Aruna Chandra

Examining the Intricacies of Promotion Standardization: Factors Influencing Advertising Message and Packaging

Standardization of promotional elements in an international context is an important issue faced by multinational managers and has been the subject of debate for several decades. However, to date, few empirical studies have examined the intricacies of this issue, and thus there is little guidance for academics or practitioners. This study empirically examines the influence of four factors—market similarity, process standardization, environmental similarity, and mode of entry—on two elements of promotion standardization: advertising message and packaging. The authors test the hypotheses with both quantitative and qualitative data from U.S. multinational corporations conducting business in the emerging market of India. Results indicate that the four antecedent factors have different effects on advertising message and packaging standardization. The authors present several academic and managerial implications.

Impact of owner's knowledge of information technology (IT) on strategic alignment and IT adoption in US small firms

Purpose – This study seeks to examine the impact of owners knowledge of information technology (IT) on business and IT strategic alignment, as well as on IT use in the small firm context, using the resource‐based view as a theoretical foundation.Design/methodology/approach – A random sample of 217 small manufacturers and financial services firms in the USA answered a two‐page survey containing questions pertaining to the companys business strategies, the extent IT supported each business strategy, types of IT used, and the level of owners IT knowledge.Findings – Owners knowledge of IT was found to be a significant predictor of IT strategic alignment, as well as adoption of traditional IT and internet technologies, while controlling for differences in firm attributes (size, age, industry affiliation, and strategic focus).Practical implications – Small firm owners are well advised to seek ways of improving their knowledge of IT, integrating IT use in firm‐level business planning, as well as reexamining ...

Business Incubation in Chile: Development, Financing and Financial Services

Business incubation in Chile is still in its nascent stages, with approximately 27 incubators supported primarily by a coalition of government and universities. Chilean business incubators tend to capitalize on regional resource strengths and have a strategic focus on high growth, high innovation, high impact businesses as a result of a government mandate to focus on developing business with high potential for economic development and job creation. The government’s efforts to create the framework conditions for entrepreneurship by investing in business incubators, organizing risk capital for early stage ventures to fill capital market gaps and support for angel networks as well as incubator funding are discussed. Policy implications for the continued growth of the incubation industry are provided.

Approaches to Business Incubation: A Comparative Study of the United States, China and Brazil

The purpose of this paper is to describe and compare key elements of the business incubation landscape in the United States, China and Brazil in order to provide an understanding of the similarities and differences in incubation systems across the three countries, as well as the opportunities and challenges inherent in the macro-environmental and institutional environments for new business creation. Incubator models are described and compared along key dimensions which include strategic objectives, incubator financing/incubator sponsorship and its impact on strategy, and the incubator’s service mix with an emphasis on financial services provided by incubators to client firms. The role of government and its impact on incubator strategy as well as its role in supporting the environment for new business creation is discussed. A study of incubation and the innovation ecosystem in these leading incubation markets ought to have relevance not just in cross cultural comparative settings, but also to global incubation in both developed and developing countries, in terms of policy and practice.

Intangible capital, knowledge and new product development competence in supply chains: process, interaction and contingency effects among SMEs

Leveraging the strengths of a firm’s supply chain partners for new product development (NPD) has become essential to satisfy rapidly changing customer demands and to remain competitive. Firms are, therefore, aiming to further their NPD competence, which we define as the ability of the supply chain to improve and generate new products and services, based on the processes and relationships established with suppliers and customers. This study examines how intangible capital and knowledge further the development of NPD competence within the context of a supply chain. A theoretical model, based upon resource-advantage theory, is tested via structural equation modelling utilising survey data collected from 195 small- and medium-sized enterprises in the manufacturing industry reporting on their primary supply chain. Our findings indicate that more easily transferable capital manifests itself in explicit knowledge and less easily transferable capital manifests itself in tacit knowledge. We further identify complementarities of the two types of intangible capital as influencing knowledge type development. More importantly, we find that the two types of knowledge differ in their ability to influence NPD competence in the supply chain, and that these links are moderated by relationship length. Supply chain management implications for academics and practitioners are presented.

Business Incubation in Brazil: Creating an Environment for Entrepreneurship

Business incubators, by providing timely help and support to new ventures, hold the potential to create and develop entrepreneurial talent at the micro-level and foster an environment for entrepreneurship at the macro level. Today, with approximately 400 incubators and a well-developed incubation ecosystem, Brazil leads one of the most successful incubation movements in Latin America, through innovation and adaptation of incubator models to suit indigenous needs. Brazilian incubation is very much a bottom up process with the university acting as a key catalyst and facilitator. Even though incubation as a business creation tool has not gained widespread currency, multiple levels of government and a rainbow coalition of partners from various spheres appear to be involved in supporting incubators. The government has clearly made incubators a policy priority as witnessed by the various initiatives to support incubators and incubatees alike. The emphasis in Brazil appears to be more on the “softer” services such as networking relative to the provision of physical space and hard infrastructure. In this sense, incubators in Brazil are indeed transitioning to the newer approaches to incubation that relies less on the hardware of incubation and more on the software of value adding services.

The association between process and program advertising standardization: An illustration of U.S. multinationals operating in India

For well over forty years, academics have debated the effectiveness of the standardization/adaptation of international advertising, with practitioners beginning four decades earlier. As the debate has progressed, a critical distinction in the literature has developed related to this issue, that of process and program standardization. In this study, we examine the association of process and program standardization, inclusive of consumer market and environmental similarity, within a sample of U.S. multinationals operating in India. Results indicate a positive association between process and program advertising standardization of U.S. multinationals operating in India. Implications for academics and practitioners are presented.

Understanding transactional distance in web-based learning environments: An empirical study

Transactional distance is an important pedagogical theory in distance education that calls for more empirical support. The purpose of this study was to verify the theory by operationalizing and examining the relationship of (1) dialogue, structure and learner autonomy to transactional distance, and (2) environmental factors and learner demographic factors to transactional distance in web-based distance courses. More than 200 online undergraduate and graduate students in a Midwest university in the USA were surveyed. The findings indicate that high levels of structure and dialogue are not necessarily incompatible while supporting the inverse relationship of structure, dialogue and learner autonomy to transactional distance. Environmental factors and learner characteristics impacting transactional distance are identified, and practical implications of the findings for online course design are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measuring Transactional Distance in Web-Based Learning Environments: An Initial Instrument Development.

This study was an initial attempt to operationalise Moore’s transactional distance theory by developing and validating an instrument measuring the related constructs: dialogue, structure, learner autonomy and transactional distance. Data were collected from 227 online students and analysed through an exploratory factor analysis. Results suggest that the instrument, in general, shows promise as a valid and reliable measure of the constructs related to transactional distance theory. Potential refinement of the instrument and future research directions are included at the end of the article.

Business incubator affiliation: impact on incubator funding and services

In this study, incubator affiliations (defined as an incubator’s propensity to network or affiliate with different types of external entities) of 84 business incubators in the USA and its relationship with incubator funding sources and nature of services provided were studied. Four types of affiliation-based relationships were identified: totally unaffiliated, affiliated with other incubator(s), affiliated with university, and affiliated with other incubator(s) and university. Results indicated that the incubator’s affiliation influenced its ability to access funding and provide financial assistance to incubatees, as well as the nature and level of tangible/administrative and value-added services provided to incubatee firms. Based on these findings, two distinct groups of incubators were identified, each with distinctly different strategic foci, service emphasis and funding approaches. Strategy and managerial implications for both categories of incubators are discussed.