Proactive environmental strategy and firm performance at the bottom of the pyramid

This paper utilizes insights from the natural resource-based view to examine the conditions under which proactive environmental strategy (PES) drive firm performance. Using data collected from 266 small- and medium-sized enterprises operating in Ghana, the results suggest that the impact of PES on firm performance is more pronounced in firms that do not purse bottom of the pyramid orientation but not significant for firms pursuing the bottom of the pyramid orientation. Besides, the findings show that the influence of PES on firm performance is amplified for firms adopting imitation orientation but not significant for nonimitation-oriented firms. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

超高大粮堆磷化氢环流熏蒸工艺优化探讨

在我国粮食仓储行业中,环流熏蒸工艺是应用较为广泛的储粮害虫治理技术,其中环流风机进风口方向与粮堆上层相通、出风口方向连接风道口是普遍采用的环流熏蒸工艺。本文结合超高大平房仓(堆粮高度8m)磷化氢环流熏蒸技术,采用磷化铝片剂表面施药法,将环流风机进风口方向与风道口连接、出风口方向与粮堆上层相通,并分析粮仓空间、粮堆表层和粮堆底层磷化氢浓度分布情况,实验结果表明采用表面施药方法进行环流熏蒸时,环流风机进出风口方向调整后,更有利于保证杀虫效果和熏蒸安全。     

浅析电视节目主持人的屏幕整体形象定位

新闻电视节目主持人的屏幕整体形象定位是提高主持人的社会知名度和节目的社会影响力的前提条件,精准的形象设计可以充分发挥电视传媒的文化影响力,提高我国电视传媒的市场竞争力,满足广大观众日益提高的审美需求。     

关于粮食流通立法的瑕疵分析

粮食流通市场的健康发展需要法律的支持和保障,更需要一部良法的保障。而法律成为良法需要满足很多要件,其中科学的立法技术与合理的立法定位是绕不过去的门槛。《粮食法(征求意见稿)》在规范粮食流通市场方面所作出的努力值得赞赏,但它在立法技术上的瑕疵以及在某些具体制度上立法定位的错位严重影响了该意见稿的生命力。建议粮食流通立法采用更为严谨的立法语言,科学使用援引技术,在具体制度的设计上处理好政府与市场的关系。     

The role of market orientation,relational capital,and internationalization speed in foreign market exit and re-entry decisions under turbulent conditions

Firms’ internationalization strategies can vary with changing environments. Occasionally, a firm may choose to re-enter a foreign market it had abandoned in the past if environmental conditions have improved. The present study provides insight into the foreign market exit and subsequent re-entry processes. Specifically, we utilize the strategic flexibility perspective to investigate the impact of market orientation, relational capital, and internationalization speed on market exit and re-entry decisions under turbulence in a host market. Using a sample of 156 Turkish firms that operated during the Arab Spring in the Egyptian market between 2010 and 2015, we find that the market-oriented firms are more flexible in their market exit decisions than less market-oriented organizations. In addition, relational capital specific to the host country has a negative impact on market exit decisions under conditions of political conflict. The results also suggest that strong ties with partners in the host country increase the propensity to re-enter the market.     

Market Orientation in Public Service—A Comparison Between Buyers and Providers

Public services have been subjected to processes of deregulation, competition, and privatization in many countries worldwide. One popular reform has involved focusing on competitive procurement. This context, where public and private organizations jointly deliver the service in a dyad, makes the market orientation of public services highly complex. The main elements of market orientation – intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination and responsiveness– have shown themselves to be valid and of significance in both the private and public sectors. Nevertheless, the empirical context of the public sector involves a complexity that has been poorly addressed in market orientation research. In this study, we research the Swedish public transport industry and survey buyer and provider organizations in order to determine how market-orientated activities are approached in public-private service dyads. We present three theoretically-underpinned relationship types - buyer dominated, provider dominated and collaborative - which we suggest as having implications for market-oriented activities. A survey of public transport authorities’ (buyers, n = 48) and operators’ (providers, n = 49) market orientation activities reveals the concurrent prevalence of characteristics from all three relationship types, as both parties try to dominate the relationship while also engaging in collaborative efforts. Drawing on our theoretical framework and our empirical results, we conclude that there are legitimate differences in the perspectives of buyers and providers, and that these differences, if acknowledged and properly managed, can provide valuable resources in the development of a joint market orientation in complex public-private settings.     

Does managing customer accounts receivable impact customer relationships,and sales performance? An empirical investigation

The impact of accounts receivables on the performance of salespersons is largely ignored in sales literature. However, in many sales contexts, managing customers' accounts receivables is directly managed by the salespeople, and therefore substantially impacts their sales performance. Towards such sales contexts, in this empirical study, we study the effect of customer account receivables and salespersons' customer orientation on their relationship orientation and customer-related performance. We further analyse the direct impact of relationship orientation on customer-related performance. Using survey-based data from 224 salespersons based out of India, we empirically test the proposed model using partial least squares structural equation modelling. Our findings suggest that accounts receivables from customers and salespersons ‘customer orientation strongly impact relationship building and also improves customer-related performance. The salespersons’ relationship orientation also partially mediates the relationship between customer account receivables and customer-related performance. Therefore, this study provides much-required evidence to establish the salience of salesforce appropriately managing customers' account receivables so that its impact on their sales performance customer relationships are not adversely affected.     

Becoming an ambidextrous hotel: The role of customer orientation

Because competitive pressure in the hotel industry continues to increase, hotels have to develop service innovation (i.e., exploration) and service improvement (i.e., exploitation) capacities to become ambidextrous for continually creating customer value. In this study, a theory of the effect of customer orientation on service innovation and service improvement, which facilitates service quality and results in better market performance, was developed and investigated. By analyzing the data provided by senior executives and department managers from 126 hotels in Taiwan, both service innovation and service improvement were revealed to partially mediate the relationship between customer orientation and market performance. The results imply that customer orientation affects the market performance of a hotel through the development of service capabilities, and that customer orientation can transform a hotel into an ambidextrous hotel by concurrently developing service innovation and service improvement capacities.     

从跨文化视角分析中西文学艺术特点

文学艺术是人类文化的重要组成部分，也是跨文化研究中不可或缺的内容。从克拉克洪与斯乔贝克提出的价值取向模式着手，从人性取向、人与自然关系取向、时间取向、人类活动取向和关系取向五个方面分析中西方文学艺术，得出了中西善与恶、和谐与征服、过去与将来、存在与做、附属与个体主义的差异和特点，以此增进彼此的了解与交流，取长补短，更好地进行跨文化交际活动。     

Grassroots innovation success: The role of self-determination and leadership style

An increasing number of firms engage in grassroots innovation, i.e., the voluntary generation and development of innovations by any member of an organization, regardless of function or seniority. However, no empirical study to date identifies the determinants of success or failure of grassroots innovation initiatives. We execute a survey study among 3,728 managers in 14 countries, 2,353 of which (63.1%) had already engaged in grassroots innovation. We find that, on average, firms that adopt grassroots innovation outperform firms that do not. We also find that firms that enable (1) employee autonomy, (2) competence development, and (3) relatedness (i.e., helping employees establish mutually beneficial relationships with trusted colleagues) in their grassroots innovation initiatives outperform firms that do not. We document that such effects are contingent on a firm’s institutional environment (i.e., leadership style and market orientation). For instance, the lower the market orientation and the higher the hierarchical leadership of the firm, the higher the performance returns the firm obtains from fostering autonomy and relatedness in grassroots innovation. These findings encourage managers and firms to adopt (or persist in their) grassroots innovation initiatives, to infuse them with sufficient autonomy, competence, and relatedness and match them with the right leadership style.