The purpose of this study is to explore factors that reinforce or obstruct business schools in Pakistan to develop managerial knowledge, skills and work-based learning experiences of MBA students. The study is prompted by growing debates about insufficiencies in business schools to prepare MBA graduates based on managerial capital needs in the regional markets. To understand the reasons of insufficiencies from business school’s viewpoint, this study employs qualitative interviews to explore factors that reinforce or obstruct business schools. Deans, faculty members and administrators of five different business schools in Hyderabad, Pakistan participated in this study. Responses of the participants are transcribed into verbatim reports and description of findings is structured in SWOT analysis format. Findings show sixteen different factors, comprising of four strengths, seven weaknesses, three opportunities, and two threats. There are more number of weaknesses of business schools to develop MBA students. However, business schools have some strengths and opportunities which they may utilize and improve. Radical changes would strive from the higher education authority. Conceptual framework presented in this study recommends that higher education authority may lead the change, cooperate between business schools and stakeholders, and support business schools to develop future managers and leaders through MBA programs.

Based on the conservation of resources theory this paper explores the mediating effect of perceptions of organizational politics on the relationship between abusive supervision and employee silence. We also explore the moderating effect of leader-member exchange in the relationship between abusive supervision and perceptions of organizational politics. In total, 560 junior employees were sampled through questionnaire. The results indicated that perceptions of organizational politics mediated the relationship between abusive supervision and employee silence. In addition, leader-member exchange moderated the relationship between abusive supervision and employee silence. It was also found that abusive supervision demonstrated a stronger positive influence on perceptions of organizational politics for those who have a poor quality of leader-member exchange.

Today’s business is dependent on information; information about an individual’s financial wealth, education, purchasing preferences and even health conditions. How companies treat the information, or data, they accumulate from individuals is governed by the laws in which they are incorporated and operate. Unfortunately, these laws often conflict especially when an American business is operating in Europe. This conflict led the European Commission to develop data privacy principles known as the Safe Harbor Directive, which if followed allowed US companies to store and use EU customer data. However, a lawsuit challenging the legitimacy of the Safe Harbor’s privacy protections for EU citizens resulted in a 2015 ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that invalidated the Safe Harbor Directive. The chaos that resulted from this ruling sent businesses on both sides of the Atlantic scrambling for an alternative. Unfortunately, Brexit has made an extremely complex legal and business situation even more complicated. Brexit raises two important questions concerning the EU’s recent invalidation of the Safe Harbor Directive that this paper will address: 1) what impact will the UK’s decision to leave the EU have on the newly enacted Privacy Shield and 2) what data privacy measures will the UK implement when it is no longer part of the EU?

Cities have become the engines of economic development more than ever before. Nowadays, numerous cities have been using technological and innovative service delivery tools called “smart city technologies and applications” to affect living conditions of their residents and visitors positively. These technologies and applications can be seen at government and private buildings, city facilities and management, informational and communicational technology infrastructure and personal services. They have a significant positive impact on the environment and natural resources by reducing harmful emissions, excessive and unnecessary use of energy, water, gas, public and private transport vehicles etc. On the city branding side, efficient, sustainable and powerful city economy, security, tidiness, regularity in urban facilities, enhanced civic imagery and a decent quality of life have made a city attractive to its target audiences. In this paper, smart city technologies and applications in the world’s leading smart cities were examined. Thereafter, common and/or city-specific applications were listed. Finally, in the light of these findings, some suggestions were put forward for tourism cities which aim to realize sustainable economic development by means of tourism and be an attractive city/destination for their existing and prospective visitors.

The gaming industry experienced numerous merger and acquisition (M&A) activities in the 1990s. This study examines the cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) for gaming target and bidding firms around the announcement of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) from 1985 to 2004. The results showed that both targets and bidders had significant positive returns. The study finds that gaming targets enjoy significant positive returns consistent with the literature. Gaming industry bidders earn significant, positive returns. The literature on bidder returns shows mixed results; some were positive, some were negative but many are not significantly different from zero. The positive bidder returns in the gaming industry found here are possibly caused by the high entry barriers to the gaming industry such as acquiring gaming licenses, familiarity of gaming regulations, and experience. It is generally much more difficult for a non-gaming bidder than a gaming bidder to acquire gaming industry targets. As a result, there is usually much less competition in gaming industry M&As than for other industries. This is likely a major cause of the higher returns for gaming bidders than found for bidders in most other industries.

This case study discusses an initiative to aid a traditional Quilombo community in the State of Rio de Janeiro through community-based tourism (CBT). Through the Young Leaders of Americas program, a US Department of State funded initiative, the authors worked together in Brazil and the United States to increase visibility, linkages and awareness of this CBT project. The paper highlights how research in the field influenced what specific steps would be taken in practice to increase the benefits of tourism for the community. CBT as a concept is briefly discussed, and a background of Quilombos in Brazil is given.