Stern Neill

The entrepreneurial perceptions of strategy makers: Constructing an exploratory path in the pursuit of radical growth

Stern Neill et al. — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 12:54:54 PDT

For established firms, radical growth requires experimenting with new alternatives, which can test the boundaries of management's thinking. This study proposes that entrepreneurial perceptions of the strategic situation and market environment have a direct influence on corporate entrepreneurship (CE) strategy, which is strategy that supports new business development and renewal. The results indicate that strategy makers will pursue a more explorative CE strategy in situations framed as positive, less controllable and yet knowable, and in environments perceived as munificent and dynamic. Additionally, with explorative CE strategy comes a greater investment in radical growth (i.e., new lines of business). The paper concludes with a discussion of the study's implications in regards to the relationship between interpretation and strategy and the management of attention and meaning.

Marketing Concept Manifestations in Fiji Enterprises: Confirming the Link to Organizational Competitiveness

Stern Neill et al. — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 11:46:50 PST

This paper proposes an integrative view of the marketing concept (i.e., the ability to understand and satisfy customers) and examines its prevalence and effect on competitiveness in organizations operating in an isolated and less economically developed country. The marketing concept manifests as marketing expertise, market orientation, and externally directed organizational values. Based on a sample of 86 firms operating in Fiji, the results indicate that these three mechanisms promote organizational competitiveness, thus supporting the universality of the marketing concept. These findings confirm the important role of the marketing concept in the competitiveness of firms in a less developed economy.

Developing the Organization's Sensemaking Capability: Precursor to an Adaptive Strategic Marketing Response

Stern Neill et al. — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:47:12 PST

Effective strategic planning demands that organizations develop an understanding of the forces shaping the situation by engaging the collective efforts and interpretive capabilities of various representatives of the organization. This study investigates the mechanisms by which such an understanding develops and, subsequently, shapes marketing strategy. Specifically, organizations are examined as sensemaking units stimulated by perceived environmental turbulence, cultural open-mindedness, and team functional diversity. These factors are modeled as determinants of an organization's sensemaking capability, which is comprised of communicative, interpretive, and analytical dimensions. This study argues that a developed sensemaking capability increases the potential range of strategic responses and, ultimately, enhances customer-based performance. The results from a sample of wholesale distributors suggest that organizations that maintain greater internal variety are better able to sense and respond to the environment.

Exploring the Intention to Use Computers: An Empirical Investigation of the Role of Intrinsic Motivation, Extrinsic Motivation, and Perceived Ease of Use

Mary Helen Fagan et al. — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:47:11 PST

This research utilizes the Integrated Model of Technology Acceptance (IMTA) study the intention to use computers among first line managers in a mid-sized manufacturing among line managers in manufacturing organization (n=172). As hypothesized, the study found 1) a positive relationship between extrinsic motivation and behavioral positive behavioral intention to use computers, 2) positive relationship between intention a between perceived ease of use and behavioral intention to use computers, 3) a a positive relationship between intrinsic motivation and relationship between intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation, 4) positive relationship between perceived extrinsic motivation, 4) a a positive relationship between perceived ease of use and extrinsic motivation, and 5) positive relationship ease of use and extrinsic motivation, and 5) a a positive relationship between intrinsic motivation and perceived ease of use. However, between intrinsic motivation and perceived ease of use. However, the hypothesis that intrinsic motivation would have positive the hypothesis that intrinsic motivation would have a a positive relationship to behavioral intention to use computers was not relationship to behavioral intention to use computers was not supported. This work makes a needed contribution to the literature supported. This work makes a needed contribution to the literature by validating the IMTA with a group of real-world users, and by validating the IMTA with a group of real-world users, and suggests that the model may provide a useful foundation for suggests that the model may provide a useful foundation for future research in this area.

The Effect of Strategic Complexity on Marketing Strategy and Organizational Performance

Stern Neill et al. — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:47:10 PST

While researchers have examined many antecedents of marketing strategy, there is scant research assessing the effect of organizational cognition. In this study, organizational cognition is examined in terms of the firm’s strategic complexity, which is its capacity to integrate multiple environmental dimensions during marketing strategy making. The results from a sample of wholesale distributors reveal four strategic groups that differ based upon their degree of strategic complexity. Results support the proposition that strategic complexity is an organizational capability that enables more effective strategy making and produces superior firm performance.

The Impact of National Institutional Context on Social Practices: Comparing Finnish and US Business Communities

Jill M. Purdy et al. — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:47:09 PST

This paper investigates the impact of national institutional contexts on firms' socially responsible practices, the motives for such practices and methods of organising social practices. Surveys of firms in a liberal market economy (USA) and those in a coordinated market economy (Finland) are compared. Findings indicate that social practices differ between the contexts, providing empirical support for the theory of explicit and implicit forms of corporate social responsibility. The paper offers insight into how social practices are organised in different contexts and a new conceptualisation of the motives for social responsibility. Results suggest that national institutional context should be accounted for in empirical studies of business social practices.

Flexible Learning Spaces: The Integration of Pedagogy, Physical Design, and Instructional Technology

Stern Neill et al. — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:47:07 PST

To support pedagogical innovation, educators must reexamine physical space. This paper describes a project to redesign an existing classroom into a flexible learning space. The desired outcome was a classroom that would support a variety of pedagogical approaches and learning experiences. The findings, based on data gathered from students and faculty, indicate that the renovated classroom increases student engagement, collaboration, flexibility, and learning. A flexible learning space better enables innovative approaches to teaching and learning when compared to the traditional classroom.

Achieving Adaptive Ends Through Equivocality: A Study of Organizational Antecedents and Consequences

Stern Neill et al. — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:47:06 PST

Confronting complex situations is the hallmark of strategic decision-making. While these situations may be perceived as equivocal, organizations must cope, act, and thrive within such ambiguities. This study explores the manifestation and regulation of equivocality during strategic marketing decision-making. The results indicate that organizations that tolerate ambiguity perceive greater equivocality in problem situations and exhibit greater adaptive behavior; however, the findings come with a caveat: while experienced firms may enjoy these benefits, the situation is more complex for firms with limited product-market knowledge.

Interrelationships Among Language Skills, Externalizing Behavior, and Academic Fluency and Their Impact on the Academic Skills of Students With ED

J. Ron Nelson et al. — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:47:05 PST

There is growing interest in understanding the factors that influence the academic achievement of students with emotional disturbance (ED). Structural equation modeling was used to test the interrelationships among language skills, externalizing behavior, and academic fluency and their impact on the academic skills of students with ED. Results showed that language skills exerted a significant proximal effect and distal effect on academic skills.The effect of language skills was mediated through academic fluency (path coefficient = .389) but also had a proximal effect on academic skills (path coefficient = .359). However, externalizing behavior failed to have a statistically significant effect on language skills, academic fluency, or academic skills. Overall, fit indices suggested a marginally acceptable fit of the data. Results and implications are discussed.

Support for Computer Users: Concept Development and Measurement

Mary Helen Fagan et al. — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:47:04 PST

This study explores how support for computer users can be conceptualized and measured in information systems research. A number of studies have proposed that support for computer users plays an important role in the acceptance and utilization of information technology applications. In these studies, the support concept has been conceptualized in a variety of ways, and the findings have often not been as hypothesized. The paper provides a conceptual framework for understanding support for computer users, and then describes the development of an instrument to measure support for computer users in a business school lab environment. The paper should help further understanding and measurement of a concept that seems important, as well as problematic, for information systems research.

Manufacturer Perceptions of the Consequences of Task and Emotional Conflict Within Domestic Channels of Distribution

Gregory M. Rose et al. — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:47:03 PST

This study examines manufacturer' perceptions of task and emotional conflict in domestic channels of distribution. Both are expected to depend on three antecedents (centralization, esprit de corps, and communication barriers) and to affect performance relative to competitors and manufacturer's satisfaction directly and indirectly through strategy quality. The results support a positive link between task and emotional conflict and the deleterious effect of emotional conflict on satisfaction and performance.

An Empirical Investigation into the Relationship Between Computer Self-Efficacy, Anxiety, Experience, Support and Usage

Mary Helen Fagan et al. — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:47:02 PST

Organizations make significant investments in information technology. However, if individuals do not use information system applications as anticipated, successful implementation can be hard to achieve. In order to investigate some key factors thought to affect an individual's use of information technology, this study draws on Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), Triandis's Theory of Interpersonal Behavior (TIB), and the computer anxiety literature to develop its conceptual model and research hypotheses. An empirical investigation (n=978) found support for the majority of the hypotheses. As suggested by SCT, experience and support were positively related to computer self-efficacy, and computer self-efficacy was negatively related to anxiety and positively related to usage. As suggested by TIB, experience was positively related to usage. Furthermore, computer anxiety was negatively related to experience. By providing insight into these important relationships, this research can help further understanding of their role in the acceptance and use of information technology.

Decomposing the Effects of Organizational Memory on Marketing Implementation

Stern Neill — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:47:00 PST

There is limited evidence to explain the effect of organizational memory on marketing implementation. This paper addresses this gap by identifying multiple components of organizational memory and examining how each affects marketing implementation. Organizational memory is a collective recollection of the past that is embedded within firm culture, procedures, and expertise. The findings demonstrate potential tradeoffs to linking versus locking into the firm’s past, particularly in turbulent environments. By decomposing organizational memory’s effects, this paper explains how organizational memory can both enable and constrain marketing implementation.