The role that small- and medium-sized enterprises play in the economic development and growth of cities, regions and nations has been an increasing subject of debate and study for the last half century. This volume focuses on the opportunities and challenges that entrepreneurs and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face in a world of global competition. The papers therein provide an overview of successful strategies that global entrepreneurs and SMEs have employed that have allowed them to establish regional and international footprint and of how local resources, culture and managerial capabilities have contributed to startups' global success. In doing so it highlights original, edgy ideas and theoretical advances that will provide the foundation for future doctoral dissertations and other research projects on international entrepreneurship.

With intensified global competition, institutional changes and reduced communication costs the propensity of firms to reconfigure their global value chain and separate their activities across national boundaries has increased markedly. It enables firms to combine the benefits arising from specialization and increased flexibility with location advantages. Consequently, large parts of manufacturing and other more standardized activities have been offshored to emerging countries. However, recent developments are challenging this traditional separation between advanced and emerging economies as host of knowledge- and production-intensive activities, respectively. Recent research has emphasized the role of intra-organizational relationships and links among the different parts of the value chain. Innovative and productive activities are affected by strong interdependencies and complementarities, and for some companies the co-location of R&D and manufacturing is critical for development and innovation. This volume will interest scholars in International Business, Economic Geography, Operations and Supply Chain Management, International Economics, and Political Science.

Interrogating the relationship between women and psychosis from a variety of perspectives, this edited collection explores personal, literary, spiritual, psychological, biological, and psychodynamic approaches. The contributors reflect on medieval mystics and witches, postpartum psychosis, disordered eating, art and literature, feminism, and male/female differences in schizophrenia. Women with experience of psychosis, psychotherapists, and a shaman provide first-person accounts to give the book a personal grounding. Curated with the intent to expand the way we think about women and psychosis, the contributors to this collection recognize that "voices and visions" do not occur in a vacuum, but are experienced within, and are influenced by, particular socio-cultural contexts.

Integrating original texts with explanations, interpretations, and theory, Introduction to Mythology: Contemporary Approaches to Classical and World Myths, Fourth Edition, introduces students to a wide range of myths drawn from sources all around the world and approached from various critical perspectives. FEATURES An innovative pedagogical structure helps students discern the complex web of literary allusions that characterize mythological texts A global locator map at the beginning of each chapter situates the myths in their geographical context Running margin notes provide cross-references and explanations of terms A glossary of deities, an illustrated timeline, and suggested readings offer additional resources A vibrant art program features more than 200 illustrations, photographs, and maps

The organizational design of the Multinational Corporation (MNC) was a vibrant area of research in the field of International Business and Management during the 1970-1990's. However, since then this research has largely faded from our scholarship. This volume of AIM is designed to spark new life into the research on the organizational design of the MNC. The world - and environmental forces - has changed substantially in the last decades placing new constrains on the MNCs. External shocks have increased and MNCs need to learn how to live with this increased market volatility. Integrating value chains makes MNCs more efficient but also vulnerable. The relentless forces of competition and globalization are forcing MNCs to divide their activities and reach for foreign inputs, markets and partners. By dividing their value chain into discrete pieces -- - some to be performed in-house, while others are outsourced to partner organizations -- - MNCs hope to reduce overall costs and risks, while also reaping the benefits of ideas from contractors or alliance partners worldwide. These challenges call for new research on the organizational design of the MNC. It is our intention with this AIM volume to motivate new research on the proper organizational design mechanisms of MNCs as of today.

Interrogating the relationship between women and psychosis from a variety of perspectives, this edited collection explores personal, literary, spiritual, psychological, biological and psychodynamic approaches. Chapter themes include explorations of medieval mystics and witches, postpartum psychosis, disordered eating, art and literature, feminism, and male/female differences in schizophrenia. Women with lived experience of psychosis, psychotherapists, and a shaman provide personal accounts to ground the book in lived experience. Curated with the intent to expand the way we think about women and psychosis, the contributions to this title recognize that 'voices and visions' do not occur in a vacuum but are experienced within, and are influenced by, particular socio-cultural contexts.

Over the last few decades universities in Australia and overseas have been criticized for not meeting the needs and expectations of the societies in which they operate. At the heart of this problem is their strategy. This book reviews the organizational-level strategies of some of Australia's prominent universities. It is based on their public documents that boldly report how they see their role in society and how they intend to navigate the future. These strategic statements are written to proclaim relevance, showcase achievements, attract students, and help to gain the support of the communities in which they operate. Using a strategy framework taught in their business schools, this book suggests that most such statements are deficient. Grand aspirations substitute for realistic operations and outcomes. The analysis also suggests that many of Australia's universities are poorly governed and have become too complex and bureaucratic. A greater focus on their core responsibilities would help alleviate their current funding predicament.

This volume advances the debate on the past, present and future of international business and management research. A truly international group of experts present their perspectives, and ask the question 'What is it that we know?' when discussing major issues and concepts in the field. This annual collection includes a regular special feature on a leading scholar; exploring in this volume the work of Jean-Francois Hennart and his theories on multinational enterprise and strategic management. Part two addresses international business and international management issues from a philosophical perspective, examining key topics such as post-merger integration, dominant design theory, internalizing firms and the strategy-performance relationship.

Institutional theory has been used increasingly by international business and management researchers to explain the behavior and strategies of multinational enterprises. If early international business research was dominated by the application of transaction cost and neoclassical economics, reviews of recent publications and conference programs suggest that the past decade has been dominated by the application of institutional theory. The 2012 volume of the "Advances in International Management" series represents the collection of an eclectic mix of contemporary research by leading and emerging scholars working on institutional theory. The contributions present new theoretical frameworks of institutions and propose interesting ideas that will provide the foundation for doctoral dissertations and research projects.

Over the last few decades universities in Australia and overseas have been criticized for not meeting the needs and expectations of the societies in which they operate. At the heart of this problem is their strategy. This book reviews the organizational-level strategies of some of Australia's prominent universities. It is based on their public documents that boldly report how they see their role in society and how they intend to navigate the future. These strategic statements are written to proclaim relevance, showcase achievements, attract students, and help to gain the support of the communities in which they operate. Using a strategy framework taught in their business schools, this book suggests that most such statements are deficient. Grand aspirations substitute for realistic operations and outcomes. The analysis also suggests that many of Australia's universities are poorly governed and have become too complex and bureaucratic. A greater focus on their core responsibilities would help alleviate their current funding predicament.

Cross-border flows of goods, services, capital, knowledge, and ideas have substantially increased over the last decades. These developments have increased the interdependencies among previously separated economies, given rise to arguments regarding the flattening of the world. Yet, firms investing overseas continue to experience substantial liabilities stemming from their foreignness. At the same time new locations are appearing on the global map that offers very attractive location-specific advantages. In addition, the range of participants in international competition has widened, in terms of both the number of countries involved and the types of firms competing, to encompass developed market firms expanding beyond industrialized countries, and emerging market firms joining global competition. The focus of this volume is on how the interface between firm-specific advantages, liability of foreignness, and location-specific advantages are spelled out in the more global world.

The existence of non-price rationing in credit markets is a subj ect, not only of paramount importance, but of considerable controversy, which is ultimately linked with our understanding, or lack thereof, of the basic nature of the banking firm. A recognition of this phenomenon is critical to the understanding of the banking firm in its major role as a financial intermediary. The banking firm serves as an intermediary in two important spheres, between borrower and lender, and between spenders and the monetary authorities. The basic economic formulation of borrower-lender behavior, the simple Fisherian consumption loan model, while beautiful in its simplicity, fail s to acknowledge any role for a non-neutral financial intermediary. The bank, in its second intermediary role, leads one to question the assumption of both neoclassical and Keynsian monetary theories that monetary changes are diffused across the economy (the proverbial monetary helicopter). Monetary policy effects on spending and investment will clearly be biased by the policies of the banks. The major focus of the present work is the development of a theory of credit rationing based upon the existence of risk reducing information technologies. Implicit in the analysis is a discussion of the role of the banking firm as something more than a tr.aditional financial intermediary. The present analysis will focus on the bank as an intermediary between borrower and lender. It will be shown that in ."

Volume 28 of the Advances in International Management focuses on the opportunities and challenges for multinational enterprises that consider emerging economies as their destinations or their homes. Chapters in this volume examine the rise of home-grown multinational enterprises in emerging economies and the challenges they face when they enter developed markets. They also analyze the co-evolution of and the dynamic interaction between market institutions and business organizations in emerging economies. The volume provides a forum for thought-provoking ideas, empirical research, and discussions, and is ideal for researchers and doctoral students whose work touches emerging markets.

This volume concentrates on the substantive gaps in the IB/IM field and addresses whether these gaps are resolvable with our current theoretical and methodological toolkit. This entails three specific queries about the past and present: Have our theories advanced some combination of explanation and prediction? Have our methods proven to be effective in providing rigorous, robust and consistent evidence with respect to the explanatory and predictive validity of our theories? Have we studied the right phenomena in the right way?

This volume concentrates on the substantive gaps in the IB/IM field and addresses whether these gaps are resolvable with our current theoretical and methodological toolkit. This entails three specific queries about the past and present: Have our theories advanced some combination of explanation and prediction? Have our methods proven to be effective in providing rigorous, robust and consistent evidence with respect to the explanatory and predictive validity of our theories? Have we studied the right phenomena in the right way?

Rivers in the Desert is a book of responses, in poetry, to God's precious Word. There is a poem and verse of Scripture for each day of the year, to encourage daily time with God. These short devotionals are a great way to take just a moment of each day to soak in a refreshing from those "rivers in the desert."

"By the Way- You Start Tomorrow Night." The recruiting of a less-than-fully-trained person is usually done at the last minute, since the search for a fully trained person will continue as long as there is either time or hope. Our last-minute, inexperienced director, then will be starting immediately. This first chapter is the most light-hearted, the most general, and the most basic of the book. It is pep talk and a look at the thing to do the first night for the first Sunday. The remainder of the book covers the other ongoing aspects of planning and directing effective choral rehearsals. * Easy-to-use practical format and style * Light, anecdotal reading * Covers all elements of rehearsal planning and techniques * Provides directors handles on how to use rehearsal time * Helps directors learn to better plan and work ahead * Gives directors more confidence in this area of leadership Market * Church choir directors * Music directors

Do consumers really care where products come from and how they are made? Is there such a thing as an ethical consumer'? Corporations and policy makers are bombarded with international surveys purporting to show that most consumers want ethical products. Yet when companies offer such products they are often met with indifference and limited uptake. It seems that survey radicals turn into economic conservatives at the checkout. This book reveals not only why the search for the ethical consumer' is futile but also why the social aspects of consumption cannot be ignored. Consumers are revealed to be much more deliberative and sophisticated in how they do or do not incorporate social factors into their decision making. Using first-hand findings and extensive research, The Myth of the Ethical Consumer provides academics, students and leaders in corporations and NGOs with an enlightening picture of the interface between social causes and consumption. A half-hour documentary capturing interviews with consumers in eight countries is included on an accompanying DVD."