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n, Case Western Reserve University, usa Monty Lynn, Abilene Christian University, usa Neva Maher, Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs, Slovenia Massimiliano Marzo, University of Bologna, Italy Luigi Menghini, University of Trieste, Italy Marjana Merkaˇc, College of Entrepreneurship, Slovenia Kevin O’Neill, State University of New York, Plattsburgh, usa David Oldroyd, Independent Educational Management Development Consultant, Poland Susan Printy, Michigan State University, usa Jim Ryan, University of Toronto, Canada Mitja Ruzzier, University of Primorska, Slovenia Hazbo Skoko, Charles Sturt University, Australia David Starr-Glass, State University of New York, usa Ian Stronach, Manchester Metropolitan University, uk Ciaran Sugrue, Dublin City University, Ireland Zlatko Šabiˇc, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Mitja I. Tavˇcar, University of Primorska, Slovenia Nada Trunk Širca, University of Primorska, Slovenia Irena Vida, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Zvone Vodovnik, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Manfred Weiss, Johan Wolfgang Goethe University, Germany Min-Bong Yoo, Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea Pavel Zgaga, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia editorial office University of Primorska Faculty of Management Koper Cankarjeva 5, si-6104 Koper, Slovenia Phone: ++386 (0) 5 610 2021 E-mail: [email protected] www.mgt.fm-kp.si Managing Editor: Alen Ježovnik Editorial Assistant: Tina Andrejašiˇc Copy Editor: Alan McConnell-Duff Cover Design: Studio Marketing jwt Text Design and Typesetting: Alen Ježovnik

Managing Global Transitions International Research Journal volume 7 · number 1 · spring 2009 · issn 1581-6311

Table of Contents 3 The Editor’s Corner 5

What Drives Innovation? Causes of and Consequences for Nanotechnologies Ingrid Ott Christian Papilloud Torben Zülsdorf

27 A Model for Making Foreign Direct Investment Decisions Using Real Variables for Political and Economic Risk Analysis Carl B. McGowan, Jr. Susan E. Moeller 45

The Influence of Outsourcing and Information and Communication Technology on Virtualization of the Company Massimo Manzin Borut Kodriˇc 61

The Relationship between Working Capital Management Efficiency and ebit Azhagaiah Ramachandran Muralidharan Janakiraman 75 A Strategic Household Purchase: Consumer House Buying Behavior Mateja Kos Kokliˇc Irena Vida

The Editor’s Corner The journal continues focusing on the transition research and emphasizing openness to different research areas, topics, and methods, as well as international and interdisciplinary research nature of scholarly articles published in the journal. The current issue covers topics of the impacts of nanotechnologies, political and economic risk, outsourcing and virtualization, working capital efficiency, and consumer house-buying behavior. This issue begins with a paper written by Ingrid Ott, Christian Papilloud and Torben Zülsdorf, who investigate the impacts of nanotechnologies from the perspective of the overall innovation in downstream sectors and further developments in nanotechnologies. In the second paper, Carl B. McGowan, Jr. and Susan E. Moeller present the study of decisions by using variables for political and economic risk analysis. In the third paper, Massimo Manzin and Borut Kodriˇc study the influence of outsourcing, information and communication technology on virtualization of an organization. In the fourth paper, Azhagaiah Ramachandran and Muralidharan Janakiraman examine the relationship between working capital management efficiency and ebit. In the fifth paper, Mateja Kos Kokliˇc and Irena Vida examine consumer house-buying behavior from a consumer perspective. Boštjan Antonˇciˇc Editor

Managing Global Transitions 7 (1): 3

What Drives Innovation? Causes of and Consequences for Nanotechnologies Ingrid Ott Christian Papilloud Torben Zülsdorf Nanotechnologies are expected to be the dominant general purpose technology of the next decades. Their market potential is immense and not only supply-side but especially demand-side arguments will have far reaching consequences for innovations. The latter may occur as increased miniaturization or via building completely new products, processes or services. Innovations in the field of nanotechnologies do not only affect productivity in downstream sectors but these feed back to nanotechnologies thereby inducing circles of continuing innovation. Demand for nano-components mainly arises from firms while private demand is assigned to final products, processes or services that are augmented by nanotechnologies. Due to the technology’s controversial character, the consumer’s attitude towards risk and technology affects private demand and this may either spur or hamper innovation. The paper aims to unravel how these complex interdependencies and feedback mechanisms affect overall innovation in downstream sectors that is induced by nanotechnologies and how this for its part affects further improvements of nanotechnologies. Key Words: general purpose technologies, controversial technologies, determinants of innovation jel Classification: o33, z13

Introduction Future decades are expected