New Product Team Decision Making: Regulatory Focus Effects on Number,Type, and Timing Decisions*

Company executives rely on new product development teams to carry out their directives and make decisions according to management's goals. However, team members bring their own motivational perspectives to strategic decisions. This research examines how individual and leadership motivations influence a dyadic team's new product decisions. Specifically, this article investigates how matching vs. mismatched motivations between team members affect new product number, type, and timing decisions. In addition, this study asks how effective leadership‐provided motivations are in guiding teams' new product decisions. A set of hypotheses is developed using regulatory focus theory, which identifies basic motivational differences in individuals (i.e., promotion vs. prevention focus) and their effects on decision making. The hypotheses examine the effects of regulatory focus match vs. mismatch within teams on the likelihood to introduce new products, the timing of new product introductions, and the types of new products introduced. To test the hypotheses, a controlled, yet realistic product management simulation is employed. A total of 124 undergraduate seniors (83 women and 41 men) at a large public university enrolled in a marketing management capstone course participated in this study for partial course credit. Utilizing two‐person teams engaged in a business simulation ensured an appropriate level of controlled complexity in the decision making task, while allowing the phenomena of interest to be isolated and tested. Results show that when dyads share the same motivational approach (regulatory focus match), leadership‐prescribed goal pursuit strategies are largely ineffective. Only dyads that do not share the same motivational approach to decision making (regulatory focus mismatch) make new product decisions consistent with leadership‐prescribed goal pursuit strategies. For regulatory focus match dyads, the results demonstrate that a promotion focus (when compared to a prevention focus) leads to greater numbers of new products introduced, faster new product introductions, and more novel new product introductions. For new product managers, these results carry important implications. Which new product opportunities to invest in and which to forgo is presumably determined by the strategic direction given to teams by top management. Results suggest that when team members share the same motivational approach, this not only influences new product decisions, but also diminishes or eliminates the influence top management can exert on new product decisions. Such “isolation” from leadership influences does not have to be detrimental. For example, companies that seek to insulate new product development teams from influences from the top, such as is the case in many new venture incubations, would be well served to staff those teams ensuring a promotion focus match.     

The link between reconstruction and development

Reconstruction after an earthquake should improve the residents' standard of living. Local social and cultural values and resources should be incorporated into reconstruction and development efforts.     

Analysis of fatal injuries in Serbian underground coal mines – 50 years review

Abstract

The study presented here analyzes mining accidents and fatal injuries in Serbian underground coal mines over a period of 50?years, in order to assess the effectiveness of legislation changes in the overall safety of work environment. Two distinct periods, prior to 2000 and after 2000 were compared. The data from the period after 2000 were further analyzed to provide better understanding of the results. In order to assess the overall state of safety in Serbian mines, the data on fatal injuries were also compared to the international data. It was found that the legislative changes are more easily accepted by the common workers than by the mine management. Consequently, the key recommendation for the safety of coal mine companies in Serbia is the investment in the new technology. Additionally, mine management should be in the focus of the mining inspection with a stronger penal policy regarding mine safety neglect.     

Self-management and protection of consumers in Yugoslavia

Yogoslav socialist society has applied the system of self-management also to the protection of consumers. Social compacts as guaranteed by the Constitution of 1974 and the Law of Associated Labour of 1976 may be negotiated among organizations of producers, trade, and consumers. A system of specific consumer codexes containing standards of quality, price, advertising, claim-handling, etc., has spread in Yugoslav society. A new draft consumer code is available for adoption by all consumer and associated labour organizations as from 1977.

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Zusammenfassung Die jugoslawische sozialistische Gesellschaft hat das System der Selbstverwaltung auch zum Schutz des Verbrauchers entwickelt. Kollektivverträge, wie sie in der Verfassung von 1974 und dem Gesetz über die selbstverwaltete Arbeit von 1976 zugrundegelegt sind, können zwischen Organisationen der Produzenten, des Handels und der Verbraucher abgeschlossen werden. Ein System spezieller »Verbraucherkodizes«, die Regeln über Qualität, Preis und Werbung enthalten sowie die Behandlung von Verbraucherbeschwerden vorsehen, überzieht die jugoslawische Gesellschaft. Ein neuer Muster-»Verbraucherkodex« steht seit 1977 allen Konsumentenorganisationen und Vereinigungen der assoziierten Arbeit offen.

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Jelena Vilus is Professor of Law at the Institute of Comparative Law, Terazije 41, 11000 Beograd, Yugoslavia.     

Understanding the dynamics behind bank branch service quality in Portugal: pursuing a holistic view using fuzzy cognitive mapping

Using fuzzy cognitive mapping, this study aims to create a holistic framework whereby the determinants of bank branch service quality and their cause-and-effect relationships can be identified and dynamically analyzed. The methodology is applied using a group of experts from the banking industry in Portugal. Our results not only indicate the applicability and usefulness of the proposed approach, but identify human resource characteristics (which include collaborators’ personal and professional training) and management team technical skills as particularly relevant driving forces of bank branch service quality. The proposal holds great potential for the operational planning and improvement of bank branch service quality, which is a prime concern for bank administrators, bank branch collaborators, and society at large. Advantages and shortcomings of the framework are also reported.     

Cost efficiency of Slovenian water distribution utilities: an application of stochastic frontier methods

This study estimates cost inefficiency and economies of scale of Slovenian water distribution utilities over the 1997–2003 period by employing several different stochastic frontier methods. The results indicate that significant cost inefficiencies are present in the utilities. An introduction of incentive-based price regulation scheme might help resolve this problem. However, the inefficiency scores obtained from different cost frontier models are not found to be robust. The levels of inefficiency estimates as well as the rankings depend on the econometric specification of the model. The established lack of robustness can be at least partly explained by different ability of the models to separate unobserved heterogeneity from inefficiency. Newly proposed true fixed effects model (Greene, J Econom 126:269–303, 2005; J Prod Anal 23(1):7–32, 2005) appears to perform better than the conventional panel data models with respect to distinguishing between unobserved heterogeneity and inefficiency. On the other hand, different models produce fairly robust results with respect to estimates of economies of output density, customer density and economies of scale. The optimal size of a company is found to closely corresponds to the sample median. Economies of scale are found in small-sized utilities, while large companies exhibit diseconomies of scale.

A theoretical and empirical investigation into investment activities of technologically-intensive Chinese state-owned enterprises in the UK

This paper examines the determinants of direct investment in the UK by technology-intensive Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs). It also investigates the ways in which investment strategies are being employed for entry to the UK and to achieve access to technology. Drawing on an inductive case study strategy it is found that Chinese SOEs are motivated by their ambitions to close the technology gap by tapping into UK knowledge networks. In terms of entry strategies, the findings indicate that the initial focus on existing technology subsequently shifts to the creation of added R&D capacity and new technology. This is achieved from a permanent UK R&D base which is integrated into the parent companies’ wider R&D networks. Technology creation is enabled by adoption of divergent management practices, especially at operational level, reflecting the parent companies’ surprisingly adaptable mindsets.     

Reduction of child poverty in Serbia: Benefit or employment strategy?

Based on the Serbian Survey of Income and Living Conditions (SILC) and tax benefits and structural microsimulation models, we evaluate the labour supply and distributive effects of several reform strategies concerning two major social transfers in Serbia: child allowance and social monetary assistance. Our results show that, in a context of a low labour participation rate, and high unemployment and informality rates, a benefit strategy is by far the more cost‐effective option for reducing child poverty than an employment strategy that aims to raise the work incentives for parents. Both proposed reforms are found to be progressive.     

Local and global illiquidity effects in the Balkans frontier markets

We study market illiquidity across 11 national markets of the Balkans. In general, the EU member countries are more liquid than the nonmember countries. Turkey, however, has the most liquid market, while Serbia and Bosnia are the least liquid. Global illiquidity sourced from the US has a strong and positive impact on pricing in eight of the Balkans markets. In contrast, illiquidity transmitted from the EU impacts expected returns in only two instances, while local illiquidity is significant for just one market. Croatia and Slovenia are most susceptible to transmissions of regional illiquidity, each receiving illiquidity spillovers from four sources.