Linking turnover to organizational performance: the role of process conformance

ABSTRACT

Despite substantial evidence for the negative effect of turnover on performance, several studies also note offsetting positive effects hereby recognizing an optimal rate of turnover. These mixed results stress the need to examine under which conditions turnover is more harmful or beneficial to the organization. Using panel data from 30 divisions of the same agency, this study examines the impact of process conformance – the extent to which there are prescribed standards and rules related to the task. Results support a non-linear, inverted U-shaped relationship for those tasks with a high process conformance.     

Servitization: Disentangling the impact of service business model innovation on manufacturing firm performance

As manufacturing businesses operate in an ever more competitive, global economy where products are easily commoditized, innovating by adding services to the core product offering has become a popular strategy. Contrary to the economic benefits expected, recent findings pinpoint implementation hurdles that lead to a potential performance decline, the so-called ‘servitization paradox’. In this paper, we analyze this paradox by disentangling the value creation and value appropriation processes of 44 national subsidiaries of a global manufacturing firm turned product-service provider, in the 2001–2007 period. Our findings show that the firm under study is able to successfully transcend the inherent substitution of products by services and to enact complementary sales dynamics between the two activities. Moreover, labor-intensive services such as maintenance, which imply higher levels of customer proximity, further enhance product sales. Empirical results also reveal a positive yet non-linear relationship between the scale of service activities and profitability: while initial levels of servicing result in a steep increase in profitability, a period of relative decline is observed before the positive relationship between the scale of services and profitability re-emerges. These findings suggest the presence of initial short-term gains but also indicate the existence of a ‘profitability’ hurdle; profitable growth seems feasible only to the extent that investments in service capability are translated into economies of scale. In helping to clarify the performance implications of service innovation, our findings suggest pathways to sustainable growth through servitization for manufacturing firms.     

TESTING FOR FRACTIONAL INTEGRATION IN SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY REAL EXCHANGE RATES

This paper utilises “a class test for fractional integration” associated with the seminal contribution of Hinich and Chong to appraise the possibility that Southern African Development Community (SADC) real exchange rates can be treated as long memory processes. The justification for considering fractional integration is that the general failure to reject the unit‐root hypothesis in real exchange rates is caused by the restrictiveness of standard unit‐root tests regarding admissible low‐frequency dynamic behaviour. The paper presents evidence that, except for South Africa, none of the SADC real exchange rates are fractionally integrated. However, the results are found to be sensitive to the size of the sample.     

Examining the relationship between language divergence and word-of-mouth intentions

More than half of the countries in the world are multilingual, and more than half the world's consumers speak more than one language. Thus, bilingual consumers often receive services provided in a second or nonnative language. This article examines these consumers' word-of-mouth intentions after a service provision in a second language. Two studies show that consumers served in a second language are less likely to spread positive word of mouth. The results also reveal a negative halo effect, such that consumers served in a second language perceive the service provider as less responsive in general. Furthermore, the service provider's perceived responsiveness appears far more important for determining positive word-of-mouth intentions than other factors, such as service reliability. This study therefore contributes to the fields of service and sociolinguistics, with important implications for managers as well.     

Pricing of card payment services in Scandinavian banking: a comment

Willesson [(2009). Pricing of card payment services in Scandinavian banking. The Service Industries Journal, 29(3), 387–399] purports to demonstrate that when it comes to pricing of card payment services, Scandinavian banks with foreign operations will typically align themselves with the ‘pricing tradition’ in their foreign market(s). Unfortunately, a problem with Willesson's approach is that for several banks in his sample the foreign pricing tradition happens to coincide with the pricing strategy that the bank uses in its home market. As a result, it is impossible to determine whether these banks have really opted for a strategy of national responsiveness.     

Co-operation in the Dutch Container Transport Industry

During the last 25 years, co-operation within the Dutch container transport industry has served in various ways as Q means of reducing rkk. Co-operation has been aimed chiefly at reducing financial risks, pooling financial resources, and regulating com- petition. In most cases, a direct solution of the problem of match- ing supply and demand has not been an important motive for CO- operation. In the early days of containerisation, industry culture was facilitating co-operation in liner shipping more than in the stevedoring and road haulage industries.     

Age differences in career activities among higher‐level employees in the Netherlands: a comparison between profit sector and non‐profit sector staff

The present study describes age differences in the occurrence of career activities among profit sector and non‐profit sector employees in the Netherlands. Three different types of variables have been studied, i.e. individual, job‐related and organizational variables. Hypotheses have been tested with original survey data from 423 profit sector employees and 136 non‐profit sector employees. The employees are all working in higher‐level jobs in large organizations. Overall, we may conclude from this study that the differences between profit sector and non‐profit sector workers are not consistent at all. For some factors the situation is more advantageous for profit sector employees, whereas for other factors the outcomes point in the opposite direction. Regarding age effects, we have found that, in general, for profit sector employees the differences between starters (20–34 years) and middle‐aged workers (35–49 years) are not univocal, whereas the differences between middle‐aged workers and seniors (over‐fifties) imply that the amount of individual initiatives and organizational activities is less for the latter group of employees. When the three age groups are compared for the non‐profit sector employees, most factors do not vary significantly. For the factors where the F‐test is found to be significant, by and large, the situation regarding the possibilities for a further career development is worst for the seniors.     

The influence of need for closure and perceived time pressure on search effort for price and promotional information in a grocery shopping context

Need for closure (NFC) is introduced as a variable of individual difference that shows promise to help the understanding of a consumers' effort to search for price and promotional information in the context of retail grocery shopping. Results showed that NFC and perceived time pressure (PTP) are important determinants of search effort for price and promotional information (e.g., searching for coupons, looking for in‐store promotions, switching stores to find lowest prices, and comparing unit prices). Moreover, an interaction effect was found between NFC and PTP. Future research and theoretical and practical implications are discussed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Cultural Dimensions and Prototypical Criteria for Multi-Criteria Decision Support in Electronic Markets: A Comparative Analysis of Two Job Markets

Electronic markets are virtual meeting places where buyers and sellers interact to trade products or services. The main motivation for both buyers and sellers to participate in an electronic market is the desire to maximize their private utility (Bakos 1998). Electronic markets therefore usually provide some form of communication, decision or negotiation aid for buyers and sellers to support their utility maximizing goals. This paper presents a comparative analysis of two electronic job market case studies conducted at a university in Europe (Brussels, Belgium) and in the United States (Newark, New Jersey). At the occasion of the universities’ career fairs, students (n = 392) and local companies (n = 57) were invited to participate in an electronic job market to identify the best job offers (n = 137) and students, respectively. Participants were able to create personalized software agents to aid their search and decision making activities in the market. Every software agent was embedded with a multi-criteria decision support tool to produce a rank ordered list of students or job offers. Preference data gathered from market participants’ use of the multi-criteria decision model allow us to construct relational preference structures using a technique based on the mathematical theory of fuzzy relations (Bandler and Kohout 1980). These preference structures express relationships among the criteria that students and companies have used to identify job offers and companies, respectively. The purpose of the paper is to present the communicative and cultural implications of these relational preference structures. The theories of Hofstede (1983), Hall (1977) and Trompenaars (1993) on cultural dimensions allow us to discuss cultural differences on the choice of prototypical criteria. The paper concludes with implications for the use of electronic markets in the staffing industry and the role of software agents in such job markets.