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While a rich stream of studies has emerged to understand customer identification at the brand level, this topic has not been addressed from an event marketing perspective. Secondly, although the co...

While the marketing education literature has contributed to our understanding of the skills that are important for successful employability, there has been limited effort to study both technical an...

Despite widespread attempts to compile lists of employability skills and competencies, there has not been a clear consensus on which soft skills, in particular, are most critical for employability. This is not unexpected given that each field of study has its own interpretation of epistemology and goal outcomes. Given that the importance of technical and soft skills may differ by specific context, the goal of this study is to identify the skill set that marketing undergraduates need for employability and to develop into a successful professional.

Previous studies suggest that the relationship between strategic change and firm performance depends on the organizational conditions under which the change is initiated and implemented. An important organizational condition that is salient in understanding the performance effect of strategic change is executive leadership. Focusing on outside succession among family businesses in an emerging economy, this study attempts to understand the role of outside chief executive officers (CEOs) on the firm's innovative and internationalization efforts. Based on interviews with 110 small and medium-sized family companies in Malaysia, this study found that functional and process upgrading strategies depend not only on the firms’ internal and external sourcing strategies but also is moderated by the international experience of the outside CEO. Focusing on both financial and nonfinancial performance outcomes, the mediating effect of internationalization on the relationship between innovation and performance found mixed results. Findings suggest a fully mediating effect between process innovations and financial performance while a fully and partially mediating effect was observed for the relationships between product innovation and process innovation and nonfinancial performance, respectively. Finally, the interaction between international experience of outside CEOs and firm's degree of internationalization (DOI) is positively related to both financial and nonfinancial performance suggesting that the internationalization-performance relationship is strengthened when an outside CEO possesses greater international experience. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Independent optical shops (or independents) are increasingly being squeezed out by competition from first, warehouse clubs and superstores such as Walmart and Costco which have the means to penetrate the low and middle markets at a national level and second, from direct marketers such as 1-800-Contacts entering the industry with low online pricing. The increasing commodization and price competition in certain segments of the optical market (e.g., contact lens) has made it even more difficult for independents to co-exist with these competitors. Compounded by their inability to offer lower prices comparable to the larger chains as well as the lack of individual negotiating power with manufacturers, many small independents have turned to buying groups (sometimes called cooperatives or purchasing alliances) to help drastically reduce product acquisition costs and to stay competitive as independent entities.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to contribute to the literature on emerging multinationals by studying the internationalization strategies of two established companies in the Indian pharmaceutical industry: Ranbaxy and Wockhardt.Design/methodology/approachThe study utilizes a longitudinal case‐study approach to capture Ranbaxy's and Wockhardt's dynamic internationalization patterns. An extensive literature review using recently published works, government documents, and organizational reports was employed to give a clearer description of the two case companies.FindingsThe internationalization patterns of Ranbaxy and Wockhardt suggest that the mainstream internationalization models are more effective in explaining exploitative learning in terms of utilizing the firm's existing knowledge stock in the early stages of internationalization, while the emerging internationalization models (e.g. the LLL framework and accelerated internationalization) are more effective in explaining exploratory learning in terms of seeking novel knowledge flows in firms' later stages of internationalization.Research limitations/implicationsThe empirical base is limited and the use of case studies has its shortcomings (e.g. in terms of sample size, generalizations, etc.). As such, the exploratory findings of this study must be further verified and extended at other sites, especially to firms operating in regulated industries in other emerging countries. Second, the author analyzed the decision to enter a foreign market, without studying subsequent performance and its effects on further entries. The accelerated international growth may have negative consequences for the two cases, as time compression diseconomies may emerge when the firm has a fast foreign expansion pace. Further research using data from other industries and countries, and taking into account entry mode and performance could shed more light into this controversial issue. Third, the author only compared an early‐mover and a latecomer in the comparative case analysis. One of critical topics for further study is to compare different three types of MNEs, e.g. latecomer, newcomer and early‐mover, from the same industry to understand how their geography of learning and knowledge acquisition are influenced by their internationalization and locational choices.Practical implicationsOverseas acquisition, as compared to greenfield investment (e.g. wholly owned subsidiaries), offers more benefits to Indian pharmaceutical firms. Overseas acquisition provides access to established marketing networks, augments Indian firms' ownership advantages with new products and other firm‐specific intangible assets and, offers economic gains from improved operational synergies.Originality/valueThe paper is one of the few which has dealt with an important aspect of firm internationalization, i.e. country selection, the sequence of internationalization across foreign markets and their modes of integration.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand the different kinds of health‐promotion activities undertaken by Chinese individuals in managing their disability from multiple sclerosis (MS).Design/methodology/approachThe theory of control behavior was used in this study to understand the different kinds of primary and secondary health‐coping strategies used by participants and their impact on intra‐ and inter‐personal empowerments. Using semi‐structured interviews, interpretive phenomenology was used to elicit and analyze attitudes and behaviors of Chinese participants' management of MS.FindingsUnlike previous studies which only emphasized the tangible aspects of physical health, the current paper suggests the importance of viewing health benefits in a more holistic manner. It was clear from the Chinese participants that “disability” and “healthy” were not viewed as two separate concepts. Being healthy does not mean an absence of disease but as role functioning, energy and vitality, social relationships, and emotional well‐being. The exploratory paper also found that empowerment outcomes involved an interaction of both the inter‐ and intra‐personal components and, at the same time, were driven by primary and secondary control‐related preferences.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research should include individuals with other disabilities and different demographic and socio‐cultural characteristics to confirm the generalizability of the findings uncovered here.Practical implicationsThe impact of culture and contextual/situational variables on individual's choice of primary and secondary control strategies has important implications for developing health strategies across different ethnic minority groups.Originality/valueThe results provide support for the view that there are two dimensions to the process of patient empowerment. Rather than emphasizing primary control strategies, individuals can empower themselves by maintaining a balance between primary and secondary control strategies with respect to their health‐related goals.

Building on different research streams about the nature of knowledge transfers, this paper proposes a conceptual model for understanding knowledge transfer success among recipient companies in a sourcing relationship. Specifically, the role of potential and realized absorptive capacity is emphasized. These two learning components are discussed from two levels of analysis—potential absorptive capacity is discussed at the interorganizational level, and realized absorptive capacity at the intraorganizational level. Antecedents to potential absorptive capacity include three types of interorganizational contexts—knowledge, relational, and institutional. At the intraorganizational level, knowledge-based views of the firm stress how patterns of interaction and relationships among individuals facilitate knowledge integration within the organization. Two types of social context are emphasized—the extent of social embeddedness and closeness of interfunctional coupling. Implications for managerial practice are also ...

Success in new product development is a critical management issue for many firms in high technology industries. No where is this statement more applicable than for firms in the pharmaceutical industry. This industry remains one of the most profitable among U.S. high technology industries. However, the decades of uninterrupted growth have been replaced by a period of dynamic change and instability brought about by spiralling health care expenditures, heightening generic competition, increasing R&D costs, and shortening patent lives.

PurposeThe most commonly used segmentation approach to understand information acquisition behavior in the exporting context is to group individuals/firms on a variety of demographic and psychographic variables. This paper argues that while psychographic and demographic segmentation provide descriptive information about who are likely to engage in information search, they are insufficient to provide insights into why individuals search.Design/methodology/approachDrawing upon the applied psychology literature, an integrative framework using the key constructs of motivation and cognitive ability is developed that conceptualizes the influences of and outcomes from information acquisition.Practical implicationsBy studying information acquisition within the context of the interactions between motivation and ability, normative insights can be gained on the likelihood of management's active participation in information search. The author develops a typology for the nature of information acquisition to explain the behaviors of user firms with respect to government‐sponsored export programs/services.Originality/valueThis paper attempts to make two contributions to the export behavior literature: by setting the stage for a more multi‐disciplinary analytical and deliberate approach to export information acquisition with respect to identifying relevant variables as antecedents to motivation and cognitive ability to search, and developing a conceptual framework for addressing their relationship to export performance; and advancing research propositions that facilitate empirical testing of these relationships in future research.

This study employs learning‐based theory to shed light on performance among newly internationalizing companies. Earlier studies have suggested that learning is an important goal for firms pursuing international diversification. Unlike previous studies which have focused their attention on one aspect of learning, this study examines three kinds of learning from internationalization: technological, market, and social. The impact of top management's prior international experience and cultural diversity on the three types of learning were also examined to understand their contingency effects. Consistent with social capital theory, external networks with suppliers and customers are a major contributor to a firm's international performance. Also, the findings for the influence of market learning on firm performance support the assumptions underlying the resource‐based view of the firm. However, mixed results were obtained for the relationship between technological learning and firm performance. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

The objective of the exploratory study is to better understand emerging themes in International Business (IB) education from the perspective of leading IB scholars. Seven major IB topical areas were uncovered and their relative importance on three levels of knowledge development are examined: awareness, understanding, and competency. Significant differences were found with respect to the importance of these factors on the three levels of knowledge development. While it is sufficient to increase students' awareness in General Knowledge of IB and International Trade and Institutions, findings suggest that both awareness and understanding are necessary for Technology Issues and the Political-Economy Environment. Finally, students were expected to be informed in all three levels of knowledge development with respect to Cross-Cultural Issues, International Ethics, and Managing Global Operations.

Researchers (e.g., Radford 1978) have long stressed the importance of good environmental information. As noted by Keegan (1974, p.411) “how organizations obtain relevant information is crucial to the development of an empirical theory of organizations.” While some descriptive empirical studies exist on this topic in the exporting literature (e.g., Reid 1984, Pineda, Lerner, Miller, and Philips 1998), no clear determinants of scanning behavior have been found. Thus, there does not exist a clear theoretical framework that exporting managers and providers of export assistance can use to develop a strategy for environmental scanning. Given this gap in the literature, the purpose of this paper is to develop such a framework. In particular, this study attempts to offer an integrated theoretical framework for understanding exporting firms’ information acquisition behavior, particularly the antecedents which affect firms’ scanning behaviors of their exporting environment. Identifying the determinants of information search behavior among exporting companies will facilitate a better understanding of the search process, and subsequently of the processes involved in sound decision-making. Drawing upon the earlier definitions of Beatty and Smith (1987) and Bloch et al. (1986), this paper defines external information search as the degree of attention, perception, and effort directed toward obtaining environmental information for both instrumental and conceptual use Given the lack of research on information search activity in the exporting literature, studies from other research areas are employed to draw insights into this phenomenon. Specifically, within the consumer behavior literature, two well-established theoretical approaches -- psychological/motivational and economics -have been used to understand the mediating impact of environment, situational variables, and consumer characteristics on the individual’s information search process (Schmidt and Spreng 1996). The psychological/ motivational approach argues that information search is dependent on the individual’s ability and motivation, and both factors are necessary to acquire information via effortful search (Bettman and Park 1980).

For decades, export performance has generated interest among researchers and public policy makers. However, despite extensive investigations, export marketing is still lacking in theoretically‐grounded conclusions. Attempts to overcome this limitation by presenting a new theory‐based framework of export performance by integrating the literature in exporting, entrepreneurship and organization theory. On the basis of two entrepreneurship‐based strategic postures, export performance is conceptualized as a function of fit among firms′ strategic orientation, environment and export channel structure. From a contingency perspective, argues that exporting firms need to match or align their strategic orientation with their external environment and export channel structure to achieve superior export performance. Briefly discusses future research directions and managerial implications.

Distributor selection is one of the most important choices a manufacturer will make in exporting. Foreign distributors or agents carry on the responsibility of marketing the manufacturer's product and servicing customers in the local market. The characteristics that contribute to successful distributors are numerous, making it imperative for manufacturers to employ a systematic approach to selection. This article introduces a computer- aided decision support tool for qualifying potential distributors. The tool, developed as an expert system, provides the user with an interactive algorithm for arriving at reasonable conclusions. In-depth interviews with experienced international business executives led to the development of a comprehensive set of selection criteria. These criteria and related insights form the basis of discussion in the article.

Foreign distributors are often used by small and medium-sized firms for establishing an initial presence in overseas markets. While various selection criteria for foreign distributors have been noted in the international marketing literature, they are often subjective and judgemental in nature. In addition, the large number of variables as well as the consideration of both objective and subjective criteria suggest that a method which has the ability to quantify and synthesize both objective and subjective criteria is preferred. The recommended approach is the Analytical Hierachy Process (AHP). In this paper, the characteristics of the AHP are discussed and illustrated within the context of the foreign distribution selection process. For many small and medium-sized firms which lack sophisticated market research/decision analysis tools to assist them in the foreign distributor decision, the AHP is a highly flexible and versatile substitute.

Speed in new product introduction is a critical dimension of competition facing many firms in high‐tech industries. This is especially becoming more evident with shorter technological life cycles and increasing global competition. The dependent variable of interest studied is pharmaceutical firms′ ability to develop global new chemical entities (NCEs). Defines global NCEs as drugs that are approved in six major industrialized countries within four years of introduction. Using logistic regression, four variables were found to have a significant influence on firms′ ability to develop global NCEs: technological familiarity, product differentiation, competitive intensity and internal R&D skills. Discusses the managerial implications of these findings.

Public sector promotion of export activity is gaining increasing importance in the face of the ongoing quest for global competitiveness and growing expenditures for such activity by individual states and the federal government. What are the principles of effective export promotion and assistance programs? What should be the features of a comprehensive public sector initiative to stimulate exports? Drawing from experience of past programs in the United States and other countries, the authors attempt to shed light on these questions.

The title of my dissertation was “An Analysis of Competitive Positioning Strategies in the U.S. Pharmaceutical Industry: An EQS Application.” Doctoral students frequently are daunted when they first hear that their dissertation research is to be a contribution to the field. “What could I do, as a mere doctoral candidate, who would revolutionize the field?” seems to be the question. After all is said and done, a dissertation is the “capstone to a formal academic training process.” It is a demonstration that you are capable of conceptualizing, conducting, and reporting research in a (reasonably) independent way. The real contribution of most dissertations is that they lead to conferral of the degree, open up new career options, help you to mature as a scholar, and socialize you into the scholarly norms of your field. H. Jackson Brown, Jr. once quoted that “The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.” If the doctoral degree provides tangible evidence of one's ability to function at a high academic level, then the number of citations associated with that research is a testimonial of the apparent scientific impact of that scientist. In this case, the citation rate associated with my dissertation article “An empirical analysis of sustained advantage in the U.S. pharmaceutical industry: impact of firm resources and capabilities” is my personal tour de force (see Table 1).