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The magic formula of Wal-Mart, which is a system of practices facilitating cost reduction and revenue generation, is examined. Its survival in the wake of environmental change and formidable rivals is also discussed.

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to examine the interrelated influences of managers' emotional intelligence, leadership styles and employee outcomes. In particular, this study aims to explore the potential mediating effects of managers' transformational leadership style on the relationships between managers' emotional intelligence and employee outcomes of: employee performance, job satisfaction, organisational commitment and job stress. Design/methodology/approach -- The study was conducted in two large organisations in Shanghai, China, on a sample of 323 participants, including both managers and subordinate employees. Emotional intelligence was measured by using the Wong Emotional Intelligence Scale (WEIS), and leadership style, using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5x Short). Findings -- The results showed that managers' transformational leadership style fully mediates the relationship between managers' emotional intelligence and employee job satisfaction. However, no mediating effect of managers' transformational leadership style is found on the relationship between managers' emotional intelligence and employee performance, organizational commitment and job stress. Originality/value -- The results of this study contribute to current insights about the interrelationships on managers' emotional intelligence, leadership style and employee outcomes, showing that the power of managers' emotional intelligence on job satisfaction must be expressed through a third mediating variable, transformational leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the late 1980s, government policies and actions have influenced the remarkable rise in Ireland's economic fortunes. Will Irish business be able to maintain this outstanding performance in the face of a world economic slowdown, and problems brought on by success itself? These questions of sustainability are examined, alongside the implications for management of public policy and of foreign-owned and indigenous Irish enterprises. The model of the ‘flexible developmental state’ (FDS) is applied to Ireland.[1] New forms of industrial organization—like transnational networks with their fluid global movements of money, information, and resources—are especially appropriate in the FDS. The FDS government plays a key role in integrating local and global business in three ways. One is to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and then build local networks of production and innovation around the subsidiaries of foreign multinational companies (MNCs). FDI, in the context of a global economy, was the catalyst that animated the developmental process in 1990s Ireland. The second FDS thrust is to cultivate indigenous networks of innovation and encourage them to internationalize. The third element of the FDS is the creation of a stable macroeconomic and financial environment that fostered Irish adaptation to, and participation in, the global economy.[2] The ‘flexible’ component of the FDS is that the Irish government, working through state agencies, shaped the organizational cultures and capabilities of both indigenous firms and MNC subsidiaries, but without directly dictating their activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]