FROM EXPERIENCE: Disruptive Innovation and the Need for Disruptive Intellectual Asset Strategy

Disruption has become a popular business term, yet it is often used so loosely as to convey almost nothing of substance. Here a largely neglected factor is addressed: the role of intellectual assets in securing opportunities for or averting threats from disruptive innovations. While the literature explains why the decision-making systems in large established companies cause difficulty in responding effectively to disruptive innovation the generation of intellectual assets (e.g., patents, publications, trademarks) typically is not subject to the same cultural and structural barriers. Though it may be difficult to convince a business to invest millions in pursuit of a speculative disruptive innovation, it is much easier for a small team to gain support in pursuing low-cost intellectual assets in the name of mitigating potential threats. A two-pronged approach is proposed that builds on the authors' experience at Kimberly-Clark Corporation in dealing with disruptive threats and opportunities. The approach calls for generation of intellectual assets, often using small proactive teams, to (1) protect an existing business by reducing competitive risks from disruptive innovation, including the risk of new products with disruptive potential and the risk of associated competitive patents that might limit one's response; and (2) prepare for future new and disruptive business opportunities that could be protected or strengthened by the intellectual assets generated. Kimberly-Clark's growing experience with this approach suggests that it may be a valuable component of one's strategy for innovation and protection of the business.     

The Gap between Male and Female Pay: What Does the Case of Hotel and Catering Tell Us?

This article discusses the gap between men's and women's pay with particular reference to the hotel and catering industry.

The general causes of pay inequality are reviewed and their relevance to hotel and catering assessed. The general conclusion is that the dismantling of the Wages Councils, the fragmentation of pay structures and the contracting out of Catering services are all likely to cause a deterioration in Women's pay relative to men's. Furthermore, the gap between the average pay of men and women is likely lo compare even less , favourably in the ,future. The effect of this deterioration may be masked if increasing numbers of men are forced to compete with women for low paid jobs in service industries.     

Using vehicle monitoring technology and eco-driver training to reduce fuel use and emissions in tourism: a ski resort case study

Ground-based transport moves more tourists than any other form of transportation and contributes c. 32% of tourism's carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions – yet remains a largely neglected area of emission/carbon management research. This study examines the value of vehicle monitoring technology (VMT) and eco-driver training as a means to improve fuel efficiency and reduce CO₂ emissions for a fleet of vehicles at the largest ski resort operation in Ontario, Canada. The VMT was installed in 14 fleet vehicles. After eco-driver training, the fleet reduced its average daily speed (?14%), hard decelerations (?55%), hard accelerations (?44%), and idling time (?2%), resulting in decreased fuel costs (?8%) and CO₂ emissions (?8%). The process requires very low capital expenditures, can pay for itself in as little as one year, and has safety paybacks. It also has valuable externalities: tourism businesses that instill sustainability awareness and values to their employees contribute to environmental prosperity generally, because eco-trained drivers also drive more efficiently in their everyday lives. This is the first known study to quantify the benefits of driver training and behavioral intervention within a tourism context, demonstrating the potential to enhance environmental sustainability while simultaneously reducing operating costs. Technicalities, issues, and future application possibilities are discussed.     

Measuring consumer vulnerability to perceived product-similarity problems and its consequences

Abstract

The brand clutter in many product categories and increasing numbers of similar products, some of which are deliberate look-alikes, make it more difficult for consumers to distinguish between brands, which can lead to more mistaken and misinformed purchases. Moreover, increasing brand similarity is likely to influence important consumer outcomes. To examine this phenomenon, a perceived product-similarity scale developed in Germany was administered to 220 consumers in the United Kingdom. Following the formulation of testable hypotheses and assessments of the scale's reliability and validity, the scale was used to measure perceived product similarity (PPS) across three different product categories, while examining the impact of PPS on brand loyalty and word of mouth. Structural equation modelling revealed that PPS significantly affects word of mouth but not brand loyalty. In addition, cluster analysis identified three meaningful and distinct PPS groups. Implications for marketing managers, consumer policy makers, and marketing research are discussed.     

Asymmetric promotion and strike effects in an oligopolistic service industry

The effects of promotion and selling expenses as well as the impact of striks on the sales of two major airlines in an oilgopolistic service industry are investigated through simultaneous and recursive multiple regression modelling. Results indicate that the independent variables asymmetrically affect the respective sales of the duopolists. Additionally, there is evidence that the two firms appear to have adopted a form of competitive response model regarding their promotional expenditures which may be questionable given the results of this study.     

Management accounting curricula: striking a balance between the views of educators and practitioners

Management accounting education has been subject of considerable debate since the 1970s, particularly in terms of what topics should be taught. The research reported here set out to ascertain the management accounting topics/techniques and the skills/characteristics that are considered important for a graduate who intends to pursue careers in management accounting. Based on a survey conducted on educators and practitioners, the results indicate that educators viewed behavioural implications, activity-based costing (ABC), performance evaluation and product costing as the top four important topics. In contrast, practitioners' top four important topics were cash flow management, operational budgeting, variance analysis and performance evaluation. Overall, traditional techniques, as compared to contemporary techniques, tend to be more widely used by firms. As regards skills and characteristics, practitioners and educators placed high importance on thinking, problem solving, listening and quantitative skills.     

The influence of workgroup identification on turnover intention and knowledge sharing: the perspective of employees in subsidiaries

Abstract

Turnover intention and knowledge sharing of local employees in multinational enterprise (MNE) subsidiary workgroups have received relatively little attention in IHRM research, yet are central to everyday operation of the organisation. Drawing on optimal distinctiveness theory, we consider the influence of workgroup identification on two important employee attitudes and behaviours, turnover intention and knowledge sharing, by examining the influence of the supervisor on workgroup identification. Participants included 306 employees in an Australian and New Zealand subsidiary of an MNE headquartered in Europe. The results indicate that employees’ tendency to identify with their workgroup is enhanced by the distinctiveness of a supervisor from a different national or cultural group, which in turn leads to decreased turnover intention and increased knowledge sharing among workgroup members. Higher supervisor prototypicality however, that counterbalances distinctiveness through higher inclusion, weakens the mediation effect. An important practical implication of this research is that the HR function could play a valuable role in training or group development to raise supervisors’ and employees’ understanding and management of needs for both inclusion and distinctiveness.     

Export Commitment and the Global Financial Crisis: Perspectives from the New Zealand Wine Industry

The study investigates how firms adjusted their export commitment in response to the recent global financial crisis. Findings based on New Zealand wine companies suggest that firms' commitment to exporting is influenced by both their export performance achieved before the crisis and the negative effect that the crisis exerted on their subsequent export performance. These two performance‐induced influences can be further moderated by managerial attitude toward exporting and managers' perceptions of export market uncertainty. Theoretically, the study builds on the behavioral theory of the firm and extends the past performance–strategy relationship to the situation of exporting in a financial crisis.