We are researching the paradigms of managers who are involved in change agent efforts in their companies. We seek to better understand how national culture informs the perspective of how change happens in organizations.

Briefing of the private sector on the summit process. Enhanced awareness and understanding of international relations in Latin America.

Abbreviated Abstract: Recent accounting/audit failures worldwide have brought into question the usefulness of financial statement disclosures. We examine financial statement summary measures in a valuation model to determine the value relevance of these measures. What is the value relevance of financial statements versus those that do not? We obtain financial statement and market value data for firms in 73 countries from Global Vantage. Our study provides evidence of the usefulness of the financial statements and the necessity of high quality reporting requirements.

Abstract: Although the work finance is in th term microfinance, and the core elements of microfinance are those of the finance discipline, microfinance has yet to break into the mainstream or entrepreneurial finance literature. The purpose of this article is to introduce the finance academic community to the discipline of microfinance and microfinance institutions (MFIs). We provide a comprehensive review of over 350 articles and address the issues of MFI sustainability, products and services, management practices, clientele targeting, regulation and policy, and impact assessment. We conclude by providing an extensive and detailed outline for future finance research.

Abbreviated Abstract: In this paper we investigate the relationship between supplier trust in the buyer and transaction costs and information sharing in a sample of 344 supplier-automaker exchangerelationships in the US, Japan, and Korea. Our findings indicate that perceived trustworthiness reducus transaction costs and is correlated with greater information sharing in supplier-buyer relationships. MOreover, the findings suggest that the value created for transactors, in terms of lower transaction costs, may be substantial. In particular, we found that the least trusted automaker spent significantly more of its face-to-face interaction time with suppliers on contracting and haggling when compared to the most trusted automaker. Finally, we argue that trust is unique as a governance mechanism because it not noly minimizes transaction costs, but also has a mutually causal relationship with information sharing which also creates value in the exchange relationship

Abstract: When the labor market becomes tighter and the economy is uncertain, companies often respond by downsizing and by asking those employees who remain to be more productive and dependable. It is, therefore, of interest to both managers and researchers to better understnad the dynamics of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). OCB is defined as one's willingness to do more than required, to go the extra mile. This study explores how one's subjective sense of career orientation (the internal career) affects OCB. The research was conducted in eight medium-to-large organizations in Thailand and it was discovered, as predicted, that internal career orientations impact the level of OCB. This finding is important because other research shows that the relationship between dispositional variables and OCB is inconclusive.

Research: What happens to the image of a product when a celebrity who endorses the product becomes entangled in some sort of scandal?

This study purports to examine the relative influence of environmental factors vs. knowledge assets in replicator organizations and the persistence of such knowledge assets in a cross-cultural sample of franchise units within a single franchise org.

I use firm-specific measures of openness to foreign investors to study the impact of stock market liberalization on firm-level operating performance. In a sample of over 1,100 firms from 28 countries, firms with stocks that are open to foreign investors experience higher growth, greater investment, greater profitability, and lower leverage. Having either ADRs or closed-end country funds available is also associated with performance improvements, but controlling for the presence of these vehicles does not diminish the impact of investability. Strategies to address endogeneity suggest that, at least in part, the observed relationship reflects a causal effect of openness on operating performance.

Economic instability has an effect on customers' expecations for service recovbery: when conditions become unstable, customers' expectations will be lesss than they would be under stable conditions.

Harpreet Khurana, MBA '05 and Rohit Arora, MPA '04 along with Columbia Business School Professor Hitendra Wadhwa investigate the dynamics of offshoring in the Financial Services sector in Beyond Cost Reduction: The Risks and Rewards of Global Services Sourcing. Focusing on Venture Capital (VC) and Private Equity (PE), Retail Banking and Institutional Banking, the authors emphasize this continuously and rapidly evolving industry, which has already moved through two or three distinct phases of development. The authors focus on the timeline by which each segment has adopted offshoring, analyzing both the "early triggers" of interest in offshoring and the drivers that are fueling ongoing growth.

Faculty, graduate students, and language professionals are invited to apply for the 2008 BLRT Grants. One award will be made in the following categories: $5,000 grant to tenured faculty or tenure track $2,500 grant to a Ph.D. candidate $2500 grant for research on business language pedagogy

Duke CIBER at the Fuqua School of Business and Booz Allen Hamilton are conducting joint-research on the subject of offshoring Business Processes, Information Technology, and other knowledge-based functions. In 2004 and 2005, the research was sponsored by Archstone Consulting. The study not only collects data on companies currently offshoring, but those considering it along with those who have decided not to offshore. The goal of the research is to track firm level data on key performance metrics and the current perceptions of financial, operational and political risks associated with the five leading offshore operational models. Results from the survey will be published in leading business and academic publications and will form the basis of regular professional workshops at Duke University (Fuqua School of Business) and detailed case studies of Offshoring successes and failures.

New Education Project from UF's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Benefits Rural Farmers in Asia, Africa

UF's Miller Center for Retailing Education and Research Awarded Federal Grant for International Training Project

Smith faculty member, Curtis Grimml prepared 4 undergraduate students, who took first, second and third place in the overall from among 10 teams representing two international universities and 8 domestic ones.

The purpose of this project is to conduct a survey of current visitors to Zambia with respect to demand assessment for the greater Kafue National Park (KNP) area, which is the second largest National Park in the world. Currently, tourism has not reached its potential but is a major tool to promote and strengthen sustained economic growth and poverty reduction in the greater KNP area. This study proposes to examine demand based on current visitors that have visited the KNP area and/or those that have visited other national parks. This study will provide baseline information needed to position the region relative to other regions in the country. The study will also analyze determinants of demand to aid policy makers and the tourism industry to improve the identification of potential new markets and provide and improve the tourism opportunities that play a key role in a tourists choice in their trip selection. Additionally, it will assist in the development of comprehensive marketing strategies to showcase the greater KNP region.

2010 FIFA World Cup: Resident and Visitor Perspectives (2010-2011): Understanding the social legacies of a mega-event necessitates a focus on the residents of a nation. This research has multiple phases with the primary goal of identifying the social legacies (e.g., identity, social capital, and tourism) associated with the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This focus will help to inform local and national level policy to facilitate the nation building goals of South Africa. Data were collected (five host cities) three months prior to the event in mid June 2010, while a follow up will be conducted in Spring 2011. Given the importance of the event for the South African Tourism brand, an additional objective was to evaluate destination and event image perceptions and tourism behaviors of spectators. Data were collected among visitors at all the nine host cities during the World Cup which will provide a major source of information about visitor profiles, market segmentation, perceptions and experiences. This project is conducted in partnership between the University of Florida (UF) and Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) in Pretoria, South Africa.

The International Olympic Committee, the Organizing Committees and the host cities of Olympic Games underline the importance of the concept of legacy as it relates to the quality of life of local residents. However, there is a lack of research in understanding the importance of the various legacy aspects from the residents’ quality of life perspective over time. The purpose of this project is to examine the importance of the various legacy aspects as they relate to the quality of life of host city residents. This information is of critical importance to the IOC as the legacies derived from the Olympic Games can not only impact the host cities’ levels of quality of life but also sustain and enhance the Olympic Games image. Furthermore, gaining an understanding of the important aspects of Legacies can provide a framework, which future Olympic bidding and host cities can use to address public concern regarding issues related to the hosting of the Olympic Games.

A team of researchers have received a $569,235 grant that will focus on travel and tourism education and research partnerships between Turkey and Armenia. "Research has shown that movement of citizens between the two countries as well as mutual financial investment in tourism infrastructure (e.g., hotels, attractions, etc.) can accelerate the process of peace and reduce conflict and crisis by increasing socio-cultural communications and exchange," said Lori Pennington-Gray, Associate Professor of Tourism, Recreation, and Sport Management and Director of the Tourism Crisis Management Institute. This project proposes collaboration between academic institutions and the private sector that will train, educate and bring together resources which relate to sustainable regional tourism development. The partnership will be led by the University of Florida along with Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey, and Armenian State University of Economics, Armenia.

The main goal of this project is to build capacity to improve tourism curriculum, research, and industry outreach through collaboration between academic institutions and the private sector. In addition, the partners will engage in collaborative research initiatives and participate in industry outreach via the proposed Center for Tourism Management at the State University of Nizhni Novgorod (UNN), Russian Federation, which is likely to be the first university-associated tourism research center.

The University of Florida College of Health and Human Performance has received a significant gift to name the current Center for Tourism Research and Development (CTRD) in the College of Health and Human Performance. The gift made by the Eric Friedheim Foundation of Jacksonville, Fla. will rename the center as the Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute, which was approved Friday by the university’s Board of Trustees. The institute marks the first named center at the college and will provide critical support for research on tourism, including economic, environmental and cultural issues with special focus on the state of Florida.

The  FY2011 BIE Closing Date Notice (CDN) WILL BE PUBLISHED in the Federal Register ON THURSDAY JAN 13.  THE APPLICATION WILL BE AVAILABLE IN GRANTS.GOV ON JAN. 13.  THE DEADLINE WILL BE MARCH 2.  Funding priorities and application instructions are in the CDN.  ED WILL USE GRANTS.GOV  for the electronic application process, so please check with your grants office to familiarize yourself with those procedures, with the time it might take for the application to be approved at your institution, and the time needed to upload.  ED always recommends uploading the applications early as per the instructions in the CDN.

Susanna C. Easton
Senior Program Specialist
International and Foreign Language Education
Office of Postsecondary Education
U.S. Department of Education
1990 K Street NW, Sixth Floor
Washington, D.C. 20006-8521
Phone: (202) 502-7628
e-mail: susanna.easton@ed.gov
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/iegps/index.html

The Business in Brazil four-week summer program takes place in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, combining coursework on Brazilian business practices, site visits to companies, training in Brazilian Portuguese and immersion in Brazilian culture. Given the specialized and intensive nature of Business in Brazil, it draws participation from a national pool of students. Students studied business-oriented Portuguese language at the Instituto Brasil-Estados Unidos, attended academic lectures and lively discussions in English at the School of Business at the Catholic University (PUC-Rio), combined with visits to prominent local companies, stayed with local families, and experienced excursions to Paraty and Corcovado. They also visited several companies, including national oil company Petrobas, media giant Globo, the National Development Bank, and Companhia Vale do Rio Doce.

Marcelo Cherto, a well-known retail specialist and author of various books on the subject of retail and franchising, visited the University of Florida for a series of events beginning September 6. Mr. Cherto met with Warrington College of Business Faculty and visited international marketing and international business classes. Working with Mary Risner, Associate Director for Outreach and Latin American Business Environment at UF’s Center for Latin American Studies, Mr. Cherto developed the International Retail Education–Brazil (IRETBrazil) course. The course, a joint project sponsored by CIBER and UF’s Miller Center for Retailing Education and Research, addresses the need for enhanced international retail training by linking UF industry expertise with UF Latin American expertise. The program will produce five multimedia modules on retailing in Brazil, a Brazilian retail short-term study abroad, and the development of linkages with Brazilian firms and Brazilian subsidiaries of MNCs offering the opportunity for US retailing students to have internships in the country.

Mr. Cherto has taught in retail graduate programs of some of Brazil’s best business schools, such as USP and FGV. He is also a longtime member of the Brazilian Academy of Marketing, a select group of marketing and management experts. Mr. Cherto is currently the president of Cherto Consulting, a company that he founded in
1986, and is president of Franchising Store, an innovative retail business concept that represents and negotiates franchise licenses for 72 different brands. He also sits on the Global Advisory Board of the Endeavor Institute. Over the years, Mr. Cherto has worked with a wide variety of clients helping them develop sales channels
solutions. Companies such as Unilever, Coca Cola, Havianas, Timberland, Dunkin’ Donuts, Avon, Johnson & Johnson, Natura, Colcci, Levi’s, Lacoste, and Victor Hugo are just a few world-known brands that have benefited from Mr. Cherto’s knowledge and expertise.