Cyclical demand in the leisure, recreation, and travel markets is a major factor contributing to low productivity and low returns on investment among the suppliers of goods and services to these markets. One strategic response to "the seasonality problem," which has had varying degrees of success in different regions, is termed the Hallmark Event. Such events, built around a major theme, serve to focus tourism and recreational planning on a particular period of the year. The present research provides both an in-depth, cross-sectional study of one such activity (The Quebec Winter Carnaval) as well as a longitudinal analysis of the event's evolution over its 20-year history. Finally, the social and economic implications of the findings are discussed with a view to aiding persons interested in developing such events.

Prior research on the selection of international alliance partners calls for investigation of the potential specificity of selection criteria for evaluating partners for alliances with different objectives or functions. The present study responds to this need and contributes to the development of the field of international entrepreneurship by examining the relation between the alliance function and the criteria chosen. We studied three alliance functions: R&D, production, and marketing. Second, for each alliance function, we analyzed the criteria selected within two contexts: developing countries and those that consider emerging markets in their partner choice set. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 25 executives from INVs in two major North American biotechnology clusters, representing 239 alliances. 65.7% of these were signed with international partners. Results indicate that, aside from compatibility/complementarity of resources (R&D and production alliances), all criteria used within a single function are unique to that function. Furthermore, these criteria differ somewhat when the potential partners considered by a firm include those from both emerging and developed markets, compared to firms that limit potential partners to those in developed markets contexts. Finally, the study reveals that respondent firms integrate country, industry, and market attractiveness factors with partner selection criteria for marketing alliances. This suggests that, for many firms, market choice and partner selection are not successive steps. The study's originality lies in its focus on the relationship between alliance function and partner selection criteria used by INVs as well as within different contexts.Keywords: partner selection, alliance, emerging markets, developed countries, biotechnology, selection criteria, alliance function French AbstractDes études précédentes portant sur la sélection des partenaires pour des alliances internationales soulèvent le besoin d'examiner la spécificité des critères de sélection dans l'évaluation des partenaires pour des fonctions différentes. Cet article répond à ce besoin et contribue au développement du domaine de l'entrepreneuriat international en analysant la relation entre l'objectif et les critères choisis pour trois types d'alliances : recherche et développement, production et marketing. Pour chaque fonction, les critères sont aussi analysés dans deux contextes : les entreprises qui limitent leurs partenaires à des pays développés et celles qui considèrent les pays en émergence. Des entrevues semi-structurées ont été réalisées auprès de 25 dirigeants de nouvelles entreprises internationales en biotechnologie de Montréal et de Boston, totalisant 239 alliances, dont 157 internationales. Les résultats indiquent que, mis à part la complémentarité et la compatibilité, tous les critères utilisés à l'intérieur d'une fonction lui sont spécifiques. Les critères peuvent diverger lorsque les partenaires potentiels proviennent de marchés émergents en plus de...

For high technology firms that depend on foreign markets from the outset, identifying opportunities is a matter not only of business development but of survival. This study contributes to the opportunity recognition literature by exploring the paths taken by these international entrepreneurs to find opportunities in foreign markets. Moreover, it examines the paths of firms at different lifecycle stages. Based on indepth interviews with 5 start-ups and 5 growth firms in Canada specialized in photonics, this research delves into both the personal characteristics of the entrepreneurial teams and the methods they use to find international opportunities. The sources they use as well as the actions undertaken are examined and compared. The practical goal is to identify path components which may be adjusted in start-up firms to improve the probability of finding and developing fruitful opportunities.

En raison de l’obsolescence de la technologie et de la forte compétition, les entreprises technologiques détiennent une courte fenêtre d’opportunité pour développer leur clientèle afin de rentabiliser leurs frais de recherche et développement. Or, le taux d’échec de ces nouvelles entreprises internationales, dans leur transition vers l’étape de post-entrée, est très élevé. La présente étude exploratoire contribue à la littérature émergente sur la comparaison des pratiques à l’entrée et à la post-entrée des nouvelles entreprises internationales dans les marchés étrangers. Plus spécifiquement, elle analyse l’utilisation des outils traditionnels et numériques de communication marketing de dix entreprises technologiques canadiennes. Les résultats suggèrent que, à l’étape d’entrée, les entreprises privilégient des outils de communication indirects plutôt que directs et qu’elles en utilisent une moins grande variété que celles en post-entrée. Des ressources restreintes, financières ou humaines, constituent des facteurs explicatifs. Toutefois, à l’intérieur d’une stratégie de communication intégrée mieux planifiée, des ajustements peu coûteux sont possibles pour déployer leurs ventes dans un plus grand nombre de pays.

With the numerous improvements in the field of communication and the recent trends in high technology, changes in international management approach have occured and among the consequences can be found a uch higher degree of international economic dependance between the countries. The governments, in general, have put a lot of emphasis on programs that can help manufacturing businesses get involved in international development since they represent the prime motor to economic development. This article is based on a study whose main objective was to learn about the decision process of businessmen when itcomes to internationalization and to identify some of their perceptions as well as their degree of satisfaction in regard to a certain number of Canadian and Quebec government programs. The results are based on 480 usable returned questionnaires. The conclusions are to the effect that for the businessmen interested in international development, the main motivations are linked to international opportunities, unexploited production capacity and financial help through government programs. There is also indication that the type of government help needed will differ with the level of implications of the business in the international field