Charles Krusekopf, Alice de Koning and Rebecca Frances Wilson-Mah
After three years in business together, Des Carpenter and Kees Schaddelee had a decision to make – should they double the size of their location, based on the opportunities and…
Abstract
Synopsis
After three years in business together, Des Carpenter and Kees Schaddelee had a decision to make – should they double the size of their location, based on the opportunities and competitive threats they perceived? The startup phase took longer than expected and access to distribution channels was more difficult than expected. Nonetheless, the business gained traction with online sales that proved the concept of custom-made counters using EnvironiteTM technology was viable. As they prepared to expand the business, the owner-managers needed to decide on a growth strategy that would let them leverage their strengths. In analyzing their successes so far, they needed to evaluate their business model including their product line, target markets, marketing strategy (including the pricing strategy, product lines, and channels of distribution) and operations.
Research methodology
Data were collected through interviews with business owners and a review of company documents, production processes and the company website.
Relevant courses and levels
This case exercise will suit strategy and entrepreneurship students at both the senior undergraduate level and graduate level. The case discussion will ask students to consider operations, supply chain management, marketing and other issues, all through the lens of a holistic vision for the company. This case may be taught as an example of a growth strategy or a business model in a capstone business strategy course or higher level entrepreneurship course. It is appropriate for both undergraduate seniors and graduate students.
Theoretical bases
This case may be taught as an example of a growth strategy or a business model in a capstone business strategy course or higher-level entrepreneurship course. The case may be used to help students understand external and internal analysis, identifying the sources of value creation and competitive advantage, and creating an appropriate strategy for growth. It provides a rich context to discuss and apply the following conceptual tools: the application of a value chain analysis and the application of a business model canvas (key partners, key activities, key resources, value propositions, customer relationships, distribution channels, customer segments, cost structure and revenue streams). The case may also be used to reinforce the applications of growth phases in a young firm that are part of the entrepreneurial setting, for example, value proposition, ideal customer, revenue streams and key performance indicators.
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Nan Jiang and Victoria Carpenter
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the difference in the process of higher education (HE) internationalization across faculties in a post‐1992 university and to identify…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the difference in the process of higher education (HE) internationalization across faculties in a post‐1992 university and to identify faculty‐specific factors through evaluating the four faculties in the case study.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research is conducted in a post‐1992 UK university. Four faculties are involved and a total of 20 interviewees from three key departments participate in this project. Content analysis, critical discourse analysis and categorization of meaning are adopted as data analysis strategies.
Findings
This study explains the reasons why the level of internationalization across faculties is different.
Research limitations/implications
This research helps gain rich understanding of faculty‐specific factors in terms of the degree of internationalization. Further research in this area is encouraged to test these faculty‐specific factors through quantitative population studies in other institutions.
Practical implications
Most faculty‐specific factors are management matters which can be improved by internal adjustment. HE internationalization cannot be conducted the same way in each faculty, but should be considered a part of faculties’ particular focus. These factors highlight the areas where the faculties need to improve, in order to better accommodate HE internationalization.
Originality/value
This research evaluates and identifies the faculty‐specific factors in relation to the level of internationalization from a faculty's standpoint. These critical factors are unique to HE internationalization and transferrable to other similar institutions.
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Nan Jiang and Victoria Carpenter
The purpose of this paper is to critically examine higher education (HE) internationalisation in terms of international recruitment and academic collaboration, with a focus on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to critically examine higher education (HE) internationalisation in terms of international recruitment and academic collaboration, with a focus on market entry strategies and programme delivery methods, and to define an education‐specific dynamic framework.
Design/methodology/approach
A single university was chosen as the case study and 20 interviewees participated in this qualitative research. Content analysis, critical discourse analysis and categorisation of meaning are adopted as data analysis strategies.
Findings
The dynamic framework is constructed based on the analysis of both commercial internationalisation and HE internationalisation. It presents the relationship between these two areas, and creates an education‐specific pattern of HE internationalisation, including modes of entry, programme delivery methods and potential areas of further development.
Research limitations/implications
The dynamic framework contributes to rich understanding of internationalisation of HE in the case study. Further research in this area is encouraged to test the framework in other universities.
Practical implications
The dynamic framework presents international market expansion within an institutional context. This framework can help institutions better understand international development in HE, and guide universities' implementation of internationalisation by providing education‐specific modes of entry and programme delivery methods.
Originality/value
This research uses literature on commercial internationalisation to interpret HE internationalisation, explains the relationship between them, and creates an education‐specific framework, which is bespoke for international market expansion in HE.
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Nan Jiang and Victoria Carpenter
The purpose of this research is to identify and critically evaluate key issues faced by an institution in the quest to implement higher education internationalization.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to identify and critically evaluate key issues faced by an institution in the quest to implement higher education internationalization.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research is conducted in a post‐1992 UK university. A total of 20 interviewees from three key departments participated in this project. Content analysis, critical discourse analysis and categorisation of meaning were applied on analysing three sources of data collection.
Findings
This study identifies critical issues that impede international strategy implementation within an institutional context. These issues include resource allocation, communication, operational process, cooperation and coordination, organizational culture, resistance to change, student support and external environment. Researching findings indicate that most issues are rooted internally. Higher education (HE) internationalization is deemed to be integration and cohesion.
Research limitations/implications
This research contributes to rich understanding of challenges of the present case study; therefore, further research in this area is encouraged to test these highlighted issues through quantitative population studies in other institutions.
Practical implications
Research findings show different understanding of critical issues of HE internationalization, and highlight the areas that need to be improved. This study encourages different key departments to conduct and evaluate internationalization internally.
Originality/value
This research suggests that HE internationalization is primarily an internal matter of integration rather than a process driven only by external environment. This study addresses particular forms of critical issues within an institutional context through a qualitative analysis.
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Kathleen Seiders, Constantine Simonides and Douglas J. Tigert
Focuses on the impact of supercenters on traditional food retailers in four markets, including two small cities (Victoria, Texas; Gainesville, Georgia) and two large cities…
Abstract
Focuses on the impact of supercenters on traditional food retailers in four markets, including two small cities (Victoria, Texas; Gainesville, Georgia) and two large cities (Columbus, Ohio; Omaha, Nebraska). Consumer surveys were conducted in order to assess the effects of the entry of Meijer, Wal‐Mart, Kmart, and Target supercenters. The results show supercenters can gain from 15 to 20 percent of primary shoppers and an even greater proportion of secondary shoppers. Furthermore, the supercenter primary shoppers, and especially those of Wal‐Mart and Meijer, identified low price and assortment more often as the reason for store choice. In comparison, traditional supermarket primary shoppers were less willing to trade off locational convenience or, in some cases, quality and assortment. Wal‐Mart is predicted to continue to rapidly gain share at the expense of competitors who do not differentiate themselves in some significant way.
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Glenn Boyle, Stefan Clyne and Helen Roberts
From 2007, New Zealand firms must report the cost of granting employee stock options (ESOs). Market‐based option pricing models assume that option holders are unconstrained in…
Abstract
From 2007, New Zealand firms must report the cost of granting employee stock options (ESOs). Market‐based option pricing models assume that option holders are unconstrained in their portfolio choices and thus are indifferent to the specific risk of any firm. By contrast, ESO holders are frequently required to hold portfolios that are over‐exposed to the firm that employs them and so adopt exercise policies that reflect their individual risk preferences. Applying the model of Ingersoll (2006) to hypothetical ESOs, we show that ESO cost can be extremely sensitive to employee characteristics of risk aversion and under‐diversification. This result casts doubt on the usefulness of any market‐based model for pricing ESOs, since such models, by definition, produce option values that are independent of employee characteristics. By limiting employee discretion over the choice of exercise date, vesting restrictions help reduce the magnitude of this problem.
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This paper seeks to verify and validate a building defect classification system that has been previously developed and presented in Structural Survey. In doing so, the paper also…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to verify and validate a building defect classification system that has been previously developed and presented in Structural Survey. In doing so, the paper also seeks to address the following question: “Can Government regulatory control improve the quality of house construction?”
Design/methodology/approach
Archicentre House Inspection Reports were used.
Findings
The houses built under the HCGA (1988‐1996) from a previous study recorded an average of 2.29 defects per house. The 100‐house sample constructed under the DBCTA (1996 onwards) recorded 536 defects, equating to an average of 5.36 defects per house. This finding suggests that the quality of housing has dropped since the two Acts of Parliament were enacted. There also appears to be a significant increase in the number of consumers requesting inspections by industry professionals while construction is still in progress and before handover is achieved. This, coupled with the substantial increase in the number of defects per house, would suggest that the new Act has not had the desired impact.
Originality/value
The research is the first of its kind to examine the effectiveness of Government regulatory control of quality of housing that is constructed. Using the defect classification system, governments can examine the effectiveness of their domestic building policies.
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Michael R. De Martinis and Ashley W. Burrowes
In reviewing contemporary literature on materiality judgement and the audit expectations gap (AEG), this paper considers an apparent void concerning that aspect of the AEG caused…
Abstract
In reviewing contemporary literature on materiality judgement and the audit expectations gap (AEG), this paper considers an apparent void concerning that aspect of the AEG caused by the non‐disclosure of materiality and risk thresholds and criteria in the financial reports. The review enables the formation and discussion of two premises: first, disclosing cornerstone concepts, such as materiality and risk judgements, in financial reports enhances users' understanding of the limitations of information contained therein; and second, expanding the wording in audit reports reduces the AEG and enhances users' understanding of the objectives and limitations of an audit. In supporting the validity of these premises, it is concluded that the disclosure of materiality and risk judgements in financial reports may reduce the AEG. This hypothesis may be useful for future empirical research.
Anna Griffith, Mary Brigit Carroll and Oliver Farrell
This paper focuses on the donation in 1888 of a Sèvres Vase to the Education Department of Victoria after the International Exhibition in Melbourne. Using the vase as its focus…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper focuses on the donation in 1888 of a Sèvres Vase to the Education Department of Victoria after the International Exhibition in Melbourne. Using the vase as its focus the paper reflects on what this donation may be able to tell us about the impact, primarily on education, of a series of International Exhibitions held both in Australia and internationally between 1851 and 1900. The life of the Sèvres vase highlights the potential of the Exhibitions for the exchange of ideas internationally, the influence of the International Exhibition movement on education and the links between a 19th-century gift and the teaching of Art in 1930s Melbourne.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper examines one object in relation to education in its wider historical context through a reading of the archival records relating to the Melbourne Teacher’s Training College and Melbourne High School.
Findings
The influence of the educational exhibits of the 1888 Centennial International Exhibition held in Melbourne are shown to have had an impact on the design of the Melbourne Teachers Training College.
Originality/value
This paper provides a new and original perspective on the Melbourne Teachers Training College and its foundation through its library and museum collections.