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The purpose of this paper is to develop and to empirically test a model that explains how managing differences between an information technology (IT) provider and an overseas client influences partnership quality and ultimately affects the continuity of the relationship.

A field survey by distributing questionnaires to Indonesian IT providers was conducted over four months, yielding 78 completed responses. These empirical data were analyzed by the partial least squares–structural equation modeling technique to examine the measurement and structural models.

Managing differences, i.e. cultural, temporal and standards differences, has a positive impact on partnership quality through inter-firm interaction, i.e. information exchange, coordination and participation. Partnership quality, consisting of the dimensions of commitment, trust and integration, has a substantial positive impact on the continuity of the relationship.

This study was limited by the use of a limited number of samples, reducing the precision of the results.

This study suggests that if the IT provider is able to manage the cultural, temporal and standards differences with the overseas client, it increases information exchange, coordination and participation between both parties, which are necessary for establishing a high-quality partnership.

This study is the first empirical examination of how the management of differences between an IT provider and an overseas client influences the continuity of their relationship through interaction and partnership quality.

This theoretical research endeavors to find common ground in the ostensibly inconsistent results of studies on the impact of cultural similarities and differences on strategic partnerships. Some findings suggested that partners have to possess similar cultural characteristics in order to achieve success, while others showed that cultural distance had a positive effect on efficiency and the competitiveness of partnerships. I systematically analyze the equivocal evidence of influence of both commonalities and differences on partnerships' outcomes, highlighting conditions under which they can be either beneficial or dysfunctional. Several propositions are formulated in regard to the role of qualitative and quantitative differences in both organizational and national cultures. Further, the theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

In recent years, Asian countries have experienced rising rates of premarital cohabitation, mirroring a similar trend that could be observed in many European countries several decades ago. As international differences in these trends are often attributed to institutional and societal differences, this study explores how China’s and Germany’s welfare and cultural regimes relate to national differences in the timing and prevalence of premarital cohabitation and direct marriage.

On the basis of two post-hoc harmonized surveys (pairfam for Germany; CFPS for China), descriptive analyses and logistic regressions were conducted. A higher standardization of partnership trajectories during the transition to adulthood was observed in China; this being probably related to China’s collectivist and Germany’s individualistic culture. While urban–rural differences prevail in China, and are attributable to China’s hukou system, East and West Germans differ considerably in this regard, a finding which can be traced back to regional differences in historical legacy. Discrepancies in economic modernization explain why the likelihood of experiencing these events differs for individuals in the Eastern and Western Chinese provinces.

Besides these differences, the two national contexts resemble each other in the prevalence of educational hypergamy, as well as in greater rates of cohabitation prior to first marriage, in contrast to direct marriage, seen among wealthier individuals and those with higher education. For the first time, the effects of cultural and institutional differences on the transition to adulthood were compared between a collectivistic vs. individualistic cultural regime and a productivist vs. corporatist conservative welfare regime, enabling researchers to draw conclusions about the link between cultural and welfare regime types and partnership patterns.

Outsourcing is recognized as one of the critical factors for efficient execution of pharmaceutical supply chain management (PSCM), and many pharmaceutical companies engage in international outsourcing of services (IOS) to survive in global highly competitive business. Since the key success factors for both domestic & international alliances are partnership characteristics and strategic fit management, but there is no empirical research on this issue in Thai pharmaceutical partnership offshore outsourcing. Therefore, this survey of Thai and foreign companies, both contract providers (CPs) and contract manufacturers (CMs), seeks to indicate significant relationships among both outsourcing strategic fit and partnership types, including outsourcing performance outcome. This research is two-fold. First, the partnership types (Type I, II, & III), the strategic fit types (low fit, moderate fit, and good fit), and their correlations are analyzed. And second, their outsourcing performance (company revenues and growth rates) are presented. The results showed that the most of the Thai pharmaceutical outsourcing manufacturing are classified as the partnership Type II, as well as the moderate strategic fit, and strongly support the relationship between the two models. Both of the companies’ revenue and growth rate could predict the companies’ performances outcome for each of partnership and strategic fit types. However, it is not necessary that the most integrative type of partnership, Type III, will be always the best, because it depends also on the strategic fit between each pair of partners as well.

GM has initiated partnerships with firms and research institutions at a rapid pace. One effort of the multi‐disciplinary research team involved the construction of a relationship dynamics model to assist in partnership planning and management. Earlier research on private‐sector partnerships indicated that partnership success is largely dependent upon the development and maintenance of strong, productive relationships between the partners. Therefore, modeling efforts focused on the relationship itself. To increase the likelihood that the resulting model is realistic, valid and representative, empirical data was combined with a systems‐dynamics approach, and the model is being validated with feedback from study participants.

In Britain, labor−management partnership has been the fulcrum of the Labor Government's employment relations programme since its election in 1997. The Involvement and Participation Association (IPA, 1997; website: http://www.partnership-at-work.com) − the influential employers’ organization − has been at the forefront of promoting labor−management partnership to improve productivity in UK firms through greater employee involvement and participation (see http://www.partnership-at-work.com). The Trades Union Congress (TUC; partnership institute website: http://www.partnership-institute.org.uk) and several of its constituent unions have also endorsed partnership with employers as a route to promote employee ‘voice’ at work, secure better bargaining outcomes and improve union membership levels and density (Undy, 2001). Union density in the UK private sector has declined from 19.9 per cent in autumn 1997 to 17.2 per cent in autumn 2005, while in the public sector it has declined from 60.9 per cent to 58.6 per cent over the same period of time (Grainger, 2006). Advocates of partnership argue that such arrangements deliver mutual gains to the parties involved, viz. higher productivity and profits for employers, better wages and higher employment security to workers and greater influence over management decisions for unions, which in turn help them to attract and recruit new members (e.g. Haynes & Allen, 2001; Deery & Iverson, 2005).

In 2007, Birmingham City University (formerly the University of Central England) and the West Midlands NHS Strategic Health Authority developed and implemented the LEAP (Leadership, Education and Partnership) project. The project extended and developed further a successful leadership development programme, which had run in the West Midlands for healthcare educators working in both higher education (HE) and NHS organisations.The LEAP project aimed to develop genuine partnership and collaborative working among health and social care education providers from a range of HE and NHS organisations in the West Midlands. This paper describes the leadership programme approaches and activities, the underpinning leadership and management theories and concepts, and the way in which these were woven together in the leadership development programme. Examples of some of the theoretical models and frameworks used in the programme, and reflections on how these helped to develop participants' knowledge, skills and approaches to collaboration and partnership working are also detailed.

The aim of this research project is to examine the adoption rate of management accounting tools by businesses in the Gulf Co‐operative Council (GCC) countries and attempts to determine if significant variances in the use of management accounting tools by GCC businesses are contingent on a companies' ownership, legal structure, size or industry sector. The study covers a broad range of businesses, from many different business sectors in six different Arab countries.

An online survey on the adoption rate of 41 Management Accounting Tools was used to collect data. The Institute of Management Accountants invited 453 CMA's in the Gulf region to participate in the Survey of Management Accounting Practices in the GCC area. Factor analysis was employed to test the effects of company characteristics on the choice of management accounting tools.

The study finds that companies in the GCC rely on the more traditional management accounting practices such as budgeting rather than the more recently developed strategically focused tools such as activity based management and the use of the balanced scorecard. The research also shows that company characteristics play a significant role in the use of management accounting tools by businesses. Overall, international ownership and incorporation tend to increase the use of many management accounting practices.

Results should be generalized cautiously due to the small number of responding companies. The use of individual tools may not be completely explained by the chosen independent variables; other factors such as management's preference and/or the cost and benefit of the tool may affect choice.

Management accounting practices of businesses in the GCC have never been studied before. This study updates the literature on the management accounting tools by businesses.

Mary Parker Follett was an outstanding public intellectual of her day, both in the US and the UK. We have a lot to learn from her about the ‘democratic deficit’, leadership, participation, partnership and difference, that is relevant to key current concerns in the UK. Her thinking was based on her own extensive experience, observation and reflection, her ideas are profound, relevant and accessible for us today. In this article we signal her continuing significance in three areas: building democratic processes, leadership and ideas about complexity.

While the concept of partnerships has received much attention in the literature, the focus has primarily been on the manufacturing firm. This paper explores the similarities and differences in partnerships from the perspectives of manufacturing and non‐manufacturing firms. Findings indicate that non‐manufacturing firms have had longer relationships with their partners than manufacturing firms. In addition, non‐manufacturing firms considered a reduction of procurement and administrative costs, in addition to price and reliability, as important reasons to enter partnerships, while manufacturing firms emphasized the price, quality, and delivery of products.