International Business

This study investigated the total quality management practices and competitiveness in Saudi Arabia contractors. The effectiveness of total quality management initiatives that result in sustainable competitive advantage and enhanced business performance have been a major subject of interest for business and academia. Total quality management is about continuous organisational success based on customer satisfaction and the contribution of all employees constantly working to enhance organisational processes, services, and products. Thus, a quantitative approach using the survey method was employed. With assistance from the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, survey questionnaires were distributed to selected contractors from across five geographically diverse areas in Saudi Arabia. The collected data were analysed using correlation, multiple regressions. The key findings were the confirmation of significant relationships between all total quality management practices and competitiveness, significant relationships between total quality management practices and quality culture, and a positive relationship between total quality management practices and competitiveness. Furthermore, total quality management practices were found to be able to explain 36.6% of the variance in competitiveness while quality culture explained 12.5% of the variance in competitiveness.

In the changing world, today's complex and competitive, successful and effective organizations that can provide a variety of factors to create the demand, among the factors governing the ability of employees and corporate culture of an organization has a special place in Kermanshah. The data collection questionnaire to measure organizational culture, organizational culture Hafstd 43 items (1990) and to assess the ability of the questionnaire, 12 questions, capability Asprytzr (1996) is used. Hypothesis test to By Spearman correlation test were positive and significant relationship was demonstrated in total, meaning that the result-oriented and component principle easy to control the hardware capabilities.

In this era of knowledge-based economy, it has been recognized that industrial competitiveness is determined by the presence of technology-intensive industries so as to produce high value-added products through innovation activities. Meanwhile, transformation of the economic structure in Indonesia has set out its manufacturing industry as a pillar of the national economy. Unfortunately, Indonesia's manufacturing industry output is dominated by low technology intensity industries. Considering the importance of technological learning and technological capability to improve innovation performance, using structural equation modelling, this research attempts to model the relationship of technological learning, technological capability, and innovation performance of Indonesia’s manufacturing industry. The empirical model obtained indicates that Indonesia’s manufacturing firm’s innovation performance is not mainly determined by the whole comprehensive process of technological learning. Innovation performance is also not derived mainly from technological capability building. The technological learning activities are not intended to increase firm’s technological capability but more directly to increase innovation performance. Nevertheless, further study is needed to improve the empirical model and obtain stronger justification

Global competitiveness as a platform for economic success and access to higher levels of welfare and standards of living, has found a lot of importance among policymakers. Today, all developed or developing countries emphasize the importance of efficiency and productivity as one of the necessities of economic development and gaining competitive advantage in the international arena, because in the present world, competition in other world scenes has other dimensions and trying to achieve higher levels of efficiency and productivity is one of the main pillars of the competition. The purpose of this study is to analyze effects of good market efficiency as an important component of the Global Competitiveness Index on Asian countries economic success in the form of a Panel Vector Error Correction Model (PVECM) over the period 2008-2016. The results of this study indicated that: The positive shock of trade and technology (trade and technology improvement), in the short run, have little impact and in the medium and long run have positive impact on the good market efficiency. But the positive shock of investment (increase in investment), in the short run, has little impact and in the medium and long run, has a negative impact on the good market efficiency. In this model, the positive shock in good market efficiency (improving the good market efficiency) in the short, medium and long run, has a positive impact on the economic growth rate and has a negative effect on the unemployment rate. The most important factor influencing the good market efficiency is investment, which this variable has the most important effects on the good market efficiency in the medium and long run. 

In the present article, which aims at the examination of the effects of Islamic thought on the management and organization styles in Iran, Islam and Islamic thought have been explained at first. Then, with regard to the necessity to examine the Islamic management, the management and organization dimensions (creation of Islamic culture, the manner of the social Islamic structure establishment, the manner of the physical designation of the organization in the light of the Islamic style, etc) have been defined. The end goal of this article is to examine the effects of Islamic thought on the management mechanisms within the Islamic countries (the Islamic Republic of Iran as the case study). So, at the end of the present article, this effect will be investigated. The findings of 30 structured interviews show that the effect of Islamic thought on the manner of management in the organizations of an Islamic country is not so deep, and it is necessary to review the management knowledge in relation to the Islamic ideas and beliefs. In this regard, some suggestions are presented at the end of the article.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of financial determinants on firm growth. The impact of financial determinants: profitability, leverage, innovation and leverage on firm growth are studied. Firm size and firm age are also included to investigate how such variables effect firm growth. Data was collected for a sample of 373 non-financial companies listed at Karachi Stock Exchange for a period of six years from 2006 to 2011. Fixed effect model for panel data was applied for analysis and results. The results of this research show that financial determinants of profitability, leverage and innovation have a positive and significant impact on firm growth in Pakistani context. Firm size also have a significant positive effect. However, there is negative relationship of firm age on firm growth. Liquidity has a positive relationship with growth, yet its impact was non-significant. More comprehensive, detailed and extended analysis in future studies will definitely be helpful in gaining a profound understanding of different aspects of the growth of the firms, and hence in formulating better policies for economic development at micro and macro level.

Missing data are pervasive, and pose problems for many statistical procedures. We all should be using methods that treat missing data properly, rather than deleting data or using single imputation. Importantly, it is not dif?cult to implement these missing data. A relatively few absent observations on some variables can dramatically shrink the sample size. As a result, the precision of confidence intervals is harmed, statistical power weakens and the parameter estimates may be biased. In this paper we used EM method that aims to estimate Missing Values, and summarizes how to apply out EM method to estimation missing data using SPSS.

The purpose of this paper is to examine intercultural communication literature to serve a path to scholars of business and intercultural communication. There are several studies on intercultural communication competence, as well as cross-cultural problem solving, yet it is not adequately acknowledged in business studies. For the purpose, the literature was investigated to ascertain different approaches on the topic. The paper includes a review on the literature. It is supported that, utilizing quantitative methods of intercultural competence with business constructs would improve both fields. Also it is stressed that such intercultural studies have a promising future for business in a multi-cultural era, international businesses and conceptual clarification of intercultural studies.

The early history of entrepreneurship in India reflects from the culture, customs and tradition of the Indian people. Entrepreneurship has its heredity in the occupational pursuits opted by the individual under the caste system in India. Entrepreneurship plays an important role in the economic growth and development of the nation. It is a purposeful activity which includes an initiation, promotion and distribution of wealth and service. An entrepreneur is a critical factor in economic development and an integral part of the socioeconomic transformation. The entrepreneurial career can not be developed over night. It is a risk taking activity and challenging task, needs utmost devotion, total commitment and greater sincerity with fullest involvement for his/ her personal growth and personality. Further if such activities are taken up by women, they need to put double the effort compared to men. A survey of women entrepreneurs owning different micro enterprises is initiated to understand motivational factors behind their entry into entrepreneurship. The study also focuses on the problems and challenges that emerge in women entrepreneurship. Entry of women in this male dominated field gives them a real empowerment in terms of economic independence and decision role.

Immigrants in the United States often display a propensity to start new ventures. The aim is to overcome the challenges of economic hardship during the initial years of arriving in a new country. The failure rate of immigrant-owned businesses, however, is high within the first 5 years of business start-up. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the strategies U.S.-based Togolese small business immigrant owners use in entrepreneurship, leveraging African roots, and seeking opportunities with Togo. The Schumpeterian entrepreneurship theory constituted an important lens to ground the study. The holistic analysis entailed the analysis and triangulation of data collected using qualitative thematic analysis and theoretical entrepreneurship postulations. The interview data from 20 successful Togolese small business owners residing in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area served the objectives of this study. Key criteria required participants to be engaged in entrepreneurial activities from the US, involving Togo, and operation of the business for at least 5 years. The key themes emerging from the coding and thematic analysis of interviews included corruption, lack of physical presence in Togo, linguistic barriers, and discrimination in the United States faced by immigrant entrepreneurs. The findings of the study may make a worthwhile contribution to improving the economic standing and business success of immigrant business owners. Entrepreneurs may use the knowledge to formulate entrepreneurship strategies, which could lead to the creation of jobs improvement in the standard of living of U.S.-based Togolese entrepreneurs. The discoveries from the research may contribute to the economic prosperity of local communities in Togo. ?