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Business event as fieldwork site?
A major methodological problem in the ethnographic study of international business elites is to make visible the social relations they draw and depend on. Business elites constitute a highly mobile social category and they mediate a growing portion of everyday social interaction via online, digital means. They are elusive, therefore, and that compromises the possibility of making direct observations of their social practices, which erodes the scope to ethnographically study this important group in the world economy. The essay shows how fieldwork on business events, such as conferences, expositions, and trade fairs, can help to overcome this problem. Such events constitute focal points and moments of crystallization in globally operating social networks, making visible a part of the international business 'theatre' that normally lags hidden. By presenting excerpts from recent fieldwork carried out in Belgium, Greece and the Netherlands, I give an impression of observables in this theatre, aiming especially at fostering an awareness of social behavior 'backstage' with a view to formulating further questions. The essay concludes with a plea to include business events as 'field schools' in study programs looking at international business elites, such as business schools and/or business economics.

Qualitative research in the business domain: often a deductive approach is to be preferred
This position paper discusses deductive versus inductive analysis approaches to qualitative research in the business domain. It is argued that generally a deductive approach is to be preferred, because in a deductive approach use can be made of all prior academic knowledge, which is often substantial. As a consequence, outcome-based recommendations may be of higher quality to the client, and be of more practical use.

This article describes the complex relationship between exportation & foreign direct investment (FDI). Distinction is also made between FDI determined by sales opportunities & by cost-cutting opportunities, especially in connection with the New Member States (NMS). Furthermore, the Belgian FDI into the NMS is discussed. The article also examines the role of FDI in furthering the economic growth & development of the NMS & lists the FDI's advantages & disadvantages for the NMS. Additionally, the EU eastern expansion has mainly generated a positive result for Belgian businesses. The article also mentions a trend that the current industrial states would become less industrial, by just maintaining concept, design & R&D of products, while outsourcing the rest of the production process, including business services. In conclusion, a tentative roadmap for Belgian companies is drawn up in order to face the economic challenges of the expansion & to determine which government measures need to be taken to boost the Belgian companies' performances. 2 Tables, 33 References. A. Michaux

Interrelations between 124 Dutch business Corp's & financial Co's & instit's are analyzed as they are generated by interlocking manag & supervision boards in 1969. In this graph-theoretical model the most important characteristics of the network of interlocking manag & supervision boards are found to be: (1) The network consists of one large component, in which nearly all big Corp's, financial Co's & instit's are connected by interlockings, & a small number of isolated elements. (2) The center of the network consists largely of financial Co's & instit's. (3) The center of the network of interlocking between the 60 financial Co's & instit's consists of 3 banks, 2 insurance Co's, 1 investment trust, 3 semi-gov'al financial instit's, & 1 mortgage bank. (4) The central financial Co's & instit's are connected by an extremely dense network: 86% of all pairs are directly connected by 1 or more interlockings. (5) The financial Co's & instit's in the center of the network between the 60 financial units also have the largest number of edges with the 64 business Corp's, together with 3 other financial units. (6) The connectivity & density in the network between the 64 business Corp's are also due to persons who are also manager or managing director in financial Co's or instit's. An interlocking constitutes at least a COMM channel between the Corp's. Moreover, managers & managing directors are chosen mainly by cooperation. Therefore the network is interpreted as one of COMM & cooperation. Corp's, Co's, & instit's in the center of the network of interlockings are able to gather & distribute a large amount of information which gives them power: the ability to determine the outcomes of decision making processes, resulting in value allocations. 2 Figures, 9 Tables. Modified HA.

The research project described in this article starts out with the hypothesis that new forms of bureaucracy have arisen within public administration as a consequence New Public Management-related reforms which have swept through the West in recent decades. The main goal of these reforms is to make public administrations more business-like and therefore more effective and customer-oriented. Administrations are thereby coming more to resemble businesses and are becoming decentralized while retaining central management and control. Herein lies the danger that NPM reforms will have the effect of creating bureaucratic expansion within these administrations. This situation is paradoxical since the NPM wave builds on the very economic research which has been critical of the phenomenon of bureaucratization within public administration. Within the framework of ongoing efforts to incorporate public activity, a series of new organizational forms has been created, all with a need to justify their activities upward and outward. The bureaucratization of these secondary functions within the decentralized level of the state is the focus of the research project to be undertaken. The project will involve three case studies of NPM-influenced forms of management in a municipality, a hospital, and a college. Adapted from the source document.

Results of a survey of political candidates in the Nov 1991 elections in Flanders, Belgium, are used to investigate the role of gender differences in degree of political representation. It is noted that male (M) candidates have advantages in educational attainment, professional status, & domestic life. Ms are more likely to hold university degrees & positions of authority in the political party or corporate business. Females (Fs) are more often than Ms responsible for child care & domestic work. F political underrepresentation is a structural problem, despite gains in equality of the sexes over the last fifty years. A structural intervention by the government in guaranteeing gender-based equal opportunity is suggested. 9 Tables. Adapted from the source document.

Tot nu toe is casestudyonderzoek vooral gebruikt voor het exploreren van situaties met het doel om over deze situaties theorie te ontwikkelen. Niet eerder is er uitgebreid gepubliceerd over het toetsen van theorie door middel van de gevalstudie. Jan Dul en Tony Hak beschrijven in hun boek Case Study Methodology in Business Research structuren en richtlijnen om proposities te testen door middel van casestudyonderzoek. Op 1 november jongstleden werd er door het Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM) een seminar georganiseerd ter gelegenheid van het verschijnen van dit boek. Vanwege het vernieuwende onderwerp en de aangekondigde sprekers was er zeer veel animo om deze bijeenkomst bij te wonen. De organisatie had een groot aantal aanmeldingen moeten weigeren, maar dankzij mijn vroege aanmelding kon ik, net als zo'n vijftig anderen, hierbij aanwezig zijn.

This article compares the differences in salary costs & in productivity between Belgium & Portugal, serving as an EU benchmark for respectively high & low salary states, & those in the three major emerging markets, Poland, Hungary, & the Czech Republic, based on information of individual businesses. The study revealed that between 1995 & 2000 the salary costs in Belgium were seven times higher than in the three emerging markets, & four times higher than in Portugal. Also, there is a positive correlation between high salary costs & high productivity. Furthermore, there is no reason to relocate manufacturing of certain industries from high to low salary member states since certain industries generate high salary costs anywhere. In conclusion, there are indications that the evolution of the salary costs in proportion to productivity in Portugal has a limited negative effect on employment in Belgium, whereas salary costs in the NMS have no significant impact. 5 Tables, 11 References. A. Michaux

A profile of the careers of Belgian ministers since WWII is presented, drawing on data from various studies. The ministers are predominantly French-speaking, M, U-educated, & of UMc or Mc origin. The most frequent professional occupations are lawyer, U professor, & business executive. The political career leading to a ministerial post is most likely to go through the legislative bodies (city council, county council, & parliament); a secondary route is via the political parties (district & then national party leader). After their ministerial careers ended, 39% of the ex-ministers continued to play a prominent part in parliament. These findings are compared with those for the Netherlands, West Germany, & France. The main difference is the importance of the bureaucratic component in the structure of the ministerial elite in those three countries; in Belgium this is not very important. 10 Tables. Modified HA