Leslie O. Morgan, Winter Nie and Scott T. Young
Global business frequently requires the expatriation and repatriation of managers and skilled workers. Previous research has focused on cultural and demographic factors that lead…
Abstract
Global business frequently requires the expatriation and repatriation of managers and skilled workers. Previous research has focused on cultural and demographic factors that lead to success with this process. This study goes beyond the cultural and demographic issues to examine implications of operational and technology‐related factors, including use of standard practices, degree of technical sophistication of operations, and technical orientation of the employee. Our results indicate that the technical sophistication of operations abroad, use of standard practices at home, technical orientation of the individual, and increased responsibility and promotion all positively contribute to expatriate satisfaction. Repatriate satisfaction is primarily influenced by difficulty in finding a suitable position upon relocation home. The technical orientation of the individual, in turn, has important implications for repatriation success. This research identifies important new operational and technology‐related factors that should be considered by global firms in management of their internationally located operations.
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The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of 1977 and its amendment – the Trade and Competitive Act of 1988 – are unique not only in the history of the accounting and auditing…
Abstract
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of 1977 and its amendment – the Trade and Competitive Act of 1988 – are unique not only in the history of the accounting and auditing profession, but also in international law. The Acts raised awareness of the need for efficient and adequate internal control systems to prevent illegal acts such as the bribery of foreign officials, political parties and governments to secure or maintain contracts overseas. Its uniqueness is also due to the fact that the USA is the first country to pioneer such a legislation that impacted foreign trade, international law and codes of ethics. The research traces the history of the FCPA before and after its enactment, the role played by the various branches of the United States Government – Congress, Department of Justice, Securities Exchange commission (SEC), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS); the contributions made by professional associations such as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICFA), the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the American Bar Association (ABA); and, finally, the role played by various international organizations such as the United Nations (UN), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). A cultural, ethical and legalistic background will give a better understanding of the FCPA as wll as the rationale for its controversy.
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The purpose of this paper is to discuss the criminogenic nature of isomorphism and groupthink in business organisations with a view to developing a conceptual model of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the criminogenic nature of isomorphism and groupthink in business organisations with a view to developing a conceptual model of the criminalisation process leading to criminal behaviour within businesses.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws on institutional theory and social psychology theory to discuss how isomorphic and groupthink processes may lead to criminal behaviour in the corporate world. The paper is based on a rigorous review of the relevant literature and theoretical frameworks regarding isomorphic dynamics, processes, factors, forces and mechanisms in the business context. The review was guided by a question of how isomorphic and groupthink processes can transform business organisations and its members into offenders. The approach applied was to transfer the existing theories of isomorphism and groupthink into the field of criminology, in order to devise a new model of the process of criminalisation.
Findings
The effects of isomorphic and groupthink processes can have a criminogenic effect on businesses and individuals in organisational settings which may coerce agents to engage in criminal behaviour. In crime-facilitative circumstances, isomorphism and groupthink foster criminal activity by cultivating homogeneous behaviour, conformity, resemblance, shared values and identical ways of thinking across and within firms. This herd behaviour can be regarded as one of the explanations for the pervasiveness of criminal and unethical behaviour in the corporate world, the consequences of which could be devastating.
Research limitations/implications
This is a theoretical analysis, not one based on empirical findings, though it does suggest a model for future testing.
Practical implications
This study explains the criminogenic nature of isomorphic and groupthink processes and contributes to the debate on the casualisation of corporate crime. This has important implications for the deterrence of illegal and unethical activities at both the organisational and institutional levels.
Originality/value
This study provides a conceptual model of the criminalisation process in businesses fostered by criminogenic isomorphism and groupthink.
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It appears that of late the consumption of bread has fallen in this country; and I find that a scheme of advertising the necessity for eating more bread has been decided upon by…
Abstract
It appears that of late the consumption of bread has fallen in this country; and I find that a scheme of advertising the necessity for eating more bread has been decided upon by the Association of Millers, and is now in operation.
Alan M. Rugman and Cecilia Brain
Of the forty banks included in the world’s largest 500 firms, none operate on a global basis. All but one are heavily dependent on their home region, with an average of 78.3…
Abstract
Of the forty banks included in the world’s largest 500 firms, none operate on a global basis. All but one are heavily dependent on their home region, with an average of 78.3 percent of their sales being intra‐regional. The other bank is European owned but has a majority of its sales in North America, i.e. it is host‐region oriented. The insularity of the world’s largest banks is not a sector‐ specific factor only nine of the world’s 500 largest firms are global, and the vast majority are like the banks, home‐region based.
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Franz T. Lohrke, Gina W. Simpson and David M. Hunt
This paper seeks to further develop the bargaining power model of political risk management by employing a historical case study to uncover issues not presently considered in the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to further develop the bargaining power model of political risk management by employing a historical case study to uncover issues not presently considered in the model.
Design/methodology/approach
It first examines current political risk research, primarily focusing on the bargaining power model and then reviews a historical case study to demonstrate that the model remains incomplete. Next, both the resource‐based view (RBV) of the firm and institutional theory are examined to develop propositions to guide future bargaining power research.
Findings
Examining the bargaining power model by employing a historical case study of Panton, Leslie and Company, which operated in the present day Southeastern USA during its tumultuous colonization period, not only provides an interesting historical account of how one firm managed political risk, it suggests the need to modify the bargaining power model to consider both the specific resources required for differentiation and the need to balance differentiation and conformity pressures in managing political risk. Based on what this case study reveals about the model, it is suggested that the RBV provides insights into factors that may help an multinational enterprise (MNE) maintain its bargaining power based on differentiation even under changing environmental conditions. Further, it is suggested that institutional theory highlights conditions that make it more or less necessary for an MNE to conform to host government demands, which can reduce or enhance its bargaining power, respectively. Thus, in tandem, both may provide useful insights to produce a more “balanced” bargaining power view of political risk.
Originality/value
For practitioners, the findings highlight critical considerations in managing political risk by illustrating the need to balance differentiation and conformity. In addition, this review provides propositions to guide future empirical political risk research, especially studies focusing on bargaining power issues.
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In this paper, I demonstrate an alternative explanation to the development of the American electricity industry. I propose a social embeddedness approach (Granovetter, 1985, 1992…
Abstract
In this paper, I demonstrate an alternative explanation to the development of the American electricity industry. I propose a social embeddedness approach (Granovetter, 1985, 1992) to interpret why the American electricity industry appears the way it does today, and start by addressing the following questions: Why is the generating dynamo located in well‐connected central stations rather than in isolated stations? Why does not every manufacturing firm, hospital, school, or even household operate its own generating equipment? Why do we use incandescent lamps rather than arc lamps or gas lamps for lighting? At the end of the nineteenth century, the first era of the electricity industry, all these technical as well as organizational forms were indeed possible alternatives. The centralized systems we see today comprise integrated, urban, central station firms which produce and sell electricity to users within a monopolized territory. Yet there were visions of a more decentralized electricity industry. For instance, a geographically decentralized system might have dispersed small systems based around an isolated or neighborhood generating dynamo; or a functionally decentralized system which included firms solely generating and transmitting the power, and selling the power to locally‐owned distribution firms (McGuire, Granovetter, and Schwartz, forthcoming). Similarly, the incandescent lamp was not the only illuminating device available at that time. The arc lamp was more suitable for large‐space lighting than incandescent lamps; and the second‐generation gas lamp ‐ Welsbach mantle lamp ‐ was much cheaper than the incandescent electric light and nearly as good in quality (Passer, 1953:196–197).
Barrie O. Pettman and Richard Dobbins
This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.
Abstract
This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.
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OUR readers do not need the reminder that 1952 is the 75th year of Library Association history. Some opportunity may be found at the Bournemouth Conference to celebrate this fact…
Abstract
OUR readers do not need the reminder that 1952 is the 75th year of Library Association history. Some opportunity may be found at the Bournemouth Conference to celebrate this fact, in however modest a manner. The American Library Association, older by a year, celebrated its anniversary at Philadelphia last October, on which occasion Mr. F. G. B. Hutchings represented this country and spoke at a luncheon meeting to three hundred of the guests with acceptance. That celebration, however, appears to us to have been most significant for the comment on the Carnegie library gifts which was made by Mr. Ralph Munn, librarian of Pittsburgh Carnegie Library, in some ways the most spectacular one founded by the great Scot. Munn said:—