐informant” surveys, based on which a structured questionnaire was developed. After pre‐testing and finalisation, questionnaires were administered by fax on 1,248 Malaysian organisations selected through systematic sampling. The survey generated 376 usable responses. After testing for non‐response bias, usable responses were subjected to common factor, reliability and canonical correlation analysis.

Even though there are significant differences in how business entities (delineated on the basis of the national culture of owners and managers) organise and conduct their operations, these differences cannot be attributed to the beliefs and orientations of the owners and managers of these organisations. Significant “cultural” differences are evident across organisations owned and managed by individuals of one nationality and significant “cultural” similarities are evident across organisations owned and managed by individuals of different nationalities. Many other factors such as the legal, economic and regulatory context of the organisation influence its values, orientations and practices more profoundly than the national culture of its owners and managers.

Interfacing managers should not stereotype the values, orientations and behaviours of organisations with which they interact based on knowledge about nationality‐based beliefs, behaviours and orientations of the owners and managers of organisations.

Provides a challengingly different perspective from the conclusions in some of the most authoritative studies on nationality‐based organisational beliefs and culture.

Notes that today, most large‐ and medium‐size businesses conduct operations globally. Communication crossing national boundaries ‐ international communication ‐ is not necessarily different from any other communication activity. However, intercultural communication, that is, communication activities among people of different cultures, is different. Discusses many cultural factors and language differences in global communication, as well as precedence and improvement in global communication.

This paper aims to highlight the possibility that the same cultural and/or institutional environment can differentially affect each of the two moments of entrepreneurship – opportunity identification and opportunity exploitation. It is possible that the cultural and institutional environment in a particular place may encourage opportunity identification, but discourage opportunity exploitation, or vice versa. Specifically, this paper argues that understanding entrepreneurship in Trinidad and Tobago requires that we focus on how Trinidadian culture and institutions differentially affect both moments of entrepreneurship.

To examine how Trinidad and Tobago’s culture and institutions affect entrepreneurial opportunity identification and exploitation in that country, the paper uses a qualitative approach. In total, 25 subjects agreed to interviews, conducted in July and August 2009 in Trinidad. The questions were geared at understanding attitudes toward work and entrepreneurship in Trinidad, and how politics, culture and ethnicity interacted with those attitudes. The paper also examined institutional indicators from the Economic Freedom of the World: 2013 Annual Report and the World Bank’s 2016 Doing Business Report.

The research identified features of the cultural and institutional environment in Trinidad and Tobago that help to explain why opportunity identification is relatively common among all ethnic groups there, but why opportunity exploitation appears relatively suppressed among African–Trinidadians. In particular, the research finds that the inheritance of British institutions, a post-colonial political culture, a post-colonial business culture and ethnically based social networks all have positive and negative influences on each moment of entrepreneurship.

Further research would involve an analysis of a wider set of both formal and informal entrepreneurial activities in Trinidad and Tobago, across industries and periods.

This paper has implications for understanding the complex nature of entrepreneurship, which many policymakers try to encourage, but which is shaped by deep cultural and historical factors, and also indirectly influenced by state policies and laws.

Ethnic patterns in entrepreneurship shape the way groups see themselves and others.

While authors writing about opportunity recognition/identification and opportunity exploitation have captured the important dimensions of entrepreneurship, they underestimate the possibility of a disconnect between entrepreneurial identification and exploitation. Focusing on instances where the disconnect exists allows us to move away from characterizations of cultures as progress-prone or progress-resistant, and instead allows us to focus on these gaps between identifying and exploiting entrepreneurship across cultures.