JIBMR - Journal of International Business Management & Research

Volume: 2, Issue: 3

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• FISCAL EQUALIZATION TRANSFERS AND PROVINCIAL INCOME DISPARITIES IN CANADA: AN ECONOMETRIC REASSESSMENT
  Author(s): Alexander Bilson Darku
  

FISCAL EQUALIZATION TRANSFERS AND PROVINCIAL INCOME DISPARITIES IN CANADA: AN ECONOMETRIC REASSESSMENT

Author(s): Alexander Bilson Darku

This paper uses the panel data method and data from 1982 to 2006 to examine the effect of federal equalization transfers on provincial income disparities in Canadian. Estimation problems of weak instruments and endogenous regressors are addressed by the use of a system generalized method of moment estimator. The results from the empirical analysis indicate that the current rate of convergence of personal income in Canada is 4.48 percent per year. This rate is considerably higher than the range of 1.80 and 2.41 percent per year that previous studies using least square estimators have reported. The findings from the policy analysis show that the fiscal transfers, which are part of the federal equalization program, have reduced provincial income disparities by accelerating the speed of convergence for Canadian provinces.

Keywords: Regional Economic Growth; Income Convergence; Neoclassical Growth Model; Panel Data; GMM Estimators.



• INORGANIC GROWTH PROCESSES FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE AND CORPORATE CULTURE
  Author(s): Alejandro Flores
  

INORGANIC GROWTH PROCESSES FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE AND CORPORATE CULTURE

Author(s): Alejandro Flores

The purpose of this paper is to develop a management perspective on the influence of change and corporate culture in the processes of inorganic growth. It is common practice for companies to reach international expansion based on inorganic growth strategies, where mergers and acquisitions take on a greater significance. However, the results of these processes have not been successful. This review reflects on inorganic growth from a convergent change and cultural response that the company should develop. It delves into the issue of the organizational change variable describing the possible scenarios where inorganic growth processes may have a better performance. We propose a model that connects organizational change and corporate culture to create a situation of positive synergy that ensures the generation of value promised to shareholders in inorganic growth projects.

Keywords: Integration, Organizational Change, Corporate Culture, Learning Process, Strategy Growth.



• THE ORGANIZATION OF PLANT TURNAROUND MAINTENANCE IN PROCESS-BASED INDUSTRIES: ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK AND GENERIC PROCESSES
  Author(s): Zulkipli Ghazali and Mohammed Halib
  

THE ORGANIZATION OF PLANT TURNAROUND MAINTENANCE IN PROCESS-BASED INDUSTRIES: ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK AND GENERIC PROCESSES

Author(s): Zulkipli Ghazali and Mohammed Halib

Plant turnaround maintenance is a fundamental asset management in capital intensive process-based industries. The successful implementation of turnaround maintenance among others depends on the appropriate provision of institution and organization for the governance of the event. However, it is not uncommon for senior management of these companies to focus their attention on the engineering, business, and economic aspects of the event. This tendency has left several gaps in the knowledge and understanding of the organizational dimensions of this event. To a remarkable degree, it is rare to find literature on organizational characteristics of plant turnaround maintenance. This paper proposes an analytic framework for examining the organizational dimensions of the plant turnaround by describing six core generic processes through the general concepts of institution and organization namely rules, roles, and groups. The generic processes include formation of turnaround maintenance organization, resource mobilization and management, communication, conflict management, contracts management, and relationships with external organizations. The framework provides means for the understanding of turnaround maintenance organization from the standpoint of the social sciences that was scarcely addressed in the management circles.

Keywords: Plant Turnaround Maintenance, Rules, Roles, and Groups, Organization, Generic Processes.



• THE MATRIX ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND OTHER MANAGERIAL PATHOLOGIES WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION (DEC)
  Author(s): Samir T. IsHak and Amanda A. Augenie IsHak
  

THE MATRIX ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND OTHER MANAGERIAL PATHOLOGIES WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION (DEC)

Author(s): Samir T. IsHak and Amanda A. Augenie IsHak

The research investigates the impact of selected variables on the performance and survival of corporations. The variables under study include: the organizational structure, the leadership's ideology and style, the decision makers' approaches to management, and related external variables such as pace of technological changes and entrance modes of competitors. The two key questions are: to what degree these variables, individually and collectively contributed to the success or failure of the corporation? and, did these variables cause some managerial pathologies that contributed to, or stifled, the development of the organization? An assessment of the impact of the following hypothesized pathologies will be presented: myopic vision; leadership uni-linear obsession with the supremacy of his products; the frequency, tempo, magnitude of structural reorganizations and the attending ramifications of their implementation. Related questions speculate about the predictive value of the surveys soliciting the input from two key stakeholders - customers and employees - as indicators that could have predicted the direction and or the intensity of the impact; could these identified pathologies have been treated before they were masticated into a cancerous stage. Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) is the focus of the study. It was an icon in pioneering technological inventions led by a visionary engineer and financed by a venture capital group that reaped 70,000 times its initial investment in less than twenty years. It contracted with management gurus from leading universities. It invented and manufactured top quality and lasting products, and hired 130,000 qualified people in 67 countries and applied humane Japanese practices. The company provided most ingredients that should have resulted in longevity far beyond its less than fifty years of survival (1957-2002). Yet, it failed. What could have contributed to its demise as a viable and lasting organization? In an attempt to untangle this puzzle several methods were applied including: literature review, analysis of opinions from contemporaries and managers, actual participation in managerial functions and lengthy first hand conversations and encounters with a number of managers and veterans of the company. This is a first stage of a more ambitious effort to write a book on the leading managerial pathologies that have been afflicting successful organizations.

Keywords: Matrix Organizational Structure; Managerial Pathologies; Digital Equipment Corporation; Myopic Vision; Leadership; Goal Congruity; Competitive Advantage.



• VANISHING REVENUES: AN EXPLORATORY LOOK AT WHY ONLINE CONSUMERS DO NOT COMPLETE INTENDED ONLINE PURCHASES
  Author(s): Chuleeporn Changchit and Robert Cutshall
  

VANISHING REVENUES: AN EXPLORATORY LOOK AT WHY ONLINE CONSUMERS DO NOT COMPLETE INTENDED ONLINE PURCHASES

Author(s): Chuleeporn Changchit and Robert Cutshall

Despite the fact that millions of people are now Internet users, businesses that engage in retailing over the Internet face many challenges. One of their major challenges is the disturbingly high percentage of consumers who visit the website but leave before completing their transactions. Not every online shopper makes it through the virtual checkout line. This study intends to explore why online shoppers, who visit websites with intentions of completing a purchase, change their minds and leave websites without purchasing anything. The findings from this study should help online businesses better understand the mindset of online shoppers as they use online services for purchasing transactions. Although understanding the phenomena and its psychological triggers may not completely eliminate the incomplete shopping transactions online, it can help businesses understand the behaviours of their shoppers and how they can improve their websites to better increase the likelihood of completion of purchases.

Keywords: Shopping Cart Abandon, Website Abandon, Trust, Leaving Websites, E-commerce.