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Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

The issue of export instability exerts an enduring fascination for economists with an interest in the area of economic development. Over several decades a voluminous literature has emerged embracing debates on the domestic consequences and on the causes of export instability. The purpose here is to examine these debates and an attempt is made to set out different theoretical stances, to classify and examine empirical findings, and to indicate the directions in which the debates have moved. Such a statement of a review article's purpose is, of course, incomplete without more specific delineation of the boundaries within which the general objectives are pursued. Here that delineation has three facets.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the experiences of dot-com pioneers in developing countries to complement the experience of their counterparts from the developed world as documented in the dot-com boom and bust literature. Beginning from this literature, dot-com phenomenon in the developed world has attracted much research. However, despite some entrepreneurial attempts to promote the innovation in the developing world, less is known about dot-coms there.

The study follows interpretive case study methodology and actor-network theory to understand the formation, initial success and final failure of a dot-com pioneer in the developing country of Ghana.

The developing country dot-com pioneer transferred e-tail technology from the developed world. The under-developed infrastructure in the developing world forced the technology to be adapted to local context. The firm managed to succeed temporarily by engaging with actors from both the developed and the developing world. It, however, collapsed largely due to inflation in its developing country context, which rendered its stockless business model with purchasing on order to deliver economically unfeasible as purchasing prices outrun sales prices.

The findings are based on historical reconstruction of events which may differ from current circumstances. The study, however, demonstrates how pioneer dot-coms in developing countries may have fared and offers implications for research and practice.

Stockless e-business model with purchase on order to supply may not be economically feasible under inflationary conditions as purchase prices may outstrip sales prices. Entrepreneurs need to pay attention not only to the virtual world but also the physical world which equally contribute to e-business practice.

The paper is the first attempt to offer insight into the experiences of developing country dot-com pioneers to complement the literature from the developed world.

Information and communications technology (ICT) offers enormous opportunities for individuals, businesses and society. The application of ICT is equally important to economic and non-economic activities. Researchers have increasingly focused on the adoption and use of ICT by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as the economic development of a country is largely dependent on them. Following the success of ICT utilisation in SMEs in developed countries, many developing countries are looking to utilise the potential of the technology to develop SMEs. Past studies have shown that the contribution of ICT to the performance of SMEs is not clear and certain. Thus, it is crucial to determine the effectiveness of ICT in generating firm performance since this has implications for SMEs’ expenditure on the technology. This research examines the diffusion of ICT among SMEs with respect to the typical stages from innovation adoption to post-adoption, by analysing the actual usage of ICT and value creation. The mediating effects of integration and utilisation on SME performance are also studied. Grounded in the innovation diffusion literature, institutional theory and resource-based theory, this study has developed a comprehensive integrated research model focused on the research objectives. Following a positivist research paradigm, this study employs a mixed-method research approach. A preliminary conceptual framework is developed through an extensive literature review and is refined by results from an in-depth field study. During the field study, a total of 11 SME owners or decision-makers were interviewed. The recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed using NVivo 10 to refine the model to develop the research hypotheses. The final research model is composed of 30 first-order and five higher-order constructs which involve both reflective and formative measures. Partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is employed to test the theoretical model with a cross-sectional data set of 282 SMEs in Bangladesh. Survey data were collected using a structured questionnaire issued to SMEs selected by applying a stratified random sampling technique. The structural equation modelling utilises a two-step procedure of data analysis. Prior to estimating the structural model, the measurement model is examined for construct validity of the study variables (i.e. convergent and discriminant validity).

The estimates show cognitive evaluation as an important antecedent for expectation which is shaped primarily by the entrepreneurs’ beliefs (perception) and also influenced by the owners’ innovativeness and culture. Culture further influences expectation. The study finds that facilitating condition, environmental pressure and country readiness are important antecedents of expectation and ICT use. The results also reveal that integration and the degree of ICT utilisation significantly affect SMEs’ performance. Surprisingly, the findings do not reveal any significant impact of ICT usage on performance which apparently suggests the possibility of the ICT productivity paradox. However, the analysis finally proves the non-existence of the paradox by demonstrating the mediating role of ICT integration and degree of utilisation explain the influence of information technology (IT) usage on firm performance which is consistent with the resource-based theory. The results suggest that the use of ICT can enhance SMEs’ performance if the technology is integrated and properly utilised. SME owners or managers, interested stakeholders and policy makers may follow the study’s outcomes and focus on ICT integration and degree of utilisation with a view to attaining superior organisational performance.

This study urges concerned business enterprises and government to look at the environmental and cultural factors with a view to achieving ICT usage success in terms of enhanced firm performance. In particular, improving organisational practices and procedures by eliminating the traditional power distance inside organisations and implementing necessary rules and regulations are important actions for managing environmental and cultural uncertainties. The application of a Bengali user interface may help to ensure the productivity of ICT use by SMEs in Bangladesh. Establishing a favourable national technology infrastructure and legal environment may contribute positively to improving the overall situation. This study also suggests some changes and modifications in the country’s existing policies and strategies. The government and policy makers should undertake mass promotional programs to disseminate information about the various uses of computers and their contribution in developing better organisational performance. Organising specialised training programs for SME capacity building may succeed in attaining the motivation for SMEs to use ICT. Ensuring easy access to the technology by providing loans, grants and subsidies is important. Various stakeholders, partners and related organisations should come forward to support government policies and priorities in order to ensure the productive use of ICT among SMEs which finally will help to foster Bangladesh’s economic development.

The present study provides an overview of the historical as well as the global expansion of Facebook from developed countries to the developing countries. The chapter also provides an elaboration over the features and the architectural design of this Online Social Networking service. In order to understand the worldwide usage and acceptance of Facebook, and the gradual spread of Facebook from the United States to the European countries and then to the developing world, we need to pay close attention to the evolution of Facebook in these cultures. In comparison to the developed world, Facebook was slow to spread throughout developing countries. This chapter argues that certain conditions contributed to the expansion of Facebook in these countries. The growth of mobile technology and the usage of Facebook in multiple languages accelerated the increase in its membership. Although majority of the developing countries started using Facebook later than developed countries, within a few years they soon became the nations with the highest growth of Facebook users.

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.

This study intends to explore the impact of World Trade Organization (WTO) which came into existence from January 1, 1995, on the export share of developing counties in the world exports of all goods together in US$, that is, in global merchandise trade. This study endogenously determines the structural break in changing export share of developing countries and how are they related to the major changes in the multilateral trading systems of international trade, in particular, the introduction of the WTO by following a multiple breakpoint analysis due to Bai–­Perron. In this context, it would be worthwhile to note that the shift toward more export-oriented strategies by a large number of developing countries has accelerated the growth of LDC exports. This study also compares the changing share of merchandise exports and trade in commercial ­services for developing countries and the LDCs in the Post-WTO regime. The ­authors follow a univariate time-series exploratory analysis to understand the trend in world export shares of all goods and commercial services for different regions of the developing world and demonstrate the potential of these regions in the expansion of trade. The study, while evaluating the impact of WTO in changing export share in terms of structural change analysis, enables us to understand the role tariff cut in the developed countries on the imports from developing countries. This study also observes increasing inequality in terms of export share among different regions of the developing world.

As electronic commerce expands, credible property rights in key sectors are necessary. This article identifies three layers of an electronic commerce network – infrastructure, commercial services, and trust – and then outlines five conditions of property rights that are being fulfilled in varying degrees in the developed and developing worlds. The main challenge for the developing world is to concentrate on adequate infrastructural provision. The challenge for the developed world is in determining appropriate property rights for the supportive commercial services needed for electronic commerce as well as issues of consumer and business trust. Given the global nature of electronic commercial transactions, both developed and developing countries are involved in framing rules at the global level that resonate and are credible with domestic conditions and institutions.

This paper aims to analyze the potential and limitations of donor-financed management tools that seek to promote corporate social responsibility (CSR) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries. Drawing on key insights from three streams of literature relating to institutional theory, critical perspectives on CSR in developing countries and the literature on CSR and SMEs in the developing world, the potential and limits of donor-financed management tools aimed at promoting CSR in developing country SMEs are analyzed.

Using official UN and Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development lists of all multilateral and bilateral donor agencies, 38 donors that might have produced such CSR tools were identified. The authors contacted them via e-mail and/or telephone, and conducted an extensive Internet search with the aim of identifying whether they had developed management tools aimed at promoting CSR in SMEs in developing countries. The authors then scrutinized the contents of the 11 tools identified and examined the extent to which these tools accord attention to contextual differences and specific peculiarities of institutional environments in developing countries; the extent to which these tools account for the silent or sunken aspects of CSR which have been prominently highlighted in the SME – CSR literature; and the extent to which these tools accord attention to the paramount concern for poverty alleviation in developing countries.

Overall, the analysis testifies to the continued predominant orientation of these tools to the context of larger firms in developed countries, with insufficient tailoring or customization to the specific realities of SMEs in the South.

In-depth interviews with aid agency personnel, SMEs, workers or community members were not conducted. Hence, this study should be seen as an initial, exploratory desk study of the potential and limits of management tools aimed at promoting CSR in SMEs in the developing world.

It is suggested that donor agencies could develop such tools in a bottom-up fashion by first mapping the silent CSR practices of SMEs in developing countries and then use this as a basis for strengthening existing CSR activities in SMEs instead of trying to impose new priorities from the outside. This might enhance the local relevance and applicability of these management tools.

The study is likely to be the first analysis of the potential and limits of management tools that are developed by donor agencies with the aim of promoting CSR in SMEs in developing countries.