Differences in strategy, quality management practices and performance reporting systems between ISO accredited and non-ISO accredited companies

In recent years, an increasing number of organizations are obtaining accreditation offered by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Although ISO accreditation may reflect an organization's pursuit of a quality-focused business strategy and a commitment to quality management practices, ISO accreditation may merely be a response to external (customers') demands for quality certification. This study investigates whether ISO accredited companies differ from non-ISO accredited companies in business strategy and in their implementation of quality management practices. It also investigates differences between ISO accredited and non-ISO accredited companies in their reporting of quality in physical and financial terms and traditional performance measures. Based on a mail questionnaire sent to a sample of ISO and non-ISO accredited New Zealand manufacturing companies, the results showed a significant difference in the business strategy pursued by the two groups, with ISO accredited companies regarding quality as more important than cost efficiencies. However, there was no significant difference in the quality management practices of ISO accredited and non-ISO accredited companies, except in the areas of process improvement and quality measurement. There was also little evidence of differences in performance reporting systems between ISO accredited and non-ISO accredited companies.     

中国经济当季模型预测报告

编者按:中国经济当季模型(Current Quarter Model,以下简称CQM)是根据50个月度经济和金融指标与国内生产总值(GDP)计算体系中主要账户(main entries)之间的统计关系建立的一个纯经济计量模型,没有任何主观的数据调整.CQM预测报告根据最新公布的指标值每两周更新一次,并修正当季和下季预测.本刊翻译了2006年7月21日(截止发稿日收到的最新一期)的预测报告.……     

Satellite broadcasting to homes: Service options,policy issues and costs

Comsat's proposal to launch a direct-to-home broadcast satellite (DBS) service has stimulated a vigorous policy debate on a wide range of issues. The authors examine briefly the economic and technological factors that seem to favour new DBS services, suggest a panoply of services that could be provided via DBS, and relate the policy issues to specific potential services. They also present a financial analysis of a hypothetical firm's DBS pay-TV service, enabling them to suggest the possible shape of a new DBS industry.     

New directions in food marketing policies in LDCs

In recent years governments in developing countries have become more involved in the marketing of basic foods within their countries, but the policies adopted and the structures and approaches used have reflected many weaknesses and omissions. The support given by academic institutions and international advisory and funding organizations to policy makers has often been too narrow, or only partially appropriate. In this article, the author reviews recent work on marketing and suggests some major priorities for attention in the immediate future, and some new directions that could and should be explored.     

Does WTO accession matter for the Chinese textile and clothing industry?

Based on field surveys conducted in Guangdong, Zhejiang andBeijing in 2000 and 2001, this paper argues that accession tothe World Trade Organisation (WTO) by China will create a newcompetitive arena for different categories of textile and clothingfirms located in that country, partly dependent on the sizeand ownership of the firm. From the perspectives of reducingimport tariffs, eliminating export quotas and the regulationson trade disputes, WTO accession does matter for the majorityof Chinese firms in this ‘win–lose’ game.From the perspective of compliance with international standards,this paper argues that accession to the WTO does not reallymatter for some Chinese firms, as they may not survive the intensecompetition prior to 2005, when the effects of the Agreementon Textiles and Clothing materialise.     

The probability of conflicts in a U.S. presidential type election

Summary. In a two candidate election, it might be that a candidate wins in a majority of districts while he gets less vote than his opponent in the whole country. In Social Choice Theory, this situation is known as the compound majority paradox, or the referendum paradox. Although occurrences of such paradoxical results have been observed worldwide in political elections (e.g. United States, United Kingdom, France), no study evaluates theoretically the likelihood of such situations. In this paper, we propose four probability models in order to tackle this issue, for the case where each district has the same population. For a divided electorate, our results prove that the likelihood of this paradox rapidly tends to 20% when the number of districts increases. This probability decreases with the number of states when a candidate receives significatively more vote than his opponent over the whole country.Received: 12 August 2002, Revised: 7 March 2003, JEL Classification Numbers: D71. Correspondence to: Vincent R. MerlinSpecial thanks are due to Franck Bisson, a Caen PhD student, who helped collect the data. The authors also gratefully acknowledge Ashley Piggins and an anonymous referee for their comments.     

JBBM at 21: Variety of Theories,Methods, and Countries While Giving Further Voice to Emerging Markets Within Africa

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The articles published in the Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing (JBBM) are reviewed for three themes: the varieties of theories used and tested, the methodologies of choice, and most pertinent to this article, the countries from which the data were obtained in the empirical studies.

Methodology/approach: Literature review of the JBBM issues, all inclusive.

Findings: The JBBM has had papers involving surveys 74%; case studies 11%; interviews 6%, experiments 4%, and networks 3%. There is a tremendous breadth of country representation, more than most other marketing journals.

Research implications: The authors encourage more frequent investigations into emerging markets, using African countries as exemplars.

Practical implications: To begin to understand marketing phenomena in the variety of African countries, the authors encourage researchers to establish partnerships, with African scholars and global multinationals whose marketing managers may have interest in understanding these markets and who may have data to share.

Contribution of the paper: Although a seemingly infinite number of marketing questions still exist even in well-developed markets, and scholars have begun to recognize opportunities in developing markets, future research will prove useful into emerging and nascent markets.     

A Study of BYOD adoption from the lens of threat and coping appraisal of its security policy

Why would employees adopt bring your own device (BYOD)? Would employees feel risk-taking to perform their work by using their own devices? Would peer pressure and company policy help encourage their employees to BYOD and how? Using the Technology Threat Avoidance Theory (TTAT), we hypothesize the intention of adopting BYOD is due to the accessing of security policy by threat and coping appraisal. Moreover, we predict perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, social influence, organizational commitment and job security are essential for formulating the adoption intention. In this study, 450 random employees were surveyed on their adoption perception of BYOD in their respective companies. The results support most of our hypotheses. We uncover perceived cost and privacy protection within the TTAT framework reflect no significance while organizational commitment and job security posit the strongest influences on employees’ BYOD adoption intention. This finding suggested that in order to roll out a successful and sustainable adoption intention on BYOD, organizations must consider measurements to build up employees’ job security as well as generate a strong sense of organization commitment. Specifically, our analyses show adoption intention is also affected by gender, age, and education level.     

The effects of food-related personality traits on tourist food consumption motivations

This study explores the motivational dimensions underlying food consumption in tourism, and to examine the effects of two food-related personality traits, namely food neophobia and variety-seeking, on these motivational dimensions. A tourist food consumption motivational scale was developed and seven motivational dimensions were identified: novelty and variety, authentic experience and prestige, interpersonal and culture, price/value and assurance, health concern, familiarity and eating habit, and sensory and contextual pleasure. Both food neophobia and variety-seeking were found to have significant effects on various motivational dimensions. The implications of the findings for practice and future research are discussed.     

The stereotyping of tourism management students in a business school setting

Previous research has shown that students in business schools hold stereotypes concerning their peers who are undertaking different specializations. Yet, to the authors’ knowledge, no research to date has investigated the stereotyping of tourism management students by other business students. The present study seeks to fill this research gap. The insights are important because negative perceptions exacerbate the challenge of attracting high-quality prospects for tourism degree programs and of producing graduates who enjoy favorable recognition by their peers and by industry. Tourism management students are future leaders who are critical to the long-term sustainability and competitiveness of the tourism sector. In-depth interviews revealed three stereotyping themes: personality attribution, legitimacy, and professionalism. The study concludes by discussing potential stereotype-reducing strategies.