Entry‐Timing Advantages in Renewable Natural Resources Industries

In this paper, we explore the conditions of entry‐timing advantages in renewable natural resource industries. Drawing from behavioural theory of the firm, we classify firms in two groups depending on the different heuristics used to make entry decisions when facing the cyclical endogenous nature of these industries: crowd firms are procyclical, making decisions based on the current phase of the industry cycle, whereas anti‐crowd firms follow a countercyclical strategy, making uncertain, and risky decisions by estimation of the next phase of the cycle. Therefore, anti‐crowd firms anticipate the deployment of resources each cycle, potentially gaining entry‐timing advantages beyond those provided by traditional competitive isolating mechanisms. Through a mathematical simulation of a performance feedback model, we reveal that the entry‐timing advantage of the anti‐crowd group becomes possible when the rivalry in the industry and the price sensitivity of competitors are high, and when the time required to deploy the resources is short.     

New directions in Mediterranean tourism: Restructuring and cooperative marketing in the era of globalization

At a time when tourism is the preeminent global industry, the Mediterranean is one of the most important tourist regions in the world, accounting for approximately a third of total tourism revenues and half of international arrivals. Because the traditional sun, sand, and sea tourist product of the Mediterranean is experiencing a crisis with subsequent market shifts toward other regions and alternative tourist products, the region has begun to lose its share of the international travel market. The time is ripe for the 21 Mediterranean countries to evaluate their tourist industries in the context of sustainable development strategies, begin to consider restructuring their industries to increase efficiency and competitiveness, and form strategic alliances for cooperative marketing efforts in order to maintain a competitive edge in the global tourist market at the threshold of the third millennium. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons. Inc.     

Harnessing the creative potential of consumers: money,participation, and creativity in idea crowdsourcing

Given the growing importance of innovation and consumer engagement, many firms are strongly interested in finding ways to encourage their consumers to generate creative new product ideas for them in their crowdsourcing initiatives. To that end, managers often use monetary rewards—one of the most commonly used managerial tools to stimulate desired behaviors. A critical question in this respect is whether the use of monetary rewards is effective in stimulating creativity and, if so, how large those rewards should be. This study aims to answer these questions. The results of an experiment suggest that introducing monetary rewards does not contribute to the number of new product ideas generated by a single consumer or the novelty of his/her ideas, and when the reward is relatively small, it can even be harmful. Monetary rewards, however, are effective in encouraging widespread participation in crowdsourcing initiatives and improving the appropriateness of the new product ideas. As a whole, these findings take us a step further toward better understanding the motivational mechanisms of consumer creativity in new product ideation.     

Designing insightful inquiring systems for sustainable organizational foresight

This paper contributes to the theory of collaborative problem solving and strategy design by reviewing the state of the art in the application of problem solving and dialectical methods, and then linking up with analytical and computer-aided approaches. Churchman's concept of dialectical inquiry (DI) is presented, and some major derivatives of DI are reviewed, as well as an integrative method for sustainable insightful foresight developed by the authors called comprehensive situation mapping (CSM). In addition to its dialectical process side, CSM offers computational capabilities for devising and figuring out change scenarios. The theory for the manual application of CSM is summarized; in addition, its recent computerized version is presented and likely future improvements are sketched out in light of a current spate of case studies investigating the user-friendliness of its computerization.     

The determinants of FDI in Turkey: A Markov Regime-Switching approach

This paper considers movements of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in Turkey, and therefore, to understand the dynamics of FDI, runs several nonlinear FDI equations in which the basic determinants of FDI in Turkey are determined through Markov Regime-Switching Models (MSMs). The statistical properties of Markov Regime-Switching time series models are more desirable than those of conventional time series or panel regression models. Through these properties of MSMs, i) one can observe structural changes, if they exist, in FDI equations through time, ii) if, in fact, the true FDI regression equation follows a nonlinear relationship, MSMs fit data better than the linear models. This paper eventually follows maximum likelihood methodology of Markov Regime-Switching Model (MSM) to search for the possible structural changes in level and/or trends and possible changes in parameters of independent variables of FDI–MSM equations through the transition probabilities. In conclusion, this paper yields the outcome that Turkish FDI growth equation has significant structural changes in level and trend and that has significant coefficient shifts in explanatory variables. These explanatory variables are Turkish GDP Growth, Labor Cost, the Electricity Price Growth, the growth in average prices of High Sulphur Fuel Oil, Cooking Coal, Steam Coal and Natural Gas, Export Growth, Import Growth, Discount Rate and Country Risk Indexes for Turkey, US and EU, respectively, within the time interval from 1988 first quarter to 2010 second quarter.     

From farmers and shepherds to shopkeepers and hoteliers: constituency-differentiated experiences of endogenous tourism in the Greek Island of Zakynthos

The effects exerted by endogenous tourism investment on the developing Greek island of Zakynthos are examined, focusing in particular on whether the experiences among residents, tourist enterprises and local government are homogeneous, or whether they reflect varied attitudes related to sociodemographic, destination, development-process and tourist characteristics. Multivariate analysis shows that the main factors contributing to the variance in locals' experiences of and reactions to tourism development are the endogenous nature associated with the early ‘development’ phase of the evolution cycle, inhabitant constituency, carrying capacity and tourist nationality. In addition, the protection and conservation of natural and sociocultural resources are revealed as serious concerns of the island's local government. Management strategies for visitor-impact alleviation should focus on community-based planning where the hosts' collective wisdom is incorporated into the overall development process and tourism policies are compatible with the physical and human components of the local society. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The myth of the unique decomposability: specializing the Herfindahl and entropy measures?

This research note investigates the trend towards specializing the Herfindahl index H for measuring industry concentration and the entropy measure E for expressing firm diversity. Examining the “decomposability” of E and H, we show that the professed overriding advantage of the entropy measure with respect to decomposability is not its exclusive preserve; the paper contains a proof that this property is also shared by the Herfindahl index. It is also shown that, due to its more stable range, the H index is more versatile with respect to inversion than the E measure. Strategy researchers are thereby cautioned that the current trend toward an increased use of entropy is risky and should be reassessed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analyzing the effects of diversity perceptions and shared leadership on emotional conflict: a dynamic approach

Recent attempts to incorporate time to the study of groups reveal temporal factors can impact group functioning. However, studies of group diversity to date are largely cross-sectional and capture the relationship between diversity and its outcomes at one point in time. The present research attempts to overcome this shortcoming by analyzing the interplay between diversity and emotional conflict across time. At the same time, the current study aims to establish an empirical basis for the commonly stated assertion in intergroup relations research that the basis of categorization shifts from surface-level attributes to deep-level attributes as groups mature. Finally, by incorporating shared leadership, this study aims to suggest a contextual lever that can help groups avoid potential disadvantages of diversity. In a longitudinal study of 301 individuals from 81 groups, the present study found that surface-level diversity was negatively linked to emotional conflict in the beginning and the end of groups' interaction whereas deep-level diversity was positively linked to emotional conflict in the middle of groups' interaction. Shared leadership was found to moderate the relationship between diversity and emotional conflict. Implications for human resource management are discussed.     

TOWARDS A SYNTHESIS OF ISLAM AND THE MARKET ECONOMY? THE JUSTICE AND DEVELOPMENT PARTY'S ECONOMIC REFORMS IN TURKEY

Turkey has some unique characteristics, one of which is that it is the only Muslim country seeking to join the European Union. Internally, it has been going through a new and challenging experience in recent years: implementing free-market economic policies under a 'Conservative Democrat' government, the leadership of which comes from moderate Islamism. Many observers think that Turkish experience shows how Islam and the market economy are compatible. This article critically evaluates these reformist economic policies implemented since late 2002 and highlights the major factors behind Turkey's success story.