“When in Rome do as the Romans do” – this hundreds years old proverb is still very actual today. Even more, nowadays you don’t even have to go to Rome to feel cultural differences. The communication technology have changed the world economy, thousands of people work now for multinational companies, interacting daily not just with a culture, but possibly with as much as 5 or 6 different ones. Some teams even work in different geographical locations communicating exclusively by electronic means. Today’s managers just have to deal with culture whether they like it or not, but the whole employee-manager relationship may be turned upside down on another side of the globe. So what should we do and what do we do about it? Ho do we manage effectively? These are the questions that this study aims to answer at. The main research objects of this study are rather small software engineering teams and companies that are working in cross-cultural environment, but do have little or no special company policies and other formal ways to manage cultural differences. Yet we found out that managers develop there own understanding of cultural issues and are practicing different methods to deal with them. / mkitsul@yahoo.com; seza@km.ru

This study examined the role of firm performance, internationality, innovation intensity and firm size in determining CEO executive compensation in multinational enterprises. The framework for this study was established by reviewing literature relevant in executive compensation, agency theory, internationalization, innovation, contingency, and resource based theories. The sample data of 1,950 observations from 488 companies over a period of four years (2008-2011) were collected from ExecuComp database and from Forbes Global 2000 companies list published in 2011. A quantitative methodological approach using correlational research design was employed. The results indicated a positive relation between executive compensation paid to CEOs and firm performance measured in return on assets and return on equity, and size of the firm. Results did not indicate a strong relation between executive compensation paid to CEOs and internationalization and, investment in research and development in multinational corporations. Empirical analyses derived from the data set of this study failed to provide adequate evidence to support the expected moderating effect of firm size on executive compensation paid to CEOs and firm performance. A large part of executive compensation paid to CEO remains unexplained in part due to the need for a greater understanding of the effects of the contextual variables related to internationalization, innovation intensity, and understanding the impact differences from short term and long term executive compensation structures. This dissertation contributes to the literature on compensation, MNC analysis, and innovation.

In this research, it is examined whether U.S. domiciled multinational enterprises (MNEs) or U.S. domestic enterprises (DEs) emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and whether MNEs spend less time (duration) in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process than their DE counterparts. This research also studies the degree of multinationality and if the degree impacts positive recovery and duration from Chapter 11 bankruptcy on MNEs. This study consists of 403 companies, with 204 classified as MNEs and 199 classified as DEs, examining multinational diversification, internationalization, imperfect capital markets, and real options as measured by each firms' days in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process. The results of this study show that the MNEs are more successful than DEs emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The duration of Chapter 11 for MNEs is basically the same for DEs, and the impact of degree of multinationality is not significant for either emergence or duration. However, the results did find that when using the number of foreign subsidiaries as the variable for degree, the predictive powers were significant in support that MNEs are more likely to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy than similar DEs, cet par

Cultural differences between countries are widely acknowledged, and these differences manifest in HQ-subsidiary relations of MNCs. Central to the strategies that MNCs implement outside their home countries is the understanding of the dynamic nature of culture. While studies exist on the HQ-subsidiary relations these studies fall short in understanding the impact on individuals employed by MNCs. Thus, understanding if common differences between MNCs from different countries exist and how these manifest at the individual level may provide valuable insight into the nature of culture. 404 responses from 12 MNCs representing 5 countries was collected and analysed. Analysis included principle component analysis, ANOVA, correlation co-efficients and the cultural distance index. Results indicate that individual and organisational cultures are weakly correlated to home and host country national cultures; and individual culture is correlated to organisational culture. Common differences exist between MNCs with HQ in different countries. MNCs from South Korea are the most accommodating to the subsidiary organisational culture, while the Netherlands the least accommodating. Unintentionally results indicated that the perception of cultural distance is different to what is predicted. Culture is elastic and evidence exists for individuals holding an in-culture and out-culture. MNCs should understand the impact of culture at the individual level rather than only at the national level. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Corporate environmental responsibility is an emerging concept in developing countries, especially ones where environmental legislation regulating business activity is not enforced. In some instances, business actors voluntarily organize a collective action to institute the adoption of environmental best practices within a given industrial sector. This is the case of the cement industry in Morocco. This research aimed to determine why and how Moroccan cement companies chose to green their industrial processes and adopt environmental best practices. Using a process tracing methodology, this research showed how the adoption of environmental best practices was induced in the cement industry. By conducting in-depth interviews with actors involved in the cement environmental program, and analyzing relevant documentation on the global Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI), this research identified how the pressure from financial institutions and global NGOs was instrumental in inducing change. The role of governmental institutions was relegated to facilitating and coordinating the activities of these companies. This research also explores the reach of norms and regulations beyond a given country's frontiers, so that they directly influence the organizational fields of other countries. In this research, European institutions were found to be directly influencing the environmental performance of the cement industry in Morocco through the trade relations that existed between organizations in both geographical areas. / Ph. D.

No / A two-step modelling strategy is applied to a panel of 5,861 foreign-invested and 7,697 indigenous Chinese firms for the period 1998¿2001 to investigate whether export spillovers may represent a mechanism underpinning Dunning¿s Trade Development Path hypothesis. ¿ Such spillovers are found, and the results emphasize the importance of a wide spectrum of spillover channels involving labour mobility, spatial agglomeration, technological imitation and the diffusion of exporting experience. ¿ Multinational enterprises in China positively affect local Chinese firms¿ exports through various spillover channels, and inward FDI brings significant, indirect spillovers.

No / This paper explores the character, density and likely importance of connections between directors of a sample of 12 early-twentieth century British multinational companies. Drawing on the notion of `gentlemanly capitalism¿, a reconstruction of multiple and interlocking directorships for 1899¿1900 and 1929¿1930 indicates that a complex network existed that comprised links, respectively, to 255 and 497 companies. We explore the social, cultural and political characteristics of the directors of our sample and argue that the ways in which members of this group interacted with each other would have influenced business attitudes, facilitated transfers of knowledge and promoted interdependencies, thereby shaping commercial behaviour. We argue that the directors of early multinationals formed the kind of definable `power geometries¿ within the wider corporate elite that have been identified amongst today's business elites. Our results indicate that a distinct and increasingly dynamic multinational corporate community existed in the early 1900s, which was in many respects like its modern counterparts. A key finding is that the complexity of dyadic connections between directors and their personal networks of contacts increased markedly between 1899¿1900 and 1929¿1930.

No / This article illustrates the causes of piracy and pinpoints piracy associated with registrations and with production and distribution. Based on interviews with British and American multinational managers working in China, the authors elaborate 10 corporate actions to counter the spread of the `inevitable curse¿. In order to implement these 10 strategies, the authors recommend that firms treat piracy as a challenge, be corporately proactive, be aware of the repertoire of possible strategies, investigate co-operative action with other companies, agencies and government and be continuously alert to the dynamic nature of piracy. The problems reflected here are common to multinationals operating businesses around the world, and the destructive nature of piracy is likely to encourage more academic study to yield further insights for practice.

With the increasing emergence of multinational companies and the increased popularity of these companies, the question of the organization of their activities becomes interesting for the HR community worldwide. These companies are renowned for deliberate management structure of human resources and their effective use. For effective use of employees’ skills and knowledge the company has to constantly motivate them by intrinsic and extrinsic motivational tools. Motivational tools which use a company may be different depending on specific features of the country that the office is located. The purpose of this research is the study of how multinational companies organize the motivational system in different countries taking into account cultural characteristics and needs of the personnel in the offices of a particular country. On the basis of data derived from interviews with 12 representatives of 6 companies (4 of them Swedish companies, Oriflame, SCA, Volvo, IKEA, and two American companies, IBM and Deloitte, that have representative offices in Sweden and in Russia) it was revealed that modern multinational companies use similar motivational tools that partly standardized to keep the specifics of the company, and partly adapted to the local requirements.

Proposed Topic: "Assessment of Multinational Federalism in Bosnia and Herzegovina" Registered in SIS: Yes Date of registration: 21.10.2011 Topic Characteristics: This research proposal will basically refer to functionality of federal values that lead to a federal political culture in the example of Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Dayton Peace Agreement signed in 1995 by focusing on the federal model that has been applied with Constitution, as a part of the said agreement. Hence, it will show to what extent the conflict that had led to the Bosnian War of 1992-1995 was resolved by implementing a federal model and constitution in 1995 and if so, what is the role of federalism in it. I have chosen the way of assessing multinational federalism in Bosnia and Herzegovina to evaluate federal system in post-war period in order to have a better perspective to observe the ability of federal state to enhance Bosnia as a unity. Today Bosnian Serbs, Bosnian Croats and Bosniaks constitute the main national identities, in Republika Srpska and in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, two constituent entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina .Republika Srpska, as it could be understood from the name- Serb Republic, is led by an administration representing a Serbian majority whereas Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), known...