The Limits to Outsourcing: Beware of the Consequences for Market Success!

January 14, 2013

By Masaaki Kotabe, Michael J. Mol, Janet Y. Murray & Ronaldo Parente

Over the past few decades, outsourcing, in particular offshore outsourcing, has become a widely used means for firms to improve their performance. Outsourcing helps lower the firm’s breakeven point and improve its return on investment. As a result, many firms have increased their outsourcing activities. In our studies we find that although firms may be able to improve their market performance through increased outsourcing, this is only true up to a point, beyond which market performance actually decreases. But we also find that firms that have a weak internal resource base or are facing strong competition can afford to outsource more. As a marketer you should be aware of the marketing implications of outsourcing strategy so that you can proactively shape your firm’s outsourcing strategy.

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Calgary, Canada: A Global Energy and Financial Centre

January 14, 2013

By Paul Paynter & Rachel Yin, Calgary Economic Development

Alberta’s energy sector is a key economic driver and has been for decades. The rich resources available in Alberta, Canada account for the third largest reserves of crude oil in the world and the largest deposits of oil sands in the world. Additionally, for the past five years, Canada’s banking system has been ranked the most sound in the world and has provided great support to the strong economic growth in Calgary, gaining a strong reputation as a global energy financial centre.

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How Rapidly Should Africa Go Green? The Tension Between Natural Abundance And Economic Scarcity.

January 14, 2013

By Paul Collier & Anthony J. Venables

Africa is the green continent: its CO2 emissions per person are less than one tonne pa, one-fifteenth of Europeans and one-thirtieth those of a North American.¹ With 12 percent of world population, Africa accounts for just 2.4 percent of world emissions. However, this is a consequence of Africa’s poverty, and emissions intensity in Africa (emission per unit GDP at PPP) is at the world average. South Africa has one of the highest emissions intensities in the world; Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria (‘Four African countries,’ see figure 1 ) have emissions intensity higher than most European countries. Development typically generates an inverse-U pattern of emissions intensity peaking between $2-$3,000 per capita, implying that Africa’s emissions will rise because of rising income and increasing emissions intensity.

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Climate Finance in the Age of Green Growth

November 16, 2012

By Yongfu Huang and Jingjing He

The climate change crisis and development needs of the world’s poor require us to acknowledge the necessity and urgency for both continued growth at the current pace, and rapid greening of this growth strategy. But are the contradictory aims of growth and environmental protection irredeemably incompatible?

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Global Rebalancing 2.0

November 16, 2012

By Linda Lim & Ronald U. Mendoza

The discussion on global rebalancing is at a crossroad, and much of what will shape policy options moving forward will have to be taken-up in roundtables that include more countries than the two usual suspects: China and the United States. At its core, the global economic imbalance is an artifact of an uneven development pattern, whereby one country consumes excessively while the other feeds that consumption. A more orderly and sustained global rebalancing is likely synonymous with a more inclusive development pattern across countries, where consumption, investment and production are more evenly promoted across more countries. True “global rebalancing” will take place if more countries, and larger segments of their respective populations, are able to achieve higher standards of living. In this article, we map out some of the main messages for policymakers to achieve this.

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The Impact of the Arab Spring on the Energy Sector: Opportunities and Risks

November 16, 2012

By Gawdat Bahgat

In the late 2012 the Arab World looks very different from what it was just two years ago. The presidents of Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen, who ruled their respective countries for decades, had been toppled. In Syria, tens of thousands of people had been killed in what is increasingly becoming a civil war between the rebels and the Assad regime. In Bahrain, the majority Shiites have sought to reform the regime and gain political and economic rights. Other Arab countries such as Morocco, Algeria, Jordan and the Arab states on the Persian Gulf have pursued different strategies to contain opposition.

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Cultural Fitness for Business Process Management: What is it and what is it worth?

November 16, 2012

By Theresa Schmiedel, Jan vom Brocke & Jan Recker

While business process management (BPM) is often associated with large investments in IT systems and process analysis projects, the success of BPM initiatives largely depends on the cultural readiness of organizations for process management. In this article, we introduce a model that helps to understand the role of culture in managing business processes and to take the right investments into the development of organizational culture. For that purpose, we also describe an assessment tool that allows examining the supportiveness of an organizational culture for BPM initiatives. We show how the results of such an assessment help organizations to determine in which areas of a corporation investments in cultural change can be most beneficial.

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How Corporations Co-Opt Compassion: Compliance, Cause-Related Marketing, and Corporate Social Responsibility

November 15, 2012

By Mara Einstein

Cause marketing has become the go-to strategy for companies that want to engender consumer loyalty while differentiating themselves from the competition. While these campaigns raise some funding and help to increase awareness of important social issues, they are not as positive as they market themselves to be. Alternatively, social innovation—a strategy that embeds “doing good” into the workings of a corporation—is recommended as a means to increase social good while delivering ROI.

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Century Champions

November 15, 2012

By Christian Stadler

The obsession with quarterly earnings and the inability to learn from the past are probably the two most dangerous trends in finance today. In a study of firms which survive the Great Depression, two World Wars, the Oil Crisis, and the recent Financial Crisis I offer five big ideas how firms can succeed in the long run. It is a story of intelligent conservatism that emphasises the efficient use of resources and a cautious approach towards change.

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What the End of Cheap China Means for the Rest of the World

November 14, 2012

By Shaun Rein

As a new superpower, China will likely provide a helping hand whenever possible by taking a greater role in international organizations like the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations, but it will be a very different superpower than the United States has been. Unlike America, it is doubtful that China will try to save the global economy or become the world’s policeman. Instead, it will let other nations spend money doing these costly and painstaking things, while they seek out the business opportunities that these actions might produce.

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