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In order to win the global race for innovation as a source for competitive advantage, many companies enter into any kind of business co‐operation. Beyond intending to grow merely quantitatively, co‐operation partners should target to commonly create new knowledge and to transfer knowledge as a basis for qualitative growth. This apparent deficiency of practitioners is compounded by a lack of theory and empirical research on intercultural knowledge transfer. This task becomes even more daunting, when co‐operation partners transcend borders, and the knowledge transfer process becomes impacted by national cultures. This paper aims to present empirical research that illuminates the effects which national cultures have on the transfer of knowledge between Central/Eastern Europe (CEE) using Russia as a case study, and Western European partners.

The paper applies a phenomenological approach applying grounded theory for data generation and analysis. The research method is a case study, and as research techniques 11 interviews with senior Russian managers and academics were conducted and three participant observation events in Russian settings were chosen. The researchers applied a fundamental shift from a mere comparative study of cultural differences to the study of interactions.

This stage of the research presents a reflection on Eastern perceptions on Western knowledge transfer methodologies related mainly to the content of the knowledge as well as the attitudes when transferring knowledge. In addition, a self‐reflection on the characteristics of the Russian knowledge receivers is provided.

Limitations of this research refer to a lack of differentiation as to ownership, type of co‐operation, company size or industry type. It has to be underlined that the focus of the research was to concentrate on the holistic problems that were not sufficiently addressed in previous research. On this basis more specific and differentiated further research can be conducted.

This research aimed to develop an understanding of why Eastern and Western European partners experience different barriers when transferring and receiving knowledge and provides recommendations to overcome the barriers. It facilitates an understanding of the feelings and obstacles in the learning process between Russian and Western European partners serving as a reflective and eye‐opening starting point for urgently required theory generation and change of attitudes. The paper contributes to the development of a coherent body of knowledge in the field. Contemporary authors criticise the lack of research on a dyadic level and theory on intercultural knowledge transfer. This research addresses these shortcomings by having selected respondents that are currently involved in Eastern/Western co‐operations and by comparing Eastern and Western perspectives at a later research stage.

This paper seeks to explore the perceived role of ethics and social responsibility in achieving the organisational effectiveness among managers in transition economy, the impact of demographic characteristics of managers on it, and the relationship between managers' attitudes towards the role of ethics in business and the firm's performance.

The research was been done by a survey method based on a sample of managers from the most successful Croatian firms. In order to establish the attitudes of Croatian managers on social responsibility, the PRESOR scale was used.

It has been established that among Croatian managers a positive attitude on the importance of ethics and social responsibility for the firm's success prevails. Except for the age, the connection between other individual variables and the perception of the role of ethics and social responsibility in doing business was not established. A positive correlation between the perception of the role of ethics and social responsibility in doing business, profit and work productivity has been discovered.

The research results show, to managers in transition and developed market economies, that business success, ethics and social responsibility are compatible.

The original PRESOR scale has been tested on the sample of managers in transition economy. Except for the marketing managers the sample includes also managers in other functions and on different organisational levels.

The purpose of this paper is to test whether differences in motives for healthy food consumption stem from differences in cultural dimensions and whether cultural dimensions could serve as predictors for health food consumption motivations.

The study correlated secondary data on motives for healthy food consumption in a number of West European countries to cultural dimensions of those countries. In addition, primary data for prime motives of healthy food consumption were collected for Croatian consumers.

Influence of cultural dimensions was partly confirmed and that only for individualism and assertiveness, while human orientation and uncertainty avoidance showed no correlation to organic food consumption motivation. Croatian consumers display homogeneous collective awareness, i.e. they almost exclusively consider health as prime consumption motive.

Correlation analysis was conducted on a small data set; the units of analysis were not distributed along the whole range of independent variables (cultural dimensions), coding of motives might be too robust. Future research should better tackle the exposed problems and also aim at discovering alternative antecedents that could improve prediction of prevailing motives.

By definition cultural dimensions capture variations in consumers' motives. Because of exposed limitations, the study did not provide full evidence for the conceptual proposal (that healthy food motivation is determined by cultural dimensions). Nevertheless, the conceptual model could serve managers as an initial indicator in predicting motives for healthy food consumption.

This research proposes a relationship between cultural dimensions and consumer motivation, which is an under researched field.

This research aims to clarify the nature of the links between brand architecture and brands portfolio. Although these two themes have been the focus of significant research, the question of a link between the two concepts has not truly been asked; and yet the major role of brands raises the question of brand optimisation and balance at the core of an individual company.

After having clarified the two concepts by way of synthesising various works, the paper examines the similarities, differences, complementarities and oppositions between these two methods of organising and utilising brands.

This work shows that brand architecture corresponds, in its essence, to a hierarchical relationship approach between brands; whereas the brands portfolio concept corresponds to a non‐hierarchical method of organising the brands within themselves. The combination of these two approaches allows going beyond the idea of competition at the individual brand level and rather to replace that with a metadimension better suited to reconcile the needs expressed by consumers with organisational logistics and company profitability.

The research may assist managers in better understanding and controlling brand regrouping because the research illustrates some benefits for a company that executes well‐coordinated multi‐brand management.

The discussion distinguishes clearly the concept of brand architecture from the one of brand portfolio and shows their contribution to a stronger link between marketing and strategy.

The transitional problems of formerly centrally planned economies have received much attention, in terms of both economic advice and wider academic consideration. In order to develop concrete gap‐bridging measures, micro as well as macro economic concerns need to be addressed and timing and priority issues resolved. Considers the transitional problems of one of the fastest changing economies – that of the former German Democratic Republic, now called the New Lander of the Federal Republic of Germany. Examines the various approaches to closing the important (or strategically significant) gaps. Presents a culturally adapted gap‐bridging model. Shows the model to be a useful framework for the consideration of adaption criteria. Explores the uses of the model as a basis for education and training of various levels of management, and develops a general transition model for education and training which may serve as a paradigm for other Eastern European countries in transition.

The paper aims to gain a better understanding of how different disciplines work together to develop new technologies.

The study employs qualitative methods in the form of semi‐structured interviews and observations. A socio‐cultural approach is taken and the concept of the activity system is used to examine emerging practices.

In the process of creating common practices the community overcomes some of the challenges normally associated with disciplinary diversity. What develops cannot really be described as a convergence of knowledge, more as an intertwining of work practices.

Although only tentative conclusions can be drawn from a single case study, the findings may have implications for the organisation of multidisciplinary tasks.

The paper suggests a conceptualisation of emerging interdisciplinary practice and provides a descriptive account of knowledge creation in a new field within nanosciences and nanotechnologies.

The banking system has a huge impact on a nation's economic environment. A concentrated banking system has a negative impact on the economy. Therefore, the research in this paper has two main goals: to explore the main factors that impact the level of concentration in the banking system; and to demonstrate how a reform in a banking system can reduce the negative impact of high levels of concentration.

A sample of 42 nations was used with various levels of concentration in their banking system to examine factors influencing bank concentration. Logit and OLS regressions were conducted to highlight the impact of the independent variables on the level of concentration in those nations. The latest Israeli reforms in the banking system were used to illustrate how reforms reduce concentration.

The empirical results concluded that economic freedom had a positive impact on the level of concentration. It was also found that cultural variables had an impact on the concentration level. Finally, analyzing the banking sector in Israel, it was found that the reform did decrease the level of concentration of the banking system.

The innovation of this paper is that it adds Hofstede's cultural variables as explanatory variables for the level of concentration in the banking system. It also highlights the role of public regulation for achieving efficiency in the banking sector by using the example of Israeli banking reforms.

This paper aims to explore the international marina industry, encompassing both marina customers and managers. It also aims to put forth the argument that marinas as business entities can create and sustain competitive advantage by maximizing the advantages that stem from their superior resources and core competences.

To ensure proper representation for the marina managers worldwide, questionnaires were sent to 200 managers of various marinas on five continents, in order to receive a representative sample. The questionnaires were distributed for the most part via e‐mail (where an address was available), some by fax and additional questionnaires were distributed at the international ICOMIA conference for marina managers held in Sydney, Australia. Overall, 138 marina managers replied. The statistical analysis applied in the study is a structural equations analysis, which is known in the literature as covariance structure modeling and structural equations modeling (SEM).

The correlation between government intervention and occupancy is a negative correlation, meaning that the greater government intervention, the lower occupancy rate. The correlation between crowding and occupancy is a positive one. The remaining correlations are not significant. This shows that it is not possible to claim a relationship between the occupancy index and the other variables examined: view, services, level of security/safety, environmental protection, distance from competitors, proximity to customer/city and local community.

The study offers a method of classifying variables according to which marinas can be characterized. Second, these criteria are placed in clusters viewed by the marina managers as being related to one another, adding structure to the process of classification, which is similar to the “conceptual map” that exists in the minds of the marina managers.

This research provides corroborative empirical evidence to the hypothesis that occupancy can be used as a proxy for marina's profitability. Finally, the model provides tools for strategic planning and ongoing management of an existing marina and/or for the establishing of a new marina.

As an interdisciplinary, integrative field, international business exchanges knowledge with other academic areas. The inflow of theories, models, constructs and empirical findings infuses the field's theoretical and methodological base, while outflow represents impact on other academic areas. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the knowledge flows into and from international business, using journal citation counts as the primary indicator.

Following Salancik, the paper opted to use an index of structural influence over the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) impact factor, focusing on the sub‐area of management. It analyzed cross‐citations between the Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS) and a group of the leading management journals over a 13‐year period.

Using cross citations method, JIBS was found to be a net importer, especially from strategy; however in the most recent period the journal has become a net knowledge exporter.

The present analysis confirms that international business is at a crossroads. While its outflow level can be explained in a narrow domain and its high import level can be interpreted to be the result of a more open market than that of its competitors, the fact that its largest deficit is with a competing area that is itself integrative is not encouraging.

Implications for the network location of the field, its content, impact and competitive position are outlined in this paper. Suggestions for the future direction and development of international business are drawn.