Globalization of Latecomer Asian Multinationals and Theory of Multinational Enterprise

The fast globalization of latecomer multinationals from Asian emerging economies with impetus has appeared to challenge the established theories of Multinational Enterprise (MNE). This chapter reviews extant theories of MNE and provides areas of refinement and extension to these theories to reflect highly contextualized and unique internal and external conditions of these MNEs. In particular, this chapter provides an analysis of the key theoretical perspectives of MNE and highlights four areas that extend existing theories. These areas include country-of-origin effects, ownership advantages, learning processes, as well as global and industry context for internationalization. These areas of refinement are then illustrated by seven case studies of MNEs from mainland China and Taiwan in their accelerated internationalization and their focus on acquisitive growth strategy in terms of speed of internationalization, target countries, and mode of entry.

Global Market Trends

This chapter provides a discussion of competitiveness, globalization, and trade, including their recent transformations. The global market has witnessed several changes including reductions in trade costs, increased global trade, growth of industrialization in developing countries, and a complete change in the nature of goods traded. The drivers of global market changes include shifts in production and consumption patterns, technological innovations, new ways of conducting business, and policy changes. Many governments have lately opened their economies to international trade, enabling them to reap several benefits. Openness to trade is believed to have supported the growth of many countries and has greatly contributed to the success of most Asian countries, especially China and India. Although the global market offers numerous benefits, many developing countries still face serous limitations to fully access it; they are constrained by factors such as quality inferiority, distance, quantitative restrictions, poor technical skills, bad governance, and border controls.

Innovation Scope and the Performance of the Firm

Innovation is a key factor for surviving and competing in the global scenario. However, findings from existing studies provide conflicting evidence in this regard, and the relationship between company innovation and performance remains undetermined. This chapter aims to deepen our understanding of this subject by looking at a less studied topic: the relationship between the innovation scope of a firm and its performance. The study is based on empirical research carried out in a sample of 74 firms belonging to the Friuli Wine Cluster located in northeastern Italy. Empirical results support the view that the most successful winemakers are those who have a wider innovation scope and who, in the last years, have considerably revised their innovation-related processes in a more market- and experience-related way.

A Case Study on Cross-Cultural Differences

Following the globalization trend in the world, Turkey and Belgium have become good business partners in the international arena. Belgium, with its geographically and politically critical location and high Turkish population has been a very attractive European country for Turkish investors. However, there are still Turkish companies leaving Belgium possibly due to adaptation problems to business culture in Belgium. In this chapter, cultural differences between Belgium and Turkey are investigated using qualitative research method with a single company case study. The results of the study indicate that differences between Turkish and Belgian cultures are mainly due to language, communication and relationship building styles, different level of individualism, and future orientation.

Eco-Innovation Enablers and Typology in Green Furniture Manufacturing

Fierce competition has forced firms to be more creative and innovative to increase market share. Differentiating between green products or services with conventional products or services is one of the ways for firms to improve their business sustainability. The objective of this chapter is to explore the eco-innovation enablers and design its typology to measure the current green business practices in industry. Although there are many well-documented enablers or practices of eco-innovation that have been researched, this chapter focuses on practices that contribute towards the successful adoption of eco-innovation by one SME in green furniture manufacturing. This chapter uses the case study method as a source of data collection. Eco-innovation typology has been found in this study to define the effort of green company by looking at the target of eco-innovation versus the mechanism of eco-innovation.

Cultural Management for Multinational Enterprises

Due to the dynamics in international business, it has become increasingly complex for the Multinational Enterprise (MNE) to find a balance between worldwide standardisation of operational processes and the usage of local advantages. The foreign subsidiary's managers and employees are stuck in the middle of environmental requirements, defined by the parent company on the one hand and the local social environment on the other hand. To ensure organizational efficiency in foreign subsidiaries, the rising conflict between corporate and country cultural characteristics can be solved through active cultural management. This chapter describes fundamentals of culture on corporate and country level and deduces a framework for cultural management. Furthermore, strategies are presented to close the gap between a subsidiary's external requirements and the internal implementation.

Do Nonperforming Assets Alone Determine Bank Performance?

The post-crisis period in India witnessed economic slowdown consequent upon economy wide loan default in the infrastructure, real estate, and construction sectors. The asset quality problem of the Indian commercial banks became so acute that many of the weak banks were to be merged with strong banks in the interest of the depositors in order to arrest any contagion effect. The old generation private sector banks in India do not have government patronage or continuing support of the founder communities. This chapter analyzes the key financial ratios of these banks and tries to find out whether nonperforming assets are the sole determinants of the performances of these banks.

International School Teachers' Professional Development in Response to the Needs of Third Culture Kids in the Classroom

This chapter draws on an exploratory qualitative study of 20 teaching staff at an international school in Singapore to examine the professional development needs of international school teachers in response to the needs of Third Culture Kids (TCKs). It explores what the needs of TCKs are, whether teachers at an international school in Singapore have the skills and competencies to be responsive to these needs, and where gaps in professional development for international schoolteachers may exist. Evidence shows that no professional development training in relation to TCKs is provided specific to the international context in which teachers are employed. Issues that are poorly addressed include staff induction, student transitions and identity issues, language support, pastoral care, and curriculum training. Findings contribute to the educational leadership and management of international schoolteachers by contextualizing professional development as a facet of organizational leadership.

Corruption, Business Climate, and Economic Growth

Corruption is globally pervasive. Defined as abuse of entrusted power for private gain (Transparency International, 2013), corruption represents a set of economic, social, cultural, and political practices that are secretive and rooted in greed, ambition, or quest for power. This chapter reviews causes of corruption including the macro- and micro-level determinants of corruption such as leadership, management, and organizational culture. Various subjective and objective measures of corruption are discussed. Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index (CPI) and Heritage Foundation's Economic Freedom Index (EFI) are reviewed. The World Bank's Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS), Doing Business Indicator (DBI), and World Bank Institute's Governance Indicator (WBI-GI) are also reviewed, as is the role of global anti-corruption agencies and various instruments. Additionally, the relationship between corruption and foreign domestic investment, economic growth, and economic and political institutions are considered, as are anti-corruption intervention strategies for corruption and business ethics training.

Research of Strategic Global Development Trends and Competitiveness in the World Pharmaceutical Industry

In this chapter, the authors analyze strategic global development trends and competitiveness in the world pharmaceutical industry. They find some most significant characteristics of the world pharmaceutical industry, which greatly influence the global development in this “high-tech” industrial sector. The global pharmaceutical industry has been consolidating over the past 30 years. According to the research, the main strategic reasons for the intensive consolidation processes in the world pharmaceutical industry include the following: lack of new products to drive sales growth, huge investments needed for R&D activities to develop new products, fast globalization processes of the global economy, global marketing and sales activities that need large investments, and changed structure of competitors created by M&A strategies and consolidation processes. The concentration process, which is still going on, has created many new phramaceutical players; however, some previously well-known pharmaceutical firms have disappeared from the global marketplace.