bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A model for improving the role of IT in BPR
Authors: Eardley Alan , Shah Hanifa , Radman Andrea
Published: September 2008

Purpose

Extensive literature on business process management suggests that organisations could enhance their overall performance by adopting a process view of business. However, there is a lack of empirical research in this field. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the understanding of the process view and process maturity levels in a transition economy and to test the impact of process orientation maturity level on organisational performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical investigation combined an exploratory‐confirmatory approach using factor analysis and structural equation modelling.

Findings

The investigation confirms the impact of business process orientation on organisational performance in a transition economy. The link is even stronger than in the original investigation. The results show that business process orientation leads to better non‐financial performance and indirectly to better financial performance.

Practical implications

The research confirms that business process orientation is advantageous for companies since it has a positive influence on organisational performance. The finding that the impact on financial performance is indirect through non‐financial performance suggests that the companies have to take that view of performance into consideration as well.

Originality/value

The paper is valuable for academics and practitioners because the impact of business process orientation on organisational performance has been confirmed for a transitional economy. Its originality is in the measurement of organisational performance, for which a more detailed specification of organisational performance based on the balanced scorecard concept that includes non‐financial performance measures has been used.
A metric for collaborative networks
Authors: Parung Joniarto , Bititci Umit S.
Published: September 2008

Purpose

The objective of this paper is to provide a metric that could be used to define success in a collaborative network.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology of this research consists of four stages: Review, Constructing, Testing and Description. Review stage comprised of a critical review of the literature in order to understand the characteristics of collaborative network organisations and the reasons behind the successes and failures in collaborative networks. Construction stage resulted in development of a metric for collaborative networks. Testing stage tested the model through case study in a collaborative networks organisation. The outcome of the case study was discussed at the description stage to assess usability and usefulness of the metric for participants in turn to generate conclusions.

Findings

The result clearly demonstrated the need for measuring all perspectives of collaboration and highlights the potential pitfalls of measuring perspectives that can be measured easily.

Research limitations/implications

The case study of the research is limited to a single collaborative network. The fact that this collaboration has been engaged for more than a year in order to develop a particular product with lack of mutual understanding represents the usual limitations of the new “organisation”. Further research is required with larger sample sizes and with longer time in collaboration to confirm and enhance the conclusions of this paper.

Practical implications

The model provides a practical way of assessing three networks' measurements with respect to their objectives. It also provides a useful mechanism for facilitating a discussion between partners in a network.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by developing a methodology for measuring partners' contribution, involvement and outcome in the collaborative network as a system within IDEF0 functional modelling. The contribution measurement uses analytical hierarchy process (AHP) approach to measure partners' contribution. Likert scale is also applied to measure the health of the relationships based on key performance indicators of relationship attributes. Analytical with mathematical approach is employed to measure the partners' outcome of the collaborative network
An empirical study of enterprise resource management systems implementation
Authors: Chuang Ming‐Ling , Shaw Wade H.
Published: September 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine the significant variables leading to successful implementation of enterprise resource management (ERM) and its predecessor concepts of enterprise resource planning, supply chain planning, electronic commerce, and radio frequency identification systems. An implementation roadmap is presented using four stages for implementing ERM systems: planning, development, implementation, and testing. The roadmap indicates when and where the significant success variables would appear and how a firm might manage the implementation process.

Design/methodology/approach

In the research, the key success criteria and key implementation drivers uncovered by literature, case studies, and interviews were used. A survey instrument was constructed and the survey hosted on a web site where practitioners from industry were invited to supply opinions. The data were analyzed by using correlation models and one‐way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to develop cause‐effect diagrams (CE) for overall ERM systems and each component of ERM. Based on the controlled error of the ANOVA process, the CE diagram was used to depict the degree to which variables influence implementation success.

Findings

The research results have helped uncover the key significant variables that contribute to successful ERM implementation.

Originality/value

The proposed implementation roadmap indicates when and where the significant success variables would appear and how a firm might manage the implementation process.
Process management tasks: a conceptual and practical view
Authors: Paim Rafael , Mansur Caulliraux Heitor , Cardoso Rodolfo
Published: September 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to defining the tasks necessary to process management, considering both conceptual and practical views.

Design/methodology/approach

Bibliographic review for tasks mentioned as typically necessary to process management, plus a field survey involving professionals working in process management.

Findings

The bibliographic review yielded a set of tasks that were grouped conceptually into “designing processes”, “managing processes from day to day” and “fostering process‐related learning”. These groups were then validated with practioners as valid constructs. The field survey produced two major findings: the first underlining the practical importance of the tasks identified as necessary to process management and the second demonstrating that most organizations where the study participants work are structured functionally, but have practices for managing cross‐functional processes or “end‐to‐end process”. The conceptual and practical comparison brings to light gaps between authors and professionals.

Research limitations/implications

There is significant variation in the job positions and sectors occupied by the group studied and the sample is not random, given that all are enrolled in postgraduate process management programs and thus share an interest in the subject.

Practical implications

Organizations can identify tasks that are necessary and important to process management and have an instrument (the questionnaire) for deciding how best to manage processes. Where functional management of cross‐functional processes is found, this recommends developing organizational solutions to upgrade the capacity for coordination among activities without necessarily introducing changes in organizational structure.

Originality/value

The paper describes an unprecedented study and helps clarify what needs to be done to manage processes.
The impact of business process orientation on financial and non‐financial performance
Authors: Škrinjar Rok , Bosilj‐Vukšić Vesna , Indihar‐Štemberger Mojca
Published: September 2008

Purpose

Extensive literature on business process management suggests that organizations could enhance their overall performance by adopting a process view of business. However, there is a lack of empirical research in this field. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the understanding of the process view and process maturity levels in a transition economy and to test the impact of process orientation maturity level on organizational performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical investigation combined an exploratory‐confirmatory approach using factor analysis and structural equation modeling.

Findings

The investigation confirms the impact of business process orientation on organizational performance in a transition economy. The link is even stronger than in the original investigation. The results show that business process orientation leads to better non‐financial performance and indirectly to better financial performance.

Practical implications

The research confirms that business process orientation is advantageous for companies since it has a positive influence on organizational performance. The finding that the impact on financial performance is indirect through non‐financial performance suggests that the companies have to take that view of performance into consideration as well.

Originality/value

The paper is valuable for academics and practitioners because the impact of business process orientation on organizational performance has been confirmed for a transitional economy. Its originality is in the measurement of organizational performance, for which a more detailed specification of organizational performance based on the balanced scorecard concept that includes non‐financial performance measures has been used.
E‐business financing: preliminary insights from a developing economy context
Authors: Hinson Robert , Boateng Richard , Jull Sorensen Olav
Published: September 2008

Purpose

The deployment and strategic use of e‐business, from basic e‐mail utilization to total enterprise integration, involves the commitment of financial and technical resources. The resources have to be financed. The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the views of trade promotion organizations, donors, export associations and banks on e‐business financing in Ghana's non‐traditional export (NTE) sector, with the view to making policy contributions to the e‐business financing phenomenon in a developing economy (DE) context.

Design/methodology/approach

The research design is qualitative since this is an exploratory study and deep preliminary insights were sought about a hitherto under‐researched information systems topic from a developing country perspective. Officials from the trade promotion; export association, donor and financial communities were interviewed to generate insights to help understand the phenomenon under investigation.

Findings

Some banks find it difficult financing e‐business in NTE firms because it is considered a new area with relatively higher risks and uncertainties. Banks would rather grant small loans to a few select small and medium enterprise exporters in an attempt to limit their default risk. The trade promotion organization is helping (albeit in a moderate manner) with up‐skilling for the improvement in e‐competencies in Ghana's NTE sector. The export product association in collaboration with the donor interviewed is in the throes of designing e‐business interventions in Ghana's NTE sector after recently completing an e‐readiness survey in the same sector.

Originality/value

This paper presents a modest contribution to the export firm‐electronic business literature from a resource‐centered perspective, in a DE context. Studies on e‐business financing in DEs are virtually non‐existent and the policy prescriptions could apply with minor modifications to other related contexts in respect of e‐business financing.
Love on the internet: a framework for understanding Eros online
Authors: Briggle Adam
Published: September 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework to aid in understanding and evaluating love online. The framework maps the territory of online love by identifying important issues and providing a mechanism for combining relevant theoretical perspectives.

Design/methodology/approach

Interdisciplinary literature is reviewed and related through normative and descriptive conceptual analysis.

Findings

A diverse and complex set of practices, technologies, intentions, and behaviors comprise love online. Theoretical works on love and mediation can be combined to improve conceptual clarity.

Practical implications

The framework provides a simple but powerful tool for making sense of and critiquing the existing literature as well as outlining avenues for future research.

Originality/value

The framework puts diverse strands of scholarly work into an interdisciplinary discussion about an important phenomenon in new media societies.
Rethinking the concept of the right to information privacy: a Japanese perspective
Authors: Murata Kiyoshi , Orito Yohko
Published: September 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to reconsider the concept of the right to information privacy and to propose, from a Japanese perspective, a revised conception of this right that is suitable for the modern information society.

Design/methodology/approach

First, the concept of privacy and personal information protection in the information society is briefly explained. After that, confused situations in Japan caused by the enforcement of Act on the Protection of Personal Information are described followed by the analysis of the Japanese socio‐cultural circumstances surrounding privacy. Based on these, the effectiveness of the concept of the right to information privacy in the Japanese socio‐cultural and economic context is examined and the need to rethink the concept of the right to information privacy discussed. Finally, a revised conception of the right is proposed.

Findings

In view of the circumstances in Japan, the concept of the right to information privacy, defined as “an individual's right to control the circulation of information relating to him/herself”, as well as the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development's eight principles already become outdated in today's sophisticated information‐communication society. There is a need to control/restrict use of personal information so that individuals' autonomy and freedom is ensured in the current situation and to revise the concept of the right to information privacy based on this idea.

Originality/value

This paper proposes a revision of the concept of the right to information privacy focused on control of, not access to, use of personal information. The revised concept is defined so that individuals' autonomy and freedom is ensured even in the “informational transparent” society.
Good computing: a pedagogically focused model of virtue in the practice of computing (part 1)
Authors: Huff Chuck , Barnard Laura , Frey William
Published: September 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a four component model of ethical behavior (PRIMES) that integrates literature in moral psychology, computing ethics, and virtue ethics as informed by research on moral exemplars in computing. This is part 1 of a two‐part contribution.

Design/methodology/approach

This psychologically based and philosophically informed model argues that moral action is: grounded in relatively stable PeRsonality characteristics (PR); guided by integration of morality into the self‐system; shaped by the context of the surrounding moral ecology; and facilitated by morally relevant skills and knowledge (S).

Findings

The model seeks to explain the daily successful (and unsuccessful) performance of moral action by computing professionals and to provide groundwork for a pedagogy that emphasizes ethically effective performance.

Practical implications

The model has significant implications for how ethical action might be taught to computer professionals and other design professionals. It also makes recommendations about what is needed to measure to construct a complete picture of sustained ethical action in a profession.

Originality/value

Most accepted models of ethical behavior are unidimensional, emphasizing either principled reasoning or a simplistic model of integrity/character. This model brings together a variety of disparate literatures in the light of its emphasis on sustained moral action in the profession. It thereby provides researchers and educators with a picture of what is needed to construct a complete understanding of moral action in the profession.
How financial markets reflect the benefits of self‐service technologies
Authors: Yang Jun , Klassen Kenneth J.
Published: September 2008

Purpose

Self‐serve technologies (SSTs) provide many benefits such as speed, time and place convenience for the customer and reduced labour costs for the firm. The aim of this study is to consider whether these benefits are denoted by changes in the firms' stock price when SSTs are introduced.

Design/methodology/approach

Using data from banking, retail (grocery and gas), and airline industries, this event study considers overall effects of SST implementation on stock price, and also considers effects in three sub‐categories: industry, time period, and scope of announcement (i.e. corporate vs. regional).

Findings

SST announcements had a positive effect on firm value during the late 1990s. However, for the most part, financial markets do not respond to SST announcements. This is in line with the strategic necessity hypothesis and the resource‐based view of the firm, but may also be partly due to the phased rollouts that are typical of these implementations (which dilute the impact over time).

Research limitations/implications

It proved quite difficult to locate original public announcements of SST investments in publicly traded companies; thus, the sample size is smaller than desired. However, a bootstrapping method was used to crosscheck the findings.

Practical implications

Firms should not promise investors immediate increase in firm value, but rather demonstrate the benefits from a longer term, competitive and customer‐oriented perspective.

Originality/value

This is the first study to consider the effect of implementing SSTs using event study methodology. Most prior SST studies have considered behavioural aspects of the implementation, while most prior event studies that have considered IT implementations have done so in a general sense, not focusing on a specific technology. Using a new dataset collected from two decades of SST implementations, this study focuses on the impact of SSTs from a different perspective.
Understanding the influences of social integration in enterprise systems use
Authors: Yen Teoh Say , Pan Shan L.
Published: September 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to aid in the understanding of the influence of social integration (SI) in enterprise information systems (EIS) use.

Design/methodology/approach

An in‐depth case study was carried out, where 40 interviews were collected along with eight informal conversations, five observations, and secondary data from a company with ten years of experience in the management and application of EIS. Informants were EIS users from top management to middle management, different‐user departments, the IT department, as well as the IT vendor.

Findings

A total of six social integration processes and three social integration mechanisms were identified that help to explain the influences of social integration in EIS use.

Research limitations/implications

This research could be further extended to explore other possible social integration processes, enablers or inhibitors which could provide a more comprehensive understanding of EIS usage.

Practical implications

By understanding the concept of SI, practitioners should be able to provide appropriate effort, attention and action which could evolve in the process to optimize productivity and efficiency of EIS use.

Originality/value

The theoretical contribution of this paper is the development of a coherent conceptual social integration (SI) framework to connect the interrelationships among the three social capital dimensions proposed by Nahapiet and Ghoshal.
Research note
Authors: Maurice Catt Peter
Published: September 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to provide a critique of SAP's enterprise resource planning (ERP) (release ECC 6.0) forecasting functionality and offer guidance to SAP practitioners on overcoming some identified limitations.

Design/methodology/approach

The SAP ERP forecasting functionality is reviewed against prior seminal empirical business forecasting research.

Findings

The SAP ERP system contains robust forecasting methods (exponential smoothing), but could be substantially improved by incorporating simultaneous forecast comparisons, prediction intervals, seasonal plots and/or autocorrelation charts, linear regressions lines for trend analysis, and event management based on structured judgmental forecasting or intervention analysis.

Practical implications

The findings provide guidance to SAP forecasting practitioners for improving forecast accuracy via important forecasting steps outside of the system.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the need for studies of widely adopted ERP systems to critique vendor claims and validate functionality through prior empirical research, while offering insights and guidance to SAP's 12 million+ worldwide enterprise system practitioners.
From WS‐CDL choreography to BPEL process orchestration
Authors: Mendling Jan , Hafner Michael
Published: September 2008

Purpose

The web service choreography description language (WS‐CDL) is a specification for describing multi‐party collaboration based on web services from a global point‐of‐view. WS‐CDL is designed to be used in conjunction with the web services business process execution language (WS‐BPEL or BPEL). As WS‐CDL is a new choreography language, there has been doubt about the feasibility of a transformation to BPEL. This article aims to show how BPEL process definitions of parties involved in a choreography can be derived from the global WS‐CDL model and what the limitations of such a derivation are.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors implemented a prototype of the mappings as a proof of concept.

Findings

The automatic transformation leverages the quality of software components interacting in the choreography as advocated in the model driven architecture (MDA) concept. The mapping reveals that some information has to be added manually to the generated BPEL, in particular, choice conditions and private activities.

Research limitations/implications

A comprehensive evaluation of WS‐CDL with respect to the interaction patterns is still missing. As a resolution to this issue, the authors propose the modelling of choreographies by the help of a more abstract language – in the sense of being more independent of underlying technology – like UML 2.0 Activity Diagrams.

Practical implications

The automation of the mapping offers substantial speed‐up of the engineering process. Additionally, the automatic generation of BPEL stubs minimizes the risk of inconsistent process implementations by the parties.

Originality/value

The core contribution is to show how BPEL process definitions for parties involved in a choreography can be derived from a global WS‐CDL model.
Roles in the ISD process: a collaborative approach
Authors: Lemmergaard Jeanette
Published: September 2008

Purpose

Looking at the Scandinavian information systems development (ISD) approach in contrast to more traditional ISD approaches, this paper reflects on experiences of the roles of the participants in an ISD process. The study aims to demonstrate how the theoretical knowledge of academic researchers together with the pragmatic approach of practitioners can be integrated in the ISD process – particularly in a new and more refined way, through a heightened awareness of the different roles.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on case study methodology, the study focuses on the roles of human resource academics and human resource practitioners in an ISD process developing an intra‐ and inter‐organizational web‐based knowledge‐sharing portal.

Findings

The study demonstrates that in order to secure the success of the ISD process, new roles must be performed and properly orchestrated. Also, the study demonstrates how a constant crosschecking of “real‐world” experiences against “the laboratory” in the ISD process can benefit the participating partners, the process, and the end‐product.

Research limitations/implications

Based on a single‐case study, the context and process imposed constraints. The findings are context specific with implications for the application of findings to other ISD processes.

Originality/value

The study highlights the human tasks in a particular ISD process and explains how insights from the Scandinavian and more traditional ISD approaches can be used to enhance the role identification and consequently help address the mediator problem. The study suggests that researchers act as mediators through the fulfillment of the roles, which naturally stem from the Scandinavian approach and the traditional software engineering approach to ISD.
An OSA service capability server for mobile services
Authors: Chlamtac Imrich , Lee Hsin‐Yi , Lin Yi‐Bing , Tsai Meng‐Hsun
Published: September 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to propose an open service access (OSA) service capability server (SCS) architecture that supports the network capabilities to the Application Server (AS).

Design/methodology/approach

Based on this architecture, the service capability feature (SCF) provides the OSA Application programming interface functions by implementing the SCF service logic module and callback module. The SCF uses the XML communication module to interact with service capability (SC), which is the bearer to realize services by implementing the SC service logic module. The SC service logic interacts with mobile core network through the session initiation protocol (SIP)‐based session control module and the SIP Callback module.

Findings

The push to talk over cellular service is used to illustrate how the proposed OSA SCS interacts with the AS and the mobile core network elements.

Practical implications

In the design, when implementing a new service (i.e. to create a new SCS), one only needs to create the Callback module and the Service Logic modules, and other SC/SCF modules can be reused.

Originality/value

Through this modulized SCS design, the OSA service deployment can be speeded up.
An improved efficient performance design with multiple channels and bandwidth allocation strategy for mobilead hocnetworks
Authors: Chen Ching‐Wen , Lai Chun‐Liang
Published: September 2008

Purpose

In this paper, the design of multiple channels to achieve the goal of a high‐performance medium access control (MAC) protocol is to be proposed to solve the problem of wasting bandwidth resources due to waiting for the backoff time.

Design/methodology/approach

In the MAC design of this paper, a control channel and a data channel are used to improve bandwidth utilization. When the control channel waits for the backoff time, the data channel may transfer data. As a result, bandwidth utilization can be improved. In order to have better bandwidth utilization in multiple channels, the authors also propose a bandwidth allocation strategy for control channels and data channels. According to the strategy, the control and data signals can be smoothly transmitted without blocking or waiting, thereby not wasting bandwidth resources. Finally, the authors propose multiple control sub‐channels and data sub‐channels to further reduce the backoff time penalty and make more communication pairs work in a transmission range to increase the throughput.

Findings

The paper solves the following problems bandwidth waste that results from waiting for the backoff time in the single channel model and bandwidth allocation strategy for the control and data sub‐channels in the multiple channel model to achieve throughput enhancement in mobile ad‐hoc networks.

Research limitations/implications

The proposed method needs the support of multiple channels.

Practical implications

From the result, the bandwidth allocation ratio of the proposed method performs better than other various allocation ratios. In addition, the proposed method with the bandwidth allocation strategy and multiple data and control sub‐channels results in a better throughput than IEEE 802.11 DCF by 22.3 per cent.

Originality/value

The proposed method using multiple control and data sub‐channels can improve the throughput and reduce bandwidth waste over IEEE 802.11 DCF.
Collaboration in Finnish‐Russian supply chains
Authors: Lorentz Harri
Published: September 2008

Purpose

The management of international supply chains may significantly contribute to the successful outcome of exports. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the level of supply chain collaboration in an uncertain cross‐border context, and whether it improves supply chain performance. The moderating role of export experience and intensity to the collaboration‐performance relationship is also investigated.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on a survey of Finnish industrial companies with Russian exports. Correlation and regression analysis is used in investigating causal relationships.

Findings

The results weakly support the hypothesised positive relationships of collaboration and performance in the chosen cross‐border context. It seems that experience in cross‐border supply chain operations does not guarantee success in supply chain management. However, those companies with large export volumes, implying frequency and leveraged resources in operations, seemed to be better able to collaborate for successful outcomes.

Research limitations/implications

The research is limited to supplier‐customer dyads, and the suppliers' perceptions. The findings are confined to the specific context of the Finnish‐Russian cross‐border trade.

Practical implications

Despite the generally bleak picture of cross‐border supply chain collaboration, interesting insight was generated concerning which areas of collaboration may be the most effective. Supply chain design is one of the areas where companies should clearly collaborate; joint‐planning should therefore include facility location, mode of transport, carrier selection, and general flow management related decisions.

Originality/value

Although the relationship of supply chain collaboration and performance has been established in the literature, the paper contributes to knowledge by exploring the cross‐border context, with international business environment and high level of supply chain uncertainty.
Foreign exchange risk hedging in the context of speculative revaluation attacks
Authors: Maciulis Nerijus
Published: September 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose predictive models of speculative revaluation attacks, which would facilitate currency risk hedging in emerging and developed countries.

Design/methodology/approach

The purpose of this paper is achieved using the methodology of multiple triangulation. Paper combines different theoretical perspectives (three generations of speculative attack models), two sources of data (emerging countries and developed countries) and three methods (logit regression, probit regression and artificial neural networks, ANN) for identification of leading indicators and forecasting of speculative attacks. Combination of multiple observations (data), underlying theories and methods allowed achieving least biased results.

Findings

A list of leading indicators of speculative revaluation attacks was generated based on previous researches and three generations of speculative attacks' models. Qualitative and quantitative differences of speculative revaluation attacks in emerging and developed countries were identified. The decision matrix of currency risk hedging in the context of speculative devaluation and revaluation attacks was proposed.

Research limitations/implications

Although the sample of this researcher includes a wide range of countries (65 in total), their separation into developed and emerging countries is arbitrary (in the course of 35 years some countries have changed the status from emerging towards developed). The initial list of leading indicators is limited, includes mostly economic variables. It could be improved by encompassing political variables, credit ratings, consumer and business confidence indices.

Practical implications

Developed predictive models of speculative revaluation attacks may significantly reduce important element of risk – uncertainty – and, consequently, the cost of financial hedging.

Originality/value

This paper is one of the first public attempts to apply alternative methodology of ANN for forecasting speculative attacks. The results showed that latter method is more accurate than probit and logit regressions. Also, to the author's best knowledge, this is a first public attempt to separately analyse the phenomenon of speculative revaluation attacks.
Institutional factors and strategic alliances in eastern and central Europe
Authors: Hyder Akmal S. , Abraha Desalegn
Published: September 2008

Purpose

The study deals with institutional factors that have impact on the operation of east‐west alliances. Applying Kostova and Roth's terminology of institutional and relational contexts, this paper aims to address how alliance relationship based on resources, learning and performance organizes and functions, and how institutional factors influence the alliance relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

To properly highlight the role of institutional factors, eastern and central Europe (ECE) is divided into four categories, namely fast adapters, high and low medium adapters and slow adapters. A total of 20 alliances operating in different country categories have been selected for the study. In all alliances, foreign partners are Swedish firms and engaged in the manufacturing industry. Semi‐structured interviews containing both a fixed set of questions and a set of open‐ended questions have been used for data collection.

Findings

The impact of institutional factors on firms in slow‐adapting countries was uniformly high, the initiatives taken were usually fruitless and ineffective. In the case of medium‐adapters, the impact was largely mitigated over time as alliances passed through the different stages. The least impact was, as expected, observed among the alliances in fast‐adapting countries. However, the result needs to be taken with some caution as the data include alliances where partners come from a single western country.

Practical implications

For direct investment, managers need to take the institutional factors seriously as ECE countries undergo a transition period and the economical situations of these countries shows a wide variation. For example, if need of return is quick, the managers should invest in a fast‐adapting country or in a medium‐adapting country but not at all in a slow‐adapting country.

Originality/value

This paper makes a unique contribution by focusing institutional factors which affect strategic alliances in ECE. One future study can concern cultural impact on business environment and new business development in ECE. Another interesting area of research could deal with medium‐adapting countries because the members of this group show different level of adaptation and performance.
Retail value chains: extension and development into transition economies
Authors: McKenzie Brent , Merrilees Bill
Published: September 2008

Purpose

In the area of international retail expansion the most challenging issues that firms struggle with are: which countries to expand to; which order to do it; and what are the retail drivers that can be readily exported to the new market versus which have to be market specific? The purpose of this paper is to look at one specific retailer and review how they have addressed these questions.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach used is based around a case study of the expansion of the Stockmann department store into Estonia and Latvia. Using the findings of empirical research, qualitative and quantitative, the research shows how Stockmann has both built upon and exported its original home strengths while also focusing on which drivers had to be tailored to the local marketplace.

Findings

The case study found that there are some differences between the performances of Stockmann across the two Baltic countries, but the level of performance is quite high in most areas of retail operations. This supports the position that a multinational can successfully expand in diverse markets. In other words, although there are minor issues, on balance the regional versus country specific issues have been substantially resolved. Even national issues like skilled labour shortages and developing good practices for handling returns have been resolved at a medium level. Areas for improvement were in pricing and handling merchandise returns.

Research limitations/implications

The findings are limited to one case study, of one retailer, and the fact that the study was over a defined period. This is a general limitation of case studies, but the use of multiple research methods, and methodologies helped to strengthen the research findings and interpretations.

Practical implications

This study has presented the retail value chain as a model consisting of three main drivers: service; retail operations and country of origin aspects. The three constructs were found to be valid representations, enabling an assessment of a retailer's performance in multiple countries. The lessons drawn indicate that a business model used in the home country can be a powerful integrating and controlling tool for managing the multinational expansion, but that there is also a need to include consumer perceptions and evaluations of retailer performance. These operational measures continue to represent one of the best sources of data in understanding a retailer's performance, in both developed and converging countries such as Estonia and Latvia.

Originality/value

This paper presents a useful case study of a retailer that has expanded from its home base into a number of countries, all of which fall into the category of transition economies, and adds to the literature covering expansion into transition economies, which is a little known field in terms of the expansion of one's value chain or value proposition
Transnational tendencies in multinational enterprises
Authors: Pihl Håkan
Published: September 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a synthesis of transnational tendencies in multinational enterprises (MNEs), to theoretically analyse the result and to study whether managers in MNEs have experienced the predicted tendencies.

Design/methodology/approach

The synthesis is based on an extensive literature review which is analysed by transaction cost economics. Identified tendencies are studied in a survey of managers in MNEs.

Research limitations/implications

The study provides an overview of a fragmented research area and suggests explanations for new tendencies described in the literature. The empirical study suggests that some tendencies have been more prevalent than others.

Practical implications

The survey was conducted with MNEs with substantial activities in Sweden. It investigates how managers perceive changes that have occurred during the past several years.

Originality/value

The paper analyses a synthesized view of transnational tendencies in MNEs and the results of a survey of how managers have perceived the tendencies described in literature.
Employees' values orientation in the context of corporate social responsibility
Authors: Strautmanis Janis
Published: September 2008

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to explore if there are any statistically significant values orientations that determine the organizational culture environment and ascertain the factors that affect the values orientation structures differences.

Design/methodology/approach

This study investigates the relationship between organizational values and sensitivity to corporate social responsibility among current employees and business students in Latvia. Using a questionnaire on value orientation, survey data were collected from a sample of 718 employees, 125 first year business students, and 27 MBA students.

Findings

The research has contributed to the development of assessment instrument for organizational culture environment values orientation – nine scales representing values orientation typical of organizational culture. These scales were updated, analyzed by context and tested by application of statistical methods.

Practical implications

Results of the research point out the necessity of social responsibility facilitating ethics studies in entrepreneur training programs in universities and colleges. Universities and colleges have important tasks in preparing the prospective managers. The time that has been spent studying is an important stage in the personal development in the early adult age.

Originality/value

A structural model of nine values orientations describing organizational culture environment has been developed. Results of the research identified significant factors determining differences in values orientation: the gender and the type of the place of employment.
Cultural dimensions in business life: Hofstede's indices for Latvia and Lithuania
Authors: Huettinger Maik
Published: September 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the culture dimensions of young Latvians and Lithuanians in accordance with Geert Hofstede's indices. These culture characteristics are discussed from the perspective of their similarity with Estonia and the Scandinavian countries.

Design/methodology/approach

The research is part of the Hofstede national culture studies. The survey is based on more than 800 questionnaires, which were handed out to students in Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden. The Swedish scores were used to calibrate the Lithuanian and Latvian values to the existing Hofstede database.

Findings

The study shows that respondents of both countries score very similar for all five dimensions of the Hofstede model: power distance moderate low, moderate for uncertainty avoidance, very low for masculinity, individualism moderate‐high, and very low in long‐term orientation.

Research limitations/implications

The empirical research was limited to participants who classified themselves as belonging to the dominating ethnic class. Ethnical minorities were excluded – however they might have a considerable influence in daily business life. A second weakness might be that the students sample represents the values of young Lithuanians and Latvians – the future society of the countries. An examination of the majority of population who grew up with communist ideology might have shown different results.

Practical implications

The results of the study have shown that the three Baltic countries score pretty uniformly and much more similar to Scandinavia than Russia and/or Poland. International business actors should therefore include the Baltics in their Nordic strategy – rather than adding them to central and eastern Europe.

Originality/value

The main value of this study is that the Hofstede methodology was for the first time applied for Latvia. The results for Latvia and Lithuania were meanwhile reviewed by Prof. Hofstede and included into his database.
Medium‐term risk analysis in electricity markets: a decision‐tree approach
Authors: Mosquera Natalia , Reneses Javier , Sánchez‐Úbeda Eugenio F.
Published: September 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze medium‐term risks faced by electrical generation companies in competitive environments. Market risks faced by generation companies are caused by several variables subject to uncertainty. Hydro conditions, fuel (coal and natural gas) prices, system demand, and CO2 emission price are the risk factors considered in the paper. Taking into account these risk factors, generation companies have to take decisions that would affect their economic results and their risk exposure.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper proposes a methodology to support the risk‐analysis decision‐making process. Firstly, different scenarios of risk factors are generated. Then, a market equilibrium model is used in order to assess the impact of the different sources of uncertainty. Finally, decision trees are used in order to analyze the variables subject to interest, such as electricity prices or companies' profits.

Research limitations/implications

The proposed methodology can be enhanced to take into account scenarios of more risk factors, such as equipment failure or agents' behavior. Another future enhancement could be a detailed study of correlation between different risk factors.

Findings

A realistic case study is presented, showing the advantages of these techniques for medium‐term risk‐analysis and decision‐making processes. Several decision trees have been generated to assess the impact of the different risk factors in electricity prices and companies' profits. These decision trees provide valuable information for companies when facing their risk‐management process.

Originality/value

The approach presented here constitutes a valuable support to gain useful information for wise decision making and to hedge against risk.
EU spot prices and industry structure: assessing electricity market integration
Authors: Pereira da Silva Patrícia , Soares Isabel
Published: September 2008

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to assess the state of spot price convergence between several European electricity day‐ahead markets.

Design/methodology/approach

The concept of a fully integrated market is developed through the arbitrage relationship in which spot prices at one location should equal spot prices at another location plus the price of transmission. Accordingly, neighbouring markets are analysed to measure the relevance or their respective interconnecting and transmission constraints. Exploratory data approach is used and results are discussed, namely by correlation analysis.

Findings

This paper empirically shows that price differences have decreased during the analysed period, suggesting that integration between markets might be rising. The correlation analysis indicates very few relationships between these continental European power exchanges, what makes us to anticipate continuing difficulties in the building of a single electricity market. Nevertheless, there is some evidence for local integration and some price convergence. Only France and Germany appear to be relatively integrated with higher correlation coefficients, compared to the other cases. In respect to the other markets, this correlation analysis demonstrates that price variations in several locations do not affect prices in the neighbouring locations. Spain appears to be poorly integrated with the other locations as might be expected by its peripheral position and limited cross‐border transmission capacity.

Originality/value

The paper assesses electricity market integration in the context of European Union spot prices and industry structure.