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This paper aims to addresses the question how a low-cost carrier (LCC) embedded in a coordinated market economy is succeeding in a highly competitive industry with a strong cost focus.

This paper reports the results of a case study of a LCC (Norwegian Air Shuttle). The case study draws on both organizational and institutional theory as to how the international business environment and the national institutional framework continuously impact on its strategies.

It is found that home-country high wage levels and strong labour regulation have been overcome by developing firm-specific capabilities based on active employee involvement which aligns with the tradition of the national system of industrial relations.

The present case study provides an input for further research on how actors deal with conflicting pressures. It supports the varieties of capitalism (VOC) argument that national institutional arrangements influence firms and actors’ strategies and practices, but it also supports the call within institutional theories for a more malleable conceptualizing of the link between actors and institutions than is the case in the VOC models.

The paper provides an account of a successful case in a highly competitive international business despite disadvantages linked with home-country institutions.

Many national and regional governments and various trade associations have created and are currently developing services that aim to provide support for firms that have just begun to or which plan to operate in international markets. Consequently, the purpose of this chapter is to illustrate the role of various support services especially in the case of software small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) aiming to expand internationally and accelerate their international growth. In the empirical part of the chapter, the authors review the key support organisations Finland has for its software industry. Through a descriptive empirical survey (n = 25) of the industry, we illustrate the role of various support services that are especially targeted at firms aiming to accelerate their international growth, irrespective of the phase of internationalisation. Furthermore, the authors study the use, quality and effectiveness of the internationalisation of support services from the viewpoint of managers of Finnish software SMEs. Based on our results, it is easy and logical to argue that better targeted programmes should be developed for rapidly internationalising firms in the turbulent software market. However, there are already a few innovative and better targeted programmes being offered to Finnish software firms. According to our study, in the later phases of internationalisation, the key to success is more closely linked to the availability of external funding as well as knowledge and contacts provided by international consultants.

The purpose of this chapter is to analyse the interplay between fathers’ perceptions of the workplace and how they enact fatherhood. Data were derived from qualitative in-depth interviews with seven elite, professional fathers employed at multinational manufacturing corporations in Detroit, Michigan. Fathers are highly educated, have a significant income and all but one have wives in the paid labour market. This study shows how the persistence of the ideal worker norm and penalties for using work-family policies (WFP) perpetuate the gendered division of paid and unpaid work. First, fathers who are ideal workers are rewarded; fathers who do not face criticism and obstacles to promotions. Second, management and supervisor’s discretion results in uneven access to WFP, penalizing fathers for asking and preventing most from using them. Third, fathers express desire to be ‘involved’, but their engagement is largely visible fatherhood.

This study extends our theoretical understandings of work, WFP and fatherhood from a distinct departure point – the elite fathers highlighted here have been parenting for at least three years, and live and work in circumstances that seemingly would allow them to disrupt normative expectations of work and family. The United States provides a unique backdrop to examine the navigation of competing work and family demands because reconciliation is largely left to employees and their families. Public and individual company policies are not enough; there must be a corresponding supportive family-friendly culture – supervisor support and penalty-free WFP – to disrupt gendered work and family.

Diverse understanding of corporate social responsibility (CSR) abounds among scholars and practitioners in Nigeria. The purpose of this chapter is to reinvent CSR in Nigeria through a deeper understanding of the meaning and theories of this nebulous concept for better application in the industry. The qualitative research approach is adopted, relying on critical review of scholarly articles on CSR, website information of selected companies and institutional documents. It was found that there are diverse meanings of CSR in the reviewed literature, but the philanthropic initiatives and corporate donations for social issues are the common CSR practices in Nigeria. Besides, the eight dominant theories of CSR that find relevance for applications in the industry are shareholder/agency, stakeholder, legitimacy, instrumental, social contract, conflict, green and communication theories. The implication of the discourse is that better understanding and application of CSR theories would strengthen conceptual, theoretical and empirical research in the field of CSR. Besides, CSR theories are useful sources of information for practitioners for designing social responsibility policies and practices as well as for providing scholars with sound theoretical framework for academic research.

The purpose of this paper is to explore coping strategies devised by executive women in family relationships to advance their career and to maintain career/family balance.

A qualitative methodology using a sample of 25 executive women explores career advancement and career/family balance strategies within work and family contexts.

Analysis produces multiple career advancement and career/family balance strategies, including professional support, personal support, value system, and life course strategies such as the “ordering” of career and family, negotiating spousal support, and whether to have children.

Adaptive strategies facilitate engagement in career and family, even in challenging gender environments, encouraging continued research on executive women's advancement and career/family balance. The idiosyncratic nature of career/family balance calls for greater emphasis on the context and timing of career and family experiences.

The paper offers guidance to women seeking to combine executive career and family and to organizations committed to the advancement and retention of women.

The paper jointly explores career advancement and career/family balance strategies pursued by executive women in family relationships. It contributes to a growing body of research on the coping mechanisms and adaptive strategies underlying balance between career and family.

For women in leadership, managing work and life obligations is essential, especially when leading in male dominated occupations such as STEM. This study examined social support and work-family integration/blurring to determine how women in leadership perceived these dynamics. By surveying STEM women leaders, this research explored work-life strategies and support resources used by women leaders to balance their work and non-work domains and promote their roles as leaders. Women leaders indicated difficulty delineating between work and personal roles and recognized informational and emotional support as most significant to their roles as leaders. Findings also indicated that most support came from spouses/significant others, female co-workers, and mentors outside the organization, respectively. These sources provided the support needed to maintain and progress in their roles as women leaders.

The aim is to gain an increased understanding of the factors motivating managers toward internationalizing their firms.

Attribution theory is employed in this study. Building upon the internationalization literature, an attribution model of internationalization is developed. A model of the influence of causal factors (i.e. uniqueness of offering, financial resources and competitive pricing) on a cognitive psychological consequence (i.e. expectations of success) and resulting behavioral consequence (i.e. international success) is examined in a sample of 152 managers of US‐based professional service firms through structural equation modeling.

The results, supporting the proposed model, suggest that attribution theory can provide a new lens through which greater insights into managerial mindsets driving the internationalization process can be gained.

This study provides new theoretical insights for international marketing academics as well as practical advice for those involved in the practice of international marketing.

Emerging adult women are actively engaged in career and family explorations, amidst changing opportunities and constraints. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether such women felt they could balance a high-achieving career and a family life, or what has become known in the popular discourse as women “having it all.”

This qualitative study utilized focus groups to explore subjective perceptions of balancing career and family held by emerging adult women. The sample (n=69) comprised female university students in a large Canadian metropolitan area.

Thematic analyses unearthed six distinct yet overlapping positions on the possibility of balancing career and family: Optimism (“I can have it all.”), Pessimism (“I cannot have it all.”), Uncertainty (“I am not sure I can have it all.”), Choice (“I don’t want to have it all.”), Pragmatism (“This is what I need to do to have it all.”) and Support (“Will I access the support necessary to have it all?”).

Limitations include the potential of focus groups to elicit group polarization and to lead participants to censor opinions to conform to conversations. Still, the study reveals more nuanced positions held by women than reported earlier.

The study extends prior research by revealing the range of positions held by women toward career and family, highlighting women’s understanding of the complex issues involved and showcasing their awareness of the crucial role of social support.