Advances in Competitiveness Research

Browse past and current articles from this publication.

Rethinking capitalism: challenges and possibilities.
Can Capitalism as a system cope creatively with unfolding calamities and absorb sudden shocks? Is there a need to critically and creatively challenge prevailing economic assumptions? These questions . . .

Growth within the deregulated U. S. railroad industry.
EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW Firm growth is an area of research which is important to many scholars. Of greater importance may be the process by which firms grow over time. Acquisitions, strategic alliances . . .

Corporate restructuring: a boon for competitive advantage.(Company overview)(Report)
"Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision"--Peter F. Drucker INTRODUCTION Restructuring refers to multidimensional process. However, the term corporate res . . .

Outsourcing for financial success? An exploratory study.(Report)(Survey)
CURRENT STATE OF OUTSOURCING Global competition dictates that manufacturing firms deliver quality goods to customers on demand and at lower costs. One of the ways to be competitive is through inno . . .

A multilevel analysis of the moderating role of trade union strength in the relationship between privatization and corporate gov
INTRODUCTION For almost three decades now, governments in both developed and developing nations have been privatizing state-owned enterprises (SOEs) (Ramamurti, 2000). According to World Bank esti . . .

Off-shoring of tax preparation services by U.S. accounting firms: an empirical study.(Report)
OVERVIEW For purposes of this study, off-shoring is defined as the procurement of services by CPA (certified public accounting) firms outside the United States through electronic media. The term o . . .

Business metrics: A key to competitive advantage.
INTRODUCTION Business metrics and performance measures serve as dashboard gauges that help in guiding the strategic direction of a firm (Rubin, 1991). The dashboard consists of appropriate gauges, . . .

Arational decision stages: the breakdown of rationality in strategic planning and implementation.(Company overview)(Report)
NORMATIVE DECISION MAKING REVISITED Decision making is the science of choosing the best alternative. The problem with classical normative decision models lies in intractable constraints, particula . . .

The tyrant executive.
In order to situate themselves on the power stage, tyrants do not hesitate to use whatever means are available to optimally serve their own interests. Whether they appear in the business or politica . . .

The state of U.S. international competitiveness: a study of the impact of trade performance indicators.(Report)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This study examines the conclusions regarding the state of international competitiveness for the United States based on Its trade performance internationally. We examine the rela . . .

Creating competitive advantage through intangible assets: the direct and indirect effects of corporate culture and reputation.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Corporate culture and reputation are intangible assets firms use to create a competitive strategic advantage to differentiate themselves from other firms to enhance firm performa . . .

An evaluation of the competitiveness of the agribusiness sector in South Africa.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The objective of this paper is to conduct a comprehensive analysis on the competitiveness of the agribusiness sector in South Africa. Three instruments emerged from this viz the . . .

Re-engineering operational practices and processes to improve the customer focus of a marketing organization.(Company overview)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The objective of this field study is to examine the applicability and potential advantages of pull operational practices in a mid-size manufacturing organization. The results der . . .

Integrated benchmarking performance measures.(Survey)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The focus of this article is to show how a thorough understanding of organizational strategy and deployment of the strategy into consistent functional strategies is critical for . . .

A curvilinear relationship between control and strategy: sharing of control in a multinational network.(Survey)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY There has been a great deal of interest by researchers in understanding the issue of control of subsidiaries in a multinational network. The debate has been between using high co . . .

Supply chain transformation by ERP for enhancing performance: an empirical investigation.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This paper addresses the implication of transforming supply chain by implementing ERP to enhance corporate performance. The research methodology uses a case study approach employ . . .

Corporate citizenship and sustainable development.
In two surveys conducted by the McKinsey Quarterly two striking results were found. The first is that executives around the world believe that the effective management of sociopolitical concerns mus . . .

Executive discretion as a driver of firm competitiveness.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In this paper we revisit with more precision and sophistication the phenomenon of executive discretion. Accordingly, we build and improve on limited theory of executive discretio . . .

Strategic planning-firm performance linkage: empirical investigation from an emergent market perspective.
ABSTRACT This study investigates the relationship between strategic planning and firm performance in a non-western, emergent market context. Based on a sample of 28 Jordanian manufacturing organiz . . .

The application of the contingency it deployment strategy: evidence from the Middle East.
ABSTRACT Deployment research reveals that firms apply either one or both of two major deployment strategies: contingency and standardization. This paper is one of two related papers investigating . . .

Building entrepreneurial e-commerce competitive advantage: a blending of theory and practice.(Company overview)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A problem for small businesses acting entrepreneurially through extending their business onto the web is that they often lose their primary value-added proposition: the personal . . .

Project-based international business strategies: the case of the international construction services industry.(Company overview)
ABSTRACT Focusing on the International Construction Services (ICS) industry, this paper explores how far these models apply to non-traditional situations. Do such models capture how firms in the I . . .

The role of book value in high-tech valuation.
ABSTRACT This paper investigates the anomalous relationship between negative earnings and stock prices for the high-tech sector. We obtain evidence rejecting the claim that including book value in . . .

A transaction cost analysis of restructuring alternatives.
ABSTRACT This study extends the transaction cost economics (TCE) rationale to a firm's choice of two restructuring alternatives--selling off assets and laying off employees. It hypothesizes that a . . .

A leadership development model to improve organizational competitiveness.
INTRODUCTION Firm competitive behavior and the sustained effort to remain effective and competitive are very important attributes of successful organizations. As Offstein and Gnyawali (2004) have . . .

Measuring stages of concern of management academia about information technology based education.(Report)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Indian management education is amid major transition from its traditional classroom teaching methods to information technology-based education. Conventional classroom courses wil . . .

Clusters and Competitive Advantage: The Turkish Experience.
Ozlem Oz New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. Pp. 219 ISBN-10:1403936137 Management theorists have over the years developed various strategies to aid in addressing managerial issues. In particula . . .

Andrews Tackles Global Technical Communication.(Book Review)
Technical Communication in the Global Community Deborah C. Andrews. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice- Hall, Inc., 1998. xvii+588 pp., appendices, references, index. ISBN 0-13-103060-4. Global . . .

Communicating information technology: Having the Right Stuff.(Book Review)
Technical Communication (5th Edition) Rebecca E. Burnett. Orlando: Harcourt College Publishers, 2001. xx+736pp., User hand book, Index ISBN 0-15-506448-7 The ability to communicate effectively . . .

Knowledge-sharing in value-chain networks: certifying collaborators for effective protection processes.
INTRODUCTION Three major trends have come together at the start of the new millennium, raising the stakes for firms seeking to compete in the new economy. Initially, knowledge management (KM, also . . .

Human resource information systems: a review and model development.
ABSTRACT This paper presents a human resource information systems (HRIS) model with a primary objective: To provide a comprehensive framework that advances HRIS research (Kuhn, 1996). This model i . . .

Using principles of just-in-time to improve new product development process.
ABSTRACT Quick new product design and development is crucial for companies to be competitive in a global market. This article shows that the principles of just-in-time (JIT) in manufacturing can b . . .

China or NAFTA: the world's largest market in the 21st century?
ABSTRACT This paper addresses the economic role of these two countries: Will the Chinese economy, as many suggest, continue its strong economic advance under its system of "undemocratic capitalism . . .

Integrated corporate and product brand communication (1).
INTRODUCTION Today, integrated communication needs to be viewed from a global perspective. Given the speed, span and reach of electronic communication, there are technically no local or national f . . .

Successfully competing in the deregulated trucking industry: a resource-based perspective.
ABSTRACT This paper uses the resource-based view of the firm to explain how firms grow in a deregulated environment. The study demonstrates that firms must utilize a specific sequencing of both ac . . .

Competitive intelligence, corporate security and the virtual organization.
ABSTRACT This paper seeks to document a variety of competitive intelligence (CI) vulnerabilities which (1) are common to most organizations; and (2) have a unique and adverse effect on virtual fir . . .

Understanding strategy: why is strategy so difficult?
"Everything in strategy is very simple, but that does not mean that everything is very easy. " --Clausewitz (1976: 178) As academics, our first responsibility is to teach strategy to students wh . . .

Making globalization globally advantageous.
One of the most polarizing debates in the world today concerns the effects of globalization. Some of the principle reasons for this is that: a) most people are locked into preconceived notions (Barn . . .

Supply Chain Management: Strategy, Planning, and Operation.(Supply Chains to Virtual Integration)
Supply Chain Management: Strategy, Planning, and Operation Sunil Chopra, and Peter Meindl. NY: Prentice Hall, 2001. Supply Chains to Virtual Integration Ram Reddy and Sabine Reddy. NY: McGraw Hill . . .

Global governance: take me to your leader.
ABSTRACT Business globalization is about doing business globally. This apparent tautology underscores a very basic corporate misconception--that domestic and international markets are so different . . .

An empirical study of the desirability and challenges of implementing transnational marketing strategies.
ABSTRACT The integration-responsiveness (I-R) framework was employed to study the relationship among the alternate international marketing strategies (multidomestic, multifocal, global, transnatio . . .

The labor productivity competitiveness of U.S. versus foreign commercial banks.
ABSTRACT The productivity of labor, measured as the ratio of employees to total assets, has since the 1970s been a common measure of bank performance. Using what this article argues is a better in . . .

Global IT/IS outsourcing: expectations, considerations and implications.
ABSTRACT This paper discusses the issues of global IT/IS outsourcing from four interrelated aspects: forming an appropriate global IT strategy, using proper global IT platforms, managing internati . . .

Competitive success in an age of alliance capitalism: how do firm-specific factors affect behavior in strategic alliances?
ABSTRACT This paper suggests that alliances may not necessarily be the first cut strategy for all firms. It explores the theoretical proposition that while partnerships can be beneficial, some fir . . .

The language of national insecurity: prediction, strategy, and geopolitics.
ABSTRACT Credible predictions (in the sense of forecasting future events) are notoriously difficult to achieve in human affairs. Predictions, once made public, invite counter maneuvers by adversar . . .

How the United States used competition to win the Cold War.
ABSTRACT This paper looks at the end of the Cold War as the end of a monumental competition. Until 1981, the United States competed mainly on its own side of the playing field. It was a good defen . . .

Global anxiety: militarization or integration of the world economy?
Amid the gloom of current world affairs, there are hopeful signs and promising opportunities that stand out, by which the current state can be withstood. On May 24, 2002, the U.S. and Russia signed . . .

IN SEARCH OF AN EMPIRICALLY DETERMINED NONLINEAR MULTIVARIATE THEORETICAL MODEL FOR FORECASTING FOREIGN EXCHANGE CURRENCY RATES.
ABSTRACT A number of models have been proposed for forecasting foreign exchange currency rates (XRs) variations. A present study, utilizing linear and nonlinear regression models, finds inconsiste . . .

ENHANCING GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS OF SMALL AND MID-SIZED FIRMS: A RAPID ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY APPROACH.
ABSTRACT The global market offers opportunities for selling small to medium-sized manufacturer's products and services. However, small to medium-sized manufacturing firms are ill equipped to capit . . .

THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIOLOGICAL DIMENSIONS OF BUSINESS NETWORKS: EXAMINING DIFFERENCES BETWEEN JAPANESE AND U.S. STRUCTURES.
INTRODUCTION Over the past few years, organizational forms in the U.S. have been undergoing considerable change to cope with competition, and to create new and more effective competitive structure . . .