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Effects of Organizational Agility and Knowledge Sharing on Competitive Advantage: An Empirical Study in Jordan
Soud Almahamid, Abdulkareem Awwad, Arthur C. McAdams |
387 |
Effects of Organizational Agility and Knowledge Sharing on Competitive Advantage: An Empirical Study in Jordan
Soud Almahamid
Al Hussein Bin Talal University, Jordan
Abdulkareem Awwad
Al Hussein Bin Talal University, Jordan
Arthur C. McAdams
Bridgeport University
This paper investigate the role of agile capabilities and knowledge sharing practices in gaining competitive advantage in manufacturing companies in Jordan. Data was collected from a convenience sample of 112 senior managers each from a different listed manufacturing company in Jordan. The respondents were asked to complete a specially-developed mailed questionnaire designed to assess each of the research variables. Multiple regression was used to analyse the data in which the independent variables were regressed on to competitive advantage, as measured by the manager’s perceptions of this in their own companies. The main findings of this paper are that: agile capabilities have a significant effect on organisational competitive advantage; knowledge sharing practices have a significant positive effect on organisational competitive advantage; there is a need to establish agile capabilities and knowledge sharing practices to gain a competitive advantage in the manufacturing context. Managerial implications include the need to provide guidance for linking agile capabilities and knowledge sharing practices for competitive advantage, and the development of measures and a checklist that evaluate to what extent manufacturing companies possess agile capabilities and utilise knowledge sharing to gain competitive advantage.
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The Effects of Learning Capacity, Transparency and Relationship Quality on Inter-Organizational Learning
Tser-Yieth Chen, Kuang-Peng Hung, Chien-Ming Tseng |
405 |
The Effects of Learning Capacity, Transparency and Relationship Quality on Inter-Organizational Learning
Tser-Yieth Chen
National Taipei University, Taiwan
Kuang-Peng Hung
Ming Chuan University,Taiwan
Chien-Ming Tseng
Ming Chuan University, Taiwan
This study integrates the learning and social exchange perspectives to propose an interorganizational learning model. A sample of 202 Taiwanese manufacturing firms experienced with interorganizational technology cooperation was surveyed. The questionnaires were completed by the manager of the R&D department in each firm. This study analysed the data by means of structural equation modeling. The results show that the transparency of partners is a key determinant of interorganizational learning performance. Compared to absorptive capacity, relationship quality is a more important factor in encouraging partner transparency. Thus, organizations should not overly emphasize the strengthening of their own absorptive capacities, instead encouraging partners to be transparent and achieve learning performance by way of positive relationship quality. This finding of the study will help managers of developing countries in further understanding the theory and practice of interorganizational learning.
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Effects of Commitment to Corporate Vision on Employee Satisfaction with their Organization: An Empirical Study in the United States
Frederick J. Slack, John N. Orife, Fred P. Anderson |
421 |
Effects of Commitment to Corporate Vision on Employee Satisfaction with their Organization: An Empirical Study in the United States
Frederick J. Slack
University of Pittsburgh and Indiana University of Pennsylvania
John N. Orife
Michigan State University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Fred P. Anderson
University of Michigan and Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Organizational commitment to corporate vision and employee satisfaction were examined using two successive surveys of approximately 900 employees of a robotics high-tech organization. Following development of a corporate vision statement and communication to employees, a survey was administered to explore employee perceived organizational commitment to the vision and employee organization satisfaction. Subjects’ responses to corporate vision items were factor analyzed and yielded three factors: (1) employee commitment (2) departmental management commitment and (3) vision outcomes. Hypotheses were tested and the research supports the relationship between employee survey responses to corporate vision, department management commitment to vision and employee organization satisfaction. The highest correlations to organization satisfaction pertained to the vision outcomes factor (four significant items). A follow-up survey was conducted within twelve months and data analyses showed consistent correlations over time.
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A Service Experience Engineering (SEE) Method for Developing New Services
Shu-Ling Hsiao, Heng-Li Yang |
437 |
A Service Experience Engineering (SEE) Method for Developing New Services
Shu-Ling Hsiao
National Cheng-Chi University, Taiwan
Heng-Li Yang
National Cheng-Chi University, Taiwan
Along with service sector becoming the largest economic activities in many countries, it is getting important to improve the service quality and stimulate innovation through systematic methods. This study introduces and discusses a methodology called Service Experience Engineering (SEE) for developing a new service. SEE describes the new service development framework completely from ideas creation to service market-launch. It divides the new service development into 3 phases: (1) FIND, including consumer demand survey and technology observing research; (2) InnovationNet, including two research focuses respectively on specific service-related industrial value chain and service modeling; (3) Design Lab, including PoC (Proof of Concept), PoS (Proof of Service) and PoB (Proof of Business). SEE is a potentially useful and easy to implement technique for improving the development of new services. This paper concludes with a number of practical steps for making continuous improvements in new services suggested by the SEE method.
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Environmental Turbulence and the Success of a Firm’s Intelligence Strategy: Development of Research Instruments
Jokull Johannesson, Iryna Palona |
448 |
Environmental Turbulence and the Success of a Firm’s Intelligence Strategy: Development of Research Instruments
Jokull Johannesson
University of Northampton, England
Iryna Palona
University of Liverpool, England
Seventy two questionnaires returned by members of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals, provided evidence for a negative relationship between the strategic intelligence function’s (SIF) success and a gap between the firm’s environmental turbulence level and its strategic intelligence strategy (SIS). Multiple regression test results .752 at 0.1, and Pearson r-coefficient at <0.0025 supported the hypothesis. The environment was measured by five levels of turbulence: stable, reactive, anticipatory, exploring, and creative. Each had four attributes: the novelty, speed of change, complexity, and predictability of change. The measurement of the SIS focused on its: scope, novelty, time frame, threats and opportunities, and purpose. The success of the SIF was measured by top manager’s: rating of its overall performance, ratio of the use of information provided by the SIF vs other sources, use of information provided by other sources, perception of the competitive advantage resulting from the information provided, perception of the importance of the information, and the average of the five above. The implications are a need for alignment of a SIS to the global business environment and effective measurement of SIF’s success.
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Influence of Organizational Defensive Actions on the Learning of Information and Communication Technology: An Attitude Study in Hong Kong
Hon Keung Yau, Alison Lai Fong Cheng |
459 |
Influence of Organizational Defensive Actions on the Learning of Information and Communication Technology: An Attitude Study in Hong Kong
Hon Keung Yau
City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Alison Lai Fong Cheng
Hong Kong College of Technology, Hong Kong
The adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) can improve the organizations’ competitive advantage. Learning of ICT is also essential for organizational survival. However, organizational defensive patterns, including skilled incompetence, organizational defensive routines and fancy footwork, hinder the high level learning in all organizations. This paper investigated the influence of organizational defensive patterns by means of an attitude survey of 200 engineering employees at two different Hong Kong transport companies. Each employee completed a short attitude scale which asked them to indicate the influence of three defensive actions (skilled incompetence, organizational defensive routines, and fancy footwork) on the learning of information and communication technology (ICT) in their respective organizations, in terms of whether the particular defensive action had a ‘major’ (4) ‘moderate’ (3) ‘minor’(2) or ‘no’ (1) influence. The three mean scores (each just below 3.0) suggest that the employees felt that each action had a moderate influence on the learning of ICT. The findings show that the engineering staff in two transport corporations have the same perception of influence of skilled incompetence, defensive routines and fancy footwork on learning of ICT. The findings also indicate that skilled incompetence, defensive routines and fancy footwork are positively associated with each other in two transport corporations.
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The Effects of Stakeholder Prioritization on Corporate Financial Performance: An Empirical Investigation
Giacomo Boesso, Giovanna Michelon |
470 |
The Effects of Stakeholder Prioritization on Corporate Financial Performance: An Empirical Investigation
Giacomo Boesso
University of Padova, Italy
Giovanna Michelon
University of Padova, Italy
The main contribution of this study lies in extending and testing an emerging theoretical framework that investigates the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and financial performance. Following the line of thinking that firms should engage with stakeholders in the way most appropriate to each firm’s strategy, this study examines how leading listed companies perform in terms of strategic CSR vs. responsive CSR.Data come from 188 companies across seven industries. We measure the relationship between stakeholders’ prioritization and financial performance controlling for size and industry. CSR data are provided by the KLD SOCRATES database in seven areas, including employee relations, product safety and diversity. Data on financial performance are collected from the Datastream database. We find that strategic and responsive CSRs impact differently on the overall financial performance of the companies analyzed. We also find that the leadership in social rating is poorly related to financial performance, while the leadership in the strategic CSR indicators records greater impact.
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Effect of the Quality of Host Country Institutions on Reinvestment by United States Multinationals: A Panel Data Analysis
Braimoh D. Oseghale, Osita C. Nwachukwu |
497 |
Effect of the Quality of Host Country Institutions on Reinvestment by United States Multinationals: A Panel Data Analysis
Braimoh D. Oseghale
Fairleigh Dickinson University
Osita C. Nwachukwu
Fairleigh Dickinson University
This study examines the effect of the quality of host country institutions on reinvestment decisions by United States multinationals. Six indicators of quality of institutions developed by Kaufmann et al., (1999) were used as measures of the quality of host country institutions. The six indicators are Voice and Accountability, Political Stability and Lack of Violence, Government Effectiveness, Regulatory Quality, Rule of Law, and Control of Corruption. These indicators have been found, by Kaufmann (1999) to be most important in assessing the overall quality of a country’s institutions. Data for the indicators were obtained from the World Bank database for the 22 developing and emerging countries included in our sample. We used the Error Component regression analysis in assessing the effect of each of the six factors on a measure of overall reinvestment by US multinationals across the 22 countries. The statistical analysis reveals that the quality of host county institutions has a statistically significant effect on reinvestment decisions by US multinationals.
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Investigating Brand Attitude Changes toward High-Involved Hedonic Products via Optimal Ad Appeal Arrangements over Multiple Exposures
Wen-Chin Tsao |
511 |
Investigating Brand Attitude Changes toward High-Involved Hedonic Products via Optimal Ad Appeal Arrangements over Multiple Exposures
Wen-Chin Tsao
National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taiwan
Employing advertisements to build a new brand with high-involved and hedonic products requires careful consideration of ad appeal arrangement. This study manipulates ad appeal over three repetitions to identify the effects of ad exposure sequence on effectiveness for brand building. With Krugman’s “three sequential advertising exposures” theory in mind, this research pays special attention to the effect of the third exposure and proposes a better appeal arrangement order over these three exposures when building the new brand. These results may provide new insights for marketing researchers and brand managers.
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Application of the Six Sigma Process to Service Quality Improvement in Fitness Clubs: A Managerial Perspective
Kuei-Mei Cheng |
528 |
Application of the Six Sigma Process to Service Quality Improvement in Fitness Clubs: A Managerial Perspective
Kuei-Mei Cheng
National Taiwan College of Physical Education, Taiwan
Since “Fitness Clubs” are in a service-oriented industry, methods for maintaining high quality and customer satisfaction have become a significant issue. In this study we have applied the Six Sigma Process, implementing its five recommended steps in order, with aim of reducing the incidence of service failures at Fitness Clubs in Taiwan. The first step of the Six Sigma Process is to define, and the defined result is to minimize the occurrences of service failures. Secondly, the number of occurrences is used to determine a measurement index and find out the measurement criterion. Then, Pyzdek’s (2001) theory is taken as the tool in the third step to analyze the cause of service failure. Applying the causes clarified by the cause and effect diagram, the forth step aims to determine the responsibilities of each department and organize the quality improvement teams based on Quality Function Deployment. Finally, the measurement criterion elicited in the second step is employed to verify whether the strategies for improvement obtained in the fourth step are feasible. If meeting the standard, then the criterion can be used for further control. The five-step Six Sigma Methodology can effectively minimize service failures while improving customer satisfaction and service quality, as well as ensuring sustainable management for enterprises.
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Public Attitudes towards Government Restructuring of IT Public Services: Application to e-Government in the Middle East
Michel Soto Chalhoub |
541 |
Public Attitudes towards Government Restructuring of IT Public Services: Application to e-Government in the Middle East
Michel Soto Chalhoub
American University of Beirut, Lebanon
We propose an analytical framework that shows the relationship between customer attitudes, and e-Government development. Then we test the framework using data from the Middle East and Lebanon. The dependent variable is a measure of end-user expected acceptance of and participation in e-Government. The independent variables represent indicators that we recommend as measures to gauge citizen readiness to adopt such solutions. Independent variables are (1) overall confidence, (2) trust in information security, (3) government processing capabilities, (4) contribution to government restructuring, (5) accuracy of government online information, and (6) improving long term government policies. Primary data was collected from 245 respondents in Lebanon where government modernization is needed. We found that the citizen puts value on all six dimensions. While the first, second, third, and fifth dimensions are positively and significantly related to citizen participation in e-Government, the fourth one is insignificant, and the sixth one negatively correlated. Lack of significance is partially due to low citizen expectations, and the negative correlation of improving policies reflects citizen perception that most policies enacted over the last ten years have been predatory. We also found significant differences among Middle Eastern countries’ status in e-Government, and citizen predisposition.
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An Accounting Accruals Model to predict Future Operating Cash Flows: Evidence from Brazil
Mara Jane Contrera Malacrida, Gerlando A. S. Franco de Lima,
Luiz Paulo Lopes Fávero, Iran Siqueira Lima |
562 |
An Accounting Accruals Model to predict Future Operating Cash Flows: Evidence from Brazil
Mara Jane Contrera Malacrida
University of São Paulo, Brazil
Gerlando A. S. Franco de Lima
University of São Paulo, Brazil
Luiz Paulo Lopes Fávero
University of São Paulo, Brazil
Iran Siqueira Lima
University of São Paulo, Brazil
This study investigates the capacity of profits, operating cash flows and accruals to predict future operating cash flows. The analysis is guided by the model developed by Barth, Cram and Nelson (2001), which is based on the model by Dechow et al. (1998). The research is based on the cash flow statements published by 29 Brazilian companies with ADRs (American Depositary Receipts), between 1999 and 2005. The results found indicate that: (1) the current operating cash flow present greater predictive capacity than aggregate profit; that (2) the disaggregation of current earnings into operating cash flow and aggregate accruals indicates that accruals add to the current operating cash flow’s predictive capacity; and that (3) current earnings disaggregated into operating cash flow and various accrual components has greater capacity to predict future operating cash flows than the aggregate accruals model.
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