Evangelia Katsikea

Guest editorial: Export marketing: developments and a research agenda

Export marketing research over the last four decades has covered a number of theoretical and practical issues such as standardisation and customisation, export development processes, barriers to exporting, export performance, etc. Rapid technological, institutional, legislative, economic and attitudinal changes across the globe pose challenges for the future development of export marketing research. The emergence of turbulent and hypercompetitive business environments calls for exporters to reconsider the bases and sustainability of their competitive advantage to overseas markets. In particular, future research should focus on the identification of the right export marketing capabilities that firms should develop or acquire, the ability to leverage or transfer them across markets, and the ability to constantly upgrade them using proper organisational learning routines. Of critical importance are the processes used to develop capability‐based strategies and to manage relationships with international customers. This double issue comprises ten articles that deal with some of the main challenges posed to export marketing.

Antecedents and performance of electronic business adoption in the hotel industry

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the environmental and organizational factors that influence the intensity of electronic business adoption by contemporary organizations, and provide evidence regarding the relationship between e‐business adoption and organizational performance.Design/methodology/approach – The study develops an integrative conceptual model of the antecedents and performance outcomes of e‐business adoption. The research model is subsequently tested empirically using data collected from 154 hotel companies. Structural equation modeling procedures were used to assess the psychometric properties of measurement scales and test research hypotheses.Findings – The study findings indicate that customer power has the greatest impact on the intensity of e‐business adoption, followed by organizational learning ability, adhocracy culture, and top management emphasis. The results also suggest that companies that use the internet more extensively to perform a range of value‐chain act...

Export Market Expansion Strategies of Direct Selling Small and Medium Sized Firms: Implications for Export Sales Management Activities

The authors use punctuated equilibrium theory as a framework to help explain potential differences in the export sales management arrangements between firms that adopt an export market expansion strategy of either market concentration or market spreading. On the basis of a thorough review of the extant literature, the authors identify certain export sales managers’ characteristics and behavior, export sales behavioral control, and satisfaction with export sales territory design as potential discriminators between these two groups of direct exporting firms. Consistent with the hypotheses, in general, the authors find that the tenets of punctuated equilibrium theory hold for the sample of small and medium-sized U.K. exporters. In addition, the results indicate that export market expansion strategy has important implications for a firms export sales management arrangements. The authors discuss the findings and outline implications for business practitioners and further research.

The Export Information System: An Empirical Investigation of Its Antecedents and Performance Outcomes

Marketing literature has widely acknowledged the significant contribution of information-processing activities to export organizations’ success. The export information system (EIS) comprises four key dimensions: information sources, information acquisition, information dissemination, and information utilization. The current research develops and empirically tests a comprehensive conceptual framework that assesses (1) the chain of effects linking the four key dimensions of the EIS, (2) the influence of organizational structure (i.e., formalization and centralization) on the efficiency of export information dissemination, and (3) the relationship between the EIS and export performance. The authors also investigate the moderating effects of certain environmental forces (i.e., market turbulence and intensity of competition). The findings support the critical role of information processing in the success of small and medium-sized exporters. The authors conclude by discussing the studys implications for academic researchers and practitioners as well as directions for further research in the field.

A Proposed Conceptualization of Electronic Service Quality as a Higher-Order Formative-Indicator Construct

The conceptualization and measurement of service quality delivery through electronic channels has attracted significant research attention in recent years. Electronic commerce in general and online retailing in particular continue to expand at a staggering rate. The enormous growth in the number of companies that engage in online activities has resulted in an extremely competitive electronic marketplace. Whereas low price and Web presence were initially considered as the key drivers of success, firms soon realize that the provision of high quality services is the primary source of competitive advantage in online channels. By providing a high level of electronic service quality (e-SQ), companies can strengthen customers’ satisfaction and loyalty, and encourage repeat visits and purchases. Naturally, the definition and measurement of e-SQ became a primary issue of concern among academic researchers and business practitioners. In light of these developments, the main objective of this study is to develop and empirically test a measurement model of e-SQ.

OPEN EDUCATION BUSINESS MODELS: CONFIGURATIONS AND SUSTAINABILITY

Abstract Whilst previous chapters have considered the nature and benefits of open education (OE) initiatives, a fundamental question remains as to the sustainability and viability of such practices over the medium to long term. The existing literature suggests a considerable diversity of models of OE in organisational and funding terms, and there is the need to gain a better understanding of the distinctive pathways to sustainability that are linked to specific organising and funding logics. However, this very diversity and the insufficiently developed notion of sustainability in this context hamper the efforts aimed at categorising and comparing different models, and this chapter considers these questions in more depth. To this aim, we analyse and categorise the main funding arrangements by first identifying the key components of each distinctive OE system in the Section ‘System Elements’, whilst reflecting in parallel on the notion of sustainability. In the Section ‘System Configurations’, we offer a detailed description and analysis of the most prominent funding models of OE to illustrate the diversity of funding arrangements and distinctive organisational logics underpinning them. We explore the logic of these business models by unpacking each distinctive form of organising around four key aspects: customer offer, value chain configuration, funding and profit formula, and strategic positioning. In the Section ‘Sustainability’, we seek to refine our understanding of the concept of sustainability in the context of OE, giving due consideration to non-economic definitions of this concept and to some of the core objectives attached to OE. We suggest that sustainability can be ultimately apprehended and defined through a number of key variables. The section ‘Open Education: Motives and Implications’ examines the motives behind the OE movement, its wide-ranging implications, and considers how OE fits in with the trends in the higher education (HE) sector as a whole. We discuss the future for this radical innovation, emphasising the central role of communities of practice and the need for institutional support. We argue that the development of sustainable communities is the fundamental basis of any OE model and that reflexivity is required in order to ensure the sustainability of this innovative practice. Similarly, the systematic development of collaborative practices and networks between the main actors at community, institutional and national levels is considered key to the development and embedding of OE initiatives within the overall educational sector. The concluding section brings together the various strands of our argument on the nature and characteristics of the various OE business models, their sustainability and the way forward.