Regionalization strategy and performance: the moderating role of industry dynamism and top management team diversity

Purpose– This paper contributes to the debate about the performance implications of adopting a regional as opposed to a global strategic posture. The aim of this paper is to argue that the performance effects of a regionalization strategy vary based on the characteristics of the industry in which the MNE operates and the composition of its top management team (TMT). Design/methodology/approach– This analysis is based on a cross‐sectional dataset of 211 large European MNEs headquartered in four Western European economies at the end of 2005. Findings– Results show that firms adopting a regional orientation outperform MNEs with global strategic positioning. This positive relationship is less pronounced under conditions of industry dynamism and inter‐regional TMT diversity. Originality/value– The study contributes to our understanding of whether and under what conditions MNEs benefit from adopting a regional as opposed to a global strategic posture.

International experiential diversity and performance at project organizations: The case of national football teams

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to shed new light on the link between diversity in project teams and team performance by examining the effects of players’ international career diversity on the performance of national football teams. Design/methodology/approach– The paper draws upon the literature on project organizations and experiential diversity in teams. Using data on players’ international career backgrounds and team performance from the FIFA World Cup 2006, the authors test two hypotheses linking experiential diversity in teams and a measure of relative team performance. The dataset includes detailed individual background profiles of the 736 participating players and performance data from the 64 games played at the tournament. Findings– The findings suggest that different types of experiential diversity have contrasting effects on team performance in a time‐limited project team setting. Research limitations/implications– These findings encourage team diversity researchers to further examine the impact of experiential diversity in teams on team process and performance outcomes in future research. Practical implications– The findings particularly highlight the need to carefully manage experiential diversity in project team settings in order to benefit from access to diverse tacit resources, while at the same time avoiding that the integrative capacities of teams becoming overstretched. Originality/value– The paper is a step towards a better understanding of how diversity of individual career backgrounds affects team performance outcomes in project teams.

Does more detailed information mean better performance? An experiment in information explicitness

Purpose – Investors are now able to analyse more noise-free news to inform their trading decisions than ever before. Their expectation that more information means better performance is not supported by previous psychological experiments which argue that too much information actually impairs performance. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the degree of information explicitness improves stock market performance. Design/methodology/approach – An experiment is conducted in a computer laboratory to examine a trading simulation manipulated from a real market-shock. Participants’ performance efficiency and effectiveness are measured separately. Findings – The results indicate that the explicitness of information neither improves nor impairs participants’ performance effectiveness from the perspectives of returns, share and cash positions, and trading volumes. However, participants’ performance efficiency is significantly affected by information explicitness. Originality/value – The novel approach and findings of this research add to the knowledge of the impact of information explicitness on the quality of decision making in a financial market environment.

An investigation into knowledge acquisition idiosyncrasies in Ghanaian universities

Purpose This paper aims to fill the research and knowledge gap in knowledge management studies in Ghana. Knowledge acquisition is one of the unexploited areas in knowledge management literature, especially in the Ghanaian context. This study tries to ascertain the factors affecting knowledge acquisition in Ghanaian universities. Design/methodology/approach The study used the quantitative approach. The cross-sectional survey was adopted as the research design. A questionnaire consisting of Likert scale questions was used to collect data from the respondents. The items and the constructs were derived from the extant literature. The questionnaire was sent to 350 respondents, out of which 250 were returned fully completed. Data were quantitatively analysed using descriptive methods and factor analysis. Findings This study provides empirical evidence about the factors affecting knowledge acquisition in Ghanaian universities. Findings from the study show that programme content, lecturers’ competence, student academic background and attitude and facilities for teaching and learning influence knowledge acquisition in Ghanaian universities. Research limitations/implications Although the study seeks to generalize the findings, this should be cautiously done, as some scholars have advocated for large sample size. Nonetheless, there are some studies that have used sample size less than the one used in this study. Practical implications The study takes notice of the need for Ghanaian universities to use modern facilities and infrastructures such as electronic libraries and information technology equipment and also provide reading rooms to enhance teaching and learning. Originality/value Studies looking at knowledge acquisition in Ghanaian universities are virtually non-existent, and this study provides empirical findings on the factors affecting knowledge acquisition in Ghanaian universities.

Operating models for a multi-polar world: balancing global integration and local responsiveness

Purpose – Multinationals have always needed an operating model that works – an effective plan for executing their most important activities at the right levels of their organization, whether globally, regionally or locally. The choices involved in these decisions have never been obvious, since international firms have consistently faced trade‐offs between tailoring approaches for diverse local markets and leveraging their global scale. This paper seeks a more in‐depth understanding of how successful firms manage the global‐local trade‐off in a multipolar world. Design methodology/approach – This paper utilizes a case study approach based on in‐depth senior executive interviews at several telecommunications companies including Tata Communications. The interviews probed the operating models of the companies we studied, focusing on their approaches to organization structure, management processes, management technologies (including information technology (IT)) and people/talent. Findings – Successful companies balance global‐local trade‐offs by taking a flexible and tailored approach toward their operating‐model decisions. The paper finds that successful companies, including Tata Communications, which is profiled in‐depth, are breaking up the global‐local conundrum into a set of more manageable strategic problems – what the authors call “pressure points” – which they identify by assessing their most important activities and capabilities and determining the global and local challenges associated with them. They then design a different operating model solution for each pressure point, and repeat this process as new strategic developments emerge. By doing so they not only enhance their agility, but they also continually calibrate that crucial balance between global efficiency and local responsiveness. Originality/value – This paper takes a unique approach to operating model design, finding that an operating model is better viewed as several distinct solutions to specific “pressure points” rather than a single and inflexible model that addresses all challenges equally. Now more than ever, developing the right operating model is at the top of multinational executives' priorities, and an area of increasing concern; the international business arena has changed drastically, requiring thoughtfulness and flexibility instead of standard formulas for operating internationally. Old adages like “think global and act local” no longer provide the universal guidance they once seemed to.

The human-resource management practice of retail branding: an ethnography within Oxfam trading division

Purpose – While the charity retail literature emphasizes the richness of human resource practices among charity retailers, it rarely makes the link between these practices and their interest for establishing charity retailers' brands. Simultaneously, while the retail branding literature increasingly emphasizes the central role of human resource practices for retail branding, it rarely explains how retailers should conduct such practices. The purpose of this study is to test the recent model proposed by Burt and Sparks in 2002 (the “fifth generation of retail branding”) which proposes that a retail brand depends on the alignment between a retailer's substance (vision and culture) and its perceived image by customers. Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on an ethnographic study conducted within the Oxfam Trading Division, GB from October to December 2002. Findings – The study supports the Burt and Spark's model and makes explicit the practice of human resource for branding. The study demonstrates that it was the alignment between the vision of Oxfam's top management and its new customer‐oriented culture, two elements of its core substance mediated to customers by store employees, which has enabled an improved customers' perception of the brand. The study also seeks to elaborate upon the Burt and Spark's model by specifying an ascending feedback loop starting from customers' perception of Oxfam brand and enabling the creation of a suitable culture and vision again mediated by store employees. Research limitations/implications – New research should explore whether and how retailers create synergies between human resource and marketing functions to sustain their brand image. Practical implications – If the adoption of business practices by charity retailers is often discussed, this study highlights that commercial retailers could usefully transfer human resource best practices from leading charity retailers to develop their retail brand. Originality/value – The paper is of value to commercial retailers.

Challenges in conducting and publishing research on the Middle East and Africa in leading journals

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the reasons for the lack of research attention paid to the Middle East (ME) and Africa regions. In particular, this study seeks to identify the reasons for and implications of the paucity of ME- and Africa-based studies in high-quality international journals in the marketing field with a specific focus on the challenges in conducting and publishing research on these regions. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted a systematic review of the literature on the ME and Africa regions to identify papers published in 23 high-quality marketing, international business, and advertising journals. This search resulted in 301 articles, among which 125 articles were based on primary or secondary data collected from a local source in those regions. The authors of these 125 articles constitute the Delphi study sample. These academics provided input in an effort to reach a consensus regarding the two proposed models of academic research in both regions. Findings – This paper differs from previous studies, where academic freedom emerged as the most important inhibitor to conducting and publishing research. The most frequently mentioned challenges in conducting research in Africa were access to data, data collection issues, diversity of the region, and lack of research support infrastructure. For the ME, the most often described challenges included validity and reliability of data, language barriers, data collection issues, and availability of a network of researchers. Editors’ and reviewers’ low interest and limited knowledge were ranked high in both regions. South Africa, Israel, and Turkey emerged as outliers, in which research barriers were less challenging than in the rest of the two regions. The authors attribute this difference to the high incidence of US-trained or US-based scholars originating from these countries. Originality/value – To the best of the knowledge, no marketing studies have discussed the problems of publishing in high-quality international journals of marketing, international business, and advertising for either region. Thus, most of the issues the authors discuss in this paper offer new insightful results while supplementing previous research on the challenges of conducting and publishing research on specific world regions.

Negative online consumer reviews: effects of different responses

Purpose When consumers buy online, they are often confronted with consumer reviews. A negative consumer review on an online shopping website may keep consumers from buying the product. Therefore, negative online consumer reviews are a serious problem for brands. This paper aims to investigate the effects of different response options to a negative consumer review. Design/methodology/approach In an online experiment of 446 participants different response options towards a negative consumer review on an online shopping website are examined. The experimental data is analysed with simple linear regression models using product purchase intentions as the outcome variable. Findings The results indicate that a positive customer review counteracts a negative consumer review more effectively than a positive brand response, whereas brand strength moderates this relationship. Including a reference to an independent, trusted source in a brand or a customer response is only a limited strategy for increasing the effectiveness of a response. Research limitations/implications Additional research in other product categories and with other subjects than students is suggested to validate the findings. In future research, multiple degrees of the phrasing’s strength of the reference could be used. Practical implications Assuming high quality products, brands should encourage their customers to write reviews. Strong brands can also reassure consumers by responding whereas weak brands cannot. Originality/value This research contributes to the online consumer reviews literature with new insights about the role of brand strength and referencing to an independent, trusted source.

Leveraging everyday technology for people living with dementia: a case study

– The purpose of this paper is to present the self-described “journey” of a person with dementia (Brian; author 3) in his re-learning of old technologies and learning of new ones and the impact this had on his life. Design/methodology/approach – This is a single case study detailing the participant's experiences collaborating with a researcher to co-create methods of facilitating this learning process, which he documented in the form of an online blog and diary entries. These were analysed using NVivo to reveal the key themes. Findings – Brian was able to relearn previously used technologies and learn two new ones. This lead to an overarching theme of positive outlook on life supported by person-centredness, identity and technology, which challenged negative perceptions about dementia. Research limitations/implications – The paper provides an example of how learning and technology improved the life of one person with dementia. By sharing the approach the authors hope to encourage others to embrace the challenge of designing and developing innovative solutions for people with a dementia diagnosis by leveraging both current mainstream technology and creating novel bespoke interventions for dementia. Originality/value – The personal perspective of a person with dementia and his experiences of (re-) learning provide a unique insight into the impact of technology on his life.

Internationalization motives: sell more, buy better, upgrade and escape

Purpose – The purpose of this the paper is to review the motives for internationalization to clarify previous arguments and provide a theory-driven classification. Design/methodology/approach – The authors build on behavioral economics and propose a classification of internationalization motives as the result of the interaction among two dimensions, an economics-driven exploitation of existing resources or exploration of new resources, and a psychology-driven search for better host country conditions or avoidance of poor home country conditions. Findings – These two dimensions result in four internationalization motives: sell more, in which the company exploits existing resources at home and obtains better host country conditions; buy better, in which the company exploits existing resources abroad and avoids poor home country conditions; upgrade, in which the company explores for new resources, and it obtains better host country conditions; and escape, in which the company explores for new resources and avoids poor home country conditions. Originality/value – This theory-driven classification provides predictive power for future analyses of internationalization motives.

A case study and interview with Jill McDonald CEO and President of McDonald's Northern Europe Division

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how strategy is developed and implemented within a subsidiary of a global organization, the relationship between subsidiary and headquarters and the need for continuous change and adaption to remain relevant. Furthermore, this case study describes a successful process of invention and adoption. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on documentary evidence and a semistructured interview with Jill McDonald CEO and President of McDonald’s Northern Europe Division with responsibility for the UK, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and the Republic of Ireland. Management research rarely captures the views of the top executive, yet the top executives have a broad picture and are key strategic decision makers. Findings – The case study and interview offers a unique insight into factors contributing to McDonald’s unprecedented success (it has paid an increased dividend for the past 37 years). It also sheds light on its successful internationalization strategy. Originality/value – The case study draws on published material and augments this with an in-depth interview with the Chief Executive. Very few case studies offer insight into the thinking of a Chief Executive managing a subsidiary of a global organization. Its value lies in the lessons that managers and students of management can draw on the approach adopted by a highly successful global organization.

The persistence of distance: a gravity model of European cross-border real estate development flows

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the scale and drivers of cross-border real estate development in Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe. Design/methodology/approach – Placing cross-border real estate development within the framework of foreign direct investment (FDI), conceptual complexities in characterizing the notional real estate developer are emphasized. Drawing upon a transaction database, this paper proxies cross-border real estate development flows with asset sales by developers. Findings – Much higher levels of market penetration by international real estate developers are found in the less mature markets of Central and Eastern Europe. Analysis suggests a complex range of determinants with physical distance remaining a consistent barrier to cross-border development flows. Originality/value – This analysis adds significant value in terms of understanding cross-border real estate development flows. In this study, a detailed examination of the issues based on a rigorous empirical analysis through gravity modelling is offered. The gravity framework is one of the most confirmed empirical regularities in international economics and commonly applied to trade, FDI, migration, foreign portfolio investment inter alia. This paper assesses the extent to which it provides useful insights into the pattern of cross-border real estate development flows.

Exploration of relational factors: Sino-foreign joint-venture partnering

Purpose – Despite recent threats of economic contraction, China still offers attractive opportunities for foreign companies seeking to expand their business activities through joint venturing (JV) partnering entry strategies. Recent research has indicated a growing recognition of the importance of relational factors in JV partnering. The purpose of this paper is to build on recent research findings that identify critical relation success factors in JVs and explores these in the context of a Hong Kong-based civil aviation services company seeking to expand business activities in Greater China. Design/methodology/approach – While the extant management literature focuses primarily on factors relevant to the inter-partner relationship between partners in the formation stage of a joint venture, this research takes a dynamic stakeholder perspective in respect of the relevant relational factors over the evolution of a partnership. The research described in this paper is based on a case-based study that identifies and examines the relevance and importance of uniquely Chinese factors such as guanxi, renqing and mianzi in the specific context of a strategic partnering relationship. Findings – This phenomenological study provides empirical evidence of critical linkages of these to intrinsically Chinese notions of guanxi, mianzi and renqing – it links these to key strategic partnering success factors identified to be trust, conflict resolution, commitment and cooperation. This study thereby reinforces the importance of the uniquely Chinese relational context in cross-border JVs. Moreover, the research findings suggest that these factors underpin the dynamic bi-directional stakeholder relationship in a Sino-foreign strategic partnership. Originality/value – This study conceptually links the uniquely Chinese relational factors (guanxi, mianzi and renqing) to key success factors supporting the establishment of a strategic partnership in a Sino-foreign context; moreover, it contributes empirical evidence substantiating the proposed conceptual linkage.

HR attributions and the dual commitment of outsourced IT workers

Purpose – Outsourced information technology (IT) workers establish two different employment relationships: one with the outsourcing company that hires them and another with the client organization where they work daily. The attitudes that an employee has towards both organisations may be influenced by the interpretations or attributions that employees make about the reasons behind the human resource (HR) management practices implemented by the outsourcing company. This paper aims to propose that commitment‐focused HR attributions are positively and control‐focused HR attributions are negatively related to the affective commitment to the client organization, through the affective commitment to the outsourcing company. Design/methodology/approach – These hypotheses were tested with a sample of 158 highly skilled outsourced employees from the IT sector. Data were analyzed with structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings – The paper's hypotheses were supported. It can conclude that, if an employee interprets the HR practices as part of a commitment‐focused strategy of the outsourcing company, it has clear attitudinal benefits. The study found that the relationship between HR attributions and the commitment to the client organization is mediated by the commitment to the outsourcing company. Practical implications – These findings hint at the critical role of outsourcing companies in managing the careers of these highly marketable employees. Originality/value – This paper is the first to apply the concept of HR attributions to contingent employment literature in general and to outsourced IT workers in particular.

Geotechnical systems that evolve with ecological processes

Geotechnical systems, such as landfills, mine tailings storage facilities (TSFs), slopes, and levees, are required to perform safely throughout their service life, which can span from decades for levees to “in perpetuity” for TSFs. The conventional design practice by geotechnical engineers for these systems utilizes the as-built material properties to predict its performance throughout the required service life. The implicit assumption in this design methodology is that the soil properties are stable through time. This is counter to long-term field observations of these systems, particularly where ecological processes such as plant, animal, biological, and geochemical activity are present. Plant roots can densify soil and/or increase hydraulic conductivity, burrowing animals can increase seepage, biological activity can strengthen soil, geochemical processes can increase stiffness, etc. The engineering soil properties naturally change as a stable ecological system is gradually established following initial construction, and these changes alter system performance. This paper presents an integrated perspective and new approach to this issue, considering ecological, geotechnical, and mining demands and constraints. A series of data sets and case histories are utilized to examine these issues and to propose a more integrated design approach, and consideration is given to future opportunities to manage engineered landscapes as ecological systems. We conclude that soil scientists and restoration ecologists must be engaged in initial project design and geotechnical engineers must be active in long-term management during the facility’s service life. For near-surface geotechnical structures in particular, this requires an interdisciplinary perspective and the embracing of soil as a living ecological system rather than an inert construction material.