Marjaana Gunkel

Personality and career decisiveness: An international empirical comparison of business students' career planning

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is two‐fold: first, the degree to which career adaptability, career optimism, and career knowledge predict career decisiveness in China, Germany, and the US is to be examined; second, the effect of the five personality traits on the determinants of career decisiveness, on career decisiveness, and on the relation between career decisiveness and its determinants in the three countries is to be investigated.Design/methodology/approach – A survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire. The sample consists of 555 business students from three countries: China (196), Germany (210), and the USA (149). A two‐stage OLS regression analysis was applied for assessing the relation between career decisiveness, its determinants, and the personality traits.Findings – The results show that personality traits have direct and moderating effects on career decisiveness and its antecedents. In addition, the influence of personality and the antecedents of career decisiveness differ in ...

The Influence of Personality on Students’ Career Decisiveness – A Comparison between Chinese and German Economics and Management Students

Within the last decade, the relation between personality and career decisiveness has received increased attention. This study examines the country-specific influence of the Big Five personality traits on career decisiveness and its determinants, namely career related adaptability, career-related optimism, and career-related knowledge, among 406 Chinese and German economics and management students. The results show that personality traits affect career decisiveness and its determinants and that the effects partly differ across countries. The findings, their implications, and further research directions are discussed and suggestions for career counseling are made.

Culture and a Cascading Model of Emotional Intelligence: An Exploratory Analysis

Originality We contribute to the existing literature by examining the mechanism through which culture influences the different facets of emotional intelligence and whether and how the different facets affect each other. The proposed influence of culture on a cascading model of emotional intelligence provides a more detailed and nuanced understanding of the mechanism and the pathways in which culture affects emotional intelligence.

Determinants and outcomes of dual distribution: an international study

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the coexistence of independent and manufacturer-owned distributors within the same distribution system. In particular, the authors seek to identify those factors that determine the use of dual distribution and the effect of dual distribution systems on different economic outcomes. Design/methodology/approach - – Using a case study-based approach, the authors compare different brands in different European markets of a German automobile manufacturer using 24 expert interviews in Germany, Sweden and Spain. Findings - – Our results demonstrate the importance of limited resources, investment specificity, location, divergent interests and competitive strategies for the development of dual distribution structures. The results show that the overall distribution system performance is positively related to dual distribution. Research limitations/implications - – The generalizability of the findings is limited due to the use of cases for different brands of one large corporation within a specific industry and the limited number of countries that were examined. This study is also limited to the subjective evaluation of firm performance and the qualitative evidence provided by the interviewees in our sample group. Our study contributes to the ongoing debate on the use of independent and manufacturer-owned distributors among distributive vertical chains. Based on the qualitative findings, propositions for future research and managerial implications are provided. Originality/value - – While in previous research, the explanatory approach of make-or-buy has often been used for examining dual distribution, the authors combine insights from different theoretical streams (transaction cost theory, market-based view, resource-based view and principal-agent theory) to identify and empirically investigate the antecedents and outcomes of dual distribution. Furthermore, while prior research focused on single-country studies and franchise systems, the authors examine a multi-country sample in the automobile industry and expand the findings of the existing literature by covering different brands.

Der Einfluss von Kultur und individuellen Charakteristika auf das Widerstandsverhalten von Mitarbeitern bei internationalen Akquisitionen: Eine empirische Studie

Fusionen und Akquisitionen (M&As) sind keineswegs neuere Phanomene der Unternehmenspraxis. Tatsachlich ist das erste gehaufte Auftreten von M&As gegen Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts zu verzeichnen und fuhrte bis heute zu sechs M&AWellen (Menz 2007, S. 27 ff.). Verandert hat sich im Laufe der Zeit das Krafteverhaltnis zwischen den beteiligten Wirtschaftsraumen. So betrug der Anteil der EUund NAFTA-Staaten an allen weltweit durchgefuhrten Transaktionen im Jahr 2000 noch 83 %, wahrend es im ersten Halbjahr 2008 nur noch 60 % waren. Im Gegensatz dazu konnte bei den ASEAN-Staaten zuzuglich China, Japan und Sudkorea (ASEAN+3) im selben Zeitraum ein Anstieg um drei Prozentpunkte auf nunmehr 13 % beobachtet werden (Grimpe 2008, S. 2). Dies zeigt die zunehmende geographische Verschiebung bei M&As. Damit steigt auch das Interesse an der Betrachtung weiterer Kulturen, die im Wirtschaftsleben wichtig werden. Die Beachtung kultureller Besonderheiten von M&A-Partnern wird auch deshalb wichtiger, weil im Vergleich zu nationalen M&As internationale Fusionen und Akquisitionen an Bedeutung gewinnen (Greenberg et al. 2005, S. 55). Die Beruhrung mit fremden institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen kann eine Fusion oder Akquisition erschweren, da die gesamte Transaktion an Komplexitat gewinnt und sich daraus eine doppelte Akkulturationsproblematik, resultierend aus Unternehmens- und Landeskultur, ergeben kann (Barkema et al. 1996, S. 151).