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This chapter explores the emergence, growth, and current status of the sociology of sport in Canada. Such an endeavour includes acknowledging the work and efforts of Canadian scholars – whether Canadian by birth or naturalization or just as a result of their geographic location – who have contributed to the vibrant and robust academic discipline that is the sociology of sport in Canadian institutions coast-to-coast, and who have advanced the socio-cultural study of sport globally in substantial ways. This chapter does not provide an exhaustive description and analysis of the past and present states of the sociology of sport in Canada; in fact, it is important to note that an in-depth, critical and comprehensive analysis of our field in Canada is sorely lacking. Rather, this chapter aims to highlight the major historical drivers (both in terms of people and trends) of the field in Canada; provide a snapshot of the sociology of sport in Canada currently; and put forth some ideas as to future opportunities and challenges for the field in Canada.

This chapter examines major factors and processes that lead to the development of strategic global human resource management [SGHRM] capability in organizations doing business in emerging markets. The dynamism of this capability is hypothesized to increase as specific structural changes are initiated, such as an innovative practice of inpatriation. It is argued that the inpatriation provides the strategic coherence and flexibility necessary for effective organizational strategies in emerging markets. Through the examination of this innovation in strategic global human resource systems from a knowledge based-view theoretical perspective, the emergence of certain unique and valuable organizational outcomes (i.e. trust, commitment, social capital, and legitimacy) are explained. The potential problems and challenges of implementing an inpatriation program in global negotiations are also examined, with particular focus on gaining acceptance of inpatriate managers in the headquarters organization. In conclusion, specific directions for future research relative to the development of SGHRM capability based on inpatriation as core competency are outlined.

Technology is often defined as a valuable firm resource particularly relative to marketing functions in the organization (Barua, Kriebel, & Mukhopadhyay, 1995; Bharadwaj, 2000; Christensen, Johnson, & Rigby, 2002). When resources are customized to match a marketing strategy, they become firm specific, and thus central to firm performance. Marketing employees also may be defined as an essential resource, in the context of key marketing activities that need to be accomplished (Barney, 1986, 2001; Coff, 2002; Dess & Picken, 1999). Because both employees and technology play key roles, we ground this study in the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm (Barney, 1991, 2001; Peteraf, 1993; Wernerfelt, 1984).

In recent years, and especially with the war in Iraq, the U.S. military's reliance on private contractors as forces in the theater of war has grown and become increasingly clear. We critically evaluate some of the best literature on the emergence of this phenomenon – especially Ken Silverstein's Private Warriors and P. W. Singer's Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry – and find a neglect of the historical path-dependent character of the rise of the new corporate armed forces. In particular, we concentrate on American experience and two silences that are integral to understanding the path-dependent character of this process: (1) earlier historical reliance on private armed force to suppress the labor movement in America, the template for this new form of irregular armed force and (2) the ghost of Vietnam as a continuing political liability in the mobilization of sufficient troop levels under neo-imperialist aspirations and “the global war on terror,” as the main condition for the rise of the new private military form. Both elements suggest the theoretical importance of state strength/weakness in any explanation of private armed force. We discuss several important political implications of our findings.

The spending capacity of the middle-income class increases with growing economies. With this increase, luxury goods are not only consumed by rich people alone. For this reason, luxury brands are expanding their target population and enriching their products and services accordingly. Thus, the luxury market which addresses the middle- and upper-middle-income groups is changing and its importance is increasing. In this chapter, the definition of luxury, the classification of luxury goods, the requirements of the luxury marketing mix (product, price, distribution and promotion) and applied strategies are examined. This chapter also covers how luxury products have authentic features, premium and masstige brands, fake luxury products that are the exact copies of original luxury brands, and how and why this fake luxury market grows. At the end of the chapter, the luxury market in Turkey, which has been growing rapidly, especially in recent years, is examined in detail and all the features of the market are presented. It is expected that this market will continue to grow in the future, as a large number of tourists from nearby regions, Central Asia and Arab countries come to Turkey to buy luxury branded products and services.