Corporate governance structure and product market competition

This article assesses the effects of the competitive structure of a product market on a firm’s corporate governance structure. Our model demonstrates that shareholders strategically determine the corporate governance structure, including the manager’s stock ownership and his controlling power over the firm, in order to maximize their utility in the product market competition. We find that the manager’s stock ownership is lower and his controlling power over the firm is higher when the firm’s product is more profitable or when competition within the product market is more severe. The inefficiency of the wealth transfer from shareholders to the manager also affects the corporate governance structure.     

Detailed cost estimating in the automotive industry: Data and information requirements

The automotive industry operates in a very competitive market which requires controlling product costs, improving the product quality and shortening the development lead time. Cost estimation requires quality data and information, therefore this research project identified several issues that hinder this activity, namely a lack of resources and information acquiring and validation difficulties. This research paper presents the various data and information requirements for detailed cost estimating in automotive industry. The research project has identified the common cost estimation process model within the identified industry sector. The study identified the types of data and information requirements for cost estimating. It has also constructed the relevant data infrastructure as the basis for a Web Portal, which is the physical presentation of the information infrastructure. Multiple sources of data collection techniques were employed to identify the types of data needed for detailed cost estimates within a manufacturing company. These techniques include participant observation, semi-structured interviews, process models and document analysis of six different UK based automotive companies. Methods of process modelling like IDEF3 and knowledge capture technique known as X-Pat (eXpert Process Knowledge Analysis Tool) were employed in this study.This study makes several contributions concerning both conceptual and practicable information issues that have long vexed detailed cost estimating practices in the automotive industry. The study conceptually defines the detailed bottom-up information (i.e., individual cost elements and the links between them) needed for an accurate estimate of cost, and shows why each element of information is needed and where it fits into the cost model. To respond to the practicable information vexations, the study shows where to find the necessary cost information and proposes a validation method. The research creates useful knowledge in the form of an improved understanding of information requirements for cost estimates. The benefits to the industry of better cost estimates based on this research at the conceptual design stage include improved cost control and enhanced ability to adjust to anticipated market trends.     

Investigating guanxi dimensions and relationship outcomes: Insights from Sino-Anglo business relationships

This study aims to develop and test a concept for improving Anglo-Chinese business relationships. By piecing together and incorporating both Chinese and western relationship constructs into a cohesive framework and testing this on a sample of Taiwanese importers, the study conceptually and empirically advances our understanding of the discipline further. Specifically, three facets of guanxi, namely ganqing (an affective element), renqing (reciprocation and favor), and xinren (personal trust) are conceptualized to determine cooperation and coordination, which in turn lead to improved performance. Based on a sample of 208 buyers (surveying perceptions of their relationships with Anglo suppliers), we provide empirical support for our concept and reveal that ganqing, renqing and xinren are crucial for fostering the development of such Sino-Anglo relationships. By providing an international flavor in terms of the constructs outlined and the importer-exporter context, the study provides fresh insights to help broaden our horizon further and understand more about relationships in an international context. Several implications are extracted from the study which a) western marketers importantly need to practice as they grapple to enter Chinese markets and nurture business relations, b) Chinese buyers can consider when managing their supplier portfolios and c) academics can use to help measure important relational constructs and undertaking research in a Chinese context.     

Reconceptualizing professional service firm innovation capability: Scale development

Building on capability theory, this paper presents a reconceptualization of the innovation capability construct within a knowledge-intensive service context, specifically, professional service firms (PSFs). Employing a rigorous multi-stage scale development process we interviewed 37 participants and surveyed 463 respondents across a wide range of PSFs including lawyers, accountants, consulting engineers and management consultants. The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses highlight the multi-dimensional nature of innovation capability within this context. Three dimensions were identified: client-focused, marketing-focused, and technology-focused innovation capability. We provide evidence of face validity, content validity, convergent and discriminant validity, nomological validity and reliability of our scale. Our scale offers a new way to measure innovation capability within PSFs and highlights the need to move beyond the narrow manufacturing mind-set focus of prior innovation research. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

3D simulation technology as an effective instructional tool for enhancing spatial visualization skills in apparel design

The purpose of this study is to explore the effectiveness of 3D simulation technology for enhancing spatial visualization skills in apparel design education and further to suggest an innovative teaching approach using the technology. Apparel design majors in an introductory patternmaking course, at a large Midwestern University in the United States, participated in this study. Three different teaching methods (lecture, 3D simulation instruments, and paper patternmaking) were employed in consecutive instructional phases, within a single day. A short questionnaire devised to assess students’ visualization abilities and overall evaluation on the three different teaching methods was administered to the students after each of the three phases. Overall, students’ abilities to visualize 2D patterns onto a human body were improved by all three teaching methods. The 3D simulation instruments anchored positive effects of training on spatial visualization abilities between lecture and paper patternmaking practices. The results affirm that 3D simulation technology has positive potential as an efficient instructional tool for improving students’ visualization skills in apparel design.     

Timing decisions of new product preannouncement and launch with competition

We develop a game-theoretic model to study the timing of new product preannouncement and launch under competition. We derive firms’ optimal timing choices and conducted a numerical analysis to evaluate the role of various factors. Our analytical and numerical results showed that anticipated competitor’s timing choices are the most significant factors. A firm should not preannounce early unless the preannouncement is effective in creating pent-up demands. However, the preannouncement and launch should be rushed if the quality or profit margin of the new product is high, and postponed if the market share of the existing product is high. The market leader should preannounce earlier in a simultaneous game than in a sequential game, but the opposite for the market follower. Data collected from the microprocessor industry validated our model.     

Beliefs of and attitudes toward political advertising: An exploratory investigation

The major goals of this study were to identify voters' belief structures about political advertising, develop a scale to measure beliefs, and examine how the identified beliefs are related to overall attitudes toward political advertising. The reliabilities, factor structure, and validity tests indicate that five belief dimensions—information, veracity, cynicism, money politics, and entertainment—have sound and stable properties. The scale demonstrates that voters assess political advertising at the instrumental level (e.g., information, veracity, and entertainment) as well as the institutional level (e.g., cynicism and money politics). The results showed that not all beliefs predicted overall attitudes. Furthermore, the results indicated that political involvement was a significant factor in influencing both beliefs and attitudes. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Export channel dynamics: an empirical investigation

We investigate the dynamics of export channel arrangements by modelling foreign operation method decisions as the interplay between factors that motivate switches and factors that deter them. Our model extends previous analyses by looking simultaneously at (1) no change of channel arrangement, (2) replacements of foreign intermediaries (within‐mode shifts), and (3) integration of the sales function abroad (between‐mode shifts). We use a multinomial logit model on longitudinal data from a sample of Danish exporters that had entered foreign markets through intermediaries. The results suggest that the decision to carry out within‐mode shifts (i.e. to replace an existing intermediary) is driven by a different set of factors than the decision to switch to another foreign operation mode (i.e. to in‐house operations). Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.