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A survey of managers in Israel, Slovenia, and the USA finds a marked similarity with respect to the characteristics and abilities managers need to contribute to organizational success. Factors such as decision making ability, communication skills, commitment to organizational goals, ability to choose the right persons in key persons and ability to delegate are considered to be very important although there are differences with respect to the degree of their importance. Several managerial characteristics are also found to be significantly correlated with the firm’s financial success and employee morale. The findings are framed in the context of convergence‐divergence hypothesis as it applies to the internationalization of management practices.

A survey of employee benefits provided to host country non‐managerial employees in China by American firms indicates that these tend to change over time, vary by the size of the firm, and differ between wholly owned and joint ventures. Statistical analysis suggests that the use of certain extrinsic and intrinsic benefits tends to be positively perceived by Chinese employees, and in turn, these favorably impact specific dimensions of organizational performance. The findings show that American firms provide benefits that recognize established practices in China and the current needs of Chinese workers. Implications for employee benefits managers in foreign firms are discussed.

Using indices of bribe for 19 countries, this study examines the determinants of bribe paying in international business. There is a strong positive correlation between countries where bribe taking is highly prevalent and those countries that are most likely to offer bribes. The propensity to give bribes is determined by economic factors such as per capita income and degree of economic freedom in the country, cultural factors such as power distance and masculinity; and legal regulatory factors such as accounting and tax treatment of bribes. It appears that, to eliminate international bribery, the supply side needs to be addressed in addition to the demand for bribes.

This paper seeks to examine the extent to which national cultural characteristics impact the propensity of firms based in the country to engage in bribery to gain advantages when conducting business overseas.

A set of statistical analyses – bivariate correlations and regression – was performed on data for five cultural variables and one economic variable for 30 countries to ascertain the relationship between these variables on a country's Bribe Payers Index, a measure of bribe giving.

The results indicate that firms from countries low on power distance or long‐term orientation, or high on individualism, are less likely to engage in bribe giving. However, when the level of economic development in the home country as measured by per capita income is included, the impact of cultural factors is muted considerably. Firms from high‐income countries are less likely to give bribes.

Richer countries are likely to have certain practices that create a business ethos where bribing is the exception, not the rule, in conducting business. The study is based on a one‐time sample of just 30 countries for which bribe‐giving data are available. The data culture is limited to the countries studied by Hofstede.

Bribery is less a cultural phenomenon; instead, it is bred in poverty and illustrative of business behavior occurring in a highly regulated and inward‐looking economy. As a country prospers and the domestic operating environment becomes more hygienic, it will have a salutary effect on the international behavior of the firms based in that country.

The study mediates the debate between cultural and economic determinism and provides empirical evidence that bribe‐giving is largely an expression of economic imperatives and not cultural predisposition.

Global climate can be defined as the average of all the regional trends of weather over a long time period (National Science Foundation [NSF], 2009). The researchers all over the world have concluded that the Earth's climate is changing as a whole. There are basically two factors that have impacts on the climate, the natural (climatic and environmental variability) and the anthropogenic (infrastructure development and land use land cover change). The causes of past changes are believed to be related to changes in ocean currents, solar activity, volcanic eruptions, and other natural factors (ISDR, 2008). But in recent times, human activities have accelerated this rate of climate change (IPCC, 2007; Sperling & Szekely, 2005; ISDR, 2008). As the developmental activities increase, the amount of emission of greenhouse gasses and aerosols increases, which, in turn, leads to global warming and snow melting, thus increasing the sea level and the frequency and intensity of cyclones, floods, droughts, and many other disasters (IPCC, 2001).

Volume 25 celebrates the 25th year of publication for the American Journal of Business (AJB). Launched by eight MAC schools of business in March 1986, the Journal has featured more than 700 authors who have contributed more than 330 research articles at the intersection of theory and practice. From accounting to marketing, management to finance, the Journal prominently covers the breadth of the business disciplines as a general business outlet intended for both practitioners and academics. As the Journal reaches out beyond the MAC in sponsorship, authorship, and readership, we assess the Journal’s first quarter century of impact.

Few studies have explored the direct influence of social networking websites (SNWs), and to the best of our knowledge, none have examined the indirect influence of SNWs on users and how that indirect influence leads to word‐of‐mouth related behaviors in SNWs. This study employs the theoretical framework of the third‐person effect theory, which is grounded in psychology, to examine the indirect influence of SNWs and how that indirect influence may potentially contribute to marketing research and practice. Davison’s (1983) third‐person effect (TPE) theory proposes that individuals tend to expect mass media to have a greater effect on others than on themselves. After the analysis of survey data, the current research first explores whether a third‐person effect exists in the SNW context and if it does, how it differs from that in traditional media context. Based on theory and numerous empirical findings, the current research also investigates how the thirdperson effect varies with different referent “others”. Finally, based on the theoretical propositions of previous studies, this study links third‐person effect to behavioral consequences related to word‐of‐mouth communication via SNWs. The results support all hypotheses. This work contributes to consumer psychology and word‐of‐mouth communication research, and generates implications for marketers targeting young consumers and/or those interested in stimulating word‐of‐mouth communication in the SNW context. Limitations are also addressed.

Organizational researchers have long recognized the important role that top managers play within entrepreneurial firms (Ireland, Hitt and Sirmon 2003). Utilizing Covin and Slevin’s (1989) conceptual framework, the current study explores three key entrepreneurial characteristics of top managers and the impact these characteristics have on firm performance. Specifically, we argue that top managers with a high tolerance of risk, those who favor innovative activities and those who display a high degree of proactiveness will positively impact firm performance. In addition, this study examines the influence of top managers’ prestige, structural and expert power on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance. We conclude the study with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications of our findings and suggestions for future research in this area of study.