Antonis C. Simintiras

The impact of green product lines on the environment

The literature examining the behaviour of environmentally conscious consumers has focused mainly on the examination of non‐product specific environmental knowledge and attitudes or environmental knowledge and attitudes in relation to single product lines. Employs the constructs of product‐line‐specific environmental knowledge and attitudes, that is knowledge of and attitudes towards the green products and their impact on the environment. Presents the results of an exploratory study examining the relationship between product‐line‐specific environmental knowledge and attitudes for multiple green product lines, testing hypotheses generated from the literature, utilizing a questionnaire measuring self‐reports of environmental knowledge and attitudes. The results show no direct relationship exists between product‐line‐specific environmental knowledge and attitudes, and that consumers do not simply believe that a green product is good for the environment without also knowing how the product impacts on the envir...

International business negotiations: Present knowledge and direction for future research

Global companies increasingly rely on the effectiveness of business negotiations for their survival and growth. As an important business function for creating and maintaining successful relationships, international business negotiations during the last decade (1990‐2000) have attracted considerable attention among researchers. Although these research efforts have shed light on several aspects of international business negotiations, there has been neither a comprehensive assessment of the knowledge gained, nor a systematic analysis of the issues that this research appears to have left unexplored. It is the purpose of this study to provide a thorough review of the publications on international business negotiations generated in the last decade, identify trends, assess where the discipline currently is and where it might be going.

Jordanian consumers’ adoption of telebanking: Influence of perceived usefulness, trust and self-efficacy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the main factors predicting the Jordanian customers’ intention and adoption of telebanking. Design/methodology/approach – Perceived usefulness, trust, and self-efficacy are all formulated over the proposed conceptual model as key factors determining behavioural intention while the adoption of telebanking is supposed to be predicted by both behavioural intention and perceived usefulness. A self-administered questionnaire was allocated to gather the empirical data from a convenience sample of Jordanian banking customers. Structural equation modelling was applied to validate the conceptual model and verify the research hypotheses. Findings – Statistical results largely support the predictive validity of the conceptual model which is able to account for 68 per cent of variance in behavioural intention. Additionally, perceived usefulness, trust, and self-efficacy (listed in order of their influence) are all found to be significant factors predicting behavioural...

Information systems project failure – analysis of causal links using interpretive structural modelling

Abstract The analysis of the root causes of information systems project failure has been the subject of intense scrutiny for some time within industry and the academic community. Researchers have developed various models, notions of failure and categorisations to succinctly classify project failure into a set of key factors for organisations and project managers to focus on in their attempts to avoid failure. This study incorporates a technique titled: interpretive structural modelling as the methodology to formalise the relationships between the selected failure factors. This approach is positioned as a mechanism that can yield greater insights into the relationships between the factors surrounding project failure, thereby developing a better understanding of how these relationships can have a bearing on project outcomes. The findings identify key driving variables that are presented as having significant impact on the other factors within the model. A number of variables are also identified as being heavily dependent on other connected factors highlighting that a failure in one or more of these connected factors is likely to result in a failure in one or more of the dependent factors unless timely steps are taken to address these key issues. This research details a number of practical implications for senior management and project managers as well as the academic community. These considerations form an underlying thread within this study as specific practice-related implications are highlighted and discussed throughout the study.

Perceptions and Attitudes of Salespeople towards the Overall Sales Job and the Work Itself

Examines salespeople′s attitudes towards specific sales tasks and work‐related aspects; anticipated fulfilment or non‐fulfilment to various organizational outcomes; and self‐perceived emotional and performance‐related outcomes at the workplace. Suggests that there is a relationship between anticipated (non)‐fulfilment and perceived levels of job (dis)satisfaction, motivation and performance. Opportunities for creating a highly satisfied salesforce depend mostly on the managerial effectiveness in bridging the gap between salespeople′s preferred and anticipated outcomes.

Success and Failure of IS/IT Projects: A State of the Art Analysis and Future Directions

This book examines the link between change and project management and how creating a closer alignment between these two methodologies can yield greater benefits and mitigate elements of failure of information systems (IS) projects. This study explores the underlying challenges and practicalities of closer integration of the two disciplines and asserts that such a successful change goes beyond the simple training of project managers in the practitioner context. Instead, it requires organizations to conceptualize the necessary challenges to realize the potential benefits of this recommended integrated approach. The integration of both project and change management has been advocated in existing research, but the challenges of moving from a current position of separate methodologies, different standards bodies and in some cases totally separate organizational structures, is a step change for many organizations. Change initiatives where good change management practices are implemented, can increase the probability of successful organizational change. The tasks of leading and sustaining change can be complex and often entail the interplay of multiple factors involving action by people at every level of the business. This book offers a guide that identifies the barriers and major challenges that may arise in the development of the closer integration of change and project management. With a better understanding of these issues, organizations can avoid such pitfalls when establishing their own integrated approach.

Salesforce behavior: In search of motivational determinants

Abstract This article is concerned with the determinants of salesperson behavior. In this broadly defined field, an attempt has been made to develop a conceptual framework yielding the dynamics and impact of the fulfillment approach (a proactive mechanism of uncovering and influencing the behavioral outcomes of salespeople). Specifically, this study suggests that salespersons preferences among different behaviors may be associated with the perceived anticipated fulfillment or nonfulfillment of their “job-related expectations.”

The Role of Tautological Equivalence in Cross-Cultural Sales Negotiations

Abstract This paper examines the role of tautologies and equivalence in cross-cultural sales negotiations. Tautologies are logically valid statement patterns which are completely independent of the truth values of the propositions involved, whereas equivalence is a “bi-conditional relation” in which a given object or representation is identical or denotes the same item of information in two or more cultures. Recently, it has been recognized that in addition to cultural differences between buyers and sellers, the in-validity or in-equivalence of argument patterns that are used in cross-cultural sales encounters are additional barriers to the success of the negotiations. Yet somehow, a procedure for determining whether or not an argument is valid and equivalent cross-culturally has not been examined in the relevant literature. In this article, it is argued that when a particular type of argument pattern (i.e., logically valid inference pattern or tautology) is used and argument pattern equivalence is established, the likelihood of cross-cultural misunderstandings will be minimized and the cross-cultural negotiation outcome will be improved. To this end, a simple experiment was performed and the findings indicated that tautologies and their equivalence relations cut-free from cultural influences that prevail in cross-cultural negotiations. A discussion of the likely managerial implications of the findings is presented and suggestions for future research are offered.

An experimental analysis of the impact of a behaviour modification programme on salespersons' effort and performance behaviours

This study adapts a radical behaviourist ‐perspective in the study of the sales manager‐salesperson interaction, and analyses the impact of a behaviour modification programme on both the effort and performance behaviours of salespeople. To this end, a field experiment was conducted with the co‐operation of an industrial sales organization. Subjects were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups and a number of effort and performance indicators were measured via self‐report procedures. The treatment consisted of manipulations to the sales manager‐salesperson interaction in order to improve monitoring systems, introduce more structured feedback mechanisms, and make reinforcement more contingent upon actual behaviours. Results indicate that a number of effort indicator variables and performance outcomes showed significant increases for the experimental group relative to the control group.

Should consumers request cost transparency

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose that consumer choice be guided by price fairness judgements to increase consumer satisfaction and subsequently enhance market efficiency. Consumers en masse lack the information to judge price fairness, thereby causing their ability to influence the economy to be overlooked. Design/methodology/approach – This is an argumentative and conceptual work that aims to initiate a debate on this important yet unexplored issue. The arguments presented in the paper are based on economic and technological considerations. Findings – The measure for enabling a consumer price fairness judgement is unit cost information – the cost incurred by a firm to produce a product and/or service. The benefits and challenges stemming from the availability of unit cost information (i.e. cost transparency) to consumers and companies are presented and the likely impact of cost transparency on addressing information asymmetries between buyers and sellers are discussed. Originality/value ...