International Business Research

International Business Research
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Introduction
International Business Research abbreviated as IBR focuses on a number of critical subjects including business, management, economics, marketing, accounting, and other crucial and relevant subjects. IBR offers an academic platform for researchers and professionals in order to be able of contributing innovative work in the relevant field. It is comprised of full-length and original articles, which represent the most recent research and developments in practical and theoretical facets of international business. IBR, therefore, plays a significant task in the academic field in order to keep up with the dramatic speed of globalization in industry and business. It is evident that the nature of studies in doctorate offers an indication of the emerging and quality direction of research in international business. There are a number of peer-reviewed studies on the field, which have been of great significance to the academic quest. The trend and nature reflected in these studies are likely to be critical indicators of the field’s state.
Part I
Description of the study
Sales Channel as a Strategic Choice
Karamehmedovic and Bredmar (2013), hold that the development of distinct forms of sales channels has led to an increase in the interaction chances between end users and corporations. Additionally, customers have attained a high influence in business as a result of the development of measures of performance as the ability of customers to influence corporate productivity and profitability have attained significance especially in economic governance. As a result, this has an impact on the strategic decisions of business leaders as they need to make decisions on the marketing channels they should utilize in order to reach out to customers. It has also impacted on how the leaders and managers should progress to improve customer productivity. The purpose of the study was to establish the driving factors of strategic choices of channel(s) of sales, to describe the views of managers about their customers behind the channels of marketing, and how loyal, profitable, and satisfied the customers are. The methodology used was interviews performed in the clothing industry where nine Swedish clothing companies were selected for the research. The strategic choices, as well as, the motivations from the choices of channels are featured partially by the personal experiences and views of the managers on the channel coincidences, opportunities, and the fear of channels competing against each other. A variety of business managers hold the belief that customers have distinct preferences. However, managers do not use any analysis of how loyal and satisfied their customers are. Loyalty and satisfaction are variables that must be evaluated as they are assumed to result in profitability of customers. The issue of validity was not a problem as the methodology was effective.
Accounting Conservatism and Information Asymmetry
In his article, Wang (2013), adopted the informational neutrality approach in examining the role conservatism plays in order to search the impact of accounting conservatism on information asymmetry, in Taiwan. Findings indicated that information asymmetry is more severe and corporate earnings are highly conservative, in general. Furthermore, when there is insufficient or excessive earnings conservatism, differing impacts are generated between information asymmetry and earnings conservatism levels. In specific, when there is insufficient corporate conservatism, the link between information asymmetry and earnings conservatism is considerably negative. On the contrary, when there is more or excessive conservatism, the effect on information asymmetry is positive. The methodology of the study relied on estimation methods, where the author used previous studies to obtain empirical results. For instance, the Khan and Watts (2009) method was applied. The empirical findings of the research are in line with the present advancement of financial standards. They reveal that when the performance of the corporation indicates bad news or good news separately, the perceptions of investors concerning the accounting conservatism informativeness, is different. In this case, investors are likely to identify with critical or relevant findings regardless of an excessively conservative accounting recognition if the present period of a corporation offers good news. Validity of the study was not compromised.
Herd Behavior in Financial Markets
Kang (2013) offers a logical microstructure approach in which informed business traders have concealed information on multi-dimensional risks and uncertainties. In this case, there is a possibility of herd behavior to happen. During the herd stage, traders who are informed opt to trade in the same direction despite their confidential signals. Furthermore, there is a transitional stage between the herd phase and the normal phase. In this case, the market gets into a phase of transition where the expectation of some informed traders on the risky value of asset is within the spread of bid-ask. During the tradition stage, the liquidity of the market declines, marked by powerful price impact power and larger spreader of incoming alerts. As part of research methodology, previous researchers were used to evaluate the topic of concern. The study in the situation of multiple markets reveals that what happens during the transition stage in a single market could have an effect on that market, as well as, related markets. The research offers the phase for the herd behavior and market crash to be infectious among multiple assets whose market values are related. There were no threats to the validity of the study.
Mandatory Disclosure and Its Impact on the Company Value
Popova et al., (2013) investigated the linkage between company value and mandatory disclosure expressed in estimation of share price earnings through the use of a sample of companies from the United Kingdom that are in FTSE 350 Index for a time span of five years since 2006 to 2010. A compulsory disclosure index was introduced in accordance to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) that the firms listed in the stock exchange market were forced to adopt from the year 2005. It was used for the measurement of the degree of compulsory disclosure. The association between compulsory disclosure and some particular firm features was also examined. From the analysis, it was revealed that a high disclosure by companies of the United Kingdom’s companies, which indicated that business managers and leaders do not perceive compulsory disclosure as a routine requirement, rather they struggle to be firmly acquiescent or compliant with all the requirements of reporting imposed on companies by the regulatory authorities. In addition, there is a significant correlation between the degree of disclosure and company leverage, age, and value that justifies that the market mechanism is as well crucial in the practice of disclosure. The association between listing status and mandatory disclosure, size, and earnings is, however, not statistically significant.
Entrepreneurship, Transaction Costs and Cultural Background
Petrakis et al. (2013) in his article seeks to examine the relations between economic institutions and transaction costs on one hand, and the group of factors that describe cultural background on the other. By improving the characteristics of transactions and economic institutions, there is a possibility of improving the rates of entrepreneurship of the society. The article attempts to establish this relationship. Institutional variables and transaction cost are evaluated through the use of OLS and a principal component analysis (PCA). These help in dealing away with any threats to research validity. The findings of the study reveal that the initial working hypothesis of there being a relationship between transaction costs and culture exists. The element of cultural features having an orientation of pro-growth reduces the costs of transactions, but fosters economic institutions. On the other hand, the element of cultural traits that are represented in pro-social traits of cultural background leads to its increase. A positive relation between transaction and economic institutions and entrepreneurial variable is also established.
Evaluation of each study
Based on research that will be presented in the part II section (Literature Review), the authors present or make a compelling case for the meaning and significance of the distinct topics presented or discussed. Karamehmedovic and Bredmar (2013) make a compelling argument for the significance and meaning of their study findings. There are large fears of combined channels competing with each other regardless of the fact that the application of a variety of channels depending on a theoretical perspective is viewed as a competitive benefit for firms. Loyalty and satisfaction are at most times assumed to lead to profitability, and; therefore, require being evaluated. Wang (2013) also presents a compelling case on the relationship between accounting conservatism and information asymmetry. The study reveals that the degree of accounting conservatism lowers after compulsory adoption of IFRS, which has also been presented by other studies.
Khan (2013), like the others also presents a compelling argument concerning his findings. It is evident that herd behavior occurs when there are two dimensions of uncertainty, which is presented as the existence of uncertainty and impact of shock. Popova et al. (2013) presents his argument on the relationship between mandatory disclosure and its effect on the value of the firm. In addition, there is a significant correlation between the degree of disclosure and company leverage, age, and value that justifies that the market mechanism is as well crucial in the practice of disclosure. Laws of mandatory disclosure can make managers to put their focus more on shareholder value maximization. Khan’s case is, therefore, significant. Petrakis et al. (2013) presents a significant case by stating that cultural background has a significant effect on economic institutions and transaction costs. More to these are in the literature review section.
Literature Review
Sales Channel as a Strategic Choice
Karamehmedovic and Bredmar (2013) make a compelling argument for the significance and meaning of their study findings. According to Rosenbloom and Andras (2013), the type and number of channels that customers use has grammatically led to an increase and includes even sophisticated channels such as the Internet. It is evident that there are distinct strategic motivations and ambitions behind the selection of channels all business leaders and managers motivate their selection of initial channels of sales either as a personal preference or a coincidence. The issue seems to occur especially when the managers have to decide on whether or not to look for extra sales channels (Widodo et al., 2011). There are large fears of combined channels competing with each other regardless of the fact that the application of a variety of channels depending on a theoretical perspective is viewed as a competitive benefit for firms. Firms that have opened additional channels are in favor of the joining of channels especially because they are able to reach the consumers via distinct channels (Weitz and Jap, 2010). Loyalty and satisfaction are at most times assumed to lead to profitability, and; therefore, require being evaluated (Hallowell, 2008).
Accounting Conservatism and Information Asymmetry
LaFond and Watts (20080 offer proof that information asymmetry may determine accounting conservatism. They hold that the attempt by the regulators to lower information asymmetry by reducing the rate of conservatism may be wrong. There is, however, a tendency of firms to move away from conservatism. For instance, the adoption of IFRS is a typical example. The study reveals that the degree of accounting conservatism lowers after compulsory adoption of IFRS (Sunder, 2009). However, the IFRS implementation may weaken the link between the two variables. In addition, accounting conservatism leads to an increase in the environment of information and this is in accordance to the notion that by offering relatively credible information, conservatism becomes of benefit to the information environment (Daske et al., 2008).
Herd Behavior in Financial Markets
Kang (2013) presents an analysis on herd behavior in financial markets. There is a relation between herd behavior and asset prices. Herd behavior occurs when traders follow what past trades presented (Cont, 2010). It is evident that when traders have information that is deemed private on a single uncertainty dimension (or rather the impact of shock on the value of the asset) it is likely that adjustments in prices will prevent herd behavior (Hott, 2009). Herd behavior occurs when there are two dimensions of uncertainty, which is presented as the existence of uncertainty and impact of shock (Cipriani and Guarino, 2008). Howeve4r, it does not necessarily need to alter prices as the market offers the informativeness of trades in the phase of herding. With the quality of the information of traders as the third dimension of uncertainty, herd behavior can cause a short-run pricing that is considered of significance (Kyungsik et al., 2011).
Mandatory Disclosure and Its Impact on the Company Value
The scope and number of recent scandals of corporations and the resulting plummeting prices of stocks and bankruptcies reveal that there is asymmetric information issue especially in the security markets in America (Hernández et al., 2011). This implies that recent events have outlined the challenges that can take place when managers and other company members conceal information from critical shareholders. There are even other cases where there is misrepresentation of the firm’s performance and position. There is a strong hypothesis that laws of mandatory disclosure can make managers to put their focus more on shareholder value maximization. According to Fichtner (2009), the exact advantages to the economy of America are, however, not known because it is not possible to establish how much gains of shareholders are a transfer from members of the firms. In this case, if diversion of resources of a firm by managers is comprised of underutilization or waste of resources instead of transferring them from one party or group to another, then compulsory disclosure can result in net benefits for the economy (Akhtaruddin, 2010). There are some policy implications that are presented. There is a call for a considerable repeal or modifications of requirements of mandatory disclosure. However, studies suggest that such a deterioration of the oversight of the Federal is not likely to be of benefit for the equity markets of the United States (Sejjaaka, 2009). The development of regulations that authorize the disclosure is not likely to be destructive. In fact, it is likely to be of significant benefit in the financial markets.
Studies in the literature review tend to have generalizations on key topics of concerns for companies across the world. Most of the studies are focused on companies in the United Kingdom and United States. This presents a literature gap that requires being investigated.
Entrepreneurship, Transaction Costs and Cultural Background
According to Barkemam and Dunning (2009), cultural background has a significant effect on economic institutions and transaction costs. Societies that are oriented towards rewarding their members’ in planning, investing, and designing have a tendency of reducing transaction costs and enhancing the organized and orderly operation of economic institutions (Hills, 2011). The existence of a powerful regulatory framework that defends rights of property results in a reduction in transactions cost (Vinogradov and Kolvereid, 2010). The confidence of a society in its regulations and laws and the conformity to its institution builds intrinsic links (Graham and Nafukho, 2010). This, therefore, leads to a simplification of the number of contracts and the transaction process. The abolition of stereotypes and long-term structures is necessary for lowering transactions. The lowering of inequalities or rather an orientation directed towards more feminine respect and values for rules and institutions can result in lowered transaction costs. This enhances long term economic expansion and growth.
Part III
Purpose of Research
As per the literature gap established, the main aim of this study is to carry out an investigation on a number of concerns related to International Business Research. The study will focus on issues discussed above, but on other regions rather than the United Kingdom and United States.
Research Design
Because of limitations of space and time, the study will mainly rely largely on secondary data from previous studies across distinct companies of the world in order to address the issue of concern in order to develop specific argument or cases on the subject matter. Data will be analyzed using quantitative methods such as OLS to ensure reliability and validity.
Threats to Validity and how to address them
Some threats to the validity of the study may be presented especially because of relying on secondary data. Some scholars do not present effective research methodologies and this might presents threats to validity. To address the threats, the researcher will rely on peer reviewed sources as most of them contain empirical findings.
Study Constructs
The researcher will measure the variables presented in the five articles with the same hypotheses presented by the different authors.
Reliability of the study
To ensure that the study is of quality, the researcher will rely on peer-reviewed articles, as well as, the recent information on the topics of concern.
Justification for the methodology
The study is of great significance as it focuses on different business areas. These areas need to be considered for other regions such as Asia, Africa, and Australia rather than just in Europe and the United States. The methodology is justifiable as it has been used in many empirical studies and ensured effectiveness and efficiency.
Significance of the study
Answering the research questions of any study is key to determining whether a study is empirical or not. The data that will be collected will enable to answer whether or not the same findings exist for other regions across the world. This data will determine whether the same hold for companies in these other regions, which is essential for business and management theory.

References
Akhtaruddin, M. (2010). Corporate Mandatory Disclosure Practices In Bangladesh. The International Journal of Accounting, 40(4), 399-422.
Barkema, H. G., & Dunning, J. H. (2009). What Differences In The Cultural Backgrounds Of Partners Are Detrimental For International Joint Ventures?. Journal of International Business Studies, 28(4), 845-864.
Chi, W., & Wang, C. (2010). Accounting Conservatism In A Setting Of Information Asymmetry Between Majority And Minority Shareholders. The International Journal of Accounting, 2(3), 112-120.
Cipriani, M., & Guarino, A. (2008). Herd Behavior And Contagion In Financial Markets. The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, 8(1), 45-54.
Cont, R., & Bouchaud, J. (2010). Herd Behavior And Aggregate Fluctuations In Financial Markets. Macroeconomic Dynamics, 4(02), 75-96.
Daske, H., Hail, L., Leuz, C., & Verdi, R. (2008). Mandatory IFRS Reporting Around The World: Early Evidence On The Economic Consequences. Journal of Accounting Research, 5(8), 44-55.
Graham, C. M., & Nafukho, F. M. (2010). Culture, Organizational Learning And Selected Employee Background Variables In Small-size Business Enterprises. Journal of European Industrial Training, 31(2), 127-144.
Fichtner, J. R. (2009). The Recent International Growth Of Mandatory Audit Committee Requirements. International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, 7(3), 227-243.
Hallowell, R. (2008). The Relationships Of Customer Satisfaction, Customer Loyalty, And Profitability: An Empirical Study. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 7(4), 27-42.
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