131 research outputs found
The FDI and Trade relationship revisited under structural change: evidence from a sector-based analysis in Central and Eastern European countries
No full textThis study revisits the long standing argument on the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Trade relationship in an effort to shed some new light on the issue as well as investors’ behavior. This is achieved within the context of structural changes as proposed by the Investment Development Path (IDP) paradigm. In addition, it does so in a sector-based framework where more accurate results may be obtained and safer implications may be outlaid. We use an expanded dataset of Central and Eastern European countries, from the early stages of transition in 1992 to 2006 covering a variety of location factors. Results pinpoint to a differential relationship between FDI and imports among the sectors, indicating a complementary one for manufacturing (secondary) and services (tertiary) and a substitution one for agriculture (primary). In the case of FDI we find strong locational characteristics such as the large market size, the gradual improvement of the macro-environment and finally the quality of labour force as centripetal forces, well documented along the structural changes framework of the IPD we employ here
Proceedings of the 15th European Conference on Research Methodology for Business and Management Studies
No full textCross region comparative study on the Internationalisation of Small and Medium Enterprises
No full textThe main aim of the present study is to provide a comparison of the six regional reports on the internationalisation of SMEs from the first stage of the SME Internationalisation Exchange (SIE) Interreg project. This study builds on the findings produced by regional studies from Kent County in the UK, Cantabria in Spain, Aquitaine in France, Kujawsko-Pomorskie (Torun) in Poland, Usti in Czech Republic and Molise in Italy. It focuses on identifying the levels of internationalisation across regions, facilitating factors and barriers to internationalisation of SMEs, measurement of the effectiveness of support mechanisms and providing useful recommendations to further support the internationalisation of SMEs within and across the partner regions. Despite the differences in the methodological approaches from the different partners a number of findings have been put forward.
Levels of Internationalisation (page 15) – Most regions have gone through a period of large trade deficits in the last 20 years. Deepening of EU integration and the availability of funding to support internationalisation initiatives has enabled regions to turn around and demonstrate trade surpluses in the last decade. Despite the spread of internationalisation activities in the different regions it is common that a substantial proportion of them can be attributed to a rather small number of companies and an even smaller number of sectors. For all regions, other EU markets represent the key customers of their international activities.
Facilitators to Internationalisation (page 19) – Ability to innovate has been identified as a key facilitator. Both process as well as product innovation have been brought forward by SMEs as factors that enhance their internationalisation efforts. Access to specialised information through the local support mechanisms and access to financial subsidies have also been identified as important facilitators.
Barriers to Internationalisation (page 21) – Both external and internal barriers exist. External barriers are usually associated with the volatility and the uncertainty of the institutional environment that creates additional risks for SMEs. Internal barriers are either informational ones or functional ones. The former correspond to lack of access to specialised information about foreign markets whilst the latter correspond to lack of specialised, primarily marketing, resources to effectively enter foreign markets.
Support Mechanisms (page 25) – All studies identified a complex and bureaucratic environment of support mechanisms. Significant overlaps exist between national and local/regional support mechanisms and this leads to lack of awareness and therefore lack of engagement from SMEs. A number of best practices have been identified throughout the regions that facilitate better engagement, better information dissemination and a more focused or tailored approach to the needs of individual SMEs.
Recommendations (page 28) – Two major recommendations have been put forward. First, the establishment of a cross-regional business network that will enable SMEs to take advantage of opportunities in other regions and share risks across borders. Trust in this network will be infused by the existing collaboration of partners across regions. Second, the establishment of a policy laboratory that will foster sharing of best practice across regions but will also monitor and evaluate the implementation of policies across regions through engagement with a small number of SMEs
Impact of Brexit on the Internationalisation of SMEs in Kent
No full textKent County Council commissioned some research in 2016 as part of an EU-funded project to better understand the current situation with the internationalisation (export activities) of local companies including barriers to exporting and the challenges faced by businesses. This follow-up report was commissioned to better understand the evolving outlook of Kent businesses relating to international trade as the UK prepares to leave the European Union. It builds on quantitative and qualitative findings from a survey on SMEs’ internationalisation in October-November 2016, a roundtable of local businesses organised by Kent Business School in February 2017 and the Kent Business Summit that took place in January 2018.
The report starts with a discussion of the impact on inward and outward Foreign Direct Investments and continues with a discussion of the impact on both facets of SMEs internationalisation, i.e. exporting and importing activity. It then provides evidence on the impact of Brexit on the overall economic activity and concludes by summarising the key findings and recommendations.
A summary of the findings reveals the following important issues:
Firms and especially SMES should be aware of their position in global value chains.
Foreign exchange fluctuations are a major factor especially for SMEs that do not have the resources to hedge in the medium and long term.
Access to talent and skills could have an important effect.
Brexit could be an opportunity but this requires the development of an entrepreneurial approach that enables firms to become resilient.
Kent’s economy has the necessary characteristics to develop innovation and entrepreneurship.
These findings suggest that Brexit has a negative impact but this could be mitigated with appropriate support in the following areas:
Supporting businesses to having better planning and scenario analysis.
Enabling access to talent through the retention and attraction of highly skilled labour force.
Supporting an entrepreneurial approach to business through access to funding and additional specialised support in the development of ideas
Kent SME Internationalisation Study
No full textThe Kent SME Internationalisation Study 2016/2017 investigates the internationalisation status of SMEs located Kent, UK. The core aims of the study are the understanding of the existing levels of SME international activities; the identification of drivers for and barriers to SME cross-border activities; the assessment of the existing support mechanisms; the initiation of the Brexit impact discussion; and ultimately the provision of recommendations on the increase of internationalisation capacity and activity among Kent businesses. The rationale for the SME focus is due to the significant population of SMEs in the region and their contribution to economic growth, as SMEs create employment opportunities, contribute to achieving higher production volumes, boost exports and drive innovation
Cultural Distance and Internationalization: The World's Largest Food and Drink Multinationals
No full textThe authors analyze the expansion of the world’s largest food and beverage multinational enterprises (hereafter, F & B MNEs) over 1996–2002 using a database that provides detailed information on the location and activities of more than 8,000 affiliates. The research provides abundant empirical support to the view that F & B MNEs operate on a worldwide scale and although their share of foreign to total affiliates is lower than in the average MNE they have a wide country spread. The great physical dispersion of the F & B MNEs’ assets, however, does not necessarily imply expansion to cultural distant areas. World leaders in this industry are more likely to expand their operations to countries that display cultural characteristics similar to those of the home country. The authors observe differences concerning cultural distance among different companies. Western F & B MNEs seem more culturally rooted than Japanese ones, probably owing to differences in the product mix and the activities developed by the companies. A comparison of 1996, 2000, and 2002 data shows that F & B MNEs are gradually expanding to increasingly unfamiliar environments. Complementary analysis of 3,507 M&A operations
involving the sampled MNEs between 1987 and 2003 confirms these findings
Geographic patterns and cultural distance. The affiliates of the world’s largest food and beverage MNEs
No full textPaper prepared for the 32nd EIBA (European International Business Academy) Conference, “Regional and Business Location and Competitiveness”,
Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Fribourg
Fribourg, Switzerland, 7th-9th December 2006Using a database comprising more than 8,000 affiliates, this article describes, maps and analyses the geographic pattern of the world’s largest food and beverage multinational enterprises (F&B MNEs) over 1996-2000. F&B MNEs are attracted by affluent and/or large markets for foodstuffs. F&B MNEs are also highly internationalised. However, this proposition should be nuanced. 1) These companies keep a stable foreign to total affiliates rate (no substantial evidence of de-localisation of facilities situated in the home-country could be found over 1985-2000); 2) EU-15 and Asian companies are regionally focussed, and North-American and Rest of Europe enterprises tend to a bi-national structure; 3) they combine great country spread with limited cultural diversity; 4) within the company, the configuration of some specific economic activities is geographically concentrated. Results provide substantial verification of the hypothesised positive relationship between the nationality of the parent and affiliates’ location. The home-region and the location of affiliates according to a cultural pattern are statistically associated. Finally, the location of affiliates and the types of activity they develop are also statistically associated.Peer reviewe
Dunning's eclectic paradigm: A holistic, yet context specific framework for analysing the determinants of outward FDI:Evidence from international Greek investments
No full textDuring the last two decades Greece has emerged as a key regional player and one of the largest investors in the Central
and Eastern and South-Eastern European Countries (CESEE) [Bastian, J. (2004). Knowing your way in the Balkans: Greek
foreign direct investment in Southeast Europe. Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 4(3), 458–90; Demos, A.,
Filippaios, F., & Papanastassiou, M. (2004). An event study analysis of outward foreign direct investment: The case of
Greece. International Journal of the Economics of Business, 11(3), 329–48; Kekic, L. (2005). Foreign direct investment in the
Balkans: Recent trends and prospects. Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 5(2), 171–90]. With the opening up of
neighbouring markets in the early 1990s the Greek firms and entrepreneurs grabbed the opportunity to exploit their
ownership advantages and expand abroad. Within this context, the primary aim of this study is to test the impact of
ownership and location advantages in determining the internalisation decisions by Greek investors participating in the
Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), proving that Dunning’s eclectic paradigm (OLI) is a holistic, yet context specific framework
of analysing foreign direct investment (FDI) determinants. To set the OLI in a specific context, we account for the different
sectors and countries where Greek companies have internationalised, as well as for the time period when investments have
been made. This paper’s second major contribution is that by looking at both ownership advantages and institutional
determinants it complements the previous works on institutional determinants of FDI. Our findings show that the
expansion of Greek firms occurs primarily in similar countries with small market size, and open economies. Rule of law and
high bureaucratic quality remain essential for the firm’s decision whereas the existence of high corruption act as a deterrent.
Finally, a significant finding is that of the existence of a learning curve in the Greek firms’ international expansion
Social media and student lifecycle: impact on career success
No full textOver the past few years online social networks have become one of the most popular applications on the Internet. Naturally, social media is attracting a significant attention from researchers probing its educational applicability. Online social networking services (SNS) offer a straightforward way to connect people and support information sharing and communication. University students are often ahead of the rest in the adoption of new technologies, and according to (Quan-Haase, 2007) their communication networks tend to be dense and multilayered. Extant literature abounds with evidence of business opportunities (e.g. Aldrich & Kim, 2007) and educational use (e.g. Mastrodicasa,2008) of social networks. However, very little research attention has been paid towards a systematic adoption of SNS throughout the complete student lifecycle . With the aim of achieving higher levels of success in learning as well as improving their career prospects.
This study investigates the use of social media by business students. KU business students and students from four international HE institutions in Europe, including Russia and Greece, have participated in the study. Social media has the potential of providing an easy-to use platform to connect students throughout their entire lifecycle from aspiration rising, enrolment, learning and teaching leading on to employment, alumni communication and life-long learning. This is especially important as the stages of employability management and life-long learning take a centre stage in managing student expectations and influencing their decision of taking up places at which university
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