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Within the context of industrial exhibitions, few researchers have explored how booth staffing decisions affect the booth personnel's reactions and conduct at trade shows. In the current study, Narver and Slater's market orientation dimensions are considered as the predictors of exhibitor's booth personnel commitment. Besides, this study explores the impacts of exhibitor's booth personnel commitment on booth worker's role clarity, goal acceptance, and work effort. Finally, the influences of work effort on three forms of booth staff's information behavior are tested. The data collected from five different B2B exhibits in Taiwan support eleven of the twelve hypotheses. Based on the analytic results, the present research adds theoretical and managerial implications to the existing literature of industrial exhibitions. In particular, it highlights three issues for exhibitors to consider, which include process ambiguity, interaction adaptation, and informational paradox.

The mechanical performance of electroplated Cu plays a crucial role in next-generation Cu-to-Cu direct bonding for the three-dimension integrated circuit (3D IC). This work reports direct-current electroplated (111)-preferred and nanotwin-doped nanocrystalline Cu, of which strength is at the forefront performance compared with all reported electroplated Cu materials. Tension and compression tests are performed to present the ultrahigh ultimate strength of 977 MPa and 1158 MPa, respectively. The microstructure of nanoscale Cu grains with an average grain size around 61 nm greatly contributes to the ultrahigh strength as described by the grain refinement effect. A gap between the obtained yield strength and the Hall–Petch relationship indicates the presence of extra strengthening mechanisms. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy analysis identify the highly (111) oriented texture and sporadic twins with optimum thicknesses, which can effectively impede intragranular dislocation movements, thus further advance the strength. Via filling capability and high throughput are also demonstrated in the patterned wafer plating. The combination of ultrahigh tensile/compressive strength, (111) preferred texture, superfilling capability and high throughput satisfies the critical requirement of Cu interconnects plating technology towards the industrial manufacturing in advanced 3D IC packaging application.

Competitor and alliance orientations represent different organizational logics, but their combined effects on product innovation outcomes remain unclear. To address this issue, the authors use the concept of fit and propose a comprehensive conceptualization of the combination of competitor and alliance orientations; additionally, we empirically identify the combined effects of balance, alignment, and the interaction on product innovativeness. A causal-explanatory, cross-sectional, questionnaire-based design with purposive sampling was conducted. The empirical assessment used a sample of 139 senior managers in Taiwan's electronics industry (with a valid response rate of 16.85%). Research hypotheses were evaluated using partial least squares structural equation modeling, analysis of covariance, and quantile regression analyses. The results show that the relative imbalance between the competitor and alliance orientations is not significantly associated with product innovativeness. Aligning these two orientations significantly improves product innovativeness, which supports the matching perspective of coalignment. Furthermore, in relation to fit as moderation, the interaction between the two orientations is negatively related to product innovativeness. These results provide a new lens through which scholars can assess and measure the joint effects of competitor and alliance orientations and offer managerial guidance to practitioners.

Rewarding top performers is of strategic importance to the sales organization. Top-performing salespeople not only contribute significantly to the success of their firm but may also motivate the sk...

Marketing-R&D integration has been recognized as a key success factor of the NPD (new product development) programs. Although previous research has differentiated two integrative approaches (i.e., interaction and collaboration), a theoretical gap remains unaddressed: whether there is a relationship between Marketing-R&D interaction and collaboration? Lack of knowledge at this point not only shows a cleft in theory, but also prevents us from offering useful guidance for practitioners to better NPD practices and results. The present research, from an interpersonal interaction perspective, explores and tests interaction-based antecedents of Marketing-R&D collaboration. The results of a survey of 94 semiconductor companies in Taiwan provide fresh evidence for the effects of selected predictors on the collaboration. In addition, the collaboration is shown to have different impacts on the NPD process and NPD output performance at a firm level. Both theoretical and managerial implications of the current research...

While academics and practitioners are increasingly aware of the value of including the customer in new product development (NPD), processes for doing so effectively remain unclear. Therefore, this study explores the process through which a firm's interaction orientation (the ability to effectively interact with customers) influences product development performance. Drawing on the resource-based view, this study develops a research model in which two market-relating capabilities—market-linking and marketing capabilities—mediate the effect of interaction orientation on product development performance. The validity of this model is examined by analyzing primary data gathered from 167 Taiwanese electronics companies. The model results provide support for a process link between interaction orientation, market-relating capabilities, and product development performance, such that a firm's capabilities enable the conversion of customer-based resources into productive new product outcomes. More specifically, the interaction orientation–product development speed relationship is mediated by both marketing and market-linking capabilities, while the interaction orientation–product innovativeness relationship is partially mediated by marketing capability. That is, interaction orientation has indirect effects on product innovativeness and product development speed by strengthening both marketing and market-linking capabilities that in turn improve product development performance. In addition, the results suggest that a firm's interactive rationality moderates the relationship between interaction orientation and marketing capability. Overall, this study enhances our understanding of how firms achieve superior product development performance by developing effective customer interaction. The findings of this study provide important strategic insights into NPD.

Research in marketing suggests that collaborative communication is important for firms to sustain competitive advantage, especially in industrial markets. This study integrates relational and resource-based views to articulate how collaborative communication influences different relational performance metrics. Based on a survey of 167 marketing executives in Taiwan's electronics industry, empirical findings indicate that market-relating capabilities (i.e., market-linking and marketing capabilities) completely mediate the collaborative communication–financial performance relationship, while market-relating capabilities partially mediate the collaborative communication–customer-focused performance relationship. In addition, collaborative communication directly influences customer cooperation performance instead of indirectly affecting it through the development of market-relating capabilities. The results of this study provide new insights into the role of collaborative communication as well as important theoretical and managerial implications.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to enable a better understanding of the influences of alliance coordination (i.e. inter-organisational coordination) and interfunctional coordination (i.e. intra-organisational coordination) on product development performance. Design/methodology/approach – The current study tests a posited research model and its hypotheses using the data from Taiwan's electronics industry. A survey of 159 senior executives is analyzed using a partial least squares approach. The analytic result shows that slack resources may link alliance coordination and interfunctional coordination to two product development performance metrics (i.e. product innovativeness and product development speed). Findings – This investigation reveals that both alliance coordination and interfunctional coordination positively affect product development performance, not only directly but also indirectly, through the existence of slack resources they help engender. In addition, it also finds that interfunctional coordination positively relates to alliance coordination. Practical implications – The current research provides additional knowledge regarding the associations among alliance coordination, interfunctional coordination and product development performance. This knowledge would be useful for practitioners to achieve a superior product development performance. Moreover, this research articulates the managerial implications of the link between interfunctional coordination and alliance coordination for product development executives. Originality/value – This empirical study tests an integrative model (which is one of only a few to incorporate slack resources) to explain how different types of coordination (i.e. inter- and intra-organisational coordination) may influence product development performance. Moreover, this empirical research provides initial evidence on the association between interfunctional coordination and alliance coordination.

Over the past decade, customer participation in the value co-creation process has received a great amount of research attention. Occupying a boundary-spanner position, salespeople play a critical role in developing and maintaining relational exchanges with customers in the value co-creation process. This study relies on the job demands-resources (JD-R) theory to propose a conceptual model articulating the effects of two dimensions of customer participation, those being information provision and coproduction, on the salesperson’s job stress (i.e., role ambiguity and role conflict) and job engagement (i.e., sales planning, adaptive selling and selling effort). More importantly, this study articulates that the linkages between customer participation and salesperson job-related outcomes are contingent on informal and formal controls of an organization. That is, organizations may enhance the beneficial effects of customer participation and mitigate the detrimental effects of customer participation on salesperson job-related outcomes by developing appropriate sales control systems and organizational climates. The knowledge gained through this study provides specific managerial implications in relation to effectively managing the influences of customer participation in sales encounters.

Research in marketing suggests that the notion of market driven and market driving is highly relevant for industrial markets. This study provides evidence that interaction and entrepreneurial orientations are linked to market-driven and market-driving approaches respectively. Further, this research investigates how these two orientations affect organizational performance. Based on a survey of Taiwan's electronics industry, this study indicates that both interaction and entrepreneurial orientations improve the exploitative and exploratory capabilities of an organization, which in turn contribute to superior organizational performance. The results of this study provide important theoretical and managerial implications for strategy development from both the market driven and market driving perspectives.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to assist practitioners in improving the benefits they receive from trade shows. This study seeks to investigate the behaviour of resource commitment of exhibiting firms and its relationships with market orientation and exhibition performance.Design/methodology/approachData were collected at the 2007 Suzhou Circuitex Show, which is held annually in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. It is one of the largest international shows for the printed circuit board (PCB) industry. A total of 315 questionnaires were handed out and 185 usable questionnaires were returned.FindingsThe results advance the theoretical understanding of the market orientation‐resource commitment behaviour – performance framework within the setting of an industrial trade show. This study finds that market orientation is positively associated with an exhibiting firm's resource commitment behaviour, which in turn has varying influences on the different dimensions of trade show performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe cross‐sectional study suggests that different facets of exhibition resource commitment may have distinct effects on several dimensions of trade show performance. Future research should adopt a longitudinal survey and extend this study domain to a broader range of industrial contexts.Practical implicationsThe research provides a better understanding of the development process of trade show programmes for practitioners in industrial firms to develop effective exhibition strategies.Originality/valueThis paper fills a significant gap in the literature and offers evidence for the relationships among market orientation, resource commitment behaviour and trade show performance. Furthermore, the current research identifies three aspects of resource commitment behaviour and creates corresponding measures for them.

Social orientation refers to the extent to which members of an organization are provided with opportunities to have private social contacts and activities outside their work settings. Based upon social interaction and communication flows perspectives, the present research constructs a model depicting the relationships among social orientation, organizational citizenship behavior, R&D-marketing collaboration, and the process performance of new product development program. The empirical results support most hypotheses posited by the authors. In particular, the relationship between social orientation and R&D-marketing collaboration is found to be mediated by organizational citizenship behavior (i.e., helping behavior and civic virtue), and social orientation has no direct effect on the collaboration.

In this study, the authors propose a theory that incorporates the mediating effects of three important organizational sales-related psychological climate perceptions (e.g., the organization’s customer orientation, sales innovativeness, and sales supportiveness) to explain how sales force controls affect sales-related outcomes. Based on a survey of 293 salespeople and using path analysis, the authors find that the inclusion of these psychological climate perceptions allows for explanatory improvement in linking sales controls to salesperson job satisfaction and performance. These results complement previous studies in that formal controls were found to affect outcomes directly. However, they also provide important insight into the indirect effects of sales controls—through salespeople’s perceptions of managerial commitment to making the salespeople effective (i.e., the sales-related psychological climate).

As past research in spatial modeling relies on aggregate-level data and ad hoc forms of analysis, this study presents a new approach to analyzing micro spatial behaviors in the retailing context. Incorporating a survey and a simple GIS (Geographic Information System) application, this study calibrates detailed individual-level data through Heckman’s two-stage selection model. From the spatial perspective, the results provide rich insights into the attractiveness of a place (among various alternative places). The analytical framework introduced here can help retailers in location/marketing decision making.

In today's global economy, Chinese manufacturer networks serve as an important manufacturing base for many goods. Leading companies in those industries inevitably cooperate with Chinese manufacturers to build their global logistics capability to serve increasingly demanding customers worldwide. Many scholars have noted that guanxi (connections) relationships are a key practice of doing business with the Chinese. This paper presents a theoretical framework and empirical evidence on how to enhance global logistics competence by leveraging guanxi relationships with Chinese suppliers. Relationship development or network building between organizations is critical for corporate success in all parts of the world, not just in Chinese society. Results suggest that resource integration, manufacturing flexibility, and IT infrastructure capacities are positively associated with global logistics competence. The impacts of information sharing and asset specificity on global logistics competence are not significant. It is interesting that we found that guanxi serves as a moderating influence and it interacts with information sharing, resource integration, and manufacturing flexibility. Managerial implications are also discussed.

Ultrasonic slurry sampling electrothermal vaporization dynamic reaction cell inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (USS-ETV-DRC-ICP-MS) for the determination of Cr, Cd and Pb in several plastic samples, using NH4NO3 as the modifier, is described. The influences of the instrumental operating conditions and the slurry preparation technique on the ion signals are investigated. A reduction in the intensity of the background at signals corresponding to chromium masses (arising from matrix elements) was achieved by using NH3 as the reaction cell gas in the DRC. The method was applied to determine Cr, Cd and Pb in two polystyrene (PS) samples and a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sample using two different calibration methods, namely standard addition and isotope dilution. The results were in good agreement with those for digested samples analyzed by ultrasonic nebulization DRC-ICP-MS. The precision between sample replicates was better than 17% with the USS-ETV-DRC-ICP-MS method. The method detection limits, estimated from standard addition curves, were about 6-9, 1-2 and 8-11 ng g(-1) for Cr, Cd and Pb, respectively, in the original plastic samples.

PurposeThis paper investigates how a firm's human resource capability can affect the deployment and effectiveness of corporate mergers and acquisitions strategy.Design/methodology/approachMergers and acquisitions (M&A) is treated as a long‐term strategic orientation based on human resource advantage rather than a tactic to pursue short‐term goals. Using a sample of 267 US banking firms, the main and interaction effects of M&A intensity, HR capability, and in‐state propensity on four firm performance measures were examined.FindingsThe findings confirm that banking M&A could be very effective when the firm had high HR capability. Evidence was also found that HR capability had a direct impact on firm performance. Although in‐state M&A strategy was in general superior to out‐of‐state M&A strategy, a firm with excellent HR capability might narrow the performance difference between in‐state and out‐of‐state M&A.Research limitations/implicationsAn obvious drawback of using this sample of banking firms is that it raises questions about the generalizability of these findings to smaller financial firms and firms in other industries. This study considers firms having at least one M&A over a three‐year period, so we should not generalize our findings to those firms preferring to use internal growth strategies or greenfield start‐ups.Practical implicationsThe main message of this paper is that human resource capability is critical for M&A strategy to be effective.Originality/valueBy extending previous investigations which showed that M&A strategy and HR capacity should be independently treated, this study highlights the critical role of internal HR capability in performance implications of M&A strategy.

This paper examines the effects of social capital, entrepreneurs' capabilities and entrepreneurial strategies on the performance of technology-based new ventures. Using concepts derived from the entrepreneurship and strategy management literatures, we identify three categories of factors and develop corresponding hypotheses. Using a sample of 125 Taiwanese high-tech new ventures to test these hypotheses, we find that entrepreneurs' management experience may not be an advantage for high-tech new ventures. The six Stevenson entrepreneurial strategies can have different effects on the performance of new ventures, whereas social capital actually moderates the effects of entrepreneurial strategies and resources on the performance. High-tech entrepreneurship is a complex phenomenon with a wide range of factors, including societal contexts, entrepreneurial strategies and entrepreneurs' capabilities; and these factors interact with each other. There is no single route to entrepreneurial success or failure: successful entrepreneurs are those who can adjust their entrepreneurial strategies according to their social capital and capabilities.

Help-seeking could be a useful tool for salespeople to reduce job stress. A conceptual framework is developed that discusses some antecedents, consequences, and moderators of the help-seeking behavior of industrial salespeople. It is suggested that the help-seeking and help-provision perspective may contribute to broaden the scope of sales coping research.

Co-creation of value is the central idea of service-dominant logic that suggests the importance of interaction orientation. This research advances a conceptual framework of interaction orientation and delineates its role in the value creation process. Specifically, the manuscript explicates the relationships among interaction orientation, collaborative communication, marketing capabilities and the firm's core process performance.

Ultrasonic slurry sampling (USS)–electrothermal vaporization (ETV) dynamic reaction cell™ (DRC) inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has been applied to determine Cr, Cu, Cd, Hg and Pb in rice samples. The influences of instrument operating conditions and slurry preparation on the ion signals were reported. Ascorbic acid was used as a modifier to enhance the ion signals. The background ions at the chromium masses were reduced in intensity significantly by using 0.4 ml min −1 NH 3 as reaction cell gas in the dynamic reaction cell while a q value of 0.6 was used. Since the sensitivities of Cr, Cu, Cd, Hg and Pb in rice flour slurry and aqueous solution were quite different, standard addition and isotope dilution methods were used for the determination of Cr, Cu, Cd, Hg and Pb in these rice samples. This method has been applied to the determination of Cr, Cu, Cd, Hg and Pb in NIST SRM 1568a rice flour reference material and two rice samples purchased from the market. The analytical results for the reference material agreed with the certified values. The results for the rice samples for which no reference values were available were also found to be in good agreement between the isotope dilution and standard addition methods. The method’s detection limits estimated from the standard addition plots were about 0.44, 1.7, 0.4, 0.53 and 0.69 ng g −1 for Cr, Cu, Cd, Hg and Pb, respectively, in the original rice flour.

Recent research has recognized the importance of alliance and competitor orientations in the success of product innovativeness. To date, however, there is no clear evidence as to whether the simult...