Leveraging the common and outsourcing the distinct: institutional difference and multinational company identity in emerging economies

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the challenges of outsidership faced by multinational companies (MNCs) accessing emerging economies. The paper departs from popular conceptualisations of culture drawing instead on social identity theory as part of an institutions-based view, to explain how employing a singularities approach can allow the identification of commonalities of Indianness and Australianness that can be leveraged to ameliorate negative socially embedded business norms that pose a challenge to MNC success in emerging economies. This study shows that despite recognised formal (regulatory) and informal (cultural) differences, managers of Australian MNCs operating in India were able to innovatively identify and exploit cultural commonalties/singularities to ease cultural adjustment and mitigate intergroup conflict, allowing them to achieve an innovative institutional fit. The paper discusses how, using this approach, sole-venture MNCs can access many of the benefits provided by collaborative entry modes while preserving MNC identity. We further propose that the singularities approach can provide a valuable starting point to develop culturally appropriate competence training initiatives.     

The UN Global Compact for Safe,Orderly and Regular Migration: Its Impact on Asia

This article focuses on the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), a landmark international document that builds on the momentum of a decade of initiatives at the international level on migration governance, and its impact on Asia from the perspective of South Asia, Southeast Asia, China, and South Korea. While none of these countries voted against the adoption of the GCM, there are significant differences in how individual countries approached the commitments made in the GCM. These perspectives were articulated in a webinar hosted by Metropolis Asia on 20 June 2018 and in governmental statements made at the UN international conference when the GCM was adopted. This article also discusses the challenges confronting the implementation of the GCM. While the Compact resulted from inclusive and intensive negotiations and many compromises, the road towards realizing its goals will be at least as challenging as the road that led to its adoption. In spite of these challenges, the GCM is a ground‐breaking representation of the first multilateral framework for migration governance. Its success rests upon the recognition that addressing the challenges and maximizing the benefits of migration require true international cooperation, renewed commitment and meaningful action on the commitments agreed to.     

Planning for hospitals: No focus, no strategy

This is a study of the role of long-range planning and strategic management in 400 hospitals in the United States. It examines not only the structural aspects of planning but also investigates how the data base generated through the planning process is actually used in making operating decisions. In addition to a questionnaire survey of 400 hospitals on the structural aspects of planning, 78 personal interviews with functional heads and hospital administrators were conducted to analyse the operational part of the study. The major findings are that the possibilities and constraints of planning are remarkably similar to those of industrial corporations. The linkage of planning with operational decisions was found to be lacking. There were wide divergences in views between the functional heads and the hospital administrators in terms of internal and external activities, and also in performance reward relationship. These divergences are thought to be counter- productive in realizing the strategic focus of cost containment. Implications of the findings are also discussed.     

Estimates of population size and growth from the 1952-54 and 1961 censuses of the Kingdom of Nepal

Abstract The Census of Nepal conducted in 1961 conforms to the generally accepted requirements for a national census. Some doubt could be raised about the previous census as part of the country was enumerated in 1952 and part in 1954. More serious doubts still could be entertained about earlier censuses, including their very existence, though there are persistent rumours that they were carried out every ten years or so since about the middle of the previous century. We have only been able to lay our hands on some data in respect of four earlier censuses: those of 1911, 1920, 1930 and 1941. Little more is available than population totals for some of the component areas from these four censuses, and even then the boundaries and coverage of the component parts are uncertain.     

Modeling a low-carbon garment supply chain

This article attempts to introduce indirect carbon emission and trade-credit concept in a network optimisation model for sustainable supply chain. The proposed model optimises total cost, total direct carbon emission, total indirect emission in the form of embodied carbon footprint of the raw material and total trade-credit amount over the purchased item in a supply chain. The model calculates the total cost by considering purchasing cost, logistics cost, handling cost and manufacturing cost. It attempts to measure the direct emission involved in manufacturing and logistics operations. The model has the capability to consider dissimilar trucks used for transportation according to their operating cost and carbon emission. Multi-objective goal programming is applied to deal with four objectives to find a tradeoff among these objectives. The result suggests that managers should capture the direct as well as the indirect emission which helps in arriving at appropriate strategy for a sustainable supply chain. The effectiveness of the proposed model is demonstrated through a case of a garment supply chain. This model also supports in deciding appropriate goal for carbon emission, supply chain costs, etc.     

Workforce development for older youth

The challenges facing youth who are disconnected from our nation's employment and education systems are expansive. Research has suggested that youth services and supports that are grounded in a developmental approach not only help young people avoid self-destructive behavior, but also enable them to acquire the academic and work-readiness skills and personal attributes that employers seek. In 1995, the National Youth Employment Coalition and its members established the Promising and Effective Practices Network (PEPNet) to identify the key elements of quality youth programs and develop tools that would help organizations establish, connect to, and promote quality programs. PEPNet represents a standards framework that captures the key elements common to successful programs that connect youth to jobs, careers, and education. This chapter provides some insights into the current practices that have been implemented to facilitate older youth's transition to the workforce and highlights the supports youth need for successful adulthood, citizenship, and career pursuits.     

The Emergence of Hypertext and Problem Solving: An Experimental Investigation of Accessing and Using Information from Linear versus Nonlinear Systems*

Past research suggests that problem solving and/or decision behavior can be altered and improved by the changes in the way information is accessed and displayed. Also, researchers have found that the usefulness of different information display formats are contingent on the characteristics of the problem task. This research investigated the impact on problem solving when accessing and using information from linear and nonlinear systems. Also, the research investigated problem-solving performance of linear and nonlinear systems when applied to different combinations of problem tasks. In a laboratory setting, linear and nonlinear systems were developed to conduct this experiment. This experiment used 64 graduate business students in a two-factor repeated-measures design employing a multivariate analysis of variance to analyze the data. Repeated measures were conducted to analyze the experimental group under both linear and nonlinear treatments. The findings from the study support the notion that the nonlinear system resulted in superior problem solving and higher levels of user satisfaction than the linear system. Specifically, the nonlinear system enabled users to make faster and more accurate decisions on perceptual problem tasks than did the linear system. For analytical problem tasks, users performed faster with the nonlinear system; however, there was no significant difference in accuracy. User satisfaction was higher with the nonlinear system under both perceptual and analytical tasks.