International Business & Strategy

“We are looking for a self-starter, innovative thinker who will challenge the status quo.” This phrase is often seen sprawled across almost every job posting you may encounter nowadays. When employers write it, who do you think they have in mind? Who are our most innovative employees? The answer: refugees.

D'Amore-McKim School of Business veteran Todd Alessandri has been named the school's new Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs, effective Aug. 1, 2022. He's leading D'Amore-McKim's undergraduate curricular initiatives and the teams that support students through academic advising, student services, and cooperative education.

Northeastern airlines industry expert Ravi Sarathy says JetBlue's acquisition of Spirit Airlines will probably result in higher fares for consumers, as the low-cost carrier Spirit disappears in the planned $3.8 billion purchase.

Northeastern, industry experts say travel woes will continue this summer but expect delays, cancellations and flight cost issues to subside in the fall.

As more industries make use of so-called blockchains, which are really just digital ledgers for storing data, the high-profile Ronin theft has raised new concerns about just how effective existing blockchain safeguards and protocols are at protecting the digital wallets of millions of crypto traders.

China is rapidly moving from imitation to innovation, with Chinese companies taking a key role in the emerging paths of Chinese company innovation. Non-Chinese executives need to understand the six major paths to innovation taken by Chinese companies. While all these paths have also been taken by many Western companies, we discuss here the unique Chinese adaptation or intensification of each approach. Our findings indicate that the innovation advantages of Chinese companies may well be in the creative combinations of available innovation practices.

China's approach to inward foreign direct investment (IFDI) has remained remarkably consistent since the onset of its economic opening. While the rules governing IFDI have changed, the primary goal of improving the competitiveness of Chinese companies and the secondary goal of enhancing economic development have remained. As Chinese companies become more capable and as China declares more industries “strategic,” the space for foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) may narrow. To address this, FIEs need to demonstrate their full economic impact to make their case for continued access to the world's second largest economy.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region displays distinct corporate governance trends. These differences are due, at least in part, to the influence of Sharia law and the region's varied political regimes. Research suggests that advancing gender diversity on boards, directing attention towards corporate social responsibility, increasing the transparency of corporate disclosures, and investigating different ownership models can help further align local companies with established global best practices in the corporate governance area.

In rapidly evolving emerging and transition economies such Russia, informal social networks between individuals, companies, and the government play a key role for companies' ability to gain access to information, knowledge, and power. While such informal networks help companies' profitability, they can also entail significant costs for businesses and society at large. Understanding the deep roots of today's corruption trends in Russia can help the survival of domestic and foreign companies operating in the country.