East Meets West: Tacit Messages about Business Ethics in Stories Told by Chinese Managers

This article examines how culture influences Chinese managers’ perception of some western management instruments, such as codes of ethics and performance evaluation systems. The research is based on analyzing the tacit messages in “stories told” by managers and reviewing some of the barriers that may hinder understanding. Major obstacles lie in failing to ‘read’ each other’s cultures correctly. Assumptions and biases are left alone instead of being addressed openly. Western management systems and tools do not necessarily function equally well in the Chinese culture, unless they are reassessed and adapted. Some recommendations for managers and further research are given.     

Performance measurement and metric manipulation in the public sector

This paper explores the circumstances that influence whether managers in the public services manipulate the measurement information that is used to assess performance; and if they do, what level of deception they might use. The realistic evaluation approach is adopted. A Delphi survey and the collection of critical incidents through interviews are used to identify possible configurations of contexts–mechanisms–outcomes that provide possible explanations of information manipulation. A number of these configurations are discussed. In a later stage of the project these configurations will be further tested through another Delphi survey, with the intention of developing proposals for improved governance of performance measurement systems in the public services.     

Performance expectations of small firms considering radical product innovation

Performance expectations influence business decisions such as investment decisions and demand for supplies, particularly in small firms with limited strategic planning. Despite widespread use of performance expectations by firms and governments when making sales forecasts and economic outlooks, surprisingly little research exists about how small firms form performance expectations. This paper contributes to reduce this knowledge gap by analyzing performance expectations of small firm managers operating in markets with radical product innovations. This paper proposes a model and hypotheses, which explain performance expectations of small firm managers based on firms' current success, radical product innovation, and variables that indicate firms' ability to respond to customer needs for radical product innovation. Data from 200 decision-makers in a real decision-making context support the model. The results show that performance expectations in small firms are only to a limited extent a naïve extrapolation of current success: radical product innovation and small firm's ability to respond to customer needs for radical product innovation influence performance expectations.     

Measuring the Consequences of Using Diverse Supplier Evaluation Teams: A Performance Frontier Perspective

This article focuses on the postperformance evaluation of a supplier set by a buyer evaluation team. It explores the use of data envelopment analysis and the assurance region technique to measure the impact that conforming or disparate evaluation teams can have on the perception of supplier performance. As a result, this work makes the case for moving the notion of performance scorecards usage to the next level. For researchers the work demonstrates the case for dual accountability and the construction of performance frontiers motivated by an actual setting using many of the important dimensions discussed in the empirical literature. For managers, the work demonstrates one way of action‐based decision making in performance management that recommends courses of action in the buyer–supplier interface. Several other practice‐based interpretations for managers are also discussed.     

基于管理可能集的管理有效性动态评价指标体系研究

为消除组织间客观基础条件差异对绩效评价结果的影响,对能真正反映管理好坏程度及能力对绩效贡献的二次相对评价模型及其可测性进行了研究,在此基础上提出了管理可能集的概念,并通过管理可能集分析管理有效性的可能性,并建立管理有效性评价的动态指标体系。同时,针对管理有效性的可测性分析,可真正做到对不同评价单位都有激励作用,从而有利于寻找差距,分析经济行为低效的主要原因,调动人们提高经济效率与科技进步的积极性。     

基于流程管理的制造企业绩效评价系统

流程管理的顺利开展需要建立与之匹配的新型绩效评价系统。以流动资金为主线对制造企业的业务流程进行了分析,在此基础之上从指标性质和评价范围两个方面探讨了流程绩效评价系统的设计思路,从所有者、顾客、管理者、员工、债权人等主要利益相关者的角度出发,开发出了一套典型的用于流程绩效评价的流动资金指标,对流程绩效评价指标进行了集成,给出了流程绩效的综合评价方法。     

Enhancing CSCW with Advanced Decision Making Tools for an Agile Manufacturing System Design Application

Computer Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW) can provide an efficient decision-making environment for multi-disciplinary teams faced with the challenge of evaluating agile manufacturing systems. In this paper, the development and evaluation of CSCW prototypes to aid the systematic evaluation of agile manufacturing systems are described. An industrial case study involving the evaluation of alternative design configurations of a cellular manufacturing system (CMS) for agile manufacturing was used for testing with twelve multi-disciplinary teams. The results obtained suggest that engineering design teams can obtain productivity improvements through the use of CSCW tools. The results indicate that CSCW systems can assist decision-makers in reaching consensus especially when advanced decision making tools are incorporated into the problem-solving framework. In this study, we also found that an enhanced CSCW with a neural network module for preference aggregation outperformed a basic CSCW in: (1) decision quality, (2) users' satisfaction and agreement, (3) consensus. These results also have far reaching implications for distributed product development teams that face the problem of reaching consensus on a range of alternative designs with stringent pressures to reduce development time.     

Impact of operational innovations on customer loyalty in the healthcare sector

This study investigates the effects of operational innovations, such as application of advanced information technology (IT) systems and supported knowledge and skills (SKSs), on care quality and customer loyalty in the healthcare industry. A research model is proposed based on previous studies and examined the relationships among the constructs using the structural equation modeling approach. Research data were collected through a survey of patients and employees of participating hospitals in Korea, with a patient and an employee as one set. The results of the study indicate that operational innovations result in improved customer closeness, which is associated with IT systems usage and SKSs for delivery of quality care, which have a positive impact on patient satisfaction and customer loyalty. Thus, hospital managers should encourage employees to generate new ideas for work efficiency, care quality, customer loyalty, and organizational performance.     

Analysing the effect of environmental factors on service performance

The aim of this paper is to analyse the effect of some environmental variables when analysing efficiency in a service process. For the first time in the grocery retail industry, this paper considers two different approaches employed in the efficiency measurement literature to analyse the influence of environmental factors, and compares the results obtained with a model that does not include the environmental factors. The methodology is based on the estimation of a stochastic parametric function. The results obtained highlight the importance of considering environmental variables when evaluating efficiency in retailing. As a consequence, managers should be aware that differences in performance could be due to more or less favourable environmental conditions. It is important for service assessment programmes to provide precise enough measures for managers to draw the correct conclusion when evaluating their firms' performance.     

Familiarity and competence diversity in new product development teams: Effects on new product performance

When developing new products, most firms use cross-functional teams, but research on the effect of functional diversity on new product performance returns heterogeneous results. We propose a measure of competence diversity that is more comprehensive than the common functional diversity proxy. Empirical findings, based on a survey of 142 product and sales managers, support the improved predictive validity of our scale. We further observe a mediating effect of the instrumental use of information in the competence diversity–new product performance relationship. Finally, we discuss the moderating effect of familiarity among team members on the relationship between competence diversity and the instrumental use of information. All authors contributed equally to this article and are listed in random order.     

In the consumers’ eye: A mixed-method approach to understanding how VR-Content influences unbranded product quality perceptions

Virtual reality (VR) is an exciting technology that offers great promise as a novel promotional tool. The notion that promotional tools can signal brand quality to consumers is supported in the literature, but the impact for products when brand signals are not paramount is less understood. We use a mixed-method approach to explore how VR-content influences consumers' quality perceptions for products where branding is less relied upon. Findings from a qualitative study reveal that the perception of VR-content's innovativeness acts as a heuristic to signal product quality for unbranded property products. Results from two quasi-experimental studies reveal that while industry-perceived innovative VR-content may not signal consumers' product quality perceptions, consumers' perception of media innovativeness can signal product quality for the offering and increase purchase intentions. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

Decision Support Systems in Marketing

The practical application of decision support systems in marketing is still in its infancy, even though academic research has been recommending the use of such systems for years. This is largely due to the lack of a single, generally applicable decision support system. The specific requirements and problems of management are too dissimilar to make the development of one universal decision support system feasible. However, improved PC performance, enhanced market survey methods such as conjoint measurement, and further developed programming tools permit the varying requirements to be fairly flexibly met. The following article describes state-of-the-art know-how regarding the practical utilization of such systems, and addresses the preconditions for employing them. We have included many examples gathered from our own experience with numerous applications.     

A Weighted Multi-Attribute Customer Satisfaction Index for Commercial and Industrial Electric Utility Customers

The ability to determine customer satisfaction is integral to the ultimate success of quality improvement efforts underway in many major corporations today. Developing a measurement system to determine customer satisfaction, therefore, becomes an important tool in the total quality, customer-driven management process. This article reports the development of a customer satisfaction index for a public utility, which, in addition to the measurement of the difference of importance and performance, is sensitive to customer perception of relative importance of key attributes. Changes or fluctuations in relativity of attribute performance are self-weighted by the use of customer importance in this customer satisfaction formula.     

Environmental reporting: Toward enhanced information quality

Managers and stakeholders are increasingly aware of the importance of the environmental impact of a firm's operations when assessing risk and attempting to determine future profitability. Unfortunately, financial accounting systems often fail to fully disclose these environmentally-related costs. The reasons underlying this incomplete disclosure are myriad, ranging from measurement issues to the structure of the firm's chart of accounts. In many ways, the issues facing managers and stakeholders who are attempting to assess environmental costs arising from business operations resemble the issues faced when attempting to determine the costs of producing poor quality products. The negative impact on the environment from business operations can be viewed as a failure in the same way that the negative impact of producing a defective product can be seen as a production control failure. Similarly, costs are incurred to prevent and detect environmental failures, and the cost of failure—particularly if not addressed within the firm—can be huge and unknowable. Drawing on the experiences of firms employing quality measures and reporting, this article presents an environmental cost reporting model to provide greater transparency on environmental impact of business operations to managers and firm stakeholders.     

旅游地旅游者忠诚度机制模型研究及发展建议——以亚布力风景区为例

忠诚的旅游者是旅游地发展的重要资源。依据旅游者忠诚度机制模型进行研究可知:情感价值对忠诚度产生直接影响;满意程度是决定忠诚度的关键因素;信任会对旅游者忠诚度产生重要影响;服务质量感知会对整体价值感知产生积极的正面影响;整体感知价值可以凭借满意度间接地影响旅游者忠诚度。旅游者忠诚度机制研究可帮助旅游地管理者制定有效的旅游者忠诚度培育战略。以亚布力滑雪场为例,培养和保持大学生对亚布力滑雪场的忠诚度,就要对现有的旅游项目进行合理利用和提升并创新开发新产品,延长景区的生命周期;完善和提高旅游目的地的交通基础设施建设,提高可达性;对市场进行细分,对潜在市场采取有效策略。     

Government performance evaluation using a balanced scorecard with a fuzzy linguistic scale

An efficient performance measurement system is essential for controlling, monitoring and improving service quality in governmental organisations. In this study, a new ‘government performance evaluating (GPE) procedure’ using a balanced scorecard structure integrated with a fuzzy linguistic scale is proposed for measuring and improving public service. The GPE procedure contributes the following: (1) integration of financial, citizen service and internal work processes as well as learning and growth perspectives in the evaluation procedure; (2) use of a fuzzy linguistic scale to convert the subjective cognition of managers into an information entity and (3) confirmation of improvement.     

Measurement of the Standard Proximity of Adapted Standard Business Software

In order to optimize the economical use of SAP software systems and to increase the cost effectiveness of the SAP investment, the available SAP standard system should be implemented in the best possible way. While standard functionality has no negative effects on maintenance and operating cost, modification of the standard has the potential to drive costs (Markus et al. 2000). An integrated methodology and an efficient instrument for the operational and strategic evaluation of this topic are crucial for an efficient application of SAP standard software. This article describes a new technical measurement methodology based on key performance indicators. This measurement methodology allows for measuring the standard proximity (i. e. proximity of used functionality to standard functionality) in SAP systems thereby creating transparency regarding the use of the available standard and non-standard functions. The methodology is evaluated in the context of a case study within the BMW Group. From the results of the measurement, actions are derived which foster the standard utilization and thus the efficiency of an SAP system.

THE ROLE OF LOGISTICS IN NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

For many firms, a program of successful new product development (NPD) projects is critical to overall company strategy. However, the role of logistics in NPD has rarely been researched. The purpose of this paper is to empirically test the relationship between logistics involvement in new product development and improvements in NPD project performance and NPD logistics performance. Senior logistics managers in manufacturing firms in the United States were surveyed to test these relationships. The analysis demonstrated NPD project performance and NPD logistics performance improved with the involvement of logistics in NPD.     

All pain,no gain? Why adopting sales force automation tools is insufficient for performance improvement

The dawning of the 21^st century brought a wave of research into the phenomenon of sales force automation (SFA)—technology tools aimed at enabling sales organizations to better practice customer relationship management. While the academic literature has offered great insight into how an organization can increase the likelihood that its sales force will adopt a new technology system, a great majority of research stops there. This is unfortunate in that companies mistakenly infer that use of an SFA system is the major hurdle and that simply motivating SFA use will be the key to unlocking improved performance. However, this is often not the case; many organizations are able to get their sales force to use an SFA system but do not see improvements in performance. As such, after briefly providing an overview of the factors affecting SFA use, this research provides insight into why use alone may not contribute to long-term improvements in a firm's sales performance. Key empirical findings and theoretical arguments from the extant literature are considered and a list of best practices is offered here to help managers bridge the gap between SFA use and improved sales effectiveness and efficiency.     

A longitudinal examination of the impact of quality perception gap on brand performance in the US Automotive Industry

A quality perception gap, defined as the difference between perceived and objective quality, indicates either consumers’ overappreciation or underappreciation of product or brand quality and can have critical effects on performance. The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of a quality perception gap on brand performance and its moderating role in the relationship between marketing-mix signals and performance. Analyses based on a longitudinal dataset from the US automotive industry reveal that the relationship between the quality perception gap and brand performance has an inverted U-shape. Findings also demonstrate that, except for advertising, the impact of marketing signals on performance is higher when the quality of a brand is perceived as higher than its actual quality. Finally, over an 18-year period, the average gap between perceived and objective quality demonstrates a decreasing trend, indicating that the nature of demand in the automotive industry has become more utilitarian.