Differing characteristics of local environments, both infrastructural and socio-economic, have created a significant level of variation in the acceptance and growth of e-commerce in different regions of the world. This paper focuses on the impact of these infrastructural and socio-economic factors on e-commerce development in China. The findings provide insights into the role of culture in e-commerce, and the factors that may impact a broader acceptance and development of e-commerce in China. In this paper, we present and discuss our findings, and identify changes that will be required for broader acceptance and diffusion of e-commerce in China. Cultural issues such as 'socializing effect of commerce', 'transactional and institutional trust', and 'attitudes toward debt' were determined to be the major impediments to e-commerce in China. However, our research also shows that, even though their means for payment are different, the most enlightened, able, and sophisticated consumers in China participate in e-commerce in the same frequencies as the mainstream e-commerce consumers in the US. q

Strategic planning is important for strategic management of companies. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of strategic planning on financial performance of Major Industrial Enterprises of Turkey. Our findings show that many domestic and foreign firms in our sample have a strategic process in place. It is an annual process and considered a very important organizational activity. This paper is one of the few studies to examine the strategic planning process in a sample of firms from a transitional economy. It can be considered a longitudinal study because it examines a set of institutions to identify changes in their performance over time, as they incorporate the use of strategic tools in a dynamic competitive environment. The findings of this study provide a contribution to our understanding of the nature and practice of strategic planning in Turkish companies and possibilities of correlations between their efforts and performance.

No abstract

No abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to provide a better methodology for evaluating the value of corporate training to make it easier to compare with other organizational investments. The paper also seeks to propose and demonstrate how ''time value of money'' and ''hurdle rate'', which are significant components of traditional investment valuation methods, can and should be incorporated into the valuation of organization training.Design/methodology/approach -The training investment evaluation methods most commonly used by the training professionals were identified and compared to investment evaluation techniques used to measure the value of other investments made to improve and expand business activities.Findings -The survey of training investment evaluation literature showed that there are two major problems in the methods utilized by the training professionals. One of the problems was associated with the measurement and monetization of costs and benefits of the training activity. The other was the non-comparable return values' generated by the non-uniform methodologies used by the training professionals. Both of these issues were addressed and shortcomings of the currently used methodologies where changes should be made to improve this process were identified. A new methodology, which will make the evaluation process more acceptable to the company management, was developed and its use was demonstrated.Research limitations/implications -Unfortunately, the issues associated with monetization of costs and benefits could not be fully addressed. This is much more organization specific and specific to the type of training provided. However, some examples were provided of how this activity could be uniformly applied.Practical implications -The paper provides a new and more acceptable methodology for the use of training professionals and organizations to evaluate the value of training. Originality/value -This paper applies a ''financial analyst'' or a Chief Financial Officer perspective to organizational investment in training and provides a tool for evaluating its value the same way organizations evaluate their other investments (e.g. acquisitions, factory expansions, product development).