A coopetition perspective of global competition

This article elucidates an increasingly prevalent facet of global competition: simultaneous competition and cooperation between global rivals (i.e., coopetition). In order to develop an overall framework to analyze coopetition, this article explains why coopetition occurs, discusses situations in which cooperation or competition increases or decreases in a coopetition scheme, and presents a typology for understanding the intensity and diversity of coopetition with major global rivals. The typology of the intensity of coopetition identifies four situations (contending, isolating, partnering, and adapting) to describe the varying degrees of cooperation and competition between a pair of global rivals. To capture the diversity of coopetition, this article also identifies four positions (dispersing, concentrating, connecting, and networking), depending on the number of global rivals and the number of international markets the firm involves in coopetition. The article provides several broad guidelines for building coopetition relationships.     

An assessment of Colombian managers' perceptions of international strategic alliances

This article reports the results of a survey of Colombian managers concerning their perceptions of strategic alliances with foreign firms. The survey focuses in particular on partner selection and the managerial expectations from such partnerships, as well as the potential difficulties involved in developing interfirm linkages. The survey of Colombian managers shows that international strategic alliances are considered a viable approach to building a competitive advantage, especially in domestic markets, either through acquiring Western technology or marketing know-how. However, the survey results also suggest that a number of obstacles need to be overcome. The important considerations in partner selection, competence building through strategic alliances, and dealing with potential problems in establishing interfirm partnerships are discussed. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A cognitive style perspective on ethical questions

Previous research has shown that cognitive style impacts several areas of human behavior of interest to marketers. This article reports the results of an exploratory study testing the proposition that cognitive style can influence one's perceptions of what is and is not a matter of ethics. The findings indicate that cognitive style can play a role in one's perceptions of ethics, and may help further our understanding of the factors that bear on ethical points of view.Roger P. McIntyre is Assistant Professor of Marketing at East Carolina University. He has published in theJournal of Macromarketing, theJournal of Travel Research, theInternational Marketing Review, theJournal of Euromarketing, and numerous proceedings. His research interests center on the influence of cognitive style on marketing relationships.Margaret M. Capen is an Associate Professor of Decision Sciences at East Carolina University, with a Ph.D. in Economics. She has published in such journals asApplied Economics, Journal of Industrial Relations, andThe Real Estate Appraiser. Her primary research interest is in applied linear models.The authors thank Michael P. Mokwa for his guidance.     

Evidence on managers' perceptions of effects of government control of the business environment: A Study of the republic of Korea

This study provides empirical evidence on the perceptions of business managers on pertinent environmental variables affected by government control in a newly industrializing country. We document that the majority of surveyed firms are aware of the effect of government control on their activities. Managers perceive that political, legal, technological, and economic environments are potent sources of uncertainty (or value enhancement) for their firms as a result of government control. Furthermore, some firm-and industry-specific characteristics were found to buttress managers' perceptions of the effects of government control on their environments. To optimize foreign investments, these findings suggest that expanding firms strategically approach their entry into such foreign markets. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The importance of ethics to job performance: An empirical investigation of managers' perceptions

This study probed a crucial assumption underlying much of the ethics theory and research: do managers perceive ethical behavior to be an important personal job requirement? A large sample of managers from a cross-section of industries and job functions indicated that, compared to other job duties, certain ethical behaviors were moderate to somewhat major parts of their jobs. Some noteworthy differences by industry, organization size, tenure and job function were also found. These findings underscore the importance of ethics for business education. They also have implications for manager selection, training, and development by organizations.     

Corporate responsibility perceptions in change: Finnish managers' views on stakeholder issues from 1994 to 2004

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the changes in Finnish managers' corporate responsibility perceptions from 1994 to 2004. Following earlier research, the concept of corporate responsibility is operationalised using the stakeholder approach. Empirically, we ask how managers' views on stakeholder issues have changed during the 10‐year research period, and how managers' stakeholder orientation compares with their economic orientation. The data were collected using a survey research instrument in the years 1994, 1999 and 2004. The research results show a positive change in managers' corporate responsibility perceptions during this time period. In addition, managers' stakeholder orientation seems to be in balance with their economic orientation. However, the economic context – in terms of both their own company's economic position and the general economic situation – has an effect on managers' stakeholder orientation.     

Social ties between SME managers and bank employees: Financial consequences vs. SME managers' perceptions

We investigate whether social ties between SME managers and bank employees affect SME access to lending, investment, growth and profitability. On the one hand, we examine the influence of social ties on financial indicators based on SME financial statements; on the other hand, we study the impact of social ties on SME managers' perceptions of their firms' main banks. Using a dataset from Poland, we find that social ties improve SMEs' access to bank financing and stimulate their investments. However, this positive impact occurs only when social ties involve bank decision-makers. In contrast, SME managers perceive all types of social ties with bank workers as valuable.     

Effects of managers' entrepreneurial behavior on subordinates

The recent surge of interest in promoting corporate entrepreneurship seems linked to a growing body of empirical evidence of a positive relationship between a firm's entrepreneurial orientation and its improved financial performance. Logical induction suggests that organizations that promote corporate entrepreneurship must employ managers who are entrepreneurial in their behaviors. By extension, it would seem that managers who are entrepreneurial must have a positive impact on their subordinates if the organization's entrepreneurial initiatives are to be successful. Unfortunately, despite the implicit appeal of this logic, what would “seem” to be true has not yet been substantiated empirically.To address this shortcoming and to provide managers with information from which to judge their efforts to promote corporate entrepreneurship, research was undertaken to address two specific research questions:

• 1.1. What behaviors distinguish managers who exhibit an entrepreneurial orientation?
• 2.2. How do subordinates judge the actions of managers who work for an organizational metamorphosis to an entrepreneurial model of management?

Providing a rigorous assessment of these issues necessitated the selection of a setting not typically seen as receptive to entrepreneurial initiatives. Thus, the data were collected from the two largest units of an electric utility system, one with 8,000 employees and $2.847 billion in 1992 revenues and the other with 10,000 employees and $4.297 billion in 1992 revenues. Together, these units employed 60% of the corporate staff and generated 89% of total corporate revenues.Because of the perception of the company's top management that the prospect of deregulation, if not its inevitability, threatened the viability of the company's traditional management style, executives considered specific programs to become more competitive. They formulated a plan for the long-term development of an entrepreneurial organization based on the belief of the company's executives that its future success required fundamental change in corporate culture and competitive posture.To track the evolution of its managers toward an entrepreneurial orientation, the company used two survey instruments developed with and administered by executives of the company to monitor each manager's progress and to evaluate its impact.To assess the types and frequency of entrepreneurial behaviors among managers, a theoretically driven, management “behaviors” questionnaire was developed. Eleven of its items were designed to assess entrepreneurial behavior as a distinguishable subset of generally advocated management practice. This survey was administered by the company to all 833 immediate subordinates of each of 102 individual managers.A second survey instrument, completed approximately 6 months after the behaviors questionnaire, was used to assess the “effects” of the managers' behaviors. Of particular interest were 12 questions from this instrument that measured the satisfaction levels of the 102 managers' 1,522 immediate and second level subordinates with the supervision that they received, i.e., the 12 items provided an indication of the effects of managers' entrepreneurial behaviors on their subordinates' satisfaction with the managers.The results of the data analyses support the idea that managers who are entrepreneurial in their behavior have a positive impact on their subordinates' satisfaction with their supervisors. The results indicate that as entrepreneurial behaviors increased, subordinates' satisfaction with supervision increased. Whereas 62% of the subordinates of entrepreneurial managers reported high levels of satisfaction with their supervisors, 69% of subordinates of bureaucratic managers reported low levels of satisfaction with their supervisors. Further analysis indicated that eight of 11 of the “behaviors” survey items were able to discriminate high and low subordinate satisfaction. This demonstrated that the scale developed through this research is robust in the measurement of entrepreneurial behaviors of managers.The major contributions of this study were in the development and validation of a scale that can be used to gauge entrepreneurial behaviors, and the finding that corporate entrepreneurship, as gauged by these behaviors, was well received by subordinates even when entrepreneurial management was counter to its organization's preexisting culture.     

Business ethics: A cross-cultural comparison of managers' attitudes

A comparison of attitudes among managers from France, Germany and the United States is made with respect to codes of ethics and ethical business philosophy. Findings are also compared with past studies by Baumhart and by Brenner and Molander where data are available. While the current data appear to be consistent with the past studies, there appear to be differences in attitudes among the managers from the three countries. Helmut Becker is Professor of Business Administration at the University of Portland. He has published two books, The Information Seekers and International Marketing Strategy, with Hans Thorelli of Indiana University. His articles have appeared in various journals and he serves on the board of editors of the Journal of International Business Studies. David J. Fritzsche is Professor of Business Administration at the University of Portland. His articles have appeared in Journal of Marketing Research, Academy of Management Journal, Marketing Ethics: Guidelines for Managers and Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy.     

Effect of value perceptions on luxury purchase intentions: an Indian market perspective

India is witnessing a phenomenal growth in the luxury market segment. However, empirical studies in this domain are few and far between. The main objectives of this study are, firstly, to build and empirically test the theoretical framework designed to measure the effect of value perceptions on intention to purchase luxury fashion brands among Indian consumers. Secondly, to determine the role of gender in understanding the relationship between luxury value dimensions and purchase intention. This study employed researcher controlled sampling and questionnaires were administered through the personal interview from actual users of luxury fashion brands. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to test proposed hypotheses using AMOS. The statistical analysis indicated that conspicuous value was the most significant predictor of purchase intention among Indian luxury consumers followed by hedonic value and social value. The results of the study also revealed that gender does not play moderating role in the relationship between luxury value dimensions and purchase intention among Indian consumers.     

Exploring origins of ethical company/brand perceptions — A consumer perspective of corporate ethics

This research provides a consumer perspective of corporate ethics. The study consists of twenty long interviews [McCracken, G., 1988. The long interview. Newbury Park, CA: Sage] with general consumers, and conceptualizes potential sources of consumer perceived ethicality (CPE) of a company/brand by investigating consumers' ethical perceptions of business behavior. The developed taxonomy delineates six domains and 36 sub-domains of CPE origin, relating to the impact corporate behavior has on: (1) consumers, (2) employees, (3) the environment, (4) the overseas community, (5) the local economy and community, and (6) the business community. Findings demonstrate disparities between the consumer and the business perspective and highlight the fact that sources of CPE prove considerably more diverse and complex than the literature suggests, therefore presenting a vital extension to existing research. By providing business managers with a comprehensive assembly of issues which may evoke un/ethical perceptions, the framework may serve as a code of business conduct to prevent, contain, or combat negative CPE.     

Elucidating trust-building sources in social shopping: A consumer cognitive and emotional trust perspective

With the popularity and growth of social commerce, scholars and practitioners are particularly interested in how the integration of social media with e-commerce practice may resolve the challenge related to developing consumer-seller trust. Adopting a cognitive-emotional trust perspective, this study investigated the process by which consumers' trust in seller builds in a social commerce setting. Specifically, perceived familiarity, situational normality, cognitive and emotional trust in platform, and social interactivity were proposed as key antecedents of consumers' cognitive and emotional trust in seller. The model was examined with two complementary data sets collected from leading social commerce platforms in China: WeChat Store (N = 430) and Xiaohongshu (N = 397). This work advances the theoretical understanding of consumer's social shopping intention through extending the cognitive-emotional trust perspective and lends insights into the contextualized sources of trust building. In addition, these findings offer practical implications that help practitioners cost-effectively build consumer trust in the social commerce setting.     

The motivational dynamics of arousal and values in promoting sustainable behavior: A cognitive energetics perspective

This research applies Cognitive Energetics Theory (CET) to explain when and why consumers engage in sustainable behavior. Across six studies, we find a positive interaction effect of arousal and openness-to-change on sustainable behaviors. In particular, openness-to-change (vs conservation) increases the likelihood of engaging in effortful sustainable behaviors in a high-arousal state rather than in a low-arousal state. Interestingly, our results reveal that this interactive effect is explained by the tendency of consumers to believe that the target sustainable behavior requires less effort, when they are in a high-arousal state and endorsing openness-to-change. Moreover, perceived effort is positively related to sustainable behavior for experienced consumers but negatively related to the behavior for less experienced consumers. In addition, the effect of value and arousal on perceived effort is stronger among less experienced consumers but attenuated among more experienced consumers. Thus, arousal can serve as a catalyst to enhance value-consistent sustainable behaviors and help the less experienced consumers form habits. These findings contribute to CET by highlighting the important roles that values and arousal play in the motivational forces that drive and restrain sustainable behaviors. The results improve our understanding of how to motivate value-consistent sustainable behaviors, with implications for both marketers and policy-makers.     

Effects of cognitive age,dispositional time perceptions,and time view manipulations on product attribute evaluations

Researchers manipulate time perceptions in experiments, but the efficacy of such manipulations demands further scrutiny. Two studies test the effects of dispositional time views and time view manipulations on product attribute evaluations, as well as the interaction between cognitive age and manipulated time perceptions and that between dispositional and manipulated time perceptions. The results suggest that time manipulation drives and predicts consumer product evaluations. In addition, cognitive age interacts with time manipulation as a meaningful moderator/predictor, and dispositional time view interacts with time manipulation to influence consumer evaluations. An incongruency effect (i.e., a time manipulation condition that differs from consumers' time perceptions) occurs for hedonic attribute evaluations but not for utilitarian attribute evaluations. The research offers several managerial implications of these findings.     

A Canadian perspective on NAFTA

Although most analysis of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has focused on the bilateral relationship between Mexico and the United States this article concentrates on the larger trading and investment linkages of Canada and the United States. From a Canadian perspective the NAFTA is an extension of (and improvement upon) the Canada–U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) of 1989. The FTA introduced new dispute settlement mechanisms that Canada views as essential to partially offset U.S. administered protection. The new rules-based system of the FTA is also the basis for the NAFTA, and it has been extended from the trade law regime to cover foreign investment disputes. All three parties in NAFTA will benefit from a rules-based system rather than the power-based system that permits U.S. producer interests to exploit the size asymmetries between the large triad market of the United States and the smaller open trading economies of Mexico and Canada. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Talent management and global competition for top talent: A co‐opetition‐based perspective

In an age of competition for top talent, lateral hiring or personnel poaching has flourished not just between rivals, but also among allies transcending across national borders. This article integrates the literature on lateral hiring and co‐opetition to develop a “novel” perspective of the co‐opetition‐based view of lateral hiring. A conceptual framework was developed to account for conditions under co‐opetition setting in different markets. Contrary to the popular belief that poaching from rivals is more beneficial, the present research demonstrates that poaching from allies may be more beneficial in mitigating the “winner's curse.” Indeed, poaching in the collaboration domain is characterized by greater access to information about the target employee before job change. Lateral hiring from allies in foreign markets can also be more beneficial given the potentially moderate stigma attached compared with those from domestic markets. The implications for firms and strategic human resource management literature are examined.     

The impact of customer cognitive competence on online service decision-making: an event-related potentials perspective

Customer service online decision-making is subject to the perception of service value based on the interaction between customer cognition and emotion. The study reported in this paper examines the impact of customer cognitive competence on the online service perceived value. Thirty participants were divided into high- and low-cognitive-competence groups based on their responses on the service value perception survey. During the experiment, both groups were shown services that were available for online purchase. Changes in cognitive and emotional late positive potential (LPP) in the occipital and central–parietal region were recorded. In comparison with the customer sacrifice and customer benefit, the service value may elicit greater emotional LPP components in the central–parietal region and shorter cognitive LPPs in the occipital region in the group with high cognitive competence. Our findings present a potential neural mechanism for the impact of consumer cognitive competence on service value perception and decision-making, which may encourage the managers to improve service quality and guide the research of customer behavior and marketing.     

A bricolage perspective on service innovation

Service innovation is often viewed as a process of accessing the necessary resources, (re)combining them, and converting them into new services. The current knowledge on success factors for service innovation, such as formalized new service development (NSD) processes, predominantly comes from studying large firms with a relatively stable resource base. However, this neglect situations in which organizations face severe resource constraints. This paper argues that under such constraints, a formalized new service development process could be counter-productive and a bricolage perspective might better explain service innovation in resource-constrained environments. In this conceptual paper, we propose that four critical bricolage capabilities (addressing resource scarcity actively, making do with what is available, improvising when recombining resources, and networking with external partners) influence service innovation outcomes. Empirical illustrations from five organizations substantiate our conceptual development. Our discussion leads to a framework and four testable propositions that can guide further service research.