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Previous research has documented emergence of global work values and an important function of multinational organizations (MNOs) in their diffusion. However, studies on the processes supporting the diffusion of global work values have been limited. This study seeks to conceptually explore the roles of institutional mechanisms and moderating functions of social network structures and cultural values in diffusion of global work values within the context of MNOs.

Adopting a multilevel approach and grounding the arguments in the neo‐institutional framework, this work synthesizes cross‐cultural research with organizational theory research to present a conceptual model of the diffusion of global work values in the context of MNOs.

It is proposed that the level of diffusion of global work values by members of MNOs is positively related to the level of institutionalization of these values within and between MNOs by means of regulative and normative institutional processes. The arguments also suggest that regulative and normative institutional processes are likely to diffuse global work values more efficiently among members of MNOs with collectivistic value orientations and tight dense social networks with closures.

The findings may be useful for managers looking to implement global corporate culture and values programs, searching for the right mechanisms to diffuse values among units with certain cultural backgrounds, social network structures and institutional contexts.

This paper combines diverse research streams to elaborate on the dynamic interfaces of global work values diffusion and lays groundwork for future empirical investigations.

The purpose of this paper is to examine differences between thermal insulation calculated by a global and a serial method using a thermal manikin, in comparison with human trials.

A total of 150 single garments and 38 clothing ensembles were assessed using the manikin; 26 seasonal clothing ensembles were selected for human trials.

The results showed that total insulation of single garments was 16 percent higher in the serial method than in the global method. The difference was higher in garments with smaller covering area per unit garment mass (e.g. winter garments). For seasonal clothing ensembles, the serial values were 39.2 percent (0.18 clo) for spring/fall wear, 62.6 percent (0.15 clo) for summer wear and for winter wear 64.8 percent (0.69 clo) greater than the global values. The clothing insulation by the global method was systemically lower in all 26 seasonal ensembles than values by human trials, which suggests that the values by the global calculation can be more accurately corrected with human testing data.

The paper shows that values by the serial calculation were lower in spring/fall and summer ensembles but greater in winter garments than values collated by human trials. It suggests that the serial values had a lower validity when compared with thermal insulation values collated from human trials.

This study aims to understand the impact of religiosity and acculturation to the global consumer culture (AGCC) on Muslims’ perception of luxury values. Prior results on the effect of religion/religiosity on luxury consumption and purchase intentions are inconsistent. Then, while AGCC is argued to affect consumers’ perceptions of luxury values, research in this area is scarce.

Based on an online questionnaire with 300 Kuwaiti respondents recruited from a paid consumer panel, the authors explore the relations between religiosity and AGGC on the one hand and luxury values on the other through linear regressions.

Religiosity enhances the perceived extended self, perfectionism, materialistic and sustainable value of luxury. AGCC enhances Muslims’ perception of all luxury values under study. Globalized Muslims mainly perceive luxury as means of self-identification.

The study is the first, to the knowledge, to investigate the impact of religiosity and AGCC on Muslims’ perception of luxury values. The authors propose an integrative set of luxury values that reflect both the social and personal value of luxury. The study focuses on Muslims in Kuwait; a potential luxury market that is under-investigated.

The purpose of this paper is to examine affect of cosmopolitanism and consumers’ susceptibility to interpersonal influence on Indian consumers’ fashion clothing involvement. Moderating effect of demographics was studied.

Survey technique through self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection in both metropolitan and non-metropolitan cities in India.

Utilitarian, value expressive factors of normative influence and cosmopolitanism influence Indian consumers’ fashion clothing involvement. Type of city, income, and education moderated influence of normative values and cosmopolitanism on fashion clothing involvement.

One of the major limitations of current research was that it had a large number of respondents in the age group of 18-40 years. Future research can attempt to reduce age biasness.

The findings can prove helpful to international apparel brands marketing luxury and fashion clothing in India. However, since conformance to social norms was important for Indians, clothing manufacturers should use reference groups, opinion leaders, and celebrities to generate awareness. A blend of global and local lifestyle should be used. International luxury brands can customize their products to combine ethnic tastes.

Fashion clothing market promises immense growth opportunities in India. There is limited research to examine influence cosmopolitanism on Indian consumers’ consumption behaviour. Knowledge about influence of global lifestyle, brands, mass media, and services on Indian consumers’ behaviour can help in targeting them effectively.

This paper investigates corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy management in multinational companies (MNCs). The focus is on examining the relationship between subsidiaries and headquarters in the management of CSR, in terms of the commonplace notion of ‘think global, act local’. Primary and secondary data was collected in one MNC and a case study produced. The findings show that the initiative to launch a CSR policy is taken and enacted exclusively by the headquarters, mainly as an answer to the financial and legal pressure felt to accompany the present widespread interest in CSR. Findings are articulated around three major steps used to manage CSR initiatives: the determination of values, the integration of those values in action and the evaluation of the policy. Consistency of policy is driven from headquarters, through adoption of a corporate value framework, while the implementation is to some extent localised. Feedback from subsidiaries is collected and shared by the centre, which also seeks out synergies in pursuit of increased efficiency. Corporate structure is therefore linked to CSR management. Implementation is observed to comprise three parts: the headquarters seek to motivate local actions through reference to the company culture, through directive measures, and by pedagogic action. Pedagogy comes out as necessary in order for the CSR policy to permeate the entire organisation and initiate the right actions and reactions in the variety of situations encountered throughout the organisation. Constant scrutiny and evaluation are considered necessary in order to sustain the credibility of the policy in relation to external stakeholders.

The continued rise of the multinational and debate as to what constitutes global business values is predicated on the UN Declaration and Global Business Compact. This research suggests both documents explicitly exclude the existence of a foundational ethereal power creating morals thereby nullifying two thirds of the general population’s belief system. The authors argue against humanism as a global value beginning and suggest theism as a better origin and use the scientific method to introduce mathematical axioms supporting theism and complimenting humanism. Ontologically, the theist becomes a stronger base for the scientific inquiry into morals, values and business ethics. A comparison of major religious morals revealed eight factors: assurance; candor, fairness and honesty; character, integrity, truthfulness and exacting in truth; charity and compassion; environment; perseverance and tolerance; sacrifice; and seriousness. The research suggests that the UN documents do not adequately reflect these morals suggesting a change for businesses especially in Islamic regions.

A comprehensive review of religious materials emphasizing morals rather than customs, eternal entity description or negative behaviors yielded 1,243 morals and associated synonyms via six religions (Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism) representing 4.5 billion people. All positive morals were cross-referenced and only common items across all six religions were included. With the 29 common morals, the authors completed a word meaning search and did a second comparison that yielded 8 moral factors or constructs.

Eight moral factors were found to be common in all major religions (assurance, fairness/honesty, character/integrity, charity/compassion, environment, tolerance, sacrifice and seriousness). By using the scientific method (Axioms), the authors argue that theism is a better beginning to researching morals and values within business and marketing.

Multinationals should be made aware of the disconnect between the underlying problems of the Global Business Compacts’ values and the global morals identified. The results suggest adopting a codification system based on the pertinent morals as related to economic theories: capitalism, socialism and theism. The use of theism as a base to business and marketing ethics includes billions of customers and employees and their belief systems that should increase the validity and reliability of actions associated with corporate social responsibility, the environment and best practices.

The UN Declaration and subsequent Global Business Compact are argued to be flawed by its exclusion of religious morals and the historical period in which it was created. By using the scientific method and creating two axioms, the base to all business and marketing ethics must shift to the common moral factors identified.

The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between corporate branding and market driving. This is achieved by focusing on key dimensions of brand identity such as brand values and staff behaviours, while acknowledging the role of vision and organisational culture. The links between these brand constituents and the actual activities of the firm in a market are explored through interactions with stakeholders.

This research is based on an in‐depth case study of IKEA at a corporate level and its local market activities in Russia. The single‐case approach is used to generate insights into how corporate branding is related to market driving practices and to identify the mechanisms of market driving in the Russian market.

The corporate brand provides a further source of the “leap” in customer value recognised as a requirement for a market driving approach. Through a case study of IKEA in Russia it is shown that the core values of the brand guide both the behaviour and activities of internal stakeholders and the relationships with external stakeholders, and the interactions between the corporate “global” brand values and local market level activities are explored.

The paper provides insights on the role of a corporate brand as a driving force of market driving from a broad stakeholder perspective.

Generation Z (Gen Z) will account for a growing proportion of the global workforce in the coming years. Therefore, it is vitally important to understand this generation’s unique perspectives and preferences regarding work. This exploratory study aims to examine the prioritisation and desirability of Gen Z work values according to respondents’ nationality.

Data for this study were collected through a survey among 1,188 undergraduate students enrolled in one university each in China, Germany, the Netherlands and Thailand. ANOVA test and Tukey post hoc analysis were used to find out the difference between the groups based on nationality.

Findings indicate that nationality serves as a key differentiator in work value preferences. The findings challenge the concept of a global Gen Z as only two of the measured values, learning and visible results, were found to have universal appeal across the nationality groups. In spite of increased levels of global interconnectedness and accompanying crossvergence of values, the results show significant statistical differences in work values based on the respondents’ nationality.

Because of the scope and explorative design of the present study, it cannot be certain that the findings are exclusively from Gen Z characteristics or influenced by other, non-cultural, variables.

This study suggests there is a need for study programmes at a tertiary level to embed experiential learning components and individual study pathways in their curricula to enable students to develop realistic expectations about the workplace and their place in it. In turn, these programmes will be able to develop a competitive advantage in higher education landscape.

The insights gained can be leveraged by internationally oriented study programmes, such as International Business (IB), to better address Gen Z needs and expectations.

The purpose of this paper is to predict the global solar radiation intensity in areas where meteorological stations do not exist and information on solar radiation cannot be obtained experimentally.

The approach to achieve the objective of the paper is developing multiple regression relations between the global solar radiation intensity (the dependent variable) and geographical, geometrical, astronomical and meteorological parameters (the independent variables). The independent variables used for this purpose were selected based on their ease of measurability outside the meteorological station and without expensive equipment. The number of independent variables is arbitrarily chosen and directly affects the accuracy of predictions.

Linear regression relations using one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven independent variables were developed to predict the global solar radiation intensity on horizontal surfaces. An advanced computer program based on least square analysis was used to obtain the regression coefficients. The relations having the highest correlation coefficients were selected. The study shows even when only one independent variable (declination angle) is used, the one variable regression relation predicts the global solar radiation with an accuracy that is satisfactory in most engineering applications.

The diversity of regression relations introduced in this paper gives the engineer such a broad freedom of choice, that knowing only an astronomical parameter of the site makes him capable of estimating the global solar radiation intensity within acceptable margins. The predicted values of global solar radiation intensity by this approach can be used for the design and performance estimation in solar applications. The statistical model developed in this research was validated when compared with the measured data in Yazd airport. The measured data used to analyze the model equations were collected in a 13‐year period. No investigation of this type exists having such degree of accuracy in geographical, geometrical, astronomical and meteorological parameters in Iran.

This paper seeks to argue that global management should be considered by practitioners, educators, regulators and society at large as a true professional discipline. While in its current form it may not meet all the defining criteria of a profession, true professionalism is the best guiding principle as progress is made.

The paper reviews recent critiques of management education, synthesizes the generally agreed criteria of a profession, and applies that framework to the case of management.

Global management needs to further develop a body of knowledge that is both theoretically grounded and instrumental for practice; it needs to raise the bar in terms of professional qualification through existing accrediting bodies; and it needs to articulate and formally adopt a set of core values and principles of conduct, determining how it serves the broader interest of society.

It is important that all key actors assume true professionalism as a guiding principle for the future. The challenges ahead need to consider the ongoing construction of a solid body of knowledge, the revision of MBA degree requirements and the establishment of a set of core transcendental values that should guide professional practice. Academic institutions and practising executives alike must share a commitment to building a global management knowledge base that will not only improve the quality of management practice, but also earn management its professional status.