Showing papers on "Global Leadership published in 2003"

Culture and leadership in Iran: The land of individual achievers, strong family ties, and powerful elite

Abstract: Over the past twenty-five years, Iran, a country of over 60 million people, has endured a bewildering rate of societal and economic change. Little is currently known about the country besides its extremist and confrontational policies both inside and outside the country. In this article, we report on a study of 300 Iranian middle managers from the banking, telecommunications, and food-processing industries as part of the GLOBE Project. Our findings show that despite much visible economic and societal change, the country's deeper cultural traits seem rather intact. The first important finding is that Iran, while a Middle Eastern country, is not part of the Arab culture. Instead, it is part of the South Asian cultural cluster consisting of such countries as India, Thailand, and Malaysia. The country's culture is distinguished by its seemingly paradoxical mix of strong family ties and connections and a high degree of individualism. Societal or institutional collectivism is not a strong suit of Iranians. The ...

Leadership Across Cultures: Attachment Style Influences:

Abstract: As organizations are challenged to global leadership competence and to manage increasing diversity, it is critical to select and develop effective cross-cultural leaders. Technical competence and organizational experience are inadequate criteria; among the most crucial leadership characteristics are relationship competence and openness to new perspectives. These are difficult to train or develop in leaders because they derive from personal relationship tendencies called attachment styles, based on relatively enduring assumptions about self and others. Attachment styles affect work relationships and, thus, cross-cultural leadership effectiveness, and need to be considered by managers and their organizations in leadership selection and development programs.

Global Leadership: The Next Generation

Abstract: The follow-up to Marshall Goldsmith's 500,000-copy bestseller The Leader of the Future, Global Leadership: The Next Generation systematically identifies what tomorrow's leaders will need to know, do and believe in order to successfully lead the global enterprise of the future.Drawing on the results of an extraordinary 2-year Accenture study of emerging business leaders, this book shows why the skills of today's global leaders won't be enough--and why tomorrow's leaders won't resemble today's. Goldsmith and his co-authors first identify five new "factors of leadership" and their implications: global thinking, appreciation of diversity, technological savvy, a willingness to partner and an openness to sharing leadership. They explain what it will mean to lead in an era where intellectual capital is the dominant source of value; how to lead people whose backgrounds and values may be radically dissimilar from yours; and why achieving personal self-mastery is now a fundamental prerequisite for leading others.From the evolution of "federated," semi-autonomous organizational structures to the personal leadership challenges now arising from globalism, this book offers unprecedented insights into the new challenges of leadership--and what it will take to meet them.

Crossing cultures: insights from master teachers

Abstract: Section 1 Not the Beginning 1 Culture, Passion, and Play Section 2 Framing the Culture Concept: What is Culture / How can we Characterize it? 2 Are we the Same or are we Different? - A Social Psychological Perspective of Culture 3 What is Culture and Why Does it Matter? - Current Conceptualizations from Anthropology 4 One's Many Cultures: A multiple Cultures Perspective 5 Learning about Our and Other Selves: Multiple Identities and Their Sources Section 3 Culture Scanning and Sense-Making: How do we 'Learn' and Characterize Culture? 6 Context / Culture Interaction: Teaching Thick Descriptions of Culture 7 Cultural Scanning: An Integrated Cultural Frameworks Approach 8 Teaching Cultural Sensemaking 9 Examining Culture Change Through 'Fiddler on the Roof' Section 4 The Experience of Crossing Cultures 10 Using the Hero's Journey: A Framework for Making Sense of the Transformational Expatriate Experience 11 Apples and Oranges: An Experimental Exercise in Crossing Cultures 12 Building Transpatriate Skills: The Star Trek Case 13 Cultural Transitions: A Biophysical Model for Cultural Adaption, Section 5 Going Deeper: Developing a Global Mindset 14 Turning Frogs into Interculturalists: A Student Centered Developmental Approach to Teaching Intercultural Competence 15 Shaping the Global Mindset: Designing Educational Experiences for Effective Global Thinking and Action 16 Limitations of the Culture Perspective in Teaching International Management: The Case of Transitional Economies 17 Reflective Silence: Developing the Capacity for Meaningful Global Leadership Section 6 The Cultural Context of Work: Collaborative Relationships Today 18 Building Multinational Teams: Learning to Manage the Challenges of Homogeneity and Heterogeneity 19 Teaching Culture 'On the Fly' and 'Learning in Working' with Global Teams 20 Teaching Mindful Intercultural Conflict Management 21 Effective Cross-Cultural Leadership: Tips and Techniques for Developing Capacity Section 7 The Cultural Context of Work: Impacts on Functional Performance 22 Global Ethics 23 Negotiating Culture 24 Conceptualizing and Designing a Course in International Human Resource Management 25 Incorporating Culture in Joint Venture and Alliance Instruction: The Alliance Culture Exercise 26 Teaching Culture in the Capstone Strategy Course Section 8 Not the End 27 As We Go Forward

The developmental path of networking capability of catch‐up players in Korea's semiconductor industry

Abstract: With respect to technological learning, networking and globalization, and the subsequent development of technological capability, this study examines the developmental path of catch-up players in Korea's semiconductor industry. It in particular deals with the important aspects of local and global networking of catch-up players accumulating technological capability. This paper also argues that networking capability plays a critical role in the development of the technological capability of catch-up players in developing countries, and that their networking patterns are changed along the global technological trajectory that they face. That is, on the basis of the Korean case analysis, this study reveals that global hierarchical networking with global leaders is provoked in the vertical cooperative phase when global mature technologies are involved in international technology transfer. Next, the quasi-global networking with overseas sister companies and their professionals is strengthened in the discordant phase when growing technologies are involved. Reciprocal networking with global players is encouraged in the strategic phase when emerging technologies are involved. In addition, this paper addresses the development path of other aspects of technological capability, i.e., production, investment, and innovation capability, of Korea's semiconductor players. Furthermore, it discusses the relevance of Korea's development path to other countries and firms.

Strategic management of global leadership talent

Abstract: Senior line managers and their HR business partners need to make sure they have the right leadership talent, at the right time, in the right place. Our aim in this chapter is to weave together some of the best conceptual models and most useful research findings we have found to create a guiding framework for managing global leadership talent strategically. The guiding framework addresses three primary phases of global talent planning and development: clarifying the globalization strategy, defining global leadership roles and requirements, and designing the talent management system.

The egalitarian leader: A comparison of leadership in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract: This article compares leadership in Australia and New Zealand based on data collected as a part of the GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) 62-nation culture and leadership project. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to demonstrate that etic (universal) dimensions of ‘Charismatic’ and ‘Self-Protective’ leadership are evident in both cultures, but that the dimensions have emic (local) culturally determined manifestations. These emic manifestations were stronger in New Zealand than in Australia. Leadership effectiveness incorporated the negative emic dimension of ‘Bureaucratic’ leadership (both countries), and the positive emic dimension of ‘Egalitarian leadership’ in Australia and ‘Team leadership’ in New Zealand. Both models of leadership nonetheless represent styles of leadership based on egalitarian principles.

When cultures collide: the challenge of global integration

Abstract: The past two decades have been characterized as a time of merger mania. Unprecedented numbers of consolidations have occurred. Paradoxically these mergers have typically failed to achieve the targeted results. From a general point of view, the financial track record of recent mergers is, in fact, abysmal. It appears that the proposed efficiencies of scale often do not materialize. Yet, the merger frenzy continues. Globalization is a contributing factor. However, the cultural, political, psychological and geographical hurdles of cross‐cultural integration are enormous. This article explores the challenge of global integration by examining the much‐publicized DaimlerChrysler merger. The authors discuss innovative integration strategies and present a set of quantum skills that can be used to neutralize cross‐cultural barriers, thus enabling global leaders to create high performance organizations.

Millennium challenges for development and faith institutions

Abstract: The dialogue initiated at Lambeth -- continued at a second meeting of faith and development leaders in November 1999 and then at the third meeting in Canterbury, on which this booklet is based -- has endeavored to bridge these gaps. Organizers of the Canterbury meeting documented some case studies of partnerships between faith and development institutions, summarized in this booklet, as background for the gathering. These cases, many of which had previously been only partially documented, reveal a diversity of experience across countries, regions, and sectors on which to build. The Canterbury meeting sought to move beyond dialogue to ideas for specific joint faith-development initiatives and programs. The Millennium Development Goals -- which represent a new global determination to mobilize energy, passion, and resources to fulfill tangible, measurable imperatives for human health and well-being-served as a springboard for discussion and provide a framework for future partnerships. The goals are straightforward: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a global partnership for development. Global leaders and institutions such as the World Bank are committed to judging their performance against these goals.

In search of global leaders.

Abstract: For all the talk about global organizations and executives, there's no definitive answer to the question of what we really mean by "global." A presence in multiple countries? Cultural adaptability? A multilingual top team? We asked four CEOs and the head of an international recruiting agency--HSBC's Stephen Green, Schering-Plough's Fred Hassan, GE's Jeffrey-lmmelt, Flextronics's Michael Marks, and Egon Zehnder's Daniel Meiland--to tell us what they think. They share some common ground. They all agree, for example, that the shift from a local to a global marketplace is irreversible and gaining momentum. "We're losing sight of the reality of globalization. But we should pay attention, because national barriers are quickly coming down", Daniel Meiland says. "If you look ahead five or ten years, the people with the top jobs in large corporations ... will be those who have lived in several cultures and who can converse in at least two languages." But the CEOs also disagree on many issues--on the importance of overseas assignments, for instance, and on the degree to which you need to adhere to local cultural norms. Some believe strongly that the global leader should, as a prerequisite to the job, live and work in other countries. As Stephen Green put it, "If you look at the executives currently running [HSBC's] largest businesses, all of them have worked in more than one, and nearly all in more than two, major country markets." Others downplay the importance of overseas assignments. "Putting people in foreign settings doesn't automatically imbue new attitudes, and it is attitudes rather than experiences that make a culture global," says Fred Hassan. The executives' essays capture views that are as diverse and multidimensional as the companies they lead.

Cultural adaptability and leading across cultures

Abstract: Managers with global responsibilities work across distance, across differences in country infrastructure, and across differences in cultural values and expectations. Although the work of global managers is in some respects the same as the work of domestic managers – they must provide leadership, direct action and manage information – in order to be effective, global managers must adapt how they do their work to the global context. Research indicates that success as a global leader depends significantly on the leader’s ability to interact effectively with others who are culturally different. To do this, leaders must be able to adapt their behavior appropriately to the particular circumstances in which they are working. Cultural adaptability is critical to successful global leadership. Research shows that cultural adaptability is related to a number of different experiences, both on and off the job. In this chapter we review the literature on cultural adaptability and leading across cultures; and building on what we know about learning from experience, we suggest developmental experiences which can help leaders develop their cultural adaptability.

Cultural and Leadership Similarities and Variations in the Southern Part of the European Union

Abstract: This paper examines the similarities and differences in cultural (societal and organizational) and leadership aspects in the southern part of the European Union. The study is based on data from the GLOBE project for five countries (Greece, Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal). Even though there are quite a few studies clustering European countries either along the North-South axis or the North/West — South/East axis, we still need to better understand cultural and leadership similarities and differences among countries that for various reasons, such as sociopolitical, economic, cultural, historical, geographical and so forth, may form a unit for purposes of comparative study. The findings of the present study suggest that there are more similarities than differences among these five countries that may support the thesis for considering them as the southern band of EU countries.

Developing global managers: integrating theory, behavior, data and performance

Abstract: This chapter addresses the challenge of designing and executing educational curricula to develop global leaders, especially focusing on how they work with and influence people. Today’s global managers are expected to master an ever-expanding range of knowledge and skills, and educators are faced with the challenge of preparing them to be as effective as possible. We argue that educators must combine multiple methods carefully to achieve their objective. The chapter illustrates how to mix concepts, data, projects and behavioral exercises to help global managers develop team and leadership skills. The processes we outline are designed for students in undergraduate, MBA and Executive programs.

Global Leadership, Education, and Human Survival

Abstract: Global leadership is the pivotal point for appropriate policies and action to ensure human survival, but a fast-changing world requires a learning leadership. How can potential and serving leaders acquire the necessary skills, abilities, and attributes for them to recognize and address the threats and challenges to our survival in the contemporary world? Serving leaders have little time for formal learning. They learn on the job through reciprocal peer interaction and transactional relationships with their followers. But the global aspect demands another dimension, cybernetic learning, within which an awareness of global ethics is central.

Breach of Trust: Leadership in a Market Economy

Abstract: If leadership is about setting an example that others seek to emulate, who could argue with the proven track record of sustained economic success in the United States? During the boom years of the 1990s, it was hard find fault with the country's economic performance. With the stock markets breaking records on a daily basis and the economy reveling in the longest period of uninterrupted growth in the post-war era, the United States could rightfully claim the mantle of undisputed global leader in creating and practicing a brand of capitalism that was the envy of much of the world. Although far from perfect, at the core of the US economic model was an elaborate network of institutions and individuals who presumably practiced the virtues of fairness and transparency while maintaining a so-called level playing field--precisely the qualifies that serve as the foundation for competitive markets and sustainable economic growth. Largely because of these characteristics, corporate access to investment capital--the fuel that drives private sector performance in any economy--was broader and deeper by far in the United States than any other country. Regardless of the country or culture, a prerequisite for market efficiency is public trust--trust in a system where investor decisions are based on reasonably accurate and complete corporate disclosure, where all participants have equal access to information, and where the laws and regulations governing market behavior are effective and enforced. These are the underpinnings that allow investors and regulators to make comparative assessments about risk, price, and performance of those seeking to raise capital in the marketplace. In a market economy, trust is embodied most prominently in an interconnected network of public and private institutions that conveniently fall into three categories: the main government agencies that set the rules of the game for corporate and financial market behavior and monitor their performance, such as the regulators of securities markets and banks; the private sector self-regulating bodies that set standards for acceptable conduct within specific professions, such as accounting, law and banking; and perhaps most importantly, the companies themselves, along with their independent directors, outside legal counsel and financial advisors. The model works at its best when the investing public, the suppliers of capital, has confidence in the competence and integrity of these institutions, as well as in the individuals in key leadership positions who set the standards defining how these institutions operate on a day-to-day basis. The overpowering strength of the US economy, especially during the 1990s, seemed to provide the ultimate validation that the model worked like a finely tuned machine and enjoyed a high level of public confidence. The credibility of this premise, however, has been seriously damaged by the flood of revelations describing corporate misconduct that began when Enron declared bankruptcy in December 2001. Although the alarm was first sounded in the United States, where the scandals rapidly seemed to take on epidemic proportions, similar headlines exposing corporate chicanery soon began to appear regularly in country after country. The cumulative evidence began to suggest convincingly that this was not simply a story of one or two rogue corporations and their advisors circumventing the rules of the game, or a one-off breakdown by public institutions responsible for oversight and supervision of financial markets. Instead, there appeared to be a systemic erosion of governance standards and practices on all three levels of institutional responsibility: government agencies demonstrably failed to effectively monitor corporate and financial market behavior, the self regulators were far more intent on protecting than monitoring the performance of their professional members, and corporate executives were enriching themselves at the expense of their shareholders, apparently with the acquiescence of their boards and outside financial and legal advisors. …

Smart Globalization: Designing Global Strategies, Creating Global Networks

Abstract: Introduction (Anil K. Gupta and D. Eleanor Westney, Editors). PART ONE: DESIGNING GLOBAL STRATEGIES. 1. Designing Global Strategies: Comparative and Competitive Value-Added Chains (Bruce Kogut). The key to developing a global strategy is identifying the activities of the value chain that give the company its distinctive competitive advantage and then using the differences in comparative advantage across locations to enhance that advantage. 2. Global Strategy ... in a World of Nations? (George S. Yip). Competitive advantage comes not just from expanding into many locations but also from integrating across locations however, the pay-off from cross-border integration can vary across industries, depending on the strength of the various drivers of globalization. 3. Lean Production in an International Supply Chain (David L. Levy). Combining global sourcing with a lean production strategy requires managers to focus attention on certain elements of lean production, such as design-for-manufacture and strong quality efforts, while relaxing other practices, such as zero inventory. 4. Prepare Your Company for Global Pricing (Das Narayandas, John A. Quelch, and Gordon Swartz). In order to create value from global pricing contracts, suppliers need to proactively understand the potential benefits and the potential risks for their customers as well as for themselves. 5. New Strategies in Emerging Markets (David J. Arnold and John A. Quelch). Local knowledge is particularly crucial in emerging markets where such knowledge can help the global firm not only in penetrating these markets but also in capitalizing on opportunities for innovation and reverse learning. 6. Global Sustainability and the Creative Destruction of Industries (Stuart L. Hart and Mark B. Milstein). Building global advantage while pursuing sustainable development requires the development of different strategies for the three different types of markets: developed economies, emerging market economies, and survival economies. PART TWO: BUILDING AND MANAGING THE GLOBAL NETWORK. 7. Managing Across Borders: New Organizational Responses (Christopher A. Bartlett and Sumantra Ghoshal). Corporate headquarters can no longer control all interactions in a hub-and-spoke mode but must move toward systems that coordinate cross-unit networks and that elicit the cooperation of subsidiary managers-rather than ordering it. 8. Making Global Strategies Work (W. Chan Kim and Renee A. Mauborgne). Due process in global strategic decision-making can ensure that subsidiary managers are more likely not only to comply but also to follow through on both the spirit and the letter of decisions. 9. Subsidiary Initiatives to Develop New Markets (Julian M. Birkinshaw and Joseph N. Fry). In order for a multinational company to realize the potential for innovation embedded in its internal dispersion and diversity, corporate headquarters must encourage subsidiary managers to be entrepreneurial. 10. Building an Effective Global Business Team (Vijay Govindarajan and Anil K. Gupta). Networks across subsidiaries are often built and managed through global business teams. Building and managing such teams involves three key challenges: defining the team charter, choosing team members, and managing the team process. 11. Negotiating with "Romans" (Stephen E. Weiss). The choice of a negotiation strategy should depend not just on the identity of the negotiator and the counterparts from the other culture but also on mutual familiarity. A spirit of continuous learning-about oneself and others-is central to cultivating cross-cultural negotiating expertise. 12. Developing Leaders for the Global Frontier (Hal B. Gregersen, Allen J. Morrison, and J. Stewart Black) Global leaders are both born and made. The four personal characteristics of effective global leaders are: unbridled inquisitiveness, personal character, duality, and business and organizational savvy. The Authors. Index.

Cultural attributes of russian management

Abstract: The paper displays the cultural profile of the Russian management and explores the different roles of factors linked to the history of Russia and current transition to market and democracy. It further develops interpretation of empirical data collected through the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) research project. The survey of managers of multinational companies doing business in Russia tests the cultural profile of the Russian management and confirms the behavioral advantages (visible In-group and Institutional Collectivism) and disadvantages (low Uncertainty Avoidance and Assertiveness) of this culture.

Globalization and E-Commerce VII: Environment and Policy in the U.S.

Abstract: • The United States is a global leader in both Business-to-Customer (B2C) and Business-toBusiness (B2B) electronic commerce. • This leadership comes in part from the historical US strengths in information technology, telecommunications, financial services, and transportation – all of which are essential enabling components of e-commerce. • The size and strength of the US economy, the wealth of its consumer base, and the relatively open access to venture capital creates an attractive environment for e-commerce investment.

Building Leaders of a Global Society

Abstract: A typical curriculum in an undergraduate engineering program logically focuses on producing engineers. This focus can overlook the inherent value of an engineering education as a foundation for becoming a successful leader in many other activities that benefit society ~Bonasso 2001!. This work is intended to stimulate discussion on the possibility of developing a new civil engineering curriculum based on a broader view of what the future may hold for new graduates. The proposed curriculum envisions building global leadership qualities on a framework of civil engineering. Hopefully, the academic community, corporate executives, and government leaders will take an active role in this discussion.

Interview: Noel M. Tichy explains why the “virtuous teaching cycle” is integral to effective leadership

Abstract: Noel Tichy, who ran GE’s Leadership Development Center, is currently director of the Global Leadership Program at the University of Michigan’s Business School. His teaching model posits that CEO’s must be intimately involved in teaching their teams’ leaders. The basic premise is that companies are successful to the extent that they have leaders at all levels of the organization. Any institution that invests in the development of leaders at all levels is going to get ahead of its competition. It is a principal job of the leader to help develop the next generation of leaders. Unfortunately, many leading companies do not build good leadership pipelines because their leaders do not do the teaching of their own managers. An essential element for a leader to develop the next generation is to present a teachable point of view about how he/she believes they should run the organization. Also needed is a clear idea of what your want to teach them: ideas, product services, distribution channels, customer segments, and values. Leadership is about focusing on human capital as the organization’s most important asset. Unfortunately, many companies make only 10 percent of the investment they should make on development of their people and most of it is spent in the wrong ways. A better approach is to make 80 percent of the development investment be on‐the‐job life experiences. The other 20 percent can be potentially leveraged with very high impact development experiences. If you sit around and read business school cases for three weeks, you’re getting about 20 percent of what you could if you engaged people in action learning real projects. Developing leaders requires a rethinking of the leadership pipeline. You look for those career points where you can leverage the 80% with high impact development, and then you have to build teaching into every single management process.

Leaders’ sources of guidance and the challenge of working across cultures

Abstract: Leaders in different cultural contexts rely on various sources of guidance. Mapping these sources can lead to a clearer understanding of the types of challenges faced by global leaders than can be gained by focusing on their values. In this chapter, a series of clusters of nations are identified, and within each, leaders are found to favor a distinctive profile of guidance sources. When multinational enterprises seek to work across the boundaries defining these clusters, a series of individual and culture-level challenges arise. The best ways of handling these challenges are discussed.

Leadership development in asia: a personal view

Abstract: I am not a scholar and this is not a scholarly article. This is a reflection on what I’ve observed and learned about leadership development during many years of living and working in Asia. I tell some stories, make shameless, sweeping generalizations, give highly opinionated views and offer totally subjective insights. I also do some lecturing. There are no charts or graphs and very few notes. I write mainly about American companies (with a bit about Japanese companies and a nod to the Swiss), because these are the organizations with which I am most familiar. By doing this I do not mean to let other companies and countries off the hook. A bit about me – I am a learning and development practitioner who has been in Asia since 1981, so I have had the opportunity to observe a lot. The first 16 years of that time I spent in Japan, working for Matsushita Electric Industrial, Arthur Andersen, Union Bank of Switzerland and Morgan Stanley. In 1998 I moved to Hong Kong to join Merrill Lynch. I’m now an independent consultant. Since 1981 I have worked in China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. My premise is that many American (and other) companies, whether they realize it or not, are approaching leadership development in Asia (and probably elsewhere) in a narrow and parochial way that limits the contributions of their Asian managers, and thus is not good for business. Instead of accepting and exploiting cultural differences, companies are either ignoring them or trying to expunge them. Instead of the lockstep global systems of performance management, training and review, I argue for using something called indigenous design in which people get to help design the criteria by which they are evaluated. Their contribution becomes part of the global performance management scheme. Indigenously designed training programs can be used in conjunction with corporate programs to fill in the bits that are missing from one-size-fits-all global leadership development. Indigenous design is happening in architecture, technology and social welfare programs – so why not in corporate learning and development?

The Emergence of a Sustainable Future: Brainstorming Better Ways to Globalize at the Esalen Institute

Abstract: This article provides excerpts and highlights from the insights of twenty global leaders, business executives, and sustainability experts who gathered at the Esalen Institute in California for four days in March 2002 to discuss how to best leverage change toward an environmentally sustainable and socially equitable global economy. The conference topic was sparked by the path-breaking book Natural Capitalism, which outlines an expanded vision of capitalism suitable for the environmental era. The natural capitalism model is qualitatively different from industrial era capitalism in that it counts both humanity and ecosystem services as valid sources of capital in addition to the traditionally recognized sources, financial and manufactured. One early adopter of natural capitalism, CEO of the Atlanta-based carpet tiling company, Interface, shared how increased efficiency and greater employee and customer satisfaction have resulted. Although some of the conference participants forecasted that globalization is l...

A Model as a Platform to IT and Cultural Understanding

Abstract: The central role of information technology (IT) in the digital age is largely unquestioned. This has led to a growing demand for IT professionals to design, develop, implement, and support IT infrastructures in the public and private sectors. However, in recent years there has been a shortfall of IT graduates entering the job market. Nowhere was this more pronounced than in Ireland, where the ‘Celtic Tiger’ was the fastest growing economy in the world, and a global leader in the software industry. In order to keep up with demand, educational institutions adopted innovative programmes to increase the skill-set and knowledge base of IT graduates. Two such programmes delivered by University College Cork saw a collaboration between industry, a state sponsored organization and third-level institutions. The first, the Diploma in Applied Business Computing, provides socially disadvantaged students with a third level qualification in IT. The second is a masters programme in Management Information and Managerial Accounting Systems. The construction and implementation of any course is very much emergent, given the unique institutional nature of academic programmes and the diversity of the participants involved. This paper reports on an action research study of two contrasting approaches to delivering course modules in both programmes. A conceptual framework drawn from Davis’s (1989) work on the acceptance of information technology and the introduction of other necessary components is employed as a theoretical lens with which to describe and analyse this study’s findings, which illustrate IT acceptance by students is vital if academic programmes are to fully leverage technology to support educators and learners alike in crossing the digital and cultural divides.

Creating an entrepreneurship milieu for electronics and information technology industries

Abstract: This paper attempts to provide a theory for creating an entrepreneurship milieu that nurtures the formation of new organisations in electronics and information technology industries. It is based on sociological and knowledge management theories. The success stories of global leadership in the microelectronics industry in Silicon Valley, USA and the semiconductor industry in Hsinchu Industrial Park, Taiwan provide the empirical testing ground for the theory. Based on this theory, the action plan for nurturing an entrepreneurship milieu in the software industry in Bangalore, India are policies to foster inter-organisation relationships, human resources development, infrastructure development and a champion who can provide a visionary leadership.