Virtual Teams and Multiple Media: Structuring Media Use to Attain Strategic Goals

Work environments have grown substantially more complex over the years. Teams are increasingly distributed, and presented with a variety of different communication technologies, e.g., e-mail, instant messaging, cellular phones, pagers, and intranet applications, for use in distributed collaborative activities. Further, individuals often belong to multiple teams concurrently. This study explores how virtual team members structure their use of multiple media to attain strategic goals in complex work environments. A grounded theory approach was used to analyze data gathered from forty interviews of information technology workers. Our results indicate that there are two primary structures individuals employ when making use of multiple media: sequential and concurrent. Sequential combinations are of three types: redundant, serial, or complementary, while concurrent combinations are of two types: independent or complementary. Further, individuals strategically use multiple media to accomplish specific communication goals beyond simply transmitting the message, such as message acknowledgement, enhancement of mutual understanding, and participation in multiple communication interactions. The implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.Both authors contributed equally to this paper.     

我国对东盟六国信息通讯投资与合作的市场分析

新加坡、马来西亚、菲律宾、越南、缅甸、柬埔寨六国不同程度地向中国开放电信市场,这为中国信息通讯企业在东盟国家的发展提供了更广阔的区域性市场。现阶段,金融危机对欧美的电信企业有一定冲击,他们在融资方面面临困难,中国电信企业可以抓住机遇,更好地发挥自己的低成本优势,扩大在信息通讯领域对东盟的投资与合作。本文通过对新加坡等六国信息通信市场的分析,总结我国在上述市场中的所处地位和面临的问题,得出适合重点开拓的市场及非重点市场,并根据相应市场特点提出相关政策建议。     

Do technology-focused fast internationalizers’ performance measures change as they mature?

We examine how technology-focused innovation-based fast internationalizers’ (TIFIs’) performance measures change as they mature. Based on 42 interviews with Australian entrepreneurs and industry experts, we show that young TIFIs employ exploratory strategies for developing cutting-edge solutions and prefer using subjective measures for assessing their export performance. Later, becoming more complex organizations, employing exploitative strategies, they use additional objective, profit-based measures. The implications of destructive forces (e.g., COVID-19) to the performance of these firms were modest. Due to being digitally-based industry disruptors, they remain focused on innovation as the source of their independence and survival. Their creativity drives constant change/disruption to industries, requiring back-and-forth movement among exploratory and exploitative strategies, integrating subjective and objective performance measure simultaneously, as their new-to-the-world solutions are developed to withhold ‘creative destruction’ over time.     

Effects of Organizational Learning and Information-Processing Behaviors on New Product Success

Individual learning constructs were formulated in an organizational learning context and empirically tested for relationships with new product success. Two constructs, information recording-retrieving and information reviewing, were found to be positively related to new product success. The relevance of these constructs to organizational learning theory are discussed, along with the implication that managers should carefully record and review past information to improve future new product success rates.     

The Challenges of Full-Service Restaurant Brand Internationalization: A United States/Canada Perspective

The purpose of this research is to identify the challenges faced by full-service restaurant brands internationalizing across the border between the United States and Canada. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from 54 senior executives across the US and Canada. The results show differences in the challenges faced by U.S. versus Canadian full-service restaurant brands when they are expanding across the border based upon the context of the full-service restaurant and how they are internationalizing. This is the first empirical study about cross border expansion challenges for U.S. and Canadian full-service restaurant brands.     

Blogging: A new play in your marketing game plan

The emergence, proliferation, and ubiquity of the Internet have not only transformed businesses, but also altered the relationship between businesses and the customer. Recent advances in technology have helped to migrate this relationship to an interactive level where technology contributes to brand building by creating and sustaining a long-term relationship with the customer. Media fragmentation and customer indifference to traditional marketing tools are forcing marketers to seek new opportunities so the marketing message not only captures customers’ attention, but also tries to engage them with the company. This paper discusses blogs within the context of creating this new, more enduring relationship with the customer. Blogs are discussed within the framework of Web 2.0, the next generation of the Internet, which is comprised of user-generated content and social computing. The use of blogs by several companies as tools to better engage the customer in the creation, delivery, and dissemination of marketing messages is also demonstrated.     

Some Reasons Why Foreign Retailers Have Difficulties in Succeeding in the Japanese Market

Abstract

The paper explores the Mystique Theory of Japanese Market by analyzing cases of foreign-affiliated retail companies that have entered the Japanese market. As a result of the case studies, three conclusions are drawn. The first identifies three generic hurdles that foreign-affiliated retail companies face in a host country. The second conclusion is that a sufficient condition of success for the foreign-affiliated companies is the need to learn from their failures, to adapt and to change their business models in Japan. The third conclusion is concerned with a potential reason why failed foreign-affiliated companies failed to learn form their experiences in Japan.     

The Role of the Internet in the Delivery of Export Promotion Services: A Web Site Content Analysis

ABSTRACT

This article examines the role of the Internet in the delivery of export promotion services. Based on a content analysis of the Web sites of 250 export promotion organizations (EPOs) representing over 130 countries, it is concluded that the majority of these organizations have not fully exploited the potentials of this technology in the delivery of support services to national exporters. Use of the Internet is primarily limited to dissemination of basic information with little effort made to utilize the interactive and customization features of the technology. The managerial and policy implications of this failure in terms of increased cost of market entry, lost export revenues, and exporter attrition are discussed.     

互联网发展对我国文化出口贸易影响的实证分析

随着近年来互联网经济的快速发展,我国也在开展文化出口贸易的过程中融合了互联网,基于互联网的时代背景下,通过对2009—2018年我国与30个周边国家文化出口贸易的面板数据进行实证分析,结果显示:在我国文化出口贸易的影响因素中,贸易国双方的互联网使用人数对我国文化贸易产品出口有显著的正向影响。     

Dot-Bombs

Abstract

While a great deal can be learned from examining dot-com successes, even more can be learned from studying dot-com failures. The number of failures, unfortunately, is in the many hundreds and has resulted in the loss of billions of dollars and thousands of jobs. The authors describe the major reasons so many firms failed and offer advice for future dot-coms on how to succeed.     

Geography and International Inequalities: The Impact of New Technologies*

Some writers have predicted that new technologies mean the death of distance, allowing suitably skilled economies to converge with high income countries. This paper evaluates this claim. It argues that geography matters for international income inequalities, and that new technologies will change, but not abolish this dependence. Some activities may become more entrenched in high income countries than they are at present. Others—where information can be readily codified and digitized—will relocate, but typically only to a subset of lower income countries. These countries will benefit, but other countries will continue to experience the costs of remoteness.     

Entrepreneurial orientation,commitment to the Internet and export performance in small and medium sized exporting firms

This paper investigates links between entrepreneurial orientation, commitment to the Internet and export performance in small and medium sized firms. The central argument is that entrepreneurs are more likely to use the Internet to develop export market opportunities, and to have better export performance than less entrepreneurial firms. In testing this proposition, a measure of ‘commitment to the Internet’ was developed and used in a mail survey of UK exporters. The results show that firms with high entrepreneurial orientation are more committed to the Internet and have better export performance than firms with low entrepreneurial orientation.     

An Exploratory Framework for Analysing International Retail Learning

It is argued that international retail research has overlooked an essential component of the retail internationalization process, notably learning. This paper proposes an exploratory framework that enables the application of learning theory to the study of international retailing. The paper provides a meaningful starting point for developing an overarching framework which would represent one sort of re-conceptualization of the retail internationalization process, and arguably a new perspective for reinterpreting, re-evaluating and refining the existing literature on international retailing. Alongside this exploratory framework, we present a series of research propositions that might serve as an agenda for research into international retail learning. The paper concludes with a summary of the key themes and ways in which the area of international retail learning may be investigated.     

Useful Web Sites for International Business Communication Education

Abstract

The World Wide Web presents many opportunities for improving the instructional quality of international business communication related classes by providing access to a large variety of information sources. These sources can be used as supplements to traditional texts, as the basis for specific program assignments, or even as the main focus of a course. An especially useful aspect of these sites is that they can improve information recency and depth when compared with sole reliance on traditional texts. Unfortunately, the sheer quantity of available Web pages can make it difficult to find appropriate sites for a given international business communication topic. To assist educators in locating such relevant sites, we offer summaries and addresses for pages in some of the major areas of international business communication. These selections were chosen both for their relevance to international business communication training and evaluation by Cornell's suggested quality criteria. The article concludes with a discussion of potential applications, problems, and implications for web based international business communication instruction.     

建立闽台新能源合作体系的探索

闽台地缘相近,新能源资源结构相似,发展新能源的诉求一致,两地的新能源合作可带来能源共同发展的双赢局面。闽台新能源合作既有些有利条件也存在阻碍因素,所以要遵循一定的构建原则,使闽台在新能源合作的措施上先行先试。     

The Impact of Export Promotion Programs on Firms’ Export Competencies and Performance in a Transition Economy: The Case of Russian Manufacturers

Abstract

This study evaluates the effects of export promotion programs (EPPs) in Russian manufacturers. It examines a multi-dimensional set of subjective and objective indicators including the level of awareness, use, the perception of usefulness, as well as different intermediate export marketing results, and final performance indicators. The results show that most EPPs are successful in attaining their goals as to improving firms’ export marketing competencies. Though, at the same time, they point to clear problems, regarding program awareness, availability, and accessibility. The paper concludes with a discussion about managerial and public policy implications.     

Defensive Strategies of Local Companies Against Foreign Multinationals: Evidence from Chilean Retailers

ABSTRACT

Many retailers have been expanding into foreign markets, although not all such attempts at internationalization have been successful. This study examines the actions taken by Chilean retailers that negatively affected the operations of Home Depot, Carrefour and J.C. Penney in Chile. The results show that the strategies employed by local companies have consisted in: (1) becoming informed about the company's strengths and weaknesses, while imitating its best practices; (2) deepening their own market know-how and hiring high-level executives to lead defensive strategies; (3) opening stores in strategic places in order to win advantages concerning location; and (4) investing in technology and the training of employees. The overall effect on the market has been one of concentration and consolidation of the retail industry.

RESUMEN. Muchos retailers se están expandiendo a mercados extranjeros, sin embargo no todos los intentos de internacionalización son exitosos. Este estudio examina las acciones desarrolladas por retailers chilenos que afectaron negativamente la operación en Chile de Home Depot, Carrefour, y J.C. Penney. Los resultados de esta investigación muestran que las estratégicas empleadas por las empresas locales consistieron en (1) informarse en forma anticipada las fortalezas y debilidades de la empresa extranjera e imitando sus mejores prácticas, (2) fortaleciendo su conocimiento del mercado y contratando ejecutivos fuertes para liderar la estrategia defensiva, (3) apertura de locales en ubicaciones estratégicas para bloquear ventajas de localización, y (4) inversión en tecnología y capitación a los empleados. Los efectos sobre el mercado total fue de mayor concentración y consolidación de la industria.

RESUMO. Muitos varejistas têm expandido seus negócios para mercados estrangeiros, embora nem todas estas tentativas de internacionalização tenham sido bem sucedidas. Este estudo examina as aç[otilde]es implementadas por varejistas chilenos, as quais afetaram negativamente as operaç[otilde]es da Home Depot, Carrefour e J.C. Penney no Chile. Os resultados mostram que as estratégias empregadas pelas companhias locais consistiram em: (1) informar-se sobre os pontos fortes e fracos da companhia, ao mesmo tempo em que replicavam suas melhores práticas; (2) aprofundar o conhecimento a respeito de seu próprio mercado e contratar executivos de alto nível para liderar estratégias defensivas; (3) promover a abertura de lojas em locais estratégicos com o objetivo de conquistar vantagens relativas à localização; e (4) investir em tecnologia e no treinamento de funcionários. O efeito global desses movimentos no mercado tem sido o de promover a concentração e a consolidação da indústria varejista.     

高新技术产业研发投入对出口贸易的影响——基于中国电子行业的实证研究

本文利用2001-2007年的我国电子信息100强企业的统计数据,通过构建一个包括研究与发展经费、信息化投资的分析框架,实证检验了研究与发展经费、信息化投资对我国出口贸易产生的影响。揭示了我国电子信息企业的研发及信息化投资对我国出口贸易有显著正效应的结论,并在实证研究的基础上提出了相应的对策和建议。