Global Business Strategy Research Articles

The first decade of e-commerce

Executives remain hopeful, despite recent turmoil in the e-commerce business environment, that the internet will fulfil their expectations and become a source of competitive advantage. The authors of this article provide a historical review of the first decade of e-commerce and its business models. The authors provide a historical foundation so that future research will not duplicate what has already been done by documenting the evolution of e-commerce models developed by researchers during the initial decade of e-commerce. In addition, strategic challenges facing executives who seek to use the internet as part of their global business strategy are offered.

Corporate Codes of Conduct as a Global Business Strategy

Corporate Codes of Conduct as a Global Business Strategy

NAFTA, WTO and global business strategy: how AIDS, trade and terrorism affect our economic future

Preface Abbreviations The Global Trading System and International Business Strategy International Trade in Goods International Trade in Services Intellectual Property Foreign Investment Agreements Firm Strategy in Negotiations and Enforcement of Trade Agreements How AIDS, Trade and Terrorism Affect Our Economic Future Conclusion Selected Bibliography Index

Global Companies, Global Society

One of the clearest challenges of the 21st century is to create multinational organizations that support an economically vibrant and culturally diverse global society. This article addresses issues raised in September 2001 from the perspective of a Norwegian-based multinational company that is combining its global business strategy with unique, artistically based organizational strategies to create both fiscal and cross-cultural success.

Global business alliances: theory and practice

Preface Introduction Global Business Competition and Alliances Theoretical Foundations International Business Strategy and Alliances Equity Alliances Non-Equity Alliances Global Alliances in the Auto Manufacturing Industry Global Alliances in the Pharmaceutical Industry Global Alliances in the Airline Industry Global Alliances in the Telecommunications Industry Alliance Management Index

Business Citizenship: From Domestic to Global Level of Analysis

Abstract:In this article we first review the development of the concept of global business citizenship and show how the libertarian political philosophy of free-market capitalism must give way to a communitarian view in order for the voluntaristic, local notion of “corporate citizenship” to take root. We then distinguish the concept of global business citizenship from “corporate citizenship” by showing how the former concept requires a transition from communitarian thinking to a position of universal human rights. In addition, we link global business citizenship to global business strategy and to three analytical levels of ethical norms. Finally, we trace a process whereby global businesses can implement fundamental norms and learn to accommodate to legitimate cultural differences.

Mining, Corporate Social Responsibility and the "Community": The Case of Rio Tinto, Richards Bay Minerals and the Mbonambi

Mining companies have long had a questionable reputation for social responsibility, especially in developing countries. In recent years, mining companies operating in developing countries have come under increased pressure as opponents have placed them under greater public scrutiny. Mining companies have responded by developing global corporate social responsibility strategies as part of their larger global business strategies. In these strategies, a prominent place is given to their relationship with local communities. For business ethics, one basic issue is whether such an approach to corporate responsibility is likely to effectively address the development concerns of local communities in developing countries. This paper addresses this question by investigating how the corporate social responsibility agenda of a major minor company has been implemented by one of its subsidiaries in South Africa.

Business Citizenship

In this article we first review the development of the concept of global business citizenship and show how the libertarian political philosophy of free-market capitalism must give way to a communitarian view in order for the voluntaristic, local notion of “corporate citizenship” to take root. We then distinguish the concept of global business citizenship from “corporate citizenship” by showing how the former concept requires a transition from communitarian thinking to a position of universal human rights. In addition, we link global business citizenship to global business strategy and to three analytical levels of ethical norms. Finally, we trace a process whereby global businesses can implement fundamental norms and learn to accommodate to legitimate cultural differences.

Quantitative and Dynamic Analysis of the Oli Variables Determining Fdi in China

The main determinants of foreign direct investment in China are analyzed quantitatively and dynamically based on Dunning’s eclectic theory and empirical models corresponding to location‐specific advantages, ownership‐specific advantages and internalization advantage. More specifically, the correlation between each OLI variable and FDI is tested and explained in detail. It is concluded that monopolistic advantages of technology and management experience of foreign investors along with China’s low labor cost and great market potential might be important factors attracting FDI in China. In addition, using an internal market to establish a network of international production might also be an important determinant for foreigners to directly invest in China. Others might include searching for attractive yields available in equity investment, devaluation of the Chinese currency, distance, culture and global business strategies.

Strategy, Organization and Incentives: Global Corporate Banking at Citibank

This paper studies organizational structure and incentives within a company, Citibank, that has an explicit and evolving global business strategy. The paper focuses on Citibank's corporate banking business, which in the mid-1990s underwent major changes in its strategy that, in turn, were accompanied by two major reorganizations and implementation of a new incentive compensation system. Citibank's corporate banking business in OECD markets moved from a geography-based organization to one that was multi-dimensional, with the customer dimension given first priority, the product dimension given second priority, and the geography dimension significantly de-emphasized. Citibank thus represents an excellent setting for examining the interplay among strategy and organizational structure in a complex, global company. Copyright 2001 by Oxford University Press.

State Collaboration with Transnational Corporations: The Case of Singapore's Industrial Programmes (1965–1999)

This paper explains how and why transnational corporations have chosen to collaborate with the Singapore government in certain industrial programmes, and not in others, between 1965 and 1999. In the analysis, this paper links two concepts, the global game of industrial production, and the developmental state, to explain the outcomes of three national industrial programmes in Singapore: the industrial transformation (1965–1980), industrial upgrading (1980–1990), and regional industrialization (1990–1999) programmes. This research finds that because of their relative autonomy from national governments, transnational corporations would collaborate not just due to the effectiveness of embedding strategies, but when these strategies were complementary to their own global business strategies within the global game of industrial production.

The Fatal Politics of Multinational Information Systems: A Case Study

There are few case studies about the development of an international information system for multinational corporations. This article shows a case study about an attempt to create a global information system by an international company from ’Australasia ’’ demonstrating the many pitfalls in the process. The case also shows how a grounded theory about the factors involved in the development and implementation of an international information system can be derived from a single case. The field of International Information Systems has taken on increased importance as organisations develop and refine their global operations. However, little research has been done to establish theoretical frameworks. The case story describes the evolution of an IIS as it follows its organisation’s global business development. Using a Grounded Theory method, a number of theoretical insights are distilled from the case. The article demonstrates the theory building process with two key findings: first, the notion of an"information system migration" following the development of the Global Business Strategy of the Multi-National enterprise through various stages; and second, the failure of the IIS to adapt to the organisation’s strategy changes sets up a field of antagonistic forces, in which business resistance summarily can kill all attempts to install a standard global information system. Conclusions for using cases in this way for applied methodology instruction analysis are outlined.

Ethnicity and Entreprenuership: The New Chinese Immigrants in the San Francisco Bay Area.

1.Introduction. Ethnicity and Economic Adaptation. 2.From China to San Francisco. The History of Chinese Immigration. The New and Old Immigrants: A Contrast. The Chinese in the San Francisco Bay Area. Residential Patterns. Chinatown: The Symbolic and Cultural Center. Chinese Associations. Chinatown as a Center of Ethnic Resources. 3.Who are the New Chinese Immigrants? The Sources of the New Chinese Immigration. Mainland China: Immigration Enthusiasm. The Uncertain Future of Hong Kong: 1997 and Beyond. Taiwan: Is There a Future? Educational and Occupational Backgrounds of the New Immigrants. Economic Resources of the New Immigrants. 4.Economic Challenges and Responses for the New Immigrants. Economic Opportunity for the New Immigrants. The Ethnic Niche of the Chinese. Engineers, Educators, and Entrepreneurs. 5.Family and Traditional Values: The Bedrock of Chinese Business. The Role of Kinship in Chinese Business. Family Members as Employers and Employees. Confucianism, Traditions, and Business. Business Continuity. 6.Global Strategies of Chinese Professionals and Businessmen. The Astronaut Trend. Global Business Strategies. The Establishment of an International Trading Network. Returning Home for Business. Transnational Workers: Other Countries. Conclusion. 7.Survival and Adaptation in Modern America. Contributions of the New Chinese Immigrants. Politics and the New Immigrants. Establishing Roots and Identities in America. Conclusions: Economic Adaptation and Ethnicity. References.

Executive Insights: Global Logistics

New developments in information technology and logistics practices are combining to offset traditional barriers to developing truly global business strategies. This article elaborates on these developments, provides a framework for understanding the scope and magnitude of global logistics, and presents a method for estimating heretofore unavailable global logistics expenditures.1

An Interregional and Intercultural Perspective on Subcultural Differences in Product Evaluations

AbstractThe role of country of origin in product evaluations is examined at the subnational level, based on a study of the views of English‐speaking versus French‐speaking Canadians toward products from seven culturally linked origins. The findings show that, the closer the origin region is perceived by the consumer, the stronger is the influence of culture on product assessments. Important differences between the two groups, particularly concerning attitudes toward products from Great Britain and France and those from industrialized and less developed regions, are discussed. The study suggests there is a need for more research in this area. It also suggests that firm strategies should account for subcultural differences and their influences on consumer behaviour.RésuméLa présente recherche qui porte sur le rǒle du pays d'origine dans l'évaluation des produits au niveau infranational, est basée sur une étude des points de vue des Canadiens anglophones par rapport à ceux des Canadiens francophones relativement aux produits provenant de sept origines culturellement liées. Les résultats montrent que, plus le lieu d'origine est perçu proche par le consommateur, plus l'influence de la culture sur l'évaluation des produits est forte. Des différences importantes entre les deux groupes, particulièrement concernant leur attitude à l'égard des produits de la Grande Bretagne et de la France et de ceux en provenance de régions industrialisées et d'autres moins développées, sont traitées ici. L'étude suggère qu'il est nécessaire de faire plus de recherche dans ce domaine et qu'il serait judicieux pour les stratégies des firmes de rendre compte des différences culturelles et de leur influence sur le comportement des consommateurs.

Aligning international editing efforts with global business strategies

The authors define international editing as editing documents for a multilingual readership or multinational distribution. They argue that international editing embodies and represents corporate global strategies, which directly affect editing choices. They describe three global strategies-ethnocentric, polycentric, or geocentric-and four categories of editing-linguistic, socio-cultural, political, and technical-on which editors can focus to produce business and technical documents that consistently align with corporate global strategies.

Assessing International Allocation Strategies

Allocating the operations of multinational enterprises to geographic locations where performance can be optimized has become an important strategic issue. In view of the continuing growth of international trade and foreign direct investment, managers need systematic procedures to determine global allocation strategies. Available frameworks on global business strategy are typically abstract and generalized, making them less suited for the development of tailor‐made allocation strategies. Quantitative allocation models in operations research tend to be biased towards optimizing mathematical algorithms, making them less suited to support managerial decision making. This paper bridges the gap between generic strategy frameworks and highly quantitative operations research models by presenting a scanning tool to support decision making on strategic allocation issues. An important feature of this tool is to systematically filter available data, intended to quality and quantify critical product, process and market characteristics for specific product classes. The scanning tool has been applied in two cases, involving allocation decisions of a European multinational in the fast moving consumer goods industry.

Use transnational teams to globalize your company

The authors report on their two-year study of successful transnational teams, in which they examined how such teams are designed and managed to help their firms pursue global business strategies. Based on this study, they present a comprehensive model of team effectiveness that includes the key characteristics differentiating a transnational team from other types of work teams. The model shows how transnational teams operate—how they are staffed and led, communicate across great distances, and cope with cross-cultural issues. In closing, they describe how a company's human resources department can help an “international” or “multinational” team become a “transnational” team—one that has successfully transcended the cultural, geographic, and managerial barriers to team effectiveness.

Strengthening the weak link in strategic executive development: Integrating individual development and global business strategy

AbstractThe global business environment of the 1990s provides both challenge and opportunity to human resource development to become an integral player in helping implement business strategy. The results of two best practice studies suggest that some leading firms such as 3M and Motorola are doing just that. At these companies current strategic business issues are the drivers of flexible and opportunistic executive development activities. Naturally occurring on‐the‐job experiences are consciously utilized in such a way that helping executives to develop becomes an integral part of conducting business. The implications of linking executive development to business strategy for practice and for future research are discussed. © 1995 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Linking Information Technology to Global Business Strategy to Gain Competitive Advantage: An Integrative Model

While information technology has been recognized as critically important for supporting global business strategy, the contingent relationships between salient dimensions of an information technology and key sources of competitive advantage have not been systematically explicated and discussed in the literature. Instead, a universal view of the role of information technology in developing competitive advantage for a firm is often adopted. Taking a contingency perspective, this paper more systematically examines the links among global business strategies, global information technologies (GIT) and competitive advantage within an integrative framework. Additionally, the issue of sustainability of GIT-based competitive advantages is addressed using the conceptual tool kits of the I/O (industrial organization)-based and resource-based theories of strategic management. The proposed conceptual model provides an encompassing framework for future research on the increasingly important topic of global information technology and its potential to generate competitive advantage for firms.