How international entrepreneurship characteristics influence Internet capabilities for the international business processes of the firm

This research explores the relationship between international entrepreneurship characteristics and the use of Internet capabilities for the international business processes of the firm. It has been suggested, that the accumulation of a firms Internet capability can assist international operations, especially when operating in fast changing dynamic Internet environments. However, international entrepreneurship characteristics which are seen as a precursor to leveraging Internet capabilities are still vague. Given this finding, eight case studies of small and medium sized travel and tourism firms were selected to investigate the influence of international entrepreneurship characteristics, and Internet capabilities for international business processes. Based on the eight in-depth case studies, the results signify that successful international entrepreneurial firms which encompass high levels of international innovativeness and proactiveness behaviour integrate Internet capabilities to a greater degree. Our findings also indicate that the prior international business experience, international risk-taking propensity and international networking characteristics are not necessarily precursors to successful integration of Internet capabilities for international business processes. On the contrary, international business experience and international networks actually lead to a reliance on traditional mechanisms of internationalisation and can dilute the development of Internet capabilities for international business processes.     

Marketing Strategy in an Internet-Enabled Environment: A Retrospective on the First Ten Years of JIM and a Prospective on the Next Ten Years

During the past decade, developments such as the rapid growth of the Internet, digitization of information products, and digitization of the information attributes of non-information products, has necessitated businesses to fundamentally rethink, as well as institute major changes in, their marketing strategies. Against this backdrop, we present a critical assessment of extant research on marketing strategy in an Internet-enabled environment viewed through the lens of research published in previous volumes of the Journal of Interactive Marketing (JIM), and speculate on the future of interactive marketing in the contexts of marketing practice, research in marketing and marketing education. Looking back, it is evident that marketing strategy and marketing operations have been transformed by the Internet in many ways. Looking ahead, it can be expected that marketing strategy and marketing operations will be even more extensively integrated and blended in the Internet-enabled market environment in the future.     

The drivers of firm longevity: Age,size, profitability and survivorship of Australian corporations, 1901–1930

Why do some firms last longer than others? This question has attracted considerable interest among scholars from business history, management and economics. Our article combines the business historian’s macro view of the relationship between size, longevity, and economic development with quantitative modelling. We apply survival analysis to data relating to size, age and profitability, three first-order explanations of longevity, for Australian stock exchange (ASX) listed corporations from 1901 to 1930. The novelty of the article is twofold: we find that firm size is a poor predictor of longevity for the full sample but its age and profitability are highly significant; our data covers a longer time frame and relates to a rich mid-sized and non-industrialised country.     

Disentangling the effects of organizational capabilities, innovation and firm size on SME sales growth

This paper focuses on certain drivers of SME sales growth related to knowledge and innovation. Building on the dynamic capabilities literature, we test whether two organizational capabilities (external sourcing and employee involvement in renewal activities) predict sales growth, and if so, whether such effects are mediated by process and/or product innovation. Based on survey data from a panel study of Dutch SMEs, and controlling for several firm characteristics (firm size, sector, age and family business), we conclude that external sourcing has direct effects on both product and process innovation, with an indirect effect (mediated by process innovation) on sales growth. In line with our hypothesis development, we also find that employee involvement, while positively affecting process innovation, has a negative effect on sales growth. Firm size moderates the effects of two of the variables (external sourcing and product innovation) on sales growth, with more positive effects found for the smallest firms, results supporting the nimbleness (versus resource-based) view.     

Merger and Acquisitions as Adjustment Processes

The Tichy review needs to be placed in a broader conceptual framework. Declining transportation and communication costs have globalized markets. Technological changes including Internet developments have transformed industries and blurred industry boundaries. Such change forces have required adjustments by all firms. Mergers represent only one of the many strategies business firms have used. In adjusting to changing environments and competitive developments, firms changed the scope and mix of products and markets. Alliances, joint ventures, licensing, franchising, investments modify organization structures and business relationships. Divestitures, spin-offs, split-ups, rollups, consolidations, downsizing, and reorganizations alter the size, focus, growth rates, and vertical structures of firms. The efforts seeking to improve a firm's competitive position succeed or fail in various degrees. The many forms of industry and firm adjustment processes make structural-based antitrust guidelines bad policies.     

Retail Philanthropy: Firm Size,Industry, and Business Cycle

This article investigates the effects of firm size, profitability, industry affiliation, and the business cycle on retailer philanthropy. The importance of industry and firm effects on giving was analyzed with regression models using industry-fixed effects as well as firm strategy variables. The analysis included instrumental variables methodology to account for simultaneity in the charitable giving–profits relationship. Data were gathered from the IRS Corporate Statistics of Income Sourcebook, data that provide firm size class measures covering the entire firm size distribution ranging from small retailers up to large multi-national retail firms. Retailer philanthropy was measured as the ratio of charitable contributions to total receipts. Important findings include a cubic relationship between retailer philanthropy and firm size; industry effects stronger than those observed for retail profit; and the absence of business cycle effects. The empirical research relating retail charitable giving to firm attributes including firm size and advertising, industry and business cycle factors are unique in the business ethics literature. Prior studies regarding the importance of industry on charitable giving utilized data across broad sectors of the economy. Firms from different sectors could be expected to differ in philanthropic approach due to differences in public contact as well as differences in public relations exposure. The strong industry effects reported for this sample of exclusively retail firms, with similar public contact, provide strong evidence for the importance of industry in determining firms’ charitable strategies.     

Firm size,age, industrial networking,and growth: a case of the Korean manufacturing industry

This paper investigates the roles of firm size, age, and industrial networking in determining firm growth. Analyses using the 2-year panel data of 7,889 Korean manufacturing firms between 1994 and 2003 confirm that firm size and age have significant negative effects on firm growth and significant positive impacts on firm survival. R&D and export activities are found to facilitate both firm growth and survival. The primary focus of this study is to examine the effects of industrial networking, such as subcontracting and clustering, on firm growth. The results show that subcontracting does not yield any positive effect for firm growth, but encumbers survival, which may be accounted for by the high subcontracting intensity among small firms. Clustering, on the other hand, is found to promote firm growth and survival. There is, however, little evidence that such a positive effect of clustering is derived from network externalities through cooperation and competition among firms in a cluster per se.     

Internet resources and capabilities: Japanese SME risk-taking,industry and performance

This study investigates how Internet-related resources and capabilities are influencing performance in Japanese small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We use a structural equation modelling approach to test these relationships between Internet readiness, Internet capability, risk-taking perceptions and performance within Japanese SMEs (350 SMEs). Unlike other counterpart countries, such as South Korea, Japanese SMEs have been relatively slow in implementing Internet technologies into business practice. However, the results indicate that if Japanese SMEs allocate appropriate resources and deploy Internet capabilities these firms will benefit with performance gains. Further, we find that both the perception of risk-taking and the industry in which the firm operates are key factors in either inhibiting or enhancing the firm’s ability to leverage Internet-related capabilities for firm performance.     

Practice Makes Profit: Business Practices and Firm Success

Which business practices set successful firms apart from others? We address this question using data from an official survey of almost 3000 New Zealand firms. Questions cover: leadership, planning practices, customer and supplier focus, employee practices, quality and process monitoring, benchmarking, community and social responsibility, innovation, IT use, business structure and the competitive environment. Some of these are internal practices reflecting a firm’s resources and capabilities; some are characteristics of the external environment. We find that capital investment choices, R&;D practices, market research and a range of employee practices are positively associated with firm success; industry structure is also a key determinant of success. The association between specific business practices and firm success is mostly independent of firm size, age and industrial sector, other than for export marketing.     

Internet of things support for marketing activities

ABSTRACT

Internet-enabled consumer devices are to be developed by the manufacturers. In this article, we examine how the Internet of things (IoT) can support marketing activities, including customer relationship management, business intelligence, and product design. In particular, the research reported in this article examines how the IoT can provide communication channels to support targeted marketing for product owners and enhance customer relationship management and product support. In addition, in this article, we examine how data gained from the operational use of Internet-enabled devices can support business intelligence in terms of how consumers actually use a product and can also support new product design in terms what features of current Internet-enabled products are most commonly used and how they are used.     

Knowledge-exchange strategies between KIBS firms and their clients

Based on a survey of 1124 knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) firms, this paper explores the extent and determinants of knowledge exchange between KIBS and their clients. An ordered logistic regression was estimated. The results show that the propensity of KIBS firms to rely more on a commoditization strategy and less on a personalization strategy increases with the variety of research sources of information, the number of knowledge employees, the variety of knowledge management practices, the firm's size, the business age, and being a KIBS firm operating in a technology-based industry rather than a traditional professional industry, while it decreases with R&D investments, the variety of advanced technologies, and the strength of ties.     

Impact of Organizational Characteristics and Information Technology Maturity on Internet Business Application: A Taiwan Survey

ABSTRACT

The Internet and World Wide Web (WWW) have provided unprecedented opportunities and challenges for conducting business online today. The growing trend of the Internet in Asia will cause companies to go on online quickly and the Internet will reinforce a speedy recovery and drive the globalization of the region. The spread of the Internet with decrease in cost should remove hidden barriers to free commerce and boost the economy in Asia. A cross-sectional survey of the manufacturing industry in Taiwan was conducted. On the basis of concerning value chain, organization and information management, this study examines the impact of organizational characteristics and information technology (IT) maturity on the Internet business application, and on the benefit of improving competitive advantages. It is found that firm type, organizational characteristics and IT maturity influence firms' Internet application in the value chain. Organizational characteristics and IT maturity influence the Internet business application, and the firms' improvement in competitive advantage varies. Overall, the firms with innovation-oriented or high level of IT maturity in Taiwan have higher implementation rate of the Internet and more widespread of application in the value chain. Hence, these firms are usually able to further integrate different value creation activities in the value chain to gain more competitive advantages     

公司特征、行业特征和并购战略类型的实证研究

This paper studies 148 related and 169 unrelated acquisition cases conducted by Chinese listed firms from 2001 to 2004 and explores firm and industry characteristics of these firms prior to their acquisition. Results show that there are significant pre-acquisition differences between firms pursuing related acquisition and firms pursuing unrelated acquisition in terms of firm performance, business risk, firm size, proportion of state shares and degree of diversification profile. Except for differences in internal capital as represented by undistributed profit per share, there is no significant difference in other aspects of available resources and industry performance. Translated and revised from Guanli Shijie 管理世界 (Management World), 2007, (3): 130–137     

Developing E-Business Dynamic Capabilities: An Analysis of E-Commerce Innovation from I-, M-, to U-Commerce

This study uses an electronic commerce (E-commerce) innovation model to analyze the differences in technological knowledge, business model, and dynamic capability aspects used in Internet-enabled commerce (I-commerce) versus mobile commerce (M-commerce) versus ubiquitous commerce (U-commerce). The results indicate that the innovation from I-commerce to M-commerce is radical, leading to drastic changes in the business model. However, from M-commerce to U-commerce, disruptive changes occur in both technological and business model dimensions. A set of critical dynamic capabilities for each innovation is identified. These results provide great insight for practitioners and scholars for enhancing their understanding of E-commerce innovation, and provide guidelines to help practitioners adapt from one type of innovation to another.     

Dividends Behavior in State- Versus Family-Controlled Firms: Evidence from Hong Kong

This study comparatively examines the dividends behavior in state-controlled firms versus family-controlled firms. With the sample of large industrial firms listed on the Main Board of Hong Kong Stock Exchange, we investigate the dividends payment rates, stability of dividends payment, the effects of firm size, profitability and growth opportunity on likelihood to pay dividends, as well as the concentration of dividend in state-controlled versus family-controlled firms. Based on the findings, we derive some ethical implications of dividends policy regarding the differences in business ethical behavior, corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, business sustainability, and shareholder activism in state-controlled versus family-controlled firms, as well as the improvement in these respects through cross-listing in Hong Kong.     

Domestic Activity and Knowledge Development in the Internationalization Process of Firms

This paper is based on behavioral theory on internationalization, examining the effect of firms operations in the domestic market on experiential knowledge development in the internationalization of the firm. Five hypotheses are developed on the effects of business operations in the domestic market on: internationalization knowledge, business knowledge and institutional knowledge. The LISREL analysis of 206 firms shows that domestic operations effect the accumulation of experiential knowledge in internationalizing firms. We found that it is harder for a firm with long domestic experience to change their mental models and processes in the internationalization process.     

Capital structure decision making: A model for family business

Most theoretical and empirical studies of capital structure focus on public corporations. Only a limited number of studies on capital structure have been conducted on small-to-medium size enterprises (SMEs), and this deficiency is particularly evident in investigations into factors that influence funding decisions of family business owners.Theory indicates that there is a complex array of factors that influence SME owner-managers' financing decisions. Recent family business literature suggests that these processes are influenced by firm owners' attitudes toward the utility of debt as a form of funding as moderated by external environmental conditions (e.g., financial and market considerations).A number of other factors have been shown to influence financing decisions including culture; entrepreneurial characteristics; entrepreneurs' prior experiences in capital structure; business goals; business life-cycle issues; preferred ownership structures; views regarding control, debt–equity ratios, and short- vs. long-term debt; age and size of the firm; sources of funding for growth; attitudes toward debt financing; issues relating to independence and control; and perceived risk and attitudes toward personal risk.Although these factors have been identified, until now there does not appear to have been any attempts to develop empirically-based models that show relationships between these factors and family business owners' financing decisions. Utilizing theories derived from divergent disciplines, this study develops an empirically tested structural equation model of financing antecedents of family businesses. Participants of our study involved a random sample of 5000 business owners who were mailed a 250-item Australian Family and Private Business questionnaire developed specifically for this investigation.Notably, our findings reveal that firm size, family control, business planning, and business objectives are significantly associated with debt. Small family businesses and owners who do not have formal planning processes in place tend to rely on family loans as a source of finance. However, family businesses in the service industry (e.g., retailers and wholesalers) are less likely to use family loans as are those owners who are planning to achieve growth through new products or process development. Use of capital and retained profits is likely for family businesses planning to achieve growth through an increase in sales but less is likely for family businesses in the manufacturing sector and lifestyle firms. In addition, debt and family loans are negatively related to capital and retained profits. Equity is a consideration for owners of large businesses, young firms, and owners who plan to achieve growth through increasing profit margins. However, equity is less likely to be a consideration for older family business owners and owners who have a preference for retaining family control.Our findings suggest that the interplay between multiple social, family, and financial factors is complex. In addition, our findings indicate the importance of utilizing theories that also help to explain behavioral factors (e.g., owners' needs to be in control) that affect financial structure decision-making processes. Practitioners and researchers should consider the dynamic interplay among business characteristics (e.g., size or industry), behavioral aspects of business financing (e.g., business objectives), and financial factors (e.g., gearing levels) when working with and researching family enterprises.     

Growth beyond Gibrat: firm growth processes and strategies

Firm growth studies have been focused on the question of whether firm growth is independent of firm size. This shadow of Gibrat’s Law has drawn attention to the randomness in firm growth. However, it has also clouded relevant research avenues that enquire into the role of firm growth processes and strategies. This paper takes stock of the current state of the art of firm growth studies in small business economics, and makes a plea for more specific research approaches that highlight the nature of the firm, organization, and growth paths. This rejuvenation of firm growth studies comprises a search for necessary mechanisms and contingent conditions for the growth of firms.     

The role of the internet in the internationalisation of small and medium sized companies

It is now recognised that many firms are “born global’ and initiate international business from inception or shortly thereafter. They have been influenced by both globalisation and the impact of new ICT technologies. This paper examines the role of the Internet in the internationalisation of a cross national sample of small entrepreneurial firms from Canada, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. The findings are presented, including the role of the Internet in marketing, distribution, business processes and market intelligence and competitor analysis. The role of the Internet as a knowledge building tool is discussed, and areas for future research are presented.     

Does corruption boost or harm firms’ performance in developing and emerging economies? A firm-level study

In the last decade, a growing number of studies have addressed the ongoing debate about whether corruption “sands” or “greases” the wheels of business at the firm level. This study revisits this debate and proposes a comprehensive theoretical framework to test whether corruption harms or boosts firm performance, as well as the extent to which this relationship is mediated by the countries’ institutional settings, the size and strategic behaviour of the firms, and market competition. Based on a sample of 21,250 firms located in 117 emerging and developing countries, and resorting to instrumental variable (IV) estimations, three main results were found: (a) regardless of the proxy used for corruption and firm performance, the former clearly harms the latter; (b) corruption “greases the wheels” of business for African firms but it “sands the wheels” for firms in Latin America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Southern Asia; and (c) the negative impact of corruption on performance is mitigated for larger and exporting firms.