Ed Chung

Benchmarking for Entrepreneurial Survival: Pursuing a Cohesive and Imperfectly Imitable Culture

Purpose – To propose a conceptual framework thatfacilitates the benchmarking of strategic processes necessary forentrepreneurial survival and success. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on extant literature onentrepreneurial survival, this paper considers the chaotic and emergent natureof the entrepreneurial organization and how benchmarking can contribute to anewly established firms chances for survival and prosperity. The paperincorporates the concept of a sustainable competitive advantage in thediscussion, and offers organizational culture as being the imperfectly imitableelement which will contribute to the entrepreneurial firms success. Findings – Four key processes are identified that contribute toentrepreneurial viability – cooperation, sharing founders vision, timemanagement, and developing organizational competencies – and suggestions areoffered for developing appropriate benchmarks for these processes. The paperalso highlights two instruments that may be useful in this endeavor. Research limitations/implications – The paper draws attention to theusefulness of benchmarking processes and not just metrics in fosteringentrepreneurial survival. Key processes are identified, and suggestions areprovided for researchers to begin work on developing the necessarybenchmarks. Practical implications – The paper not only offers a theoretical discussionof the usefulness of benchmarking processes as opposed to focusing only onoutcomes, but also helps the practitioner to implement such benchmarkingactivities by highlighting practical instruments for this purpose. Originality/value – This paper brings to bear literature from severalstreams of research. It takes benchmarking from its metric-oriented focus to amore process-focused approach, and applies it in the context of entrepreneurialsurvival. (Publication abstract)

It will happen again

Important lessons can be learnt from the recent SARS epidemic, which reminds us that despite technology and science, the world is not entirely secure from such outbreaks. In addition to health issues and the toll of human suffering, SARS caused much distress within the business community, especially those companies with operations in emerging economies. We look at what lessons can be and have been learnt from the epidemic, and offer a modified framework of crisis management planning to help businesses deal better with similar epidemics in the future. We are also disheartened that very little concrete action seems to have been implemented to foster contingency planning by businesses, despite the financial impact and crisis brought on by SARS.

An Initial Investigation of Employee Stress Related to Caring for Elderly and Dependent Relatives at Home

It is recognised that a sustainable competitive advantage is a necessary condition for a firm to survive and prosper. Specifically, companies need to embark on real, substantive business initiatives that will accrue to the company an asymmetrical, firm‐specific resource that will not be perfectly imitable by competitors, to borrow from Barney’s (1986) parlance. Barney’s notion of imperfect imitability is see as crucial in ascertaining the long run efficacy of any potential source of competitive advantage. A sustainable competitive advantage is one which is of value, is rare, has few if any substitutes, and in particular is not easily copied (Barney, 1986). The acquisition of such a sustainable competitive advantage is seen as the whole point of planning and executive business level strategies.

Social policy recommendations to alleviate stress among informal providers of elder care

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine social policy recommendations to deal with the high level of pressure placed upon informal providers of elder care.Design/methodology/approach – The paper investigates this subject of elder care by first establishing the significance of the problem. The paper provides an examination of how this problem is dealt with in several countries, both at the governmental level and by private enterprise. This forms the basis of a discussion of social (and enterprise) policy implications in particular for the USA. A focus on flexible work scheduling as a viable means to help alleviate the problem is recommended. In particular an approach of voluntary compliance is proposed to encourage wider acceptance by corporations.Findings – The paper finds that priority needs to be given to developing a social policy agenda that focuses on flexible work scheduling. In addition, meaningful effort must be expended to capture input from various stakeholders, and to educate and prom...

The embedded entrepreneur: Recognizing the strength of ethnic social ties

This article is premised on the idea that social networks represent an important, but often overlooked, unit of analysis in management and entrepreneurship studies. The concept of embeddedness, emphasizing the significance of social relationships, is of particular relevance as more and more frequently minorities and immigrants engage in small businessownership. This article borrows from the ethnicity and social network traditions, and offers that an analysis of the ethnic homogeneity of an entrepreneurs strong and weak social ties would be fruitful in gauging entrepreneurial success.

The new normal: lessons learned from SARS for corporations operating in emerging markets

The modern industrialized world was completely caught off guard by the recent SARS outbreak. Fortunately, for most organizations, the impact has been short lived, but management has been provided with a reminder of the impact of the external environment in a world of ever increasing globalization. As seen with the SARS outbreak, a lack of preparedness can have devastating effects on business and warrant inclusion in a business definition of a crisis. This paper uses the recent SARS epidemic as a background to highlight the importance of crisis planning, particularly in emerging economies, and suggests how organizations can address these concerns.

It's COWANBUNGA time: Setting up shop in a foreign country

What happens to business negotiations when culture gets in the way? Participants are about to find out. This game is an international negotiation simulation for the classroom. Participants learn, through role-playing and observation, how cross-cultural differences complicate international business negotiations. Students are formed into pairs of teams. Each pairing involves two teams that are negotiating to set up business in a foreign country. Each pairing has one team of managers of a company from one country, and one team of government officials from a different country. These countries exhibit significant cross-cultural differences. The negotiations are conducted in front of the class, so everyone can observe and learn from the experience. The number of pairings can vary depending on class size.

Online Surveys may be Hazardous to your Corporate Health: A Framework for Assessing and Improving Market Research Survey Quality

This paper identifies a number of difficulties associated with interpreting the results of online surveys used to gather market research data. Because of the nature of data collection, researchers are able to exert little control over who completes these surveys and how often they do so. As a result, findings based on online survey data can be very misleading. We highlight several problematic aspects of online market research surveys (unspecified objectives, unknown probability of selection, non-response bias, accessibility and privacy issues) and suggest that any or all of these possess sufficient potential to destroy the credence of any research findings the online survey may generate. We conclude by outlining ways to maximize the utility of research findings of this increasingly popular mode of survey administration.

Against all odds: a strategic analysis of the fall of Hong Kong, 1941

Purpose – The paper seeks to build on a model from extant literature which utilized a similar historical analysis approach in a study of strategic decision making. Using the (unsuccessful) defence of Hong Kong in World War II as the historical case, the paper seeks first to apply Chung and McLarneys model in the analysis, and then extend the model so as to better handle the unique sequence of events that took place in 1941.Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs a historical case event in an analysis of competitive strategies. The first section provides a descriptive historical account of the battle of Hong Kong. The second section describes the decision‐making model, while the third section applies the model to explain three sets of decisions: the decision to defend the colony, decisions made during the battle and the decision to surrender. The fourth section draws implications for strategic decision making in organizations, while the last section presents conclusions.Findings – Organization the...

The UK Beverage Industry: Changing Nuances of Effective Strategic Planning Processes

This paper explores the characteristics of strategic planning processes in the British beverage industry. Specifically, it looks at the components and contextual elements that make these processes more effective. A study of 100 beverage companies reveals that certain components (functional coverage) and contextual elements (use of multiple planning techniques) are vital to improve the effectiveness of strategic planning processes. A set of recommendations to firms in the beverage industry is discussed.