The Effect of Cultural Distance on International Marketing Strategy: A Comparison of Cultural Distance and Managerial Perception Measures

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to examine whether service convenience increases customer satisfaction that fosters customer loyalty in Indian commercial banks. A cross-sectional study of 352 retail banking customers through questionnaires was conducted. The population of the study is retail urban customers of banks in Rajasthan. Responses are analyzed using structural equation modeling. Dimensions of service convenience are decision convenience, access convenience, transaction convenience, benefit convenience, and postbenefit convenience. Decision convenience was found to influence customer satisfaction more than the other dimensions of service convenience. Customer satisfaction furthers customer loyalty. The article emphasizes the significance of SERVCON on customer satisfaction for the Indian banking sector. The direct impact of SERVCON on customer loyalty is also studied.     

The process of financial reforms in China

This study aims to show that financial reforms in China can be viewed as an endogenous adjustment process responding primarily to economic growth and changes in political constraints. The author's argument is thus against the mainstream view in which financial reforms are regarded as primary policy tools for the promotion of economic growth. Three factors are carefully examined for the explanation of the endogenous characteristics of financial reforms. First, this paper takes a close look at endogenous aspects of Chinese financial repression. The endogenous characters of financial repression explain why financial reforms in China follow an endogenous path. Second, recent developments of legal frameworks are found to have been institutional responses to macroeconomic imbalances, financial disorders, and increased demands for property right protection. Finally, this paper shows that the lack of market infrastructure and various political constraints have been major obstacles for China's capital market development.     

Sustainable consumption and the financial sector: analysing the markets for responsible investment in Hong Kong and Japan

The origins of the modern socially responsible investment (SRI) movement can be traced to the turbulent period in the 1960s when powerful social undercurrents including environmentalism and anti‐war activism fuelled a rise, in a radical change, in the way society viewed faith, values and commerce. Today, nearly 1 out of every US$9 under professional management in the US is currently invested using social investment strategies while the European green and ethical investment market is estimated to be €1 trillion or as much as 10–15% of the total funds under management. While some preliminary figures and analyses exist for countries outside these two regions, SRI has been, to date, largely explored within the context of North America and Europe. This is unfortunate as the sustainability of SRI as a consumer market is going to depend, to a great extent, to what happens outside of North America and Europe, and most notably in the rapidly developing Asian economies. In this article, I will explore the development of SRI as a mainstream financial consumer instrument in industrialized (Japan) and emerging (Hong Kong/China) economies of the Asia Pacific region. To fully analyse the SRI market development in Hong Kong and Japan, I will examine the following three issues and questions: first, how does the sustainable consumption framework offer a useful lens from which to explore SRI, and why is the Asia Pacific market and policy context so important for the broader issue of sustainable consumption? Second, what precisely is SRI and how did it develop into an important global financial investment vehicle? Third, how did the SRI market develop in the case of Hong Kong and Japan? I will then conclude the article with some analysis on the important lessons SRI market development in Hong Kong and Japan hold for market sustainability of the financial sector and sustainable consumption.     

COLONIALISM AND INDUSTRIALISATION: FACTORY LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY OF COLONIAL KOREA, 1913–37

Unlike other colonial economies, Korea industrialised rapidly during its colonial period, which past scholars attributed to the industrialisation policy directed by the Japanese colonial government between 1930 and 1945. Our analysis of factory labour productivity from 1913 to 1937 suggests significant revisions to this claim. Factory labour productivity as well as total production grew rapidly before the active intervention of the colonial government. In addition, Korean entrepreneurs invested heavily in their firms and successfully competed with Japanese entrepreneurs. We conjecture that the pre-war experience of Korean entrepreneurs provided a critical foundation for the post-colonial economic growth.     

Impact of school district demographics and financial status on E-Rate funding: Analysis of Pennsylvania data for 1999 and 2004

The E-Rate program was mandated by the 1996 Telecommunications Act to bridge the gap in telecommunications and internet access between rich and poor communities in the United States. Though the funding process embraces specific formulas to direct support at the most needy schools and school districts, a concern has been raised that the complex, multi-stage application process may prevent some school districts from availing themselves of E-Rate funds due to lack of technical expertise and administrative support. The objective of the paper is to assess the cumulative impact of these two contradictory effects. Changes in funding patterns over time are also examined. Data on all E-Rate projects where the recipient is a school district were collected for two years, 1999 and 2004, for the state of Pennsylvania. Results show that E-Rate funding was significantly positively correlated with the poverty rate and percentage of minority students fulfilling the policy intent, but school districts receiving more revenue per student also obtained higher E-Rate support. Location too was found to be a significant predictor of E-Rate funding. The policy implications of these findings are discussed in the conclusion.     

Prospects for ASEAN-China Free Trade Area： A Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis

The current global financial and economic crisis is giving new life to initiatives that promote closer economic integration among East Asian countries. A significant example is the ASEAN- China Free Trade Area （.4 CFTA）, which is set to come into effect around 2010..4CFTA aims to boost trade between two economies that are partners as well as competitors： ASEAN and China. In the present paper, we use insights from customs union theory in a qualitative analysis considering whether,4CFTA would benefit both sides. We also apply a computable general equilibrium model to perform a quantitative analysis of the same issue. Both our qualitative and quantitative analyses provide grounds for guarded optimism regarding A CFTA ＇s prospects as a vehicle for strengthening the economic partnership between ASEAN and China.     

Firm growth patterns: Examining the associations with firm size and internationalization

Understanding the growth patterns of an industry is essential for establishing sustainable growth strategies. However, until recently little had been known about restaurant firm growth patterns. Thus, this study examined the growth patterns of restaurant firms in association with firm size class and internationalization, after controlling for total and long-term debt leverage, retained earnings, and growth opportunity. Overall, the results of this study showed that small restaurant firms grow faster than large restaurant firms but the growth rate decreases as firm size increases. Furthermore, the growth rate of large firms decreased more slowly than small firms. In terms of internationalization, this study found that as firm size increases, the growth rate of small international firms decreases more rapidly than that of small domestic firms. However, the growth rate of large international firms decreases more slowly than that of large domestic firms. These findings indicate the appropriateness of internationalization strategies for large restaurant firms but the inappropriateness of these strategies for small firms. More detailed results and discussion are also provided.     

Mergers and acquisitions and firm growth: Investigating restaurant firms

Merger and acquisition (M&A) has been viewed as an efficient strategy for firm growth because M&As allow firms to quickly achieve their ideal size. However, whether consistent growth can be maintained after an M&A is questionable because post-M&A integration is a difficult process. In order to identify whether M&A is really an effective tool for producing consistent growth in restaurant firms, this study examined post-M&A firm growth in comparison to non-M&A firm growth. Using financial data from 1980 to 2007, this study analyzed the sales growth of restaurant firms up to five years after an M&A. This study found that post-M&A growth patterns varied across firm sizes and time periods (from one to five years after an M&A). This study also revealed that both small and large acquirers experienced positive sales growth in the year following M&A. However, this positive effect completely disappeared during or after the third year post-M&A. M&A firms showed the same growth patterns as non-M&A firms three to five years after an M&A. This study provides useful post-M&A growth information regarding restaurant firms, which can be practically useful for firms considering M&A.     

Effects of customer personal characteristics on the satisfaction-loyalty link: a multi-method approach

This study aims to examine the moderating effects of customer personal characteristics on the satisfaction-loyalty link in order to overcome potential response bias and common-method variance in the link by using both real-life purchasing behavior data and survey in a cross-method and panel data. Two separate data collection procedures dealt with survey and customer relationship management (CRM) data. A total of 391 members of restaurant loyalty program participated in the survey. Also, additional data were gathered on restaurant CRM. Data were analyzed using SEM and multi-group analysis. This study confirmed the nonlinear relationship between customer satisfaction and brand loyalty due to the significant moderating effects of customers’ personal characteristics on subsequent stages of the link.