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1 – 10 of over 5000
Article
Publication date: 11 November 2011

Manuel Portugal Ferreira

Some scholars imprint an academic discipline by their contribution to the manner in which people think and research, namely, by putting forward novel concepts and insights. The…

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Abstract

Purpose

Some scholars imprint an academic discipline by their contribution to the manner in which people think and research, namely, by putting forward novel concepts and insights. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of Sumantra Ghoshal's work on the study of subsidiaries and multinational enterprises and organizational formats for foreign operations.

Design/methodology/approach

A bibliometric study focused on Bartlett and Ghoshal's well‐known book Managing across Borders: The Transnational Solution is performed to assess its impact in international business (IB) research. The entire record of publications in the top leading IB journal, Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS ), is examined.

Findings

Theoretically supported, Ghoshal's work was keenly influenced by his corporate experiences and his constant questioning of the dominant theories and assumptions. The analyses in this paper show the impact of the work on the “transnational solution”, namely, on the understanding of multinationals and subsidiaries, thus being one of the most notable contributions for IB research over the past 20 years.

Research limitations/implications

The empirical analysis is limited to one, albeit the leading, journal, and to articles published, not including books, theses and other documents, perhaps under‐representing Ghoshal's full impact.

Practical implications

Useful for graduate students and in writing a literature review, this paper presents an interesting manner to examine a scholar's and a theory's impact on a discipline.

Originality/value

This paper presents an extensive bibliometric analysis of research published over a time‐span of 22 years in international business studies.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 5 February 2024

Ariadna H. Ochnio

Recent developments in the EU’s anti-corruption strategy have brought the EU closer to meeting the UNCAC’s objectives, i.e. the Proposal for a Directive on combating corruption…

Abstract

Purpose

Recent developments in the EU’s anti-corruption strategy have brought the EU closer to meeting the UNCAC’s objectives, i.e. the Proposal for a Directive on combating corruption (2023) and the Proposal for a Directive on Asset Recovery and Confiscation (2022). This paper aims to discuss these developments from the perspective of the UNCAC, to identify missing elements in the EU’s asset recovery mechanisms.

Design/methodology/approach

Critical approach towards EU anti-corruption policy (discussing the problems and solutions). Review of EU developments in asset recovery law.

Findings

There is a political will on the part of the EU to fight corruption through the rules enshrined in the UNCAC. However, improving EU law by introducing a new type of confiscation of unexplained wealth and criminalising illicit enrichment, without establishing convergent rules for the return of corrupt assets from EU territory to the countries of origin, cannot be seen as sufficient action to achieve the UNCAC’s objectives. In modelling mechanisms of the return of assets, the EU should search for solutions to overcome the difficulties resulting from the ordre public clause remaining a significant factor conditioning mutual legal assistance.

Originality/value

This paper discusses the possible input of the EU, as a non-State Party to the UNCAC, to advance implementing the UNCAC solutions on asset recovery by establishing convergent rules for the return of corrupt assets from EU territory to countries of origin.

Details

Journal of Money Laundering Control, vol. 27 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1368-5201

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2003

Georgios I. Zekos

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some…

86938

Abstract

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

Details

Managerial Law, vol. 45 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0558

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 July 2013

Matevž Rašković, Maja Makovec Brenčič and Marko Jaklič

The purpose of this paper is to systematically describe the evolution of Bartlett and Ghoshal's transnational typology within an appropriate historical context, and to…

5375

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to systematically describe the evolution of Bartlett and Ghoshal's transnational typology within an appropriate historical context, and to additionally review key antecedent works of other authors who contributed to its evolutionary nature.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents a comprehensive review of the literature by combining an evolutionary perspective with a Chandlerian business history approach.

Findings

The paper shows how Bartlett and Ghoshal's transnational solution concept was developed in light of the global economic changes of the 1970s and 1980s, as well as the managerial and strategic challenges faced by US MNCs. It shows how the transnational solution concept should not be seen as a single work, but rather the outcome of an academic discourse which lasted over a decade. The review of Bartlett and Ghoshal's stream of work since the mid 1980s also shows how the transnational solution concept developed gradually into its present form and through the integration of several antecedent concepts.

Originality/value

This paper describes not just the actual evolution of Bartlett and Ghoshal's transnational typology, but also systematically identifies and analyzes key antecedent works by other authors. This analysis has been overlooked and is at the same time key to the understanding of their typology. The employed evolutionary and business history perspectives within this paper are new to the international management literature. They should be especially valuable for graduate students and scholars who employ Bartlett and Ghoshal's typology, or anyone who wishes to understand the Zeitgeist of the time articulated by this seminal work, which will soon celebrate its 25th anniversary.

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1996

Daniel A. Szpiro and Tony Dimnik

This paper reports on a field study of capital budgeting and strategy in 23 firms. The objectives of the study were two‐fold: first to develop a classification scheme for overall…

Abstract

This paper reports on a field study of capital budgeting and strategy in 23 firms. The objectives of the study were two‐fold: first to develop a classification scheme for overall capital budgeting processes and second to relate the different types of capital budgeting to extant models of strategy. Based on our findings, there are three different types of capital budgeting processes: centralized, decentralized and integrated. In centralized capital budgeting, top management make all important strategic capital budgeting decisions. Operating managers simply “bid” on implementing projects selected by top management. In decentralized capital budgeting operating managers identify and initiate projects that are approved by top management based upon projected financial performance. Integrated capital budgeting has elements of both decentralized and centralized capital budgeting. We found the three types of capital budgeting to have a contingent relationship with Bartlett's (1986) typology of multinational strategy: global, multinational and transnational. Global firms choose to respond to pressures for integration and co‐ordination. Typically these firms are highly centralized and have standardized products which can be sold in multiple markets and produced in large‐scale facilities to take full advantage of economies of scale. Multinational firms, in response to pressure to accommodate regional markets through product specialization, operate in a number of highly differentiated markets with significantly dissimilar requirements. In pursuing economies of scope, these firms operate in a decentralized manner with national or regional managers making key strategic decisions. Transnational firms employ a complex structure that addresses the needs for both product differentiation and global integration. In our study, we found that global firms were more likely to have centralized capital budgeting, multinational firms to have decentralised capital budgeting and transnational firms to have integrated capital budgeting. Capital budgeting is one of the most important of management functions. Through capital budgeting decisions management determines the structural cost drivers of the firm and enacts the strategies that define the way in which a firm competes. Although there is an obvious link between strategy and capital budgeting, that link has not been made in either research or practice (Pinches, 1982). The need to understand the link between capital budgeting and strategy is especially evident in manufacturing firms that must continually invest in new technologies. In a review of some 150 articles on capital budgeting for new manufacturing technologies, Dimnik and Kudar (1991) found frequent criticism of current capital budgeting practices for failing to incorporate strategic issues. The most commonly proposed solution to this problem was to modify project evaluation and selection techniques by using multi‐attribute decision‐making models to quantify strategic issues. This response is typical of much of the literature on capital budgeting, which has traditionally focused on the technical issues of project evaluation and selection (Pinches, 1982). A more complete understanding of the relationship between the capital budgeting process and firm strategy will allow specific suggestions for improvement to be implemented. This paper reports on a field study of capital budgeting and strategy in 23 firms involved in a wide range of manufacturing activities. The objectives of the study were two‐fold: to develop a classification scheme for overall capital budgeting processes, and to relate the different types of capital budgeting to extant models of strategy. We found it necessary to develop a new classification scheme for capital budgeting because the standard model of capital budgeting does not explain practice (Dimnik, 1991). The traditional model of capital budgeting assumes that projects bubble‐up from operating managers for approval by top management and emphasizes the use of discounted cash flow methods of selecting projects. The bubble‐up assumption of capital budgeting can be traced to Bower (1970) and the pre‐occupation with discounted cash flow techniques to Dean (1951). Bower held that: [A] company's top management approves or rejects projects but has little direct influence on how they get defined or on which ones are pushed through the firm's lower levels of decision‐making to become claimants for top‐executive approval…Top management cannot keep the character and composition of the projects that rise for their approval from being coloured by structural context. However, top management can influence that structural context by means of the organization chart…and the measurement and reward system it employs (Caves, 1980, p.76). This bubble‐up assumption is implicit in most capital budgeting research and is incorporated in leading accounting and finance text‐books. For, example, Haka (1987) described the impact of rewards on the path that a “proposal follows from its originator in operations to its approval by top corporate executives”. Principles of Corporate Finance, Brealey et.al., stated that “most firms let project proposals bubble‐up from plants for review by division management, and from divisions for review by senior management”. Accounting: Text and Cases, Anthony and Reece stated that “as proposals for capital expenditures come up through the organization, they are screened at various levels. Only the sufficiently attractive ones flow up to the top and appear in the final capital expenditure budget”. Dean (1951) defined capital budgeting in economic terms and stressed that without systematic acceptance and rejection criteria, the capital budgeting decision has no solid foundation. He recognized that procedural and organizational issues were important in capital budgeting but defined the “problem” of capital budgeting as finding the answers to three questions: (1) How much money will be needed for the expenditures in the coming period? (2) How much money will be available? (3) How should the available money be doled out to candidate projects (p.555)? Dean emphasized discounted cash flow methods and this emphasis is adopted in leading accounting and finance text‐books and colours much of the academic research on capital budgeting (Pinches, 1982). It is especially evident in the many surveys of capital budgeting practices (Oblak and Helm, 1980; Bavishi, 1981; Stanley and Block, 1984; Woods et.al., 1985; Hodder, 1986; Kim, 1986; McLean, 1986; Baker, 1987; Klammer et.al., 1991). The bubble‐up, discounted cash flow model of capital budgeting is inadequate for explaining what is found in actual practice. For example, in a survey of 32 operating managers, Dimnik (1990) found that in some firms operating managers initiated capital budgeting proposals and were very conscious of financial criteria for project approval and aware of the impact of investment decisions on their measures of performance. In other firms, operating managers had little say in investment decisions and little knowledge of financial criteria applied to investment proposals. In these firms, analytical techniques such as discounted cash flow, when used at all, were used only by top management and their staff to justify their decisions. Based on these and other personal observations, we concluded that before we could offer insights into the relationship between capital budgeting and strategy, we had to first develop an understanding of capital budgeting that went beyond the traditional model. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. In the next section, we define capital budgeting and briefly discuss various frameworks for analyzing strategy. Then we describe our field research and provide a general description of our findings. This is followed by a discussion of a new classification scheme for capital budgeting and the suggestion that capital budgeting is related to a firm's strategy for global competition. The paper ends with a discussion of the shortcomings of the study, the implications of our findings and some suggestions for future research.

Details

Managerial Finance, vol. 22 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4358

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1994

Nancy J. Adler

Examines the underlying assumptions that companies make about the roleof women in international management. Based on numerous studies,explodes some of the traditional myths about…

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Abstract

Examines the underlying assumptions that companies make about the role of women in international management. Based on numerous studies, explodes some of the traditional myths about women expatriates: that they do not want to be international managers and that foreign prejudice against women renders them ineffective. However, another myth – that companies hesitate to send women abroad – is found to be true. Competitive advantage in transnationals can only come from a combination of an increased representation of women and a recognition of differences as complementary. Recommendations are given to companies and to future women expatriates.

Details

Journal of Management Development, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0262-1711

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2004

Allen D. Engle and Mark E. Mendenhall

This paper delineates the current “disconnect” between traditional models of executive compensation and Bartlett and Ghoshal's model of a transnational strategy, and proposes a…

5337

Abstract

This paper delineates the current “disconnect” between traditional models of executive compensation and Bartlett and Ghoshal's model of a transnational strategy, and proposes a new model of global compensation based on the three managerial roles (operational entrepreneur, managerial developer and top level leader) outlined by Bartlett and Ghoshal in their model. The proposed model focuses on pay emphases in the areas of experiences (inputs), activities (processes) and rewards (outputs) in a global context, and the three global integrative pay configurations derived from the model are presented and discussed. The paper concludes with the presentation of three caveats related to further developments in the area of global pay and firm control.

Details

Employee Relations, vol. 26 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2001

Susan Clemmons and Steven John Simon

The dominant market for enterprise resource planning (ERP) vendors has traditionally been the largest of multinational corporations. Until recently, most vendors (SAP, PeopleSoft…

4918

Abstract

The dominant market for enterprise resource planning (ERP) vendors has traditionally been the largest of multinational corporations. Until recently, most vendors (SAP, PeopleSoft, Oracle, etc.) have promoted a “one size fits all” solution built on “industry best practices.” This approach forced organizations to either conform to the “best practices” and configurations suggested by vendors and implementation consultants or embark on extremely costly reconfiguration of their ERP package. The study reviews the concepts of control, coordination, and their trade‐offs plus Bartlett and Ghoshal’s topology of firm strategy. Human resource issues are introduced as examples of organization elements that may or may not conform to the enterprise design structure within coordination and control. Finally, the concepts of control and coordination and the Bartlett and Ghoshal topology are combined to create a firm strategic orientation which is then matched to an ideal ERP configuration or enterprise information architecture.

Details

Business Process Management Journal, vol. 7 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-7154

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 February 2011

Christian Kowalkowski, Daniel Kindström and Per‐Olof Brehmer

Despite the increased focus on industrial services in manufacturing companies, little research to date has focused on understanding the roles of local and central organizations in…

4987

Abstract

Purpose

Despite the increased focus on industrial services in manufacturing companies, little research to date has focused on understanding the roles of local and central organizations in global service management. In order to address this research gap, the paper aims to investigate how industrial service offerings are developed and managed in multinational manufacturing companies.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative case study with respondents from two internationally leading manufacturers was conducted. Eight industrial service offerings with different characteristics serve as units of analysis.

Findings

A broad portfolio of industrial service offerings implies having a very wide range of skill sets, including both global efficiency and local responsiveness. With specialized and extensive offerings, it becomes more important to have a high level of central‐local and product‐service integration and to internalize service provision. Furthermore, with global customers, the central service organization needs to assume a more prominent role, initiating both an organizational exploitation of current service capabilities and the exploration of new ones.

Research limitations/implications

The main focus was on service offerings performed by high‐volume manufacturing companies operating primarily in developed markets.

Originality/value

Previous studies of industrial service management in manufacturing companies have not explicitly considered the roles of central and local organizations. Thus, the authors were able to complement the existing theory. The paper promotes a deeper understanding of the complexity of managing service offerings on a global basis.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 26 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 February 2008

Alan Fish, Ramudu Bhanugopan and Julie Cogin

This research was undertaken to further understand a “values” based taxonomy designed to assess the “cultural and business suitability” of managers for appointment to cross‐border…

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Abstract

Purpose

This research was undertaken to further understand a “values” based taxonomy designed to assess the “cultural and business suitability” of managers for appointment to cross‐border business and management roles. In particular, this paper aims to explore the extrapolative and interrelated nature of a two‐dimensional bipolar taxonomy of value orientations; as well as the nature and strength of the relationship between the model's predictors.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 262 cross‐border managers working for a large transnational American owned logistics firm responded to this study. The group completed a questionnaire based on a two‐dimensional taxonomy of value orientations. The dimensions tested were first a manager's values viz., their potential “National Identity”. Secondly, a manager's values vis., their potential “Cross‐Border Business Focus”. Factor analysis and canonical correlations were employed to identify key factor constructs and then to evaluate the measurement fit between the constructs; also to examine any significant relationship between the identified constructs.

Findings

Results support both the extrapolative and interrelated nature of the taxonomy with significant results (p<0.05) confirming the strength of the relationships between the identified constructs as potential predictors of “cultural and business impact” and hence “individual suitability” for cross‐border assignments.

Research limitations/implications

Whilst the research is limited to one large US‐owned transnational logistics firm, the diversity of respondents with respect to cultural background; age, gender and amount of experience has not impacted results. Results suggest that awareness of both a manager's “National Identity” and “Cross‐Border Business Focus”, may provide useful additional information vis., a manager's cultural and business impact and hence assist in the selection of managers for cross‐border assignments.

Originality/value

Results appear to provide useful insights into the potential “cultural and business suitability” of managers; as well as the early identification of managers, for important cross‐border business and management assignments.

Details

Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, vol. 15 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-7606

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 5000