In addition, firm size is identified as a significant covariate of performance. This paper reports on the empirical testing of two key propositions using a study of apparel retailers in Eastern Australia. The first proposition states that small retailers have an advantage in personal service compared to large retailers. The second proposition states that human resource capabilities contribute to a competitive advantage in personal service. The final contribution is the exploration of managerial implications.
Employee training emerges as the key to improved performance in personal service.
The findings are significant for the survival of SME retailing as we know it and their is scope to test the status of the propositions in other industries and in other countries. This study evaluates the reasons why new products fail, and recommends a Strategy for New Product Development to avoid such failures. Using a sample of four products, the Ford Edsel, Coca-Cola's New Coke, the Sony Betamax, and the RCA Videodisc, where the introduction of a new product was unsuccessful, as research data, it is determined that the most common reasons for a products failure are poor planning, poor management, poor concept, poor execution, poor use of research, poor technology, and poor timing. A recommended strategy for successful new product development includes a sound concept, an environmental assessment, management and planning, technological feasibility, research, quality assurance, and customer feedback. This study looks at the competitive issues involved in meeting the demands of the business traveler, especially in the light of the changing relationships between those who supply the product, those who distribute, and those who use it.