Major Causes for the Korean Financial Crisis in 1997

Soon Suk Yoon
Chonnam National University
Gary Miller
Texas A&M International University

Our study investigates the major causes of the Korean financial crisis in 1997. In a later paper, we will identify the reforms implemented to recover from the crisis. The Korean government believes that the main cause of the financial crisis in 1997 was a lack of market discipline and the malfunctioning of the market system rather than macroeconomic imbalance. Changes must be made in many areas including 1) fiscal and monetary policies, 2) the public sector and 3) the corporate sector. Korea’s bank failures and the ensuing foreign exchange crisis are unique in that the failures were neither attributable to depression in any particular industry, nor to weakness in the real economy. Many indicators of macroeconomic performance (e.g. production, consumption and savings) had been normal until the financial crisis.

The History of Industrial Democracy in Sweden: Industrial Revolution to 1980

Ralph Haug
Roosevelt University

This paper is a brief discussion of the early history of industrial democracy in one Scandinavian country: Sweden.  Specific attention is paid to the evolving labor laws and the impact they had in creating this truly unique nation-wide approach to cooperative management-labor relations.  It is interesting to note that although the three Scandinavian countries developed along similar lines, each maintained individual characteristics and philosophies towards the democratization of the workplace. It is also clear that industrial democracy in Scandinavia meant much more than employee representation on the board of directors.  It encompassed all employee participation in the decision making process from the individual worker on the shop floor, through various cooperation committees or works councils, to the board of directors, and even outside of one’s organization.

Metaphors of Economic Activity in 19th and 20th Century Western Art

Craig S. Galbraith
University of North Carolina, Wilmington
Oliver Galbraith III
San Diego State University

This paper examines the use of economic subject matter in 19th and 20th century Western paintings.  We find that while economic activity occupies a large portion of daily human life, it has been largely ignored as a subject matter for art.  The paper examines the differences between economic activity, such as labor, capital, production, and market exchange as artistic subject matter.  Using a panel approach, examples of 19th and 20th century paintings that use economic activity as subject matter are examine and classified into sub-categories of motifs. Analysis suggests that industrial production and capital themes are more negatively presented than labor and market exchange themes.

The Effect of Terrorist Attacks on Shareholder Value: A Study of United States International Firms

Michael Hergert
San Diego State University

The U.S. economy has entered a new era of battling terrorism. The financial world was rocked by the events of September 11, 2001 and continues to struggle with the valuation of firms in an uncertain global operating environment. This study examines the impact of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 on shareholder value in the presence of international business exposure. The analysis concludes that firms with extensive international operations were penalized in the equity markets as a result of 9/11. The study examines stockholder returns both one week and one year after the attacks. The findings indicate that the valuation of firms with a high percentage of foreign sales fell disproportionately immediately after the attacks and that these firms continue to sell at a relative discount one year later.

The Effect of the Competitive Status of an Organization on the Relevance of Different Performance Criteria: A Conceptual Analysis

Hai-Ming Chen
Tamkang University, Taiwan
Tung-Cheng Kuo
Tamkang University, Taiwan

This article discusses performance criteria from the viewpoint of competitive advantage. Based on the concept of competitive advantage, the criteria used to assess employees’ performance are suggested to be contingent on the competitive status of a firm. When a firm is at the stage of seeking competitive advantage, competency-based criteria should be focused. Thereafter, behavior- and outcome-based criteria become crucial. While each stage should take different focus, multiple criteria are suggested.

The Effect of Growing Inequality on Consumer Demand for Necessities: An Empirical Study in Taiwan

Miao-Sheng Chen
Nanhua University, Taiwan
Chih-Wen Ting
Tamkang University, Taiwan

This paper primarily focuses on the effects of growing income inequality on the demand for living necessities. In order to analyze the effects, we will construct a demand curve by using the bivariate probability distribution method. By using the properties of the newly constructed demand curve, we can find that the growing income inequality will decrease the quantity demanded of living necessities. And we suggest some strategies to improve the unfavorable situation.

The Selection and Management of Cost Justification Techniques among Advanced Manufacturing Technology Companies in Malaysia

Kevin Low Lock Teng
Multimedia University, Malaysia
Arumugam Seetharaman
Multimedia University, Malaysia

This paper investigates the selection and management of cost justification techniques on AMT among the manufacturers in Malaysia. Adoption of AMT involves huge amount of investment and a high degree of uncertainty, and therefore a considerable level of attention is required in a manufacturing firm at all level. As a result, issues involving planning, selection and justification procedures assume greater importance. In other words, instead of rushing to invest in AMT, a firm should re-evaluate the objectives, strength and weakness in order to compete in the domestic as well we international manufacturing market.

The Impact of Quality Control Circles and Education on Organizational Commitment in Northern Mexico Assembly Plants

Kenichiro Chinen
California State University Sacramento
Carl E. Enomoto
New Mexico State University

The number of assembly plants in Northern Mexico, also known as maquiladora, has grown over the years. However, expatriate managers in Mexico face major challenges including the building of an appropriate relationship and developing and maintaining organization commitment among the Mexican workers. It is reported that job turnover in the maquiladora ranges from 120 to 150 percent annually in many assembly plants. This study investigated the impacts of quality control circles and worker education on perceived organizational commitment in the Mexican workplace. It also examined the generalizability of Meyer, Allen, and Smith’s three-component model of organizational commitment.

A Chinese-United States Joint Venture Business Ethics Model and its implications for Multi-national Firms

T.K.P. Leung
Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

The study of business ethics has continuously attracted researchers’ attention (Hunt and Vitell 1986, De George 1987, Ferrell et al 1989, Gundlach and Murphy 1993, Lovett et al 1999).  These studies, however, concentrate on comparing European and North American ethical beliefs and research on Chinese business ethics has largely been neglected (Nyaw and Ng 1994).  Ip and Chan (1999) concurred and attribute the reason to the difficulty of in-depth analysis on vast amount of Chinese business ethic literature that is embedded within the doctrine of Confucianism.  The lack of in-depth study leads to inconclusive comments made by different authorities.  For example, Lee (1981) suggests that the Chinese managers and the British managers based in Hong Kong have comparable moral standards whilst Nyaw and Ng (1994) claims that Hong Kong Chinese managers are more likely to tolerate unethical behavior than their Canadian counterparts.  These inconclusive findings are difficult to generate a comprehensive model on Chinese business ethics so as to help multi-national organizations to establish their Sino-foreign joint venture ethical policies. Intensive review on western (mainly from the U.S) and Chinese literature shows that U.S. ethical judgement is heavily influenced by four constructs, i.e. trust, equity, responsibility and commitment whilst Chinese ethical judgement is substantially determined by the Chinese relational constructs, i.e. ‘jen’, ‘guanxi’, xinyong, and ‘face’. In turn, the Sino-U.S. joint venture manager’s determination of corporate ethical culture has to balance the two ethical judgements so as to maintain harmony between the two joint venture parents. The study attempts to combine the U.S. and traditional Confucius ethical concepts to generate a theoretical Sino-U.S. joint venture business ethic model to help multi-national firms effectively operate in a Chinese environment.  It aims at capturing the current business ethical practices in the west and China and proposes an ethical model to help foreign enterprises to develop their long-term corporate cultural strategies with their Chinese partners in this important global market.

Developing a Model for a Supply Chain Management Major in a United States University in the New Millennium

Jayanta K. Bandyopadhyay
Central Michigan University

With significant growth in supply chain activities in manufacturing and other industries in the United States, there has been a tremendous opportunity for preparing our university students into a Supply Chain Management (SCM) career path in this new millennium. This paper presents a model for developing a syllabus for a Supply Chain Management (SCM) course, and for developing a major program in Supply Chain Management (SCM) to prepare students for meeting the needs and challenges of Supply Chain Management career path of manufacturing and service industries in the United States in this new millennium.

An Examination of the Costing Process in a Technology Centre: Lessons for Management

John A. Brierley
University of Sheffield,England

This paper reports the results of a study of the costing procedures in a technology (or research centre) of a multinational UK company operating in the metalworking industry. Research contracts carried out within the company or in conjunction with other European engineering companies are priced at full cost, and contracts carried out for third parties are priced on a cost-plus basis. Budgets are prepared for all contracts and costs are reviewed for all contracts to ensure that they are within budget. The majority of the centre’s costs are direct labour, hence satisfaction with the accuracy of research contract costs is dependent on ensuring that the labour cost of each contract is recorded correctly. Other than pricing contracts, cost information is rarely used in decision making. Decisions are based on research/technical information rather than cost information.

Critical Management Practices Leading to Venture Consideration by Mass Merchandisers: An Empirical Study

Stephen C. Jones
Southwest Missouri State University
Tami L. Knotts
Southwest Missouri State University
Gerald G. Udell
Southwest Missouri State University

A study was conducted using data from the assessment of 1681 small manufacturing enterprises wishing to establish supplier relationships with a major mass merchandiser. The firm assessment process was examined to determine which management practices seemed to distinguish between those ventures which were successful (forwarded for mass merchandiser consideration) and those which were not successful. Successful ventures tended to perform all management practices better than non-successful ventures, and all firms reported performing accounting and financial practices better than marketing, production and technology practices.

An Examination of the Linkages between Foreign and Domestic Banks in Malaysia, using the Error-Correction Mechanism Test

Tuck Cheong Tang
Monash University Malaysia, Malaysia

Using error-correction mechanism (ECM) test, the study has re-confirmed that no long run relationship of the output between foreign banks and domestic banks in Malaysia. This finding re-confirms the previous work by Tang (2001). Some policy implications have been noted in this study.

Introduction

The study aims to re-examine the presence of a long run relationship between foreign banks and domestic banks in Malaysia, using ECM (error-correction mechanism) test that developed by Banerjee, et al. (1998). The ECM test accounts for the number of regressors (k) and the number of observations (T) used in cointegration analysis.  However, previous study (Tang, 2001) does not account these issues by using the Engle-Granger ADF test, and the results may be bias. Banerjee et al. (1998) have showed that the ECM test provided a more reliable test of cointegration as well as an unbiased estimate of the long run relation when the explanatory variables are weekly exogenous of the parameters of interest. The implication of the finding is to investigate the effectiveness of the Central Bank of Malaysia’s policies to develop domestic banks by reducing the dominance of foreign bank activities.

The Relation between Firm Survival and the Achievement of Balance among its Stakeholders: An Analysis

Pedro Lorca
University of Oviedo, Spain
Julita García-Diez
University of Oviedo, Spain

The new environment and the strategic management it calls for have changed the relationship between the organisation and its stakeholders to the effect that companies have to take into account the interests of all the stakeholders. This will imply an adequate satisfaction for each stakeholder, and lead to the corresponding generation of value for the firm. The long term survival of the firm requires to carry out a balance between inducements and contributions of all the stakeholders.

The Development and Application of an Organisational Learning Matrix

Lynn L. K. Lim
Murdoch University, Australia
Christopher C. A. Chan
Australian National University, Australia

Much of the organizational learning literature have emphasized on various models of learning and have convincingly argued how learning organizations will have greater competitive advantage than those with lesser learning capabilities. Yet, there is a dearth of research on how organizations learn in various levels of volatility in the business environment. In this article, an organizational learning matrix is developed by drawing on the seminal organizational learning models of Argyris (1995), Fulmer (1994) and Chaharbaghi and Newman (1996) and fusing the concept of business volatility. The matrix illustrates how organizations engage in minimal learning to survive, but in an increasingly turbulent business environment executives are challenged to ‘gear up’ and lead their organizations to success through higher forms of learning.

An Empirical Investigation of the Values of Iranian Executives: Traditional versus Global Market-Based Orientations

Jafar Alavi
East Tennessee State University
Mahmoud M. Yasin
East Tennessee State University
Thomas W. Zimmerer
Saint Leo University

This study offers rare insights into the practices and values that shape business performance in the Iranian business environment, The values of a sample of Iranian executives are examined in the context of the unique Iranian business culture. Based on the results of this study, it appears that the values of those who lead Iranian business organizations are changing from a traditional, religious-based to a global market-based orientation. Perhaps this is a reflection of the openness, which has characterized the Iranian society in recent years. Business executives from developed countties seeking to establish strategic partnerships with their Iranian counterpaits are beginning to experience this change more and more in the last few years.

How Real is the Rhetoric? A Survey of the Views about Human Resources Management among United States HR Managers

Aminu Mamman
University of Manchester
Christopher J. Rees
University of Manchester

One of the criticisms that has been persistently levelled against Human Resource Management (HRM) is that it represents an academic as opposed to applied discipline. The paper recognises the criticism that there is a distinction between the rhetoric and the reality of HRM.  It attempts to contribute to a broader understanding of HRM primarily by focussing attention upon the thinking of HR practitioners.  The paper reports the results of a survey of HR managers’ views about key issues pertaining to HRM literature, for example, reward systems, employee participation, training and development, and the role of trade unions. Generally, the survey revealed that these HR managers (N = 110), who are based in the United States of America, considered both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards as important, had favourable attitudes to employee participation, and recognised the strategic nature of training and development. Further, the responses of the HR managers supported the view that trade unions should be concerned with issues beyond pay and working conditions (indicating some support of trade unionism), though the respondents also tended towards the view that trade unions do not act in organisations’ economic interests.  The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to the rhetoric/reality debate.