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U.S. and E.U. public and defense procurement rules require large prime contractors to promote subcontracts to small businesses, a.k.a. small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Under the U.S. Small Business Act, large firms encourage subcontracting through publicity, subcontracting plans, and “good faith” efforts to achieve subcontracting goals. However, processoriented measures failed to guarantee definitive results. In contrast, E.U. and member governments can hold large firms accountable to stricter subcontracting standards (often sweetened by incentives). With the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, the U.S. is trying accountability measures now. Therefore, large contractors must plan for definitive subcontracting commitments in both markets.

The Nature of Business Policy Business policy — or general management — is concerned with the following six major functions:

The Howard Shuttering Contractors case throws considerable light on the importance which the tribunals attach to warnings before dismissing an employee. In this case the tribunal took great pains to interpret the intention of the parties to the different site agreements, and it came to the conclusion that the agreed procedure was not followed. One other matter, which must be particularly noted by employers, is that where a final warning is required, this final warning must be “a warning”, and not the actual dismissal. So that where, for example, three warnings are to be given, the third must be a “warning”. It is after the employee has misconducted himself thereafter that the employer may dismiss.

This paper aims to offer a critical examination of the social impacts of large multinational corporations (MNCs) in the age of globalization.

The study adopts a multidisciplinary approach and relies on various scholarly resources in several disciplines including international business, international economics, sociology and international relations. The analysis is organized around eight major areas and constituencies of MNCs including the global scene, workers, competitors, entrepreneurs, government and tax payers, social justice, nations/states and natural environment.

Giant MNCs have benefited from favorable conditions in the past three decades and currently dominate the global scene. In general, the rising corporate profits come not to the benefit, but to the detriment of workers. Large MNCs benefit from their immense resources to develop sophisticated competitive advantages against smaller rivals. They impede small entrepreneurs from scaling up their operations and increasing their market shares. Furthermore, large MNCs often take advantage of their power to shape national and international policies in ways that enable them to enhance their profitability. Overall, large MNCs aggravate the rising economic inequality in different ways, thus contributing to social and financial instability. Furthermore, large MNCs erode state sovereignty and enormously contribute to environmental degradation.

While most international business studies focus on the concept of corporate social responsibility or sustainable development, the originality of this paper resides in adopting an alternative perspective and offering a multidisciplinary and critical examination of the social impacts of large MNCs.

The findings of a study by Auger and Gallaugher (1997), in addition to suppositions and anecdotal evidence provided in a number of articles, suggest that there may be key areas of difference as well as similarities in Internet usage patterns among small and mid‐sized businesses. Since large businesses are both potential customers of and suppliers to small to mid‐sized businesses, it is important to understand their Internet usage patterns as well. The study was designed as a preliminary examination contrasting such usage among large and small and mid‐sized owner‐operated firms. Study findings suggest mid‐sized businesses may be at a competitive disadvantage in their current operational use of the Internet. Small businesses in the study were more likely than mid‐sized or large firms to have a home page and to reveal computer/technology programs as potential Internet services needed to improve current operations. Future research must continue to examine the role the Internet can play in allowing small and mid‐sized businesses to be more competitive in today’s technology based global environment.

The purpose of this paper is to focus upon the financial performance of firms that maintain headquarters in the largest cities and firms based in smaller metropolitan areas. Big city locations offer numerous opportunities. On the other hand, maintaining headquarters in big cities is more costly than in less congested locations and the opportunities for distractions tend to be higher. A third alternative is that location does not matter.

The study, the first of its type, applies a multivariate analysis to a large sample of Compustat firms. The analysis tests for the industry-adjusted return on investment as a function of population density.

The results, which are both statistically and economically significant, show that firms headquartered in smaller cities tend to outperform those located in major business centers.

These results suggest at least two implications for financial managers. One is that headquarters location should be considered as a key element of financial management strategy. The second is that businesses should very carefully consider decisions to move headquarters to the very largest cities.

Theory suggests that business success should increase with the size of the city. This paper, the first large-sample examination of major US firms, shows that businesses with headquarters in smaller locations tend to enjoy greater financial success.

Most of the literature on knowledge management (KM) and its application has, until recently, been centered on large organizations. Pertinent issues in small businesses have to a large extent been neglected. However, small businesses do not necessarily share the same characteristics and ideals as large ones. There are certain unique features of small businesses that need to be understood before KM is implemented in their environment. This paper aims to redress some of this imbalance in the literature by putting KM into the context of small businesses. It looks at their characteristics, their advantages and disadvantages, their strengths and weaknesses, and their key problems and issues, all associated with KM. Recognition of all these elements is crucial in order to provide a well‐suited KM approach for small businesses. The paper culminates with recommendations that will provide important insights to help them accomplish this.

The aim of the study is to systematize scientific knowledge regarding the content, identify current trends, and develop tools and mechanisms to ensure the sustainable development of socio-economic systems based on the coordination of activities of business entities with the processes occurring in the national economy. The main productive unit of the national macroeconomic system is the regional economic system, in the process of functioning of which the reproduction of the goods necessary for the region is carried out, and the economic and environmental needs are satisfied. Sustainable development and capacity building of socio-economic systems, being a strategic goal of development, largely depends on the unity and integrity of its constituent elements. At the regional level, the effectiveness of the system of relations between producers and consumers of tangible and intangible goods and services is largely determined by the presence of large businesses. Large business structures operate in a significant number of regions, implement all stages of the reproduction process in almost all sectors of the economy, and are an important component of modern economic development. The study of the influence of the activities of large business structures on regional social and economic systems is extremely important from the point of view of analyzing the consequences of the activities of large business structures on the qualitative and quantitative parameters of the development of both a specific region and the national economy as a whole.

An updated version of the original (1985) text, the book covers all aspects of marketing and selling bank services: the role of marketing; behaviour of customers; intelligence, planning and organisation; product decisions; promotion decisions; place decisions; price decisions; achieving sales. Application questions help to focus the readers' minds on key issues affecting practice.

In order to gain a perspective on the contemporary state of human resource management in smaller businesses, a total of 247 small firms were surveyed to investigate the degree and effectiveness of personnel/human resource practices currently being utilized. Using a data base of firms with less than 150 employees, three distinct size categories were devised to examine specific practices as small businesses grow in size. The results indicate that certain practices are more effective for smaller firms. In addition there is a higher level of sophistication in personnel practices than cited in the literature.