Regional concentration of innovative business services: testing some explanatory factors at European regional level

This article explores the role of some traditional locational factors in explaining business services concentration at the European regional level. The link between (mainly innovative) business services and income, density, the role of the service economy or qualifications, among other variables, is assessed using specialisation indexes and multiple regression analysis for regions belonging to five European countries. Results show that the influence of locational determinants varies a great deal depending on the type of service, the region and country considered, and the presence of capital regions. This latter conclusion emphasises the importance of national differences and service peculiarities (not all innovative services behave in the same way) as explanatory factors.     

Economic sentiment shocks and fluctuations in economic activity in the euro area and the USA

Economic sentiment indicators can provide a wealth of information for macroeconomic policy formulation and analysis. Despite this, economic sentiment is often neglected by mainstream economics. This article assesses whether there is a potential role for economic sentiment to amplify business cycle fluctuations. This paper integrates the European Commission Economic Sentiment Indicator data into an econometric analysis of the euro area business cycle. The investigation of the euro area economy suggests that sentiment shocks do have an impact on important macroeconomic variables such as output, retail sales, and unemployment. There is furthermore significant evidence that economic conditions and shocks affect economic sentiment.     

中国创意服务贸易国际竞争力比较研究——基于TC指数和相对(技术)复杂度指数

在分析中国创意服务贸易特征的基础上,运用贸易竞争力(TC)指数和相对(技术)复杂度指数,采用UNCTAD发布的最新统计数据,对中国以及世界其他五个国家的创意服务贸易的国际竞争力进行了比较研究。结果显示:我国创意服务贸易已具备一定的国际竞争力,在世界创意服务贸易的地位也不断提升,但是各分项发展很不平衡。因此,要加强对进出口市场的了解,优化出口结构,提高创意服务进口的技术水平,同时注重创意服务高端人才的培养与引进。     

Effects of family control on the degree and type of diversification: Empirical evidence for business groups

This article analyzes the impact of ownership structure on corporate diversification, with reference to large listed family business groups. By considering agency theory and socioemotional wealth, the study examines the relationship between family ownership, concentration of ownership, and degree and type of diversification. The study considers 99 Spanish listed business groups (50 family‐controlled‐ and 49 nonfamily‐controlled groups) and considers diversification of business group as the focus of analysis. The results show how family business groups present a lower preference for unrelated diversification than related diversification. There is also a nonlinear relationship between the concentration of ownership in family groups and the degree of diversification, showing different behaviors in family groups according to shares owned by the family's leading shareholders. This article contributes to the literature by providing a more precise identification of the corporate strategy adopted by business groups and establishing new evidence about the impact of family control on diversification strategies and the differences regarding nonfamily business groups.     

Creative destruction and regional productivity growth: evidence from the Dutch manufacturing and services industries

Do firm entry and exit improve the competitiveness of regions? If so, is this a universal mechanism or is it contingent on the type of industry or region in which creative destruction takes place? This paper analyses the effect of firm entry and exit on the competitiveness of regions, as measured by total factor productivity (TFP) growth. Based on a study across 40 regions in the Netherlands over the period 1988–2002, we find that firm entry is related to productivity growth in services, but not in manufacturing. The positive impact found in services does not necessarily imply that new firms are more efficient than incumbent firms; high degrees of creative destruction may also improve the efficiency of incumbent firms. We also find that the impact of firm dynamics on regional productivity in services is higher in regions exhibiting diverse but related economic activities.     

An examination of the antecedents of e-customer loyalty in a confucian culture: The case of South Korea

As the Internet is posing revolutionary changes to customer service and the way customers interact and purchase from businesses, loyal e-customers are crucial for the long-term survival and profitability of a business. Driven by high connectivity, reach and richness of information in today's global business environment, the task of retaining and creating loyal e-customers calls for an appreciation of cultural factors and their impact on e-customer service and loyalty. Specifically, this study examines the impact of Confucian culture on e-customer loyalty in South Korea. Since no research has yet examined the link between Confucian values and e-customer loyalty, the study proposes a conceptual model for empirical analysis by drawing on insights from Hofstede's cultural dimensions and previous studies on e-customer loyalty in European contexts. The main results show that high power distance in Confucian culture is positively associated with affiliation. But this high power distance in Confucian culture is moderated by marketing activities that lead to lock-in. This indicates the profound influence of collectivism in Confucian culture and emphasises the importance of referral and community participation in increasing stickiness and hence loyal e-customers.     

Family CEO and board service: Turning the tide for export scope in family SMEs

Adopting the socioemotional wealth perspective, we argue that the presence of a family CEO in family SMEs negatively affects export scope, but that such negative effect is mitigated by board service. We develop and test a model that considers the synergistic combination of family management and another important aspect of family governance in the context of family firm internationalization: the service behavior of the board of directors. The empirical evidence from a sample of 248 Belgian family SMEs shows that governance is crucial to overcoming the problems of family management: family CEOs may negatively influence export scope, but board service is able to turn the tide so that the family CEO effect becomes positive. With such novel findings, we contribute to international business and family business studies     

Gender as a determinant of small business performance: Insights from a British study

The performance of small businesses, that is the ability of small firms to contribute to job and wealth creation through business start-up, survival and growth, has been an important area of policy and academic debate in the 1980s. Surprisingly little has been written about gender and small business performance. Our literature search revealed only a small number of studies of any substance on this subject, though over forty made some mention of it, Most studies shied away from direct examination of quantitative performance measures (such as jobs created, sales turnover, annual growth), tending to concentrate on qualitative measures of success or failure. The paper examines small business performance and gender using data obtained from a survey of 600 (300 women, 300 men) Scottish and English small business ownermanagers, part of a three year study on the impact of gender on small business management. Analyses suggest that the relationship between gender and small business performance is complex, but that gender still appears to be a significant determinant even after other key factors are controlled for.     

Housing wealth,business creation and dissolution,in the U.K. regions

A number of recent studies have suggested that access to collateral in the form of housing assets may be an important factor in the process of new firm formation. In particular, it has been suggested that variations in housing wealth may be able to account for a substantial proportion of the variation in rates of business creation within and between the U.K. regions. Re-examining this issue, the paper finds that once appropriate allowance is made for the presence of dynamics in the formation process, the evidence for a positive relationship between housing wealth and regional rates of new business creation disappears. However, there is evidence in favour of the proposition that access to external collateral in this form may help established firms to stay in business.I am grateful to David Keeble and Peter Johnson for their helpful and timely comments. The usual disclaimer applies.     

家庭财富与城镇居民创业行为研究

企业家创业活动在经济和社会发展中发挥着重要作用,本文从家庭财富的视角研究我国城镇居民的创业问题。利用CHIPS2008年数据研究发现:家庭财富越多,城镇居民选择创业的概率越高,即创业过程中存在流动性约束。通过选取更为外生的财富衡量指标以及引入工具变量两种方法缓解潜在的内生性问题后,研究结论依旧稳健。进一步区分财富对不同类型创业活动的异质性影响发现,财富显著提高了城镇居民选择“自雇型”创业的概率,但对选择“雇主型”创业影响较小或不存在显著的影响。考虑到截面数据对财富与创业行为关系的识别可能存在一定的局限性,本文进一步引入CFPS面板数据,利用面板固定效应模型对两者之间的关系进行稳健性检验。本文的研究结论可为政府优化金融环境,缓解信贷约束,促进居民创业行为提供依据。     

发展江西文化创意产业的初步研究

文化创意产业是依靠创意人的智慧、技能和天赋,借助高科技对文化资源进行创造与提升,通过对知识产权的开发和运用,产生出高附加值产品,创造财富和就业潜力的产业。从产业价值链理论和产业布局理论分析文化创意产业概念,继而阐述江西省文化创意产业发展情况及存在的问题,认为需要建立与文化创意产业相适应的资金保障机制、公共服务平台、与文化创意产业相适应的人才资源系统以及文化创意产业统计指标体系来加快江西文化创意产业发展。     

跨境电商消费者参与价值共创对品牌偏好的影响

跨境电商是全新的贸易和销售方式,直接面对世界各地不同背景和多元化的的消费者。这些消费者具有个性化的消费需求与独特的创造愿望,能够为企业提供丰富的创意资源。通过价值共创提升消费者的品牌偏好成为了跨境电商领域的热点问题。文章从产品设计与产品营销两个阶段、创意共创与创意选择两大体系,建立了跨境电商消费者参与价值共创的四种类型对品牌偏好的影响模型,并展开实证研究。研究结果表明,创意选择体系主要影响品牌识别,创意共创体系主要影响品牌形象,品牌认知和品牌形象都有助于提升消费者对品牌的偏好。     

Influence of Organizational Form and Customer Type on Online Customer Satisfaction Ratings

In this paper, we explore the impact of the organizational form (company‐owned versus franchised) and the type of customer (nonbusiness versus business) on online consumer‐generated satisfaction ratings in the hotel industry. Our empirical study deals with 6,348 TripAdvisor reviews regarding stays at one of 134 hotels of a plural form chain located in a Western European country. Our main finding reveals that the type of customer moderates the relationship between organizational form and customer satisfaction; business travelers having higher satisfaction with franchised hotels than company‐owned hotels in terms of satisfaction. We discuss the implications of these findings for the management of plural form chains.     

Airline customer satisfaction and loyalty: impact of in-flight service quality

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the in-flight service quality on airline customer satisfaction and loyalty. This study analyzed the data from passengers of two classes: prestige (business) and economy. The results suggest that there are different factors of in-flight service quality that are important according to the customer seat class. In the case of the prestige class, there were six service quality factors of importance: alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage, responsiveness and empathy, reliability, assurance, presentation style of food, and food quality; while the economy class showed five important service quality factors: responsiveness and empathy, food quality, alcoholic beverage, non-alcoholic beverage, and reliability. These findings imply that airline companies’ in-flight service should have different delivery strategies based on the customer seat class.     

Servant leadership,organisational trust,and bank employee outcomes

Using servant leadership and social exchange theories as the theoretical frameworks, our study proposes and tests a research model that investigates trust in organisation (TIO) as a mediator of the impact of servant leadership on three critical outcomes. These outcomes are intention to be late for work (ILW), creative performance, and service recovery performance. Data obtained from frontline bank employees in three waves at one-week apart and their managers in Saint Petersburg in Russia were used to test the aforementioned relationships. The results demonstrate that TIO is an immediate outcome of servant leadership. TIO gives rise to lower ILW and higher creative and service recovery performances. The aforesaid findings reveal that servant leadership mitigates ILW and boosts both creative and service recovery performances only through TIO. Implications for theory and practice are discussed in our paper.     

欧美酒店业的现状及其对中国酒店业发展的启示

欧美酒店业作为当今世界酒店业的重要组成部分,因其历史文化的特点决定了欧美酒店业的服务设施、经营管理的独特性。系统分析了欧美酒店形成的文化背景、建筑特色、经营特点,借鉴其精华,提出了中国酒店业未来发展的对策与建议。     

How technology advances influence business research and marketing strategy

Technology has a profound impact on business research, and especially on marketing, because (1) technology changes the way marketing managers do their job, (2) these changes lead to major changes in the topics that are important to study, and (3) technology provides new ways of doing research. The most important result of technological advance is the increasing impact of information technology, resulting in the growing importance of service and relationships in the economy. Future advances in marketing are likely to build from advances in technology and relating improvements in communicating, storing, and processing information about customers.     

An Assessment of Experiential Learning of Global Poverty Issues Through International Service Projects

Service learning has been used to supplement a standard business curriculum, but not typically in an international business context. We report the results of two short-term study abroad programs in which we incorporated service learning projects, one in Cambodia and the other in Vietnam. Our objective is to assess how we organized and delivered effective service learning projects in short-term study tours, and to assess students’ learning outcomes on global poverty issues in a business curriculum. We used both quantitative and qualitative assessment measures. The findings suggest that several types of learning outcomes did occur through the service learning projects, as the literature suggested. Seeing poverty firsthand and doing something about it through service learning may be a first experience for many students, but it seems to be a transformational one for many. We conclude that students may approach business and even political decisions with a greater understanding of their impact on poverty in the developing world.     

The Use of Humor in Asian and Western Television Advertising:

Researchers frequently cite the importance of testing the validity of Western business theory in other regions of the world such as Asia. In response, this study seeks to determine whether US.-based theory concerning the use of humor in television adver- tising has predictive validity in two rapidly emerging Asian markets (Korea and Thailand) and one European market (Germany). Of par- ticular interest are hypothesized relationships between product type and marketers' use of humor to communicate brand information. While some evidence of predictive validity is found, the overall pattern of results suggests that international business managers should exercise caution before assuming that U.S. advertising suate- gies apply in other national markets.     

国外企业孵化器发展经验及对我国的启示

企业孵化器从建立到现在,为中国高新技术的发展起到巨大的作用。但是从总体上讲,我国的孵化器还没有形成良好的运行机制,服务体系还很不完善。美国和以色列的企业孵化器发展比较成熟,取得了丰富的发展经验,其运作模式及成功经验能够为中国企业孵化器的发展提供借鉴作用。