Market orientation and organizational performance: A comparison of industrial versus consumer companies in mainland China using market orientation scale (MARKOR)

Although not conclusive, past empirical marketing strategy studies conducted in the United States and western European countries suggested a strong positive relationship between market orientation and a company's performance. The objective of this study is to investigate the reliability and validity of the market orientation construct in a very different socioeconomic, cultural, and business environment of Asia. Specifically, using the Kohli and Jaworski [J. Mark. 54 (1990) 1] MARKOR scale, this study investigates the market orientations of Chinese business managers who operate in a select number of industrial and consumer goods industries in urban China. Previous research has predicted a positive relationship between market orientation and performance, on the assumption that market orientation provides a firm with a better understanding of its environment and customers, which ultimately leads to enhanced customer satisfaction. Study results indicated that there were statistically significant differences between market-oriented and non-market-oriented Chinese managers in terms of their responses to market orientation scale statements. As well, a higher level of market orientation of Chinese companies operating in the Beijing area was discovered. This is rather encouraging because there is a large body of marketing literature that supports the argument that higher levels of market orientation would lead to better organizational performance. The managerial and public policy implications of the study are also discussed.     

Hierarchical multimodal hub location problem with time-definite deliveries

Hierarchical multimodal hub location problem is a cost-minimizing hub covering problem where two types of hubs and hub links, accounting for ground and air transportation, are to be established, while ensuring time-definite deliveries. We propose a mixed-integer programming formulation and perform a comprehensive sensitivity analysis on the Turkish network. We show that the locations of airport hubs are less sensitive to the cost parameters compared to the locations of ground hubs and it is possible to improve the service quality at not much additional cost in the resulting multimodal networks. Our methodology provides the means for a detailed trade-off analysis.     

The Spread of Antidumping Regimes and the Role of Retaliation in Filings

Over the past decade, the worldwide use of antidumping has become very widespread—41 WTO-member countries initiated antidumping cases over the 1995-2003 period. From another perspective, U.S. exporters were subjected to 139 antidumping cases during this period, by enforcement agencies representing 20 countries. In this context, it is natural to consider whether antidumping filings may be motivated as retaliation against similar measures imposed on a country's exporters. This is the focus of our study, though we also control for the bilateral export flows involved and nonretaliatory impacts of past cases, with other motivations—macroeconomic, industry-specific, and political considerations—dealt with through fixed effects. Applying probit analysis to a WTO database on reported filings, we find strong evidence that retaliation was a significant motive in explaining the rise of antidumping filings over the past decade, though interesting differences emerge in the reactions to traditional and new users of antidumping.     

An exploratory study of characteristics and attributes of Turkish entrepreneurs: A cross-country comparison to Irish entrepreneurs

There has been limited research on entrepreneurship in Turkey. Given the fact that globalization has rapidly been increasing, that foreign direct investment is spreading throughout the world, and that more and more foreign investors are seeking partners in emergent markets such as Turkey. One important reason for the interest in Turkish entrepreneurs is because they have many characteristics that are similar to entrepreneurs in Western markets. Even if there are many differences between Western entrepreneurs and Turkish entrepreneurs, it would be valuable to compare the characteristics of Turkish entrepreneurs with others. Moreover, a few cross-cultural studies have examined the similarities among entrepreneurs in various nations. Ireland and Turkey have many striking similarities despite varying cultural backgrounds. Hence, this empirical research was undertaken to investigate the characteristics and attributes of Turkish entrepreneurs and compare them to Irish entrepreneurs. The research design in this study focused on 161 Turkish entrepreneurs who were randomly selected from a list (obtained from local Chamber of Commerce) and interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The questions assessed relevant areas, such as demographic and business information, motivations, entrepreneurial characteristics, business problems, personality characteristics, and management skills. Information on the Irish entrepreneurs was incorporated from a published study. Overall, in terms of entrepreneurial characteristics, Turkish entrepreneurs displayed surprisingly similar characteristics to the Irish. The implications of this study are discussed along with some recommendations.     

“KLICing” there and back again: Portfolio selection using the empirical likelihood divergence and Hellinger distance

Stutzer (2000, 2003) proposes the decay-rate maximizing portfolio selection rule wherein the investor selects the asset mix that maximizes the rate at which the probability of shortfall decays to zero. A close examination of this rule reveals that it ranks portfolios by computing the divergence, in the Kullback-Leibler sense, between the unweighted portfolio return distribution and a tilted distribution meaned at the predetermined target or benchmark rate of return selected by or imposed upon the investor. This result implies, in the IID case, that Stutzer's rules can be written as a benchmark constrained Kullback-Leibler-based optimization problem with an endogenous utility interpretation. Here we expand on this idea by introducing two closely related portfolio selection rules based on the empirical likelihood divergence and the Hellinger-Matusita distance. The first of these is the reversed Kullback-Leibler divergence and the second is proportional to the average of the two divergences. The theoretical and in-sample properties of the new criteria suggest them to be competitive with and in some cases better than existing methods, especially in terms of skewness preference.     

The risk factors for the mentally disabled in the use of social media

The aim of this study is to make the teacher candidates aware of the risk factors for the mentally disabled in the use of the social media and specify their views about this issue. The raw data gathered from semi-structured interviews were analysed through a “content analysis technique” and interpreted. The findings showed that the majority of the participants (43.3%) stated that the mentally disabled people faced the risk of becoming social media addicts and were likely to have problems (33.3%). Some of the participants (23.3%) stressed the possible risks of harmful contents. The findings of this research indicated that almost all the mentally disabled people needed to use the social media. It was found out that the mentally disabled people experience more problems. A big majority of the participants emphasized the need for a password to limit the harmful contents and access to them.

     

Are “Education Lotteries” Less Regressive? Evidence from Texas

With little exception, research has shown that state-sponsored lotteries are regressive in the aggregate, in that lottery sales do not increase proportionately with area income. We test whether the purpose of lottery revenues mitigates this spatial regressivity. In August of 1997, the statutory earmark for Texas Lottery proceeds moved from the General Fund to the Foundation School Fund, which supports K-12 education. Beginning in 2000, the lottery was increasingly marketed as a funding stream for public schools. Drawing on a content analysis of lottery commission press releases from 1993 to 2006, we find that Instant game sales were modestly responsive to education messaging, in that sales became noticeably less regressive in the wake of more intense reminders of the education component of the state lottery. It is likely that unobserved heterogeneity in local sales factors played a much bigger role than education marketing.     

Moving Up or Falling Behind? Gender,Promotions, and Wages in Canada

We estimate that Canadian women working full time are 1.8 percentage points less likely to be promoted, receive fewer promotions, and experience 2.8 percent less wage growth following promotions than similar men. Significant “family gaps” exist among women. Women without children are less likely to have been promoted than similar men but experience similar wage growth following promotions, while women with children are as likely to have been promoted but experience less wage growth following promotions. Weekly hours and overtime hours explain significant fractions of these gender gaps. Though not precisely estimated, gender gaps in promotions also exist among part‐time workers.     

The Economic Effects of Anti-takeover Gimmicks; An American View

Should companies be allowed to protect themselves from takeover? Robert McGee, of Seton Hall University, outlines the case against ‘poison pills’ and other restrictions on takeovers and mergers.     

Strategic groups: Theory,research and taxonomy

This paper discusses the concept of strategic groups, focusing upon the importance of intra-industry strategic groupings in understanding differences across firms within an industry. The problems involved in identifying strategic groups within industries are examined through a comprehensive review of recent studies. It is demonstrated that much of the research has used surrogates for elements of a firm's strategic direction, e.g. vertical integration, product range, R & D expenditure, to suggest bases by which creative and sustainable groups are formed. The authors argue that certain theoretical concepts such as mobility barriers, isolating mechanisms and controllable variablesprovide much firmer bases for identifying strategic groups within industries. Thus, taxonomies for understanding the nature of strategic group formulation can be developed. Implications of the strategic group concept for such strategic issues as the structure-performance linkage, firm mobility, patterns of rivalry, industry evolutionand firm growthare then examined. The paper concludes by indicating fruitful directions for strategic group research in the context of the strategic management field.