Interdisciplinary Research Within a Modified Competing Values Model of Organizational Performance

Abstract

An interdisciplinary model of firm performance based on a modified and extended Competing Values Model of Organizational Culture combines elements drawn from three different research traditions-organizational culture and climate from organizational behavior, innovativeness from economics, and market orientation from marketing. The model has been used to analyze firm performance in business-to-business markets in a number of countries in the industrial and the industrializing worlds. In general, successful firms are found to be innovative, market oriented, and to have organizational cultures and decision-making climates which are externally oriented. In most countries, there are also identifiable national culture-specific patterns. In this paper, we focus on the inter-relationships among the streams of research upon which the model is built. Using Brazil, previously unstudied in this context, we attempt to identify a structure among the model elements to test hypotheses about (1) the inter-relationships of the explanatory variables, and (2) the relationships of the explanatory variables to each other and to firm performance. We find that the contributing disciplines produce interpretable results, and that performance is improved by achieving good results simultaneously along several inter-related dimensions.     

Theoretical Foundations of an International Entrepreneurial Culture

The seeming absence of theoretical foundations in the international entrepreneurship (IE) field significantly accounts for the fragmentation of research in the area. We seek to address this deficiency through an exploration of the IE concept in the overall context in which it is embedded, namely organizational culture. We develop and discuss a conceptual framework of an International Entrepreneurial Culture, which consists of six interrelated dimensions: international market orientation, international learning orientation, international innovation propensity, international risk attitude, international networking orientation, and international motivation.     

High Performance Firms in a Complex New China

SUMMARY

A study published in the Journal of Global Marketing(Deshpandé and Farley 2000) found that, for a representative sample of Shanghai firms competing in business-to-business markets, success was related to innovativeness, a high level of market orientation, and outward-oriented organizational cultures and climates. Because of the great cultural diversity of China, questions were raised at that time and subsequently as to whether these results generalize to other parts of China. To the extent that the Shanghai results do generalize, the development of a more general strategy for dealing with Chinese business-to-business markets will be feasible. We compare organizational cultures and personal values of managers in representative samples of firms in six Chinese cities. There are indeed systematic differences among the cities- Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Shenzhen and Wuxi. Shanghai firms seem the best-positioned for transformation to a more market-oriented economy in terms of innovativeness and market orientation. There are also some differences among State-Owned Enterprises, Joint Ventures, Village-Based Enterprises and Wholly-Owned Foreign Subsidiaries. There are, however, clear patterns of similar response among firms which perform well in terms of high levels of innovativeness and market orientation, plus organizational cultures relatively open to outside influences. All kinds of firms seem to draw their managers from a pool of people who hold much the same kinds of values.     

Are Market Orientation and Learning Orientation Necessary for Superior Organizational Performance?

There exists contradictory theoretical arguments and counter-intuitive empirical results regarding the market orientation, learning orientation and organizational performance nexus. We ask, can we simplify relations in this nexus? This study analyzes data from Australian organisations and employs non-nested encompassing tests. Contrary to recent findings extolling the virtues of a learning orientation, our results suggest that a market orientation may be the pre-eminent strategy to achieve superior organizational performance.     

Market Orientation,Learning Orientation and Product Innovation: Delving into the Organization's Black Box

Many scholars now agree that market orientation is necessary, but not sufficient to facilitate the type of innovation that breeds long-term competitive advantage (cf. Dickson, 1996). In addition to a strong market orientation, a firm must also be able to institutionalize higher order learning processes, the type of learning that enables radical innovation. Recent research (cf. Baker and Sinkula, 1999) has empirically established a synergistic effect of market orientation and learning orientation on organizational performance. This paper attempts to add to the literature by offering a more complete theoretical explanation of how these two constructs interact to affect product innovation capabilities. Three types of marketing firms are identified. Phase I firms learn primarily through modeling and are typically limited to manager-driven incremental innovation. Phase II firms learn primarily through adaptive learning and are typically limited to market-driven incremental innovation. Phase III firms engage in generative learning and pursue ongoing radical innovation. We propose that only Phase III firms are capable of maintaining competitive advantage in dynamic market environments.     

Women entrepreneurship in small service firms: motivations,barriers and performance

This article presents an exploratory study on the characteristics of women entrepreneurs and the businesses they run in the Valencia region. Following a close look at the evolution of literature on women entrepreneurs, the study shows how different internal and external factors affect the motivation, obstacles and performance of firms created by women. These results contribute towards a better understanding of business creation by women as they provide an empirical contrast of these variables (motivation, barriers and performance). Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the characteristics of women entrepreneurs and the businesses they run in the Valencia Region of Spain, in order to contribute towards a better understanding of business creation by women, and the elements of motivation, barriers and success that influence and characterize the activities of women entrepreneurs. Design/methodology/approach: A random sample of businesses with women founders, in the service sector located in the Valencia Region, were surveyed with a personalized questionnaire focusing on the factors of expansion, financing, marital and family status. Findings: The results of the exploratory research show that different internal and external factors affect the motivation, obstacles to success and performance of firms created by women. It is clear that type of financial support, demographic factors, age at which the new business venture is undertaken, use of family loans and the initial size of firm are all instrumental in subsequent business success. Research limitations/implications: The research was undertaken using a relatively small sample of firms in one region of Spain. The study needs to replicated in a range of different countries in order to further test the generality and generalizability of the substantive results. The implications centre on women entrepreneurs' motivations, business success and failure. Originality/value: This paper contributes to a better understanding of business creation by women and the factors which are instrumental in their success, together with a better understanding of the potential obstacles and barriers.     

TMT社会网络、公司创业与企业绩效关系研究

拥有大量内外部信息资源的高管团队(TMT),其社会网络不但可以提供公司创业的机会来源,也是企业现在绩效和未来绩效的影响因素。TMT的社会网络只有通过公司创业机制才能转化为企业绩效的价值创造过程。中国背景下的实证研究显示:TMT社会网络、公司创业都与企业绩效正相关,对于企业而言,要高度重视通过管理手段激励整个高管团队的所有成员去构建有效的内外部社会网络;公司创业的价值增值中介作用也得到证实,公司创业发挥着重要的资源整合作用,有价值的TMT内外部社会网络只有充分融入企业的产品或服务创新,以及深层次的战略更新过程中,为企业的价值增值服务,才能转变为企业绩效。     

Organizational Structure and Performance in Dutch small Firms

The relationship between organizational structure and performance in small firms has received relatively limited attention over the last few decades. In understanding small firm performance this seems to be a serious omission. In this paper, we first present the rationale for including organizational structure in the analysis of small firm performance. Then, from the literature on organizational theory, we retrieve several dimensions that may be postulated to describe organizational structures of small firms. Based on the study of a stratified sample of 1411 Dutch small firms we show that nine structure stereotypes can be delineated. We further investigate the relevance of the empirical taxonomy by looking at the relationship with firm performance in terms of sales growth, profitability and innovativeness. Eventually, we conclude that organizational structure indeed matters and that it deserves to be taken into account in models and future analysis of small firm performance.     

Does market orientation pay off without brand orientation? A study of small business entrepreneurs

Market orientation and brand orientation are usually modelled as distinct antecedents of business performance, and the simultaneous performance effects of these orientations are empirically under-explored. Moreover, studies of market orientation and branding tend to focus on large corporations and the views of managers rather than the views of small business entrepreneurs. Addressing these research gaps, the current study explores market orientation and brand orientation by empirically testing their simultaneous effects on the business performance of small firms. Using primary data from 328 effective responses gathered from small business entrepreneurs, the study finds that market orientation improves the financial performance of a small firm only if it is implemented through brand orientation and eventually translated into brand performance. The results further indicate that older firms benefit more than younger firms from investing in branding, while younger firms benefit from paying attention to the actions of their rivals.     

关系营销导向研究:回顾与展望

关系营销导向是企业对关系营销理念的执行,是其获得可持续竞争优势和卓越绩效的关键因素。从关系营销导向的内涵、关系营销导向的测量及关系营销导向与企业绩效的关系三个方面,对国内外的相关文献进行了系统、全面的回顾和评述,在此基础上对未来可能的研究方向进行了展望。     

企业文化与企业绩效的关系研究——一致性和均衡性的观点

Building on the Competing Values Framework (CVF), we investigated the relationship between organizational culture and performance. The perspective of consistency and that of balance were applied to examine the relationship. We tested our hypotheses on a sample of 270 companies in China, which resulted in two major findings. First, the consistency between organizational culture and external environment was found positively associated with organizational performance. Consistency was operationalized as a match between an organization’s current culture and its preferred future culture. Second, balance of organizational culture was found positively correlate with organizational performance. A balanced culture was defined as one in which values of each of the CVF culture types are equally held. Translated and revised from Kexuexue yu kexue jishu guanli 科学学与科学技术맜理(Science of Science and Management of S. & T.), 2007, 28(8): 140–148