Monday, January 25, 2010

Call for Papers: Intercultural Collaboration

We invite you to join the Third International Conference for Intercultural Collaboration (formerly IWIC), to be held at Copenhagen Business School August 19-20 2010. This multidisciplinary conference explores the broad nature of intercultural collaboration and ways to improve intercultural collaboration processes and outcomes.
  • Deadlines for submission: full papers and panels by March 1 2010 (new deadline), late-breaking papers and demonstrations by April 19 2010. Papers presented will be published in the ACM Digital Library.
  • Please see attachment for more details, and please contact one of the program chairs if you have further questions.
    http://langrid.nict.go.jp/icic2010/cfp.html

Program Co-Chairs

  • Toru Ishida, Kyoto University, Japan ishida@i.kyoto-u.ac.jp
  • Martha Maznevski, International Institute for Management Development (IMD), Switzerland maznevski@imd.ch
  • Gary Olson, University of California-Irvine, USA gary.olson@uci.edu
    Conference Co-Chairs
  • Pamela Hinds, Stanford University, USA
  • Anne-Marie Søderberg, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
  • Ravi Vatrapu, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark

Program Committee:
· Zeynep Aycan (Koc University, Turkey)
· Susanne Bodker (Aarhus University, Denmark)
· Francis Bond (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)
· Miriam Erez (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)
· Susan Fussell (Cornell University, USA)
· Nancy Ide (Vassar College, USA)
· Lewis Johnson (Alelo Inc., USA)
· Chigusa Kita (Kansai University, Japan)
· Hideaki Kuzuoka (University of Tsukuba, Japan)
· Gloria Mark (University of California, Irvine, USA)
· Yohei Murakami (National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Japan)
· Judy Olson (University of California, USA)
· Joyce Osland (San José State University, USA)
· Virach Sornlertlamvanich (NECTEC, Thailand)
· Guenter Stahl (Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria)
· David Thomas (Simon Fraser University, Canada)
· John Thomas (IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, USA)
· Volker Wulf (University of Siegen, Germany)
· Hai Zhuge (Chinese Academy of Sciences, China)



Martha Maznevski
Professor of Organizational Behavior and International ManagementDirector of the MBA Program
Tel: +41 21 618 03 68 Fax: +41 21 618 06 15
martha.maznevski@imd.ch
ssistant: Laurence Mahfoudh Tel: +41 21 618 04 93 laurence.mahfoudh@imd.ch
IMD MBA - ranked #2 worldwide by the Economist and by the Wall Street Journal
Ch. de Bellerive 23, P.O. Box 915, CH - 1001 Lausanne, Switzerland www.imd.ch

Call for Papers: 14th International Conference on Corporate Reputation, Brand, Identity and Competitiveness

Proposals are due February 15, 2010
The Reputation Institute is pleased to announce its 14th International Conference on Corporate Reputation, Brand, Identity and Competitiveness will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with support from sponsors Petrobras, Itaú, and Cemig this May 19 to 21, 2010.
Visit www.reputationinstitute.com/rio2010 to read about your opportunity to register for learning and networking activities including Reputation Institute's:
• Full Slate of Plenary, Breakout, and Poster Sessions led by the world's leading academics and practitioners in the field of reputation management (Wednesday 19 May - Friday 21 May);
• International Awards Dinner (Thursday 20 May); and
• A planned evening event taking advantage of Rio's stunning beauty (Wednesday 19 May).
Conference Theme: The Sustainability Imperative: A Strategic Role for Reputation Management
We invite top academics and practitioners from all over the world to participate in keynote panels, breakout discussions, and poster sessions about the latest developments on how to create impact while addressing growing demands for companies to respect and contribute to the environment and society.A sustainable system aims to generate value and endure, being economically viable, socially fair and environmentally right. Companies today are facing increasing pressure from multiple stakeholders for sustainable behavior. Each group of stakeholders has varying expectations regarding the company's sustainable operation. This is made evermore clear when society demands openness and transparency on behalf of large companies; consumers are willing to pay an extra price on products that guarantee the source of its raw materials and the destination of its waste; and investors expect trustful information about the company's operations. While the theme of sustainability has made its way into the media spotlight, numerous companies have begun reporting on their environmental and societal impact in addition to their economic performance.Balancing multiple stakeholder expectations in this realm with organizational initiatives is a great challenge for organizations interested in effectively managing reputation.
With the objectives of promoting the exchange of experiences, showcasing best practices and further deepening the academic discussion, Reputation Institute encourages submissions to the 14th Annual Conference on Corporate Reputation, Brand, Identity and Competitiveness, held in Rio de Janeiro, around the theme "The Sustainability Imperative: A Strategic Role for Reputation Management".
More than 20 breakout sessions, with up to 4 presenters in each session, will discuss the following topics, among others:
  • • The Experiences of Institutions and Companies from BRIC Countries in Reputation Management
  • • Business Risk versus Reputation Risk
  • • Internal and External Alignment of Stakeholder Expectations
  • • Online Reputation Management• Linking Shareholder Value with Sustainability•
  • Media Coverage of Sustainability and its Impact on Reputation
  • • Identity and Identification• Brand and Sustainability• Embedding Values of Sustainability: Discourse and Practices
  • • Successful Brands and their Strategies for Reputation and Sustainability
  • • Communication on Sustainability Projects
  • • Working on Communication and Sustainability Indicators

Submissions:Please submit a one page summary in English of a paper or case you would like to present at the 14th Reputation Institute Conference in Rio de Janeiro by February 15, 2010. The conference committee will evaluate proposals and provide feedback to each potential presenter. The highest rated papers will also be invited to publish their work in Corporate Reputation Review.

Full versions of your paper are due by April 10, 2010, at the latest. All papers will be documented on a CD Rom or USB Flash Drive in PDF format and given to all conference attendees. Please send your draft presentation to: Prof. Dr. Cees B.M. van Riel, Reputation Institute, conference@reputationinstitute.com.

Doctoral Consortium:As we do each year, a Doctoral Consortium will be offered to which we invite leading students preparing for doctoral dissertations on reputation related topics from around the world. The Consortium is a full day workshop held on Tuesday May 18 from 10am to 6pm, coordinated and led by a panel of accomplished professors from the field of reputation. Email conference@reputationinstitute.com or visit www.reputationinstitute.com/rio2010 for more information about participating in the Consortium.

Register now to join us in Rio de Janeiro! For more information on the conference theme, submission guidelines, pre-conference Doctoral Consortium, and accommodation information or to register, visit http://www.reputationinstitute.com/rio2010.

14th International Conference on Corporate Reputation,Brand, Identity and Competitiveness19-21 May 2010Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Questions? Call RI Brazil at +55 31 3275 4172 or email conference@reputationinstitute.com. Come explore developments in Reputation Management in spectacular Rio de Janeiro!

William Newburry
Associate Professor
Knight Ridder Research Professor
Florida International University
Dept. of Management & International Business
E-mail: newburry@fiu.edu
Phone: (305)348-1103

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Call for Papers: JIBS Special Issue on Multilevel Empirical Research in IB

Special Issue of the Journal of International Business Studies

Multilevel Empirical Research in International Business


Special Issue Editors
. Jean-Luc Arregle, University of Luxembourg, jean-luc.arregle@uni.lu
. Shige Makino, Chinese University of Hong Kong,
makino@baf.msmail.cuhk.edu.hk
. Xavier Martin, Tilburg University, x.martin@uvt.nl
. Mark F. Peterson, Florida Atlantic University, mpeterso@fau.edu
. Anand Swaminathan, Emory University, aswamin@emory.edu

Deadline for submission: April 30, 2010

Tentative publication date: Fall 2011 or Spring 2012


Introduction
This special issue seeks to promote and shape the future direction for multilevel quantitative research in the field of international business.
Multilevel research investigates phenomena at several levels of analysis - such as individuals, groups or subsidiaries, firms, networks or business groups, industries or organization sets, and countries and regions - to illuminate the multiple causes or consequences of behaviors at and across these levels. This allows us to better analyze international business actions within a comprehensive and integrative framework. Multilevel conceptual models are common in international business, but empirical research has usually tested them at a single level of analysis at a time.
The single-level approach creates several statistical problems including spurious disaggregation (where researchers disaggregate higher-level data to use a non-multilevel method), misestimated precision and ignorance of intra-class correlation, which increase Type 1 and Type 2 errors. In fact, multilevel methods have been almost ignored in quantitative international business.

The purpose of this special issue is to narrow the gap between theoretical models and quantitative methods in international business research. We want to showcase high-quality multilevel quantitative studies, to encourage international business researchers to apply these methods, and to underline their value in studying new international business topics or renewing the analysis of older ones. Hence, we seek original empirical contributions using multilevel quantitative methods to extend international business research. As a result, this special issue should set a definite standard of the use of multilevel methods in high-quality IB research that uses such data, and serve as a milestone for the development and spread of these methods in IB.


Special Issue Theme
Multilevel research has gained visibility in management research since its first formal introduction to management in an Academy of Management Review special issue in 1999 (edited by Klein, Tosi and Cannella). It took years to transfer this idea to research practice, leading to a special issue in the Academy of Management Journal in 2007 (edited by Hitt, Beamish, Jackson and Mathieu). Now, there is a consensus that this type of research improves our understanding of managerial issues (see Hitt et al., 2007). This consensus has been reinforced by the development of statistical software dedicated to multilevel quantitative methods (including HLM, MLwIN, SuperMix, etc.) and by the addition of multilevel capabilities in general software (such as Stata). These developments have enlarged the types of multilevel methods that are available to researchers and made their use easier.

Surprisingly, when we consider publications in international business, it is manifest that, despite this consensus and the availability of these methods, they have been largely ignored. For instance, there were no international business articles in the AMJ special issue about multilevel research, and less than 5% of the articles published in JIBS since 2002 use these methods.
In fact, most international business researchers keep testing multilevel models with non-multilevel methods, limiting the development of more elaborated research frameworks and questions (Arregle, Hebert, and Beamish, 2006). Beyond the crucial point of methodological validity, the use of multilevel methods would also allow researchers to develop (and test) more comprehensive models looking at level-1, level-2 or level-3 variables, and their interactions.

This gap is even more striking if we consider the nature of international business. As an integrative field, international business should cut across macro/micro divisions. By definition international business researchers have to deal in their frameworks with individuals, subsidiaries, MNEs, industries and networks, countries and regions, etc. Therefore, by design, international business researchers work very often on multilevel research models. Hence, the objective of this special issue is to generalize the use of multilevel quantitative methods and thereby narrow the gap between theory and evidence to decisively bring multilevel quantitative methods into the mainstream of international business research.


Topics for the Special Issue

This special issue will consider only multilevel quantitative papers. We hope to include various forms of multilevel quantitative research that advance our understanding of international business phenomena. All the different academic disciplines belonging to international business (human resources management, strategy, marketing, organizational behavior, finance,
etc.) are relevant. Although articles for the special issue must demonstrate a good mastery of multilevel quantitative methods, they must first and foremost contribute strongly to international business research. They should address international business issues considering different levels of analysis in a single theoretical and empirical model. Multilevel methods are increasingly sophisticated, so we look for submissions that give theoretical meaning to higher-level constructs and do not treat them as categorical variables as was done in simpler moderated regression models. They encompass a diversity of specifications such as linear and logistic regression, Bernoulli, Poisson and negative binomial, tobit, survival analysis, latent variable analysis etc., that can be used to address these questions. The latest methods can consider 2 or 3 levels of analysis with nested or cross-nested data structure, and accommodate network data.

For instance, and just as an illustration, MNEs often aggregate or amass investments within a country or region to exploit their advantages, yet they may also make arbitrage decisions by terminating a subsidiary in one country and relocating to another country within the same or another region. These aggregation and arbitrage decisions are taken for subsidiary or country-level issues (e.g., number of existing subsidiaries in the country, role and importance of a subsidiary, country's attractiveness or resources), but also for region-level and corporate-level reasons (e.g., corporate-level international strategy, portfolio of subsidiaries, international experience, parent-firm's performance). Therefore, these decisions result of choices made at different levels of analysis. Applying multilevel methods, it would be possible to develop hypotheses about the role of variables at these different levels of analysis in the same theoretical model and test them.

A second illustration is the broad range of multilevel issues in cross-cultural research. These include issues in the construction of measures of values developed at the level of individuals as compared to measures developed at the level of societies or nations. For example, what is the relationship between measures of commonly used constructs like individualism or collectivism that are designed for individuals in comparison to constructs with similar labels that are designed for nations and similar large collectivities and institutions. Cross-cultural questions also include problems of how to assess measure equivalence between different levels and what equivalence at different levels implies. They also include issues of the theoretical meaning and quantitative assessment of relationships between cultural measures at the nation, region or other higher level on the one hand and either levels of individual or group level variables (e.g., societal cultural predicting leadership) or relationships between individual or group level variables on the other (e.g., societal culture predicting the relationship between leadership and performance).

We encourage prospective authors to address a variety of questions while applying multilevel methods in an international or comparative context.


Submission Process
All manuscripts will be reviewed as a cohort for this special issue.
Manuscripts must be submitted in the window between April 7, 2010 and April 30, 2010, at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jibs. Please select the option from the special issue drop-down menu on Manuscript Central that identifies your paper as a submission for the "Multilevel Research & IB" special issue, and include the words "Multilevel Research and IB Special Issue Submission"
on your title page. All submissions will go through the JIBS regular double-blind review process and follow the same norms and processes. As manuscripts are accepted for publication, they will be posted in the Advance Online Publication system on http://www.jibs.net.

For more information about this Call for Papers, please contact the Special Issue Editors or the JIBS Managing Editor (managing-editor@jibs.net).


-------------------
Anne Hoekman
Managing Editor, Journal of International Business Studies

JIBS Editorial Office
Academy of International Business
Michigan State University
Tel: +1-517-432-1452
Fax: +1-517-432-1009
E-mail: managing-editor@jibs.net
Web: www.jibs.net

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Call for Papers: The Great Recession of 2008 and its Impact on International Business.

The Great Recession of 2008 and its Impact on International Business.
DEADLINE: Submissions are being accepted through February 28, 2010.

Guest Editor: Amir Shoham, College of Management - Academic Studies, Israel.

This special issue will include studies dealing with the current economic crisis and the lessons that it can teach about the international environment and management of international businesses.

The perspective on the development of the global economic crisis is still short-term and provides a look straight from the eye of the storm. Understanding the sources of the crisis and its impact can teach us much about how to manage, what to do and not to do and, perhaps, how to avoid similar complex events in the future. Since the crisis is global and encompasses so many different sectors and countries, it is important to present research on a broad variety of topics related to its socio-political and economic antecedents and impact. Some topics suitable for inclusion in the Special Issue include:

Ø Company, national, industry and regional factors associated with global economic crisesØ Impact of the global economic crisis on emerging marketsØ Impact of the crisis on select local and global industriesØ How companies have managed the great recessionØ Strategies to deal with structural and cyclical fluctuations in the global economyØ Do we need to change or adapt theories in light of new evidence?

The Editor of the Special Issue has intentionally kept the list of suggested topics short so as to stimulate creativity and encourage prospective authors to adopt a variety of perspectives when approaching this subject. The Special Issue will include a state-of-the art collection of papers relating what we can learn about impact of the crisis and business management in an international environment.

All articles will be submitted to a process of peer evaluation, in accordance with the editorial policy of TIBR. They must conform with TIBR's editorial policy, which is available at www.thunderbird.edu/tibr

For questions regarding this special issue, authors are invited to contact: amir1s@colman.ac.il

Submissions for this issue should be submitted electronically to TIBR at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tibr .

Please indicate that the submission is for this special issue. IMPORTANT NOTE: Do NOT include your identifying contact information or title/cover page in your files when uploading the manuscript.

Dr. Amir ShohamSenior LecturerThe School of Business AdministrationThe College of ManagementE-mail: amir1s@colman.ac.ilCell: +972-52-6554492Fax: +972-77-9103221 20

Editorial Office - Mary B. Teagarden, Editor1 Global PlaceGlendale, AZ 85306-6000 USAwww.thunderbird.edu/tibr

Monday, January 18, 2010

Call for Papers: Corporate Governance

Symposium Announcement & Call for Papers
Edwards Symposium on Corporate Governance
Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
August 14 - 15, 2010
Center for Strategic Financial Management&Department of Finance & Management Science
Edwards School of BusinessUniversity of Saskatchewan
Please consider participating in the Edwards Symposium on Corporate Governance. The following links have details.
http://www.edwards.usask.ca/csfm/symposium.html
or
http://www.ssrn.com/update/fen/fenann/ann09355.html

We invite scholars, policy makers, and practitioners to submit research papers for presentation at the 1st Edwards Symposium on Corporate Governance. Theoretical and empirical papers in all areas of corporate governance with implications to finance, accounting, or strategy, including papers with an international corporate governance focus, are welcome. There is no charge for submission, and all submitted papers will be peer reviewed by the review panel, with twelve top quality papers to be included in the symposium program. All accepted papers will be made available on the symposium website.

The symposium is sponsored by the recently established Centre for Strategic Financial Management at the Edwards School of Business, and will be held at the Temple Gardens Mineral Spa Resort located in the heart of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Temple Gardens is located approximately 65 km west of the Regina International Airport, and shuttle services between the airport and the resort are available.
Paper submission process:
All papers must be emailed (in PDF or MS Word format) to the symposium organizing committee at csfm.symposium@edwards.usask.ca. Only electronic submissions will be considered. Please include two files: One full paper with author identification removed, and a separate file with title page and author information, including contact details of the presenting author. With co-authored works, please indicate which author will present the paper. The paper submission deadline is January 31, 2010. All submitters will be notified of the results of the review process by March 31, 2010. Please direct symposium related questions to csfm.symposium@edwards.usask.ca.
Travel and Accommodation:
All participants are expected to make their own travel arrangements. Information about travel and accommodation at the Temple Gardens Mineral Spa Resort, Moose Jaw, SK (including the symposium rate) will be available on the symposium website by January, 2010. The registration fee is $200 for attendees (which includes a reception on Friday evening, and breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Saturday) and $100 for guests (which includes a reception on Friday and dinner on Saturday). The centre will waive the registration fee for each presenting author and one guest. We will ask you to fill out the participation and registration form included with the acceptance letter. Those interested in attending, or serving as discussant or session chair are invited to fill out the registration form, which is available on the symposium website.
Symposium Review Panel:
  • Raj Aggarwal, University of Akron
  • Christian Andres, University of Mannheim, Germany
  • Najah Attig, Saint Mary's University
  • Narjess Boubakri, HEC Montréal and American University of Sharjah, UAE
  • Jean-Claude Cosset, HEC Montréal
  • Anna Danielova, McMaster University
  • Artyom Durnev, McGill University
  • Omrane Guedhami, University of South Carolina
  • Shanta Hegde, University of Connecticut
  • Arvind Mahajan, Texas A & M University
  • Anna Martin, St. John's University, New York
  • Vikas Mehrotra, University of Alberta
  • Usha Mittoo, University of Manitoba
  • Randall Morck, University of Alberta
  • Jeffrey Pittman, Memorial University of Newfoundland
  • Gordon Sick, University of Calgary
  • Betty Simkins, Oklahoma State University
  • Jason Wei, University of Toronto

Organizing Committee:
Dev Mishra, George Tannous, Craig Wilson, and Zhenyu Wu
Centre for Strategic Financial ManagementEdwards School of BusinessUniversity of Saskatchewanwww.edwards.usask.ca/csfm/

Friday, January 15, 2010

Contemporary Labour Migration: National and International Perspectives

Contemporary Labour Migration: National and International Perspectives
Anglo-Irish Population Conference

12-13 MAY 2010
Hosted by NUI Galway under the auspices of the Population Geography Research Group of the RGS-IBG and Population Commission of the International Geographical Union
Papers are invited for an Anglo-Irish population conference on Labour Migration.
Major changes have taken place in the scale and character of labour migration in the UK and Ireland since the early 1990s, involving both national and international workers. Established patterns of movement have continued within and between rural and urban regions; both countries also experienced dramatic increases in overseas labour immigration from the early 1990s on, to fill vacancies in highly skilled and lower skilled employment. Both countries opened their borders immediately in 2004 to members of the new accession states of the European Union to meet labour deficits. In response to reduced rates of economic growth since 2008, demand for labour has fallen and new challenges have emerged for labour, employers and governments. New migration patterns are apparent, associated with migrant return to countries of origin and relocation within and between regions. Ireland and the UK provide similarities but also contrasts in terms of labour migration, in particular the diversity of the former’s immigrant flows. Both countries are currently facing crises in their labour markets which are finding expression in changing migration patterns. This experience provides a context for exploring and developing existing and new theoretical perspectives relating to internal and international migration. Papers are invited on the following themes in particular:
  • (i) the socio-economic and political contexts of recent labour migration, including the role of employers, national governments and international agencies in the migration process;
  • (ii) the composition of migration flows at an international scale and impacts in source and reception areas;
  • (iii) the internal and transnational labour migration experience within urban and rural settings;
  • (iv) the transnational labour migrant experience in the broader host society.Abstracts (max. 300 words) are invited by Friday 12th February 2010,

Professor Adrian Bailey, School of Geography, University of Leeds, will present a Guest Plenary Lecture on the 12th May.

Organisers

The organisers acknowledge gratefully the financial support of the Conference provided by the following at NUI Galway: Dean of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies; Millennium Fund; Social Sciences Research Centre.

Call for Papers: European Perspectives on Talent Management

European Journal of International Management
Special Issue on European Perspectives on Talent Management
Guest Editors:
  • David G Collings, J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics, NUI Galway, Galway , Ireland,
  • Hugh Scullion, J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics, NUI Galway, Galway , Ireland, and
  • Vlad Vaiman, Reykjavik University School of Business, Reykjavik, Iceland

Since the late 1990s the concept of talent management has gained increasing currency among practitioners and academics alike. Practitioner reports clearly indicated that talent management occupies a significant amount of senior managerial time and additionally that it is something which organizations find quite challenging. For example a study conducted by the Boston Consulting Group in 2007 identified talent management as one of five key challenges facing the HR profession in Europe . However the study also concluded that it was one of the challenges which the function was one of the areas where the function was least competent in. Thus, the topic is clearly of interest to practitioners. From an academic perspective talent management has been criticized for lacking conceptual and intellectual foundation, definition and rigor. However a number of recent contributions have contributed to this emerging field and provided some theoretical framing for the study of talent management and appear to offer some optimism for the potential of the area to contribute to the study of the management of organizations. This special issue is intended to contribute to this emerging theoretical and empirical base and to further advance the understanding of talent management. Specifically, the special issue is intended to explore the nature of talent management in the European context. Given that the idea emerged in the North American context and that many of the leading academic contributions have emerged from there also, Europe represents an important context to explore talent management. We welcome empirical and theoretical papers which advance our knowledge of this important area. The following list is indicative of the types of contributions which may be appropriate. However it is not intended to be exhaustive and rather is illustrative:

Subject Coverage

Examples of topics appropriate to the special issue include:·

  • The linkage between talent management and organizational performance·
  • Talent management in the context of the current economic climate·
  • Talent management in Central & Eastern Europe·
  • The transfer and standardization of talent management systems in MNEs·
  • The role of information systems in talent management·
  • The interplay between talent management and knowledge management·
  • How talent management is conceptualized and operationalised in different European context·
  • The role employer branding in talent management·
  • The linkages between talent management and corporate social responsibility·
  • The language and rhetoric of talent management·
  • The role of the line manager in talent management

Notes for Authors

Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere.All papers are refereed through a peer review process. A guide for authors, sample copies and other relevant information for submitting papers are available on the Author Guidelines page (http://www.inderscience.com/mapper.php?id=31).

Important Dates

  • Draft submission deadline: September 1, 2010
  • Final paper submission deadline: March 1, 2011
  • Publication release: October 2011
  • Editors and Notes

You may send one copy in the form of an MS Word file attached to an e-mail (details in Author Guidelines) to:

David Collings,
Department of Management,
NUI Galway ,University Road,
GalwayIreland.
Tel. +35391459385
Email: David.collings@nuigalway.ie

With an email copy only to:

EJIM Editorial Team
Email: editors@ejim-global.org and
IEL Editorial Office
Email: ejim@inderscience.com
Please include in your submission the title of the Special Issue, the title of the Journal and the name of the Guest Editors.

Call for Papers: Journal of Technology Management in China

Call for Papers: Journal of Technology Management in China
Special Issue: The Heart of the Dragon: Linking Innovation, Learning and Education in China
The influence of China in business and innovation on the rest of the World will only continue as the new century progresses. History shows that China once greatly influenced Western culture and provided the world with new, radical inventions. However, the country did not progress well even with the establishment of new China in 1949 in particular during the “cultural revolution” and retreatment from the rest of the world during the twentieth century. Starting with the reforms of Xiaoping it was Western culture’s turn to influence Sino-culture and Chinese innovation- resulting largely in what some have called a ‘cost innovation’ strategy (Zeng & Williamson, 2007). However, this influence has been shown to exaggerate the incremental nature of innovations within the Chinese context (Johnson & Weiss, 2008). As the next phase in its transition towards a major global economic power, China has embarked on a mission to develop its capabilities for new and radical endogenous innovation and update the educational and intellectual mission of the country.In the age of globalisation, China presents a unique setting for organizations. The unprecedented growth of China's economy, which remains the fastest growing in the world, offers significant potential for both Chinese and foreign investors.The Journal of Technology Management in China (JTMC) is an international journal committed to encouraging and publishing work from researchers and practitioners within the technology and knowledge transfer, technology and business strategy and technology management fields in China.Scope (of the Special Issue)This special issue explores the topics presented in the seminal paper “A stage model of education and innovation type in China: The paradox of the dragon”, which won the 2007 Society for Global Business & Economic Development (SEGBED) best paper award and was subsequently published in JTMC. That paper presented a stage model of innovation linking innovation practices and processes to explore the changing nature of education and business in China over the last 20 years and into the future. The major issues explored were the links among education (and its reforms), learning and creativity, innovation type and business growth.Papers for this special issue should relate to one of the topics delineated in the paper mentioned above. We welcome original empirical and conceptually rigorous papers at all levels of analysis. In general, papers should examine the connections among innovation, education and managing technology and business growth in China.
Topics may include:·
  • Historical perspectives of innovation, learning and education in China·
  • Case studies of Chinese created radical innovations·
  • Educational and innovation practices at the individual level·
  • Descriptive case studies characterizing the creativity of individuals and correlating this with educational background and life experiences within the Chinese context.·
  • Explorations of how individuals manage creative tensions within educational instruction in the schools, col1eges and universities in China·
  • Educational and innovation practices at the classroom level·
  • Exploration of the progress of various regions of China in classroom reforms·
  • Comparison cases of classrooms in which CBU (creative but undesirable) student behaviour is tolerated versus DBU (desirable but uncreative) student behaviour.·
  • Educational and innovation practices at the industry and institutional level·
  • Investigations of the creative process in Chinese educational institutions.·
  • Case studies and descriptions of industry and the need and use of creativity to explore the practices being implemented by Chinese companies like Lenovo, hazier, Alibaba and Baidu.·
  • Educational and innovation practices at the national level·
  • Educational and innovation policies involved in technological and process/service related innovation.·
  • Critical analyses of China’s national policies toward innovation and education.

We are also hoping to hold a conference for authors of accepted papers in order to present their papers and improve upon them for the final round of submissions. The conference is tentatively planned for Summer, 2010 at Erie, PA, USA. Details to follow.Coverage (of JTMC)JTMC is the only journal that focuses exclusively on technology management in China. The journal encourages theoretical and applied research papers which identify good practice, address the existing deficiencies in processes and assist in the development of the transfer of technology and knowledge.Coverage includes the following areas of technology management and how they impact upon the areas of marketing, human resources, accounting and finance and the supply chain:

  • Technology management
  • Technology transfer
  • Chinese business and culture
  • Research management in China
  • Innovation management
  • Technology economics
  • Knowledge transfer and sharing
  • Knowledge management
  • Technology and business strategy
  • Project management
  • Entrepreneurship and leadership
  • Cross - culture management
  • Product life cycle management

Guest Editors of the Special Issue (Please send submission to Dr. Johnson)

Professor William H.A. Johnson
E-mail: whj1@psu.edu

Professor Joseph W. WeissE-mail: jweiss@bentley.edu

Editor:
Dr Richard Li-Hua, Salford University, Manchester, UK r.li-hua@salford.ac.uk
  • IMPORTANT DATES: Deadline for submitting all the papers to Guest Editors: March 1, 2010 Tentative Conference at Penn State Erie for authors of selected papers: July 2010

References:

  • Johnson, W.H.A. and Weiss, J.W. (2008) A stage model of education and innovation type in China: The paradox of the dragon. Journal of Technology Management in China. Vol. 3, No. 1, 66-81.
  • Zeng, M and P. Williamson (2007). Dragon at your door: How Chinese cost innovation is disrupting global competition. Boston, MA. Harvard Business Press.-With apologies for any cross-postings.

Call for Papers: From Impactful Research to Sustainable Innovations for Subsistence Marketplaces

The Third Subsistence Marketplaces Conference: From Impactful Research to Sustainable Innovations for Subsistence Marketplaces
July 9-11, 2010
Chicago, Illinois
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and University of Illinois at Chicago
Conference Chairs:
Cheryl Nakata, University of Illinois, cnakat1@uic.edu
Madhu Viswanathan, University of Illinois, mviswana@illinois.edu
Description
Organized jointly by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and University of Illinois at Chicago, with the participation of Dominican University and DePaul University, the Third Subsistence Marketplace Conference will be held July 9-11, 2010 in Chicago at the University of Illinois-Chicago campus. The conference will focus on impactful research and commercial and social innovations for subsistence marketplaces that are ecologically, economically, and socially sustainable. Subsistence marketplaces consist of consumers and entrepreneurs who live at or near subsistence levels, and are concentrated in developing countries and regions such as Brazil, India, and Sub-Saharan Africa. As businesses, governments, and nonprofit organizations seek to better understand and serve these communities, the Subsistence Marketplaces Conference is a leading forum for sharing research on and fostering practices in these communities. The conference will include plenary panels, participatory workshops, key note speeches by thought leaders, special sessions on specific topics, and presentations of papers submitted in response to this call. An emphasis will be on sharing ideas and knowledge between researchers, practitioners and students. Of special interest will be a preconference workshop on developing service and product innovations for subsistence marketplace buyers, where approaches will be presented on how to develop such innovations. The workshop will combine marketing, design, and engineering perspectives, considering issues such as literacy, poverty, social capital, and business infrastructure.
Details about registration, lodging, and accommodations will be available soon on the conference website at http://www.business.illinois.edu/subsistence/events/conferences.html.
Continuing the practices of past conferences, arrangements will emphasize affordability for a diverse range of participants. Call for PapersAcademicians, students, social entrepreneurs, policy makers, business practitioners, nonprofit managers, and NGO leaders are encouraged to attend and submit papers on a wide range of topics on subsistence marketplaces that have implications for commercial and social innovations, broadly construed. Innovation has become a key impetus for generating insights into, and providing value-laden products and services for, subsistence marketplaces. Consistent with the title of the conference, papers should emphasize a bottom-up and within-marketplace perspective rather than a top-down, distant-from-the marketplace view. Some suggested topics are below, and submissions may go beyond these:Buyers and Sellers in Subsistence Marketplaceso Consumer and buyer/seller decision processes, such as innovation adoptiono Entrepreneurship and innovation in subsistence marketplaceso Specific consequences of literacy and poverty for buyer and seller behavioro Creativity, invention, and re-invention of products/services by consumers or entrepreneurs in subsistence marketplaceso Innovative research methods for subsistence marketplaces· Business Practices in Subsistence Marketplaces and the Need for SustainabilityDeveloping new products and services for subsistence marketplacesIncorporating global sustainability in products and services for subsistence marketplacesTechnology identification, product design, testing, and launching for subsistence marketplacesScaling up for new products and services in subsistence marketplacesCollaboration and co-creation methods for innovation activities in subsistence marketplacesInnovation in distribution systems and its influence on consumer welfareConsumption and its implications for global sustainabilityPricing for value and sustainabilitySocial Innovations for Subsistence MarketplacesMerging social and business missions through social innovationsIncorporating business practices in nonprofit organizations developing social innovationsSocial innovation alliances and partnerships among NGOs, governments, and businesses· Management Education on Subsistence MarketplacesInnovations in the business curriculum and education to incorporate subsistence contexts All authors are asked to submit a three-page abstract, from which acceptance decisions will be made and preliminary session planning will be carried out. We encourage abstracts from researchers and practitioners.
  • Submission Deadline for Three-Page Abstract: February 1, 2010
  • Submission Requirements: Page 1: Title, author(s), and full contact information (including e-mail).Pages 2-3: Double-spaced abstract of the paper, inclusive of references, tables, and other key materials
  • E-mail as a Word document to Madhu Viswanathan, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign at mviswana@illinois.edu and to Cheryl Nakata, University of Illinois at Chicago at cnakat1@uic.edu.
  • Notification of Paper Review Decision: February 15, 2010
  • Submissions for Publication: We are currently exploring the possibility of a publication that is partially or fully based on articles stemming from presentations at the conference. Prior conferences have led to a book (Advances in International Management series by Elsevier in 2007) and a special journal issue (Journal of Business Research, Forthcoming). Further details about publication opportunities will be available as they are finalized.
  • A tentative schedule is as follows:
  • Submission Deadlines for Full Drafts: August 31, 2010
  • Deadline for paper submission after incorporation of comments from conference participants and conference chairs
  • November 30, 2010 - Feedback to authors after peer review
  • January 31, 2011 – Deadline for revised submission
  • May 31, 2011 – Final deadline for subsequent revisionsSubmission
  • Requirements:Page 1: Title, author, and full contact information (including e-mail).Pages 2-35: Double-spaced paper not to exceed 35 pages including references, appendices, and exhibits.To be submitted as Word attachments via e-mail to cnakat1@uic.edu and mviswana@illinois.edu.

Call for Papers: Designing Internal Organization for External Knowledge Sourcing

European Management Review Special Issue on: Designing Internal Organization for External Knowledge Sourcing

Submission deadline: 30th June 2010
  • Purpose: The aim of this Special Issue is to shed light on the relationship between, on the one hand, the way firms design their internal organizational structures (e.g. allocation of authority; configuration; information processing structures; social networks) and management practices (e.g. incentive-based compensation schemes; training; promotion, recruitment and dismissal practices) and, on the other hand, the pursuit of a model of innovation characterized by interaction with disparate, worldwide dispersed external knowledge sources (e.g. customers; suppliers; other firms; universities; online communities; industrial designers) through different arrangements (e.g. alliances; licensing; acquisitions; informal collaborative mechanisms).
  • Background: Two streams of research have been increasingly attracting the interest of innovation management scholars. The first one centers on the design of organizational structures and management practices that shape firms’ internal innovation activity (Colombo and Delmastro, 2008). Key inputs to innovation and critical processes of acquiring, generating, transferring and applying knowledge, have been shown to depend on the implementation of suitable formal and informal organizational structures (Teece, 1996), human resource management practices (Laursen and Foss, 2003), cross-functional and/or transnational teams (Haas, 2006), control and communication mechanisms (Nobel and Birkinshaw, 1998), and motivational devices (Osterloh and Frey, 2000; Zenger and Lazzarini, 2004; Lerner and Wulf, 2007). The second stream of research concentrates on the use by firms of external knowledge sources for innovation. This approach emphasizes that innovation is the result of an interactive and distributed process (Von Hippel, 1988), and that in searching for innovation opportunities firms are increasingly forced to open their boundaries and to rely on external actors (Laursen and Salter, 2006). Links to external knowledge sources include acquisitions of and alliances with innovative firms (Kale and Puranam, 2004), licenses and other quasi-market arrangements used in the “market for ideas” (Arora et al., 2001; Tsai and Wang, 2007), formal and informal cooperative links in geographic clusters (Almeida and Kogut 1999; Sorenson and Stuart 2001). They also include cooperative arrangements with talented individuals (e.g. star university scientists and industrial designers) and communities of practices (e.g. developers of open source solutions).These two bodies of research have developed parallel to each other, without mutual beneficial dialogue taking place between them. Arguably, firms need to develop “absorptive capacity” in order to benefit from external linkages (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990; Lane and Lubatkin, 1998). Furthermore, firms’ internal resource endowment tends to influence their external knowledge sourcing strategies (Rothaermel and Hess 2007) and their location choices (Alcácer 2006; Chung and Alcácer 2002). However, the mutual relation between firms’ internal organizational structures and management practices and their external knowledge sources and linkages has gone almost unexplored so far (for an exception see Siggelkow and Levinthal, 2005). Thus, the premise of this Special Issue is that there is a need and opportunity for research to bridge the organizational design and external knowledge sourcing perspectives.

  • Research questions: We would like to call for contributions that cover one or more of the following questions. These are suggestive, rather than exhaustive:
  • 1. What organizational structures and management practices are best suited to profit from external sources of knowledge? Do these structures and practices imply the adoption of a leaner organization with distributed responsibilities or centralization of decision authority and a hierarchical approach? How can incentive-based compensation schemes for firm’s personnel and internal communication and reporting practices be designed to favor efficient use of external knowledge sources? More generally, to what extent firms’ organizational design is dictated by the type of external knowledge sourcing strategy pursued by firms? Are specific types of external linkages associated with a specific organizational design?
  • 2. Are organizational structures and management practices contingent on the type of partners (e.g. users, suppliers, competitors, star university scientists, online communities), the purpose of the interaction (e.g. exploration of new knowledge versus exploitation of existing knowledge), other characteristics of the external links (e.g. amount of resources invested in the external link, extent of sunk costs, relation to firm’s core business), the institutional setting (e.g. the IPR regime, labor law) and the local environmental conditions (e.g. supply of skilled individuals)?
  • 3. How should firms organize to take advantage from the acquisition of innovative start-ups? What firm-specific (e.g. acquisition and target-specific experience) and deal-specific (e.g. technology and market relatedness) characteristics shape the “optimal” internal organizational re-design following the acquisition? On the other hand, how should innovative start-ups organize to become an attractive acquisition target? Does this organizational design pose new constraints to their internal innovation strategy?
  • 4. What organizational structures and management practices are best suited to benefit from in-licensing strategies? Do these organizational arrangements depend on whether in-licensing aims at overcoming internal innovation shortcomings or rather is an integrated component of an efficient internal R&D strategy? What role does the licensor play in organizing the licensee’s innovation activities?
  • 5. How should firms design their organizations to take the most from interaction with talented individuals (e.g. star university scientists and industrial designers) and distributed communities of practices (e.g. open source software communities)? What organizational structures and management practices can prevent or limit leakages of internally generated knowledge in this context?
  • 6. How do firms embedded in geographic clusters design their structures and management practices to take advantage of inward mobility of highly skilled individuals and other sources of knowledge spillins while preventing at the same time outward mobility and spillovers?
  • 7. How can multinational companies design their internal structures and networks to benefit from their external networks? Are lessons learned from one type of network useful in organizing the other type of network?
  • 8. Does organizational inertia prevent firms from adopting an organizational design suitable to external knowledge sourcing? Does organizing for external knowledge sourcing lead to organizational inertia? Does it involve learning effects (e.g. learning by doing, deliberate learning, vicarious learning)? Are these learning effects transferable across different external links (e.g. acquisitions, alliances, licenses)?More generally, we welcome any original contribution, of theoretical or empirical nature, which unveils the complexity and potentially conflicting choices firms face in designing their internal organization for external knowledge sourcing, and provide fresh insights into this important issue.

  • Deadlines and submission process: The final date for submissions is June 30, 2010. All manuscripts will be reviewed following the regular EMR double-blind review process. The special issue is expected to be published in EMR’s Volume 8 (2011). Please make your submissions to the special issue through the EMR website, at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/emr. Details concerning submission procedures will be available online (http://www.palgrave-journals.com/emr/index.html) and in printed versions of the journal. A conference organized by DIME and Politecnico di Milano on “Organizing for networked innovation” is scheduled for 15-16 April 2010, where prospective authors may present their work and receive comments and feedback. Note that participation to the conference does not imply acceptance for the special issue. Conversely, attendance is not prerequisite for publication in the special issue.
  • For additional information, please contact the special issue editors:- Massimo G. Colombo, Politecnico di Milano (massimo.colombo@polimi.it)- Larissa Rabbiosi, Copenhagen Business School (lr.smg@cbs.dk)- Toke Reichstein, Copenhagen Business School (tr.ino@cbs.dk)

References

  • Alcácer, J. 2006. "Location Choices Across the Value Chain: How Activity and Capability Influence Collocation." Management Science, Vol. 52(10), pp. 1457-1471.
  • Almeida, P. Kogut, B. 1999. “The Localization of Knowledge and the mobility of engineers in regional networks.” Management Science, Vol. 45(7), pp. 905-917.
  • Arora, A., Fosfuri, A., Gambardella, A. 2001. “Markets for Technology: The Economics of Innovation and Corporate Strategy”. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
  • Chung, W., Alcácer, J. 2002. “Knowledge Seeking and Location Choice of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States.” Management Science, Vol. 48(12), pp.1534-1554.
  • Cohen, W. M., Levinthal, D. A. 1990. “Absorptive Capacity: A new perspective of learning and innovation”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 35(1), pp. 128-152.
  • Colombo, M. G., Delmastro M. 2008. The economics of organizational design. Theory and empirical insights, Basingstoke, Hampshire & New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Haas, M. R. 2006. “Acquiring and applying knowledge in transnational teams: the roles of cosmopolitans and locals, Organization Science, Vol. 17(3), pp. 367-384.
  • Kale, P., Puranam, P. 2004. Choosing equity stakes in technology-sourcing relationships: an integrative framework. California Management Review, 46(3): 77 - 99.
  • Lane, P.J., Lubatkin, M. 1998. “Relative absorptive capacity and interorganizational learning”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 19, pp. 461-477.
  • Laursen, K., Foss N.J. 2003. “New HRM Practices, Complementarities, and the Impact on Innovation Performance”, Cambridge Journal of Economics, Vol. 27(2), pp. 243-263.
  • Laursen, K. Salter, A. J. 2006. “Open for Innovation: The Role of Openness in Explaining Innovation Performance Among U.K. Manufacturing Firms”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 27, pp. 131-150.
  • Lerner, J., Wulf, J. 2006. “Innovation and incentives: Evidence from corporate R&D”, Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 89(4), pp. 634-644.
  • Nobel, R., Birkinshaw J. 1998. “Innovation in multinational corporations: control and communication patterns in international R&D operations”. Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 19, pp. 479-496.Osterloh, M., Frey B.S. 2000. “Motivation, Knowledge Transfer, and Organizational Forms”. Organization Science, Vol. 11(5), pp. 538-550.
  • Rothaermel, F., Hess A.M. 2007. “Building Dynamic Capabilities: Innovation Driven by Individual-, Firm-, and Network-Level Effects”, Organization Science, Vol. 18(6), pp. 898-921.
  • Siggelkow, N., Levinthal D.A. 2005. “Escaping real (non-benign) competency traps: linking the dynamics of organizational structure to the dynamics of search”, Strategic Organization, Vol. 3(1), pp. 85-115.
  • Sorenson, O., Stuart, T.E., 2001. “Syndication networks and the spatial distribution of venture capital investments”. American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 106, pp. 1546–1588.
  • Teece, D. J. 1996. “Firm organization, industrial structure, and technological innovation”, Journal of Economics Behaviour and Organization, Vol. 31, pp. 193-224.
  • Tsai, K.-H., Wang, J.-C. 2007. “Inward Technology Licensing and Firm Performance: a longitudinal study”, R&D Management, 37(2), pp. 151-160.von Hippel, E. 1988. “The Sources of Innovation”, Oxford University Press, New York.
  • Zenger, T. R. and Lazzarini, S. G. 2004. ”Compensating for innovation: Do small firms offer high-powered incentives that lure talent and motivate effort?”, Managerial & Decision Economics, 25(6/7), pp. 329-345.

Larissa Rabbiosi, Ph.D.
Center for Strategic Management and Globalization
Copenhagen Business School
Porcelaenshaven 24, DK2000
Frederiksberg, Denmark
E-mail: lr.smg@cbs.dk
Voice: +45 3815 2897
Fax: +45 3815 3035

Call for Papers: Next Chapter of the Globalization of Business: Challenges and Opportunities

The 3rd Rikkyo UniversityInternational Business Studies Symposium: “Next Chapter of the Globalization of Business: Challenges and OpportunitiesMay 21 – 22, 2010
Keynote speaker:Professor Stephen J. KobrinWilliam H. Wurster Professor of Multinational Management,The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania College of Business,
Rikkyo UniversityTokyo, Japan

  • THEME: Following the collapse of the financial markets that began with Wall Street in 2007 and spread around the world, globalization of business is entering uncharted waters. Governments around the world are changing gears from embracing liberalism to intervening not only in the financial industry but also in a wide spectrum of industries. Players are changing with those from BRICs and other emerging markets increasingly becoming serious challengers to traditional MNEs. And NGOs are calling for changes in the rules of the game, ranging from more activist environmental policies to fairer trade regulations. Is the latest chapter of the globalization of business a temporary adjustment on a global scale, hence should firms hold their breath but stick to their existing business models and strategies? Or does it represent a major discontinuity, and should firms anticipate a qualitatively different set of challenges and start preparing for them? What do these challenges mean strategically and organizationally? Do the existing theoretical frameworks continue to be relevant for understanding and analyzing the implications for firms?
  • SCHEDULE & FORMAT: The two-day symposium will involve academia and industry in exploring issues and challenges of global business to management, organization, and leadership. The first day will set the tone with the key note speech by Professor Stephen Kobrin followed by the panel discussion. The second day will be devoted to the paper sessions organized around a number of sub-themes. Most of the program will be open to interested parties including students, faculty and industry representatives.
  • SUBMISSION: We welcome submissions of full papers of up to 20 pages exploring the conference theme. Particular emphasis is placed on international dimensions of Japanese and Asian firms. All submissions will be double-blind reviewed, and will be evaluated using the following criteria: relevance of the topic to the symposium theme, analytical rigor, and innovativeness, among others. Papers should be double-spaced, and should follow the referencing and formatting guidelines for the Journal of International Business Studies (see www.jibs.net). The paper presenters will be invited to submit their manuscripts to the specialedition of Rikkyo Business Review. l Submission deadline: Monday, 5 April, 2010l Acceptance notification: Friday, 23 April, 2010l Please electronically submit your paper (in Word or PDF format) to: Dr. Jun Ishikawa (jun@rikkyo.ac.jp), Professor of Management, College of Business, Rikkyo University.
  • COST: There will be no registration fee to participate in the symposium. However, it is the responsibility of the participants to cover their travel expenses. Information about the registration will be provided in late April.
  • PROGRAM CHAIR: Dr. Toshiya Ozaki, Professor of International Business, College of Business, Rikkyo University
  • ABOUT RIKKYO: Centrally located in the bustling Ikebukuro neighborhood of Tokyo, Rikkyo University is one of Japan’s oldest (founded in 1874) and nationally recognized universities. Rikkyo’s tradition of innovative education is alive and well in the College of Business (COB), which has one of most competitive and highly ranked undergraduate business programs.
  • For more information, refer to COB (http://cob.rikkyo.ac.jp/e/top/index.html) and University (http://english.rikkyo.ac.jp/) websites.

Call for Papers: Journal of International Marketing Special Issue on “Innovation in the Global Marketplace

The Journal of International Marketing Special Issue on “Innovation in the Global Marketplace” deadline approaches (February 8, 2010).
Innovation has become increasingly important to international marketing academics and practitioners as firms operate in a larger number of markets and organic growth becomes the watchword in the executive suite. The specific goals of this special issue are to present new insights into the concepts of innovation, innovation management, and the innovation-customer linkage that is relevant to international marketing scholars and practitioners concerned with the challenges of innovation in global markets. This issue intends to extend the current understanding of innovation in the field of marketing. Manuscripts may be theoretical or empirical. This special issue seeks to publish leading research on innovation in global markets from the perspectives of strategy, modeling and consumer behavior. A primary criterion for assessing fit with “Innovation in the Global Marketplace” is that manuscripts enhance the field of marketing’s understanding of innovation issues in the global context using rigorous theoretical and or empirical method.
Potential topics of interest would, but are not limited to: ·
  • Product and service innovation challenges in the global marketplace·
  • Employment of technology in innovation for enhancing global market effectiveness·
  • Global and/or cross-national diffusion of innovations (product, service and/or process
  • Effectively coordinating innovation activities across borders·
  • Process innovation for global marketing effectiveness·
  • Globalizing organizational process innovations for enhancing marketing capabilities·
  • Innovating markets for strategic global growth·
  • Challenges to entrepreneurial innovation across markets·
  • Cross-cultural or cross-national consumer responses to product and service innovations·
  • Role of mergers and acquisitions in global innovation·
  • Product- and service-innovation alignment with corporate sustainability efforts·
  • Linkages among innovation, branding, and product line proliferation in global efforts

Deadline for Submission: February 8, 2010.

Submitted manuscripts should follow the format indicated in the submission guidelines at: http://marketingpower.com/JIMGuidelines.

Manuscripts should be submitted at: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ama_jim.

All manuscripts will be entered into the review process beginning February 9, 2010. Questions pertaining to the special issue should be directed to David A. Griffith, Editor, Journal of International Marketing (griffith@bus.msu.edu). Check out some of the latest on innovation related topics published in the Journal of International Marketing.

  • Global Consumer Innovativeness: Cross-Country Differences Demographic Commonalities. Gerard J. Tellis, Eden Yin, and Simon Bell. Journal of International Marketing, (2009), 17(2), 1-22.
    Despite extensive research on consumer innovativeness, the literature does not contain a parsimonious construct that has been validated for use across countries, demographics, and categories. This study attempts to fill this gap by studying consumer innovativeness across 15 major world economies. Significantly, the authors find that four negatively valenced items constitute a construct of innovativeness that seems reasonably applicable across most countries. Although this construct of innovativeness varies systematically from country to country, common demographic antecedents emerge across countries. Within these commonalities, a measure of innovativeness shows some distinct category × demographics and category × country differences.
    The full article can be viewed at: http://gtellis.net/Publications.aspx
  • Product Development Strategy, Product Innovation Performance, and the Mediating Role of Knowledge Utilization: Evidence from Subsidiaries in ChinaJunfeng Zhang, C. Anthony Di Benedetto, and Scott HoenigJournal of International Marketing, (2009), 17(2), 42-58. This study examines the interplay of product development strategy, knowledge utilization, and product innovation performance in the context of Chinese subsidiaries of multinational companies. When firms strive to develop highly innovative products (breakthrough focus), the amount of resources allocated has a U-shaped relationship to subsequent product innovation performance (i.e., market rewards of new products). When the aim of product development activity is to reinforce and maintain moderately innovative products (platform focus), increased resource allocation shows a positive relationship to product innovation performance. The amount of resources allocated to minor revisions (incremental focus) shows no significant relationship to product innovation performance. Knowledge utilization is an important predictor of the benefits of developing highly and moderately innovative products. Moreover, it helps to mitigate the drawbacks of a breakthrough focus and strengthens the positive impact of a platform focus. The full article can be viewed at: http://www.hkbu.edu.hk/~mkt/journal/2009 JIM Zhang Di Benedetto Hoenig.pdf
  • Persistence and Learning: Success Factors of Taiwanese Firms in International MarketsJoseph Johnson, Eden Yin, and Hueiting TsaiJournal of International Marketing, (2009), 17(3), 39-54. A relatively recent trend in international marketing is the rising number of firms from nontriad countries seeking growth and profits from foreign markets. Yet no study has examined the international performance of these firms. How successful have their efforts been? What factors drive their success? The authors examine these questions by building a theory-based conceptual framework that links firm international performance to its antecedents. They test the framework using a sample of 110 Taiwanese firms. The key findings are as follows: (1) The internationalization–performance relationship is characterized by a joint U + N shape, (2) learning capacity is positively associated with international performance, and (3) research and development intensity is not a key driver of performance. Though based on a sample of Taiwanese firms only, these results imply that nontriad firms embarking on internationalization must persist despite early setbacks, must develop their learning capacity, and should not develop extensive research and development capabilities while internationalizing. The authors conclude with a discussion of the reasons for these findings. The full article can be viewed at: http://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/research/faculty/yinepub.html
  • Knowledge Transfer Between Multinational Corporations' Headquarters and Their Subsidiaries: Influences on and Implications for New Product OutcomesRuby P. Lee, Qimei Chen, Daekwan Kim, and Jean L. JohnsonJournal of International Marketing, (2008), 16(2), 1-31. A multinational corporation's (MNC's) competitive advantage depends increasingly on control over intangible resources, such as knowledge and relational capital. Although prior research has suggested that cross-border knowledge transfer in MNCs is critical to their new product outcomes, the conditions under which such knowledge transfer can serve to induce positive outcomes remain unclear. This study builds on resource-based theory to suggest that knowledge and MNC network strength are the two critical firm resources individually and collectively influencing new product outcomes. Because MNCs are subject to the pressures on various environmental changes, the authors rely on the contingency theory to examine when knowledge transfer works in differential global market and technological turbulence. The results of a survey of MNC headquarters show that the impacts of cross-border knowledge transfer on new product outcomes are not always positive, depending on the levels of network strength and environmental turbulence. Full text available at:http://cob.fsu.edu/mar/vita/2008_Lee_Chen_Kim_and_Johnson.pdf

Monday, January 11, 2010

Call for Papers: Labour and the global crisis. Sharing the burden, shaping the future

Labour and the global crisis - sharing the burden (!) shaping the future (?)
VI. Global Labour University Conference, Berlin, 14-16 September 2010.

By 2008 the financial crisis that broke out in the U.S. in 2007 had developedinto a full-scale global, systemic financial crisis which ignited a deep crisisin the real economy around the world. Labour markets have been hit in afundamental way by the crisis. Unemployment rates increased sharply all over theworld and are set to continue rising in the coming years.Standard labour marketinstruments can help to mitigate the crisis, but are on their own totallyinsufficient to create adequate employment.
Financial markets are still not regulated. Despite the deep economic crisis sofar wide spread anger among people has not translated into major policy shifts.After the near breakdown of the financial system in 2007 and 2008 the casinoopened again.
Organised labour has mainly been consulted by governments on how to share thepain, but not on how to shape the future. This raises the question of whetherthe crisis will accelerate the decline of organised labour and the deteriorationof the welfare state or whether it can be made into an opportunity for labour toregain the policy initiative.
Given these perspectives the following topics will be discussed at the conference:
  • Analyses of the crisis and short-term options
  • Employment Developments and Labour Market Regulations after the Crisis
  • Changes in the global economy and power structures and global governancereforms
  • The Financial system, distribution and growth
  • Social safety nets and the public sector
  • Financial systems, corporate governance and multinational companies- Looking beyond the horizon - are there fundamental options?

A longer version of the call for papers can be found on the GLU website:http://www.global-labour-university.org/fileadmin/GLU_conference_2010/GLU_Conference_Call_for_Paper.pdf

If you would like to offer a paper in one of these areas, please send a short,half-page abstract by 15 April 2010 to: malpg@hwr-berlin.de



Frank Hoffer
Senior Research Officer
ILO ACTRAV
Tel 0041 22 799 8937
Fax 0041 22 799 6570
Web-Sites
http://www.ilo.org/workers
http://www.global-labour-university.org
http://www.gurn.info

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Call for Papers: coexistence of management, marketing, and technology

Special session on: Coexistence of Management, Marketing, And Technology in a Global Context
June 27 to July 3, 2010

The Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences will hold its 25th World Congress in Tábor in the Czech Republic from June 27 to July 3, 2010. The Central theme of the Congress focuses on Contributions of Czechs and Slovaks to Science and Technology of the 21st Century. The Congress will be Co-sponsored by the City of Tábor. This will be a major international gathering of scientists and educators representing many areas of research, education, and practice. The special session that focuses on coexistence of management, marketing, and technology is intended to bring together scientists, educators, and practitioners who are interested in developments in these areas in Central and Eastern Europe, and specifically in the Czech Republic or Slovakia, that have broad global implications. Examples concerning integration of management styles, marketing practices, and introduction of new technology originating from the Czech Republic or Slovakia will be examined in the global context. Both historical and contemporary case examples are welcome.

Researchers interested in well known personalities such as the famous economist Joseph A. Schumpeter, Peter F. Drucker the early management guru who had close ties to Czechoslovakia, or Tomaš Baťa Sr. who was one of the early entrepreneurial and marketing personalities in mass production of shoes for global markets should participate. Companies such as Swedish Ericsson Telephone Company, Ford Motor Company, or IBM (Hollerith) were significant early influences on managerial and marketing practices and technology diffusion in Central and Eastern Europe and tend not to be well documented in research. The managerial, marketing, and technological impact of Czech and Slovak companies such as Tatra, Aero, or ČKD also influenced consumer and industrial markets in many countries and are not well known in the research literature. Research papers, research and teaching cases, and panels are invited to examine interesting research questions, milestone events, and even anecdotal evidence documenting coexistence of management, marketing, and technology derived from such activities in Central and Eastern Europe, and more specifically, from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Scientists, academics, and practitioners are encouraged to submit their contributions for presentations. Submitted abstracts, papers, and cases will be reviewed and authors will be notified regarding the final acceptance of their submissions. Research papers, case studies, concepts and policy papers are welcome.

The session will be held in English; contributors from all countries interested in the above topics are invited to participate. A special invitation is extended to potential contributors from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Doctoral students interested in international aspects of management, marketing, and technology and their impact on Central and Eastern Europe are also invited to participate.

One page abstracts should be submitted by February 15, 2010 and e-mailed to Professor George Tesar at tesarg@uww.edu.
Authors will be notified by March 1, 2010 regarding their acceptance.
Final papers or cases are due April 30, 2010 and need to be submitted by e-mail.

Papers or cases should not be more than fifteen pages in length, written in English, and should be prepared according to the University of Chicago style manual (K.L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1987 or later).
The special session will take place at the Orea Hotel Dvořák Conference Hotel in Tábor, Czech Republic and is planned for June 28 and 29, 2010.

Detailed information about the 25th World Congress of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences (SVU) along with registration procedures can be found on the SVU website: http://www.svu2000.org/.
Additional information about this special session can be obtained from:
George Tesar, Ph.D. Professor EmeritusUmeå University (Sweden)University of Wisconsin-Whitewatertesarg@uww.edu

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Call for Book Chapters: Emerging Multinationals: Management Styles and Typologies

Call for Book Chapters:
Emerging Multinationals: Management styles, typologies

Edited by:
  • Dilek Zamantili Nayir (Marmara University, Turkey)
  • Vlad Vaiman (Reykjavik University, Iceland)

The study of a multinational company (MNC) has been a fundamental component of the international business literature. While there have been significant variations in the strategies and structures of MNCs from different advanced regions, they have tended to share technological, marketing, and managerial strengths, enabling them to overcome the so-called liability of foreignness in a variety of markets. They have invested for the most part in wholly or majority-owned subsidiaries, transferred technology, products, and knowledge from headquarters to their operations around the world, and relied on elaborate bureaucratic mechanisms and financial controls (Guillen and Garcia-Canal, 2009).


Recent years have seen the emergence of a growing number of MNCs from emerging economies as diverse as Brazil, China, Korea, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Turkey (Goldstein et al, 2006). Whereas these firms have essentially had humble beginnings, some of them have become global leaders in the meantime (Li and Kozhikode, 2008; Guillen and Garcia-Canal, 2009). The new MNCs operate internationally using entry modes such as alliances, joint ventures and wholly owned subsidiaries. Some of them are small and product focused and others are large and diversified (Guillen and Garcia-Canal, 2009). The literature has referred to them as “thirdworld multinationals” (Wells, 1983), “latecomer firms” (Mathews, 2002), “unconventional multinationals” (Li, 2003), “challengers” (BCG, 2008), and “emerging multinationals” (Accenture, 2008; Goldstein, 2007).

In spite of the interest in the topic of emerging multinationals as such, the academic literature is still based on the observation of firms from the so-called Triad (i.e. US, EU and Japan). Only recently a growing strand of literature has begun to question the phenomenon (Li, 2003). The Journal of International Business Studies (2007), the Journal of International Management (2007), the International Journal of Technology and Globalization (2008) and Industrial and Corporate Change (2009), for example, have dedicated special issues to the topic (Amighini et al, 2007). Although these issues have indeed published some very interesting pieces of work on emerging multinationals, those studies have largely focused on the nature of their competitive advantage, motivations, investment development paths and internationalization patterns (Amighini et al, 2007). This has also been the case for books published on the topic. For example, while Sauvant (2009) has comprehensively analyzed the rise and features of emerging multinationals, managerial aspects typical in these types of companies have not explicitly been dealt with. Also Ramamurti and Singh (2009) have asked why so many firms in emerging economies have internationalized so aggressively in the last decade, what competitive advantages these firms enjoy, and what the origins of those advantages are; however, their work has also largely neglected numerous management perspectives.

In academic studies, attempts to understand emerging multinationals have originated primarily from the “developed world” towards “developing countries”. Developing economies have been studied in their relation to investors and corporations expanding into them. Radhakrishnan (1994) has referred to this focus as the “I think therefore you are” syndrome. Genuine developments of emerging multinationals have been subsumed under the overarching explanatory power of Western theories. This attitude has inadvertently affected management and leadership studies. Western management has been regarded as a universal norm, and non-western management practices have been judged against this norm. The proponents of the so-called convergence hypothesis (e.g., Kerr et al, 1960) have argued that management systems would converge towards the models originating from the U.S. From this starting point, patterns in other countries have been viewed either as derivative of, or deviations from, the U.S. model (Locke et al, 1995). MNCs from developed countries have been given the status of ‘mainstream’, and emerging multinationals have been regarded as ‘unconventional’.

In recent years, it has been realized that many of the Western management practices and managerial styles cannot be transplanted exactly in the same manner to other culture and country contexts. Western management literature presents a model of organizational life that may or may not be appropriate in a non-Western business context. This is especially true for emerging multinationals. When Western management theories are applied directly, they may not match the local and cultural understanding of managerial problems and functions in non-Western MNCs. For example, unlike Western management theories, which emphasize delegation, empowerment, and power sharing as key component of effective leadership, research in many developing countries show that a more directive and autocratic management style is accepted and even legitimized (Badawy, 1980; Hofstede, 1984, Dia, 1994). Whereas especially the American view on management tends to overplay the influence of the top manager (Meindl, Ehrlich, and Dukerich, 1985; Meindl and Ehrlich, 1987), paternalism is valued and found in many developing nations (e.g., Dorfman and Howell, 1988). Similarly, counter to Western management paradigms which emphasize consistency and logic, research on management in many developing countries shows that behaving in accordance with the manager's beliefs, personalized and informal methods of conducting interpersonal business affairs and face saving are accepted as personal qualities of effective leaders (Abdullah, 1996).

In this book, we aspire to provide a new vantage point to management in emerging multinationals.

Our aim is to create a state-of-the-art overview of management in emerging multinationals, from the point of view of these organizations themselves. We want to identify an analytic typology of cultural characteristics in order to interpret differing approaches to rationality, motivation, ethics and interpersonal relationships in a managerial context. We aim to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of various managerial approaches in different national contexts. Readers of the book will better understand the interplay among country and company cultures, corporate strategy, as well as individual differences in an emerging country´s MNCs. We will also be able to evaluate the generalizability of models from Western cultures in a more balanced manner. To summarize, in Marsden’s words (1991, p. 36), it is our aim to “… begin from where the people are, rather than from where development (and management) experts would like them to be…”.


The chapters included in this book can potentially make significant contributions to the theory and practice of management of MNCs by facilitating our understanding of universally applicable theories and concepts. The book will target students and researchers of international business and postgraduate students in such courses as international management, cross-cultural studies, and international business.

Topics covered include but are not limited to:

  • Cultural congruence and cultural differences in the interpretation of management in emerging country MNC’s
  • Traits, skills and styles of managers in emerging country MNC’s
  • General leadership styles of managers from emerging multinationals;
  • Motivation techniques of managers from emerging multinationals;
  • Communication and decision making styles;
  • Control mechanisms (management of processes and outputs);
  • Value orientations and ethical dimensions of managers from emerging multinationals;
  • Negotiation styles of and between managers in emerging multinationals;
    Multinational applications of generic strategies in emerging multinationals;
  • Societal culture: Influences on organizational culture in emerging multinational contexts

We are looking to include both conceptual and empirical papers in this edited book. Relevant case study examples are also welcome.

Notes for Potential Authors

Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. All papers are refereed through a peer-review process. Please be prepared to review and comment on some of the submitted articles for this book.

Important Dates:

  • Deadline for submissions of extended abstracts: March 30, 2010Bold
  • Deadline for submissions of completed papers: July 1, 2010
  • Double blind review of papers and feedback from review given to the author(s) by: September 30, 2010
  • Deadline for final submission of corrected papers: December 15, 2010
  • No changes can be made to the papers after: January 15, 2011

Editors and Notes

You may send one copy in the form of an MS Word file attached to an e-mail (details in Author Guidelines) to both the following:

Call for Papers: ICTs, Enterprises and Poverty Alleviation

The Information Economy Report 2010
ICTs, Enterprises and Poverty Alleviation


The Information Economy Report (IER) is one of the flagship publications of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The report monitors global trends in information and communication technologies (ICTs) as they affect developing countries. It serves as a valuable reference for policymakers.

In 2010, the IER will focus on the poverty implications of the use and production of ICTs by enterprises. Reflecting recent developments in the ICT landscape, the IER 2010 will examine where the main opportunities lie within the ICT sector itself and in terms of wider use of ICT among other enterprises. It will draw policy lessons for relevant stakeholders in order to enhance the poverty reduction impact of production and enterprise use of ICTs.

In this context, UNCTAD hereby invites Members of the Virtual Institute to submit contributions that could be reflected in the final report. Contributions could be in the form of short case studies, summaries of existing research, or simply by making available copies of relevant research articles or chapters.

Key questions that will be addressed include the following:
  • In what ways may ICTs in the enterprise sector help to reduce poverty?
  • What evidence exists of reduced poverty from an expansion of the ICT sector?
  • Within the ICT sector: where are the main opportunities for ICT-related income generation for the poor? What is the evidence to date?
  • What evidence exists of reduced poverty from greater use of ICT in the enterprise sector (including in agriculture and in the informal sector)?
  • What ICT applications (fixed telephony, mobile telephony, PCs, the Internet, broadband, community radio, telecentres, etc.) for business purposes are the most effective in reducing poverty?
  • How does the picture vary between different segments of the poor (classified by gender, age, geographical location, etc)?
  • What role can government policies play to enhance the poverty reduction impact of ICT use?
  • How successful have ICT for development (ICT4D) projects (especially those focusing on enterprises) been in supporting poverty reduction goals?
  • Are there evident “best practices” that can be emulated or “bad practices” that should be avoided when promoting ICT4D projects?
  • How can development partners take poverty alleviation better into account when supporting ICT4D activities?

Contributions should be submitted to ict4d@unctad.org preferably before 28 February 2010.