The Influence of Innovative Organizational Culture on Marketing Strategy Formulation and Results

ABSTRACT

This article's objective is to analyze the influence innovative organizational culture has on marketing strategy formulation and results, and how this relationship affects organizational performance. The theoretical basis lies in Menon et al.'s (1999 Menon , A. , Bharadwaj , S. G. , Adidam , P. T. , and Edison , S. W. ( 1999 ). Antecedents and consequences of marketing strategy making: A model and a test . Journal of Marketing , 63 , 18 – 40 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) model. The methodology included a survey with medium to large Brazilian companies in different sectors. The final sample consisted of 153 questionnaires that were valid for analysis. Techniques for statistical analysis including singular and multivariate methods were used, from which the relationships between constructs were established by structural equation modeling. Results show a positive relationship between innovative organizational culture, the marketing strategy process, and organizational performance. However, innovative culture does not have a direct influence on performance.     

Environmental factors and satisfaction in a specialty store

Given the intense competition experienced in the sector, retailers have been designing strategies to create an environment conducive to consumer satisfaction and purchase, particularly in supermarkets and hypermarkets. This paper develops a conceptualization of customer satisfaction based on field data collected in a specialty store, focusing on the relative importance of the environmental factors on satisfaction. The results show that the most important environmental determinant of customer satisfaction is the variety of products. The help from employees, lighting, layout and design also stand out from the set of stimuli considered.     

Breaking new ground: base-of-pyramid service research

Two-thirds of the world's population lives in poverty, a global problem that researchers from a wide variety of disciplines study. Yet there is a fundamental lack of service research pertaining to this huge segment of society, commonly known as the base of the pyramid. This segment offers a rich source of information that could help break new ground in service research, by exploring services in contexts in which its current concepts, models, theories, and generalizations might not apply the same way. This article starts by exploring key contributions in base of the pyramid literature and identifying the main perspectives from which extant knowledge has developed. By revising existing service research priorities to identify useful intersections with base of the pyramid perspectives, this study offers new grounds deriving five research streams that reflect the integration of base of the pyramid research perspectives with service research priorities. Finally, this article details the emerging area of base of the pyramid service research using one of those research priorities, namely, transformative service research, in an effort to specify the relevant objectives, scopes, differences, and similarities and thereby identify common grounds for future service research at the base of the pyramid.     

Education, credentials, and immigrant earnings

Abstract.  Using 1981 to 2001 Census data, we study how the human capital of immigrants is rewarded in Canada. We distinguish between years of schooling and degrees obtained in order to estimate 'sheepskin' effects – the gain in earnings associated with receipt of a degree, controlling for years of schooling. We find that immigrant years of schooling and immigrant work experience accumulated before arrival is valued much less than Canadian experience of comparable natives. However, for immigrants the increase in earnings associated with completing educational programs is generally higher than that of comparable natives. We provide both signalling and human capital interpretations of this finding.     

EU Enlargement and Inward FDI

The authors attempt to highlight the effects of the recent surge of FDI in the enlargement states on domestic investment and growth. A similar analysis is carried out for the EU-15 in order to ascertain whether this type of capital inflow has a differential impact in these two regions of the European Union. Empirical analysis, based on dynamic panel data models, suggests the existence of a positive contribution of FDI to greater domestic investment and economic growth in the new member states. The evidence obtained for the EU-15 old member countries confirms the FDI-growth nexus but does not suggest a positive impact of FDI on domestic investment, which would be consistent with these capital inflows being of a different nature for these more advanced economies.     

What drives idiosyncratic volatility over time?

We document the patterns of market-wide and firm-specific volatility in the Portuguese stock market over the 1991–2005 period and test several explanations for the behavior of firm-level idiosyncratic volatility. Unlike previous studies we find no evidence of a statistically significant rise in firm-specific volatility. On the contrary, the ratio of firm-specific risk to total risk slightly decreases. We show that this result stems from new listings of large privatized companies that display lower firm-specific risk. Our findings are consistent with the idea that changes in idiosyncratic volatility are related to changes in the composition of the market.

Wage and hour violations in urban labour markets: a comparison of Los Angeles,New York and Chicago

This article compares violations of minimum wage laws and other labour standards in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago. Los Angeles has the highest violation rates, due to such factors as its industrial composition and disproportionately large number of small establishments, as well as its vast unauthorised immigrant population. In addition, Los Angeles’ higher rates reflect the stricter legal standards in California. We conclude that, although stronger workplace laws and regulations are crucial, in the absence of effective enforcement, they may fail to prevent workplace violations.     

Why are Some Engaged and Not Others? Explaining Environmental Engagement among Small Firms in Tourism

This paper examines the reasons for different levels of environmental engagement among small firms in tourism. Drawing on theories of motivation, notably Social Cognitive Theory, Motivation Systems Theory and Goal Orientation Theory, as well as the literature on environmental sensitivity, it proposes a novel conceptual framework that is subsequently used to inform an empirical study. The findings of the research suggest that varying levels of environmental engagement may be explained by differences in worldviews, self‐efficacy beliefs, context beliefs and goal orientation. The paper concludes by considering the policy implications of the results. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An analysis of the construct “involvement” in consumer behaviour

The aim of this paper is to analyse the construct involvement. Specifically, the present work extends the sphere of study of the construct involvement at brand level, applying it to Denominations of Origin (D.O.s). Hence, after an overview of the concept, it suggests a cognitive approach to the measurement of involvement. It proposes as indicators the number of values associated with this designation, the centrality of these values and the intensity of the association. In this delimitation of the concept, a model is presented that is set within the framework of an analysis of the decision-making process adopted by consumers when purchasing wine. This postulates that temporary involvement with a D.O. has explanatory power, as does the direct effect of the regular outcomes of a permanent involvement with such a designation on the process in question. In addition, a correlation is proposed between the state of temporary involvement with a D.O. and the continuing consequences of a permanent involvement with this designation.     

Institutions and human resource practices in European countries

Abstract

Stemming from differences between approaches to new institutionalism, this paper analyses the impact of institutions on the adoption of human resource practices (HRP) in organizations. With this aim in mind, two opposing hypotheses are presented: should configurations of national institutions be related to the actual implementation of HRP by organizations or not? This empirical analysis uses a sample of 29,959 employees who work in organizations established in 27 European countries and takes into account the employees’ perception about the HRP used in their organizations and which affect them. The results support the approach to new institutionalism that emphasizes legitimacy and isomorphism, since these results show empirical regularities when countries are compared. Specifically, a country’s configurations of regulative, normative and cognitive institutions are related to the actual implementation of HRP, such as internal promotion, job participation, job design, work-life balance, job training, assessment and teamwork. These results suggest relevant practical implications for human resource managers and policy-makers.