Factors influencing the internationalisation of new ventures in the Irish aquaculture industry: An exploratory study

This paper offers exploratory insights into the factors influencing the emergence of new export ventures operating in a low-technology sector: the aquaculture industry—a largely understudied context in international entrepreneurship. Peculiarities of new industries can make them particularly favourable to the creation of new ventures, and yet research has been limited examining the role of industry and environmental conditions in the emergence of international new ventures. As industry context and stage of firm development influences the appropriateness of theories for explaining firm internationalisation, this study in particular seeks to address two research questions: Firstly, what are the factors influencing the internationalisation of new ventures in a low-technology sector: the Irish aquaculture industry? Second, what role does industry structure play in influencing the internationalisation of new ventures in the Irish aquaculture industry? A qualitative methodology is used to explore these research questions using three case studies of new export ventures operating in the aquaculture sector in Ireland.     

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.     

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.     

Quantifying perceived differences in type styles: An exploratory study

This article reports on the results of an experiment to determine whether type style is a significant influence on readers' affective response to print. A repeated-measures, full-factorial design employing 250 subjects revealed that readers respond differently to both serif and sans serif general print types and to specific types within these major classifications. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Management fads and information delays: An exploratory simulation study

Management fads seem omnipresent. Adoption research that focuses on the uptake of change says little about subsequent abandonment behaviors. In this paper a simulation model is developed that extends adoption and diffusion models to consider abandonment from a dynamic perspective. Analysis of the simulation results leads to the conclusion that incomplete information and bandwagon effects can lead to fad-like behaviors.     

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.     

Translation behaviour: An exploratory study within a service multinational

In this paper, we address the issue of translation behaviour in the context of a service multinational. Our case study of a Nordic bank shows that emergent translation needs may be handled by the organisation and the individual in various ways such as self-translation, technical translation tools, social networks, or the central translation department. The choice between these options is shaped by situational influences including growing language diversity, accuracy, response speed, cost considerations, confidentiality of the information and task criticality. A key finding is the importance of social networks as a coping mechanism for employees confronted with the need to provide timely translation solutions, including the resort to external social networks, even relatives. Rather than a seemingly mundane, peripheral activity, translation was found to play a role in service delivery, organisational functioning and hence company performance. We propose a multilevel theoretical model of the translation process and conclude that organisation's translation ability which consists of organisational and individual responses should be considered as a component of its language absorptive capacity.     

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.     

An exploratory study of the management of product replacement

The process of product replacement is a surprisingly neglected area of innovation. Its existence as an important corporate activity is known through prior research and anecdotal evidence. This study was designed to shed some light on the replacement activities which are conducted by large companies in Britain and America. The findings revealed a number of different approaches to product replacement and suggested that related activities can be understood (and measured) by seven distinct dimensions.     

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.     

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.     

An exploratory investigation into how socioeconomic attributes influence coupons redeeming intentions

In this study, we examine the effects that opportunity cost, income effect, coupon proneness and devaluation effect have on coupon redemption intention. Overall, the results of a survey received from approximately 2250 respondents suggest that prospect of savings and coupon proneness are positively associated, while opportunity cost is inversely associated with coupon redemption intention. The results are consistent across several sub-samples of grocery stores, which further underline the robustness of our hypotheses. Our analyses are more exhaustive than and therefore, contribute to, extant literature on promotions using coupons, because we base our study on behavioral, social and economic factors that influence coupon redemption intentions.     

An exploratory study of emotional attributes in radio commercials

Certain advertising attributes can trigger emotional responses and advertisements employ such features in order to stimulate audiences in a pleasurable way. This study of radio commercials tried to isolate some of the attributes in advertising that elicit an emotional response, specifically happiness. The results show that variances in some commercial attributes can, indeed, predict variances in subjective emotional experience.     

The influence of customer loyalty on small island economies: an empirical and exploratory study

There is growing consensus that companies' long-term success is reliant on building and sustaining strong customer relationships. This study explores the antecedents of loyalty in business to business (B2Bs) using Guernsey's telecommunication industry as a case study. It examines how these influence customer loyalty orientation and factors that help service providers improve loyalty rates. Extant literature pays little attention to the antecedents of loyalty in small island economies. Prior research focuses on cultural, environmental and macro-economic issues. Drawing on Dick and Basu's (Customer loyalty: Toward an integrated conceptual framework. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 22(Spring), 99–113, 1994) loyalty model, this research explores loyalty antecedents that are cognisant of distinct market conditions that can impact customer loyalty within the telecommunications sector of a small island economy. It seeks to advance understanding of loyalty in B2B relationships in this context and identify factors that contribute towards converting passively loyal customers to being actively loyal customers.     

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.     

What happens to international new ventures beyond start-up: An exploratory study

Since its inception, research in international entrepreneurship has focused mainly on how and why international new ventures internationalize early on. To date, there has been hardly any research regarding the issue of continuing corporate growth in such ventures beyond their start-up phase or initial internationalization. Theoretically, we ground our study within the dynamic capabilities view of the firm and through an inductive theory building research explore how and whether international new ventures made-it beyond the start-up phase, aiming to generate early theoretical constructs to guide international entrepreneurship research in this substantive area. Grounded in data, we develop the following constructs related to made-it points: strategic experimentation, tensions in organizational gestalt, and legitimacy lies. To get to a made-it point, entrepreneurs experiment with their venture at several levels: organizational, business model, and operational. These experimentation efforts are fueled by tensions that exist in the organizational gestalt, such as ownership structure, business proposition to the market, and product development process. To legitimate themselves and their venture in the stakeholders’ eyes, entrepreneurs may tell legitimacy lies. We maintain that international new ventures do not reach a made-it point if they only manage to develop substantive capabilities to produce desired outputs at various levels within the venture but fail to create dynamic capabilities to change and reconfigure existing substantive capabilities.     

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.