Influence of Innovativeness,Environmental Competitiveness and Government,Industry and Professional Networks on SME Export Likelihood

The purpose of this study is to examine how small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in different industry segments utilize government, industry, and professional networks and to test the influence of SME innovativeness, environmental competitiveness and network type for SME export likelihood. Previous studies on networks and exports tend to be qualitative and based on small samples. This study adds to previous scholarship by investigating a large database consisting of 2,263 Australian SMEs. Results indicate SME innovativeness contributes positively to export likelihood while contrary to extant studies, no significant relationship is observed between environmental competitiveness and export likelihood. Moreover, a significant, positive relationship exists between government networks and export likelihood, and a positive though weaker relationship between industry networks and export likelihood. On average, the likelihood of SMEs receiving export income increases by 47 percent if all three network types are accessed between one and three times a year, controlling for other factors. Further analyses of industry sub‐segments indicate a stronger relationship between industry networks and export likelihood.     

A strategic approach to workforce analytics: Integrating science and agility

Workforce analytics is a major emerging trend in human resource management. Yet, despite the enthusiasm, there exists a misunderstanding of how organizations can successfully use workforce analytics to achieve important organizational outcomes. This article proposes ways to overcome this execution dilemma and achieve organizational success with workforce analytics through the integration of agile development with scientific research. We use a number of company examples to outline five key parts of an agile workforce analytics process: (1) prioritizing issues, (2) integrating deductive and inductive approaches, (3) preparing and validating data, (4) applying multiple methods in concert to support decisions, and (5) transforming insight into action to improve business outcomes.     

Quality values,attitudes, and behavioral predispositions of employees in Mexico,Australia, and the United States

This study examined cultural differences in total quality management (TQM) values, attitudes, and behavioral predisposition. The first part of the study reviews the TQM literature to highlight the importance of individual-level constructs, define salient attitudes and values that impact quality, and theorize about the impact of culture on TQM philosophy. Cultural distance is described and used as the basis for hypothesizing about similarities and differences in TQM values among respondents from climatically similar regions of Mexico, Australia, and the United States. Results provided mixed support for the hypothesized differences in quality values between culturally distant countries. The data imply that quality-related values, attitudes, and behavioral predispositions may transcend national borders. ©1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A matter of degrees: exploring dimensions in the Ph.D. student–advisor relationship in hospitality and tourism education

This study investigated the Ph.D. student–advisor relationship by identifying supervision dimensions and studying their effects on perception on supervision. Using principal component analysis, affective characteristics, intellectual expertise, and external grant/funding factors were found to play important roles in establishing the Ph.D. student–advisor relationship. Regression analysis revealed that affective personality and intellectual expertise positively influence student’s perception on supervision. Implications for students and faculty are discussed.     

What does it mean to follow? An exploration of a followership profile in hospitality and tourism

Although leadership has received considerable attention from many scholars, much less research has focused on those who follow leaders; yet, followers contribute much to the success of an organization. This study explored the followership profiles of stakeholders in hospitality and tourism education. The findings summarize the followership dimensions of a sample of hospitality students, educators, and industry professionals. For each of the five followership dimensions the mean scores for industry professionals were rated higher when compared with students and educators, with courage to participate in transformation being the highest rated among all three groups. Implications for hospitality education are presented.     

Music‐Evoked Images: Music that Inspires Them and Their Influences on Brand and Message Recall in the Short and the Longer Term

Prior research studies of music‐background influences on brand message recall following ad exposure have produced equivocal results, possibly due to the practice of comparing presence or absence of music. This research moves beyond the presence or absence of background music to quantify the range of impacts on brand message recall created by multiple, diverse music backgrounds. Music backgrounds differ widely and prompt music‐evoked images (MEIs), both private, personal images forged during previous listening experiences, and connoted images common to multiple listeners, motivated by structural cues. Personally relevant private MEIs may have the unintended effect of interfering with brand message processing, integration, and recall, where nonbrand images are also prompted; nonetheless, prolonged processing of those MEIs may enhance chance of association between the music and brand and message elements, offering the intended effect of facilitating later music‐cued brand message recall. Impersonal, connoted MEIs may reinforce brand and message elements, improving brand message integration and recall and avoiding processing interference; however, with briefer processing, and without prior personal associations, the music may be less likely linked to brand and message elements and less effective in facilitating later music‐cued recall. Results of an experiment using multimedia ads for multiple brands with a diverse set of music backgrounds support the hypothesized influences of private and connoted MEIs.     

The First World/Third Party Criterion: A Feminist Critique of Production Boundaries in Economics

This paper examines definitions of production boundaries in economics, explores the limitations of these definitions with respect to the inclusion of unpaid domestic labor, and considers the significance of such an exploration for feminist economic analysis. Margaret Reid's ''third party criterion,'' a definition of economic activity advocated by many feminists and one used to set the production boundary for most household production models, sets an implicit market standard for defining nonmarket economic activity and therefore contributes to the marginalization of such production. Similarly, production boundaries considered appropriate in third world contexts, such as those defined in the recently revised System of National Accounts, also use implicit market standards for defining nonmarket economic activity. A ''first world'' criterion implicit in such production boundaries defines nonmarket activity as work only if it would have been dealt with on the market in the first world; this results in the inclusion of some of the unpaid domestic activity of rural women on grounds which reinforce the exclusion of work such as child care and the preparation of meals in theory and policy. Feminist economists should beware the danger of recreating implicit assumptions and definitions which result in the exclusion of unpaid domestic labor.     

Being True to Oneself: Investigating Celebrity Brand Authenticity

Celebrity brand authenticity is introduced as a construct that represents consumer perceptions of celebrities being “true to oneself” in their behaviors and interactions with consumers. A scale is developed through two purification stages and the scale's predictive validity is assessed. First, the meaning of celebrity brand authenticity to consumers is explored. Second, the Authenticity Inventory from the psychology literature is adapted to develop a scale for consumer perceptions of celebrity brand authenticity. Celebrity brands are perceived as true to self when they appear genuine in their relationships with consumers and behave in accordance with their perceived held values. Evidence of the convergent and discriminant validity of the celebrity brand authenticity scale is provided, which confirms celebrity brand authenticity as distinct from celebrity attachment, despite containing relational items. Finally, the predictive power of celebrity brand authenticity is confirmed through positively influencing consumer intentions to purchase an endorsed brand. Brand managers can use celebrity brand authenticity to position or develop celebrity brands, as well as in the selection of celebrity endorsers.     

Corporate governance, expropriation of minority shareholders�� rights, and performance of Latin American enterprises

This study empirically exams whether the internal corporate governance mechanisms of the firms represented in Latin American equity markets lead to the expropriation of minority shareholders’ rights; and whether such expropriation leads to economic underperformance. The data is a sample of 97 companies from Brazil, Chile, and Mexico, for a 3-year period (2000–2002). The results suggest a relationship between the characteristics of a firm’s board of directors and the expropriation of minority shareholders’ rights. Finally, the study provides evidence that expropriation of minority shareholders’ rights may lead to under performance in emerging economies.     

Inducements,contributions, and fulfillment in new employee psychological contracts

This longitudinal study of newly hired Chinese college graduates (N = 143) investigates the effects of contract fulfillment, employee reports of company inducements (organizational support and job rewards), and supervisory reports of individual contributions (job performance and extra‐role citizenship behavior) upon changes in the graduates' psychological contracts. Three survey waves were administered a year apart, starting with the recruits' job offer acceptance. Analyses revealed that employee fulfillment and perceived contributions predicted particular changes in employer psychological contract obligations, whereas employer fulfillment and perceived inducements predicted changes in employee obligations. The effects of inducements on employee obligation changes and contributions on employer obligation changes were mediated by their respective fulfillment measures. Changes in obligations were greater in the first year of employment than in the second. This study yields implications for managing newcomers and researching the initial phase of employment. ©2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.