International Joint Venture part 1 Essay - 4,113 words

International Joint Venture IJVs (International Joint Ventures) have increased significantly in popularity in recent years (Beamish and Delios 1997) as firms find themselves under more pressure to expand internationally, to be competitive. However, international joint ventures (IJVs) continue to be challenging to manage and, as a result, often lead to failure. In a meta-analysis of 12 past studies of IJVs, Beamish and Delios (1997) found that the performance of between 32 and 61 percent of the IJVs' in each sample was unsatisfactory. Consequently, both managers and academics are keenly interested in what firms can do to increase their IJVs' chances of success. One of the most common reasons given for IJVs not performing well is difficulties between parent firms. It is therefore essential to consider how such difficulties can be avoided. One hypothesis is that the more dissimilar parent firms are, the more likely they are to experience difficulties with their joint venture. Several authors have suggested, but not tested, that interfirm diversity can severely impede the ability of companies to work together effectively (Harrigan 1988a; Parkhe 1991; Perlmutter and Heenan 1986). One way of measuring dissimilarity is to examine how firms' organizational climates differ.


This is the approach chosen in this study, which focuses on the relationship between the dissimilarity in organizational climate between the parent firms and the joint venture organization (JVO) and the performance of the joint venture. The importance of inter-firm organizational culture/climate similarity for firms involved in joint ventures has received little systematic attention in the literature. Some IJV researchers have alluded to the drawbacks of organizational culture/climate dissimilarity by suggesting that it is beneficial for the parents of an IJV to have similar organizational climates in order to obtain optimal IJV performance (e.g. Geringer 1988; Parkhe 1991; Simiar 1983). However, we are not aware of any past research that has systematically empirically investigated this issue. This study seeks to help fill this void.


Throughout the paper, the term joint venture organization (JVO) will be used to refer to the joint venture, excluding the parents. This is in contrast to our use of the terms IJV and JV, which we use to represent the JVO and its parents. As discussed in the methodology section, this study is limited to IJVs with two parents. The decision to focus on the importance of organizational climate similarity between parent firms and the JVO derives from three exploratory studies which investigated success strategies for Russian international joint ventures -- RIJVs. The studies were conducted to determine which relationships were important, rather than to test the importance of specific relationships. The studies involved interviews with general managers from 42 Russian international joint ventures (RIJVs). In some cases, other managers from the JVO and parent firms were also interviewed. The importance of organizational climate similarity between parent firms and the JVO was one of the key success factors alluded to most frequently during these interviews. The central goal of this paper is to determine the advantages and disadvantages of forming an International Joint Venture.


Russia provides a good location to investigate this question, since IJVs in Russia are often a meeting place for parent firms with diverse organizational climates. The paper first reviews the literature on Russian international joint ventures and then compares and contrasts the organizational climate and organizational culture literatures. Next, the variables used in the study are discussed, followed by an explanation of the methodology used. The results are then presented and discussed. The paper concludes with topics for further study. Russia's transformation to a market economy has not been easy.


However, with vast natural resources, a well-educated and inexpensive labor force, and 150 million people, Russia has nevertheless attracted the attention of foreign firms, despite high risks. The risks include organized crime, intractable bureaucracy, uncertain legislation, an arbitrary tax system, and an unstable political and economic system. These environmental factors are characteristics of the market place and are difficult for any single company to influence. In contrast, this paper seeks to examine the influence of a factor which firms can affect, the importance of organizational climate similarity. Several authors have conducted studies on Russian international joint ventures (they are largely small-sample, explorative/descriptive studies). Fey has conducted several studies relating to Russian IJVs which have investigated success strategies, design characteristics, key success factors, and managing conflict. Other authors have also made important contributions to our understanding of Russian international joint ventures (RIJVS). Ralston provided eight recommendations for IJV success based on interviews with managers from 16 RIJVs, and Cattaneo investigated how to avoid typical problems which arise.


Lawrence and Vlachoutsicos (1993) wrote an important Harvard Business Review article based on several case studies, which suggested the importance of giving the RIJV a lot of autonomy due to the dynamic environment and the importance of utilizing local managerial talent. Sherr and Pettibone suggested useful negotiation strategies when trying to form an RIJV and McCarthy provided a historical examination of the experience of 40 firms in Russia (which included using RIJVs) and described the future plans of these foreign firms. Hertzfeld (1991) described how vertical integration can be beneficial for RIJVs. Finally, Nigh and Smith (1989) investigated how foreign firms are managing political risk in RIJVs and Nigh et al. (1990) described the basic design characteristics of RIJVs. Before turning explicitly to the literature dealing with organizational climate, it is worth considering the differences between organizational climate and organizational culture, because they are closely related constructs and the term organizational culture is currently more popular than organizational climate. Though a few authors have compared and contrasted the organizational climate and culture literatures (e.g.


Denison 1990; Denison 1996; Schneider 1990; Schwartz and Davis 1981), most researchers have ignored the similarities and differences between organizational climate and organizational culture. Organizational culture has traditionally focused on the unique aspects of a particular social setting, and has thus relied on qualitative methods. In contrast, organizational climate has explicitly focused on comparisons between different social settings and thus has traditionally used quantitative methods. Organizational climate researchers have normally placed greater emphasis on observable practices of the organization, while organizational culture researchers have traditionally placed more emphasis on the values of the organization. Also, compared to organizational climate, organizational ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: organizational, organizational culture, joint venture, climate, venture

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Intellectual Property Rights part 2 Essay - 3,430 words

... or fee of any kind for any one. Let there be no censor of films. Let there be no tax or duty on paper or magnetic tapes or films or software etc. Let there be no discrimination. Either all in the business is paying taxes or none should pay! Well it sure is difficult but not impossible. Impediments should not deter the government to make right decisions in the best interest of the nation. What ever may be the case, piracy in any shape, would never be acceptable to any dignified nation including Pakistan.


The pirates, particularly the video pirates, have flooded almost every home with obscene, vulgar and uncensored films. They are making mockery of the law of the land, causing losses of billions of rupees to the nation, in the shape of "lost taxes", promoting corruption, immorality and sexual violence among youth by flooding the market with cheap, vulgar, pornographic and uncensored films, promoting a society rampant with smuggling, tax evasion and illegitimate business, deterring and discouraging legal business, deterring and discouraging foreign investments, projecting Pakistan as a nation of pirates among the global community, building personal empires on the debris of national economy, values and pride. Yet they are considered "respectable businessmen". The "Pirate Mafia" is laughing. They seem to be above the law and openly defying it. It is very difficult to comprehend that the administration feels helpless against them.


It is also not understood as to why action against these criminals is being delayed on the pretext of more "important" matters. In the present scenario, what could be more important for Pakistan to have more sources of revenue generations? What could be more important for Pakistan than to have corruption free and legitimate business flourishing? What could be more important for Pakistan to have morally strong, healthy and disciplined youth? What could be more important for Pakistan than be called a nation of honorable people? Evading national taxes, robbing some one of his life long earning of Intellectual Property through piracy and giving the owner a heart attack, is no different than car snatching on gun point or murder or "plundering the banks". Luckily for Pakistan's video industry, couple of years back, a local entrepreneur invested a huge amount in this field, and tried to legitimize so far unaccounted and thriving illegitimate business. This company concluded an agreement with the major studios of Hollywood and for the first time in the history of Pakistan, started releasing legal video films, under license, after getting these censored by Central Board of Censorship in Pakistan. The nations' share in one such legally released video print is about Rs 100 (in shape of various taxes like, Sales Tax, Duties and Censorship fee), while the pirates pay nothing and pocket everything. There are approximately 40,000 video and Laser film outlets in the country, (with one of the biggest video pirate market at Rainbow Centre Karachi, followed by Rafi/Zaitoon Plaza, Lahore and Imperial Market, Rawalpindi, having trillions of rupees as annual "Tax free" turnover). So, modestly speaking, even if one legal print is purchased by each shop, (minimum 25 legal English titles are being released per month at present) the nation can get revenues to the tune of Rs 100,000,000 per month (triple of this amount, so far going to the pirates).


(This example is based on minimum sale, while maximum sale can yield billions and even trillions if Hindi movies etc. are included.) (Richardson, p. 176) This company once again, for the first time in the history of video films, paid as taxes in millions to the nation (accounting for 65 % of total censorship fee) single-handedly in addition to a substantial amount of royalties to the owners of copyright for the films released by them. Ironically, the governments, this or previous, had been keen in getting the taxes, but not very keen to ensure writ of law. As a result the poor patriotic entrepreneur, who was depending on the law of the land, and various international treaties, has suffered enormous losses. The worst part of this tragedy is, making the laws and then using those laws for personal gains. Fortunately, a little effort put in by the government in controlling piracy can generate the much desired revenues for debt retirement and, more importantly, protect the future generations from becoming the victims of immorality and corruption.


Incidentally, a trade association of major Hollywood studios, called Motion Picture Association has done a tremendous job by making general public and administration aware of the importance of copyright protection. A few other affected organizations, like Oxford University Press, Paramount Books and other local entrepreneurs have joined hands to eliminate the social evil of piracy from the society. Despite a very luke-warm approach by the law enforcers, the ceaseless efforts and financial support by these set ups, about 1000 anti piracy criminal cases have been registered within last couple of years. (Richardson, p. 194) This is just a very small fraction of what should have been done, had there been complete government support for such enforcement. As per available statistics, it is interesting to note that, about, Rs 25,000 per criminal case is spent in terms of man-hour wages of police-force, transportation, l ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: intellectual property, new york, more important, copyright, pakistan

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Intellectual Property Rights part 1 Essay - 3,430 words

Intellectual Property Rights Within the course of this research, we will talk about the intellectual property rights in developing countries. We will first briefly talk about the intellectual property and related issues, to be followed by the discussion of the state of intellectual property rights in Pakistan, an exemplary developing country. As technology improves, the current laws about intellectual property and copyright are being challenged. Copying of nearly everything, from sound, to text, to video is made simple with computers, the Internet, scanners, CD burners and other technology. The U.S. Department of Commerce estimated in the 1980s the worldwide value of pirated music to be $1.2 billion annually (Griffiths, p.


137). The International Intellectual Property Alliance estimated Unites States losses in the recorded music industry due to piracy at $600 million per year in the 1980s and the numbers are certainly higher now (Griffiths, p. 139). There is obviously a lot at stake for those who are involved with the music industry as well as all the other industries affected by piracy. Before analyzing issues regarding this complex topic, it may help to understand some of the most commonly used terms. For example, there is a difference between intellectual property and copyright. Intellectual property is a broad term covering human's work of all kinds.


Some intellectual property, that which are literary and artistic works, can be copyrighted. Copyrights are used to protect the use of intellectual property. Many types of work can be copyrighted. Copyrights are used to protect the "expression of ideas," not specifically ideas themselves (Miller, p. 77). For example, a person who writes a song about Alma College can copyright that specific song, but that person is not the only one who can make songs about Alma College. There are three basic requirements for a work to be copyrighted including fixation, originality, and expression (Miller, p.


104). A work is "fixed" if it is "sufficiently permanent or stable to permit it to be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated for a period of more than transitory duration" (Weil, p. 236). Basically, a work must be in a form that could be copied in order to receive protection from unauthorized copying. A work is protected by copyright if it is "fixed by any method now known or later developed" or even if the work can be perceived only "with the aid of a machine or device," such as a compact disc being played on a player (Talbott, p. 88). Originality states that a work must owe it origins to the person claiming to be the author.


It does not imply though, that "a work must be new, startling, novel, or unusual" (Talbott, p.90). It just must not be a copy of someone else's work. The idea of expression is that which was discussed earlier. In order to be copyrighted, a work must be a specific expression of an idea, not just an idea. Laws regarding intellectual property are in place to protect expression of ideas as well as economic well-being of companies, like record companies, who are dependent on intellectual property as a product to be sold. Estimations have reported that "the theft of intellectual property rights in the United States cost over $300 billion dollars in 1997 alone" (Griffiths, p. 180).


To understand all of the issues relating to intellectual property one must first be familiar with the current laws regarding copyright. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has international standards for intellectual property and has most jurisdictions over international agreements, but there is no "official" body to enforce intellectual property laws. The WIPO encourages member nations to make and update their domestic laws to protect intellectual property and also encourages cooperation between member nations by centralizing the administration of such laws. There are currently 171 members. (Griffiths, p. 192) No specific international laws regulate worldwide copyright protection, it is dependent on individual nations' laws, but there are generally accepted agreements between nations.


The Berne Convention was an original agreement regarding intellectual property. It has been in effect since 1886, with the WIPO administering it. Berne covers protection of literary and artistic works very broadly and establishes three main principles: national treatment, nonconditional protection, and protection independent of the existence of protection in the country of origin. Notably though, the United States never signed the Berne Convention. (Weil, p. 286) There have been various other international treaties and conventions regarding copyright and intellectual property laws.


The Geneva Convention, Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonogram, and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty all deal with intellectual property. Ever since the introduction of VCRs in Pakistan, the video films dealers are doing a roaring business, running into trillions of rupees annually, almost like a "Tax free" Bonanza. Even if the existing laws governing the video films, like Copyright or Motion Pictures Ordinance, were considered seriously the nation would have made trillions. Unfortunately ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: intellectual property, property rights, copyright, piracy, music industry

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Influence Of The Jahiliyya On Muhammad & Islam Essay - 961 words

Influence of the Jahiliyya on Muhammad & Islam Every period of Islam history during which people associate partners with God in any way whether by worshipping idols and ascribing to them some divine functions or by deifying some persons or attributing creativity to nature and material causes is wholly dark. This is so because when belief in the Unity of God is removed from the heart, the mind and soul darken, all standards change and things and the world are judged from false points of view. This moral, spiritual, social and even economic and scientific state of a community is defined by the Quran as jahiliyyah, and described as follows: Or like darkness on a deep sea obscure, covered by a wave, above which is a wave, above which is a cloud. Layers of darkness one upon the other. When he holds out his hand, wellnigh he cannot see it. And he for whom God has assigned no light, for him there is no light.


(al-Nur, 24.40) No one likes describing falsehood. Besides, it is wrong for anyone to describe falsehood where the truth may be described. In the words of God, What is there, after truth, but misguidance? (Yunus,10.32). However, in order to clarify the subject, I feel it necessary to say a few words concerning the pre-Islamic era, that is, the age of jahiliyyah. The Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, appeared at a time when people had no knowledge of the true religion and therefore worshipped a great number of idols. As stated in the Quran: They were serving, apart from God, what hurts them not, neither profits them, and they say: These are our intercessors with God. (Yunus, 10.18) They shaped idols of stones, earth, bread, even cheese, and then said: These are our intercessors with God. They were so degraded in thoughts and morals that, as reported by Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, they would sit at meal-time, cut their idols into pieces and eat them.


The only excuse offered was that they were following in the steps of their forefathers. When it is said to them, Follow what God has sent down, they say, No; but we follow that wherein we found our fathers. (al-Baqara, 2.170) They buried their daughters alive. In the words of the holy Quran: When any of them is given the good tidings of a girl, his face is darkened and he chokes inwardly, as he hides himself from the people because of the evil of the good tidings that have been given to him, whether he shall preserve her in humiliation, or trample her into the dust. (al-Nahl, 16.589) Women were despised, not only in pre-Islamic Arabia but also in the Roman and Sassanid lands. The Quran openly declares that they will be questioned concerning this: When the female (infant) buried alive is questione ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: islam, muhammad, ignorance, quran, prophet

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