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Private supplementary tutoring is expanding fast around the world. Recognising that examination boards are major shapers of curricular load, the purpose of this paper is to identify the roles of examination boards at Grades 8, 9 and 10 in Bengaluru, India. Two boards were chosen, with one having a heavier perceived curricular load than the other.

The study used mixed methods with a questionnaire survey of 687 students in Grades 8, 9 and 10, and 51 face-to-face, semi-structured interviews.

Perhaps surprisingly, the findings did not reveal significant differences in tutoring demand by students. Both groups viewed the board examinations as having high stakes, and accordingly invested in extensive private tutoring. Competition emanating from credentialism was the main driver of the decision to receive tutoring among both cohorts.

Although previous studies have explored various components of demand for tutoring, to the authors’ knowledge, this is the first to explore the impact of examination boards on demand for tutoring. Since the system of schools being affiliated to examination boards is common not only in India but also in many other countries, the study has broad international relevance.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the control mechanisms used by multinational corporations (MNCs) from emerging economies to manage their subsidiaries in developed countries and their implications for human resource management practices.

The paper draws on data collected through in-depth case studies and interviews with senior subsidiary managers of 12 major Indian information technology (IT) MNCs operating in Australia.

Indian IT MNCs rely heavily on the use of people-centric controls exerted through global staffing practices (via the transfer of parent-country nationals), which, in turn, influence their subsidiary’s discretion over their HR practices. The use of people-centric controls allows Indian IT multinationals to replicate parent-country HRM practices in their Australian subsidiaries in an ethnocentric manner and significantly leverage the people-based competitive advantages from India through short- and long-term expatriate assignments.

The study investigates control and HRM practices from a single country and a single industry perspective. It provides an insight into the normative means of control in foreign subsidiaries of MNCs and enhances our understanding by explaining the integrated relationship that control mechanisms (and their people-centric components) have with HRM practices including the global staffing approaches and expatriate management practices of emerging MNCs.

Indian MNCs are using their business model to leverage the Australian immigration and skilled visa programme to maintain cost advantages. However, the immigration legislation in developed countries needs to be capable of allowing emerging multinational corporations (EMNCs) to maintain such advantages as developed countries seek to attract foreign direct investment from emerging economies.

The results indicate that the control practices of EMNCs are similar to the controls exerted by MNCs from developed countries. They also show that EMNCs do not adopt a portfolio approach to global staffing, and that the people-centric components of their control have a clear impact on their subsidiaries’ HRM practices.

In this chapter, the authors provide a historical overview of the development of comparative and international education in North America from 1920s to the beginning of the twenty-first century. The authors document the significant role some of the most influential leaders played to help lay the foundation for comparative education societies in Canada, Cuba, Haiti, Mexico, and the United States. Using historical comparative research technique, the authors examine the many interconnections of current and past leaders. The authors conclude with recommendations on how knowing the history can help strengthen comparative and international education development well into the future.

This study systematically maps the research trends in the domain of “shadow education” over the last 40 years using metadata extracted from the SCOPUS database. The results reveal that the outputs of shadow education research have grown exponentially within the last decade. Bray and his colleagues from the University of Hong Kong, East China Normal University, and the Education University of Hong Kong have been the most prolific and influential research team. They are followed by Park and Byun from the USA, who have mostly worked on East Asian contexts. The USA, Hong Kong, South Korea, and the People’s Republic of China, have been the main sources of contributions and the University of Hong Kong has been the leading university in this field. Educational studies, economics, psychology, linguistics, and sociology have been the main disciplines researched within shadow education. Shadow education studies have revealed how shadow education can be a major instrument for maintaining and exacerbating social inequalities. They have also largely focused on the tangible (quantifiable) benefits related to improving students’ examination results. This study’s results stress the importance of regulating the private tutoring market, suggesting areas for ongoing research.

The chapter highlights some of the challenges of research on supplementary education, and indicates ways in which the challenges were tackled in one particular study on Chongqing Municipality, China.

The Chongqing research investigated the determinants of demand for shadow education by Grade 9 students, using a mixed-methods design. A questionnaire was used to collect data from students and parents on various background details and on the nature of the tutoring that they or their children had received. Interviews of a smaller number of respondents provided qualitative data that supplemented and illuminated the quantitative responses.

Different methodological decisions may have different implications. The sampling strategies in the study limited the generalizability but increased the feasibility of the fieldwork and comparability of findings. The top-down strategy of gaining access secured high response rates in the surveys, but to some extent decreased some participants’ willingness to provide information on gray areas. Interviews generated deep and detailed data, but some sensitive topics were intentionally avoided. Informal chats with note taking were constrained in depth and breadth by random time slots and venues, and some details were difficult to record. However, the approach expanded the horizons and facilitated the triangulation of information.

Discussion focuses on collection of data, and stresses the importance of cultural, social, and economic contexts. The chapter may be seen as a case study that provides insights into methods for researching forms of supplementary education. Methodological lessons from the fieldwork in Chongqing have wider relevance, particularly in settings where regular teachers provide extra private classes.

In this chapter, the authors provide a historical overview of the development of comparative and international education societies throughout the earth. In most cases, these societies have gradually grown and continue to thrive; in other cases, some comparative education societies have become dormant and a few no longer exist. A historical analysis that outlines the rise and fall of comparative education societies is provided. An overview of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies is also discussed, including its lead organizational role in serving as a historical hub to help comparative education societies preserve and disseminate their respective histories. The chapter concludes with suggestions on how anyone can get involved to help contribute to the history preservation of comparative education at the individual, national, regional, and global levels.

The Gulf Comparative Education Society (GCES) was officially established in 2009. The aim of the society is to provide a forum for educators, researchers, and policymakers from the Gulf region and elsewhere to share their knowledge and experience; to encourage the development of educational research throughout the region; to strengthen the links between research, policy, and practice; to maximize the impact of quality research and effective innovations; and to encourage and support junior and early career education researchers throughout the region. The GCES firmly believes that educational policy development and implementation and pedagogical practice need to be supported by research-based knowledge, and that, at the same time, the knowledge, experience, and insights gained from each country in the region can provide invaluable lessons for others as they seek to overcome similar challenges.

This case raises the question: How does a company reasonably estimate and record entries for uncollectible trade receivables, and under what circumstances are receivables written off as uncollectible? The required accounting transactions for the case involve estimating a receivables allowance both as a percentage of sales and as a percentage of accounts receivable and making specific account judgments under the direct write?off method. The subjective issues involve analyzing and assessing a company's methods of collection and accounting for bad debts.

The Brazilian Comparative Society was founded in 1983. Comparative education was a strong component of the curriculum of the courses of pedagogy in the period of “Escola Nova,” but this focus changed. In the early 21st century, Brazilian comparative education is no longer a required discipline in the curriculum of most education programs. Comparative education in the Brazilian context has a unique “meaning or use,” which is not the same concept or scientific definition used in other regions. Second, Brazilian comparative education is characterized by an “outsider” perspective, which is a product of post-colonialism and a history of underdevelopment. Third, the majority of comparative education scholars in Brazil are limited by language since most speak and read Portuguese or Spanish only, and much of the research literature in the field is written in English or other foreign languages. The Sociedade Brasileira de Educação Comparada (SBEC) is a small society that is poised to meet the needs and interests of a growing number of members, and the best strategy is to diversify activities and involve the largest possible numbers of associates.