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The internet has become a ubiquitous technology for business and it possesses the potential to make the concept of value chain into a more attainable reality. The purpose of this paper is to conjecture that the way the internet is utilized and the extent to which the internet impacts business performance vary from country to country. The paper aims to compare two countries regarding the pattern of internet utilization, the impact of the internet on organizational performance, and the readiness for the internet from the value chain perspective.

A survey study was conducted with CIOs and IS directors in the USA and South Korea. A research instrument was developed by adopting and revising two existing instruments on IT value chain and on business internet practices.

The findings suggest that the two countries are more similar in the way they utilize the internet than anticipated despite discernable differences observed in some areas of internet utilization. The study also provides an empirical evidence for the connection between the organization's readiness for the internet and the impact of the internet on organizational performance.

Varying sampling and data collection processes between the two countries may have introduced unintended bias to the study.

The findings of the study provide empirical evidence that the internet has become a truly global business tool that makes the concept of value chain an achievable reality.

This comparative study makes a unique contribution for both academicians and practitioners to gain a better understanding how the internet is adopted and utilized in different countries and to chart a course to capitalize on the technology from a value chain perspective.

This study explores the relevance of the value chain concept in internet‐driven business and assesses the extent to which businesses utilize the internet from a value chain perspective. It attempts to answer the following three questions: is the value chain concept relevant and applicable to the internet as a means of understanding the internet? To what extent do organizations utilize the internet according to a value chain perspective? Does the business use of the internet change over time?

To answer these questions, a longitudinal survey study was conducted over a two‐year period. The first study collected data from 110 firms on the way they utilize the internet. Two years later, a similar survey was conducted with 70 firms using the same instrument used in the first study.

The study provided empirical support for the use of the value chain concept as a viable taxonomy for assessing the level of adoption of the internet. The study also provided a time‐lapsed glimpse of how organizations evolve in adopting the internet.

One of the shortcomings of the study is in the sampling process, although various measures were taken to ensure that the data represent a wide range of organizations, so that the findings can be reasonably generalizable.

The most important practical contribution of the study is that it provides practitioners with a tool to systematically plan and deploy an ever‐increasing array of internet applications. The internet value chain model should provide organizations with a strategic and macro perspective to evaluate and manage various internet applications.

An important contribution of this study is that it empirically observed the evolution of the internet practices in business according to the value chain framework. There has been plenty of anecdotal evidence of changes in the way business utilizes the internet, but no study has empirically assessed these changes systematically based on a theoretical framework. The study provides a valuable theoretical framework for researchers to continuously accumulate knowledge on the use of the internet in business.

The purpose of this paper is to develop an adoption model to identify the critical factors that affect firms' intention to adopt mobile enabled supply chain systems (mSCM) in retail industry. This study focuses on inter‐organizational dimension since mSCM is an inter‐organizational system that provides both inter‐ and intra‐organizational linkages for firms across the supply chain.

A survey method was used to test the proposed model. Data from this study were obtained from South Korean firms.

Supply chain awareness was shown to be a strong predictor of both inter‐organizational dependence and inter‐organizational trust which positively affects firms' long‐term relationship with their trading partners. Institutional pressures, long‐term relationship, and top management support also had a significant influence firms' mSCM adoption intention.

First, only executives and managers in retail industry of South Korea were surveyed, thus, the results may not be generalized to retail industry in other countries. Second, the current study focuses on a firm's mSCM adoption intention rather than actual adoption.

This study provides useful insights for practitioners to better manage institutional pressures and nurture long‐term relationship in order to promote co‐adoption of mSCM.

This study provides useful insights for supply chain members on how to overcome barriers to adopting an innovation and to increase the chance of successfully adopting mSCM in the retail supply chain.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is an important technology for many aspects of business including supply chain management (SCM). The global implications of RFID necessitate cross‐national studies of the technology. The purpose of this paper is to conjecture that the way RFID is perceived and implemented and the extent to which RFID impacts business performance will vary from country to country. Using data collected from firms located in the USA and South Korea, the two countries' views regarding the intrinsic attributes, the perceived benefits and risks, and the strategic impact on business performance of implementing RFID are compared.

The authors developed a research instrument to assess the perception of the importance of RFID, the benefits and risks of RFID, and the perceived impact of RFID on business performance. The authors used the instrument to survey executives and managers in the USA and South Korea.

The paper did not find any discernable difference between the two countries in terms of the perception of the importance of RFID, the benefits and risks of RFID, and the perceived impact of RFID on business performance. This shared perception of RFID may be viewed a sign of readiness of the technology to become a global business tool.

The varying sampling and data collection processes between the two countries may have introduced unintended bias to the study. The paper's scope may not have addressed all of the technical, organizational, cultural, and political issues that may have influenced the outcome.

The findings of the study provide empirical evidence that RFID has become a comprehensive business tool to assist more seamless global SCM.

This unique comparative study is a useful contribution for both academicians and practitioners to gain a better understanding of how RFID technology is perceived by firms in different countries. The paper also helps companies improve their RFID strategies in the global market by recognizing different perceptions and approaches to implementing RFID.

Ports, as one of the important links between different modes of transport within the logistics chain, have special essence since their efficiency and competitiveness will certainly have an impact on the chain, and hence the national and regional economy. Vietnam, as a developing country gradually integrating into the regional and global economy, is rationalizing its economic sectors, including transportation. In this environment, ports play a vital role for the purpose of achieving comparative advantages in the international market. However, the Vietnamese port system is burdened with outdated work practices, low efficiency and poor competitiveness compared to other ports in the region. This paper identifies some of the problems in the Vietnamese port system and proposes strategies to address them.

Gives an in depth view of the strategies pursued by the world’s leading chief executive officers in an attempt to provide guidance to new chief executives of today. Considers the marketing strategies employed, together with the organizational structures used and looks at the universal concepts that can be applied to any product. Uses anecdotal evidence to formulate a number of theories which can be used to compare your company with the best in the world. Presents initial survival strategies and then looks at ways companies can broaden their boundaries through manipulation and choice. Covers a huge variety of case studies and examples together with a substantial question and answer section.

Structural factors during Chinese and Japanese immigration and settlement processes required families to adapt in ways that altered traditional gender behaviors. This study examines how two factors – spousal immigration order and family economic structure – affected the gendered division of labor and how gender roles consequently were reconstructed for first and second generation Chinese Americans and Japanese Americans. These issues are investigated through secondary data analysis of 21 in‐depth interviews with daughters of Chinese and Japanese immigrants on the West Coast.

Presents over sixty abstracts summarising the 1999 Employment Research Unit annual conference held at the University of Cardiff. Explores the multiple impacts of globalization on work and employment in contemporary organizations. Covers the human resource management implications of organizational responses to globalization. Examines the theoretical, methodological, empirical and comparative issues pertaining to competitiveness and the management of human resources, the impact of organisational strategies and international production on the workplace, the organization of labour markets, human resource development, cultural change in organisations, trade union responses, and trans‐national corporations. Cites many case studies showing how globalization has brought a lot of opportunities together with much change both to the employee and the employer. Considers the threats to existing cultures, structures and systems.

This study contributes to the literature on sexual harassment by explicitly modeling race as a significant predictor of sexual harassment in combination with gender and occupation, rather than regarding each demographic characteristic (i.e. age, gender, race, marital status) as though experienced separately from all others. As represented in the larger literature on sexual harassment in the workplace, the female respondents in this study report more sexual harassment than men, though men do report sexual harassment. Moreover, the gender context (i.e., whether respondent’s occupation is predominantly female or male) of occupation makes a difference for both men and women. These results reveal that women are more likely to be reporting sexual harassment based upon demographic factors in the labor market and appear to be unaffected by labor force characteristics. The men, on the other hand, report more sexual harassment based upon occupational characteristics than demographic factors.

Epidemiologists are concerned the next deadly global cognition will be a new kind of deadly flu which humans have no resistance. Since the 1960s, their alarm has been focused on a bird (avian) virus (H5N1). This virus is generally harmless in its host species, but it is extremely deadly when contracted by humans. H5N1 mutates quickly and tends to pick up genes from flu viruses that affect other species. The flu is far more contagious and harder to contain than the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus. It is projected that 30‐40 per cent of the population would be infected in a H5N1 flu pandemic, and as many as one‐third would die. The 1918 Spanish flu caused 20 to 50 million deaths world wide. One scientist observed that the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic could have caused civilisation to disappear within a few weeks. Currently, more than 50 million chickens have been slaughtered in eight Asian countries in efforts to curb the spread of avian influenza. This article examines the roots and dangers of the potential avian influenza pandemic, examining the business and social ramifications that could ensue if the worst case scenario occurs.