Discusses the harmonization of international methods for the development and administration of product standards. Defines the term "harmonization" and discusses the harmonization of environmental policies and purposes involving product standards; environmental regulations on production methods, technologies, and practices; and life-cycle…

Discusses four levels of awareness (from simple letter substitution to cross-cultural transfer of technology) in how product developers view producing national language versions of their products. (SR)

Discusses two strategic distribution channel decisions facing banks, one regarding whether to target the Internet banking segment of customers versus the branch banking segment, and the other regarding the geographical area banks aim to serve. Future distribution channels, the change process, and local, national, and international strategies are…

Describes how many colleges are opposing a U.S. plan that they say favors for-profit distance education. The proposal before the World Trade Organization asks member countries to begin formal negotiations to reduce barriers that keep higher education institutions from offering courses in other countries. (EV)

In "The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century," Pulitzer Prize recipient and New York Times foreign affairs correspondent Thomas L. Friedman examines the evolution of globalization in the six years since the publication of his highly acclaimed introduction to the topic in "The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding…

In this article, we examine the process of trade liberalisation of educational services in the framework of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Specifically, we analyse the factors that influence the undertaking of commitments on educational liberalisation by the member countries of the WTO. The…

History matters. It matters not only because people can learn from the past, but because the present and the future are connected to the past by the continuity of a society's institutions. Today and tomorrow's choices are shaped by the past. And the past can be made intelligible only as a story of institutional evolution. This story focuses on the…

The article analyzes the content of 18 international marketing academic textbooks with regard to factors comprising the global marketing environment. Three broad categories of factors are identified, the macro (i.e., physical, demographic, and socio-cultural), meso (i.e., economic, political-legal, and technological), and micro (i.e.,…

This study reports on the development of ESP (English for Specific Purposes) multimedia courseware on oral presentations, and its integration into self-study learning and elective courses for students with different English proficiencies, as one solution to problems in ESP courses in Taiwan. The courseware design is based on Mayer's multimedia…

This report is based on the idea that interaction in business negotiations must be describable in terms that accord with the priorities of the interactors themselves. A descriptive model is discussed that aims to accommodate and integrate approaches that are essentially linguistic and those that are business oriented. It is argued that a dynamic…

This report evaluates and distills the findings of the United States Metric Study in which thousands of individuals, firms and organized groups, representative of our society, participated. On the basis of all the evidence marshalled in the Study, the report concludes that the United States should change to the metric system through a coordinated…

A discussion of legal and administrative language, and the necessity for accurate translation of this language in the field of international relations. Topics treated are: characteristic features of legal and administrative terminology; the interpretation of it; and the technique of translating legal and administrative texts. (AMH)

Discusses the rationale and major economic and political effects of turning the European Community into a true common market. Outlines the proposals of the European Commission on how to achieve this goal and states that implementation will result in large scale adjustment problems for the nations of the European Community. (GEA)

Contrasts the telecommunications policies of Britain, which privatized the industry, and France, which chose governmental monopoly and state enterprise, in the context of the U. S. divestiture of American Telephone and Telegraph (A.T. & T.).

Explains that the goal of this exercise is to encourage an understanding of the effects of exchange rate changes and the use of forward rates. Provides a role play that involves students working in groups to decide whether to export a consignment of golf trollies to Italy and shortbread to Canada. (BSR)