Search results

The multilateral liberalisation of trade in education under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) has achieved little progress. In a bid to overcome this lacklustre education trade liberalisation under the World Trade Organization (WTO), the purpose of this paper is to examine education trade bilateralism between Australia and India as an alternative to multilateralism. The end is to maximise bilateral trade liberalisation in education as a means to facilitate dynamic productivity gains, export opportunities, market competition, and FDI in the sector. The combined effect of this bilateralism would help accelerate economic growth in both countries, which is likely to generate domino effects on other WTO members, thereby contributing to the multilateral liberalisation of trade in services under the WTO.

The research methodology is analytical, based on pertinent empirical and secondary information.

Strong complementarities and synergies are found for the integration of trade in education services between Australia and India. Of the major exporters of education services, Australia enjoys the most competitive edge and comparative advantage in the Asia‐Pacific. India faces strong demands for quality education services due to its economic reforms and expansion requiring knowledge‐based workforce for high efficiency and productivity and has become a major importer of education services in the region.

The paper identifies new means of consolidating Australia and India's existing trade, niche areas of further opportunities, and potential challenges to be confronted for greater economic integration through trade in education. The originality of the paper lies in its core message that education trade bilateralism can be a valuable stepping stone, in many instances, to multilateral trade in education.

The motivation for this paper stems from the 2001 financial crisis which emerged in the banking industry and spread over the other industries, creating a domino effect. The purpose of this paper is to examine the market efficiency of Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) listed non-financial firms from 2000 through 2002.

A four-stage data envelope analysis (DEA) is developed to measure the performance of firms before and after the 2001 financial crisis. At each stage, production, profitability, marketability and overall efficiencies are measured. Further, Malmquist Productivity Index is applied to compare total factor productivity over time.

The findings show that firms are more efficient at the profitability stage than at other stages. However, the 2001 financial crisis eroded profitability efficiency. Overall, ISE-listed firms experienced diseconomies of scale so that many firms were not able to transform production into sales and therefore earnings efficiently, particularly during the crisis period.

The sample is limited to manufacturing companies. All financial firms are excluded from the sample.

This paper extends the three-stage market value efficiency process outlined in Zhu (2000) by adding production stage. It proposes four-stage DEA approach to measure production, profitability, marketability and overall efficiency of ISE-listed firms. To the best of authors’ knowledge, there has been no study using four-stage DEA approach for Turkish firms.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a novel risk analysis method named fuzzy critical risk analysis (FCRA) for assessing the infrastructure risks from a risk-community network perspective. The basis of this new FCRA method is the integration of existing risk magnitude analysis with the novel risk impact propagation analysis performed in specific infrastructure systems to assess the criticality of risk within specific social-infrastructure interrelated network boundary.

The FCRA uses a number of scientific methods such as failure mode effect and criticality analysis (FMECA), social network analysis (SNA) and fuzzy-set theory to facilitate the building of risk evaluation associated with the infrastructure and the community. The proposed FCRA approach has been developed by integrating the fuzzy-based social network analysis (FSNA) method with conventional fuzzy FMECA method to analyse the most critical risk based on risk decision factors and risk impact propagation generated by various stakeholder perceptions.

The application of FSNA is considered to be highly relevant for investigating the risk impact propagation mechanism based on various stakeholder perceptions within the infrastructure risk interrelation and community networks. Although conventional FMECA methods have the potential for resulting in a reasonable risk ranking based on its magnitude value within the traditional risk assessment method, the lack of considering the domino effect of the infrastructure risk impact, the various degrees of community dependencies and the uncertainty of various stakeholder perceptions made such methods grossly ineffective in the decision-making of risk prevention (and mitigation) and resilience context.

The validation of the model is currently based on a hypothetical case which in the future should be applied empirically based on a real case study.

Effective functioning of the infrastructure systems for seamless operation of the society is highly crucial. Yet, extreme events resulted in failure scenarios often undermine the efficient operations and consequently affect the community at multiple levels. Current risk analysis methodologies lack to address issues related to diverse impacts on communities and propagation of risks impact within the infrastructure system based on multi-stakeholders’ perspectives. The FCRA developed in this research has been validated in a hypothetical case of infrastructure context. The proposed method will potentially assist the decision-making regarding risk governance, managing the vulnerability of the infrastructure and increasing both the infrastructure and community resilience.

The new approach developed in this research addresses several infrastructure risks assessment challenges by taking into consideration of not only the risk events associated with the infrastructure systems but also the dependencies of various type communities and cascading effect of risks within the specific risk-community networks. Such a risk-community network analysis provides a good basis for community-based risk management in the context of mitigation of disaster risks and building better community resilient.

The novelty of proposed FCRA method is realized due to its ability for improving the estimation accuracy and decision-making based on multi-stakeholder perceptions. The process of assessment of the most critical risks in the hypothetical case project demonstrated an eminent performance of FCRA method as compared to the results in conventional risk analysis method. This research contributes to the literature in several ways. First, based on a comprehensive literature review, this work established a benchmark for development of a new risk analysis method within the infrastructure and community networks. Second, this study validates the effectiveness of the model by integrating fuzzy-based FMECA with FSNA. The approach is considered useful from a methodological advancement when prioritizing similar or competing risk criticality values.

Presents a method for environmental scanning for small– to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) not familiar with strategic planning. Mental modelling is used to scan the domino effects of patterns of change and relate them to the micro, rather than the macro level. Posits unique opportunities and some threats for SMEs as a result of the single market. Suggests that this method will be of benefit to entrepreneurs, advisers, and students on entrepreneurial business courses.

Like other high performing Asian economies (HPAEs) in South East Asia, Malaysia experienced negative growth from 1997–1999. This setback in economic growth can be attributed to internal as well as external factors. Inter alia, relaxed foreign currency regulations, financial system reforms and stability, together with speculation resulted in one of the most severe recessions in Malaysia's modern history. This, in turn, revived the domino and the house of cards effect in Malaysia and other HPAEs in South East Asia. To be back on track on the secular trend of the last four decades, Malaysia has adopted bold, continuous and pragmatic measures. Cooperation with other members of the HPAEs in terms of trade and finance is seen to be a long run conduit for better regional growth and development.

The purpose of the paper is to examine the law and how it has been utilised in fostering proper functioning of global markets within member countries and globally. The term “law” in this context refers to international law, whose primary function is to regulate activities of sovereign States and organisations created by a group of States. The Statute of the International Court of Justice 1907, which has been ratified as a treaty by all UN nations, provides the most authoritative definition of the sources of international law to date (Schachter, 1991). Under Article 38 of Statute of the International Court of Justice 1907, there four main sources of international law such as treaties, international customs, general principles of law recognised by civilised nations and judicial decisions of International Court of Justice and other internationally accepted tribunals. They are the materials and processes out of which the rules and principles regulating the international community are developed and sustained. The term “global Village” was coined by a Canadian scholar by the name of Marshall McLuhan to describe the contraction of the globe into a village because of advances in internet communication technology and increased consciousness and enhanced transport systems (McLuhan, 2003). The current “global village” is manifested by the growing interconnectedness of economies which has enhanced the ability of states to interact economically, politically and socially. It operates in a way that seems to defy common definitions such as delimitations of national borders and states. The global system has created shared synergies such as free movement of workers, capital, good and services. However, it has created varied challenges for individual states given that challenges in one part of the globe can easily navigate into the system to infest other countries including those that have nothing to do with its causes. This dichotomy is highlighted by the debt crisis in the Eurozone member countries which has been simmering since 2009 but has recently bubbled to the surface by the crisis in Greece. The challenges in Greece as well in other deeply integrated countries have not been confined within individual countries or regions but have had a domino effect farther afield due to the growing interconnectedness of economies. There are dualities in the global system manifested by the fact that developed countries are endowed with the means, and, therefore, they have requisite capacity to harness the law and markets easily as opposed to their counterparts in least developed countries (LDCs), where this leverage is non-existent. Less-developed economies are so described because they lack requisite capacity and cannot compete as efficiently as their counterpart in developed countries. This has translated into ambivalence and half-heartedness in some states attitude to embrace market discipline wholeheartedly. The foregoing challenges have been exacerbated by the tenuous legal systems, lack of robust infrastructure, oversight institutions and corruption, especially in the LDCs cohort. The paper utilises empirical data to evaluate the role of law in fostering the relationship between states and markets. In other words, are the rules governing global markets effectively working to ensure a harmonious co-existence of markets, states and various stakeholders? Can the recent global crises such as the debt crisis in Greece mean that the global village is in quandary? Is there any village that is devoid of challenges or they are part and parcel of life? The paper utilises empirical examples in both developed and developing countries to evaluate the current state of the contemporary global village in search for answers to the foregoing nagging questions.

The paper adopts a selective review approach in analysing the most appropriate materials for inclusion in its analysis. It is an empirical study based on the most recent global developments such as the global financial crisis, the debt crisis in European Union (EU) to gains insights into the interplay of the relationship between law and markets and the occasional disharmony between these two regulatory domains.

The issues examined in this paper provide significant insights into the dynamics of the global village, law and markets. It has delineated that for markets to work effectively, the state needs to remain in the loop and to keep an arm’s length relationship with the market because it will have to come in to pick the pieces when things go wrong. The law cannot be pushed to the sidelines because it will have to provide the instruments for states and markets to operate efficiently within their respective regulatory domain. There is no state, including North Korea (not as open as other economies in Asia), which can close its door entirely to markets. Experience has demonstrated that law is more than rules which govern societies but a way of life such that a society is as developed as is its legal system. The State needs to use the leverage of the law and to take centre stage for markets to remain viable and relevant. Recent crises such as the debt crisis in Greece or the global financial crisis before provide lessons for proponents of the global market system to learn so that it can proportionately distribute benefits and not challenges.

The global market system has imposed varied challenges on states at the scale never envisaged before. Some of the theoretical premises relating to the paper were based on secondary data sources and were evaluated based on a small sample of cases. The author, therefore, extrapolated that the law seems to have been relegated to the sidelines to not interfere with markets. The paper has evaluated the current global market system in the context of contemporary challenges in Europe and in other regions; it would have been better to explore examples from other regions. It is evident that the state and the market are two sides of the same coin – they are embedded in each other, and their relationship complimentary and will have to co-exist. They need to work in tandem because the market needs the state and the state needs the market. Meanwhile, both the state and the market need the law as an equalizer to ensure they are regulated according to engendered rules. It appears that the disharmony between the state and the market is because of the fusion of law and politics which often results in overlapping interests. The recent global financial crisis and the frantic efforts of EU government to bail out debt distressed countries like Greece have implied that governments will need to maintain an arms-length relationship with markets. When the state lets its hands off, literally speaking, in the author’s view, markets will veer off course.

The global system has created shared synergies such as free movement of workers, capital, good and services. However, it has created varied challenges for individual states given that challenges in one part of the globe can easily navigate into the system to infest other countries including those that have nothing to do with its causes. States and stakeholders will need to carefully evaluate the impact of global regulatory initiatives to make sure that in adopting them, they are not debased or undermined by those initiatives.

For markets to work properly, the state must remain in the loop and keep an arms-length relationship with the market because it will have to come in to pick the pieces when things go wrong. The law cannot be pushed to the sidelines because it will have to provide the instruments for states and markets to operate efficiently within their respective regulatory domain. There is no state, including North Korea (not as open as other economies in Asia), which can close its door entirely to markets. Experience has demonstrated that law is more than rules which govern societies but a way of life such that a society is as developed as is its legal system. The State needs to use the leverage of the law in providing effective regulatory oversight of markets both domestically and globally.

The paper was written on the basis of recent global crises such as the debt crisis in Greece, Europe, which were evaluated in the narrow context and are objectives of the paper.

The paper aims to investigate the synergetic effects of knowledge management (KM) and information and communication technologies (ICT) on globalization progression. Then the article seeks to portray how this synergy can be employed in various KM activities and processes to transubstantiate a national company into an effective boundaryless global knowledge‐based enterprise (GKBE).

The article reviews and interprets the relevant literature on both globalization and knowledge management technology. The resultant insights are used to reveal the synergy and to develop a butterfly model that shows the interconnectedness and the domino effects of KM activities on globalization advancement.

Owing to the significant differences between the national and the global knowledge‐based enterprise (GKBE) the butterfly framework has been proposed, utilizing the benefits from the synergy of the major globalization components. The call for implementing KM practices to improve globalization efficiency came as a result of the unknown parameters within the new global market competition.

Globalization has become increasingly complex and challenging for many multinational companies. This article will help these companies to solve the problem using KM strategy as facilitated by ICT and human cognitive efforts. Owing to the complexity of the issue, the solution is in turn multifaceted and can only be achieved through a consistent system thinking.

The model presents a road‐map for multinational global operations managers and KM practitioners when developing their strategy for competitive advantage.

Amidst the backlash against gay rights in the U.S., a rapidly expanding number of companies are instituting inclusive policies. While in 1990 no major corporations provided health insurance for the partners of lesbian and gay employees, by early 2004, over 200 companies on the Fortune 500 list (approximately 40%) had adopted domestic partner benefits. This study of Fortune 1000 corporations reveals that the majority of adopters instituted the policy change only after facing pressure from groups of lesbian, gay, and bisexual employees. Despite such remarkable success, scholars have yet to study the workplace movement, as it is typically called by activists. Combining social movement theory and new institutional approaches to organizational analysis, I provide an “institutional opportunity” framework to explain the rise and trajectory of the movement over the past 25 years. I discuss the patterned emergence and diffusion of gay employee networks among Fortune 1000 companies in relation to shifting opportunities and constraints in four main areas: the wider sociopolitical context, the broader gay and lesbian movement, the media, and the workplace. Next, using the same wide-angle lens, I explain the apparent decline in corporate organizing since 1995. My multimethod approach utilizes surveys of 94 companies with and without gay networks, intensive interviews with 69 networks and 10 corporate executives, 3 case studies, field data, and print and virtual media on gay-related workplace topics. By focusing on not simply political but also broader institutional opportunities, I provide a framework for understanding the emergence and development of movements that target institutions beyond the state.

In the wake of unprecedented numbers of company failures, many businesses are now scrambling to elude a similar fate. The author offers a program for rescuing today's troubled companies.

The purpose of this paper is to present the findings on jet array instabilities of molten caprolactam. Initial investigations showed that although a suitable range of parameters was found for stable jetting, there were cases where instabilities occurred due to external sources such as contamination.

The inkjet system consisted of a melt supply unit, filtration unit and printhead with pneumatic and thermal control. A start‐up strategy was developed to initiate the jetting trials. A digital microscope camera monitored the printhead nozzle plate to record the jet array stability within the recommended range of parameters from earlier research. The trials with jet instabilities were studied to analyse the instability behaviour.

It was found that instabilities occurred in three forms which were jet trajectory error, single jet failure and jet array failure. Occasionally, the jet with incorrect trajectory remained stable. When a jet failed, bleeding of melt from the nozzle due to the actuations influenced the adjacent jets initiating an array of jets to fail similar to falling dominos.

The research concept is novel and investigating the jet array instability behaviours could give an understanding on jetting reliability issues.