Global financial liberalisation GATT,EC and OECD approaches

In view of increasing worldwide economic integration, effective multinational agreements are urgently needed to improve the functionality, efficiency and stability of international financial operations. This article confronts theoretical characteristics of a desirable global financial concept with the actual liberalisation approaches of different organisations.     

What is family friendly about the workplace in the home? The case of self‐employed parents and their children

This article draws upon the narratives of self-employed parents, their partners and children in order to examine the 'family friendliness' of making the home a site of paid work. While not fitting narrow definitions of 'teleworker' the subjects daily confronted the use of space in their homes, and access to technologies there.     

Organizational culture as differentiator in international retailing

Much of the international retailing literature echoes major retailers' assertions that inimitable organizational cultures can create competitive advantage. However, the culture concept remains ill-defined and systematic international empirical analysis is lacking. Based on website analyses of nine international retailers, the paper investigates how organizations define their cultures, codify and transfer them into practice, and aim to homogenize them across borders. Although some evidence for organization-specific cultural aspirations is identified, findings suggest that retailers' cultures become homogenized within and between countries. This supports previous work on the existence of industry-specific macro cultures and challenges the resource-based view, which sees culture as a source of competitive advantage.     

Effects of podcast tours on tourist experiences in a national park

This study examines the influence of podcast tours on tourist experiences. Based on theoretical accounts that human voices convey rich social information, this study proposes that podcast tours increase perceived social presence and mindfulness that lead to enhanced tourist experiences and environmental stewardship. A field experiment was conducted at a national park using MP3 players containing podcast tours based on four experimental conditions: 2 information source compositions (single vs. multiple narrator voices) × 2 narrating styles (formal vs. conversational). The results support that even if communicated through audio-only media, the human voice creates a positive social context for meaningful interaction which influences tourist experiences and stewardship. Mindfulness was also found to be an important construct affecting the quality of experiences. The findings support the usefulness of podcast tours as interpretative media.     

Corporate Culture and Commitment: Impact on Performance of International New Product Development Programs

To achieve success in today's competitive environment, firms increasingly must develop new products for international markets. To this end, they must leverage and must coordinate broad creative capabilities and resources, which often are diffused across geographical and cultural boundaries. Recent writings in the globalization and in the new product development (NPD) literatures suggest that certain “softer” dimensions that define the behavioral environment of the firm—that is, the firm's organizational culture and management commitment—can have an important impact on the outcome of these complex and risky endeavors. But what comprises these dimensions and what type of behavioral environment scenario is linked to high performance in the international NPD effort of firms has not been articulated clearly. This research focuses on these softer dimensions, with the objective of understanding and idengifying their specific makeup as well as their relationship to the outcome of international NPD programs. Based on an integration of three literatures—organizational, new product development, and globalization—the present study develops a research instrument, comprising 18 behavioral environment measurement items as well as several outcome measures, that is administered to a broad empirical sample of goods and services firms active in NPD for international markets. Using empirical results from 252 international NPD programs, three key dimensions are idengified: (1) the innovation/globalization culture of the firm; (2) the commitment of sufficient resources to the NPD program; and (3) top management involvement in the international NPD effort. These dimensions are used to derive four clusters of firms, where each grouping represents a distinctly different behavioral environment scenario. In a preliminary analysis, it is ascertained that other aspects of the firm such as “degree of internationalization,” location of the respondent to the NPD center, and other company parameters do not form the basis of cluster membership. By linking measures of performance to the four behavioral clusters, findings are developed that clearly support this study's hypothesis that international NPD outcomes are associated with the softer behavioral environment dimensions. Scenario performance ranges from “very high” to “very low” and appears to be linked clearly to the dimensions studied. The lower‐performing firms tended to emphasize positively only one, or sometimes two, of the three dimensions. The “best performers” were found to be firms with a “positive balanced” approach to international NPD, where all three behavioral environment dimensions are supported strongly. In other words, firms in this scenario have an open and innovative global NPD culture, they ensure that sufficient resources are committed to the NPD program, and their senior managers play an active and involved role in the international NPD effort. Given this evidence of a direct link between behavioral environment and international NPD performance, the present study's findings suggest some important messages for managers charged with the development of new products for international markets.     

Wer trägt die Verantwortung?

Zusammenfasung  Haftungsrecht bei der Wundversorgung — Bei der Versorgung problematischer Wunden kommt es h?ufig zu einem Zusammenspiel mehrerer Beteiligter. Dabei kann es zu Gef?hrdungssituationen für den Patienten kommen – durch Unklarheit darüber, wer in welchem Ma?e für die Wundbehandlung verantwortlich ist oder durch Kommunikationsm?ngel.     

Die nächste Ausgabe von Controlling &; Management erscheint am 13.08.07

Vorschau / 4/07

Die n?chste Ausgabe von Controlling & Management erscheint am 13.08.07     

Lack of progress in tourist information search research: a critique of citation behaviour and knowledge development

ABSTRACT

Knowledge construction is a crucial factor in the development of any field of study. While empirical papers sustain knowledge development in a field, systematic analysis of the literature and critiques of influential papers are core components of high-level knowledge construction. The aim of this paper is to critically evaluate Fodness and Murray’s ([1999]. A model of tourist information search behavior. Journal of Travel Research, 37(3), 220–230.) seminal paper on information search and to assess how the model has been developed by the subsequent literature. A critique of the model highlighted that the original work had a number of shortcomings, particularly given recent advances in information technologies. The method consisted of a meta-analysis of 575 studies that cited Fodness and Murray’s work. The meta-analysis demonstrated that none of the subsequent studies attempted to further develop this well-cited model. The analysis also highlighted that many of the citations to the original study were superficial, and in some cases, incorrect, raising serious questions about citation practices in the tourism field more broadly. The main implication is that, in order to advance our understanding of tourism, we need robust studies that confirm and build on past research efforts to move the field forward.     

Online representations of RVing neo-tribes in the USA and Australia

Road trips in recreational vehicles (RVs) are popular ways to experience freedom, warmer climates and flexibility in the USA as well as Australia. Ownership of such vehicles is increasing in both markets. Nevertheless, very little is known about the individuals who engage in RVing activities and about the neo-tribes that they form and organise through clubs. Also, cross-regional comparisons of RVers are currently missing from the literature. This article conducted analyses of the text (words and images) of websites belonging to two RV clubs in the USA and two clubs in Australia as well as of the websites of the countries' respective RV advocacy groups. The goal was to examine the specific neo-tribes as they were represented on these websites. The results revealed similarities but also clear differences, with the USA RV clubs appearing to be much more focussed on delivering the defining aspects of neo-tribes, such as fellowship, organisation of online scenes, and the facilitation of an RVing lifestyle.