ICT,Innovation and Firm Performance: The Transition Economies Context

The aim of this article is to investigate the impact of information communication technologies (ICT) and innovation activities on firm performance using the Business Environment Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS) firm-level data in the three rounds: 2002, 2005, and 2008. The novelty of this research is based on the idea of studying the usage of ICT and innovation activities on firm performance by using dynamic approach so that we can estimate the adjustments that arise from the impact of ICT and innovation activities. The rapid technological development and the growing use of information technology (IT) in business organizations have become the center of attention in past few years. A bulk of literature has been published on the use of IT in different industries, different types of business organizations, and in different areas of business management. On the other hand, the probability of the firm to undertake innovation activities has shown to enhance firm performance. This study implements various estimations on BEEPS observations to test whether the change in the usage of ICT and other innovation determinants have increase the probability of firms to undertake innovation activities. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Adapting the Servqual Scale to a Private Hospital Emergency Services： An Empirical Investigation

Most of the time, clients only have one opportunity to evaluate a service received in terms of quality and satisfaction; under this premise organizations have been concerned with developing, in a permanent manner, a quality evaluation culture in the services offered to their clients. To do this, procedures and methods that let them achieve it, have been implemented. That is the case of the model that concedes to measure and evaluate service quality, which is redefined and named Servqual, considering a multidimensional theoretical construct that explains the client＇s perception of quality service considering the differences between what is expected and what is received. Therefore, the goal of this study is to identify the factors that define the quality of emergency services provided by a private hospital in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mtxico, a sample of 384 patients, with a confidence level of 95% and a margin of permissible error of 5%. A questionnaire with 22 items was applied to measure the perceptions and expectations of users in terms of the quality of the service, which was subjected to an extensive evaluation of reliability and construct validity, with an estimate Cronbach＇s alpha of 95.6% and 97.9% respectively. The results showed that Servqual is a valid, reliable, and dependable instrument to monitor and measure the quality of the services offered in private hospitals in Hermosillo, and permit hospital administrators to identify opportunities or improvement areas, from the patients＇ perspective.     

New Wine into Old Wineskins: Recent Developments in China’s Competition Policy Against Monopolistic/Collusive Agreements

China??s anti-monopoly law contains comprehensive legal rules against monopolistic/collusive agreements. However, the legal standards for defining monopolistic agreements and the applicability of exemption and leniency programs need to be further clarified. Moreover, several coordination problems caused by the special organizational features of China??s antitrust institutions need to be addressed carefully. The Chinese antitrust authorities therefore face tremendous challenges in enforcement given both the intrinsic complications of monopolistic conduct and the existence of some inadequacies in the existing competition policy regime.     

Efficient entrepreneurial culture: a cross-country analysis of developed countries

Entrepreneurship, together with national cultural values, may improve a country’s GDP levels. Under this hypothesis, the aim of this paper is to analyse the relationships between the levels of entrepreneurship, cultural values, and of GDP per capita in a sample of 27 developed countries, by identifying an efficient combination of culture and entrepreneurship variables, under the concept of efficient entrepreneurial culture, that maximises GDP per capita. Through the application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology, nine countries have been identified as having an efficient entrepreneurial culture. The implications derived for policy-makers are substantial, since a better understanding of cultural effects on entrepreneurship can lead to improvements in the design of governmental programmes that foster cultural values related to high-quality entrepreneurship.     

International entrepreneurship in resource-rich landlocked African countries

Despite the increase in research about international entrepreneurship, relatively little is known about the process in Africa. This is due to the disparity between the actualization of business ventures and global perceptions of African entrepreneurs. As a result of the diversity of countries within the African continent, the nature of international entrepreneurship varies with cultural and historical context. To address this research gap, we discuss how international entrepreneurship in Africa differs to the more studied traditionally North American and European perspective. To do this we develop a number of research propositions for resource-rich landlocked African countries (Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) that have unique characteristics in terms of how they approach international entrepreneurship. The research propositions suggest that resource-rich landlocked African countries need to focus on informal networks and cultural attributes as a way to differentiate themselves in the international marketplace. Managerial implications and theoretical research suggestions for differentiating resource-rich landlocked African countries from the more resource scarce and coastal countries are stated.     

Perceived environmental uncertainty in tourism: A new approach using the Rasch model

One of the core steps in all strategic management processes, but especially in tourism firms, is the consideration of the organisational environment. A methodology for scanning that environment is presented from the perspective of perceived environmental uncertainty, according to its dynamism and complexity. To that end, the Rasch model [Rasch, G. (1980). Probabilistic models for some intelligence and attainment tests. Chicago: University of Chicago Press (First publication in 1960, Chicago, IL. MESA Press)] is applied, and both dimensions are considered latent variables defined by a set of items. The concepts are assessed using a sample of tourism firms located in the Canary Islands (Spain). The results confirm that dynamism and complexity are related to the perception of uncertainty, and a specific function is presented. The environmental uncertainty can then be explained and determined with regard only to the managers’ perceptions, without the need to include parameters. The methodology also enables managers and institutions to identify the most uncertain perceived items.     

OECD imports: diversification of suppliers and quality search

We posit that OECD buyers are in a continuous search for best quality suppliers from developing countries. We build a simple model of adverse selection and quality screening which captures this feature. The model predicts that diversification happens by “bouts”, or temporary episodes, during which OECD buyers search for high-quality suppliers. Each diversification episode is followed by a phase of re-concentration on the best performers, until those fail (which happens stochastically), triggering new search phases. The model also shows that concentration across origin is highly volatile, especially for goods with high-quality heterogeneity. Finally, as the set of suppliers expands and buyers continue sampling, the overall trend is an increased diversification across time. We empirical explore these conjectures using OECD imports over time (1963–2006) and measuring their concentration across 250 origin countries at the product level (1,300 products). We provide strong empirical evidence corroborating the model predictions.