International Business

Liberalism is a term employed in a dizzying variety of ways across the humanities and social sciences. This essay seeks to reframe how the liberal tradition is understood. I start by delineating different types of response – prescriptive, comprehensive, explanatory – that are frequently conflated in answering the question “what is liberalism?” I then discuss assorted methodological strategies employed in the existing literature: after rejecting “stipulative” and “canonical” approaches, I outline a contextualist alternative. On this (comprehensive) account, liberalism is best characterised as the sum of the arguments that have been classified as liberal, and recognised as such by other self-proclaimed liberals, over time. In the remainder of the article I present an historical analysis of shifts in the meaning of liberalism in Anglo-American political thought between 1850 and 1950, focusing in particular on how John Locke came to be seen as a liberal. I also explore the emergence of the category of "liberal democracy". I argue that the scope of the liberal tradition was massively expanded during the middle decades of the twentieth century, such that it came to be seen by many as the constitutive ideology of the West. This capacious (and deeply confusing) understanding of liberalism was produced by a conjunction of the ideological wars fought against “totalitarianism” and assorted developments in the social sciences. Today we both inherit and inhabit it.

"This study investigates the history of English language education in Japan over the past 150 years. For this purpose, tabulated representations have been devised which illustrate the educational events in each historical era alongside key national and international events and trends. This is a means of illustrating how local education is a microcosm of the society and the world around it, and the manner in which globalization has an impact upon it. In tracing the inter-relatedness between education, society, politics and economics at the local and global levels, various issues are raised which explain why changes have been made in English language education. Among these issues are the periods of immense popularity of English in Japan, seen by some as "linguistic imperialism" (Phillipson, 1992), yet in the early part of Japan's modernization as "a product of the struggle against imperialism" (Brutt-Giffler, 2002, as cited in Park, 2004, p.87). The tables clarify these two polarized stances and give insights into the fluctuating periods of popularity and decline over time in English language education in Japan.

Keywords. English language education in Japan, globalization of English language teaching, Japanese 'macro' events and English education"

Introduction
This case study focuses on a fast growing online business services startup platform in Australia.  It operates as its own functioning business unit under the umbrella of News Ltd, who own a cluster of individual digital companies also known as Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, one of the world’s largest global media companies.  This case study examines a change that occurred when almost the entire senior management staff level was replaced including the CEO two years ago. 

Organisational change is something that occurs throughout an organisation’s life cycle and effects the entire organisation rather than one part of it.  Employing a new person is one example.  Change is increasing due to a number of forces including globalisation led by rapidly advancing technologies, cultural diversity, environmental resources and the economy; therefore the ability to recognise the need for change as well as implement change strategies effectively, in a proactive response to internal and external pressures is essential to organisational performance.  Internal changes can include organisational structure, process and HR requirements and external changes involve government legislation, competitor movements and customer demand (Wood et al, 2010).

Change does not need to be a painful process, as it may seem when observing the amount of failed change management initiatives with reports as low as 10% of researched success rates (Oakland & Tanner, 2007), when successful change management strategies are utilised and planned, including effective communication strategies, operational alignment, readiness to change and implementation, which all lower and overcome resistance (Wood et al, 2010). 

There is a great amount of literature on the negative aspects and difficult management with employees resisting change, however Wood et al (2010) challenge this notion by questioning the change management process as people do not resist change itself but aspects of the change that affects them personally such as fear of the unknown, status, remuneration and comfort.  Resistance to these changes is a healthy reaction and can be managed effectively in the beginning by ensuring communication and using one of the change initiatives described here .

The following is an analysis of the IKEA case study found in the Strategic Management Text book. This analyses the strategies used by IKEA to gain competitive advantage in markets outside its original area. The report begins by providing a background into IKEA. It studies International Business Level Strategy and the three international corporate level strategies.

Growth of research addressing the relationship between culture and consumption is exponential [Ogden D., Ogden J. and Schau HJ. Exploring the impact of culture and acculturation on consumer purchase decisions: toward a microcultural perspective. Academy Marketing Science Review 2004;3.]. However culture is an elusive concept posing considerable difficulties for cross-cultural research [Clark T. International Marketing and national character: A review and proposal for an integrative theory. Nasif EG., Al-Daeaj H., Ebrahimi B. and Thibodeaux M. Methodological problems in cross-cultural research: An updated review. Management International Review 1991; 31 (1): 79-91.; Lenartowicz T. and Roth K. A framework for culture assessment. Journal of International Business Studies 1999; 30 (4): 781-98.]. This article examines different approaches to conceptualising and operationalizing culture in marketing studies. The article discusses the advantages of using cultural dimensionsin particular Hofstede's values. The article proposes a three-step approach to operationalize culture including nationality, Hofstede's cultural dimensions and measuring culture at the individual level.

Many international business failures have been ascribed to a lack of crosscultural competence (CC) on the part of business practitioners. However, the international business literature appears to lack an adequate conceptualization and definition of the term 'CC', focusing instead on the knowledge, skills and attributes that appear to be its antecedents. In this conceptual study, we propose a definition of CC as it applies to international business and develop a model for understanding how CC is nurtured in individuals, linking our definition to the concept of cultural intelligence. We discuss the components of the model and suggest that there are environmental and contextual impediments to the effective application of the requisite skills, knowledge and attributes that have been identified as necessary for CC, resulting in a gap between 'knowing' and 'doing'. We conclude by discussing the implications of the model for practitioners, and by suggesting appropriate directions for further research.

This situational and strategic analysis examines the present situation of furniture and fitting market leader IKEA providing recommendations on how the company could strategically maintain its lead on a long-term basis in an ever changing uncertain future.

This report reviews and categorizes the enormous corpus of knowledge produced by American academic and policy institutions about U.S. relations with the Middle East and other Islamic actors in the international arena. The report identifies five epistemic communities – conservatives, neoconservatives, realists, liberals and the left – and analyzes their discourses and policy recommendations. Finally, the policies that these epistemic communities recommended are evaluated and assessed. The author recommends a mixed-paradigmatic approach that will not only make the United States more effective in the Middle East but also underscore its continuing relevance to the security and the stability of the region and the global order.

Introducción El presente trabajo es una reseña del libro estamos ciegos, solicitado en la materia de Marketing Internacional; Donde se analizarán los puntos más importantes y finalmente podré dar mi opinión personal acerca del mismo, si me gustó o no, y cómo lo puedo aplicar ya sea en mi vida personal o en su defecto, dentro de mi carrera. Desarrollo "Estamos ciegos" por Jurgen Klaric es un libro donde se aplica la neurociencia junto con el Marketing actual, y desglosa en diferentes capítulos cuestiones sobre la "ceguera" por la que está pasando el Marketing actualmente, además de que nos otorga 10 principios fundamentales para combatir lo anterior. Evidentemente, a pesar de todos los temas aplicados en el libro, se trata consistentemente sobre el consumidor final, como en los tiempos actuales es el consumidor más "vivo" a comparación de los años anteriores. ¿Qué procede? Cómo lo hemos estado analizando desde "The Blue Ocean Strategy" y "La vaca púrpura", se necesita un diferenciador que haga sobresalir a nuestro producto por encima de los demás, que sea único, y que pueda ser el que decida las reglas del juego y no ser únicamente un seguidor más; puesto que en la actualidad vivimos en un mundo comercial que resulta ser más saturado y simple de lo que hubiéramos pensado. Lo hemos analizado también en "La tierra es Plana", el mundo y todas las cuestiones de cavidad comercial se encuentran cada vez más al alcance de nuestras manos (para ser exactos, de un click); Esto nos obliga como empresa a no solo resignarnos con miles de investigaciones de mercado que a pesar de que pueden ser útiles, cada vez más se están quedando con más riesgo de datos cezgados, ¿por qué? Porque la sociedad está cambiando constantemente, y por lo mismo, lo está haciendo el mercado. Entonces las investigaciones de mercado pueden ser algo anticuadas después de un mes. ¿Cómo podríamos hacer que nuestro producto destaque? Conociendo al consumidor final, es decir, si saber cual es nuestro mercado meta y todas las características que nos puede otorgar la investigación de mercado, pero además de eso, buscar un distintivo (nuestro propio Océano azul, nuestra vaca púrpura), y conocer cómo podríamos hacer que nuestro consumidor no solo sienta, sino que realmente crea que lo que tenemos para ofrecer es una necesidad inminente en su vida diaria. Aquí es cuando entra en juego la investigación que hizo Jurgen Klaric; respecto a cómo podríamos utilizar la psicología en nuestros clientes.

This paper develops a balanced scorecard for supply chain management (SCM) that measures and evaluates day-to-day business operations from following four perspectives: finance, customer, internal business process, and learning and growth. Balanced scorecard has been developed based on extensive review of literature on SCM performance measures, supported by three case studies, each illustrating ways in which BSC was developed and applied in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in India. The paper further suggests that a balanced SCM scorecard can be the foundation for a strategic SCM system provided that certain development guidelines are properly followed, appropriate metrics are evaluated, and key implementation obstacles are overcome. The balanced scorecard developed in this paper provides a useful guidance for the practical managers in evaluation and measuring of SCM in a balanced way and proposes a balanced performance measurement system to map and analyze supply chains. While suggesting balanced scorecard, different SCM performance metrics have been reviewed and distributed into four perspectives. This helps managers to evaluate SCM performance in a much-balanced way from all angles of business.

The rising number of non-status migrants is one of the central political issues of our time. This essay argues that if we want to understand the political and philosophical importance of this phenomenon, the contributions of Alain Badiou, his militant group L'Organisation politique (OP), and the struggle of the sans-papiers movement in France are absolutely crucial. This is the case because, I will argue, Badiou, the OP, and the sans-papiers created a new kind of migrant justice struggle in the mid-1990s that in many ways remains at the practical and theoretical roots of much of non-status migrant organizing today. However, this essay also argues that Badiou's theoretical and political work with the sans-papiers also needs to be revised and updated in light of certain developments in more recent migrant justice struggles.

This report presents how McDonald's has achieved enormous success, its best practices in the global food industry, international growth trends and effect on its operating income and number of increasing restaurants across the globe from their expansion in foreign countries.

Back cover text: Megaprojects and Risk provides the first detailed examination of the phenomenon of megaprojects. It is a fascinating account of how the promoters of multi-billion dollar megaprojects systematically and self-servingly misinform parliaments, the public and the media in order to get projects approved and built. It shows, in unusual depth, how the formula for approval is an unhealthy cocktail of underestimated costs, overestimated revenues, undervalued environmental impacts and overvalued economic development effects. This results in projects that are extremely risky, but where the risk is concealed from MPs, taxpayers and investors. The authors not only explore the problems but also suggest practical solutions drawing on theory, experience and hard, scientific evidence from the several hundred projects in twenty nations and five continents that illustrate the book. Accessibly written, it will be the standard reference for students, scholars, planners, economists, auditors, politicians and interested citizens for many years to come.

In this paper we argue that the use of the communicative theory of Jürgen Habermas in planning theory is problematic because it hampers an understanding of how power shapes planning. We posit an alternative approach based on the power analytics of Michel Foucault which focuses on ‘what is actually done’, as opposed to Habermas’s focus on ‘what should be done’. We discuss how the Foucauldian stance problematises planning, asking difficult questions about the treatment of legitimacy, rationality, knowledge and spatiality. We conclude that Foucault offers a type of analytic planning theory which offers better prospects than does Habermas for those interested in understanding and bringing about democratic social change through planning.

The purpose of this research article is to evaluate the customers’ satisfaction towards the banking
services rendered by the SBI in Kanyakumari District. The author conducted a literature search on banking
services of SBI interviewing of its 150 customers and thoroughly scrutinized how it caters to the banking needs of
the inhabitants of Kanyakumari district. The study also focused on various factors that determine the customers’
satisfaction like employees’ behaviour, banking services, banking performance, infra- structure facility, loan
oriented services and other value added services. Analysis was made by using various tools like percentage
Analysis, Chi- Square Test and charts. The result showed that there is a significant relationship between the
variable of customer satisfaction and banking services of the SBI and the customers have a medium level of
satisfaction. The SBI could consider the researcher’s suggestions in order to alleviate its reputation and customer
satisfaction.
Keywords: Customer satisfaction, Banking Services and services of SBI.

Drawing on organizational learning and economic sociology, we address how relational embeddedness between the foreign parent and international joint venture (IJV) managers influences the type of knowledge (i.e., tacit and explicit) transferred to the IJV, and how the importance of relational embeddedness varies between young and mature IJVs. We also examine the influence of tacit and explicit knowledge on IJV performance. Our results show the importance that tie strength, trust, and shared values and systems play in the transfer of tacit knowledge, especially for mature IJVs. Our findings are consistent with Uzzi's tenets: tacit learning is accumulative, assists in explaining explicit knowledge, and is enhanced by social embeddedness. We also find that the influence of transferred tacit knowledge on IJV performance stems principally from its indirect effect on the learning of explicit knowledge.

E-waste management is a serious challenge across developed, transition, and developing countries because of the consumer society and the globalization process. E-waste is a fast-growing waste stream which needs more attention of international organizations, governments, and local authorities in order to improve the current waste management practices. The book reveals the pollution side of this waste stream with critical implications on the environment and public health, and also it points out the resource side which must be further developed under the circular economy framework with respect to safety regulations. In this context, complicated patterns at the global scale emerge under legal and illegal e-waste trades. The linkages between developed and developing countries and key issues of e-waste management sector are further examined in the book.

Este artículo presenta un proyecto de investigación teórica y aplicada, en donde se ha dado inicio a una fase de revisión bibliográfica, como parte del estado del arte que se pretende obtener del modelo teórico de los cambios de contexto enfocados a los procesos de compra. Las ciencias del comportamiento se están constituyendo como uno de los campos más fuertes y sólidos para proveer de un marco explicativo a los negocios internacionales y a las ciencias económicas y financieras. Se emplearon herramientas bibliométricas para el análisis de las bases de datos y se llevaron a cabo meta-análisis para filtrar la información obtenida. El rastreo hecho en grandes bases de datos como Web of Science, Scopus y Pubmed han permitido entender que hay 887 artículos científicos que abordan el cambio de contexto desde el análisis experimental de la conducta, permitiendo que se posibilite armar un esqueleto teórico de la teoría del cambio de contexto. Este riguroso rastreo elucida que los procesos de compra aplicados a los negocios internacionales y a las ciencias económicas y financieras, se constituye como un marco explicativo altamente eficaz para la comprensión de las conductas de consumo en los mercados de todo el mundo.

This study examines the extensive strategic analysis of AirAsia Berhad that has enabled it to sustain its competitive advantage as Asia's leading low cost carrier (LCC). The study demonstrates the diverse business-level, corporate level and competitive strategies of AirAsia Berhad, played crucial roles in the LCC to successfully penetrate the under-served market segment of the airline industry within the ASEAN region. An in-depth analysis using a wide array of academic resources, relevant financial, legal and management resources and authorized websites, including face-to-face interviews were used to provide a more consequential comprehension on the varied business and international strategies that were implemented by AirAsia Berhad. This research exhibits critical analysis pertaining to the current macro environment of the aviation industry which includes the PESTEL framework and Porter's Industry Analysis. The competitive environment analysis for AirAsia Berhad is thoroughly scrutinised to examine the driving determinants that attributed to the organisation's competitive advantage in the industry. Further analysis using the Ansoff Matrix, lends evidence to the successful growth of the organization. Additionally, the international strategies that were implemented exhibit the foresight of the airline. The study concludes by adopting the balance scorecard framework to evaluate the organization from four pertinent perspectives of an organization which includes financial performance, customer knowledge, internal business process and learning and growth.

Megaproject Planning and Management: Essential Readings contains the seminal articles from the growing body of research on megaproject planning and management along with an original introduction by the editor, Bent Flyvbjerg. The leading and most cited authority in the field, Flyvbjerg has used crowdsourcing and 25 years of experience to cherry-pick from several hundred articles and books the writings that define the field. This volume will be an indispensable source for those wishing to speak with authority about how megaprojects are prepared, delivered, and fought over. The target audience is students, academics, practitioners, and media pundits alike, as well as communities affected by megaprojects.

In this paper we characterise the propensity of big capital investments to systematically deliver poor outcomes as “fragility,” a notion suggested by Nassim Taleb. A thing or system that is easily harmed by randomness is fragile. We argue that, contrary to their appearance, big capital investments break easily — i.e. deliver negative net present value — due to various sources of uncertainty that impact them during their long gestation, implementation, and operation periods. We do not refute the existence of economies of scale and scope. Instead we argue that big capital investments have a disproportionate (non-linear) exposure to uncertainties that deliver poor or negative returns above and beyond their economies of scale and scope. We further argue that to succeed, leaders of capital projects need to carefully consider where scaling pays off and where it does not. To automatically assume that "bigger is better," which is common in megaproject management, is a recipe for failure.

Using objective measures of investor protections in 170 countries, I establish that the level of investor protection matters for cross-country differences in GDP growth: countries with stronger protections tend to grow faster than those with poor investor protections.

At the same time that case studies are widely used and have produced canonical texts, it may be observed that the case study as a methodology is generally held in low regard, or is simply ignored, within the academy. For example, only 2 of the 30 top-ranked U.S. graduate programs in political science require a dedicated graduate course in case study or qualitative methods, and a full third of these programs do not even offer such a course. In contrast, all of the top 30 programs offer courses in quantitative methods and almost all of them require training in such methods, often several courses. In identifying this paradox of the case study’s wide use and low regard, Gerring rightly remarks that the case study survives in a “curious methodological limbo,” and that the reason is that the method is poorly understood. In what follows, we will try to resolve Gerring’s paradox and help case study research gain wider use and acceptance.

This paper deals with the integration-responsiveness framework, one of the most widely used
frameworks which have been developed to explain different strategies and organizational settings of
multinational corporations. Following a short introduction into the basic assumptions of the integrationresponsiveness
framework, the paper explores extensions and refinements of conceptional ideas on
which the framework is based over the last thirty years. Finally, the integration-responsiveness framework
is applied to map the contemporary strategic and organizational developments within the global
brewing industry.

The drive for reform in the public sector worldwide has focussed attention on the measurement of performance in public sector organizations. This is particularly true in local government. Local government has traditionally been concerned with measuring the delivery of primary objectives, or results, at the expense of secondary objectives, or the determinants of organizational performance. Current strategic management literature suggests that there should be a strong linkage between strategic plans and performance measures. Kaplan and Norton's (1992) balanced scorecard and Fitzgerald et al. 's (1991) results and determinants framework can provide this linkage. This paper reports on research into performance management systems in local government using the four dimensions of the balanced scorecard: financial, community, internal business processes and innovation and learning. It shows how the focus in this system of local government has been on the results of council work, ie. financial performance and to a lesser extent on how the community views performance. Local government performance measurement pays much less attention to the determinants, or means of achieving long-term, sustained organizational improvement in internal business processes, and innovation and learning. Whilst these issues are recognized as important, there are few measurement processes in place to manage performance in these areas. Strategic performance management demands an approach that recognizes the importance of a focus on both results and the means of achieving these results. This paper highlights a suggested framework for strategic and balanced local government performance measurement.

The twenty-first century will be the century of the migrant. At the turn of the twenty-first century, there were more migrants than ever before in recorded history. Today there are over 1 billion migrants. Each decade, the percentage of migrants as a share of total population continues to rise, and in the next twenty-five years, the rate of migration is predicted to be higher than in the last twenty-five. More than ever, it is becoming necessary for people to migrate due to environ- mental, economic, and political instability. In particular, climate change may even double international migration over the next forty years. What is more, the percentage of total migrants who are non-status or undocumented is also increasing, thus posing a serious challenge to democracy and political representation.

This special issue asks, “Do classics exist in megaproject management?” We identify three types of classics: conventional, Kuhnian, and citation classics. We find that the answer to our question depends on the definition of “classic” employed. First, “citation classics” do exist in megaproject management, and they perform remarkably well when compared to the rest of the management literature. A preliminary Top Ten of citation classics is presented. Second, there is no indication that “conventional classics” exist in megaproject management, i.e., texts recognized as definitive by a majority of experts. Third, there is also no consensus as to whether “Kuhnian classics" exist, i.e., texts with paradigmatic clout. The importance of classics seems to be accepted, however, just as work to develop, discuss, and consolidate classics is seen as essential by megaproject scholars. A set of guidelines is presented for developing classics in megaproject management research.

For a totally revised, extended and updated version/paper, see: "Gigantism in container shipping, ports and global logistics: a time-lapse into the future"  (freely downloadable from the link below).

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41278-018-00116-0

Actors in competitive environments are bound to decide and act under conditions of uncertainty because they rarely have accurate foreknowledge of how their opponents will respond and when they will respond. Just as a competitor makes a move to improve their standing on a given variable relative to a target competitor, she should expect the latter to counteract with an iterative lagged asymmetric response, that is, with a sequence of countermoves (iteration) that is very different in kind from its trigger (asymmetry) and that will be launched at some unknown point in the future (time lag). The paper explicates the broad relevance of the newly proposed concept of " iterative lagged asymmetric responses " to the social study of temporality and to fields as diverse as intelligence and counterintelligence studies, strategic management, futures studies, military theory, and long-range planning. By bringing out in the foreground and substantiating the observation that competitive environments place a strategic premium on surprise, the concept of iterative lagged asymmetric responses makes a contribution to the never-ending and many-pronged debate about the extent to which the future can be predicted.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0961463X17752652