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In today's globalization era, more and more firms are striving to have an international presence, even though they face many challenges. Based on a multisite case study method, this article examines how indigenous Malaysian small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) use their network relationships to facilitate their internationalization process. The evidence from the case of three software firms and one control firm in this study support the firms' internationalization process in the ways that network relationships trigger and motivate them to internationalize, influence their marketselection decision and mode‐of‐entry decision, help them gain initial credibility, allow access to additional relationships and established channels, help in lowering cost and reducing risk, and influence their internationalization pace and pattern. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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PurposeTraining alone is not sufficient to enhance organizational effectiveness to a greater level because not all knowledge obtained from the training is properly transferred and applied to the organization. This study aims to investigate whether efforts invested by Malaysian manufacturers in employee training and knowledge transfer affect organizational effectiveness.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted a quantitative research design. The questionnaire developed for this study captured the training related to individual/managerial skills, the knowledge management process in place to capture and apply the knowledge obtained through training, and the organizational effectiveness. A closed‐ended online survey was sent to 1,000 members of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) throughout Malaysia and 88 manufacturers responded. The unit of analysis was an organization.FindingsThe study found the following: training employees to acquire individual/managerial skills and process skills helps in improving organizational effectiveness; knowledge application and knowledge protection interact with individual/managerial skills training to improve organizational effectiveness; and knowledge acquisition, knowledge application and knowledge protection interact with process skills training to enhance organizational effectiveness.Practical implicationsOrganizations are urged to devise training modules depending on the needs of individual employees, create an environment that will encourage the trained employees to apply their skills (knowledge), and develop policies to retain these employees.Originality/valueThis paper addresses an important and not so well researched issue. It analyzes the interactions between the dimensions of knowledge management practices and type of training in improving the organizational effectiveness of manufacturing firms in Malaysia.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance (CFP), as the findings on the relationship have been inconsistent and have led to calls to further examine this relationship. However, instead of investigating the connection between CSR and CFP, academics have stated that a contingency viewpoint must be used for uncovering the context and conditions which catalyse the relationship between both constructs. Design/methodology/approach This study acquired the CSR data from 100 companies listed in Fortune’s most admired US companies between 2007 and 2016. These data were used to investigate the CSR–CFP link with the help of the dynamic panel data system, which is the generalised method of moments (GMM) estimator. Findings The results indicate that CSR and CFP have a neutral relationship which characterises the effect between CFP and CSR. However, this study found that financial slack positively affected the CSR–CFP relationship, implying that companies will only benefit from CSR activities if they have excess financial resources. Originality/value This study offers a very distinctive perspective regarding the CSR–CFP link according to the financial slack perspective.