News

With the global economy facing unprecedented uncertainty and geopolitical tension, D'Amore-McKim faculty share insights gleamed from our second “Beyond Boundaries” event focused on effective global leadership.

“Human motivations haven't changed, but how we engage with content has,” says Bulchandani. “Today, consumers have the control, and our challenge is to create content that captures attention amid overwhelming information.”

Second year MBA student, Erdi Pratama, is tackling agricultural waste in Indonesia through biochar—an innovative, carbon-rich material that improves soil health and reduces environmental harm.

D'Amore-McKim Distinguished Professor Ravi Ramamurti weighs in on Saudi Arabia's massive investments in sports, emphasizing the strategic branding behind events like the “Six Kings Slam.”

Domenica Rueda Paz is a Spring 2024 Recipient of the Srinivasan Family Awards for Projects in Emerging Markets, a bi-annual student grant program open to undergraduate and graduate students at Northeastern University, run by the Center for Emerging Markets.

D'Amore-McKim students embarked on an immersive journey to Sicily as part of the Dialogues of Civilization program.

Amitabh Kant, India's G20 Sherpa and Former CEO of the National Institution for Transforming India (Niti Aayog), discussed India's role in the global economy in a fireside chat moderated by Sharad Sharma, Co-Founder of the Indian Software Product Industry Roundtable (iSPIRT), and Ravi Ramamurti, Founding Director of the Center for Emerging Markets.

Greg Distelhorst and Anita McGahan of the University of Toronto conducted a comprehensive study of more than 4,000 companies across developing countries, investigating the impacts of wage theft, abusive disciplinary practices, and other exploitative behaviors on firm performance. They drew a comparison between “high road” employers, who treat employees with fairness and value their contributions, and “low road” employers, who exploit workers to minimize costs and enhance control. The study found that companies on the low road experienced more frequent issues with quality control, delivery timelines, and lower order values than their high road counterparts. Consequently, the researchers suggest that NGO efforts to eliminate inhumane employee treatment could actually help companies enhance their productivity and profitability. 

In their analysis of 194 publicly listed, non-state-owned Chinese companies across 24 provinces, Banalieva and colleagues observed that rapid implementation of pro-market reforms was associated with increased internationalization. Conversely, quick reversals had a deleterious effect on international expansion. The presence of family involvement, however, made family-owned companies more resilient in the face of such reversals, enabling firms to sustain their international presence, despite regulatory headwinds.

Researchers at Rutgers University and the University of Manchester examine the central role of managerial perceptions in shaping a company's response to its country joining the World Trade Organization (WTO). They find that firms from emerging markets whose managers view domestic institutions positively are more likely to expand internationally post-accession. This suggests that, to promote the internationalization of emerging markets-based companies, policymakers should prioritize improving domestic institutions and fostering positive perceptions towards those institutions among managers.