BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S TRANSATLANTIC CHALLENGE

Joseph Biden’s electoral win in November 2020 was widely anticipated as American return to the global stage. In many academic and policy circles, the removal of “isolationist” Donald Trump and important triumph of liberal internationalist Biden was expected to bring about a new chapter in US relations with allies worldwide, leaving behind the awkwardness of previous administration’s reckless political style. However, once the global affairs started unfolding in 2021, Biden Administration’s key international slogan “America is back” also proved to be much more a thing of political style than well-developed substance. This article aims to examine the ways in which the Biden administration’s strategic posture during the first year of the presidency affected transatlantic relations. To that effect, key foreign policy speeches and documents have been analyzed and major international developments tracked. The key finding is that, despite the permissive context shaped by the Trump administration’s disparagement of European allies, the new administration has failed to move forward in terms of strengthening transatlantic ties. This goes to indicate that many of the issues have all along been more structural and had predated Trump’s policies, which means that they will be all the more difficult to overcome.

Institutions, Strategic Posture and Performance of Micro, Small and Medum Enterprises

<p>The thesis of this study is that perceptions of formal and informal institutions permeating the business environment in a city in an emerging economy have significant influence on the strategic posture of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); and that strategic posture is viewed to have significant influence on the firms' overall organisational performance. The study emphasises the mediating role of strategic posture, being the conduit through which perceptions of sub-national institutions exert their influence on organisational performance. Institutional theory, which considers institutions as 'the rules of the game' that govern human interaction, serves as the study's theoretical foundation. An extensive review of the literature was undertaken in the areas of institutional theory, strategic management, organisational performance, investment or business climates, MSME/entrepreneurial development, decentralisation and local economic development at the city level. The study adopts an empirical-deductive research design through which a survey generated a total sample of 900 MSMEs located in two cities in the south-eastern region of the Philippines. Hierarchical multiple regression modelling, using ordinary least squares method with confirmatory robust technique, was applied to test the hypotheses. Results suggest that all of the five formal institutions and two of the five informal institutions had positive relationships with an entrepreneurial strategic posture, which in turn, was shown to be positively associated with higher levels of product/service, strategic and financial performance. Moreover, strategic posture was shown to partially mediate the relationships between three formal institutions and two facets of organisational performance. However, when the five formal institutions and five informal institutions were aggregated into two sets of indices, mediation analysis revealed that the index of formal institutions - product/service performance relationship was partially mediated by strategic posture. The index of formal institutions - strategic performance relationship was shown to be fully mediated by strategic posture. On the other hand, the index of informal institutions - product/service performance relationship was shown to be fully mediated by strategic posture. Overall, the empirical results offer acceptable level of support to the main thesis of the study.</p>

Institutions, Strategic Posture and Performance of Micro, Small and Medum Enterprises

<p>The thesis of this study is that perceptions of formal and informal institutions permeating the business environment in a city in an emerging economy have significant influence on the strategic posture of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); and that strategic posture is viewed to have significant influence on the firms' overall organisational performance. The study emphasises the mediating role of strategic posture, being the conduit through which perceptions of sub-national institutions exert their influence on organisational performance. Institutional theory, which considers institutions as 'the rules of the game' that govern human interaction, serves as the study's theoretical foundation. An extensive review of the literature was undertaken in the areas of institutional theory, strategic management, organisational performance, investment or business climates, MSME/entrepreneurial development, decentralisation and local economic development at the city level. The study adopts an empirical-deductive research design through which a survey generated a total sample of 900 MSMEs located in two cities in the south-eastern region of the Philippines. Hierarchical multiple regression modelling, using ordinary least squares method with confirmatory robust technique, was applied to test the hypotheses. Results suggest that all of the five formal institutions and two of the five informal institutions had positive relationships with an entrepreneurial strategic posture, which in turn, was shown to be positively associated with higher levels of product/service, strategic and financial performance. Moreover, strategic posture was shown to partially mediate the relationships between three formal institutions and two facets of organisational performance. However, when the five formal institutions and five informal institutions were aggregated into two sets of indices, mediation analysis revealed that the index of formal institutions - product/service performance relationship was partially mediated by strategic posture. The index of formal institutions - strategic performance relationship was shown to be fully mediated by strategic posture. On the other hand, the index of informal institutions - product/service performance relationship was shown to be fully mediated by strategic posture. Overall, the empirical results offer acceptable level of support to the main thesis of the study.</p>

Mitigating work interference with family by leveraging an entrepreneurial strategic posture

This article adds to entrepreneurship research by detailing the mediating role of work-related emotional exhaustion in the connection between the extent to which women entrepreneurs experience work interference with family—defined as the degree to which the quality of their personal lives is compromised by work demands—and the performance of their businesses. It also predicts a buffering role of the entrepreneurial strategic posture of their businesses in this process. Survey data collected among women entrepreneurs in Chile indicate that the depletion of entrepreneurs’ work-related energy resource reservoirs is an important reason that increasing levels of work interference with family diminish business performance. This mediating role of emotional exhaustion is less prominent when they run their businesses entrepreneurially, which might help them find innovative solutions for the negative spillovers of work stress into the family domain. This research therefore reveals a critical challenge for women entrepreneurs who suffer in their personal lives due to pressing work demands: the associated emotional drainage compromises the success of their business endeavors, which eventually can generate even more hardships. This study also shows how women entrepreneurs can address this challenge, that is, by drawing from the novel insights that arise from an entrepreneurial strategic posture.

China in the contemporary world order: grand strategy, military modernization, and balance of power

The aim of this paper is to analyze the military determinants of China's strategic posture at the beginning of the 21st century, especially after the wide-ranging military reform introduced by Xi Jinping in 2015. China has faced major challenges in combining military modernization and Peaceful Development in a strategic environment marked by the balance of power logic. In this context, this paper points out the importance of military modernization for China’s grand strategy, even if it means the risk of growing tensions with regional and global military powers.

The importance of Marketing for Micro and Small Enterprises

According to (Sebrae-Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service), in 2018, micro and small companies accounted for 52% of employment positions, and correspond to 99% of existing companies in Brazil. However, even with this representativeness 58% of these companies manage to exceed five years of existence. It is estimated that this high percentage of mortality of organizations is related to the lack of planning and adoption to the basic principles of administration. This article aims to conduct a reflection, using the methodology of bibliographic review, on the importance of marketing for these organizations, as well as the need for entrepreneurs to adopt a strategic posture through marketing possibilities, especially in relation to Digital Marketing, thus ensuring the sustainability of the organization.

Environment Uncertainty – Business Performance Relationship: Mediating Effect of Entrepreneurial Orientation

The environment can be broadly described as the totality of social, ecological and economic factors that impacts the functioning of an organization and defines its strategic posture. The study explores the Environmental Uncertainty - Business Performance (EU-BP) relationship. The study applies Structure Equation Modelling on a purposive sample of 509 North Indian firms. Mediation Analysis examines the mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation in EU-BP relationship. The study reveals that environmental uncertainty negatively impacts business performance. Entrepreneurial orientation mediates in Environmental Uncertainty - Business Performance (EU-BP) relationship. The result reveals that entrepreneurial inclination equips a firm with the ability to face the uncertainty of environmental forces and to improve firm performance. The findings may help management practitioners and entrepreneurs in better strategizing the strategic posture of their firm.