2009, Volume XIV, nº 2
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- The competitive repositioning of SMEs within the process of international competitionPublication . Marcone, Maria RosariaThis paper aims to analyze how the international process of competition among SMEs is increasingly based on the localization of various activities on a global scale, with particular reference to production, marketing and R&D. This rule also applies to firms from the Marche area, who are compelled to elaborate new strategies of international expansion. They are therefore induced to transform their presence in foreign markets from exporters to insiders, in order to successfully realize a more competitive position within international business markets, in other words, within the 'global supply chain'. The study seeks to understand the motives for the internationalization of the SMEs, a form of internationalization that involves production activities and objectives regarding competition and the market. It is important to be aware that the decision making process needs to be rapid, in a context in which information is incomplete and partial, and where decisions are subject to continual modification.
- Managing business relationship development : a cross cultural perspectivePublication . Cheng-Lung, LiCross-cultural issues have been put forward to explain the high failure rate among American firms doing business in China and vice versa. This study focuses on investigating the strategic orientations and behaviors of subsidiaries in business relationship development (BRD) for multinational firms with bases in both countries. In particular, it explores how local managers perceive the effectiveness of BRD and cope with issues between the parent company and the local environment. The study conducted multiple-case studies, based on examination of documents, observation and extensive interviews with local managers from four multinational firms. It provides an integrated perspective for increasing the success of BRD for a subsidiary's manager dealing with interactions between the organizational culture of its parent company and the subsidiary's environment. The research focuses on understanding how organizational culture may conflict with a subsidiary's local environment and affect the local manager's strategic orientation, which in turn produces different performance expectations.
- International human resources management : a new challengePublication . Trudel, Jean M.One of the greatest challenges facing international organizations lies in their capacity to adapt their human resources management to the norms and values of different cultures. Organizations often confuse international human resources management and expatriate management. In doing so, they involuntarily block out scores of employees who are also active in the organizations. Country of origin, locations of recruitment and work, and geographical mobility constitute the fundamental elements of a complete managerial system. In essence, the communication and exchange capacities between the various groups some of which are more sedentary and others mobile are main considerations of international human resources as described by Huault (1998). This article proposes the review of four pillars to global human resources management for international organizations.
- Quality of buyer-seller relationships from a value creation perspectivePublication . Skapa, Radoslav; Kubátová, EvaThe economic performance of a company does not depend on the company itself, but on its relationships to other subjects and the ability to create value from such relationships. A paradigm shift in management towards a network perspective goes hand in hand with a new understanding of value and the value-creation process. In our article we try to identify direct and indirect ways of how value is created in relationships. We also analyse two different kinds of relationships to prove that relationships which stimulate the further development of companies create value more indirectly than relationships which just support the economic stability of companies.
- Pension wealth and intergenerational succession in family businessesPublication . Kimhi, Ayallntergenerational transfers are extremely important in family businesses, because of the economic advantages of passing the business to the next generation as a 'going concern'. In order to pass the business as a 'going concern' it is necessary for the operators and the successors to work together for a specified period. This intergenerational cooperation allows the entrepreneurial family to utilize the benefits of within-family implicit old-age security arrangements. We suggest a method to calculate the present value of these benefits, denoted as 'pension wealth'. Intra-family old-age security arrangements also pose financial risks on successors that may offset the benefit the household attains from the implicit annuity arrangement. We illustrate the usefulness of this framework with data from Israeli family farms.