When researchers investigate factors that enhance employee job performance and commitment, they face an important constraint: much of the theory and findings are based in the US, where the culture is less traditional and less accepting of unequal distributions of power in the workplace. What happens, then, when you apply the same theories to a society with ... Read More

Consumers' prior knowledge of a product category can enhance the impact of an advertisement. The challenge for marketers is to find the best way to tap into this effect. It is not sufficient to present only the information. How the message is presented and how abstract the content is can make a difference in consumer evaluations. That finding by Jiewen Hong ... Read More

Expatriate managers returning to their parent company from overseas assignments have a fairly high turnover rate - an estimated 20 percent quit within one year of coming home. Multinational companies wanting to prevent this situation should offer expatriates more support overseas so as to strengthen their commitment to the firm, according to research by Riki ... Read More

Debt management is a serious and timely concern. The sub-prime mortgage problem in the US showed that the repercussions of poor debt management can extend into other sectors and markets, and have global economic consequences. Credit card debt by its nature merits similar concern. Credit card debt is not secured by assets, nor is the financial status of card ... Read More

The effect of shareholder rights on firm value is a field of growing interest as corporate governance issues grow in importance. The theory states that strong shareholder rights should lower the cost of capital and mitigate over-investment, but the evidence to date has been inconclusive. Now, a new study suggests this may in fact be what is happening. Kevin ... Read More

Anticipation can be the sweetest reward, but, as with many things, there are conditions. It can peter out if you have to wait too long, if somebody has decided what you will be waiting for, and if you have thought too hard in advance about the object or experience. These findings on the complexities of anticipation emerged from research on delays in ... Read More

Conditions in the womb and at birth have increasingly been shown to have long-term effects on people's health and mortality. Similarly, research has found that conditions surrounding the development and launch of new companies may affect whether they become operational and survive. Organizations founded in adverse conditions appear to have a higher mortality ... Read More

Managers today are often required to deal with employees from different cultures, either because they are posted to manage overseas branches or face an increasingly diverse workforce at home. New research suggests they may be putting a foot wrong if they get too caught up in focusing on the cultural differences. Jiing-Lih Farh of HKUST and his co-authors ... Read More

Derivative warrants typically cost more than otherwise identical options, a situation that on the surface seems to defy logic. However, they are preferred by traders who trade frequently so there is something else at play besides price. Chu Zhang of HKUST and co-author Gang Li investigated and found some distinct, non-price advantages. Derivative warrants ... Read More

Expatriate managers can find themselves facing two conflicting demands: carrying out the strategy of their MNE, and adapting to the circumstances of their subsidiary and host country. A manager's success at juggling these demands can make a difference in whether the subsidiary succeeds. The MNE therefore has a vital stake in understanding how to make the ... Read More