Roger Kashlak

How Alliances Are Reshaping Telecommunications

Abstract The global telecommunication industry is undergoing tremendous change due to privatization and deregulation, evolving technological capabilities and increased competition. As competitive boundaries are shifting in service provision, firms need to acquire new skills to succeed in the future; and a major avenue for a firm to acquire new capabilities is through the formation of strategic alliances. Based on Miles and Snows strategic orientation framework, the authors develop a framework to analyze the strategic alliances within the telecom industry. They study the alliance activities of 21 U.S. based telecom service firms from 1988–1996 to illustrate how the industry boundaries have changed.

The effect of the board and executive committee characteristics on the degree of internationalization

Many corporate governance observers agree that when firms encounter dramatically changed competitive environments, the board of directors may become involved in the strategy formation process. Based on Finkelstein and Hambricks (Finkelstein, S., Hambrick, D., 1996. Strategic leadership: top executives and their effects on organizations. West, Minneapolis, MN.) conceptual model, we examine the effects of the board of directors and executive committee characteristics on the degree of internationalization of the U.S. telecommunications industry during the 12 years after AT&Ts 1984 divestiture. We also examine the effects of the regulatory environment and core business growth on the degree on internationalization during this time. We find support linking executive committee characteristics and regulatory environment to the degree of internationalization. Characteristics of the entire board are consistently found to be insignificant.

Effectively Integrating an International Field Study into the EMBA Curriculum

ABSTRACT An international field study (IFS) is an integral part of the EMBA program because of the various critical roles it plays. This international travel experience is a value-added activity not only as “stand alone” vehicle for understanding macro-level environments and firm-level strategic initiatives, but also as a tool that integrates other pieces of the EMBA curriculum while enhancing behavioral aspects of the EMBA students. This paper suggests an effective model for planning an IFS. It proposes that attention to the rigor and diversity of the actual overseas study will enhance the learning objectives of the program. It further proposes that attention to both the IFS placement within the program and how it is integrated with other pieces of the curriculum will improve the knowledge flow for students. It is demonstrated that proactive communication and cooperation among program faculty will allow the IFS to be effectively utilized for program integration and provide significant benefits to the EMBA students.

What Do Managers Like to Do? A Five-Country Study

Previous research on the nature of managerial work has defined managerial activities, assessed their importance, and examined the contribution of the activities to managerial success and effectiveness. Researchers have not examined preferences for managerial activities, however. This article describes a paper-and-pencil instrument designed to assess managerial activity preferences and provides evidence to support its reliability and validity. Participants in five countries responded to the instrument. Results indicated that substantial similarities exist between countries in the relative attractiveness of 10 managerial activities. The managerial activities receiving the highest ratings involved leading employees, networking, and innovating. Activities receiving the lowest ratings included controlling employees, doing desk work, and handling time pressures. Country differences were related to each country’s culture and business environment. Within each country, women and men showed a high level of agreement in their preferences, and the observed gender differences were related to shared conceptions of femininity and masculinity.

Designing a control system for a multinational subsidiary

Abstract This article discusses how the control systems for multinational subsidiary managers are affected by national variables such as political risk, financial/monetary policies and relative cultural distance. These environmental factors are reviewed and synthesized into a three-dimensional model to help a manager diagnose these influences and choose the appropriate control system. This model illustrates how the salience of input control increases as multinational entities increasingly compete globally in nations with unstable financial/monetary policies, significant government restrictions and high cultural distance. Global expansion into countries with one or more of these will require multinational entities to pay added attention to how they recruit, train and reward subsidiary managers.

A cross‐national cross‐gender study of managerial task preferences and evaluation of work characteristics

Addresses the debate about gender‐based leadership/management styles by examining and comparing managerial task preferences and rating of work characteristics of women and men in management positions in the USA, Japan, Australia, Israel and Italy. The findings do not support the notion that women have a distinct leadership style, e.g. that they are more people‐oriented than men, or that they differ consistently in their evaluation of various job factors, such as extrinsic versus intrinsic components. However, country of origin has strong and pervasive effects on management style and orientation in these terms. Japanese managers are markedly different from those in other countries (they exhibit a so‐called “feminine” style), while the Americans and Israelis resemble each other. The findings sustain the argument that managerial style is not mainly determined by gender but rather by contextual factors, such as national culture, organization and occupation.

Knowledge flows and economic development through microenterprise collaboration in third-sector communities

“The U.N. once dealt only with governments. By now we know that peace and prosperity cannot be achieved without partnership involving governments, international organizations, the business community and civil society. In todayʼs world we depend on each other.” Kofi Annan, UN Secretary (1999).

Socio-regulatory upheaval, reference points and strategic evolution of the cigarette industry

Abstract During the past 3 decades, the US cigarette industry has seen increased social and political turbulence affect market growth. The six major competitors (Phillip Morris (PM), R.J. Reynolds (RJR), American Tobacco, British American Tobacco (BAT), Lorillard and Liggett & Myers) have all responded to the increasingly unattractive environment through diversification efforts. Still, facing similar, hostile environments, the various patterns of product and international diversification of the firms have been divergent in terms of both scope and depth. The integration of strategic reference points offers a preliminary explanation for these divergent strategies. Firms who were industry leaders and industry laggards regarding average industry performance indicators were observed to take greater strategic risks in each decade. Firms performing at the industry median took relatively less risk in each decade.

Establishing financial targets for joint ventures in emerging countries: A conceptual model

A conceptual framework is proposed regarding front-end financial targets for multinational entities (MNEs) regarding their international joint ventures with government-owned or government-influenced entities of economically emerging nations. The model theoretically integrates and advances two distinct levels of propositions. The first level suggests that prior to its establishment, a negotiating range will be influenced by an intersection of the MNEs strategic objectives and the host governments expectations of the cooperative effort. Subsequently, the MNE will adjust its expected compensation target within the established range due to the risk arising from various host country environmental factors. The proposed external environmental factors include cultural distance, political risk, economic instability, and host country operating level restrictions.

Partner reciprocity, telecommunications flows and balance of trade patterns between the United States and latin America

From 1982 to 1994, the balance of trade deficit for U.S. telecommunications services increased by tenfold. The Central and South American countries contributed greatly to this increase. Our analysis identifies partner reciprocity as a core issue of the international long-distance industry. We apply an economic anthropology perspective to suggest that the antecedent conditions of cultural distance, economic nearness and relative country-risk will affect a foreign partners reciprocity and examine U.S.- Latin American contracts over 11 years to test our respective hypotheses.