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The purpose of this paper is to provide a theory‐based framework that informs a fashion retailer's entry mode choice into a foreign market.

Aspects of transaction cost, bargaining, resource based, and internationalization theories were integrated to develop a conceptual framework for fashion retailers determining the best entry mode to foreign markets. Propositions were developed, which serve as bridge laws, bridging the gap between the theories and the investigation of fashion retailers' entry mode choice. A case study was used to demonstrate applicability of the developed propositions.

Three groups of factors were identified that influence entry mode choice in the fashion retail market: firm‐specific factors of asset specificity, brand equity, financial capacity, and international experience; country‐specific factors of country risk, cultural distance, and government restrictions; and market‐specific factors of market potential and market competition. Nine propositions were generated, positing how each of the factors may influence a fashion retailer's entry mode choice.

The conceptual model and propositions require further empirical investigation. Future research also needs to systematically explore the interactions or trade‐offs between different determinate factors.

A fashion retailer can use the framework and propositions to systematically evaluate the company's case to justify an entry mode decision for a specific foreign market.

This is the first paper to describe the integration of theories to help explain factors affecting fashion retailers' entry mode choice.

The purpose of this paper is to report on an exploratory study to revisit and critically reappraise the impact of IT upon organisational structure, by exploring how the deployment of ERP, when accompanied by a specific strategic orientation, impacted upon the host organisation's structural design.

The study was initially enacted through a postal questionnaire survey of IT managers within a sample of China's largest manufacturing organisations. Follow‐up interviews were then conducted with senior managers, who had first‐hand experience of working on ERP implementations, to help to more fully understand the impact of ERP upon organisational structure.

The study found that the implementation of ERP technology and the strategic orientation of the host organisation are both likely to modify the structural design of Chinese manufacturing organisations. Moreover, it has been found that the success of an ERP deployment is a stronger predictor of organisational form than the scale of the deployment. The results of the study would also suggest that ERP is more likely to affect structural changes, when deployed in the presence of a complementary “prospector” corporate strategy.

The study provides clear new evidence that ERP is likely to have a significant impact upon organisational structure, but, because of the complexity of the technology and the uniqueness of every organisational context, the authors offer no simple prescriptions or panaceas as to how it should be managed. However, managers should be aware that an ERP implementation will almost certainly affect organisational structure, and then take steps to ensure that such changes are carefully and proactively managed.

There is already a rich and established literature with regard to the impact of IT upon organisational structure. However, it could be argued that by focussing upon ERP, by explicitly modelling the effect of strategy and by taking a holistic view of organisational structure, the paper is able to offer a far more subtle view of the complexities of the relationship between IT and organisational structure than prior studies.

Despite burgeoning self-initiated expatriation (SIE) research, little attention has been given to the personal development that occurs as a result of the SIE. The authors address this gap, exploring how the SIE undertaken by older women contributes to their longer-term life-path goals. As personal development has barely featured in the SIE literature, the authors must draw from a range of other global mobility experiences as a base for identifying the personal development of the older women.

The paper employs narrative inquiry methodology, drawing on in-depth life story interviews with 21 women aged 50 or more, both professional and non-professional, who had taken a SIE. A five-step narrative process using a story-telling approach was the method of analysis.

The findings indicate that the existing focus on SIE and the work context in the literature needs to become more holistic to incorporate personal change experienced through the SIE. For these older women, the construct of “career” was increasingly irrelevant. Rather, participants were enacting a “coreer” – a life path of individual interest and passion that reflected their authentic selves. The SIE presented an opportunity to re-focus these women's lives and to place themselves and their values at the core of their existence.

The contributions highlight the need for a broader focus of career – one that moves outside the work sphere and encompasses life transitions and the enactment of more authentic “ways of being”. The authors identify a range of personal development factors which lead to this change, proposing the term “coreer” as one that might shift the focus and become the basis for career research in the future. Further, through the inclusion of a group of older women who were not exclusively professionals, the authors respond to calls to expand the focus of SIE studies.

The purpose of this paper is to report a qualitative study with British women managers, which explored the career competencies accrued from undertaking an Executive MBA (EMBA).

The research drew on in‐depth interviews with a sample of 18 female alumni from three British business schools. Data were analyzed using NVivo 8.0. within the career‐competencies framework of Knowing‐how, Knowing‐why and Knowing‐whom.

Women aged between 30 and 34 years emphasized the importance of gaining confidence (Knowing‐why) and skills (Knowing‐how) while those aged between 35 and 45 years focused on developing networks (Knowing‐whom). This study suggests that age and career stage may have considerable impact on perceptions of acquired career competencies.

This is an exploratory piece with limited generalisability; however, it exposes the need to clarify the concept of career stage for women.

Business schools have historically stressed the career benefits of MBA programmes in terms of improved capital and of changing career directions. This research indicates that an EMBA may offer a more level playing field for women with respect to networking activities. In the competitive global environment, business schools may benefit from more fully exploring career competencies, such as networking skills, for increasing the appeal of EMBA programmes. The paper also draws attention to the need for HR managers to increase efforts for improving women's career competencies.

Findings extend previous research on the development of career competencies from an EMBA, indicating the importance of developing networks, particularly at mid‐career. The paper highlights the need to redefine women's mid‐career stage.

This paper discusses the impact of a social desirability (SD) bias in cross‐cultural ethics research. An SD bias may mask a relationship between key variables, provide a false correlation between them, moderate their relationship, or influence the response rate to the survey instrument. When survey researchers present hypothetical ethical dilemmas to respondents and ask them what they would do, the respondents' answers will not only be influenced by their actual values and desires, but also by what those individuals perceive to be desirable within their society. We argue that key value differences between countries, as noted by Hofstede, will exert an independent influence on responses to self‐report questionnaires. Four propositions are set forth detailing how this SD bias may differentially affect responses to ethics surveys across cultures. A longitudinal research design is proposed to help disentangle the impact of culture values, personal values, and an SD bias. Several measures to prevent and to control the bias in cross‐cultural ethics research are discussed The use of pretests, pilot tests, and SD scales imbedded within research instruments is recommended.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss some key aspects of quality in education in the light of over 30 years practical experience of doing quality assurance (QA).

Reflection on three concepts, which are still the subject of debate, namely: “quality”; “total quality management (TQM)”; and “autonomy”.

As this is not a research paper, it presents no findings. There are some research implications, if only to deter researchers from digging up old ground. More research into the diversity of and interactions between cultures in academia might prove useful.

There are lessons to be learnt from the past. Doing quality improves quality. Talking about it or trying to impose it does not. Managers and leaders need to reflect more carefully than is their wont on the purposes and procedures of QA in education.

This paper makes a contribution to the debate about quality in education in universities and schools and suggests that a clearer understanding across the education system of the scope and purpose of QA, the nature of TQM and the limitations of autonomy might lead to better embedded and more effective continuous improvement.

This study seeks to further an understanding of taxpayer characteristics. The study presents a multidimensional tax locus of control (LOC) instrument developed from the starting point of a validated LOC instrument from the health-care field. Data collected using the instrument indicate that older taxpayers are more likely to have an external LOC in tax situations, indicated by a greater propensity to defer decision-making to a tax professional, defined as a “powerful other.” As the U.S. population is aging, this information may be helpful to tax practitioners when advising older clients on tax issues and researchers exploring issues related to aging. An additional finding is that taxpayers with more business exposure are less likely to defer to a tax professional. Gender and education play roles in an individual's internal tax LOC (TaxLOC) beliefs.