SBANC Newsletter
August
2,
2005
Issue
383-2005
QUOTE
"I think that our fundamental belief is that for us growth
is a way of life and we have to grow at all times."
-- Mukesh
Ambani
FEATURE
PAPER
SME’s
Successful Entrance to Foreign Markets: A Longitudinal Study
This
paper was presented at the 2004 Association for Small Business
and Entrepreneurship Fall Conference by Lawerence A. Klatt of Florida
Atlantic University.
Abstract
Increasing global competition means that all firms, regardless
of size must adopt multinational perspectives. Most SMEs produce
a service or product that could be competitive in international
markets but are unsure of the appropriate strategy for entry.
In 1993-1994,
in order to provide insights into how a number of domestic
SMEs had successfully entered the international arena, a study
was
conducted of 100 high-growth firms that had recently “gone
international.” It was noted at that time, however, that
the performance and relative success of these firms need to be
ascertained over a period of time. Thus, the present study discusses
the result of an in-depth investigation of these same firms – nine
years later- in order to assess their performance and “successes” over
a time span.
Background
International
business is often inappropriately viewed as the domain of large
enterprise. To some extent this is true.
In every country
a majority of smaller enterprises will continue to operate
domestically because the nature of their business is oriented to
personal
service for local clientele. At the same time, changes
that have swept
through Europe and Asia as the world slipped into the 1990s,
have reshaped business opportunities in the international
arena.
No
longer is international business the province of the large multinational
firm.
Read the Entire Paper...
TIP
OF THE WEEK
Giving
Performance Feedback
to Foreign Employees
In the United
States, managers are often told to reward in public and criticize
in private. This advice, however; may not always
be the best for your foreign employees. One expert provides the
following specific recommendations for crafting feedback that you
might deliver through a performance evaluation. Although this advice
does not always hold true for every foreign national, the following
suggestions are very good starting points for the American manager:
- Give
feedback through a third party: In many cultures, direct
feedback -- even if it is positive in form -- can be very uncomfortable.
If you belong to a collectivistic culture, being singled
out
for feedback can be very disconcerting. Accordingly, feedback
may often
be best delivered (even in individualistic cultures) through
a trusted third party.
- Communicate
to the whole group: In addition to this suggestion, another way
to blunt the effect of
direct feedback is to gather
the work group together: One can then provide the set of
feedback you wish to communicate to the gathering as a whole.
Since some
work today is team based, this method is probably a good
technique for individualistic cultures as well.
- Change
the form of the feedback: Almost always there are several ways of saying
the same thing. Try several different approaches,
even if the employee gives the appearance of understanding
what you are saying.
- Simplify
the feedback: This recommendation applies to feedback for any employee,
but especially a foreign
one. And it
refers to the fact that we can almost always simplify
and clarify what
we
mean. For example, you can eliminate or replace needless
words. For example, the phrase "in spite of the
fact that..." could
be simplified to though or simply although. (Other
examples: "the
reason why is that" to because; "This is
a subject that" to
this subject.)
- Avoid
slang: Phrases like "the bottom
line," "they'll
eat this one up," "the home stretch," "I'm
all ears," and "let's get rolling" are
difficult to interpret. Although these phrases are
so common to us that they
are obvious, consider the perspective of someone from
another culture.
McFarlin, Dean
B., and Paul D. Sweeney. International Management: Strategic
Opportunities and Cultural Challenges. 3rd ed. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Company, 2006. 420.
CONFERENCES
ACTEB 54th Annual Meeting
The Arkansas College Teachers of Economics and Business (ACTEB)
is holding their 54th Annual Meeting on Friday, October 7, 2005 at Arkansas
Tech University's Ross Pendergraft Library in Russellville, Arkansas.
The theme for this year's meeting is "International and Local Issues in
Business and Economics." The luncheon keynote speaker will be Koby A.
Koomson the Former Ambassador from Ghana to the United States.
Inquiries
or submissions should be sent to Lauren Maxwell: laurenm@uca.edu
Allied
Academies
Allied Academics is holding the 2005 Fall International
Conference beginning October 12-15, 2005 at the Riviera Hotel and
Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For more information, visit: http://www.alliedacademies.org/vegas-call.html
IABE 2005 Annual Conference
The International Academy for Business and Economics (IABE) will hold its annual conference at the Boardwalk Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 16-19, 2005.
For more information, visit: http://www.iabe.org
Southwestern Business Administration 2005 Teaching Conference
The Southwestern Business Administration is holding the 13th
Annual Teaching Conference at Jesse H. Jones School of Business
at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas. This conference
will be held on October 20-21, 2005.
For more information, visit: http://www.tsu.edu/academics/business/sbaConference/index.asp
ASBE
2005 Fall Conference
The Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship 2005
Annual Fall Conference will be held October 5-7 at the La Posada
de Albuquerque in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
For more information, visit: http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/research/asbe/ASBE_Website/home.htm
CALL
FOR PAPERS
Applied Business and Entrepreneurship Association International
The
Applied Business and Entrepreneurship Association International will
hold
their Second Annual Meeting at
Kauai Marriott Resort and Beach Club in Kauai, Hawaii
on November 16-20, 2005. Topics for this conference include: Accounting,
Business Law, E-Business, Logistics & Transportation, Economics,
Marketing, etc.
Submission Deadline: August 15, 2005
For more information, visit: http://lewis.up.edu/bus/adrangi/abeai/index.htm
United
States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship/Small
Business Institute
The USASBE/SBI 2006 Joint Conference will be held at the JW Marriott
Starr Pass Resort & Spa in Tucson, Arizona on January 12-15, 2006.
The theme for this conference will be "The Changing Entrepreneurial
Landscape."
Submission Deadline: August 15, 2005
For more information, visit: http://www.usasbesbi2006.org/
ASBE 2005 Fall Conference
The
Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship 2005 Annual
Fall Conference will be held October 5-7 at the La Posada
de Albuquerque in Albuquerque, New Mexico. There will
be best paper awards, and these papers will also be considered
for publication in the Journal of Business & Entrepreneurship.
Submission Deadline: August 15, 2005
For more information, visit: http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/research/asbe/ASBE_Website/conf/callforpapers.htm
International Business and Economy Conference
The
Fifth International Business and Economy Conference will be held
at the Sheraton Waikiki Beach Resort Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii, on
January 5-8, 2006. Topics invited for submission include: international
business environment, forms/strategies of international co-operation,
management philosophy, culture, and education, and marketing in consumer & industrial
sectors.
Submission
Deadline: August 19, 2005
For
more information, visit: http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~ibec/
Allied Academies
Allied
Academies will hold the 2005 Fall International Conference at the
Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 12-15, 2005.
The focus of this conference will be International business.
Submission Deadline: September 5, 2005
For more information, visit: http://www.alliedacademies.org/vegas-call.html
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The number of
women entering small business ownership has increased significantly
across the world in recent years; yet, compared to men, they have
received little attention from the academic community. This comprehensive
and coherent
book redresses the imbalance and provides an up-to-date theoretical
review of this important area of study:
International
Handbook of Women and Small Business Entrepreneurship
Edited by Sandra L. Fielden and Marilyn J. Davidson
to
find out more, visit http://www.e-elgar.com
The following
books can also be found on the website:
Supporting
Women's Career Advancement: Challenges and Opportunities
Edited by Ronald
J. Burke and Mary C. Mattis
Working Mothers
in Europe: A Comparison of Policies and Practices
Edited
by Ute Gerhard, Trudie Knign, and Anja Weckwert
Employment of Women in Chinese Cultures: Half the Sky
Edited by Cheryln Granrose
The Construction of Management: Competence and Gender Issues at
Work
Edited by Bronwen Ann Rees
Women Entrepreneurs
Edited by Patricia Greene, Candida G. Brush, Nancy M. Carter,
Elizabeth Gatewood,
and Myra M. Hart
The SBANC
Newsletter is provided as a service to the members of our affiliates:
Academy
of Collegiate
Marketing Educators
(ACME), Association for Small Business& Entrepreneurship
(ASBE), Decision Sciences Institute (DSI), Federation of Business
Disciplines (FBD), International Council for Small Business
Congress (ICSBC), Institute
for Supply Management, The International Small Business
Congress (ISBC), Marketing Management Association (MMA),
Small Business
Administration (SBA),
Service Corps of Retired Executives, Small Business Institute
(SBI), Society for Marketing Advances (SMA), United States
Association
for Small Business & Entrepreneurship
(USASBE), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Western Decision
Sciences Institute (WDSI). If you are interested in membership
or would like further
information on one of our affiliates, please see our web site
at http://www.sbaer.uca.edu
SBANC
STAFF
Main Office Phone: (501) 450-5300
Dr. Don B. Bradley III, Executive
Director of SBANC & Professor
of Marketing
Direct Phone: (501) 450-5345, E-mail: donb@uca.edu
Esther
Mead, Graduate Research, E-mail: esthermead@gmail.com
Ashley
Ford, Development Intern, E-mail: ASHatsbanc@hotmail.com
Brad Lawrey, Development Intern, E-mail: bradlawrey@hotmail.com
Olivia Johnson, Development Intern, E-mail: reneeatuca_2003@hotmail.com
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