Kaikki aineistot
Lisää
In recent years, we have seen an increasing interest in the country-level differences in audit environments as they might have a pervasive impact on how financial statement audits are conducted around the world. We contribute to this emerging stream of research in three important ways. Firstly, we provide a comprehensive synthesis of country-level determinants that have been employed in previous multinational auditing research. Secondly, we document economically significant differences in the overall levels of audit pricing between countries, which we interpret as a compelling evidence that audits are conducted differently in different countries. Lastly, we explain these pricing differences between countries with a large set of country variables identified in our synthesis of prior multinational auditing research. We find not only that economic and regulatory characteristics explain the most of the differences in audit pricing between countries but also that differences attributable to sociological characteristics seem to be important in the conduct of audits. As auditing as a service and profession has become increasingly globalized, our study should be of interest to a wide range of readers including researchers, practitioners and regulators.
The countries behind various technology companies are currently driving high level decision making and restrictions around the globe. Particularly Chinese tech companies like Huawei and TikTok have faced restrictions and being locked out of foreign markets because of their relationship with the Chinese government. In consumer behaviour countries-of-origin (COO) have been long research as drivers of behaviour. A research gap however exists in COO or country image (CI) research with regard to digital services. In this research the goal was to find out whether the COO of a social media service effects the level of trust consumers place on that service and the extent that they are willing to engage with it. Being able to establish this connection would not only open up a new are of research within CI and trust fields of research but could also have practical implications for the marketing efforts of companies and whole countries. It could also help governments in driving efforts to restrict the use of services of undesirable origin. To figure out whether this possible connection exists quantitative research methods were utilized. A theory of reasoned action (TRA) based framework was created utilizing prior literature on CI and online trust. An online survey was then created based on this framework and answers were gathered from Finnish university students. This data was then analysed using structural equation modeling. Evidence was found in favour of previously established connections between trust, subjective norms and information sharing. However quite little evidence was found for the theorized connection between these and CI. However evidence was found for a partial mediated effect. As a result it can be concluded that CI does play some kind of effect into trust towards social media services and willingness to share information on them. These findings could possibly encourage further research and model development efforts into this are of study.
Globalization and complex competitive environments has led companies to establish manufacture units in developing countries. Previous studies suggest that products manufactured in developed countries have a more positive image than products made in developing countries. However, researchers have been arguing that Country-of-origin (COO) effects are no longer relevant since young customers became used to see products designed in one country and manufactured in another. Thus, it is relevant to understand how consumers in emerging markets perceive partitioned country-of-origin cues and to which extent they are still influenced by country of origin effects. The present study analyze the perception of young Brazilian customers, in order to understand the joint effect of the Country-of-manufacturing (COM) and Country-of- design (COD) on quality perception of global branded products. Results are based on the analysis of qualitative data collected on 24 semi-structured interviews with young Brazilian customers focusing on global products manufactured in China. Findings suggest that COO effects have an overall low relevance among the interviewees, despite the fact that China as COM seems to still influence negatively product quality evaluation for many respondents. Nevertheless, it was possible to identify two different groups of customers. The first is less affected by COO effects, but more affected by Brand image, Perceived Brand Globalness and apparently more sensitive to cost versus benefit evaluation. The second group was more affected by COO image, but this influence was founded to be mainly mediated by animosity feelings. Other moderators and factors mediating the joint effect of COM and COD on product quality evaluation of global branded products are presented and discussed.
The objective of this thesis is to map the most important market areas for a Finnish high-tech sawmill machinery manufacturer Veisto Oy. In order to accomplish this goal the most active areas in terms of high-tech sawmill machinery investments are looked for. In order to find the most promising ones the market areas are ranked based on statistics as well as expert interviews. Different decision-making matrices are also applied tothe market selection. The first part of the study puts emphasis on the characteristics of industrial markets and analysing them. However, the main focus of the theoretical part is on country screening, evaluation and decision-making tools used for market area selection. In the second part of the study these theories and tools are applied to the case situation, resulting in the selection of the three most important market areas from Veisto's point of view. These market areas are Russia, Southern Yellow Pine area in the South eastern USA and the biggest sawmilling countries in South America: Brazil, Argentina and Chile. Further on, these areas are studied according to the SWOT framework. It seems that Veisto is faced with several challenges even in the most promising market areas; powerful domestic competitors and protection duties in the USA, insecurity in investment protection and multiplicity of the markets in Russia, strong Swedish competitors in Chile and protection duties in Brazil.
Companies operating in today’s highly internationalized markets consider product differentiation the key priority in pursue to attain a constant competitive advantage in challenging global environment (Baker and Ballington 2002, 158). The main driver affecting companies’ differentiation actions was described as early as 1912 by one of the marketing pioneers A. W. Shaw (1912, 710) as meeting human wants more accurate than the competition, and thus increasing customers’ perceived value and satisfaction. Dickson and Ginter (1987, 2) point out in their study based on earlier research by Chamberlin (1965) and Porter (1976) that differentiation can be based on either tangible characteristics of a product such as design or intangible characteristics such as a brand name and country of origin (hereafter referred to as COO). The concept of COO and its impact on consumers’ evaluation of a product as an extrinsic product cue has been one of the most noteworthy topics in international marketing, having been voluminously examined by over 780 authors in more than 750 academic publications in the past 40 years (Papadopoulos and Heslop 2002, 294). Many of these studies accentuate the significant effect the COO has on consumers’ product attribute evaluations. People routinely associate country images with products and services in order to judge and categorize them based on perceived quality and risk levels; thereby COO can influence the likelihood of a purchase (Peterson and Jolibert 1995, 883-884; Verlegh and Steenkamp 1999, 523). Based on the vast research related to COO in the field of international business, it is widely recognized that the country associated with a product can act in a similar way as the name of a brand and even become a part of product’s total image. Thereby depending on customer’s values and perceptions, the product-country image can either increase or decrease perceived value.
In this study, I look at how host-country competitiveness and the institutional environments in particular affect the location of FDI, in the case of Latin America. In the last years, the global economy has become more interconnected and decisions of internationalization are a commonplace for many companies around the world. This study is focused in the host-country institutional environment as a determinant of country competitiveness and as important determinant of FDI decision; I discuss about the existing literature related to institutions, national competitiveness, FDI and location. I present a general view of Latin America and the behavior of FDI in the region. I use a logistic regression approach to estimate a model using information from a sample of Latin American companies and country-level data that help us to understand if higher levels of competitiveness augment the probability for foreign companies of investing and, if a strong institutional environment increases the preference of a Latin American MNC to invest in the host country. The results show that most of the control variables used are significant. Large companies will invest in several markets; MNCs with many subsidiaries around the world are more likely to invest in neighbor countries; geographical distance reduces the probability of investment and the economic behavior in the host country is positively related with FDI decisions. The estimation shows that in the case of Latin America, competitiveness measured by GCI, is not relevant. On the other hand, the institutional environment is relevant for FDI decisions. An important message from the study is that managers need to look at the institutional environment in the host-country.
Background: Limited previous research has contrasted physical activity (PA) patterns in preschool children across different hourly patterns or segments of day, or adopted similar methodologies to compare the PA behaviors of children from different countries. The purpose of this study was to examine how the PA levels and patterns differed between 3- year-olds within and between childcare and homecare days in Finland and Australia. Material/Methods: ActiGraph GT3X accelerometers were used to monitor 121 (80 Finnish, 41 Australian) children’s PA for five consecutive days. Results: No significant country differences were observed in children’s daily total PA (light-tovigorous PA [LMVPA]), except that during childcare days Finnish children spent more time in light PA compared to Australian children. During childcare attendance hours children engaged in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) for an average of 48 minutes (SD = 24) covering 54% of their daily MVPA in Finland, and for 53 minutes (SD = 34) covering 64% of their daily MVPA in Australia. Variation in children’s hour-by-hour PA was more pronounced during childcare days than homecare days. Conclusions: Despite the variations based on cultural practices, no major differences were observed in children’s daily total PA between the countries. However, these findings provide a better understanding of 3-year-olds’ PA behavior patterns and will serve as valuable evidence for the development of PA promotion in preschool children in both Finland and in Australia.
Globalisaation myötä mielikuvat eri maista vaikuttavat kasvavassa määrin kuluttajien jokapäiväisiin valintoihin ympäri maailmaa. Edistääkseen positiivista mielikuvaa, useat maat tekevät maabrändityötä, joka ulottuu matkailumarkkinoinnista vienninedistämiseen ja ulkomaisten investointien houkuttelemiseen. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteina oli valottaa suomalaisten elintarvikeviejien suhdetta kotimaansa maabrändiin sekä tarkastella vientiyritysten ja vienninedistämistoimien roolia maabrändin kehittämistyössä. Tutkimuksen kohteena on Finpron elintarviketeollisuuden vienninedistämisohjelma Food From Finland ja tutkimuksen empiirinen aineisto koostuu kahdeksasta laadullisesta yrityshaastattelusta. Tulokset myötäilevät aiempia tutkimuksia todeten, että Suomen tunnettuus maailmalla on vielä heikkoa. Kun alkuperämaata ei tunneta hyvin, yrityksen oman brändin painoarvo kansainvälisillä markkinoilla korostuu. Joissain tapauksissa vientiyritykset eivät korosta tuntemattoman maan alkuperää markkinoinnissaan tai alkuperällä kuvataan laajempaa, paremmin tunnettua aluetta kuten Skandinaviaa. Vientiyritysten rooli maabrändityössä on kuitenkin ratkaisevan tärkeä, sillä yritykset toimivat maabrändin lähettiläinä toimiessaan maailmalla. Näin myös vienninedistämisohjelman koordinoiva rooli korostuu osana maabrändityötä. Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat lisäksi, että Suomen nykyinen maabrändi on keskittynyt muutamaan teollisuudenalaan, muun muassa teknologiaan, metsäalaan ja koulutukseen, mikä ei ole ollut omiaan edistämään ruoka-alan kasvua. Aihe on erityisen merkittävä juuri tällä hetkellä, sillä Suomen tavoitteena on kasvattaa elintarvikevientiä huomattavasti vuoteen 2020 mennessä. Tulokset osoittavat, että suomalaisen ruokakulttuurin brändäys maabrändityön ohessa on vasta alussa. Suomalaisen ruuan tavoitemielikuvaan kuuluvat tällä hetkellä puhdas luonto, ruokaturvallisuus ja innovatiivisuus. Elintarvikealan vahvuuksien arvioimiseen käytettiin Porterin mallia maan kilpailukykytimantista. Suomalainen luonto ja elintarvikealan huippuosaaminen ovat merkittäviä tekijöitä osana brändiä, mutta eivät vielä riitä asemoimaan suomalaista ruokaa erilaisena, mieleenpainuvana ja mielenkiintoisena ruokakulttuurina. Faktojen tueksi tarvitaan tunteisiin vetoava brändi, joka luo sekä tarvetta pohjoisen ruokatuotteille, että tuo yhteenkuuluvuuden tunteen alan eri toimijoille. Tutkimuksen käytännön sovellus keskittyy maabrändin soveltamiseen vienninedistämisessä.
The assessment of heart rate variability (HRV) thresholds (HRVTs) as an alternative of Ventilatory thresholds (VTs) is a relatively new approach with increasing popularity which has not been conducted in cross-country (XC) skiing yet. The main purpose of the present study was to assess HRVTs in the five main XC skiing-related techniques, double poling (DP), diagonal striding (DS), Nordic walking (NW), V1 skating (V1), and V2 skating (V2).Ten competitive skiers completed these incremental treadmill tests until exhaustion with a minimum of one to two recovery days in between each test. Ventilatory gases, HRV and poling frequencies were measured. The first HRV threshold (HRVT1) was assessed using two time-domain analysis methods, and the second HRV threshold (HRVT2) was assessed using two non-time varying frequency-domain analysis methods. HRVT1 was assessed by plotting the mean successive difference (MSD) and standard deviation (SD) of normalized R-R intervals to workload. HRVT1 was assessed by plotting high frequency power (HFP) and the HFP relative to respiratory sinus arrhythmia (HFPRSA) with workload. HRVTs were named after their methods (HRVT1-SD; HRVT1-MSD; HRVT2-HFP; HRVT2-HFP-RSA). The results showed that the only cases where the proposed HRVTs were good assessors of VTs were the HRVT1-SD of the DS test, the HRVT1-MSD of the DS and V2 tests, and the HRVT2-HFP-RSA of the NW test. The lack of a wider success of the assessment of HRVTs was reasoned to be mostly due to the high entrainment between the breathing and poling frequencies. As secondary finding, a novel Cardiolocomotor coupling mode was observed in the NW test. This new Cardiolocoomtor coupling mode corresponded to the whole bilateral poling cycle instead of corresponding to each poling action as it was reported to the date by the existing literature.
The objective of this thesis is the development of a multibody dynamic model matching the observed movements of the lower limb of a skier performing the skating technique in cross-country style. During the construction of this model, the formulation of the equation of motion was made using the Euler - Lagrange approach with multipliers applied to a multibody system in three dimensions. The description of the lower limb of the skate skier and the ski was completed by employing three bodies, one representing the ski, and two representing the natural movements of the leg of the skier. The resultant system has 13 joint constraints due to the interconnection of the bodies, and four prescribed kinematic constraints to account for the movements of the leg, leaving the amount of degrees of freedom equal to one. The push-off force exerted by the skate skier was taken directly from measurements made on-site in the ski tunnel at the Vuokatti facilities (Finland) and was input into the model as a continuous function. Then, the resultant velocities and movement of the ski, center of mass of the skier, and variation of the skating angle were studied to understand the response of the model to the variation of important parameters of the skate technique. This allowed a comparison of the model results with the real movement of the skier. Further developments can be made to this model to better approximate the results to the real movement of the leg. One can achieve this by changing the constraints to include the behavior of the real leg joints and muscle actuation. As mentioned in the introduction of this thesis, a multibody dynamic model can be used to provide relevant information to ski designers and to obtain optimized results of the given variables, which athletes can use to improve their performance.
Certain stereotypes can be associated with people from different countries. For example, the Italians are expected to be emotional, the Germans functional, and the Chinese hard-working. In this study, we cluster all 15-year-old students representing the 68 different nations and territories that participated in the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2012). The hypothesis is that the students will start to form their own country groups when clustered according to the scale indices that summarize many of the students’ characteristics. In order to meet PISA data analysis requirements, we use a novel combination of our previously published algorithmic components to realize a weighted sparse data clustering approach. This enables us to work with around half a million observations with large number of missing values, which represent the population of more than 24 million students globally. Three internal cluster indices suitable for sparse data are used to determine the number of clusters and the whole procedure is repeated recursively to end up with a set of clusters on three different refinement levels. The results show that our final clusters can indeed be explained by the actual student performance but only to a marginal degree by the country.
Bài nghiên cứu này cung cấp nhiều giá trị học thuật cho các đề tài liên quan đến Định hướng sáng nghiệp và thái độ của nhân viên. Nó tập trung đánh giá mối quan hệ giữa ba yếu tố của EO gồm: sáng tạo, mạo hiểm, và chủ động và hai yếu tố đo lường thái độ nhân viên gồm: sự thỏa mãn trong công việc và sự gắn bó với công ty. Bài nghiên cứu được thực hiện dựa trên kết quả khảo sát của 143 nhân viên đang làm việc trong ngành dich vụ tại Việt Nam. Kết quả từ dữ liệu phân tích cho thấy sự sáng tạo và chủ động có tác động tích cực đến cả hai phương diện của thái độ nhan viên. Đặc biệt, sự chủ động có ảnh hưởng mạnh nhất đến tinh than của nhân viên. Trong khi yếu tố mạo hiểm không thể hiện tác động nào đến sự thỏa mãn từ yếu tố bên trong của nhân viên và sự gắn bó với tổ chức. Ở những nước đang phát triển như Việt Nam sự thỏa mãn về các yêu tố bên ngoài có ảnh hưởng nhiều hơn đến sự thỏa mãn chung của nhân viên. Từ đó, tác giả đưa ra một vài đề xuất cho ban quản lý công ty và các nhà làm chính sách khi áp dụng chiến lược Định hướng sáng nghiệp để nâng cao tinh thần làm việc của người lao động Bài nghiên cứu này dựa vào mô hình 3 yếu tố của Covin và Slevin (1989); mô hình Job Diagnos-tic của Hackman and Oldham (1974, 67); Job Descriptive Index của Spector (1985,708-711) và lý thuyết ba nhân tố gắn kết với tổ chức của Meyer, Allen, và Smith (1993) để xây dựng lý thuyết cho bài nghiên cứu này. Sau đó, một mô hình thể hiện sự tác động của ba khía cạnh của môi trường làm việc theo định hướng sáng nghiệp EO đến hai nhân tố của thái độ nhân viên gồm sự thoải mãn trong công việc và sự gắn bó với tổ chức. Trong mô hình này, cả ba khía cạnh của EO đều có tác động tích cực đến sự thỏa mãn trong công việc của nhân viên. Tuy nhiên, chỉ có khía cạnh sáng tạo và chủ động ảnh hưởng đến sự gắn bó với tổ chức trong khi sự mạo hiểm không có bất kì tác động nào đến sự gắn bó của nhân viên.
Tutkimus käsittelee Suomen alkuperämaakuvaa (COI) sekä sen hyödyntämistä elintarviketeollisuudessa. Suomen elintarviketeollisuudella on ollut ongelmia kannattavuuden kanssa viime vuosina. Suomen elintarviketeollisuus on ollut kotimarkkinaorientoitunut ja vienti voisi olla osa kannattavuusongelmien ratkaisua. Alkuperämaakuvaa voidaan käyttää markkinointiresurssina viennissä. Tutkimus tarkastelee Suomen alkuperämaakuvaa sen ominaisuuksien ja hyödyntämisen suhteen sekä sitä, miten alkuperämaakuvan hyödyntämistä voitaisiin parantaa. Päätutkimuskysymys on: ”Miten suomalaiset elintarvikeviejät voivat hyödyntää alkuperämaakuvaansa?”. Tutkimus on laadullinen haastattelututkimus, joka hyödyntää olemassa olevaa teoriaa elintarvikkeiden vientimarkkinoinnin sekä alkuperämaakuvan suhteen. Teoreettista taustaa esitellään olennaisten ilmiöiden sekä alkuperämaakuvaan liittyvien mallien osalta. Empiiristä dataa on kerätty alan ammattilaisilta puolistrukturoitujen haastattelujen keinoin sekä julkiselta, että yksityiseltä sektorilta. Yksityistä sektoria edustivat kolme vientiyritystä, jotka edustivat maitotuote-, liha- sekä marja-aloja. Haastattelut käsittelivät haastateltavien kokemuksiin Suomen alkuperämaakuvasta ja sen hyödyntämisestä. Tulokset osoittivat Suomen positiivisen, mutta heikon alkuperämaakuvan. Suomen alkuperämaakuva sopii elintarvikevientiin muun muassa puhtaan luontokuvan vuoksi. Suomen elintarvikevienti keskittyy raaka-aineisiin tai puolivalmisteisiin, jonka vuoksi asiantuntijamarkkinointia tehdään usein faktapohjaisesti. Suomalaisia elintarvikkeita markkinoidaan usein muun muassa luonnon, kemikaalijäämien, sekä kuuluisien paikkojen, hahmojen tai ilmiöiden kautta. Johtopäätökset vahvistivat joitain olemassa olevia teorioita sekä loivat ehdotuksia Suomalaisille elintarvikeviejille alkuperämaakuvan hyödyntämiseen. Alkuperämaamarkkinointia tulisi sopeuttaa kohdemarkkinaan ja markkinointiviestiä tulisi selventää. Tehokkaimpia myyntiä tukevia osa-alueita tulisi hyödyntää, vaikka ne saattavat tuntua arkisilta tai liian näyttäviltä. Vientiä tulisi lisätä lopputuotteiden osalta, raaka-aineiden tai puolivalmisteiden sijaan. Jatkotutkimuskohteita esitetään Suomen alkuperämaakuvan vahvistamisen keinojen sekä tehokkaimpien myyntiä tukevien alkuperämaakuvan osa-alueiden tunnistamisen osalta.
This paper investigates the influence of cultural distance, geographical distance, and three market size variables to the target country preference of SMEs in the software industry. In addition, we examine the shift of priorities in SMEs’ country selection by analyzing how these factors impact the selection of the first, second, and third target countries. Empirical findings of this study suggest that almost 70% of country choices can be explained by software market size and geographical distance alone. The findings adduced also that entry priority of SMEs shifts very fast from countries within a short geographical distance to countries with high purchasing power and within a greater geographical distance. Relations of these macro-level factors are discussed and compared to earlier qualitative and conceptual studies in this field. Implications for managers are also provided.
This chapter addresses equity ownership strategy in greenfield investments by multinational enterprises (MNEs) in the emerging markets (EMs). It is one of the few studies to hypothesize and analyze influences of host EM physical infrastructure in relation to investment decisions of MNEs. We use resource dependence theory (RDT) as a theoretical basis and test the moderating effects of firm resources like size and host country investment experience. Moreover, the current study assumes a more nuanced approach to studying equity ownership by analyzing wholly owned subsidiaries versus joint ventures (JVs) and including majority versus minority JVs in the analysis as well. The empirical results based on greenfield investments undertaken by Nordic (Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish) MNEs in EMs during 1990–2015 reveals the importance of host country physical infrastructure for high equity ownership strategy. Moreover, host country investment experience moderates the effect of physical infrastructure on equity ownership strategy. Finally, the analysis of a sub-sample of greenfield JVs reveals that determinants of equity ownership strategy differ somewhat between greenfield JV or greenfield wholly owned subsidiaries (WOS).
Purpose–The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how the perceived institutional environment ofColombian internationally operating small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the software industrycomes to determine their performance.Design/methodology/approach–The research applies regression modelling to a sample of 43internationally operating Colombian SMEs in the software development industry, collected via an online survey.Findings–The results indicate that the normative dimension of the institutional environment comes todetermine the export performance of the SMEs. Conversely, the cognitive and regulatory dimensions of theinstitutional forces do not have a significant effect.Research limitations/implications–The cross-sectional nature of the survey tool, the single industryand the single country context place limitations on the generalisability of the results across different industryand country contexts.Practical implications–The results highlight the need for entrepreneurship-friendly norms and values inthe context of internationalising SMEs in Latin America. Governments should focus on the development andpromotion of international entrepreneurs that inspire and serve as role models for other entrepreneurs ratherthan concentrate on the creation of regulatory frameworks and the provision of knowledge of how to start andmanage risk for the internationalising SME.Originality/value–The study is one of the first to apply the Busenitzet al.(2000) scale on the institutionalcountry profile to real entrepreneurs. Previous studies have mainly applied the framework to a sample ofstudents or officers assigned to US embassies. Besides Renkoet al.’s (2009) conference paper, ours is the first onethat links the country institutional profile to the performance of internationalising software firms and, especially,in the context of a Latin American country. The study, therefore, attempts to contribute to a better understandingof how a country’s institutional environment impacts the performance of internationalising SMEs
Several methods could be used to measure the forces from skis or roller skis in cross-country skiing. Equipment that could measure medio-lateral forces may be of good help for investigating the relevant skating techniques. The aim of this study was to validate a pair of newly designed two-dimensional force measurement roller skis. The vertical and medio-lateral forces which were perpendicular to the body of the roller ski could be measured. Forces were resolved into the global coordinate system and compared with the force components measured by a force plate. A static and dynamic loading situation for the force measurement roller ski was performed to reveal the validity of the system. To demonstrate whether the force measurement roller ski would affect roller skiing performance on a treadmill, a maximum speed test with the V2 technique was performed by using both normal and force measurement roller skis. The force-time curves obtained by these two different force measurement systems were shown to have high similarity (coefficient of multiple correlations > 0.940). The absolute difference for the forces in the X and Z directions over one push-off cycle was 3.9–33.3 N. The extra weight (333 g) of the force measurement roller ski did not affect the performance of the skiers. Overall, the newly designed two-dimensional force measurement roller ski in this study is valid for use in future research during daily training for skate skiing techniques.
This paper shows how a debate conducted in the Oxford Union, the leading student debating society in Britain, was used to make a point about representation and politics in the national press, and what it means in terms of political action and who can be considered to make political arguments. In 1933 the Union debated a motion ‘That this House under no circumstances will fight for its King and Country’. It was carried by a clear margin, and the scandal it caused put the role of the Union and what it represented into question. It is here argued that there were two rhetorical levels in operation, rhetoric of representation and rhetoric of debate. With the former, the Union was blamed in the national press for lacking the representative qualities it was assumed to have, and with the latter, its rules and traditions were defended as part of the functions of a political assembly.
By successfully including smallholders, the oil palm boom in Southeast Asia has contributed significantly to rural economic development and poverty alleviation, notwithstanding its huge environmental costs. Oil palm production in other world regions is currently picking up, including in Africa. Yet it is uncertain whether the positive socioeconomic impacts from Southeast Asia can be replicated elsewhere. Little development gain may thus accompany severe environmental harm if oil palm expansion leads to deforestation. To shed light on the (prospective) role of oil palm for rural development we perform a systematic comparison of Ghana’s and Indonesia’s oil palm sectors at the macro and micro level, focusing on smallholder inclusion and using a mixed-methods approach. We identify substantial differences in structural conditions and policy foci that have led to two very different oil palm sectors. While the Indonesian experience clearly highlights the development opportunities coming with smallholder inclusion in agro-industrial production, our analysis shows that transferability to the West African context is limited due to regional specificities.
Early sport specialization is often criticized for its potential to impair long-term athletic development. One of the most frequently cited consequences is dropout from further sport participation. Early diversification, within the Developmental Model of Sport Participation (DMSP), postulates that early sampling of various sports and late specialization should result in fewer dropouts. Still, empirical evidence supporting this claim remains scarce. The purpose of this study was to examine dropout rates among Finnish elite youth skiers in relationship to: (a) their developmental pathways, (b) age of first involvement with organized cross-country skiing, and (c) first encounter with organized sport. This study adopted a retrospective follow-up design. The sample consisted of 152 skiers who raced competitively in the 2009/2010 season. Data concerning demographics and sport history was collected through a postal self-report questionnaire. The participation status of skiers was followed-up three years later from the Finnish Ski Association’s data base. Twenty-eight distinct developmental pathways were identified and assigned into specialized (n = 7) and non-specialized pathway (n = 21) categories. Based on the data distribution for age of first involvement, skiers were grouped into three categories: early (2-5 years), normal (6-8 years) and late (9-13 years). The mean age was 7.41 years (SD = 2.51). Eighty skiers (52.6%) in the sample indicated a cross-country skiing club to be their first ever encounter with organized sports, while the remaining 72 (47.4%) practiced other sports before engaging with organized cross-country skiing. The results of chi-square tests found no statistically significant association between dropout and the three variables (pathway category, age of first involvement, first organized sport experience). Only the comparison between normal and late involvement groups showed a significant difference between the groups, suggesting an association between late involvement and dropout. Thus, earlier involved skiers were less likely to drop out than skiers who started relatively late. The results of the study are discussed within the DMSP framework. In general, they provide no clear support for the early diversification hypothesis; rather they suggest an optimal age window for first involvement in cross-country skiing and gradual specialization.
Kieli: | rus |
---|---|
Julkaisija: | Moskva : Izdatelʹstvo "Nauka", Glavnai͡a redakt͡sii͡a vostochnoĭ literatury 1973- Moskva : Moskva : Moskva : Moskva : Moskva : Moskva : Moskva : |
ISSN: |
2687-1440 |
Aiheet: | |
Tallennettuna: |
|
The Country of Origin Effect has a substantial influence over the beliefs and behaviours of consumers around the world. Therefore our perceptions of countries around the world plays a significant role in our consumer habits. This thesis explores the construction of national image within the context of the Country of Origin Effect. The premise of this study is that the relationship between country specific shared social reality and a collectively perceived national image will ultimately influences the Country of Origin Effect itself. This study employs discourse analysis of media texts from leading outlets in the USA, UK and Australia in order to explore the discursive construction of the Finnish national image. The results present an overview of how Finland is portrayed by international media as a progressive, innovative and entrepreneurial country. The study also posits a new contribution to the existing Country of Origin literature in the form of a benchmark- ing phenomenon. The benchmarking phenomenon identifies idealisation and critical self- inspection as two discursive mechanisms that construct the Finnish national image. The implications of this thesis aid in exploring the underdeveloped aspect of the Country of Origin Effect that is the construction of national image.
The aim of the current study was to determine Finnish and Dutch three-year-old preschool children’s physical activity (PA) levels and how levels vary across gender, location, time of day and social contexts in both countries. A modified version of the Observational System for Recording Physical Activity in Children-Preschool (OSRAC-P) was used to measure children’s PA levels and contextual variables (e.g. group composition, prompts) of children attending childcare centres in Finland and the Netherlands. In total, 90 Finnish children (46 boys and 44 girls) and 97 Dutch children (46 boys and 51 girls) were observed. Three-level linear regression analyses with cross level interactions were used to assess differences between the countries in the association between the context variables and PA. During the observations, the present sample of children was mostly sedentary in nature. Outdoor location and prompts (both positive and negative) were associated with higher levels of activity in both countries. Non-solitary playing was associated with higher activity levels in the Netherlands, but not in Finland, whereas child-initiated play was positively associated with Finnish but not Dutch children’s PA levels. Finnish children were more active in the morning compared to the afternoon, while in the Dutch children PA was unaffected by time. The present findings indicate that better understanding of the contextual factors and interactions in children’s PA behaviours across the two countries could help in planning childcare interventions to increase the PA levels of preschool children.
Tässä kandidaatintutkielmassa tarkastelen kuinka yhden italialaisen yrityksen yritysviestintä vaihtelee italialaisessa ja venäläisessä kulttuurikontekstissa. Tutkimukseni aihe on ajankohtainen, sillä yritysten verkkoviestintä on välttämätön. Aineistona tutkimusta varten käytän Barillan italialaista ja venäläistä verkkosivustoa, havaintojen tukemiseksi olen käyttänyt erilaisia aiheiseen liittyviä akateemisia tekstejä. Tutkimukseni tarkoituksena on selvittää, kuinka saman yrityksen, tässä tapauksessa Barillan, verkkoviestintä voi vaihdella Italian ja Venäjän välillä. Tavoitteena on myös löytää eroja Barillan yritysviestintästrategiassa. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteiden saavuttamiseksi suoritan vertailevan analyysin, jossa vertailen keskenään Barillan italialaista ja venäläistä verkkosivustoa. Tutkimuksessa analysoin tekstejä ja valokuvia, sillä kuvien mukaan ottamisella saadaan paremmin perusteltua tehtyjä havaintoja. Tutkimuksessani selvisi, että Barillan verkkosivustoissa on monia sisällöllisiä ja kielellisiä eroja, jotka liittyvät eri kulttuurikonteksteihin. Tulin siihen johtopäätökseen, että yritysten verkkoviestintästrategia muuttuu käytettyjen sanontojen ja fraasien, kuvien ja myös tuotemarkkinoinnin muodossa, koska tämä kaikki muuttuu kohdeyleisön mukaan. Barilla käyttää italialaisten kuluttajien osalta monimutkaisempaa viestintästrategiaa kuin venäläisten kuluttajien kohdalla, koska Italiassa pastaa pidetään osana kulttuuria. Strategiaan sisältyy esimerkiksi tuotteen laadun ja tuotteiden ympäristöystävällisyyden esille tuominen, mikä tuo etua kilpailijoihin nähden. Tulin myös siihen johtopäätökseen, että verkkosivustojen lokalisointi saa vakuuttavuuden pysymään kohdekulttuuriissa. Suuri yritys, kuten Barilla, pyrkii edistämään tuotekuvaa ja "italialaisuuden" tunnetta sekä levittämään "valmistettu Italiassa" arvoa ympäri maailmaa. Siitä huolimatta, että kaikilla Barillan verkkosivustoilla on vahva linkki italialaiseen kulttuuriin, Barillan oli kuitenkin valittava, mitä kohdekulttuurin verkkosivustolla kerrotaan vakuuttavuuden saavuttamiseksi. Lopuksi tulin siihen tulokseen, että Barillan strategia Italian markkinoilla on luoda yhteys tuotteiden ja kuluttajien välille. Venäjän kulttuuritilanteessa pasta on synonyymi Italialle, ja tämän avulla Barilla luo matkan italialaiseen keittiöön.
This article investigates both the coping strategies employed by low-income unbanked consumers in Pakistan and the consequences of those strategies. Qualitative data were gathered from low-income unbanked consumers through in-depth interviews. The findings suggest that unbanked consumers utilize their respective social networks and various market and personal resources to cope with financial exclusion. The utilization of social network resources to cope with financial exclusion typically enabled participants to fulfill their obligations in a positive manner and enhanced solidarity and trust among group members, whereas the use of market and personal resources tended to produce more negative consequences in the form of different types of risk. The article provides managerial implications for developing services that enhance the well-being of unbanked consumers.
Poverty reduction is critical for global socio-political stability. In this paper we start from the observation that divergent institutional logics may indirectly uphold conditions of poverty. We focus on the intermediation practices of an organization working in Tanzania to deepen collaboration between forest sector stakeholders. Our findings show how operational inefficiencies in the forest sector perpetuate the deprivation of low-income populations and how increased intermediation can help to reduce such inefficiencies. We identify intermediation practices that create learning, clarity and synthesis and so help to overcome key differences between divergent institutional logics. The notion of intermediation practices helps not only to understand the work of intermediaries, but also to explain how operational environments need to be developed to achieve poverty reduction and sustainable development.
Cross-country skiing (XCS) embraces a broad variety of techniques applied like a gear system according to external conditions, slope topography, and skier-related factors. The continuous detection of applied skiing techniques and cycle characteristics by application of unobtrusive sensor technology can provide useful information to enhance the quality of training and competition. (1) Background: We evaluated the possibility of using a high-precision kinematic global navigation satellite system (GNSS) to detect cross-country skiing classical style technique. (2) Methods: A world-class male XC skier was analyzed during a classical style 5.3-km time trial recorded with a high-precision kinematic GNSS attached to the skier’s head. A video camera was mounted on the lumbar region of the skier to detect the type and number of cycles of each technique used during the entire time trial. Based on the GNSS trajectory, distinct patterns of head displacement (up-down head motion) for each classical technique (e.g., diagonal stride (DIA), double poling (DP), kick double poling (KDP), herringbone (HB), and downhill) were defined. The applied skiing technique, skiing duration, skiing distance, skiing speed, and cycle time within a technique and the number of cycles were visually analyzed using both the GNSS signal and the video data by independent persons. Distinct patterns for each technique were counted by two methods: Head displacement with course inclination and without course inclination (net up-down head motion). (3) Results: Within the time trial, 49.6% (6 min, 46 s) was DP, 18.7% (2 min, 33 s) DIA, 6.1% (50 s) KDP, 3.3% (27 s) HB, and 22.3% (3 min, 03 s) downhill with respect to total skiing time (13 min, 09 s). The %Match for both methods 1 and 2 (net head motion) was high: 99.2% and 102.4%, respectively, for DP; 101.7% and 95.9%, respectively, for DIA; 89.4% and 100.0%, respectively, for KDP; 86.0% and 96.5%, respectively, in HB; and 98.6% and 99.6%, respectively, in total. (4) Conclusions: Based on the results of our study, it is suggested that a high-precision kinematic GNSS can be applied for precise detection of the type of technique, and the number of cycles used, duration, skiing speed, skiing distance, and cycle time for each technique, during a classical style XCS race.
This paper examines how country environment shapes the relationship between firm intellectual capital and its innovation performance. Using survey data from 649 firms in Finland, Spain and Russia complemented by archival IMD World Competitiveness Ranking data, we find that when country environment is characterised by greater availability of skilled labour and a stronger appropriability regime, a firm’s human and structural capital have a lower impact on its innovation performance. The effect of relational capital does not depend on these contextual variables. This study enriches the intellectual capital-based view of the firm by demonstrating that country-level factors moderate the performance effects of firm-level intellectual capital. It also adds to the strategic management literature by exploring the explanatory power of a combination of country-level variables and firm-level resources in understanding firm-level performance. Our findings can help practitioners focus on the elements of intellectual capital that have the greatest impact in their environment.
The Industrial Revolution and globalization have brought about major changes in all industries, which have a direct impact on corporate success. Tele-migration is an emerging strategy that allows individuals to work remotely from foreign countries to gain several advantages while also favorably impacting the corporate environment. This study offers a unique exploration of the tele-migration phenomenon by utilizing diffusion of innovation theory as a theoretical framework. This research looks at the internal and external factors that drive individuals in the developing Asian market to use tele-migration. The internal factors that encourage the adoption of tele-migration include mainly freedom and flexibility, cultural immersion, financial incentives, and skills development, while the external factors comprise limited job prospects, government favorable policies, technological advancements, and skill-based compensation. Moreover, tele-migration is changing the performance of individuals in terms of their routine, work performance, and quality, resulting in increased productivity and improved skills. This study has practical implications such as adopting tailored tactics like tele-migration to address the industrial revolution and globalization opportunities and changes, moreover, individuals and start-ups can overcome geographical constraints and tap into the potential of expanding Asian markets by exploiting the benefits of tele-migration.