Organizational Learning and Market Orientation in International Marketing Education

SUMMARY

This study develops and tests a series of relationships between organizational learning and market orientation as it pertains to international marketing education. The focus is on the activities and relationships between the students, faculty, and staff in the international marketing/business program at three schools in the north, midwest, and south United States. Based on a sample of 193 undergraduate and graduate international marketing students, the results suggest that organizational learning (class and major area-based learning)-team orientation, systems orientation, learning orientation, and memory orientation-positively influences market orientation learning outcomes (i.e., intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination, and responsiveness). The major implication of the study is that the education provided to the students in an international marketing course (i.e., upper-division university course) can be enhanced by focusing on organizational learning tools as a means to increase the shared knowledge level among the Students.     

Adaptation of Marketing Mix Elements in International Markets

ABSTRACT

This research identifies the extent to which individual marketing mix elements are adapted for international markets and how company, industry, and market factors influence the level of adaptation. The study is based on a survey of executive-level managers in U.S.-based companies that market products internationally. The survey obtained information on the extent of adaptation across the marketing mix elements and on company, industry, and market factors that influence this process. The results indicate that adaptation is greatest for distribution, followed by price, promotion, and product. Product adaptation is influenced by market factors, price adaptation is influenced by market and industry factors, promotion adaptation is influenced by market factors, and distribution adaptation is influenced by company factors. The results of the research can be used to both understand and manage the extent of adaptation necessary for products in international markets.     

Perceived Effectiveness of Simulations in International Business Pedagogy

Abstract

This paper examines the perceived effectiveness of simulations in teaching international business. A survey of third and fourth year Canadian students who participated in a web-based international business simulation was conducted using a structured questionnaire. Factor analysis was used to understand the underlying relationships in the resulting data. The study finds that, compared to traditional approaches, e.g., textbooks and cases, students viewed the simulation as a more effective learning tool. The game stimulated interest and participation among students and was effective in fostering teamwork. The simulation was also viewed as being effective in providing students with an appreciation of the international context and complexity of cross-national decision-making.     

Gamification and Mobile Marketing Effectiveness

A variety of business sectors have been buffeted by the diffusion of mobile technology, a trend that presents a variety of difficult challenges but interesting opportunities to marketers. One such opportunity is gamification, which, one hopes, will enhance appeal to mobile consumers. Our sense from both personal experience and the literature is that the gamified mobile apps currently offered by firms mostly miss the mark. We provide a systematic overview of game design and note how principles derived from that field are highly applicable to gamification in mobile marketing settings. We are aided by the work of Schell (2008), whose Elemental Game Tetrad Model allows us to offer a coherent look at how gamification should affect mobile marketing outcomes.     

基于工作态度的组织支持感与组织公平对组织公民行为的影响研究

本文采用我国中小企业员工样本,运用相关分析和回归分析方法研究组织支持感与公平感对组织公民行为影响的作用机制,即组织支持与公平感是否会通过员工工作态度的中介作用对组织公民行为产生影响。结果表明:员工的组织支持感和公平感均对情感承诺、工作满意度和组织公民行为有显著影响;情感承诺对组织支持感、组织公平分别与组织公民行为间的关系起到部分中介作用;但工作满意度仅对互动公平与组织公民行为间的关系起到部分中介作用;而其余的中介效应检验中,工作满意度仅对组织支持感、分配公平、程序公平分别与指向个体的组织公民行为起到部分中介作用。     

Relationships of Organizational Justice and Organizational Identification: The Mediating Effects of Perceived Organizational Support in Hong Kong

Women's role in management is an important issue. This is based not just on moral, but also on economic grounds. In many countries female participation rates in labour markets have increased, but a similar expansion into managerial posts has commonly lagged behind this, often an indication of the resilience of the so-called ‘glass ceiling’. We use South Korea as an example to explore this. We review the literature in the area and provide theoretical explanations and a lens through which to view developments which indicate that social and cultural, rather than economic, reasons often underpin the situation. We go on to outline some possible ways to confront female managerial discrimination and to increase women's roles in management.     

International Catalog Mix Adaptation

Abstract

Striking the right balance of adaptation of the international catalog mix may be the key to profitability. U.S. catalog firms, new to international markets, have less experience in adapting than firms in more globalized industries. The literature on international marketing strategy adaptation reveals that this decision depends on the environment, industry, market, product, and characteristics of the firm. This paper examines the influence of market similarity, type of business and the firm's international experience on international catalog adaptation, and explores the effects of catalog adaptation on a firm's performance. We hypothesize that the greater the market similarity, the less likely it is that firms will adjust their catalog. We also argue than adaptation is greater for consumer catalogs than for business-to-business catalogs. A third hypothesis is that more internationally experienced firms will adapt more and a final hypothesis is that a greater degree of adaptation will increase the international catalog performance. The results did not support the association of international catalog adjustment and market similarity, experience, and type of catalog. Findings are mixed both on catalog adaptations and firm performance. We found that some but not all adaptations in the catalog lead to improved performance. We speculate that U.S. catalog firms are making adaptations to reduce the costs of international marketing operations. This cost reduction strategy may not necessarily lead to profitability, thereby discouraging other firms from entering international markets.     

论国际特许经营的管理与市场营销战略

当前,特许经营日益国际化,国际特许经营业务将会不断扩展。本文重点探讨国际特许经营的模式,它所面临的宏观环境以及战略决策和市场营销战略。     

Moderating Effect of Perceived Organizational Support on Human Resource Development Practices and Organizational Citizenship Behavior

This study examined the moderating effect of perceived organizational support on the relationship between human resource development practices and organizational citizenship behavior of hotels in Thailand. The results from a survey of 733 frontline employees revealed that the relationship between human resource development practices and organizational citizenship behavior was stronger for employees with the high level of perceived organizational support, compared to employees with the low level of perceived organizational support. Therefore, this finding contributes to a significant understanding of moderating effect of perceived organizational support in service organizations. Discussion and implications are also provided.     

Marketing Services for the New Organizational Structure

Two trends in organizational structures warrant a reexamination of the ways that marketing services companies (Marketing, Advertising, Promotion, Public Relations, etc.) are asked to support the objectives of their client organizations. The first trend is the "flattening" of many organizations as layers of management are cut in an attempt to reduce overhead. However, there is seldom a concurrent reduction in projects with the result that the remaining managers must accomplish virtually all the previous tasks with a diminished staff. The second trend is an attempt to develop a competitive edge by refocusing the mission of the organization. Total Quality Management (TQM), task teams, and a new focus on customer service are examples of recent attempts to redefine the real goals of an organization and align employees behind the new goals. In this article the authors argue that a new structure in marketing services companies is needed to serve the new organizational structure. This new structure more nearly mirrors the client organization by encompassing multitude disciplines and operating with a lean organization of experienced professionals. The advantages are the same as those that lead to changes in the client companies; lower overhead, greater alignment along disciplines, and a competitive edge for clients.     

The International Marketing Literature

ABSTRACT

This study examines the international marketing literature published during the period 1987-1993. Twenty journals, which publish international marketing articles on a variety of topics, were reviewed, yielding 1,645 articles with an international marketing perspective. Classification of the articles on the basis of subject content yielded twenty-four distinct topic categories. Topical trends and frequent contributors in the international marketing literature are identified and implications for future research are discussed.     

The Moderating Effect of Perceived Effectiveness of SMEs' Marketing Function on the Network Ties—Strategic Adaptiveness Relationship

This study examines the critical role of perceived effectiveness of the Marketing function (MF) in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in leveraging entrepreneurial network ties to improve strategic adaptiveness (SA). The study tests whether a MF perceived as effective by SMEs’ managers/owners moderates the relationship between SMEs network ties and SA required for improved performance. Findings of a moderated regression analysis on a sample of 263 Croatian SMEs indicate that network ties contribute significantly to their SA, and that a MF perceived as effective only moderates the impact of customer and competitor ties on SMEs’ SA. Research and practical implications are discussed.     

Perceived Organizational Motives and Consumer Responses to Proactive and Reactive CSR

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has emerged as an effective way for firms to create favorable attitudes among consumers. Although prior research has addressed the direct influence of proactive and reactive CSR on consumer responses, this research hypothesized that consumers’ perceived organizational motives (i.e., attributions) will mediate this relationship. It was also hypothesized that the source of information and location of CSR initiative will affect the motives consumers assign to a firms’ engagement in the initiative. Two experiments were conducted to test these hypotheses. The results of Study 1 indicate that the nature of a CSR initiative influences consumer attribution effects and that these attributions act as mediators in helping to explain consumers’ responses to CSR. Study 2 suggests that the source of the CSR message moderates the effect of CSR on consumer attributions. The mediating influence of the attributions as well as the importance of information source suggests that proper communication of CSR can be a viable way to inculcate positive corporate associations and purchase intentions.     

The International Marketing Environment

Abstract

The article analyzes the content of 18 international marketing academic textbooks with regard to factors comprising the global marketing environment. Three broad categories of factors are identified, the macro (i.e., physical, demographic, and socio-cultural), meso (i.e., economic, political-legal, and technological), andmicro (i.e., intermediaries, competitors, market, and customers). In each of the subcategories, 10 different factors affecting global marketing were extracted. By measuring the extent of coverage given to each factor in each textbook, the relative emphasis placed collectively was established. These results were subsequently compared and contrasted to the views of 71 academics teaching international marketing; revealing the existence of gaps between the importance attached to most of the elements comprising the international marketing environment, and the coverage provided in academic textbooks.     

International Marketing of Services

This article is based on a chapter of a forthcoming book on ‘The Marketing of Services' to be published by Heinemann, Spring 1984. It examines the contribution to the UK's Balance of Payments made by ‘invisible exports', including services, and highlights the advantages and disadvantages that arise when marketing services, as opposed to products, overseas.     

价值链与国际市场营销策略

企业创造价值的过程是由一系列互不相同但又相互关联的经济活动组成的,其总和即构成企业的"价值链".企业在竞争中的优势来自企业价值链上的某些特定环节,要保持企业的战略优势,关键是控制企业价值链的战略环节.企业跨国经营的产品战略选择,与企业优势所依赖的价值活动密切相关.如果企业优势主要在于价值链的上游环节,则宜采用全球策略;反之,则宜采用地区性的产品策略.     

Perceived common myths and unethical practices among Direct Marketing professionals

Two arcas of continuing interest to direct marketing professionals are the perceived myths and unethical practices in the field. Documentation of specific cases and more abstract discussion of these two points of interest frequently appear in the direct marketing literature (e.g. Gitlitz and Barton, 1983; Lewis, 1982; Pierce, 1985). Indeed, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has promulgated specific guidelines (DMA, 1985) for ethical business practices within the industry. Up to this point, however, there has been no attempt at a systematic evaluation of the perceptions of professionals in the field. Such an evaluation of these two areas of practice would appear to beg the following questions: (1) What are the major common myths which abound in direct marketing as perceived by professionals who come into direct contact with the operations of direct marketing organizations? (2) Which of these so-called myths are most requently mentioned? (3) What are the most commonly perceived unethical practices? (4) Which of these unethical practices are most frequently mentioned by direct marketing professionals? (5) To what extent do these perceived unethical practices coincide with the industry's own guidelines?     

Job Satisfaction: Linking Perceived Organizational Support,Organizational Justice with Work Outcomes in China

This study develops and tests a full mediation model that examines the mediating role of job satisfaction in the Chinese context, based on a survey of 424 employees in three small and medium sized enterprises. Data analysis shows a good fit with the full mediation and all four classes of antecedents (i.e., perceived organizational support, procedural, distributive, and interactional justice). Particularly, procedural justice contributes to the prediction of satisfaction. Job satisfaction is also shown to mediate most antecedentconsequence relationships, except the two between perceived organizational support (POS)—turnover and procedural justice—consequences. Furthermore, there are only four direct links, including POS to citizenship behaviors directed at individuals, distributive justice to turnover intention, interactional justice to citizenship behaviors directed at organizations and turnover. These direct links suggest that job satisfaction does not fully mediate the relationships.     

Organizational Learning at the Marketing/Entrepreneurship Interface

The intent of this special issue is to examine the interface of marketing and entrepreneurship. In the franchise contracts paper by Cochet and Garg and in the Chinese small firm paper by Li, Tan, Zhao and Liu, we assess whether these studies achieved that interface and, if so, what the papers respectively and mutually contribute to the body of knowledge at the interface.     

Radio Station Managers' Perceptions of Organizational Effectiveness

The organizational effectiveness menu was used as a questionnaire with a sample of 26 radio station general managers. Each respondent was asked to rate the important of 60 effectiveness criteria and to choose the most important category. The results indicate that radio station general managers perceive the personnel and service/production categories as important in assessing organizational effectiveness, but that some also view selected financial criteria as important. Those managers whose stations have high Arbitron ratings and are larger in size (number of employees), place greater emphasis on profitability and less emphasis on personnel. The conclusion is that the larger radio stations may be overemphasizing short-term financial matters and neglecting criteria which may ensure adaptability and long-term survival, while smaller stations may be neglecting financial criteria which could limit their short-term survival.