International Entrepreneurship as a Dynamic Adaptive System: Towards a Grounded Theory

This paper is based on a primary assumption: That the internationalizing smaller firms are different from large international firms, such as multinational enterprises (MNEs); and therefore, the process of internationalization and growth of smaller firms may not follow processes stipulated in the extant theories of MNEs and international business processes (IBPs). Even the primary orientations and theoretical constructs used in IBP and the theory of multinationals are different from those in entrepreneurship: While the former focuses on the institution of the “firm” the latter concentres on the “entrepreneur” as internationalizing entities. This paper will suggest a theoretical framework capable of integrating this prevailing fragmentation. The framework is based on the tenets of dynamic open complex adaptive system (DOCAS), comprising three layers, reflecting entrepreneurs (or entrepreneurial teams), firms and markets to reflect their own dynamics as well as the inter-relations and interactions of entities within and across layers within the framework. After a brief review of the basic characteristics of a simple DOCAS and the major attributes of entities populating each layer in the framework, the interdependencies and interactions within and across layers are highlighted. This framework presents a coherent and comprehensive structure capable of housing the next six papers contained in this issue. They are reviewed and highlighted from the perspective of the proposed framework. These papers support the proposed framework substantively. The proposed grounded framework appears to lay the foundation for the research and theory necessary for enhancing our understanding of IBP and internationalization in smaller firms. Conclusion and implications of the papers are presented at the end.     

Productivity of the Service Sector: A Regional Perspective

In this article we analyse the evolution of productivity in the service sector for the Spanish Regions during the period 1986-94. The study environment has been limited to marketed services. Within this group of activities, we set out an analysis for different branches of activity - credit and insurance, transports and communications, and other marketed services. The methodology used includes tools such as data envelopment analysis to measure technical efficiency, the Malmquist indexes to determine the evolution of the productive change and the break-up of total efficiency into intra-sectorial efficiency and composition efficiency. The results at a national level show a tendency to drop of total efficiency until 1990 and a later recovery until the end of the analysed period. This evolution is explained by the behaviour of the composition efficiency, while the intra-sectorial efficiency maintains quite a uniform growth in this period.     

Diversification Strategies for the Service Sector

No abstract available for this article.     

就业吸纳、产业集聚与生产者服务业发展

本文根据新经济地理学、产业经济学、城市经济学、制度经济学等理论体系和现有文献成果,将区域地位、市场规模、人力资本、信息技术及制度环境等纳入到生产者服务业就业吸纳、聚集发展等影响因素的分析框架中,对全国232个地级及以上城市的生产者服务业就业吸纳、聚集发展进行定量研究,并对影响因素和机制进行了阐释。     

Time Use and the Dynamics of the Service Sector

This article looks cat the historical dynamics of service provision from a rather unusual perspective - the change in patterns of time use. It discusses a mechanism whereby activity potterns in ‘the economy ‘may be accountedfor in terms of time rather than money, and shows how this form of economic activity is associated with other rextra-economic 3 sorts of productive and leisure activities. It presents time-budget d0ta from a number of different developed economies, showing historical changes in time allocation patterns, and relates these to more conventional indicators of economic structure.     

Optimizing Job Scheduling in the Service Sector

No abstract available for this article.     

Measuring Service Quality in a Corporatised Public Sector Environment

ABSTRACT

Using a modified SERVQUAL scale, this paper measures perceived service quality in a corporatised public sector environment. Five factors were identified: personalised proficiency, empathic professionalism, reliability, tangibles and access; explaining 61% of overall variance. Further analysis using multiple regression also indicated that 45% of the variability in customer satisfaction and 43% of the variability in overall service quality was explained by the five factors. The research was conducted in response to calls for the application of this measure and following a review of extant literature that indicated the limited number of studies undertaken within the public sector that assessed service quality.     

Marketing Effectiveness and Customer Retention in the Service Sector

Recent years have witnessed a growth in the number of studies relating to service orgrrnisations. This steady stream of literature could be attributed to the continuous expansion of the service sector and its increasing contribution to the advancement of many economies. In this context, issues associated with marketing and performance outcomes which managers can influence directly have received a great deal of attention. This research focuses on an empirical investigation of the relationship between marketing effectiveness and customer retention performance in an attempt to contribute to the growing body of conceptual and empiricul knowledge on the links between marketing and performance among service firms. Drawing on our results which indicate a significant and positive association between marketing effectiveness and customer retention, implications of the findings for service firm managers as well as future research directions are subsequently discussed.     

我国服务业的发展态势与策略

"十五"时期与21世纪初期,顺应国民经济发展形势,我国四类服务业呈现不同的发展态势:传统流通服务业将放缓增长速度,占服务业的比重会下降;生产服务业、消费资料型服务业以及政府公共服务部门将加速发展,占服务业的比重会上升.因此,政策层面上采取相应的策略:重点扶持生产服务业、消费资料型服务业、提供社会急需公共服务的政府部门发展;变革传统流通服务业;消除阻碍新兴服务业发展的制度掣肘,积极推动其市场化进程.     

物流服务供应链:理论架构与研究范式

文章为给物流服务供应链的研究提供理论架构,在对物流服务供应链的内涵和结构进行归纳的基础上,提出了物流服务供应链的研究基础:企业物流网络。并对企业物流网络的内涵、运作和结构进行剖析。提出了物流服务供应链的研究范式:服务主导逻辑。对服务主导逻辑的内容进行了探讨,在此基础上,对服务主导逻辑下物流服务供应链的价值创造机理与传导规律进行了研究。最后,提出了服务主导逻辑下的物流服务供应链的未来研究主题。     

Differentiation through Service: A Perspective from the Commodity Chemicals Sector

This article examines the role of service as a differentiating factor in the marketing of commodity chemicals. The commodity chemicals sector is characterised by high volume products that are fundamentally undifferentiable by product characteristics, made to an industrial standard often produced with a technology that is common amongst competing producers, with high exit cost due as a result of extensive capital investment. In addition many segments of the market exhibit excess supply over demand. The research, based on an empirical study of companies in the sector and their supply chain relationships, suggests that service and relationship management are key strategies used by companies to escape the commodity trap and gain competitive advantage. The results of the study are discussed in the context of the services marketing continuum and using the servitisation model. The implications of the findings are that, if firms in this sector wish to break out of the commodity trap of blind allegiance to cost leadership as a generic strategy, then they must seek methods of differentiation. The article concludes that a servitisation strategy placed in the context of relationship management can be a means of creating differentiation advantage in a traditionally cost orientated sector     

Employment Policies in the Service Sector: Training in Retail Distribution

This article presents in summary the results of the recent study by the Distributive Trades EDCs Part-Time Employment Group, which focussed attention on the training practices and career opportunities for this major and increasing component of the labour force of retail firms. There is no great certainty or unanimity about the training needs of retail staff, and differences in skill requirements are evident across the various retail trades and diverse organisational structures. Retailing is a dynamic and rapidly changing industry arid employers are not unaware of the training needs associated with labour intense operations yet the training implications of the industry's considerable dependence on part-time workers do not appear to be fully appreciated. In discussing the Report's findings in the context of the ongoing training debate in Britain, it is argued that the corporate strategies of retailers must comprehend the centrality of the training function, if effective use is to be made of all their employees.     

Service Sector Restrictiveness and Economic Performance: An Estimation for the MENA Region

This article aims to assess barriers to service provision in the banking and telecom sectors of four Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries, and the impact of these barriers on firm performance. Our methodology involves the computation of aggregate and modal trade restrictiveness indices (TRIs) by sector, and utilisation of these TRIs as regressors of firms’ economic performance. Our analysis shows that significant regulatory reforms have taken place in the service sectors over the last decade in the MENA region, but that a broad range of restrictions still remain. The most significant change in these service sectors has been the lifting or softening of constraints on foreign equity participation. These regulatory reforms, however, have had varying degrees of impact on market structure depending on the country, the sector and the mode. Moreover, service restrictions have had an impact on economic performance in the three studied sectors. While a rent‐creating effect seems to dominate restrictions on banking and fixed telecom sectors, a cost‐inefficiency effect seems to dominate the mobile telecom sector. Finally, we find evidence of interactions between modal restrictions for banking services. Our results suggest a complementarity between Modes 3 and 1, as well as a substitution effect between Modes 3 and 4 in the banking sector.     

Linking Brand Orientation with Service Quality,Satisfaction, and Positive Word-of-Mouth: Evidence from the Higher Education Sector

Brand orientation has been recognized as having a positive impact on organizational performance in both commercial and nonprofit sectors. However, limited studies have examined the moderating effects of brand orientation in the nonprofit sector, particularly in the higher education context. This study attempts to examine the construct of brand orientation from the perspective of the students and examine its moderating role on the relationship between service quality, satisfaction, loyalty, and word-of-mouth (WOM) communication behavior. Two hundred and fifty-eight questionnaires were completed by undergraduate students of an Australian university. The study found that students’ perception of a university’s brand orientation significantly moderates the relationship between service quality, loyalty, and WOM communication behavior. Significant managerial and theoretical implications were identified.     

First Class Service, First Class Enjoyment —— Guangzhou Asia International Hotel

Situated in Guangzhou, Guangdong Asia International Hotel is the newest five starluxurious high intelligence exhibition business hotel. It is located the golden business center and the main road of Guangzhou-Huangshi East Road. It is only fifteen minutes＇ drive from Guangzhou train station, forty minutes＇ drive to Guangzhou New Baiyun International Airport.     

迎中国入世,创服务品牌--访上海东浩国际服务贸易(集团)有限公司董事长黄耀文

本世纪的初春,记者慕名拜访了全国外经贸系统首家国际服务贸易集团的掌舵人,上海东浩国际服务贸易(集团)有限公司(以下简称东浩集团)董事长黄耀文先生. 这家成立于三年前,外经贸部决定把国际服务贸易的试点放在上海、上海外经贸委实行大集团战略背景下的企业集团,1998年被列入上海市政府重点扶植的54家大型企业集团.三年来励精图治,2000年年营业额达56.7亿元,比1997年增长96%,其中进出口额增长55%,服务贸易额增长154%.     

Global Competitive Pressures,Labour Market and Employment Issues in the Japanese Service Sector

Global competition of products and services leads to rapid changes in the economy, industry and management. Judging from the industrial employment structure in Japan, the lower prices of foreign goods and services will drive the unemployment rate up in the long run. The Japanese economy urgently requires the growth of business and job opportunities, and therefore the role of employment protection legislation should be re-examined from the viewpoint of encouraging business activities. Analysis of the case study shows that managers in the growing service sector have positive attitudes towards employment growth and the expansion of business activities if the following measures are introduced: the deregulation of redundancy dismissals, the introduction of arbitrary work with performance pay, and legislative enforcement against age discrimination for hiring and firing.     

加入世贸组织后我国服务业外商直接投资的发展趋势与对策

我国加入世贸组织后,服务业吸引的外商直接投资必将发生一定的变化,总体增长速度将加快,服务业外商直接投资的比重将有所上升。面对新形势,我国应采取必要的对策,进一步开放服务市场,在产业政策上积极引导、合理安排服务业的外商直接投资,并在立法上对服务业投资加强监管和规范。     

Development of the Service Sector: A Critical Survey of Macro-economic Models

The slow-down in the economic growth and the rise in unemployment have revived the discussion about the oppor- tunities for growth through the development of the service sector. This article reviews what models tell us about the mechanism of the development of the service industries. An attempt b made to specify the relative importance of demand and supply aspects of the service economy and to indicate the black holes in our knowledge.