Search results

Argues that the distinction between the two distinct, but interrelated areas of management in international trade is not neat – exporters being differentiated from the international marketer by the foreign, or alien, nature of his products in the market sought, while the international marketer can eliminate this in many circumstances. Highlights the Ford Motor Company, with manufacturing capability in a number of countries, exclusive distributorships and distinctive, national promotional policies as a multinational. States that smaller firms' options are restricted by comparison – particularly with regard to overseas entrepreneurs. Discusses further the reasons for trading overseas and gives four distinct phases for this. Looks at management and export marketing, stating that UK industry has had to face competition with lower costings in areas from textiles to commercial vehicles and tyres. Sums up that while international trade poses recurrent issues for marketing management a stock of knowledge exists which aids the solving of problems pertaining to the issues posed.

This paper examines some of the striking similarities and differences in issues and conceptual structure between three seemingly disparate areas of study over a 50‐year period; distribution channels, internationalisation and networks. The paper questions why these and other areas of study seem to emerge, prosper and decline in a relatively brief period and shows how each seems to have been developed more or less in isolation from earlier ones. More importantly, it suggests that the researchers involved in each area often do not seem to have learned from what has gone before. The paper draws a number of conclusions from this pattern for the practice of research in marketing.

Explores perceptions of exporting education in sporadic and regular exporting firms as a means of enhancing organizational knowledge to improve the firm’s long‐term competitive advantage in global markets. Export development and performance are dependent on the acquisition and utilization of relevant knowledge in exporting. An analysis of sporadic and regular exporting firms’ views toward formalized export education programs that contribute to long‐term organizational knowledge is the central focus of this study. Results indicate that sporadic and regular exporting firms, although similar in many respects, vary significantly with regard to export planning activity, educational attainment of employees, export proportion of sales, and exporting experience. In addition, sporadic exporters are less interested in formal export education programs and are more reliant on the government as a source of exporting knowledge and information. The types of information offered through such sources frequently do not lead to a sustainable competitive advantage in exporting and make only a limited contribution to organizational learning. A discriminant model correctly classifies 86 per cent of exporting firms into sporadic and regular groups. Discusses conclusions and managerial implications.

The purpose of this study was to understand if productivity and turnover of the female millennial knowledge workers was influenced by participative management theory. Developing a greater understanding for maximizing the productivity and minimizing turnover risks associated with the significant population of female millennial knowledge workers could contribute towards business success.

This qualitative embedded single-case study used triangulation to develop a more complete look at the female millennial knowledge worker within an organization while utilizing a method that allowed for maximizing the understanding of a common case.

While triangulating across three modes of data collection “employee development” was identified in connection with both productivity and turnover. “Timely communication” was associated with productivity, and both “feedback” and “working environment” triangulated with turnover.

This study extends existing participative management theory, limited by a majority focus, to include the female millennial knowledge worker.

The results of this study showed that managers should provide development opportunities and timely feedback to female millennial knowledge workers in support of their productivity. In addition, employee development, timely feedback and a positive work environment could be used by managers to minimize turnover in this population.

The risk of alienating the population of female millennial knowledge workers could result in turnover and productivity challenges for businesses. The results of this study showed that managers should engage in employee development, timely feedback and cultivate a positive work environment to minimize turnover and increase the productivity of this population.

Aims to update a previous study into the marketing practices of successful UK exporters. Finds that the majority of success factors identified over a decade ago are still valid today. In addition, finds some support for the emerging relational approach to export marketing. Concludes that exporters should place greater emphasis on relationship factors to improve their performance. Revises an earlier model of export performance as the basis for future research.

This study identifies key variables that contribute most to the discrimination between firms with high export performance levels and those with low export performance levels. Data were collected through a structured multi-item questionnaire involving a randomly selected sample of 105 exporting firms. Discriminant analysis was used to identify the key discriminating variables. Exporters with high-performance levels differed significantly from those with low levels. Strategy implementation, experience in international business and training, economic factors, size of the firm, cultural factors, strategic orientation, education, and political/legal factors, listed in order of importance, were identified as key discriminators between the two types of firms.

Research related to firm export performance dates back to the early 1960s, ever since many studies have been conducted with mixed results. The three main goals of the present study were to analyze (1) the impact of the selected firm, management, and the export strategy-related variables on the export performance; (2) the possible variation in the results depending on the measure of export performance; and (3) the similarities and differences in the results depending on the type of SME – traditional exporters vs. born international companies. Based on a literature review, 14 hypotheses were developed to be tested. Consequently, the empirical part of the study is based on a survey conducted among Finnish SMEs in early 2002. The export performance was analyzed using six different types of performance measures. None of the 14 hypotheses were fully supported by all employed measures of performance. However, the export performance was positively impacted by firm size, product/service quality, international orientation, and market diversification along five measures. Additionally, the study indicated some similarities, but also some differences depending on the measure of export performance, type of the exporting SME, and the operationalizations used for the born international companies. Based on the results, management implications and proposals for future research are presented.

The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on the actual use and market performance effects of information and communication technologies (ICT) with regard to international business‐to‐business marketing activities of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).

The analysis is based on survey data from 635 Danish and Norwegian SMEs with international marketing activities. The two primary research questions regarding actual use and performance effects are addressed by descriptive statistics and structural equation modelling, respectively.

Findings suggest that, contrary to expectation, Norwegian and Danish international SMEs are not heavy users of ICT. Rather, ICT is predominantly used for market information search and to develop long‐term customer relationships. In both those areas the use of ICT is positively associated with the firm's satisfaction with its development of new market knowledge. The use of ICT for sales purposes is limited and apparently negatively associated with the firm's satisfaction with its development of new market knowledge. There is no significant association between the use of ICT and the firm's satisfaction with its international performance.

This study contributes with new knowledge regarding the potential and limitations of the use of ICT in international business‐to‐business marketing. Heavy usage of ICT seems to be primarily directed towards information search and relationship development. The study also supports that ICT usage have positive impact on the accumulation of new market knowledge (and indirectly on international performance). Use of ICT for sales activities seems to be quite limited, and perhaps not even advisable. The reason for this may be that media richness associated with face‐to‐face interaction is beneficial for establishment of commitment and trust.

This paper makes an original contribution to the field of knowledge regarding the potential (and limitations) of ICT in international business‐to‐business marketing.

The purpose of this study is to identify how the responsibilities and costs of planning, controlling and executing the material, resource and waste flows are shifted between actors when introducing a construction logistics setup (CLS) as a product innovation in a construction project, compared to the traditional way of organizing these activities.

This study is an analytical conceptual research study which aims to bring new insights into a problem through logical relationship building. Empirical data are gathered in two cases where CLSs are used, through observations and interviews regarding how the activities within the order-to-delivery process are performed. The results have been discussed at workshops with suppliers, installation companies, contractor firms and trade unions.

The outcome of this study is a model for illustrating how costs and responsibilities are shifted in the construction project and supply chain when a CLS is introduced. The cost shift is dependent on the activity shift that accompanies the services included in the setup.

The practical contribution of this work is twofold. First, this study provides a methodology of how to evaluate the impact of logistics services on the actors in the construction project. Second, this study shows shifts in costs and responsibilities in logistics activities with the introduction of construction logistics services.

The theoretical contributions of the model and this study lie in the inclusion of a multi-actor perspective in total cost modelling in supply chains.

Transaction costs in projects can be reduced through improved collaboration between contractors and clients. The purpose of this paper is to respond to the call for further research on the framework suggested by Li et al. (2015) who presented 26 factors that determine project transaction costs. The objective is to empirically test the framework to identify factors that have the greatest influence on project collaboration so that practitioners can prioritize their efforts on the most salient factors that will improve collaboration and reduce transaction costs.

The paper employed interviews with 38 project practitioners from three different industries in Norway. The respondents had in average 20 years of professional experience.

The quality of communication, project uncertainty, owner’s organizational efficiency, change orders and trust were the five most frequently found factors that influence both project transaction costs and collaboration level. When the authors compared findings between different industries the authors found that the quality of communication was important for all industries. The owner’s organizational efficiency was also highly important in oil and gas and ICT projects. Trust was particularly important in oil and gas projects while frequency of claims was particularly important in construction projects.

This paper identifies the five most important factors for project practitioners to prioritize in order to reduce transaction costs through improved collaboration.

The paper contributes to the conceptual theory of transaction costs and collaboration as it empirically tests and extends the framework developed by Li et al. (2015).