Management of flexible learning in vocational education and training

This research shows that, to function effectively in a changing environment that includes the convergence of online learning and e-business, managers in the vocational education and training sector need an increasingly sophisticated conceptual framework and set of business skills that appropriately draw on contemporary business management theory and practice.

Overseas Chinese as expatriate managers in China : is their recruitment a solution to cross-cultural management problems for multinationals operating in China?

The rapid economic development has gravitated businesses into the Chinese market. It’s entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001 made her an even more formidable player in the global economy and direct foreign investment surged. Yet it is acknowledged that for the foreign investor in China, cross-cultural issues create difficulty at every level, from the intercultural level relating to communication and negotiation, to the organizational level relating to decision making, human resource management practices, corporate legal institutions and dealing with governments. Western multinationals have considered the advantages of posting overseas Chinese, from Southeast Asian countries, Taiwan Hong Kong and etc. But has this policy been successful? In terms of language expertise and cultural literacy this would seem to be a good strategy, yet organizational case material contradicts this in reality. Overseas Chinese, while sharing some elements of Chinese culture with mainland Chinese, the Confucian heritage and other aspects such as language, diet, etc, nevertheless have different world views and values and behave differently from mainland Chinese in areas critical to business management. As a survival strategy, overseas Chinese often developed dual identities operating simultaneously. For many of them, for political and historical reasons, they have had to adapt to the local culture or even hide their own ethnicity in order to survive. On the other hand, the mainland Chinese are different in the sense that their behaviour has only had to be Chinese, but overlaid with this has been the experience of participating in a communist political environment for decades, which has left its mark on mainland Chinese culture. On the basis of this, in the current business environment in China confusion, difficulties and conflict may occur for the overseas Chinese. This paper aims to provide insights of the cultural differences between the overseas Chinese and mainland Chinese. It provides evidence that overseas Chinese are not often favoured by the local Chinese. This problem has yet to be researched in depth within international business and international management studies. It draws the attention to issues on how to manage the local Chinese.

A celebrity chef goes global : the business of eating

Purpose – This paper examines the internationalization strategy of Gordon Ramsay Holdings Ltd (GRH) from its base in London. While a substantial body of research on the strategic prerequisites for successful internationalization already exists, little attention has been given within this literature to the international growth of small, informally organized and entrepreneurially-driven firms. The discussion also identifies the challenges facing GRH as it strives to continue its international expansion.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper utilizes various published sources from the general press, business press and trade journals to examine the international expansion of GRH on the back of the personal brand the charismatic Gordon Ramsay has achieved in culinary and media circles. The growth of the GRH organization is interpreted through a theoretical framework of strategic capabilities and relationships.

Findings – The analysis illustrates how critical resources and capabilities, branded reputation, and strategic relationships established in GRH's home market have been leveraged effectively overseas. The most fundamental challenge facing GRH going forward is balancing the opportunities and pressures for growth against the need to maintain the highest levels of quality in existing establishments. This “balancing act” has to unfold within an empire in which the entrepreneur-emperor (Ramsay) has less and less time to devote to any particular activity or establishment.

Originality/value – The case illustrates the importance of developing and leveraging strategic capabilities and relationships in support of successful international expansion. Some of the unique challenges associated with the internationalization of small, informally organized and entrepreneurially-driven (and branded) firms are addressed in terms of both problems and solutions.

The future of sports management : a social responsibility, philanthropy and entrepreneurship perspective

Sport management as an area of business management has gained ascendancy in the past decade with more people becoming interested in how sport incorporates social benefits in a society. Sport integrates social initiatives by enhancing an organization’s competitiveness by improving its public image. Social responsibility and philanthropy in sport has become a mainstream business issue and the entrepreneurial ways that sport-related organizations do this is becoming more important. This paper interviews a well-known international sport academic and practitioner on the future directions sport management will take. As social responsibility, philanthropy and entrepreneurship in the sport sector are becoming more integrated, it is important to consider how sport management will change in the future. This paper focuses on sport management as an inspiring field of business management that has an accessible audience towards social responsibility. Sport management also offers a rationale for promoting social responsibility and philanthropy to organizations and business leaders that have an opportunity to model socially responsible practices in the sport context.

Teaching soft issues in strategic management with films : arguments and suggestions

Strategic matters are extraordinarily complex and involve many different and interlinked processes and influences. This makes the subject difficult for students lacking managerial experience as they are unaware of the intricacy of the problems being discussed. Strategy requires not just a theoretical understanding of the subject, but also a practical feel for business and organisation. We argue that films can help the instructor because they offer elaborate multidimensional and multi-layered contexts which mirror the reality of business. Moreover, their powerful narratives aid the retention of ideas and encourage engagement with issues. To illustrate the appropriateness of films in teaching strategic management, we review the strategy curriculum, highlight some of the teaching difficulties and show how using films could help students’ learning.

Strategic facilities management system in relation with building performance; the significance and relationship

Healthcare design frequently involves complex concepts that are difficult to measure and evaluate because the building require a modern, quality, functional and therapeutic environment. For this specific reason, facilities management has become a very important support system to ensure smoothness in healthcare business. Facilities management in healthcare building is a complicated system involving multiple layers of administrative division and sub-divisions. Building performance such as building impact, function and quality prove to have significant impact on strategic facilities management. This paper will do an extensive review of strategic healthcare business management as a holistic approach and examine how facilities management can effectively manage their division with consideration and understanding of building performance. The correlation between strategic facilities management and building performance will be identified and a framework for strategic FM system with regards to building performance will be developed.

Aligning global business information with ERP systems for improved performance

This paper is a discussion of research on the co-alignment of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems capabilities and global business information requirements for improved performance. It is based on Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) analysis to establish that if these two constructs (ERP systems capabilities and global business information requirements) are co-aligned, improved global business performance is achieved. Research undertaken in this paper is based on a survey of global businesses that have implemented ERP systems. It extends the extant IT/IS alignment theories to ERP/Global business information requirements alignment. It makes an important contribution to the global business management information literature, by identifying and validating a set of important global business information requirements. This research also makes a novel contribution to the ERP systems literature by establishing a set of ERP systems capabilities that are useful for managing global business information requirements.

Convergence and divergence dynamics in British and French business schools: how will the pressure for accreditation influence these dynamics?

This paper focuses on convergence and divergence dynamics among leading British and French business schools and explores how the pressure for accreditation influences these dynamics. We illustrate that despite historical differences in approaches to management education in Britain and France, these approaches have converged partly based on the influence of the American model of management education but more recently through the pursuit of accreditation, in particular from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business and the European Quality Improvement Standard. We explore these dynamics through the application of the resource-based view of the firm and institutional theory and suggest that, whilst achieving accreditation is a necessary precursor for international competition, it is no longer a form of competitive advantage. The pursuit of accreditation has fostered a form of competitive mimicry reducing national distinctiveness. The resource-based view of the firm suggests that the top schools need a more heterogeneous approach that is not easily replicable if they are to outperform the competitors. Consequently, the convergence of management education in Britain and France will become a new impetus for divergence. We assert that future growth and competitive advantage might be better achieved through the reassertion of national, regional and local cultural characteristics. © 2013 British Academy of Management.

Introduction: Exploring entrepreneurial activity and small business issues in the Chinese economy

© The Author(s) 2014. This introduction summarises the International Small Business Journal special issue on ‘Exploring Entrepreneurial Activity and Small Business Issues in the Chinese Economy’ and discusses the future research agenda.

ePortfolios in business education: a national study of ePortfolio implementation 2013 to 2015

To be launched in March 2016, this study explores the transformative potential of ePortfolios in business education. Educators and higher education institutions are increasingly looking for innovative ways to enhance learning outcomes through technology. Given their potential to aid in the development of engaged, reflective lifelong learners, and develop and showcase employability skills, ePortfolios are increasingly being used around the globe.

This study shares the experience of, and lessons learned from, the implementation of ePortfolios in one general business management course and three accounting related courses at three higher education institutions. The recommendations and principles proposed provide benchmarks for best practice and practical guidance for embedding ePortfolios into business curricula.

Estudos de caso : implantação de sistemas ERP - uma análise crítica à luz da metodologia de Project Management

Este documento constitui-se em uma dissertação de mestrado, requisito parcial para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Gestão Empresaria e Pública. Este estudo procura mostrar que a adoção dessa nova tecnologia através de projetos de implantação de sistema de ERP não só mudam processos administrativos como também produtos, serviços e estruturas organizacionais e que a sua implantação se constitui em um grande projeto que envolve um número considerável de recursos e tempo das organizações. Este estudo procurar mostrar também que os impactos que tais projetos trazem, são mais fortemente sentidos ou não pela organização de acordo com uma série de fatores, entre eles, a resistência à mudança e o quanto a organização está preparada para enfrentar essas mudanças, o medo da perda do emprego pela adoção de uma nova tecnologia, problemas com a falta de comunicação das mudanças, questões relacionadas à cultura organizacional vigente, a falta de envolvimento da alta administração, entre outras. Para gerenciar todas essas variáveis, as organizações modernas adotam técnicas para garantir o sucesso da implantação dessas novas tecnologias. o estudo aqui proposto tem como objetivo determinar até que ponto a utilização de metodologias e de técnicas de Project Management é o suficiente para que esses projetos alcancem o sucesso esperado pelas organizações. A quantidade de variáveis que influenciam o resultado de um projeto são muitas e cada uma delas possui um papel importante que deve ser avaliado. As conclusões desta pesquisa demonstram que o sucesso de um projeto nem sempre se resume a atingir os objetivos inicialmente propostos, relativos ao cumprimento do prazo, escopo e custo de um projeto, conforme define a metodologia de Project Management. Outros aspectos considerados por essa metodologia, se melhor ou pior aplicados, também contribuem para o sucesso ou fracasso de um projeto de implantação de um sistema de ERP sendo o seu fracasso traduzido ou não, no cumprimento do prazo, do escopo inicialmente previsto ou no custo inicialmente calculado. Outros aspectos que não apenas a aplicação correta da metodologia de Project Management contribuem para os resultados alcançados pelo projeto.

Cost Management Practices and Strategic Perspectives: a study in the construction industry of the State of Parana

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the cost management practices of building industry companies of Parana that follow the typology of Porter's strategies. The sample comprises member companies of the Association of Construction Industries of the State of Parana (PR-SINDUSCON) operating in the segment of residential buildings. The data were collected by means of questionnaires sent to 317 SINDUSCON members. 69 were returned and 54 used for our research. Exploratory Factorial Analysis of the data allowed us to identify two groups of cost management practices. Analyses suggest equality between the adopted cost management practices and the Cost Control Planning (CCP) practices among the companies of the Group 1, regardless of the generic strategy adopted. The companies of the Group 2 that adopted the differentiation strategy seem to use mainly the ACR cost management practice. Our findings differ from those obtained by Chenhall insofar as companies that adopt low cost strategies tend to use managerial controls focused on cost control and rigid budgetary controls.