Antecedents and Consequences of Goal Incongruity on New Product Development in Five Countries: A Marketing View

This article examines an important challenge to effective cross-functional integration: goal incongruity among marketing, research and development (R&D), and manufacturing in new product development. We examine the effect of this incongruity as perceived by the marketing function on three components of cross-functional integration: the harmony of cross-functional relationships, the quality of cross-functional information, and the level of cross-functional involvement. We also examine how two types of managerially controllable variables affect goal incongruity: (1) factors that motivate functions to develop common goals; and (2) factors that facilitate the formation of such goals. We give special attention to the effect of national culture on the formation of common goals. Data collected from marketing managers in 1,083 firms in five culturally distinct areas—-the United States, Great Britain, Japan, Hong Kong (a special administrative region of China), and mainland China—are used to test the hypothesized relationships. Our results underscore the importance of people-side issues, and of national culture, in cross-functional integration. Perceived goal incongruity among marketing, R&D, and manufacturing impairs all three components of cross-functional integration. In United States and British firms, goal incongruity generally is attributed to motivational factors and in Japan and Hong Kong to facilitative factors. Finally, our results show that the two types of managerially controllable variables interact. For example, joint rewards and job rotation strengthen each other's tendency to reduce goal incongruity in all five samples. This suggests that job rotation promotes the development of joint goals more effectively when it is accompanied by a joint reward system.     

Book Reviews

John Bresnan, Indonesia: The Modern Political Economy, Columbia University Press, New York, 1993, pp. 375.

Sukamdani Sahid Gitosaidjono et al., Bisnis dan Pembangunan Ekonomi [Business and Economic Development], CV Haji Masagung, Jakarta, 1993, pp. xxii + 394.

Soeksmono Besar Martokoesoemo, Beyond the Frontiers of Indonesian Banking and Finance: Financial intermediation to Mobilize the Potential of Small Entrepreneurs, Labyrint Publication, Rotterdam, 1993, pp. xii + 129.

Erik Thorbecke with Roger Downey, Steven Keuning, Byung Kim, David Roland-Hoist, David Berrian and the Centre for World Food Studies, Adjustment and Equity in Indonesia, OECD Development Centre Studies, Paris, 1992, pp. 264.

Norton Ginsburg, Bruce Koppel and T.G. McGee (eds). The Extended Metropolis: Settlement Transition in Asia, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1991, pp. xviii + 339.

Ursel Wolfram-Seifert, Faktoren der Urbanisierung und die Entwicklung Regionaler Staedtesysteme auf Sumatra [Determinants of Urbanisation and the Development of Regional Urban Centres on Sumatra], Hamburger Geographische Studien No. 46, Hamburg University, Hamburg, 1992, pp. xxi + 532.

P. Boomgaard (ed.), Changing Economy in Indonesia, Volume 14, The Cultivation System, Java 1834–1880, edited by F. Baardewijk, Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, 1993, pp. 327.

Robert Cribb, Historical Dictionary of Indonesia, The Scarecrow Press, New Jersey, 1992, pp. Ixxiv + 661.     

Reshaping internal labour markets in the National Health Service: new prospects for pay and training for lower skilled service workers?

This article considers how two new strategies for improving pay and skills development have been used in the UK National Health Service (NHS) to develop labour capacity and capability by stimulating the development of relatively coherent internal labour markets for workers at the lower end of the occupational hierarchy. Drawing on data from 13 NHS trusts, we scrutinise the implications of the new national pay system, Agenda for Change, for healthcare assistants and cleaners and find substantial one‐off improvements in pay for these groups as a direct result of the new national pay framework. However, the detailed case‐study data reveal there is considerable uncertainty regarding the extent, depth and durability of pay improvements. In particular, opportunities for pay progression in reward for acquisition of new skills and qualifications were more variable as a result of the stronger role of management choice and strategy at the organisational level in implementing the new national strategy for skills development, the Skills Escalator. Moreover, management strategy shaped the demand for, and distribution of, intermediate‐level skills (through new job design, for example), which was critical to the effectiveness of trusts in pulling lower grade employees up through an internal career trajectory.     

Quit behavior and the role of job protection

Job protection reduces job turnover by changing firms' hiring and firing decisions. Yet the effect of job protection on workers' quit decisions and post-quit outcomes is still unknown. We present the first evidence using individual panel data from 12 European countries, which differ both in worker turnover rates and in the level of job protection. We find that workers are less likely to quit their job in countries with more job protection, and those workers who quit receive higher wages compared to stayers. This evidence can be explained by increased mobility costs associated with higher expected risk of post-quit layoff and job mismatch.     

英国开放大学的学习者支持服务与质量提高（下）

艾伦·泰特教授认为，远程开放教育是由三个重要因素构成的，包括课程资源建设、学习支持服务和系统管理模式。英国开放大学以其开放的办学思想、灵活的办学方式、编写高质量的媒体教材、建立严格的教学质量保障体系和完善的学习支持服务系统等特色而闻名于世。英国质量保障局开展的学生满意度调查显示，英国开放大学学生对开放大学所提供的学习支持服务给予了充分的肯定，学生满意度连续三年名列前茅，说明英国开放大学能够将学习者的利益考虑在先，满足了学生对开放大学的期待。在构建远程教育学习支持服务体系的过程中，英国开放大学已经形成了自己的运行模式，它的学习支持服务系统建设值得借鉴。中央农广校对外交流处组织翻译了英国开放大学两名教授在第22届ICED世界大会上的论文，分两期连续刊登，供大家学习参考。     

Incentives to Work: Replacement Ratios and the Cost of Job Loss among Indigenous Australians

The relationship between the social welfare system and employment incentives has received considerable attention in the literature. This paper uses data from the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Survey to consider these issues for indigenous Australians. Two measures are calculated: the replacement ratio which measures the expected gains from employment for those not in work; and the cost of job loss which measures the expected costsof becoming unemployed for those in employment. The estimates presented here show that the replacement ratio is higher for females than males and for those in a married or de facto relationship compared with single people. About 5 per cent of single males and females could expect a higher income from social security than from non-Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP)scheme employment. Among those with dependent partners 24 per cent of males and 40 per cent of females looking for work could expect a higher income from social security than from non-CDEP employment. The estimates of the cost of job loss, which include the effects of the duration of unemployment and the replacementratio, show a high cost for some indigenous Australians because of their expected longer duration of unemployment.     

Promotional messages in multichannel banking: Attractive or annoying?

Financial service providers possess a great deal of information about their customers. Customer information is used to serve customers and deliver the right messages to the right customer groups. Owing to the nature of financial services – that is, the need for credibility, long-term commitment and involvement of sensitive personal information – the planning and implementation of suitable marketing is extremely important. Financial services are offered through multiple channels, but electronic channels have increased in importance both for customer acquisition and retention purposes. In addition, electronic channels offer personalization possibilities that did not exist before. In this study, we examine, with the help of electronic focus group interviews, the kind of channels customers prefer when promotional messages include different types of personalization. In addition, the acceptance of promotional messages in the online banking context is explored. The results indicate that the channel preferences of customers diverge depending on the type of personalization used in the message. Furthermore, based on the opinions of customers concerning several authentic online banners, a personalization matrix was developed. The findings show that preference-matching personalization with informative content is accepted by the majority of customers. The article offers financial managers new perspectives on bank marketing in general, and online bank marketing in particular.