International education, the formation of capital and graduate employment : Chinese accounting graduates’ experiences of the Australian labour market

Since the late 1970s, international education has steadily gained in popularity in China.An emerging middle class seeks to strengthen its position in China’s rapidly stratifyingsociety under its socialist market economy with the shift from wealth creation for all towealth concentration for a few. Previously, a foreign qualification was considered apassport to success in either the host or home country’s labour market. But the growingpopularity of overseas study, coupled with the massification of the Chinese highereducation, means Chinese international students are seeking to distinguish themselvesin an increasingly competitive global labour market. This longitudinal study of internationalgraduates, backgrounded by Australian employer perceptions, examines thejourneys of 13 Chinese accounting graduates as they attempt to transition from anAustralian university into the Australian labour market. Bourdieu’s thinking tools offield, capital, disposition and habitus are utilised to consider how different cultural,social and linguistic capitals inform employer understandings of ‘employability’ meantChinese accounting graduates significantly adjusted their life goals.

How to address the ethics of reproductive travel to developing countries: a comparison of national self-sufficiency and regulated market approaches

One of the areas of concern raised by cross-border reproductive travelregards the treatment of women who are solicited to provide their ova orsurrogacy services to foreign consumers. This is particularly troublesome inthe context of developing countries where endemic poverty and low standardsfor both medical care and informed consent may place these womenat risk of exploitation and harm. We explore two contrasting proposals forpolicy development regarding the industry, both of which seek to promoteethical outcomes and social justice: While one proposal advocates efforts tominimize cross-border demand for female reproductive resources throughthe pursuit of national self-sufficiency, the other defends cross-border tradeas a means for meeting the needs of vulnerable groups. Despite theconflicting objectives of the proposed strategies, the paper identifiescommon values and points of agreement between the two, including theimportance of regulations to safeguard those providing ova or surrogacyservices.

Value chain supply procurement strategies in international construction: cases of foreign constructors in China

Purpose – Firms compete using a variety of strategies. Typically they aim to provide something different, to be better, or simply cheaper. In the construction industry, the performance characteristics, quality and cost of the final delivered project will be the outcome of the interplay of capabilities of all the firms involved in the project. Consequently, in order to improve competitiveness, firms must pay attention to not only their own competitive advantage but to those of the firms, both up-stream and down-stream, on whom they depend in delivering their projects. For foreign constructors in China, those competitive considerations will be informed by circumstances different from home. How then do foreign constructors adapt themselves to the problem of sourcing competitively when located within a China-based supply chain? The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach – In this study 60 foreign enterprises operating within the Chinese construction sector were investigated by using a comparative case study approach.

Findings – Four generic procurement strategies were identified. First, firms adapt themselves in the search for optimal supply sources by replicating home-based suppliers, controlling local suppliers, or by remaining agile and non-aligned. Second, firms develop niche supply monopolies through market dominance, uniquely differentiated offerings, or by integration with down-stream providers. Third, firms find opportunities to bring in off-shore technology intensive procurements, where that technology is either protected, improved upon, or sold. Finally, firms also seek to transit to China as a procurement base in order to reduce local supply cost, service world-wide operations, or as part of a total strategy of China relocation.

Originality/value – The identification of this rich range of procurement approaches will be of interest to internationalization strategists, as well as to industry practitioners looking to find appropriate business models for off-shore operations.

Effects of trunk-shaker harvester and ethephon on plant water status, leaf gas exchange, and yield of citrus cultivated under Mediterranean conditions

This work was aimed to study whether the application of ethephon as an abscission agent and mechanical harvest using a trunk shaker have any effect on plant water status, leaf gas exchange, and yield of mandarin and orange trees cultivated under Mediterranean conditions. The experiment was performed from 2008 to 2011 in five commercial orchards where parameters related to the plant water status and leaf gas exchange were measured before the application of ethephon, at harvest time and at different occasions after harvest. In addition, the effects of ethephon dose on yield in the current and subsequent seasons were also evaluated. Results showed that ethephon applications and mechanical harvest did not detrimentally affect plant water status in any of the cultivars studied. Furthermore, either had no effect or had a short temporal decrease effect on leaf gas exchange depending on the cultivar studied although with no consequences for the fruit yield obtained during the current season. Increasing ethephon doses led to fruit yield reductions in the mandarin ‘Orogrande’ trees in subsequent seasons. When trunk-shaker and ethephon applications were combined, however, yields from the late-maturing orange significantly decline in subsequent seasons. Overall, results show that using a trunk shaker is a viable technique to mechanically harvest citrus trees destined to both fresh and industry market and can be considered as an alternative to the traditional manual harvest usually performed under Mediterranean conditions. However, its use cannot be recommended for late-maturing oranges, such as the ‘Navel Lane Late’ in which mature fruit and fruitlets coexist in the tree at the time of harvest.