Transferring manufacturing technology in China:supplier perceptions and acquirer expectations

Results of complementary surveys of foreign and Chinese manufacturing enterprises with respect to their objectives and expectations regarding technology transfer into China show that the major strategic objective of foreign enterprises, to gain access to the Chinese market, fits well with Chinese enterprises’ main objective of improving domestic competitiveness but less well with that of accessing world markets through technology transfer. Foreign firms rate highly the capability of Chinese enterprises to learn new technologies and also find the Chinese macro environment for business favourable. The survey results provide information that will help managers with their negotiations on co-operating with prospective partners for the transfer of technology as well as assisting policy makers who wish to facilitate more effective transfer arrangements.

An investigation into the nature, determinants, and dynamics of service quality expectations

On the basis of a review of the substantive quality and service marketing literature current knowledge regarding service quality expectations was found either absent or deficient. The phenomenon is of increasing importance to both marketing researchers and management and was therefore judged worthy of scholarly consideration. Because the service quality literature was insufficiently rich when embarking on the thesis three basic research issues were considered namely the nature, determinants, and dynamics of service quality expectations. These issues were first conceptually and then qualitatively explored. This process generated research hypotheses mainly relating to a model which were subsequently tested through a series of empirical investigations using questionnaire data from field studies in a single context. The results were internally consistent and strongly supported the main research hypotheses. It was found that service quality expectations can be meaningfully described in terms of generic/service-specific, intangible/tangible, and process/outcome categories. Service-specific quality expectations were also shown to be determined by generic service quality expectations, demographic variables, personal values, psychological needs, general service sophistication, service-specific sophistication, purchase motives, and service-specific information when treating service class involvement as an exogenous variable. Subjects who had previously not directly experienced a particular service were additionally found to revise their expectations of quality when exposed to the service with change being driven by a sub-set of identified determinants.

Adolescents and the experience of parental divorce:including reference to the expectations of teacher trainees

The aims of this study were to investigate the impact of parental divorce on adolescents, and the expectations of teacher trainees with regard to children of divorce. The literature related to children of divorce is reviewed and the results of interviews with a sample of recently divorced custodial parents and their adolescent children, using a structured interview schedule, are described. The semantic differential technique was used to obtain ratings of a sample of teacher trainees' expectations of children of divorce as compared with their ratings of several other categories of children. The results of the interviews with parents and their adolescent children suggested that parental divorce does not necessarily interfere with adolescent development and that for some adolescents the reduction of conflict in the home might enhance normal development. They also suggest that adolescents would prefer to live in a one parent home rather than a two parent home which is fraught with conflict, and that it is preferable for parents who are unable to resolve such conflict in any other way to separate rather than allow it to persist. The ratings of children of divorce by teacher trainees suggest that they hold more negative expectations of such children than of other groups • such as adopted children. The contrast between this finding and the results of the interviews with adolescents and their parents lends some support to the existence of the divorce myth; that is, the cultural belief that divorce has the inherent power to make people unhappy. The implications for policy, practice and further research are discussed.

Balancing high expectations with academic quality:achieving equilibrium in education to promote student employability

A discussion of how to promote employability within the curriculum

Balancing expectations in engineering education:enhancing student experiences through empirical research - a comparative analysis

This paper draws upon the findings of an empirical study comparing the expectations and concerns of engineering students with students enrolled on business and management programs. It argues that whilst the two groups of students have very similar expectations, motivations and concerns before their start their studies, once at university, engineering students are twice as likely to drop-out than are their compatriots in business studies. Drawing upon the study findings, recommendations are made as to what might be done to counteract this. The conclusion argues that there is a need for more in-depth research to be conducted in this area in order to identify the reasons behind the different attrition rates and to further enhance engineering undergraduate experience.

Growth expectations and financial performance of small businesses:evidence from Latvia

By applying regulatory focus theory, this paper investigates the impact of both initial confidence and of exactness of growth expectations on subsequent financial performance of the small firms. Drawing on the unique data set based on the repeated survey design, we make one of the first attempts to explore the complexity of this relationship empirically. Overall the findings suggest that controlling for other relevant factors, including actual growth, the entrepreneurs having higher growth expectations perform significantly better later on in terms of profitability. In addition, education has a strong modifying effect: the impact of high growth expectations on subsequent profit performance is stronger for entrepreneurs with lower level of education.

Entrepreneurs, expectations and business expansion:lessons from Lithuania

This article applies a multinomial logit estimator to investigate which factors affect SME owners' expectations to grow their businesses in Lithuania. Our findings provide evidence that SME owners' human capital (education) matters and that growth expectations are positively related to exporting. In addition, we analyse the link between the perceptions of business constraints and growth expectations and find that the factors, which are perceived as main business barriers, are not necessarily those which are associated with reduced growth expectations. However, perceptions of corruption seem to affect growth expectations the most.

Growth expectations of business owners:impact of human capital, firm characteristics and environmental transition

This paper presents an empirical study based on a survey of 399 owners of small and medium size companies in Lithuania. Applying bivariate and ordered probit estimators, we investigate why some business owners expect their firms to expand, while others do not. Our main findings provide evidence that SME owner's generic and specific human capital matter. Those with higher education and 'learning by doing' attributes, either through previous job experience or additional entrepreneurial experience, expect their businesses to expand. The expectations of growth are positively related to exporting and non-monotonically to enterprise size. In addition, we analyse the link between the perceptions of constraints to business activities and growth expectations and find that the factors, which are perceived as main business barriers, are not necessary those which are associated with reduced growth expectations. In particular, perceptions of both corruption and of inadequate tax systems seem to affect growth expectations the most.

Attachment anxiety and friendship group identification under attachment threat:the moderating role of priming support network expectations

We examined the role of priming participants' own network expectations on their subsequent identification with their friendship group. We examined this prime alongside attachment anxiety and attachment threat, as predictors of friendship group identification. Previous research has suggested that attachment anxiety is associated with negative network expectations. In this study, we extended this work to show that when a network expectation prime was absent, higher attachment anxiety was associated with lower group identification under attachment threat, compared to a control condition. However, when expectations of support network were primed, attachment threat no longer affected group identification, so that only attachment anxiety predicted group identification. This suggests that priming participants who are high in attachment anxiety with their own network expectancies (which are negative), results in participants dis-identifying with their friendship group, regardless of whether or not they have experienced attachment threat. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

Physicians' perceptions, attitudes and expectations regarding the role of hospital-based pharmacists in the West Bank, Palestine

Objective - To evaluate the perceptions, expectations and experiences of physicians with regard to hospital-based pharmacists in the West Bank, Palestine. Methods - A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 250 physicians practising in four general hospitals in the West Bank, Palestine. The main sections of the questionnaire comprised a series of statements pertaining to physicians' perceptions, expectations and experiences with pharmacists. Key findings - One hundred and fifty seven questionnaires were completed and returned (response rate, 62.8%). The majority of respondents were most comfortable with pharmacists detecting and preventing prescription errors (76.4%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 69.5–81.2%) and patient education (57.9%; CI 51.2–63.4%) but they were not comfortable with pharmacists suggesting the use of prescription medications to patients (56.7%; CI 49.8–62.4%). Most physicians (62.4%; CI 56.8–69.1%) expected the pharmacist to educate their patients about the safe and appropriate use of their medication. However, approximately one-third (31.7%; CI 26.0–39.6%) did not expect pharmacists to be available for consultation during rounds. Physicians' experiences with pharmacists were less favourable; whereas 77% (CI 70.2–81.5%) of the physicians agreed that pharmacists were always a reliable source of information, only 11.5% (CI 6.2–16.4%) agreed that pharmacists appeared to be willing to take responsibility for solving any drug-related problems. Conclusion -The present study showed that hospital physicians are more likely to accept traditional pharmacy services than newer clinical services for hospital-based pharmacists in the West Bank, Palestine. Pharmacists should therefore interact more positively and more frequently with physicians. This will close the gap between the physicians' commonly held perceptions of what they expect pharmacists to do and what pharmacists can actually do, and gain support for an extended role of hospital-based pharmacists in future patient therapy management.

Pharmacy undergraduate students:career choices and expectations across a career choices and expectations across a four-year degree programme

Report commissioned by the Pharmacy Practice Research Trust

Trading-up on unmet expectations? Evaluating consumers’ expectations in online premium grocery shopping logistics

Geography and retail store locations are inherently bound together; this study links food retail changes to systemic logistics changes in an emerging market. The later include raising income and education, access to a wide range of technologies, traffic and transport difficulties, lagging retail provision, changing family structure and roles, as well as changing food culture and taste. The study incorporates demand for premium products defined by Kapferer and Bastien [2009b. The Luxury Strategy. London: Kogan Page] as comprising a broad variety of higher quality and unique or distinctive products and brands including in grocery organic ranges, healthy options, allergy free selections, and international and gourmet/specialty products through an online grocery model (n = 356) that integrates a novel view of home delivery in Istanbul. More importantly from a logistic perspective our model incorporates any products from any online vendors broadening the range beyond listed items found in any traditional online supermarkets. Data collected via phone survey and analysed via structural equation modelling suggest that the offer of online premium products significantly affects consumers’ delivery logistics expectations. We discuss logistics operations and business management implications, identifying the emerging geography of logistic models which respond to consumers’ unmet expectations using multiple sourcing and consolidation points.