Suchergebnisse

In the market environment every company is seeking to obtain and maintain the best market share. One of the mechanisms in achieving this goal is an effective internal control of the company. With growing competition, fast development and introduction of new technologies, progressing complexity of business projects, and enlarging business diversity, company management is becoming increasingly more complicated. Consequently, company internal control is becoming a more and more complicated task. A good company internal control system is one of the guarantees of effective company business. Following Lithuanian accession to the EU the economy grows fast and organisations look for new courses of action, expand the scope of their activities and thus face new types of risk. To achieve the best possible results a company must exploit all possible resources. Under such circumstances it may be difficult to acquire a competitive potential in the European Union unless there is an efficient internal control in place. Huge financial scandals of the end of the 20th century, such as Enron, WorldCom, Ahold, Parmalat, etc. made it obvious that companies without an internal control system are destined to die. Moreover, those bankruptcy cases revealed insufficient regulation of internal control. The current global crisis showed that corporate internal control failed to reveal major business risks faced by companies and to minimize such risks to an acceptable level. Likewise, corporate management systems failed to introduce urgent anti-crisis measures. The above prompts the relevance and importance of the topic. Research object: corporate internal control system under the conditions of transformation. Research objective: to analyse the changes in the corporate internal control system predetermined by the transformation period and to suggest an internal control pattern that focuses on risk management. Key scientific findings of the research 1. For the first time, analysis of different approaches towards the internal control was performed. After they were systematised, two directions of the internal control analysis were established: 1) internal control structure; 2) internal control implementation process. If the internal control is considered from a single of the above aspects, all the essential qualities fail to be revealed. Consequently the aforesaid directions have to be combined and the internal control system should be considered as a process defined by the actions of the management, which is based on provisions of ethics and social responsibility and is meant to secure the implementation of the business policy of the company and to achieve the set objectives. 2. Comparative analysis of internal control patterns was performed. 3. For the first time, legal framework regulating internal control of economic entities engaged in different business sectors in Lithuania was analysed. It was discovered that Lithuanian legislation fails to offer a systematic approach towards internal control. 4. The internal control system of Lithuanian companies was analysed. The corporate internal control was researched in 2001 and 2007 in order to determine the changes in the internal control of the companies. 5. Improvements were introduced in the internal control model for small and medium enterprises by including the following key elements: 1) control environment, 2) risk management, 3) information system and informing; 4) control factors; and 5) monitoring. 6. It was suggested that the research into the control environment should focus on the aspects of ethics and socially responsible company. 7. It was suggested that while evaluating the financial activities of a company at the risk management stage it is expedient to: 1) perform analysis of relative indices, 2) to assess the probability of company bankruptcy, 3) to forecast cash flow from the main business activities of the company. 8. It was suggested to investigate and manage the fraud risk at the risk management stage. An algorithm of auditor's actions was developed, which can be applied when circumstances indicating a possibility of errors and fraud are observed. 9. It was suggested that the analysis of the accounting system should include the following areas that are significant with respect of the internal control: selection of accounting policy and individual accounting processes. For the purpose of control, it is important to investigate both the policy of financial and management accounting. Key applicable findings of the research 1. Improved internal control system evaluation methodology for small and medium enterprises, which is designed for practical application by independent and internal auditors and company management in deciding the standing of the company control. 2. Internal control measures for individual accounting processes were systemized and presented. The urgency of analysing the accounting policy as a system of prevention control measures was substantiated. 3. After the possibilities at Lithuanian companies were analysed with the help of the recourse analysis of forecasting cash flows from main activities, a pattern for forecasting the future cash flows was suggested. 4. A system of prevention measures for organisational and technical aspects of financial accounting policy was brought forward. A special emphasis was placed on control measures in changing the accounting policy. 5. A modified production cost calculation methodology was designed for small and medium enterprises, where the production costs are accounted by using traditional cost price calculation methods, while operation costs are calculated by using elements of modern management accounting theory.

This book presents the depth of the new wave of agritourism apparent around the world. This book consists of four parts. The first section is an introduction to the economics of agritourism; it introduces the role of organization, management, logistics, safety, marketing, finance, economics and psychology and, within agritourism, discusses the role and importance of agritourism in the multifunctional development of farms and rural areas, showing the economic and social importance of agritourism. Furthermore, it highlights the problem of agritourist space. The second section focuses on the economics and organization of agritourism. This part presents a number of agritourism-specific concepts such as: the concept of an agritourist enterprise, economics and organization of agritourist farms, integration of agritourist entities, agritourism versus food processing, agritourist products and services, characteristics of tourists and the market for agritourist products and services. The third section is a specific case study dedicated to core agritourism, agritourist enterprises and related mobility issues. The cases come from 19 countries of the world, namely: Australia, Argentina, Belgium, New Zealand, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, UK, Uruguay, USA and Zanzibar (Tanzania). This section concludes with a consideration of the agritourist potential of five countries of the world. The last, fourth part of the book opens for reconsideration and for discussion of several significant topics that appeared to be keystones for further agritourism development. At the end of each chapter, case studies are presented, which are to encourage readers to continue their investigations, suggest ways to adapt their newly gained knowledge to local conditions and facilitate the application of this knowledge in business operations. This book is dedicated to the following readers: farmers engaged in this type of economic activity or considering it as their future career; people who support the development of agritourism; students of tourism, business studies, agriculture and forestry, social policy, anthropology or even medicine, as well as all those planning to work in rural areas; researchers interested in this problem; and for prospective agritourists planning to spend their holidays in the country.

Movement has been part of human history; it is and has been integrated inside every human, becoming active as a result of various factors which at a moment are more or less dominant in one's life. It is like a code written down in everyone's DNA, making humans unable or better said "hungry" to be free and always look for better. Starting in March 2010, the Arab Spring opened a door for the biggest migration flow in modern history. Such as conflicts were crossing borders from one state to another in the fight for democracy and freedom from regimes, as domino effect migration did the same. Numbers increased every day and during 2015, in time of Syrian crisis, we were witnessing a mayor migration flow to Europe since the European colonization and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Mentioning the theory of push and pull factors as a starting point, although it has been used to explain the everyday movement of people, victims of human trafficking, towards rich countries which at the end become their countries of destination in the labyrinth of exploitation, lured by stories of well-paid jobs and good life, it can also be discussed in the context of migration movements during the 2015 and the beginning of 2016. Pushed by terror and war and pulled by the possibilities for a better life, a chance to stay alive, hundreds of thousands of people have fled their countries of origin and moving through the Balkan migration route are already inside or in front of the European Union's doors. Moving through Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia to Croatia, Slovenia, Austria or Germany; or to Hungary, Austria, Germany or Sweden (or other EU member country), some of them managed to get at the end of their destination, some of them were smuggled, some trafficked, unfortunately some ended their journeys among the waves of the Mediterranean Sea or some stayed into metal fences "hugs". During this global movement with so wide framework, several categories of people were put in the same basket, not even making an effort to draw a line between migrants and refugees. And it was the first important step for additional solutions. Instead of being practical, EU became an ignorant and selfish entity, lost in its quarrels between member states. Some started opening their borders wide, not thinking of tomorrow and others started building fences, locking up people and feeding them in a way even animals should not be fed. Was this the Union which arose from the ashes of the bloodiest war in human history? Or every atom of humanity was lost in the games of political intrigues and different interests? The protection of refugees has many aspects. It includes safety from being returned to the dangers they have fled; access to asylum procedures that are fair and efficient; and measures to ensure that their basic human rights are respected to allow them to live in dignity and safety while helping them to find a longer-term solution. States bear the primary responsibility for this protection. UNHCR therefore works closely with governments, advising and supporting them as needed to implement their responsibilities. (UNHCR, 2016) Migrants choose to move not because of a direct threat of persecution or death, but mainly to improve their lives by finding work, or in some cases for education, family reunion, or other reasons. Unlike refugees who cannot safely return home, migrants face no such impediment to return. If they choose to return home, they will continue to receive the protection of their government. For individual governments, this distinction is important. Countries deal with migrants under their own immigration laws and processes, but countries deal with refugees through norms of refugee protection and asylum that are defined in both national legislation and international law. (UNHCR, 2016) Starting with Lombroso's homo criminalis where immigrants were part of the analyzed possible criminals, through the Chicago School, whose conclusions were that foreigners have powerful criminal tendencies, immigration has always been connected to crime, trying to divide societies into "us' and "them", leave newcomers at the margins, exclude them and if possible, try to push them away. And today, the word immigrant, although being a bit wide (all foreigners with no importance of their ethnic, social, economic or professional background), always is narrowed into a direction in which it points out to those non - citizens who are not white, are poor, have no working skills, are coming from non - developed or developing countries, they will just steal our jobs or will be begging on the streets, and in worst cases will bring diseases etc. It is a picture of threatening asylum seekers, Muslim terrorists, Balkan "barbarians", criminal immigrants who will only destroy what we have worked for centuries. (Stanojoska, 2016) It is a modern fear wrapped in classical paper, that fear from strangers explained through sociological perspectives or as Garland (2001) says that all those others are endangering what we have and that our society should protect itself from their "vicious" attacks, rather than to think what to do afterwards in the need to rehabilitate everything they'll destroy. It starts with Durkheim's theory of anomie and his opinion of strengthening bonds and solidarity among individuals in the society and ends with Merton's strain theory. Namely, in his works, Emilie Durkheim speaks about punishment seen as an element or mechanism which helps into building and maintaining social solidarity and structure, so using it the community will try to push aside and suffocate all those foreign elements trying to threat local ones. Using such measures excludes immigrants who cannot "put their hands" onto cultural goals with their "instrumentum operandi", so being at the edge of survivor, their changing their "modus operandi" using different, in most cases unaccepted cultural means. (Stanojoska, 2016) Robin Cohen (1994:189) called this groups "third world immigrant" or "helots"; that is those immigrants who, in addition to being deprived of many rights enjoyed by citizens - principally, the right to vote and be elected - are in much worse situation than other foreigners in a given receiving country because they belong to an ethnic minority, are unskilled, and are poor. The difference between foreigners coming from poor and rich countries is also manifested in the enforcement of controls over borders: states do not distribute burden evenly. Foreigners coming from different parts of the globe are treated differently concerning formal and informal practices - visa requirements, restrictions on the right to entry and stay, enjoyment of civil rights, and judicial and extrajudicial treatment. (Aliverti, 2013) And at the end there is always a difference between "crimmigrants" or those seen as a danger, undocumented, maybe terrorists, people with criminal background) and "travelers (bona fide) or people who are privileged and can move without problems. (Franko Aas, 2011) The word "crimmigrant" is coinage and as a term originates from the words criminal and immigrant, and is used in purpose to describe the perception of immigrants and today, refugees coming from Arab countries, as potential criminals. (Stanojoska, 2016) The migration route is a path which moves on the same steps as the one of organized crime. A migration flow is like an open market for smugglers who can sell their products (in this case the possibility to get out of conflict zones and then get in the EU). Smuggling of migrants, but also trafficking in human beings is out there, on those paths, living among people's destinies, becoming their everyday life. As European Union member countries acted on the rivers of people, their path changed into the quest of salvation. In 2012, Greece finished its fence on the border land with Turkey, migrants and refugees started moving using Bulgaria (from Turkey). When, in 2014, Bulgaria finished its fence on the border with Turkey, people started using the Eastern Mediterranean Route to get to European land (from Izmir and Bodrum to Kos and Lesbos) and afterwards the Western Balkan Route to EU. After this path became alive, some member countries started building fences on their borders. At first Hungary built fence on its border with Serbia which moved migrants and refugees to Croatia (and then Hungary). Making such step was an alarm for Hungarian authorities who continued building fences, this time on the border with Croatia, which influenced another change of paths towards Slovenia. During the period of free movement towards EU countries, mostly Germany and Sweden, there were times of barriers on the borders between Croatia and Slovenia, which eventually culminated with barriers between Austria and Slovenia. Closing of the Western Balkan Route, without having another effective solution just opened another routes for such organized crime groups, which continued to use another path towards EU. Possible alternative routes are those from Greece towards Italy after crossing the Mediterranean Sea, or from Greece to Albania crossing the Adriatic Sea, or from Egypt towards Lampedusa in Italy or even from Turkey crossing the Black Sea towards Bulgaria or Romania. In other words, it would be something as the British ex-prime minister Mrs.Thatcher once bluntly put it, "we joined Europe to have free movement of goods…I did not join Europe to have free movement of terrorists, criminals, drugs, plant and animal diseases and rabies and illegal immigrants". (Eriksen, 2007) Criminal networks are typically composed of several key individuals. The organizer or leader of the network is usually located in a key migration hub and is responsible for the overall coordination within the network. Members of migrant smuggling networks typically work autonomously with a number of lower-level contacts who are part of their personal network. Low-level contacts are used as drivers, crew members, scouts, or recruiting agents. These contacts typically operate as part of a network only for a limited time and are exchanged regularly. Migrant smuggling networks are flexible and adapt to changing business demands by relying on auxiliary members as necessary. These auxiliary members act as money handlers, guarantors or forgers. These individuals provide services to the network, but do not form part of networks' core memberships. (Europol, 2015) March the 18th will be known as one of the days when EU once again has shown its two faced game in this migration flow to its territories. Although Germany was the loudest promoter of giving shelter to refugees inside EU, at the end this whole charade of one for all, 28 for themselves, ended with an EU - Turkey Agreement, which should end migratory movements to EU. The two most important points accented with this Agreement should help the Union to stop movement towards its territories. Namely, every irregular migrant crossing from Turkey to Greece or found on Greek territory will be returned back to Turkey and for every returned migrant with Syrian origin, EU will accept another Syrian who is in Turkey. Seen through prism of humanity, we do not get a solution, because the Agreement will just worsen things up, which is already happening with people living in tents in subhuman conditions on the Greek - Macedonian border and of course, with an increased number of asylum applications in Greece which stops the returning of irregular migrants. Is this the Europe we all dreamed off? Or is it just a dream, as it is for refugees and immigrants? Also, being in the prism of interest, but also happening, terrorism is a phenomenon directly connected to ISIS and Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. Penetrating in Turkey, through the shape of the Kurdish Workers' Party, terrorism has never been more alive and breathing at the doorstep of the European Union. Fear is associated with opinions declaring that using refugees many ISIS members will enter the Union, many sleeper cells among Europe will be awaken and will commit terrorist attacks in European metropolitan areas as revenge and part of the Holy War against infidels. Paris and Brussels will always be engraved in our memories as examples of how long can ISIS's hands be, and which consequences the so called "zombie" politics can suffer common European citizens.

Inhaltsangabe:Introduction: We are living in an internationalized world; global trade keeps increasing and more companies from many countries around the world are going national at an astounding rate. This is a reflection of strong economic growth around the world and the globalization of the economy and corporations. Offices are spread from one continent to another and travel is essential to business. This is the reason why "business travel is increasing," states Hubert Joly, president and chief executive officer of CWT. In today's business world, you might well find yourself as an international manager in a foreign subsidiary of an American firm, facing on a daily basis all aspects of international management. Or you could end up at the home office in Germany coordinating operations with foreign affiliates. Or you could travel to countries like Japan or China, negotiating export sales or dealing with suppliers, customers, or franchise parties. Many different kinds of positions are available in the global arena, and training in international and cross-cultural management and negotiation styles is becoming a critical ingredient in moving up to high-level positions in global organizations. "In 2006, a record 30.1 million U.S. travelers visited overseas markets, an increase of five percent from 2005." One of the top five overseas markets visited by U.S. travelers in 2006 was Germany. China (if combining travel the PRC and Hong Kong) would have tied as second. Contributing to the new record for outbound travel, seven of the top 20 U.S. outbound destination markets posted records in 2006, including Japan and China. Hundreds of thousands of jobs in the Germany owe their existence and sustainment to business travel. In Germany, the effects of a growing European Union and worldwide business travel create a stable demand for modern transport infrastructures and services. The USA is one of the two most important business travel destinations for the German economy, closely followed by China. Two markets will dominate travel interests in the future: the USA and China. No other countries will be as important for business trips as these two different giants. China's economy still enjoys a huge growing potential although its gross domestic product (GDP) has maintained a double-digit growth for four straight years and hit a new high of 10.7 in the first three quarters of 2006. The growth rate of China's labor productivity stood at 9.5 percent last year, beating all other countries across the world. Since undergoing reform and being made more open, however, the speed of economic development has increased by an average of about 10% each year for the past twenty years. The challenge is that even with all the good will in the world, miscommunication is likely to happen, especially when there are significant cultural differences between communicators, such as from the United States, Germany, China and Japan. Whatever the size or nature of a firm, it is clear that an increasing number of managers around the world will be involved in international business. That involvement will include both foreign and/or domestic assignments requiring interactions with people and firms from other countries. The objective of this thesis is to understand and improve the interaction of businessmen from the four largest economies of the world - the United States, Japan, Germany and China. Furthermore it is tried to explain, describe, and compare cultural differences, identify culturally communication and negotiation practices, and to use effective cross-cultural negotiation techniques and strategies within countries and cultures in international business settings. Knowing how even small differences in culture might cause huge misunderstandings in everyday business life, we can foresee them, and hopefully make better communication and negotiation with our business relations in other cultures.Inhaltsverzeichnis:Table of Contents: Table of ContentsII List of FiguresIV List of TablesV List of AbbreviationsVI Introduction1 PART I Culture5 1.Definition of Culture5 2.Models to Classify Cultures7 2.1Cultural Dimensions according to Hofstede7 2.1.1Power Distance Index7 2.1.2Individualism - Collectivism8 2.1.3Uncertainty Avoidance Index8 2.1.4Masculinity - Femininity9 2.1.5Long-Term Orientation10 2.1.6Hofstede's Dimensions for the United States11 2.1.7Hofstede's Dimensions for Germany11 2.1.8Hofstede's Dimensions for Japan12 2.1.9Hofstede's Dimensions for China12 2.2The Iceberg Model of Culture13 2.3The Trompenaars' Model of Cultural Orientation14 PART II Negotiation and Communication Styles19 3.Time Conceptualization / Cultural Time Differences19 3.1Monochronic vs. Polychronic Time21 3.2Interactions between M-time and P-time Cultures24 3.3Working Times25 3.4Paid Annual Leave28 4.Nonverbal Communication31 4.1Body Language and Gestures31 4.2Greetings35 4.3Touch and Personal Space38 5.Cross-Cultural Etiquette42 5.1Table Etiquette / Table Manners42 5.2Dress Etiquette50 5.3Gift-Giving Etiquette53 6.The Do's and Don'ts of Business Behavior59 7.High-Context vs. Low-Context Cultures71 8.Face and Face Saving76 PART III Barriers to Cross-Cultural Communication83 9.Stereotypes and Prejudices83 9.1Definition of Stereotypes and Prejudices83 9.2Origins of Stereotypes87 9.3"Sophisticated" Stereotypes88 9.4Stereotypes Change90 10.Cross-Cultural Communication Problems92 10.1Language Difficulties92 10.2Cultural Barriers93 10.3Sentence Structure Differences94 10.4Nonverbal Communication Problems95 10.5Difficulties with Idioms95 10.6Reasons for Communication Problems97 10.6.1Potential Solutions98 Conclusion101 BibliographyVII Online SourcesXITextprobe:Text Sample: Chapter 3.3, Working Times: The working times and ethics of the four countries Japan, Germany, the United States and China differ greatly. In big Japanese cities, long working days (12 hours is typical) and long careers (a lifetime in the same company) are common. They use time to build harmonious agreements and harmonious relationships with each other. This means, effectively, putting people first. The Western visitor may think he is wasting yet more time on wining and dining after the official work day is over, while he is stuck between apparently inconclusive meetings and the final business decision.1 However, that time is everything but wasted. The kind of stiff patterns and conventions of Japanese office life fall away and the people can easier get in touch with each other. Japanese businessmen consider this also as a way to relieve business stress. The German view of time is extremely integrated with careful scheduling. Delegation, although practiced with thoroughness, usually has strings attached. This organization can make innovative decisions painful, since the subordinate's decision time with his boss is kept separate from his communication time with the business partner. The junior employee has full authority over an agreed and accorded range of decisions, but that range can never include the unexpected. If the employee takes the conservative way and blocks the upward progress of a surprise proposal of a foreign business partner, the answer they get to hear is always "I am not empowered to bring this matter to my boss's attention," the business negotiations are stuck. Even if German employees try the back door, and the boss likes the idea, he will be reluctant to overrule his subordinate. The economic emergency of the pas-war years when rules were frequently broken in order to get an urgent job done, was a long time ago. The German attitude to time is changing. Germans leave the office on time and keep themselves freehanded holidays. According to a senior manager of a German car firm: "Japanese competition is really unfair. We work efficiently; they work efficiently and long." Flexibility, enthusiasm, and teamwork are very important in the U.S. workplace. In general, Americans consider working and being productive very important and being busy as well as working extensively may also serve as their way of obtaining self-esteem. Speed in decision-making is in opposite proportion to bureaucracy. "North American industry is often hung on top-down decision-making systems; "why change a winning formula?" is a rhetorical question most frequently asked by the man at the top who invented the formula. For all their protestations about time being money, American middle managers frequently disappoint by their hesitations and procrastination." The decision making process of Chinese businessmen is slow. Foreigners should not expect to conclude their business quickly. Many Chinese will want to refer to the stars or wait for a lucky day before they make a decision. Basically nothing is possible without "guanxi" in China. "Guanxi" means "relations" and it stands for connections defined by reciprocity and mutual obligations." The basis of a contact varies. New relations must be raised intensively and carefully--for example, with invitations for dinners and with small favors or presents, as these will keep the relationship going. All business is personal: it is essential for success or failure to have "guanxi" and belong to a social network. The Chinese separate people into two groups: we and the others, no matter how it is in business life or in private life. Everything is based on reciprocal trust and accomplishment. The time it takes to establish such "guanxi" relationships is often underrated. Westerners should allow for adequate time in their business travels to establish and nurture their relations. Time spent by Western businessmen in building relationships is honored by the Chinese side. "The more time one invests in establishing good relations with business partners, the more important the partners feel and consequently the more face you give them." It is very difficult to compare the actual hours worked, because of a lack of uniform statistics. A major problem is that in some cases national figures distinguish between full- and part-time workers and in others they do not. Possibly, the best way of comparing working time among businessmen from Germany, Japan and the USA, is to look at annual working hours. The Japan Institute of Labor (JIL), based on several national figures, has produced estimates for annual total hours actually worked for Japan, the USA and Germany. The annual number of hours actually worked was 1,970 in Japan in 2000, which was virtually on par with the USA at 1,986 hours. Germany was far behind with 1,525 hours (1999). Therefore the average American worked about 450 hours more than the average German. Figures for average collectively agreed annual working hours are available from the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO) for eight European Union (EU) countries where working time is measured on this basis, while JIL has produced figures for "scheduled" annual working hours in Japan and the USA. Allowing for differences in calculation methods, the Table 6 shows that the differences among the EU countries, Japan and the USA are generally far less when considering normal/scheduled hours than for actual hours. This indicates that the differences between Germany, Japan and the USA lie more in the overtime and additional hours worked. Chapter 3.4, Paid Annual Leave: The amount of paid annual leave to which workers are entitled is another important aspect of working time (a factor which obviously influences the annual duration of working time). In the EU, figures are available from EIRO for the average number of days of collective agreed annual leave. These show an average annual leave entitlement in 2001 of 25.7 days. Germans have a 30-day average. For Japan, figures are available from JIL on the average paid holiday entitlement, which were 18.0 days in 2000. Nevertheless, entitled holidays in Japan are actually not taken. In 2000, only 49.5% of annual leave entitlement (8.9 days) was taken on average. The latest figures available for the USA from the U.S. Department of Labor are the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). They refer to 2001 and cover "average vacation days" in the medium and large private sector. No total figure is available for all workers, but separate ones for varying lengths of service. Therefore, annual vacation days stood at 9.6 days at one year's service, 13.8 days at five years' service, 16.9 days at 10 years' service and 20.3 days at 20 years' service. Special attention has been given to the issue of extensive working hours in China, but the extent and nature of the situation has never been fully understood. There has not been much information provided on exactly what feelings the Chinese workers have towards their working time. Also, depending on the length of the service, the annual paid leave varies between 5 and 15 days. The standard of annual working hours has been estimated to be set as 2,000 hours. The weekly working hours of employees with local urban household registration were found to be 44.2 hours, making it the shortest working time. Employees with rural household registration had the longest weekly working time which was 48.4 hours. The variable time is much more complex than it is possible to convey. It influences the course of communications, and can be responsible for conflict or the escalation of conflict when it leads to miscommunication or misinterpretation. A culturally-fluent approach to conflict means working over time to understand these and other ways communication varies across cultures, and applying these understandings in order to enhance business relationships among those from different countries.

Clark Packard


There's been a lot of very loose talk recently from the press, politicians and think tank wonks about "decoupling"—that is, entirely eliminating trade, investment and migration—the United States and Chinese economies. Proponents of decoupling the two economies never grapple with the enormity of the task and thus it's useful to consider what such an idea actually entails as well as the costs to the U.S. and global economies. In reality, a hard decoupling is not nearly as simple and painless as proponents argue. Washington bureaucrats and politicians one day flipping a switch and cutting off all economic ties between the world's two largest economies is as unworkable as it would be economically disastrous.
Practically speaking, in order to operationalize a hard economic break with China, the U.S. would need to hire dramatically more customs agents as well as export control and investment monitors to police everyday transactions. Furthermore, as Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, recently noted in an excellent Foreign Policy essay,
A unilateral U.S. withdrawal from commerce with China would be partially offset by other economies taking up market share where the United States no longer operated. If anything, it would increase the arbitrage opportunities for other countries and for companies headquartered elsewhere to trade and invest where the United States ceased to do so.
[…] In order for such restrictions to succeed, the United States would have to become a commercial police state on an unprecedented scale. The United States would also have to monitor and prevent its own headquartered companies from moving activities abroad. Washington has done this, on a limited scale, on specific technology transfers. But scale matters, and current proposals would be an order of magnitude more ambitious and thus infeasible.

Even more daunting than the feasibility of administering such a regime are the tremendous economic costs of a hard decoupling.
When the Trump administration levied extensive tariffs on imports from China—nearly 70 percent of all imports are now covered by an average tariff of 20 percent, up from about 3 percent before the trade war began—the results were predictably bad. According to the New York Federal Reserve, the tariffs cost the average American household an estimated $830 per year when accounting for direct costs and efficiency losses and led to a staggering $1.7 trillion loss in market capitalization for businesses due to slowed investments. My Cato colleague Scott Lincicome and I estimate that the tariffs effectively nullified about half the average household's savings from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.











The tariffs likewise triggered inevitable retaliation from Beijing, which fell particularly hard on American farmers and ranchers, resulting in a massive taxpayer‐​funded bailout program for agriculture producers who lost vital market access in China. Moody's Analytics estimated that the trade war caused the loss of approximately 300,000 jobs. My Cato colleague Alfredo Carrillo Obregon and I recently documented some of the real‐​world harms from the Trump‐​Biden China tariffs, particularly the pain inflicted on a lot of small and medium‐​sized businesses in the United States.
Despite the tariffs, two‐​way goods trade between the United States and China reached an all‐​time high in 2022 on a nominal basis, perhaps owing a bit to U.S. inflation. (Real goods trade, meanwhile, was lower than in 2021, but still represented an increase from 2019 and 2020.) A total ban on trade, investment and migration between the United States and China would make the enormous costs of the Trump tariffs look rather quaint.
If the world economy were separated into disparate economic blocs—one led by the United States and one led by China—the global economy would suffer tremendously. Earlier this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released a study on the economic impact of such a system. In an excellent essay for his own Substack, economist Bert Hoffman summarized the IMF paper's findings,
[T]he costs of investment fragmentation could lower global GDP by 1 percent, and double that for GDP in China. Trade and technology fragmentation can be more damaging still: the cost to the global output from trade fragmentation could range from 0.2 percent in a limited fragmentation scenario to up to 7 percent of GDP (in a severe fragmentation/​high‐​cost adjustment scenario). With additional technological decoupling, the loss in output could reach 8 to 12 percent in some countries. […] These are massive costs.

Indeed, this is not trivial—it's trillions of dollars on a yearly basis. Washington politicians, journalists and think tankers wouldn't bear the brunt of such a policy; as the IMF report notes, "[T]he unraveling of trade links would most adversely impact low‐​income countries and less well‐​off consumers in advanced economies." Meanwhile, economists at the World Trade Organization (WTO) estimate that such a fragmentation as envisioned by some members of Washington's political class would decrease real incomes around the world by 5.4 percent on average. It takes an immense amount of arrogance to simply hand waive away the costs of a hard decoupling.
Perhaps these costs would be worth it if a ban on trade, investment and migration forced Beijing to make holistic changes to its economic practices, but that almost certainly would not be the case. Recent history suggests that China will not change its troubling economic practices due to Washington's protectionism. In early 2018, on the eve of the trade war, other Cato scholars and I predicted that the tariffs would simply impose costs on Americans while doing virtually nothing to change Beijing's course. Sadly, our warnings were prescient: China's aggressive 21st‐​century mercantilism continues apace. Are we really to believe that cutting off all economic exchange between the United States and China will stop, say, Beijing‐​directed cyber hacking into U.S. commercial networks to steal trade secrets? Of course not.
While it is likely that some trade and investment between the United States and China will—and maybe should—decline in this era of strategic competition between near‐​peers, the reality is that a lot of two‐​way trade and investment is largely benign—and in no way "strategic," i.e., at the nexus of technology and national security. Sabine Weyand, the European Union's Director‐​General for Trade, recently noted in an essay for Internationale Politik Quarterly that 94 percent of EU trade with China is "unproblematic" and that only about six percent is the result of a one‐​sided dependency for EU member nations. A comparable analysis for the United States would almost certainly produce similar results.
To be clear, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is an increasingly illiberal actor: it is more aggressive on the world stage and repressive at home. Still, of the 1.4 billion people living in China, only about 100 million people have any connection to the CCP. The rest of China's citizens are not responsible for their government's relatively rapid and ill‐​advised turn away from liberalism. The United States desperately needs a thoughtful response to Beijing's economic practices, but mimicking Chinese protectionism and industrial policy is a recipe for stagnation. Last month, my Cato colleague Scott Lincicome and I released a policy analysis charting a better course to outcompete China in the 21st century—one that is much more practical to implement in a relatively globalized world.

[spa] El crowdfunding (financiación participativa), como una de las formas más novedosas de financiación, ha logrado una gran atención en España y en todo el mundo por sus características de pequeño tamaño y eficiencia. Este método de financiación alternativo, apoyado por la economía de plataforma, satisface tanto la necesidad de capital de los financiadores como las exigencias de rentabilidad de los inversores. Esta forma de financiación fue regulada en España por la Ley 5/2015, de 27 de abril, de fomento de la financiación empresarial, que ha formado un sistema de transacción y supervisión centrado en las plataformas de financiación participativa, si bien el desarrollo de este nuevo mercado de financiación de España es restringido. Comparando la normativa con la de los Estados Unidos, el Reino Unido, Francia y China, el mercado español de crowdfunding está, por un lado, regulado de forma demasiado estricta, lo que impide que un gran número de plataformas realicen negocios de intermediación; por otro lado, la supervisión no es eficiente, lo que hace que la protección de los intereses de los inversores sea también insuficiente. En 2020, la Unión Europea publicó el Reglamento 2020/1503 relativo a los proveedores europeos de servicios de financiación participativa para empresas, y su aplicación en los próximos años seguramente presionará aún más el mercado nacional existente, mientras que tecnologías como Blockchain y bitcoin también afectarán al desarrollo del crowdfunding debido a su característica descentralizada. Por lo tanto, para aprovechar la tendencia de desarrollo futuro del crowdfunding, se debe cambiar el modo regulatorio rígido: fortalecer la autogestión de las plataformas; hacer uso de las asociaciones para dar soporte a la certificación, la supervisión y la formación de las plataformas, mientras que la autoridad pública puede centrarse en la promoción de las actividades de crowdfunding, mediante la supervisión de las asociaciones y la emisión de orientación; y además, aprovechar la tecnología Blockchain en el futuro para mejorar la transparencia y el proceso de verificación de la información, así como garantizar el cumplimiento del contrato; y, por último, consolidar la educación en materia de la inversión y el riesgo para los inversores, establecer un mecanismo completo de confianza mutua, prestar atención a la protección de los derechos de los pequeños inversores en los proyectos de crowdfunding de capital, entre otros derechos de los inversores y del promotor del proyecto. ; [cat] El crowdfunding (finançament participatiu), com una de les formes més noves de finançament, ha aconseguit una gran atenció a Espanya i a tot el món per les seves característiques de petita mida i eficiència. Aquest mètode de finançament alternatiu, secundat per l'economia de plataforma, satisfà tant la necessitat de capital dels finançadors com les exigències de rendibilitat dels inversors. Aquesta forma de finançament va ser regulada a Espanya per la Llei 5/2015, de 27 d'abril, de foment del finançament empresarial, que ha crear un sistema de transacció i supervisió centrat en les plataformes de finançament participatiu, tot i que el desenvolupament d'aquest nou mercat de finançament d'Espanya és restringit. Si comparant la normativa amb la dels Estats Units, el Regne Unit, França i la Xina, el mercat espanyol de finançament participatiu està, d'una banda, regulat de forma massa estricta, el que impedeix que un gran nombre de plataformes realitzin negocis d'intermediació; d'altra banda, la supervisió no és eficient, el que fa que la protecció dels interessos dels inversors sigui també insuficient. L'any 2020, la Unió Europea va publicar el Reglament 2020/1503, relatiu als proveïdors europeus de serveis de finançament participatiu per a empreses, i la seva aplicació en els anys pròxims segurament pressionarà encara més el mercat nacional existent, mentre que tecnologies com Blockchain i bitcoin també afectaran el desenvolupament del crowdfunding per la seva característica descentralitzada. Per tant, per aprofitar la tendència de desenvolupament futur del finançament participatiu, s'ha de canviar el sistema de regulació rígida: enfortir l'autogestió de les plataformes; fer ús de les associacions per donar suport a la certificació, la supervisió i la formació de les plataformes, mentre que l'autoritat pública pot promoure les activitats de finançament participatiu, mitjançant la supervisió de les associacions i l'emissió d'orientació; i a més, aprofitar la tecnologia Blockchain, en el futur, per tal de millorar la transparència i el procés de verificació de la informació, així como garantir el compliment del contracte; i, finalment, consolidar l'educació en matèria de la inversió i el risc per als inversors, establir un mecanisme complet de confiança mútua, prestar atenció a la protecció dels drets dels petits inversors en els projectes de finançament participatiu d'inversió, entre altres drets dels inversors i el promotor del projecte. ; [eng] Crowdfunding, as one of the newest forms of financing, is gaining widespread attention in Spain and worldwide for its characteristic of small size and efficiency. This alternative financing method, supported by the platform economy, satisfies both financiers' need for capital and investors' requirements for return on investment. Crowdfunding was regulated by Law 5/2015 on the promotion of business financing in Spain, which has formed a crowdfunding platform-centered transaction and supervision system, but the development of this new financing market of Spain is restricted. By comparing the regulations with those of the United States, the United Kingdom, France and China, the Spanish crowdfunding market is, on the one hand, too strictly regulated, which prevents a large number of platforms from carrying out intermediary operations; on the other hand, the regulation is not put into practice, resulting in insufficient protection of investors' interests as well. The European Union released Regulation 2020/1503 on crowdfunding service providers for business in 2020, and its application in the following years will certainly further compress the existing domestic market, while technologies such as Blockchain and bitcoin will also affect the development of crowdfunding due to its decentralized characteristic. Therefore, in order to seize the future development trend of crowdfunding, the strong regulatory model should be changed, that is: strengthening the self-management of platforms; making use of industry associations to assist in the certification, supervision and training of platforms, while the public authority can promote crowdfunding activities by supervising industry associations and issuing guidance; and in addition, blockchain technology can be used in the future to improve the transparency and the process of information verification, as well as guarantee the contract fulfillment; finally, we should strengthen investment and risk education for investors, establish a complete mutual trust mechanism, pay attention to the protection of small investors' rights in equity crowdfunding projects and other rights of investors and project owner.

ABSTRACTThe increase in Indonesia's investment rating provided by S & P complements the list of improvements that have been given by other international rating agencies conducted by Moody's and Fitch in 2012. Since the positive outlook given by Moody's and Fitch, the Indonesian economy has gradually improved until finally S & P raised the rating to BBB- with a outlook stable on May 19, 2017. The impact of this increase will be examined through event study research to observe incremental events Indonesia's investment rating given by S & P on May 19, 2017. In this study, researchers examined whether there were differences in abnormal return and trading volume activity around the event period. Researchers use daily stock price data to calculate daily returns and stock trading volume data to calculate trading volume activity where the data used is 15 days before the event and 15 days after the event The estimation period used in this study is 150 days and the event period is used as much 31 days. The research sample used Kompas 100 Index which was selected according to the criteria to be the sample that is 61 companies. Data analysis techniques in this study used Paired Sample T-Test Test using SPSS 23.0 software. The results of this study indicate that there are significant differences in abnormal returns before and after the event. However, there is no difference in the activity of trading volume before and after the event.Keywords : Abnormal Return, Trading Volume Activity, Event StudyABSTRAKKenaikan rating investasi Indonesia yang diberikan oleh S&P melengkapi daftar peningkatan yang telah diberikan oleh lembaga pemeringkat internasional lainnya yang dilakukan Moody's dan Fitch pada tahun 2012 lalu. Sejak diberikannya outlook positif dari Moody's dan Fitch, perekonomian Indonesia perlahan semakin membaik hingga pada akhirnya S&P menaikkan peringkat rating tersebut menjadi BBB- dengan outlook stable pada tgl 19 Mei 2017. Dampak dari kenaikan tersebut lah yang akan diteliti melalu penelitian event study untuk mengamati peristiwa kenaikan rating investasi Indonesia yang diberikan S&P pada tanggal 19 Mei 2017. Dalam penelitian ini, peneliti menguji apakah terdapat perbedaan abnormal return dan aktivitas volume perdagangan saham di sekitar periode peristiwa. Peneliti menggunakan data harga saham harian untuk menghitung return harian dan data volume perdagangan saham untuk menghitung aktivitas volume perdagangan saham dimana data yang digunakan adalah 15 hari sebelum dan 15 hari sesudah peristiwa Periode estimasi yang digunakan dalan penelitian ini sebanyak 150 hari dan periode peristiwa yang digunakan sebanyak 31 hari. Sampel penelitian menggunakan Indeks Kompas 100 yang diseleksi sesuai kriteria menjadi sampel yaitu 61 perusahaan.Teknik analisis data dalam penelitian ini menggunakan Uji Paired Sample T-Test dengan menggunakan software SPSS 23.0. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa terdapat perbedaan yang signifikan pada abnormal return sebelum dan sesudah peristiwa. Akan tetapi, tidak terdapat perbedaan pada aktivitas volume perdagangan saham sebelum dan sesudah peristiwa.Kata kunci : Abnormal Return, Aktivitas Volume Perdagangan Saham, Studi Peristiwa DAFTAR PUSTAKAA'la, Najmi & Asandimitra, N. (2017). Reaksi Pasar Terhadap Pengumuman Stock Split Tahun 2016. Jurnal Ilmu Manajemen Jurusan Manajemen Fakultas Ekonomi Universitas Negeri Surabaya. Vol. 5 No.3.Ayuni, Renita. (2017). Analisis Abnormal Return Saham Seputar Peristiwa Pengumuman Upgrade dan Downgrade Bond Rating Pada Perusahaan Penerbit Saham dan Obligasi yang Terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia (BEI) Tahun 2016. Universitas LampungBungin, Burhan. (2005). Metodologi Penelitian Kuantitatif Komunikasi, Ekonomi, dan Kebijakan Publik serta Ilmu-Ilmu Sosial Lainnya, Edisi Pertama, Cetakan Pertama. Jakarta: Prenada MediaBrown, S.J., dan Warner, JB., (1985), "Using Daily Stock Return: The Case of Event Studies", Journal of Financial Economics. 14, Hal 3-31.Equity Strategy Research, (2003). Value Relevance of Analysts' Earnings Forecast, The Statistical Relation between Earnings Surprises and Abnormal Stock Returns. University of ChicagoElayan, Huei Hsu, dan Meyer. (2003). Pengaruh Pengumuman Peringkat Kredit Internasional Terhadap Harga Saham di Pasar Modal New Zealand (NZ)Harahap, Annisa Maulida dan Syahyunan. (Tanpa Tahun). Pengaruh Pengumuman Peringkat Obligasi Terhadap Reaksi Pasar Saham di Bursa Efek Indonesia. Unveristas Sumatera UtaraHartono, Jogiyanto. (2015). Teori Portofolio dan Analisis Investasi. Edisi kesepuluh. Yogyakarta: BPFE.Iskandar. (2008). Metodologi Penelitian Pendidikan dan Sosial (Kuantitatif dan Kualitatif). Jakarta: GP PressMubaraq, Fathul. (2013). Pengaruh Pengumuman Dividen Terhadap Harga Saham dan Volume Perdaganagan di Perusahaan yang Terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia Periode Tahun 2011-2012. Universitas Pendidikan IndonesiaNapitupulu dan Syahyunan. (2013). Pengaruh Return Saham, Volume Perdagangan dan Volatitilitas Harga Saham Terhadap Bid Ask Spread Pada Perusahaan Yang Melakukan Stock Split Di Bursa Efek Indonesia. Skripsi. Universitas Sumatera Utara.Pasanda. (2013). Pengumuman Kenaikan Peringkat Obligasi Terhadap Reaksi Pasar Saham di Bursa Efek IndonesiaPratama, Gede Bhakti, Ni Kadek Sinarwati dan Nyoman Ari Surya Dharmawan. (2015). Reaksi Pasar Modal Indonesia Terhadap Peristiwa Politik (Event Study pada Peristiwa Pelantikan Joko Widodo Sebagai Presiden Republik Indonesia Ke-7). Universitas Pendidikan GaneshaSuad, Husnan. (2008). Manajemen Keuangan: Teori dan Penerapan. Buku 1. Edisi 4. Yogyakarta: BPFE.Sugiyono. (2010). Metode Penelitian Pendidikan Pendekatan Kuantitatif, Kualitatif, dan R&D. Bandung: AlfabetaSutrisno, (2013). Manajemen Keuangan: Teori Konsep & Aplikasi. Edisi kesembilan Yogyakarta: EkonisiaTandelilin, Eduardus. (2010). Portofolio dan Investasi: Teori dan Aplikasi. Edisi Pertama. Yogyakarta: Kanisius.Telaumbanua, Binsar I.K. dan Sumiyana. (2006). Event Study: Pengumuman Laba Terhadap Reaksi Pasar Modal. Universitas Gadjah mada Vahini, Yuni Prema dan Nyoman Wijana. (2015). Event study : Analisis Reaksi Investor Pada Publikasi Laporan Keuangan Tahunan. Universitas Udayana.Yalcin, K. C., (2010). "Market Rationality: Efficient Market Hypothesis versus Market Anomalies". European Journal OF Economic and Political Studies, Vol. 3, No. 23, Hal 23-38Bank Indonesia. Lembaga Pemeringkat Diakui BI (http://www.bi.go.id/id/perbankan/lembaga-pemeringkat/Contents/Default.aspx#top, diakses tanggal 10 Agustus 2017)DetikFinance. Dampak positif kenaikan rating investasi Indonesia (https://finance.detik.com/berita-ekonomi-bisnis/3515864/dampak-positif-kenaikan-rating-investasi-ke-ekonomi-ri, diakses tanggal 10 Agustus 2017)Ekonomi Kompas. S&P Beri Peringkat "Investment Grade" untuk Indonesia (http://ekonomi.kompas.com/read/2017/05/19/165027126/s.p.beri.peringkat.investment.grade.untuk.indonesia, diakses tanggal 10 Agustus 2017)Finansialku. IHSG Menembus All Time High, Apa itu IHSG dan Bagaimana Prospek Investasinya?(http://ekonomi.kompas.com/read/2017/05/19/165027126/s.p.beri.peringkat.investment.grade.untuk.indonesia, diakses tanggal 10 Agustus 2017)KSEI. Corporate Action (http://www.ksei.co.id/publications/corporate-action-schedules/masr, diakses tanggal 10 Agustus 2017)Katadata. Peringkat Utang Tertinggi Pasca-Krisis 1998(https://katadata.co.id/infografik/2018/01/04/peringkat-utang-naik-indonesia-layak-investasi, diakses 10 Agustus 2017)Pengumuman Saham yang Masuk dan Keluar Indeks Kompas 100 periode Februari sampai dengan Juli 2017 www.idx.co.idSahamgain. S&P Investment Grade Indonesia dan Pasar Saham (http://www.sahamgain.com/2017/05/s-investment-grade-indonesia-dan-pasar.html, diakses 10 Agustus 2017 SeputarForex. Kenaikan Rating S&P Baik Atau Buruk(http://www.seputarforex.com/analisa/lihat.php?id=279085&title=kenaikan_rating_sp_baik_atau_buruk, diakses 10 Agustus 2017)YahooFinance. JKSE (IHSG) Chart (https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/%5EJKSE/chart?p=%5EJKSE, diakses 10 Agustus 2017)

This paper-based thesis attempts to answer the question how the adoption and diffusion of RFID can be balanced successfully between technological innovation and regulation by law. To answer this question, an abductive reasoning perspective has been applied. The first premise of abduction includes four sets of observations presented in four articles; the second premise of abduction includes two hypothetical claims, and the third premise of abduction builds the case, i.e., concludes the thesis. As first step, the definitional framework is established. Ten theories of adoption and diffusion of technological innovation (TRA, TPB, MPCU, SCT, TAM, TAM2, C-TAM-TPB, IDT, PCI, and UTAUT) and their characteristics are investigated. They frame the technological viewpoint. Then, the reasons for regulation (public interest theory, private interest theory, and institutionalist theory) as well as the means of regulation (regulation by law, norms, market, and architecture) and their application are investigated. They frame the regulatory viewpoint. As second step, four observations are made that constitute the first premise of abduction based on the findings of four individual research articles referred to as the Database Article, Marketing Article, Modality Mix Article, and Survey Article: Database Article: This research article evaluates the strategic advantage of placing RFID databases in certain territorial and jurisdictional regions based on database regulation. The analysis of the database regulation by law in Europe and North America revealed that, based on the creativity, skill and judgement, and investment doctrine, they do not protect RFID data in databases. It is claimed that protection of RFID data in databases should be regulated by other means of regulation, for instance, by regulation by norms or architecture. Observation 1 stipulates: Despite the amount of data anticipated to be stored and the regulation by law in the different countries where RFID is adopted and diffused, the location of the databases containing RFID data does not seem to play an important role for the technological innovator. Marketing Article: This research article applies a legal use case for the technological innovations marketed by the industry as active RFID tags. The analysis of the RFID industry's marketing efforts and the unfavourable regulation by law is possible, and likely. Adopting the broad legal interpretation of self-emitting devices (short-range devices) to RFID tags that need to transduce energy from an RFID reader (active RFID tags) might allow the search and seizure of transmitted RFID data without a warrant to be in line with the constitutional rights. It is claimed that within the RFID industry there should be more awareness of regulation by legislation and adjudication. Observation 2 stipulates: Extending the doctrinal definition of active RFID tags to include reader-independent and indiscriminate signalling might lead to unfavourable regulation by law. Modality Mix Article: This research article offers a reflection on how law must manage the evolution of technological innovation. The analysis of the Draft Recommendation (2008) by the European Commission shows that the focus on regulation by law is inappropriate for a manageable diffusion of RFID technology. An over-regulation of RFID technology by regulation by law is possible if the Draft Recommendation (2008) is implemented and comes into force. It is claimed that a more diverse set of modalities (regulation by norms, market, and architecture) is necessary to successfully regulate RFID technology. Observation 3 stipulates: The current adoption and diffusion of RFID technology do not seem to be following an appropriate mix of regulation. Survey Article: This research article provides a reverse perspective of current RFID issues by examining the RFID industry's view of regulation by law and consumers. The analysis of the survey data of the RFID industry shows three shortcomings by the RFID industry in its engagement of legal experts, its knowledge of regulation by law for RFID subject-matter, and its information policy to the general public. It is claimed that the exchange between the RFID industry and the legal regulator needs to improve. Observation 4 stipulates: The interaction between, and consequently also the exchange of expert know-how and standpoints of, (i) the RFID industry and the legal regulator and (ii) the RFID industry and the consumers seem insufficient. As third step, two hypothetical claims are made as second premise of abduction based on a literature review of characteristics of adoption and diffusion of technological innovation in IS research, namely IT, EDI, and RFID. First, the research shows that in IS research there are only a few regulation-by-law characteristics (5 of 150 different characteristics). Thus, a first hypothetical claim is made that in IS research there is a lack of legal perspectives. Second, the research shows that in IS research there are even fewer characteristics of other regulatory means, such as for example, social norms, market or architecture. Thus a second hypothetical claim is made that in IS research there is a lack of diversity in regulation of technological innovation. Finally, a case is built as third premise of abduction. It seems possible to conclude that (i) based on observation 1 and hypothetical claim 2, increasing the diversity of regulation modalities might have a positive effect on the strategic management decisions for the location of RFID systems; (ii) based on observation 2 and hypothetical claim 1, increasing the legal perspective in IS research might have a positive effect on the RFID industry's marketing strategy; (iii) based on observation 3 and hypothetical claim 2, a more thorough and precise review of essential regulation by law is necessary; and (iv) based on observation 4 and hypothetical claim 1, increasing the legal perspective in IS research might have a positive effect on the RFID industry's awareness of the legal challenges and their consequences. It is suggested that the four cases (conclusions) built in this thesis provide a solid foundation for the following four hypotheses that can be further tested with additional empirical data: 1. Increasing the diversity of regulation modalities has a positive effect on the strategic management decisions for the deployment location of technological innovation. 2. Increasing the legal perspective in IS research has a positive effect on the marketing strategy for technological innovation. 3. Increasing the thoroughness and precision in the review of essential regulation by law has a positive effect on other regulatory tools for technological innovation. 4. Increasing the legal perspective in IS research has a positive effect on the industry's awareness of the legal challenges and their consequences. Therefore, to prevent bits from falling once they have learned to walk, the legal perspective of regulation in IS research as well as the diverse implementation of regulation in IS research should probably be increased. Such an increase might augment the awareness for the potential of regulation in technological innovation, which, in turn, might foster the adoption and diffusion of RFID.

Das von Januar bis September 2006 mit einer Nachlaufphase bis Dezember 2006 im Rahmen der ESF-kofinanzierten Arbeitsmarktpolitik des Landes Thüringen geförderte Projekt "job2work" war darauf ausgerichtet, ein arbeitsmarktpolitisches Konzept zu entwickeln und zu erproben, das mit Hilfe von "Kombilöhnen" die nachhaltige Integration von langzeitarbeitslosen Menschen in den regulären Arbeitsmarkt bewirken soll. Die zentrale Basis des Projekts liegt in der Einführung der "Freibeträge bei Erwerbstätigkeit" nach Paragraphen 11 und 30 SGB II in die Praxis zur Eingliederung erwerbsfähiger Hilfebedürftiger in Arbeit. Diese gesetzlichen Regelungen zielen darauf, einen allgemeinen und grundsätzlich wirkenden Anreiz zur Arbeitsaufnahme für Leistungen nach dem SGB II Beziehende zu schaffen, indem die Transferentzugsrate gegenüber den früher bei der Arbeitslosen- und der Sozialhilfe gültigen Regelungen gesenkt wird. Um die Integrationserfolge des Projekts hinsichtlich der Frage Verringerung oder Wegfall der Hilfebedürftigkeit beurteilen zu können, werden in dem Bericht für ausgewählte Bedarfsgemeinschaften verschiedene Bereiche des Erwerbseinkommens betrachtet, die den Wegfall der Hilfebedürftigkeit markieren. Abschnitt 2 stellt das Projekt vor (zeitlicher Ablauf, Rahmenbedingungen, Interessen der Träger und die Sicht der einstellenden Unternehmen und der vermittelten Arbeitslosen). Abschnitt 3 widmet sich dem Umsetzungserfolg des Projekts auf Basis qualitativer Untersuchungsmethoden. Dabei werden folgende Fragestellungen bearbeitet: In welcher Zahl der Fälle wird die Arbeitsaufnahme erreicht; steht sie in einem angemessenen Verhältnis zum Aufwand der Initialphase? Wie nachhaltig ist die Arbeitsaufnahme? Welche Mechanismen wurden entwickelt um den Nachteil der fehlenden Verbindlichkeit auszugleichen? Welche Lohnbereiche sind für die Arbeitnehmer bei Fortsetzung des Beschäftigungsverhältnisses zu erwarten? Wurde die Beschäftigungsfähigkeit der Arbeitskräfte verbessert? Wie wirksam ist die Kommunikationsstrategie? Welches Vermittlungspotential wird im Job2work-Netzwerk unabhängig von dem in diesem Fall genutzten Anreizmechanismus erkennbar. (IAB2)