On seeking first to understand

There are fundamental differences between seeking-to-solve and seeking-to-understand. We are strongly biased toward seeking-to-solve on a number of dimensions. As a result, we are increasingly at risk in a world that is becoming increasingly complex and fast paced. We therefore need to understand these biases so that we can defend ourselves -- we need to develop (moral) concepts and methods of inquiry that transcend our dominant and pervasive analytical presuppositions.     

Temporary trade and heterogeneous firms

Using Hungarian firm-transaction level export data, we show that about one third of firm–destination and about one half of firm–product–destination export spells are short-lived, or temporary, each year. This is in odds with theories where comparative advantage is stable and market entry costs are sunk. We show how endogenous choice between variable and sunk cost trade technologies can explain the empirical importance and some characteristics of temporary trade. We build a model in which the likelihood of temporary trade depends on productivity and capital cost of the firm as well as well-known gravity variables of destinations. These predictions are borne out by the data; the likelihood of permanent trade, defined by a simple filter, rises with firm productivity, financial stability, proximity and GDP of destination countries.     

Organizational values and knowledge sharing in multinational corporations: The Danisco case

While the existing knowledge sharing literature, in general, emphasizes the link between organizational culture and knowledge sharing, it remains rather ambiguous about how certain components of the former may shape the latter. This issue is especially relevant to multinational corporations (MNCs), which typically consist of multiple organizational (sub)cultures and whose existence depends, to a great extent, on sharing knowledge across borders. The present study examines the influence of one key component of organizational culture – organizational values – on knowledge sharing. From 2003 to 2007, we studied Danisco, a Danish MNC, to examine the processes of espousement, enactment and internalization of a core organizational value – dialogue. In particular, we studied how these processes influence knowledge sharing behavior among employees. We collected original empirical data using content analysis and a questionnaire-based survey among 219 managers and employees in 11 countries in four continents. We argue that knowledge sharing behavior is not influenced by organizational values per se but by the degree of their internalization by organizational members.     

The relevance of shopper logistics for consumers of store-based retail formats

This paper discusses and empirically evaluates the relevance of shopping-related logistics for consumers of store-based retail formats. Based on a literature review a conceptual model was developed and subsequently tested using a survey of more than six hundred consumers in the grocery retail sector. Respondents were those primarily responsible for grocery shopping in their households located in a highly concentrated European urban retail market. Variance based structural equation modelling reveals that shopper logistics has a major impact on the convenience of store-based shopping and partly influence consumers' perceptions of shopping related costs. Nevertheless, shopper logistics does not affect consumer behaviour in terms of the share of visits of a store. These results are moderated by age, hedonic shopping orientation, shopping frequency, average spending per trip and store format preference. We conclude that shopper logistics is relevant for consumers of grocery stores but its relevance varies between different shopper groups.     

Effects of store loyalty on shopping mall loyalty

The key purpose of this paper is to bridge a research gap in shopping mall literature by investigating the relationship between store loyalty and shopping mall loyalty. The paper also examines the effects of perceived store value and store relationship commitment on store loyalty en-route to loyalty towards the shopping mall hosting the stores. The study shows that store loyalty influences shopping mall loyalty under certain conditions and that such an influence is moderated by the geographic distance between the consumer and the shopping mall. Further, the study found that distance has a moderating effect on the relationship between perceived store value and store loyalty, but not on the association between relationship commitment and store loyalty. The insights provided by this study offer academics, retailers and shopping mall managers a richer understanding of the relationships between store loyalty and its antecedents, customers' distance from the mall, and shopping mall loyalty.     

Enriching interactions: Incorporating outcome data into static discrete games

When modeling the behavior of firms, marketers and micro-economists routinely confront complex problems of strategic interaction. In competitive environments, firms make strategic decisions that not only depend on the features of the market, but also on their beliefs regarding the reactions of their rivals. Structurally modeling these interactions requires formulating and estimating a discrete game, a task which, until recently, was considered intractable. Fortunately, two-step estimation methods have cracked the problem, fueling a growing literature in both marketing and economics that tackles a host of issues from the optimal design of ATM networks to the choice of pricing strategy. However, most existing methods have focused on only the discrete choice of actions, ignoring a wealth of information contained in post-choice outcome data and severely limiting the scope for performing informative counterfactuals or identifying the deep structural parameters that drive strategic decisions. The goal of this paper is to provide a method for incorporating post-choice outcome data into static discrete games of incomplete information. In particular, our estimation approach adds a selection correction to the two-step games approach, allowing the researcher to use revenue data, for example, to recover the costs associated with alternative actions. Alternatively, a researcher might use R&D expenses to back out the returns to innovation.     

Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion course in a Russian Master of Public Health programme

The Global Burden of Disease Studies describe and emphasise injury as a major and increasing component in the panorama of global ill health. Russia has the one of the highest injury rates in Europe. When a Master in Public Health programme was planned and started in 2007 in Arkhangelsk, Russia, under the auspices of University of Troms?, Norway, a course on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion was included. A take-over programme (training-the-trainers) was implemented within the course. The present paper describes the course content, the students and their background, the training-the-trainers programme, the evaluation procedure and its results. So far, 53 students have passed the course, 77% being female. The majority of students were medical doctors (51%), psychologists (11%), pedagogues (9%), dentists (6%) and nurses (6%). The take-over programme has functioned well by gradually using students of excellence as teachers. In 2012, the take-over programme is completed and only Russians teach. Evaluation by students of the course content, organisation and pedagogic approach was useful for improvements.     

Aligning employees through “line of sight”

Aligning employees with the firm's larger strategic goals is critical if organizations hope to manage their human capital effectively and ultimately attain strategic success. An important component of attaining and sustaining this alignment is for employees to have a “line of sight” (LOS) with their organization's strategic objectives. In this article, we illustrate how the translation of calculated firm goals into tangible results requires that employees not only understand the organization's strategy, but also accurately appreciate what actions are aligned with realizing that strategy. Using recent empirical evidence, theoretical insights, and tangible examples of exemplary firm practices, we provide thought-leaders with a comprehensive view of LOS by showing how it can be created, how it can be enhanced or stifled, and how it can be effectively managed. Further, we integrate LOS with current thinking on employee alignment to help managers more effectively benefit from understanding human capital potential.