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The case describes the popular Russian children's animated TV series named the Smeshariki, its parent company (Marmelad), the domestic animation industry, and the principal international rivals and their respective animated products and/or services. The series' success led to the organic growth of vertically and horizontally related business units. Marmelad's business units' scope included producing more than 200, six and one-half minute episodes of the Smeshariki, branded children's products (e.g. educational games), granting licenses to manufacturers, establishing a network of kindergartens, and licensing the Smeshariki animated series to exhibitors in international markets. Key issues the company faces include: brand management for the Smeshariki and Marmelad, domestic and international competition in the Russian animation industry, and the need for professional management. The case provides instructors with a range of options including a holistic marketing case, or one that concentrates on focused marketing issues (i.e. all or parts of the marketing mix, brand architecture, brand equity and brand management).

To investigate the relationship between two structural dimensions (formalization and decentralization) and two quality dimensions (design and conformance).

A total sample of 758 staff members and patients in five hospitals completed a questionnaire composed of four scales designed to measure the main variables in our study. Correlation and regression analysis were used to measure and confirm the study's hypotheses.

It was found that higher levels of decentralization are related to higher levels of design quality while higher levels of formalization are related to higher levels of conformance quality.

The results suggest that hospital managers need to skillfully handle the structural conflict between decentralization and formalization, and use both dimensions simultaneously to improve hospital performance and patients' service quality.

Previous studies are advanced by clarifying the impact of structural variables on total quality. A positive relationship between decentralization and design quality; and between formalization and conformance quality is empirically confirmed. The study points out the necessity of simultaneously achieving high levels of both formalization and decentralization in order to improve hospital performance in general and both components of total quality in particular.

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.

The applicability of total quality management (TQM) to higher education instruction is controversial. The purpose of this paper is to help clarify the application of TQM to higher education instruction by identifying and analyzing the dual roles played by both students and instructors. The authors also offer an improvement to the instructor evaluation process designed to eliminate some of the negative effects of the duality of roles.

This is a conceptual paper discussing some of the shortcomings in previous discussions of the applicability of TQM to higher education instruction. In addition, it introduces the concept of the dual roles of students (customers/grade‐seekers) and faculty (suppliers/retention‐seekers), and analyzes their relationship to, and effect on, the evaluation of the educational process through the interaction of these dual roles.

This paper helps understand more fully the student/instructor roles and will contribute to a better understanding of the applicability of TQM to higher education. It offers a methodology to enhance the faculty evaluation process as a measure of instructional quality and offers actions that will strengthen the knowledge‐seeking motivation of students.

This paper offers a more thorough analysis of the roles of students and faculty than previous discussions of the TQM in higher education. The value of this paper is the identification of two pairs of contradictory roles played by both participants in the instruction process which complicates an understanding of the concept of quality and applicability of TQM to higher education.

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.