Global Business Review

Classical economic theory distinguished between two factors of production: capital and labour. Alfred Marshall added a third factor: management. Gary Becker, in distinguishing between unskilled and specialized labour, emphasized the importance of investment in special human capital. Dieter Sadowski showed that investment in general human capital increases the ability to move but reduces the willingness of the employee to move.

In the 'New Economy' the willingness of the employees to move has increased significantly. On the other hand, the firms have become interested in flexibility: Project management requires combining different skills in individual projects and assigning different individuals to ever-changing projects. These individuals may be found inside or outside the firm. In this sense we talk about the virtual firm.

In the article, a generalized assignment problem is developed to capture the process of managing special skills of individuals for changing projects in a virtual company.

For the purpose of identifying managerial skills needed for Asian managers and examining the impact of culture on the process of managerial skill practices, a series of in-depth interviews were designed with Fili pino and Chinese managers working for Japanese joint venture corporations in the Philippines and China respectively. The interview study was designed for understanding what managerial skills are practised and needed most by foreign managers and what are the influences of Japanese corporate culture on Asian manag ers' skill practices in Japanese overseas affiliates. Interview results indicated that managers tend to report a mix of critical skills which are common across all managers but with differences in emphasis and priority depending on their position levels and managerial functions. Also, the importance of cross-cultural negotia tion was stressed as a condition for smooth managerial skill practices. Particularly, the content of a manage rial skill (a decision-making skill, for example) was found to be adjusted when implemented in culturally different business contexts: in Japan, the Philippines and China. Differences in cultural and market situa tions, and the level of industrialization were discussed as factors influencing managerial skill practices in Asian countries.

During the past decade, unprecedented changes have taken place in the economic life of Asia. Major reforms have been undertaken in large countries like China and India; also smaller Asian countries like Mongolia have moved away from centrally planned socialist systems to market-oriented structures, while Singapore has emerged as a unique Asian country with a significant place in the global competitiveness stakes. As each country endeavours to respond to a particular set of national socio-economic imperatives, the overall diver sity of the Asian context intensifies. Increasingly, it is becoming difficult to develop a pan-Asian basis of managerial ideology and practice to provide a counterpoint to the traditional managerial theories developed in the West. In spite of this, a homogenous pattern is emerging in the work goal priorities of managers across Asia. The transitional context of Mongolia, the competitive context of Singapore, and the socio-economic reform agenda in India may be similar in terms of the managerial priorities in each of these contexts which are converging rapidly.

This article explores the nature of convergence taking place in managerial work goals in three Asian countries to evaluate the priorities of managers as they respond to their respective societal contexts of transi tion, reform and global competitiveness. The empirical study reported in this article compares and contrasts managerial work goals through data collected by surveying managers in India, Mongolia and Singapore. The article aims to contribute to the strengthening of the empirical basis of Asian managerial ideas and practices.

Societal transformation processes are causing far-reaching changes in the relationship between businesses and society. The political, economic (information and communications), technological and cultural transfor mation processes lead to the evolution of new types of civil society actors. These necessarily increase the complexity of corporate environments and attempt directly or indirectly to influence their behaviour. Under these conditions, companies are increasingly forced to open up their own organizational boundaries to dia logue and, at the earliest possible stage, to include 'society' as a non-controllable variable. Along with an intensification of the direct relationships between companies and social action groups, a growing number of initiatives have recently evolved, which, often with the support of the state, attempt to create an institution alized dialogue between several companies, unions and non-government organizations (NGOs). The societal transformation processes that form the basis of these interactions as well as necessary and obstructive factors for the success of such multi-stakeholder dialogues will be analyzed in this article.

Socio-cultural change is an invariable concomitant of the politico-economic globalization being embraced by most countries. Yet the interrelated roles of global media corporations and nation-states in the process of globalization have been relatively untouched in global business research. This article examines the role of the global media industry as a cultural change-agent, even a source of cultural imperialism. Drawing on a critical analysis of literature from other social science disciplines, this article argues that media corporations are not solely responsible for the socio-cultural upheaval that accompanies politico-economic globalization. There is also insufficient evidence for the homogenization or Westernization of cultures via the media. Still, given the sensitivity of nation-states to national culture, this article concludes that the impact of the conver gent media, information and communications industry needs to analyzed in the wider context of the global ization of their politico-economic and socio-cultural environments.

The advent of the concept of the global village has brought in new dimensions to interstate and intersocietal conflicts. There has been growing international opinion against violence and collateral damage to property. Coupled with this human societies all over the globe are becoming more and more dependent on information, hence on information technology. A disabling or decapacitating power in conflicts is gaining more acceptance than killing power. The above aspects have been studied from the available literature on the subject. This article is an attempt to bring out the relevance of non-lethal (NL) and less lethal (LL) weapons in the prevail ing concepts and doctrines of Information Warfare (IW). The article does not bring out the official thinking on the subject. The views are of the authors in their personal capacity. No classified document is reviewed or reflected.

This article aims to identify the key attributes of electronic money and its use by consumers through a survey. It considers the various issues and concerns of consumers regarding e-payments. It does not address pay ments by ATM or credit cards being used offline (payments other than through computer networks). The requirement is to evaluate some of the options available for e-payments and address some key specific con cerns of the users as this form of payments is yet in its nascent stage and would be one of the most dominant and widely used applications in the future. The net boom and therefore a widespread market for electronic money ('e-money') products could offer merchants, financial service providers and government entities the opportunity for greater cost efficiencies and consumers the opportunity for greater convenience and security. However, there is also recognition that these benefits cannot be fully realized without wide consumer accept ance of e-money. Consumer acceptance in turn requires that consumers have confidence in the new products, understand the benefits and risks of the products, and believe that their concerns about the products have been considered and addressed.

The recent failure of the Seattle ministerial conference has raised several questions on the future of the global trading environ ment and the role of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in it. A large segment of the global population desires a moratorium on the newer issues to be brought under the WTO while the developed world is all for strengthening and widening the WTO's activities. The developing countries (DCs), in particular, have expressed wide-ranging apprehensions regarding the function ing of the WTO. It is in this context that the present article examines the factors contributing to the Seattle failure and its consequences. It suggests a three-forked strategy for the DCs in the course of the forthcoming ministerial conference and thereafter. The strategy includes exposing weaknesses and drawbacks of the Uruguay round agreements; highlighting protec tionist behaviour of the developed world and continuing with their fight against the non-trade related issues. Unite or perish will be the ultimate mantra for the DCs' success in the global negotiations.