Ronald Rivas

This paper theorizes on how globalization and localization affect internationalization of science and analyzes the institutional trajectory of Brazil's large scale program, now suspended, Science without Borders (SwB). Counter to the main goal of SwB, our analysis of the historical genesis of Brazilian science institutions reveals a systemic pull toward localization that dampens internationalization. In addition, our analysis of geographic diversification of grants highlights a missing link in the study abroad value chain, which is a lack of training for global skills. The primary area of concern has been to improve language proficiency. What receives less attention is the development of additional skills, such as a student's ability to adapt to the foreign academic environment, that are critical to cultivation and maintenance of long-term professional and institutional relationships. The missing link of service ought to include improved language proficiency, but go beyond that by working with students to provide the cultural, communication, learning, social, and academic skills that are often assumed in the new foreign environment but are not so evident in the country of origin, such as Brazil.

How does “heritagization” — the process of valorization of national heritage — affect the multinationalization — the decision to establish foreign direct investment (FDI) — of Latin American companies? Using an institutional perspective that highlights entrepreneurial action, we theorize how multinationalization unfolds in companies in which cultural heritage is a relevant factor in order to internationalize. Heritage has the characteristics of an institution, defined as a set of socially inherited beliefs, norms, and rules contributing to a society’s identity, with an organizational governance structure to maintain such beliefs; whereas heritagization is the dynamic process of how the institution changes. The recent internationalization of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from Latin America serves as an ideal illustration for our theorizing.

Over the past 60 years, global tourism has expanded and diversified beyond the traditional destinations of Europe and North America, and has now become one of the fastest-growing sectors in the global economy (UNWTO, 2011a). The growth in tourism has been particularly marked in developing economies, where tourism is often a major contributor to national economic growth and development. International tourism in the Asia-Pacific region, for example, grew by 13% in 2010, while in South America, it grew by 15% in the first half of 2011 alone (UNWTO, 2011b). Within the global tourism industry, the fastest growth sector is cultural tourism, defined as “visits by persons from outside the host community motivated wholly or partly by interest in historical, artistic or scientific or lifestyle/heritage offerings of a community, region, group or institution” (Silberberg, 1995: 361). Heritage tourism is a subset of cultural tourism that focuses on the cultural heritage of a community or nation. It has been spurred by the growing number of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites, which now include 725 cultural sites, 183 natural sites and 28 mixed properties in 153 of the 188 states that are party to the United Nations World Heritage Convention (UNESCO, 2011a).

This study proposes a structural equations model of college student attrition based on pre-matriculation freshman attitudes. The study uses a survey administered annually from 1995 to 1999 and tracks persistence and dropout behavior for five years until the last cohort graduated. It discusses seven constructs of pre-matriculation freshman attitudes that resemble the Cabrera, Nora, and Castaeda (1993) model of College Persistence that was based on attitudes of first-to-second year enrolled college students. We applied our survey to a Northeastern sectarian private college. Our model includes external factors such as financial attitude, and endogenous variables such as academic reputation, social integration, institutional commitment, goal commitment, academic performance, and intent to persist. In addition to the variables related to the Cabrera model, we added two measures of social integration, political interests and concern-for the disadvantaged because these were suitable to the type of college which hosted the study. Results provide a multiple group comparative and predictive model of student attrition for annual use by the Dean of Student Affairs in designing proactive plans and implementing intervention strategies to enhance student retention.

We study the multinationalization the decision to establish foreign direct investment (FDI)of Peruvian restaurants. Despite a long exporting tradition, many Peruvian firms have only recently become multinational enterprises (MNEs). The analysis of eighty-two cases of Peruvian res taurants FDI in the Americas, Europe and Asia, reveals several findings. First, it confirms the received view that Multilatinas take a long time to become MNEs, and they become MNEs after changes in the home country that follow structural reform induce them to upgrade their competitiveness to international levels. However, unlike previous studies, we found that Peruvian restaurants expand to countries with proximate as well as with distant psychic distance. These findings are at odds with the gradual internationalization model and the eclectic paradigm. Second, this study found support for the institutional proposition of internationalization, that is, institutional pro-market reforms benefit domestic firms over foreign MNEs, which facilitate domestic firms multinationalization. Peru has seen a significant economic recovery during the last decade, which just recently has cre ated opportunities for the emergence of Peruvian Multilatinas. Third, this study found support for the RBV proposition of multinationalization namely, that unique business level strategies have dif ferent multinationalization processes.

This study evaluated the measurement equivalence/invariance (ME/I) of a ten-construct factorial measurement model of college student attrition based on self-reported attitudes of entering college freshmen. Establishing metric invariance is the first step towards validation of constructs relevant for an early warning system to prevent college student attrition. The study uses a survey administered annually from 1995 to 1999. This allowed students from the last cohort either to graduate or to drop out by 2004. It discusses ten constructs that resemble the Cabrera, Nora, and Castañeda (1993) model of first-second year of college student persistence. The Cabrera et al. (1993) model claims that college persistence is affected by external factors or student background variables, and endogenous factors such as academic integration, social integration, institutional commitment, goal commitment, academic performance, and intent to persist. We included additional background measures of high-school attitudes towards academics. We also introduced measures of social integration, political interests and concern-for-the-disadvantaged because these were suitable to the type of college from which we drew our sample. Results of the measurement invariance tests revealed full metric invariance and validity for seven of the ten constructs of our model. We discuss implications for future research. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

This study tests the impact of corporate venturing (CV) forms on the sustainability of pioneering advantage. Using the Miles and Covin 2002 classification of CV forms, this study shows that performance of early entrants is twice as much higher than performance of lagers. However, the effect of parent support prior to entry is substantially larger than the pioneering effect. Companies entering a market via direct external CV perform twenty five to fifteen times better than companies entering via direct internal CV. Hence, the sustainability of first mover advantage is challenged in the face of new entrants with superior resources.

This paper traces the diffusion of "just-in-time" production in the Japanese automotive sector, as reflected by inventory reductions in a sample of 52 suppliers and assemblers. The authors show that most inventory reductions occurred during a remarkable burst of activity starting in the late 1960s. Companies affiliated with Toyota were the early adopters but were followed very quickly by others in Japan. By the late 1970s nearly all of the firms in the sample had made drastic reductions in inventory. Work-in-process and suppliers' finished goods fell by nearly two thirds on average. (This paper was prepared for the IMVP Research Briefing Meeting, June 1995, and supersedes "Inventory Reduction and Productivity Growth of Japanese Automotive Manufacturers, 1966-1988", listed in the IMVP 1993 abstracts.)