Separating fads from facts: Lessons from The Good, The Fad, And The Ugly

Management fads present executives with an interesting paradox. With the benefit of hindsight, many fads appear silly. Yet, it seems that as each management fad falls out of favor, a new fad emerges and gains legions of devoted followers. Our short graphic novel, The Good, The Fad, And The Ugly, illustrates the difficulty of separating fads from facts. Although fads are remembered with scorn, they generally contain an important element of truth about organizations. One implication is that executives need to recognize and leverage the merit offered by a fad without viewing the fad as the solution to all organizational challenges. We apply this notion to the graphic novel format, and argue that graphic novels should be viewed as one tool among many for effectively communicating with today's employees.     

Explaining variation in conspicuous luxury consumption: An individual differences' perspective

This article examines the impact of various individual differences on consumers' propensity to engage in two distinct forms of conspicuous (publicly observable) luxury consumption behavior. Status seeking is an established driver, but other managerially relevant drivers can also explain conspicuous consumption of luxuries. The study develops and empirically confirms a conceptual model that shows that bandwagon and snobbish buying patterns underlie the more generic conspicuous consumption of luxuries. In addition to status seeking, the self-concept orientation regulates which of these two patterns is more prominent. Both susceptibility to normative influence and need for uniqueness mediate the influence of self-concept. The modeled psychological constructs explain a large part of the variance in conspicuous luxury consumption patterns and can be used as input in the development of marketing strategies.     

Competition and competitive groupings: An exploratory study in information technology markets

The focus of the research is upon the means by which firms can both create and sustain a competitive advantage. The paper addresses the relationship between shifting patterns of competitive rivalry and the emerging structure of a volatile, but growing branch of the Information Technology Industry. The concept and existence of competitive groups of firms is explored from three perspectives: those of the research analyst, the competitive suppliers and the customers of the service. The first perspective draws upon and applies previous work in the field of strategic groups, mobility barriers and company competences; the second perspective is operational, based upon the perception of the competitive environment by practising managers; the final perspective draws upon field research into customer organisation rooted in the notion that differentiation by suppliers will only be manifest in competitive advantage when it matches customers needs.

Different patterns of competition are identified and strategic management choices are highlighted in a product market undergoing turbulent development with the onset of telecommunication networks for the transmission of computerised data bases.     

Product familiarity and information processing strategies: An exploratory investigation

A theoretical and empirical examination of the relationship between product class familiarity and usage of information processing strategies is presented. Four major dimensions of information processing strategies are identified and used to conceptualize the linkage between product class familiarity and usage of particular strategies. Research hypotheses are tested in an exploratory study using a laboratory choice situation. Implications of the study with respect to usage of specific strategies and for future research are discussed.     

Faking ISO 9001 in China: An exploratory study

Over 1.5 million ISO 9001 certificates are in effect worldwide, 30 years after this quality management standard was launched. As the factory of the world, China is by far the leading country for ISO 9001, in terms of both absolute and relative numbers and growth. Nevertheless, practitioners have cast doubts on the reliability of adopting ISO third-party quality certification in this country. In-depth interviews with 40 senior quality managers, consultants, and auditors with broad field experience and other complementary methods paints a disturbing picture. The widespread prevalence of fake ISO 9001 certificates is indicated, together with an eroded credibility of the process of third-party certification. We discuss the profound implications of the study—including whether or not the phenomenon is restricted to China—and introduce suggestions for managers and other stakeholders, as well as avenues for further research.     

Value co-creation among hotels and disabled customers: An exploratory study

This study examines how service supplier and buyer value co-creation influences buyers' attitudes toward service providers. Service-dominant logic is a prevalent concept in the services industry, providing an important marketing theory in which intangible resources, co-creation of value, and relationships are the keys to determining marketing exchanges. This research describes a model for analyzing value co-creation management in the hotel industry, focusing on the specific market segment of disabled customers. This framework helps foster value co-creation to increase the benefits for participants during each stage of their relationship. The paper also presents the managerial implications of the research findings.     

Deciding to export: An exploratory study of Singaporean entrepreneurs

This paper confirms a mapping between a taxonomy of entrepreneurs and what triggered Singaporeans to become exporters. The study involved interviews with 47 new exporters based in Singapore. Entrepreneurs were classified as either ‘opportunity seeking’ or ‘reactive’. Export triggers were either ‘pull’, negative ‘push’, or positive ‘push’. We find that those who were opportunity seeking at start-up were more likely to have responded to export ‘pull’ forces. It was rare indeed for a reactive founder to have been ‘pulled’ into exporting. Among this group of entrepreneurs, ‘push’ forces dominated the decision to export. The paper concludes with some implications for policy targeting and suggestions for further research.     

Identity theft: An exploratory study with implications for marketers

Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America, and millions of people become victims each year. Furthermore, identity theft costs corporations over $20 billion per year, and consumers are forced to spend over $2 billion and 100 million hours of time to deal with the aftermath. This paper uses a system dynamics model to explore policy options dealing with identity theft and to provide implications for marketers. The results indicate that the current approach to combating identity theft will not work. However, inexpensive security freezes could be effective, because they result in a nonlinear reduction in identity theft that is similar to the “herd immunity” seen in epidemiology. Thus, identity theft can be addressed by protecting just a fraction of the total population.     

Control of electronic channel affiliates: An exploratory study and research propositions

Electronic channel affiliates are important online intermediaries between customers and host retailers. However, no work has studied how online retailers control online intermediaries. By conducting an exploratory content analysis of 85 online contracts between online retailers and their online intermediaries, and categorizing the governing mechanisms used, insights into the unique aspects of the control of online intermediaries are presented. Findings regarding incentives, monitoring, and enforcement are presented. Additionally, testable research propositions are presented to guide further theory development, drawing on contract theory, resource dependence theory and agency theory. Managerial implications are discussed.     

Family firms and internationalization: An exploratory study on high-tech entrepreneurial ventures

This paper empirically explores a highly relevant, although poorly investigated topic: internationalization of family firms that operate in high-tech industries. Specifically, we compare internationalization of family and nonfamily entrepreneurial ventures in these industries. Relying on prior studies on internationalization of family firms, we speculate on how the specificities of high-tech industries shape the advantages and disadvantages of family entrepreneurial ventures in pursuing internationalization as compared with their nonfamily peers. In the empirical part of the paper, through a rigorous quantitative analysis of unique data from 264 Italian high-tech entrepreneurial ventures, we explore whether in high-tech industries family entrepreneurial ventures are more (or less) likely to pursue internationalization than their nonfamily counterparts. Surprisingly enough, our econometric estimates indicate that, in high-tech industries, family entrepreneurial ventures exhibit a higher internationalization propensity than their nonfamily peers.     

Consumer's perceptions of and experiences with automated health related information services: an exploratory study

Almost all health care related organizations, including hospitals and pharmacies, have installed some sort of automated telephone system. Most of these organizations have installed this system to eliminate personnel, while at the same time promoting the fact that they will be helpful to the consumer. This study (comprising of 255 respondents) was designed to assess the consumer's perceptions and experiences with such automated systems. Our study clearly indicates that most individuals strongly agree that healthcare product and service information should be available via the telephone.     

Explaining the marketing effort of professional service providers: An exploratory study

A mail survey was done of professionals from major architectural, law, and accounting firms to determine what factors seem to explain how much effort they devote to marketing their firms' services. The results of this exploratory study identified several significant explanatory variables, a few of which had effects in some professions and not others. Additional research in this area is recommended.     

The information needs of prospective homebuyers: an exploratory study of apartment purchases in Finland

Ultimately, the search for housing depends on information about the housing market and individual apartments for sale. The housing search process gives rise to diverse information needs. Their nature is elaborated in an exploratory study drawing on interviews conducted with 16 Finnish homebuyers in 2008. The data were analysed by means of qualitative content analysis. The constant comparative approach was utilized to capture the nuances of information needs experienced at three major phases of the housing search process. At the phase of orientation to the housing market and identifying vacancies, the information needs covered a broad area including the supply of relevant apartments in preferred districts and the realistic funding opportunities. The temporal frame within which these needs were experienced was fairly broad. At the phase of assessing vacancies, the information needs became more specific and the temporal frame narrower, since the needs primarily dealt with concrete issues such as the renovation requirements of the apartment. Finally, at the phase of bid formation, information needs were mainly related to the determination of the proper price level and the optimal timing of the price bid.     

Managerial judgment and forecast combination: An experimental study

This paper examines the role of managerial judgment in forming a final forecast, or judging the achievability of a critical level of sales, when multiple forecasts or opinions are available to the decision maker. Several factors that can help improve the quality of human intervention are identified and incorporated in a decision aid. Experimental results show that aided combination can help the decision maker exploit her relevant private information and mitigate the generally observed negative effects of human intervention. Further, the results suggest that emphasizing expected sales, even when the organization is primarily interested in go/no-go decisions, helps improve performance. Several suggestions for future research are presented.

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Bank ethics: An exploratory study of ethical behaviors and perceptions in small,local banks

This article addresses five research questions: What specific behaviors are described in the literature as ethical or unethical? What percentage of business people are believed to be guilty of unethical behavior? What specific unethical behaviors have been observed by bank employees? How serious are the behaviors? Are experiences and attitudes affected by demographics? Conclusions suggest: There are seventeen categories of behavior, and that they are heavily skewed toward internal behaviors. Younger employees have a higher level of ethical consciousness than older employees. The longer one works for a company, the more one may look to job security as a priority; this can lead to rationalizing or overlooking apparently unethical behaviors. More emphasis is needed on internal behaviors with particular attention on the impact that external behaviors have on internal behaviors.