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InternatIonal Journal of
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January-March 2013, Vol. 4, No. 1
Table of Contents
Special issue on Building Capabilities for Sustainable Global
Business
Editorial Preface
i
Balancing Corporate Success & Social Good
John Wang, Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, NJ, USA
C. Jayachandran, Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, NJ, USA
Research Articles
1
Foreign Market Entry Strategies in the North-Adriatic Area: The Role of Cultural Distance
Rubens Pauluzzo, Department of Economic and Statistical Sciences, University of Udine, Udine, Italy
21
CSR for Retailers’ Led Channel Relationships: Evidence from Italian SME Manufacturers
Fabio Musso, Department of Economics, Society and Politics, University of Urbino, Urbino, Italy
Mario Risso, Department of Business Studies, University of Rome “Tor Vergata,” Rome, Italy
37
Clusters Go Green: Drivers of Environmental Sustainability in Local Networks of SMEs
Barbara Da Ronch, TeDIS Center, Venice International University, Venice, Italy
Eleonora Di Maria, Department of Economics and Management, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
Stefano Micelli, Department of Management, Ca’ Foscari University, Venice, Italy
53
Gender Wage Gap: Discrimination or Different Preferences of Men and Women? A Case Study of Ostrava,
Czech Republic
Zuzana Machová, Faculty of Economics, VSB – Technical University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic
Lenka Filipová, Faculty of Economics, VSB – Technical University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic
68
Effect of Hofstede’s Cultural Differences in Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure
Silvia Romero, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA
Belen Fernandez-Feijoo, Department of Finance and Accounting, Universidade de Vigo, Vigo, Spain
85
Dynamic Student Modelling of Learning Styles for Advanced Adaptivity in Learning Management Systems
Sabine Graf, School of Computing and Information Systems, Athabasca University, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Kinshuk, School of Computing and Information Systems, Athabasca University, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Copyright
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i
Editorial PrEfacE
Balancing Corporate
Success & Social Good
John Wang, Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, NJ, USA
C. Jayachandran, Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, NJ, USA
The 12th International Conference of the Society
for Global Business and Economic Development (SGBED) held from July 21-23, 2011, in
Singapore was in many respects a remarkable
meeting. It is a great moment for the SGBED
and its major sponsors as we have successfully
organized and implemented the 12th event
in cooperation with Singapore Management
University and a number of partner universities from around the world. The conference
had accepted 220 papers and 10 abstracts after
submitting them to a double review process. The
conference attendees included 233 academics
from 41 countries representing 125 universities.
More than ever before, the present economic and environmental conditions have
prompted businesses and institutions to promote
a sustainable and balanced economic development (Pinkse, Kuss, & Hoffmann, 2010;
Capaldo & Petruzzelli, 2011). Sustainability
and inclusive growth considerations have assumed even greater significance due to the need
to balance corporate success and social good,
especially, when nations are at different stages
of development (Rohrbeck & Gemünden, 2011;
Crespin-Mazet & Dontenwill, in press). In this
context, the organizers of the 12th International Conference have invited theoretical and
empirical research, case studies and proposals
to address a range of themes that encompass a
gamut of policy issues and corporate practices.
This special issue contains extended versions of selected high-quality papers from this
conference. The set includes five articles with
both theoretical and empirical content; these
articles were chosen because they cover a wide
range of issues, promote cross-learning, and
contribute to the present understanding and the
existing body of knowledge on new challenges
of building capabilities for sustainable global
business. Also, each paper has been doubleblind reviewed again by three regular Editorial
Board members of the journal.
The third article focuses on “Cluster Go
Green: Drivers of Environmental Sustainability
in Local Networks of SMEs.” Da Ronch et al.
explore how the traditional industrial district
model copes with environmental issues, based
on an original interpretative perspective and
extended case studies. Moving from the theoretical analysis on eco-parks and eco-clusters,
in which conditions and policies are settled in
order to develop new sustainable activities with
a top-down approach on industrial ecology,
and on traditional industrial districts and their
unique model of development, based on a relational governance structure and a bottom-down,
self-organized approach, the paper explores the
ways in which existing Italian industrial districts
have settled their green paths.
The authors concentrate on a very interesting theoretical issue, since very few studies
ii
have addressed this topic in detail. Literature on
eco-parks and eco-clusters has emphasized the
opportunities for the coupling of local economic
development and sustainability, going beyond
firms’ green strategies to include also supply
chains and local networks of firms. Studies
have described the conditions and policies for
the development of new sustainable economic
activities in specific areas based on the industrial
ecology approach. In contrast, little attention
has been given to analysing how existing industrial districts are facing the chances of the new
competitive pressures related to sustainability.
Studies on industrial districts have in fact considered evolutionary paths of local networks of
SMEs driven by innovation technologies as well
as globalization trends, also stressing the role
of leading firms in the renovation of the district
model. At the international level the debate
about how environmental pressure can shape
the district model is limited and this paper sheds
new light on how local networks of SMEs can
cope with such new competitive force.
The paper investigates the drivers and
the evolutionary paths of industrial districts
towards environmental sustainability, offering
a new integrated interpretative framework of
analysis. The empirical analysis is based on
qualitative case studies of two Italian industrial
districts specializing in the production of leather
(Arzignano) and tiles (Sassuolo), which are
extensively developed by the authors in order
to provide further elements to the discussion
about environmental paths of local networks of
SMEs. This paper enriches theoretical studies
on environmental sustainability and its impact
on economic activities at the firm and district
level. It offers new insights on how traditional
districts can evolve toward eco-clusters and
provide useful managerial and policy implications. Moreover, this contribution also extends
literature on industrial districts by including also
the environmental perspective in the analysis of
evolutionary trends of district models.
The fourth paper deals with “Gender Wage
Gap: Discrimination or Different Preferences
of Men and Women? A Case Study of Ostrava,
Czech Republic.” According to Zuzana Ma-
chová and Lenka Filipová, measuring of wage
determinants and wage discrimination makes
one of the core parts of labor market research.
With respect to gender wage discrimination,
there exist many papers using Mincer’s wage
regression and Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition
to prove the extend of the discrimination, but the
objective characteristics of men and women that
are used in regression as explaining variables
usually include just objective characteristics,
such as education, work experience, job characteristics, firm characteristics, etc. On the other
side, there also exist many papers preferring
sociological approach that try to show that
there are also some subjective characteristics
of individuals that may be very important
determining wages. Above all, different preferences of men and women are highlighted and
the special attention is paid to those referring
to work-family balance. Nevertheless, these
studies often lack adequate quantitative methods that would precisely prove the influence
of preferences on wages. This paper is based
on a unique questionnaire survey on a sample
representative for Ostrava, Czech Republic,
that brings individual data including objective
(gender, age, education, job/firm characteristics,
marital status, and number of children) and
subjective (family role) characteristics as well
as information about wages. The data are used
in a wage regression that shows differences in
wage determinants of men and women. The
results of the regression are used in OaxacaBlinder decomposition then.
The main conclusion of the paper may be
expressed in two statements: (1) family role is
an important wage determinant and its inclusion
to Mincer’s Wage Regression leads to better
explanation of wages; and (2) including family
characteristics into Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition can significantly reduce unexplained part of
gender wage gap, i.e., a part of a wage difference
usually ascribed to gender wage discrimination can be explained by different preferences
of men and women on a labor market. On the
other hand, it is important to note that the division of family roles according to gender and its
consequences in a different behavior of men and
iii
women on a labor market does not necessarily
reflect their preferences, but may be the result
of social pressures exerted on women. The aim
of this research, however, is only to point out
that whether it is real women’s preferences,
or the result of social pressures, family roles
are one of the important wage determinants.
The main contribution of the research can be
seen in the complexity of wage determinants
understanding which tries to take into account
subjective characteristics of individuals as well
as in the unique data collection and its analysis
using quantitative methods.
The first paper titled “Foreign Market Entry
Strategies in the North-Adriatic Area: The Role
of Cultural Distance” was written by Rubens
Pauluzzo. The author suggested that cultural
distance between Italy, Austria, Slovenia and
Croatia affects entry mode strategies of Italian companies. He tested this hypothesis with
multiple statistical analyses techniques based
on an exploratory factor analysis and Structural
Equation Modeling (SEM). Pauluzzo showed
three results for the selected countries: the
characteristics of the company, in terms of
better international experiences, larger size and
higher longevity of the company, lead towards
entry modes characterized by higher degrees of
control; the characteristics of the local market,
in terms of legislative, institutional and competitive environment and geographical distance
from the home country, force companies to adopt
strategic decisions focused on a lower degree
of control; cultural distance forces companies
to choose entry modes characterized by a lower
degree of control.
The author did excellent work in this paper
with very interesting implications both from the
theoretical as well as the empirical point of view.
Pauluzzo provided an additional perspective to
the existing body of knowledge by stressing the
significance of cultural factors in affecting the
strategies implemented in the North-Adriatic
area. He also showed that cultural issues should
be carefully considered by companies, together
with other contextual factors, to implement and
manage sound entry strategies in the examined
markets. He suggested that a better compre-
hension of cultural differences can provide a
competitive strategic tool to overcome cultural
barriers and boost companies’ competitive advantage. The paper can also provide important
contributions to companies’ strategies within the
framework characterized by the consolidation
process of economic and political relations of
the North-Adriatic area and their formalization
encouraged by the new institutional structures of
Euro-regions. As suggested by Pauluzzo, companies are part of an increasingly complex and
competitive environment, with new pressures
that have gradually transformed the competitive
landscape, requiring changes in the international
strategic approaches. Each company has to
manage the opportunities and challenges of
international markets under the pressure of the
processes of regionalization and globalization.
In this context, culture can be considered as a
fundamental determinant being able to promote
the awareness and knowledge needed to pursue
the path of international success.
The second paper by Fabio Musso and Mario Risso examines the influence on small and
medium suppliers of the adoption of Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR) by large retailers. Due to their position of channel leaders,
retailers play a predominant role in controlling
the sustainability of both the production and
distribution processes of the products they sell.
Through a quantitative research on a sample of
89 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in
the food sector in Italy, the authors analyzed
the level of diffusion of CSR practices among
SME manufacturers and the factors that influenced the adoption of CSR initiatives. This is
an original perspective on CSR and retailing
issues, as previous literature focused on the
retailers’ point of view, highlighting the major
initiatives adopted by retailers and the difficulties that emerged with suppliers.
Results revealed that those firms more
involved in relationships with large retailers
have reached a higher level of consciousness in
CSR relevance and, above all, are more capable
of autonomously managing CSR activities by
adopting standards and certification systems.
Those with a lighter weight of large retailers in
iv
sales showed a delay in adopting more advanced
criteria for CSR management and they tend
to develop CSR practices only after retailers’
stimuli. A difference emerged depending on
the dimension of the manufacturers analyzed.
Smaller firms are facing more difficulties in responding to CSR related requirements, and they
do not perceive real benefits from CSR, unless
in the possibility of selling to large retailers. On
the other hand, as the firm’s size increases, an
increasing awareness about the overall benefits
of CSR corresponds. The expected benefits are
mainly on the company image and in relationships with consumers. In this case the ability to
respond to the requirements of retailers is just
considered a sort of “sine qua non” condition.
Overall, this paper highlights the key
role of large retailers for the establishment of
a sustainable supply chain, an attenuation of
the hierarchic/conflictual relationship with the
supply chain members, and a reduction of the
margin-compression effects for smaller suppliers as a consequence of power imbalances. A
relevant consequence of CSR is a relationship
development model in which all the involved
subjects can benefit, including smaller partners
inside the supply chains.
The last paper explores the “Effect of
Hofstede’s Cultural Differences in Corporate
Social Responsibility Disclosure.” Silvia
Romero and Belen Fernandez-Feijoo look at
culture differences in sustainability reporting among countries. The authors present an
original perspective, combining data from the
survey conducted by KPMG within twenty-two
countries and the Hofstede’s model. KPMG
survey report different topics as well as data at
the country and industry levels. These topics are:
(1) Disclosure of CSR strategy; (2) Existence of
stand-alone reports; (3) Reporting on business
opportunities and financial value of CSR; (4)
Reporting of supply-chain risks; (5) Reporting
on carbon footprint; and (6) Inclusion of Assurance Statement (AS). The authors worked out
these variables as a framework for Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR) disclosure. Regarding Hofstede, initially, he identifies and defines a
set of dimensions to explain the variance in the
behavior of industrial employees in 74 countries.
These dimensions describe different perspectives for the structure of an organization and
for the motivation of people in an organization
and within society. The defined dimensions of
cultural characteristics used in this paper are:
Power distance; Collectivism vs. individualism;
Femininity vs. masculinity; and Uncertainty
avoidance. Hofstede’s model is presented as a
country cultural framework.
The increasing importance of reporting on
CSR, and the need of transparency and credibility of sustainability reports (SR), require
an academic research with a multidisciplinary
focus, based on theoretical models extensively
proved (Hofstede) with a new vision (KPMG
survey). Given that the level of disclosure
changes along countries, the interest of this
research is to determine if cultural variables
have a clear effect on CSR reporting. Previous
research has analyzed the relationship between
sustainability disclosure and other variables,
such as industry, size, CSR regulation, or
national wealth. This research has an original
approach, defining variables to measure CSR
disclosure, assuming as independent variables
those well-known as affecting reporting and
explaining differences through Hofstede’s
dimensions. It can be highlighted that they
work with twenty-two countries, offering a
broad panorama of CSR reporting. This is one
of the main contributions of the paper. Another
point to highlight is the approach to assurance
statements (AS). Neither the presentation of
SRs nor the inclusion of ASs with the SR is
mandatory, limiting the value of the SR and its
AS and questioning it credibility. The authors
point out that lack of obligation can, therefore,
make the AS a tool to convey some credibility
to the report, rather than actually increasing
its credibility. They conclude that the level of
disclosure is determined by the regulation in the
country more than cultural factors. Regarding
credibility, reflected through ASs, Collectivism
vs. individualism and power distance are explicative of it. Romero and Fernandez-Feijoo main
findings are of great interest for the globalization
v
process, contributing to the knowledge of the
effect of country culture on CSR disclosure.
Crespin-Mazet, F., & Dontenwill, E. (in press).
Sustainable procurement: Building legitimacy in the
supply network. Journal of Purchasing and Supply
Management.
John Wang
Editor-in-Chief
C. Jayachandran
Guest Editor
IJISSC
Pinkse, J., Kuss, M. J., & Hoffmann, V. H. (2010).
On the implementation of a ‘global’ environmental
strategy: The role of absorptive capacity. International Business Review, 19(2), 160-177.
REFERENCES
Rohrbeck, R., & Gemünden, H. G. (2011). Corporate
foresight: Its three roles in enhancing the innovation
capacity of a firm. Technological Forecasting and
Social Change, 78(2), 231-243.
Capaldo, A., & Petruzzelli, A. M. (2011). In search
of alliance-level relational capabilities: Balancing
innovation value creation and appropriability in
R&D alliances. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 27(3), 273-286.
John Wang is a professor in the Department of Information & Operations Management at
Montclair State University, USA. Having received a scholarship award, he came to the USA and
completed his Ph.D. in operations research from Temple University. He has published over 100
refereed papers and six books. He has also developed several computer software programs based
on his research findings. His long-term research goal is on the synergy of operations research,
data mining and cybernetics.
C. Jayachandran is a Professor of Marketing and International Business at the School of Business,
Montclair State University, NJ. He holds a BA, MA, and PhD in Economics from the University
of Madras. His research papers are published in the Economic Times, Journal of Health Care
Marketing, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Journal of Services Marketing, Issues in International Business, Journal of Services Research, among others. He also served as the lead editor
for five books of readings and contributed several book chapters. He is the founding Director
of the Center for International Business and President of the Society for Global Business and
Economic Development (SGBED). He served as principal coordinator and co-chair for 12 major
international business conferences held in China, India, S. Korea, Thailand, Slovakia, Japan,
Mexico and Singapore. The 13th international business conference is scheduled to take place in
Barcelona, in December 2013. His research and teaching interests are in the areas of marketing
strategies and international business.
International Journal of Information Systems and Social Change, 4(1), 1-20, January-March 2013 1
Foreign Market Entry Strategies
in the North-Adriatic Area:
The Role of Cultural Distance
Rubens Pauluzzo, Department of Economic and Statistical Sciences, University of Udine,
Udine, Italy
ABSTRACT
The consolidation of economic and political relations in the North-Adriatic area and their formalization
encouraged by the new institutional structures of Euro-regions are phenomena of central relevance to the
actual European economic environment. These conditions have a significant influence on the strategic choices
of local firms. In spite of the geographical proximity between Italy, Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia, cultural
differences still act as important determinants in leading foreign investment strategies. The current study aims
at analyzing the role played by cultural distance between the examined countries in affecting entry mode
strategies followed by companies of the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. In particular, the analysis
suggests that a larger cultural distance, together with specific market characteristics, may force companies
to choose entry forms with a lower degree of control, while specific firm characteristics may have an opposite
impact on the internationalization strategies.
Keywords:
Cultural Distance, Entry Mode Choice, North-Adriatic Area, Perceived Risk, Structural
Equation Modeling
CULTURE MATTERS
Companies around the world are part of an
increasingly complex and competitive environment. New pressures have gradually
transformed the global competitive landscape,
requiring changes in the international strategic
approaches. Each company has to manage the
opportunities and challenges of international
markets under the pressure of regionalization
and globalization processes. Nonetheless, only
few players have achieved significant results,
thriving in the international competitive arena.
Most of them have been merely surviving, strug-
gling to adapt to a complex and contradictory
demand (Bartlett & Ghoshal, 1998).
The globalization process has failed to
comply with the convictions of those who see
in this socio-economic phenomenon the basis
of setting up a cultural “melting pot” (Keisei
Tanahashi, 2010). Even if the Westernized approach has spread worldwide and the globalized
metropolis seem to be similar for architecture
and ways of living, cultural differences remain
beyond this façade. The echoes of these issues
have quickly reached the economic environment, exacerbating the difficulties of the operators in managing intercultural relations and
DOI: 10.4018/jissc.2013010101
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2 International Journal of Information Systems and Social Change, 4(1), 1-20, January-March 2013
forcing them to integrate their strategies with
cultural sensitivity and competence (Routamaa,
Hautala, & Tsutzuki, 2010; Almutairi, 2008).
However, culture should not
