International network management for the purpose of host market expansion: The mediating effect of co-innovation in the networks of SMEs

Research shows that innovation facilitates internationalization and that the customer network is an important source of technical and market knowledge. Yet, little is known about how co-innovation within a business relationship with a key international customer relates to international network management and international growth beyond the focal business relationship. The paper contributes to international entrepreneurship research by investigating (1) international business relationship learning mechanisms that reinforce co-innovation within a dyadic business relationship with a key customer (2) and the link between co-innovation outcome in the business relationship and international network management for purposes of foreign market expansion beyond the dyadic business relationship. Three hypotheses were developed and tested on a sample of 188 internationalizing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) using linear structural relations (LISREL) structural equation modeling. The analysis shows that an SME’s (i) awareness of a customer’s complementary knowledge and (ii) innovation-oriented customer relationships leads to increased co-innovation within a dyadic business relationship with a key customer. Moreover, successful co-innovation with a key customer increases the likelihood that the focal SME will attempt at international network management by drawing on the key customer as a bridge to new customers and suppliers on the foreign host market. The findings provide a link between innovation within a dyadic business relationship and international network management for the purpose of foreign market expansion into the wider network on the host market. The findings hence contribute to our understanding of the mediating role of co-innovation in the internationalization process of SMEs.     

Ethical Customer Value Creation: Drivers and Barriers

There is a long-standing discussion on the positive interactions between enterprise value creation and business competitiveness. The corporate value can be seen as being created from three major sources within the cycle – from employees, from processes, and from customers or investors through reinvestment. To achieve competitive advantages, a firm must create more value than its competitors in the industry. Emphasizing that, firms should explore the positive drivers of customer value creation, allowing for a true value creation that will lead to increments in competitiveness. In reality, however, there are also barriers that hinder customer value creation. Targeting the above issues that have not yet been explored or analyzed, we have collected related literature at the first stage. Based on these presumable assumptions, this paper then conducts an empirical study by surveying and analyzing the relevance given by the investigated leading machinery measuring equipment firms in Taiwan, regarding the concerns as drivers and barriers in relation to customer value creation. This paper especially aims to answer several key questions: What drivers revolving around employees and processes can facilitate the organization to create more value for its customers? Conversely, what barriers block the organization from creating value for customers in examining the same dimensions? Does value creation direct an organization’s profitability and competitiveness? Our questionnaire survey results show that the most recognized and agreed drivers of customer value creation in consideration of employees are “distinctive skills”, “personal experience”, “learning and training”, and “team work”; and, in regard to the firm’s processes, the key drivers are “innovation and evolution”, “R&;D capability”, and “capability for differentiation”. Conversely, the most recognized and agreed barriers to customer value creation in relation to employees are a “distrustful environment” and “inadequate knowledge”; and, in terms of processes, they are “short of core technology”, “poor resource support”, and “bad services and attitudes”. Furthermore, our in-depth interview outcomes reveal that “capital sufficiency” and “mergers and acquisitions” are in practice considered to be other important customer value creation drivers; in contrast, “cultural and structural barriers” and “short of mechanisms to measure customer value creation effectively” are viewed as additional critical barriers to customer value creation.     

Interpretive structural modeling for E-electricity utility service

Service quality has been recognized as one of the major factors for an organization's sustainability. It is one of the driving forces for an organization??s achievement. Service quality may be represented by the comparison between customers?? expectations of how a company or organization should perform and the customer??s perception of the service performance. For successful delivery of public services, use of online technology has rapidly become a benchmark for effective public sector management. Governments worldwide are attempting to harness the potential offered by these new technologies to create new dimensions of economic and social progress. The present article discusses the important aspects of customer's satisfaction in service quality of E-electricity utility service by interpretive structural modeling method.     

现代企业成功的对策分析与研究

企业组织创新的总体方略是企业组织的动态功能系统及有关因素充分发挥作用。组织创新要以组织有效的战略管理和优化企业结构为重点 ,在企业经营实践的基础上分析研究企业成功的关键因素战略管理 ,应从“确定始终如一的顾客取向”、“执行计划的坚定意识”、“员工的团队精神建设”、“持续的改善能力”、“理念和价值”等方面进行突破与创新     

Modelling the Impact of Environmental and Organizational Determinants on Green Supply Chain Innovation and Performance

Both customers and suppliers are becoming increasingly concerned about environmental issues in modern food chains. A firm’s decision to implement green supply chain management is based on the social objectives of the firm and its management, its desire to pursue corporate social responsibility, its relationships with channel partners, and environmental determinants such as government legislation. The speed at which green supply chain management is implemented within an organization depends on its agility and its ability to facilitate innovation. Innovation may take the form of new product development or new process development, including the introduction of environmental management systems and total quality management in both production and purchasing. This article presents a conceptual model to explain how the various theoretical constructs are related and how innovation effects green supply chain management and performance.     

Marketing capabilities and innovation. How do they affect the financial results of hotels?

From the point of view of firms’ managers, the knowledge of the factors which explain their firms’ financial results is considered of great usefulness to propose the most appropriate and profitable marketing strategies and actions. This research sets out from this central idea and proposes a model of relationships that considers the marketing results, the marketing capabilities, and the innovation capability as key factors for achieving good financial results. This model is verified via an empirical investigation carried out among 200 directors of hotel establishments in Andalusia, a region in the south of Spain which is one of the country's main tourist destinations. The results indicate that innovation capability is strongly conditioned by marketing capabilities and resources and that this innovation capability affects the financial results of the firms analyzed. Likewise, it is deduced that a market-oriented management philosophy contributes to the development of these marketing capabilities. The implications for management are considered very relevant as they must lead these firms to invest in the development of marketing resources and capabilities, and apply a market-oriented management philosophy if they wish to improve their financial results.     

Determinants of Successful IT-Enabled Business Innovation： A Case Study from the Perspective of Institutional Entrepreneurship Theory

As the role of information technology （IT） in business innovation becomes increasingly important, an increasing number of organizations have started to consider how to promote IT-enabled business innovation. Although extant studies have identified organization, environment, and innovation＇s characteristics as substantial determinants of IT innovation, they do not emphasize the accompanying innovation in processes, products or services, which distinguish IT-enabled business innovation from general IT innovation. Therefore, the reason why few companies succeed in realizing IT-enabled business innovation remains obscure. Anchored on the institutional entrepreneurship theory, this paper examines determinants of the success of IT-enabled business innovation in a fast-growing company using the case study approach. Our findings indicate that IT-business coordination competency, degree of institutionalization, participation of business managers, top management team＇s （TMT） attitude towards the innovation, and the innovation＇s relative strength, have significant impacts on the success of IT-enabled business innovation. Our findings also contribute to IT innovation research by identifying special determinants of IT-enabled business innovation and redirecting research ranging from innovation in IT itself to IT-enabled innovation in business processes, products or services.     

Exploring the role of front-line employees as innovators

This article aims for a deeper understanding of front-line employees (FLEs) and their boundary-spanning role in service organizations’ innovation processes from the vantage points of creativity and service innovation theory. It explores in particular FLEs’ processes of creativity by focusing on how ideas emerge and how these ideas are further managed in the organizations’ innovation processes. It draws on an in-depth empirical study of three units at a large spa and resort hotel. The article demonstrates how FLEs’ ideas are related to the assimilation and utilization of knowledge gained in the customer–supplier interface. Furthermore, it introduces the concept of ‘management by weaving’, which encompasses the middle managers’ roles in the complexity of leading diverse innovation processes in the service organization. By having the roles of facilitator, gatekeeper, and translator, middle managers hold the key position for letting FLEs play the role as innovators.     

An exploratory study of the determinants of switching and loyalty in prepaid cell phone users. An application of concept mapping

This study uses empirical data to identify the reasons that lead customers to discontinue their association with a cell phone company, along with aspects that foster customer loyalty with a view to strengthening business strategy, so that factors valued by customers are reinforced and those that can lead to switching can be avoided. Pricing strategy, network quality, innovation and development of products and services, and customer care are the major determinants of loyalty: while costly rates, problems related to technological capability, a lack of innovative promotions and deficiencies in the quality of customer care are the main reasons for switching.     

试析顾客价值管理的涵义及特点

顾客价值管理日益受到重视。顾客价值管理以企业价值最大化为最终目标,重视提高顾客的忠诚度,以顾客价值创造为核心,通过五个层次为顾客创造价值;采用“由外而内”的思考方法,实行价值创新战略,业务流程再造及整合企业内外的资源和能力等一套系统化的方法来实现顾客价值创造,同时,顾客价值管理是一个连续不断的过程。     

基于因子分析模型的浙江省制造业技术创新能力评价

通过建立技术创新能力的评价指标体系,运用因子分析法对浙江省制造业行业的创新能力进行了综合评价,发现该行业技术创新能力普遍较低,同时发现技术创新投入产出能力和研究开发人员的研发能力是影响其技术创新总体能力的重要因素,并根据分析结果提出了相关对策建议。     

浅谈客户财务管理的功能

本文认为,客户财务管理是企业财务管理的重要内容和工作重心,也是企业在激烈的竞争中立足的关键所在。本文从分析客户财务管理的四大功能即赢利分析功能、预算和预测功能、成效管理功能以及财务工作地位和形象的重新塑造入手,提出了客户财务管理对企业财务管理的最大挑战就是以客户需求为导向重新建立管理流程和内控制度,同时企业需要以财务部为中心对组织结构和人员进行重组。客户财务管理的实施使得财务管理研究进入一个全新的领域。     

物流服务质量影响因素与顾客忠诚度

物流服务是现代服务业的一个重要组成部分,物流服务质量对提升企业竞争力具有重大影响。影响物流服务质量的因素主要有信息能力、配送能力、售前售后服务能力、匹配能力和创新能力。其中,售前售后服务能力、信息能力、配送能力对物流顾客感知满意度的影响具有显著性,匹配能力和创新能力对顾客感知满意度的影响较为显著。顾客感知满意度显著影响顾客的忠诚度,并且两者之间存在较大的路径系数。     

企业内部服务补救与员工满意作用机理模型

在PZB提出的差距模型的基础上对企业内部服务补救与员工的满意度的作用机理进行了理论模型分析。认为组织态度、工作胜任感、服务补救经历所导致的员工对组织内部服务补救的预期与由消费者需求的管理、规章制度的管理、员工培训与管理层的支持所引致的员工对组织内部服务补救的感知之间的差距决定了员工的满意程度。     

E-loyalty driven by website quality: The case of destination marketing organization websites

The capability of website quality management to drive tourism customer e-loyalty is the key factor to achieve superior performance of destination marketing organization (DMO) website operations. The quality management approaches that revolve around website design quality and online relationship quality have drawn intensive attention from e-loyalty researchers in recent years. Thorough empirical investigation, however, still lacks in incorporating the integrative impact generated by the two approaches into DMO website quality management. The current study introduces and validates a theoretical framework based on such impact. As the research result reveals, six facets predict tourism customer e-loyalty directly: informational usefulness, navigational effectiveness, aesthetic appeal, entertainment, social presence, and self-concept congruity embedded in the functional, emotional, and symbolic dimensions of website design quality. Online relationship quality, comprised of relationship satisfaction and relationship trust, plays a partial mediator role in amplifying the e-loyalty driving effect of website design quality in the DMO website context.     

我国通信业客户忠诚驱动因素研究

客户忠诚指客户行为的持续性,它对确立企业的核心竞争力具有重要影响。文章认为,客户忠诚是内外部环境因素共同作用的结果。而通讯服务质量、信任、转网成本、员工忠诚是影响通讯业客户忠诚的重要因素。其中,良好的通讯服务质量是维系客户忠诚的保障;信任是客户再购买行为产生的前提;转网成本对通讯业客户忠诚有着不可忽视的影响;员工忠诚有助于客户忠诚的建立。我国通讯运营商要建立客户忠诚,必须以客户导向的营销理念作为企业经营管理的主导思想;加强技术创新,为客户提供全方位的优质服务;与客户之间建立相互信任的合作关系,为长远合作奠定基础;提高转网成本和员工忠诚度,为建立客户忠诚打下坚实的内部基础。     

The innovativeness of Born-Globals and customer orientation: Learning from Indian Born-Globals

Born-Global firms, a newly emerging organizational form targeting international markets as a primary source of business from their inception, have innovativeness, requiring an intimate knowledge of their customer, as a primary feature. This study explores how a Born-Global's customer orientation leads to innovativeness through technological capability for customer relationship management (CRM) and external customer information management. Our empirical results, based on responses from 154 Indian managers, indicate that a Born-Global's customer orientation is an effective enabler of its innovativeness, whose effects are mediated by technological capability for CRM and external customer information management. Although significantly affected by customer orientation, the results further indicate that relationship quality with the buyer does not influence a Born-Global's innovativeness. When CRM technology and managing customer information obtained from external sources are employed, customer orientation significantly helps maintain the innovativeness of Born-Globals according to the results.     

Logistics service capabilities and firm performance of international distribution center operators

This study empirically evaluated the crucial logistics service capabilities and firm performance of international distribution center operators in Taiwan. Three critical logistics service capabilities were identified based on factor analysis: (a) innovation capability, (b) customer response capability, and (c) flexible operation capability. Cluster analysis was subsequently used and based on their mean scores in the three logistics capability dimensions, respondents' firms were assigned to one of three groups, namely: customer response and flexible operation capabilities-oriented firms, customer response and innovation capabilities-oriented firms, and customer response capability-oriented firms. Findings indicated that customer response and innovation capabilities-oriented firms had the best firm performance, followed by customer response and flexible operation capabilities-oriented firms and customer response capability-oriented firms.     

A measurement model for service capability from the customer perspective

This study develops a model to construct three quantitative indices for service capabilities from the customer perspective. The concept is derived from process capability indices which have been widely used to measure process capability and performance in manufacturing. This model expands their use in services by incorporating Taguchi’s quadratic loss function, zone of tolerance, and three-factor theory. To demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed indices, a case study of a telecom business was performed to assist the case firm in realizing the service capability of key factors for improving future service quality.     

论公共组织人力资源管理和组织创新

公共组织的人力资源管理的能力和水平直接关系到政府的行政效率和社会活动效果。提高政府行政效率的重要切入点就是加强行政机构人力资源的开发与管理。通过人力资源管理方法的改善来提高组织效率。同时,为了适应社会环境的变化,创新组织形式也是提高政府行政效率的重要途径。