Filipe Coelho

The Determinants of Export Performance: A Review of the Research in the Literature between 1998 and 2005

Considerable attention has been paid to the determinants of export performance. However, despite this research effort in identifying and examining the influence of such determinants, the literature is characterized by fragmentation and diversity, hindering theory development and practical advancement in the field. This paper attempts to review and synthesize the knowledge on the subject. As a result, this study reviews and evaluates 52 articles published between 1998 and 2005 to assess the determinants of export performance. The assessment reveals that: (a) more studies have been conducted outside the USA; (b) the majority of the studies focus on manufacturing firms, with relatively few studies examining the service sector; (c) the majority of the export studies continue to focus on small to medium-sized firms; (d) there is a continuous increase in the sample size; (e) despite the problems that may arise from the use of single informants, it seems that none of the studies reviewed here collected data from more than one informant in the firm; (f) an increasing number of studies have been using the export venture as the unit of analysis; (g) the level of statistical sophistication has improved; (h) the use of control and moderating variables in export performance studies has increased; (i) more studies have started to include the external environment in their models, including domestic market characteristics; and (j) market orientation as a key determinant of export performance emerges in this review. Finally, conclusions are drawn, along with some suggestions for further research.

Job Characteristics and the Creativity of Frontline Service Employees

This study investigates the main and interactive effects of job characteristics on the creativity of frontline service employees. Past research investigates the link between job complexity, an index measure of job characteristics, and employee creativity. This study follows a component-wise approach in studying the influence of each job characteristic on the creativity of employees. The approach overcomes a number of limitations such as the sole reliance on the intrinsic motivation rationale. In addition, we conduct this research in services, whereas past research has focused primarily on other settings. The study tests a model with 460 employees from a service setting and shows that consideration of the effects of each job characteristic has an explanatory power beyond that of job complexity. Furthermore, the results show that job characteristics interact with each other to affect creativity. Finally, the results also indicate that the component-wise approach is useful for managers for prioritizing efforts. In particular, the results indicate that to promote creative behaviors, service managers should consider increasing employee job autonomy, variety, feedback, and identity. However, the interactions between job characteristics also reveal that to build an environment that stimulates creative performance, it is important to find the right balance between job characteristics.

Exploratory Evidence of Channel Performance in Single Versus Multiple Channel Strategies

Channel performance is a key marketing and organisational issue, given the potential and actual impact in the accomplishment of organisational goals. A recent trend in distribution strategy has been the increasing utilisation of multiple channels across sectors. Because of the newness of these channel systems, it is important to understand how they influence key channel performance indicators. With this purpose, a study was conducted in a sample of 62 UK financial services organisations. The research considered several indicators of channel performance, which were statistically reduced to two broad dimensions: sales and profitability. The results show that multiple channels are associated with higher sales performance and lower channel profitability. However, the statistical significance of the results was observed to depend on the extent to which multiple channels were being used. In addition, this article analyses the relationship between the number of channels and company size and product type. Implications for future research are derived.

From personal values to creativity: evidence from frontline service employees

Purpose – This paper seeks to examine how personal values and the way employees respond to the organization and the job impact on employee creativity. Specifically, the paper proposes a framework that argues that creativity is a function of the employees personal values, of organizational commitment and customer orientation. Moreover, it also aims to investigate the moderating effects of commitment and customer orientation on the relationship between personal values and employee creativity.Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual model was tested empirically using data collected by questionnaire in a sample of 266 bank employees. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis is relied on to test the hypothesized model.Findings – The empirical results indicate that personal values, organizational commitment, and customer orientation are important drivers of the creativity of frontline employees. In addition, the paper also detected some moderating and mediating effects.Originality/value – The contribution...

Multiple channel systems in services: pros, cons and issues

The number of companies in the services sector making use of two or more channels of distribution to market their products is increasing steadily, and this strategy is expected to become the dominant channel design. Nonetheless, research on the design of multiple channel systems is decidedly sparse. This article attempts to make a contribution to this topic by discussing the possible benefits of a multi-channel distribution strategy, the possible drawbacks and by discussing a number of issues that emerge. Finally the potential contribution of a number of research perspectives to a better understanding of the drivers of a multiple channel system is discussed.

Determinants of multiple channel choice in financial services: an environmental uncertainty model

Purpose – The use of multiple channels is increasingly an option for many products. Yet, despite their popularity, little is known in a systematic way about such channel structures. In particular, there is a lack of research in respect of the reasons why multiple channels of distribution emerge. This work proposes to attempt to deal with this problem by developing and testing a model comprising a set of hypotheses regarding the circumstances under which companies go multi‐channel.Design/methodology/approach – The work draws on the organisational environment literature and, in particular, the sources of environmental uncertainty. Data were collected from firms in the UK financial services industry through personally administered questionnaires. Research hypotheses were tested using logistic regression.Findings – The results suggest that customer heterogeneity, customer volatility and environmental conflict positively influence the choice of multiple channels, whereas intermediary heterogeneity and volatili...

Single versus multiple channel strategies: typologies and drivers

Companies across every industry are increasingly relying on multiple channels to make their services available to consumers. Despite the popularity of multiple channel strategies, little is known about these distribution structures. In fact, the determinants of multiple channel strategies have remained virtually unexplored. The purpose of this article is to look at various approaches to classifying single versus multiple channel strategies, to look at some of the drivers of multichannel usage and to propose a new classification of single/multiple channels. Using data from the retail financial services sector, the article demonstrates that research into the drivers of multi-channels is sensitive to the classification used.

Exploring the relationship between individual values and the customer orientation of front-line employees

Abstract Because of the nature of services, namely the inseparability of production and consumption, employee behaviours influence customer perceptions of service quality and satisfaction with the service provider. In particular, customer-oriented employees seek to help customers by addressing their needs, and this contributes to the building of customer satisfaction and the development of a relationship. Not surprisingly, research has been investigating the drivers of employees’ customer orientation. This paper examines how individual values influence the customer orientation of front-line service employees, a topic that has been unexplored in extant literature, and this is useful for the selection of employees who match the firm’s service strategy. To accomplish this, the study relies on the Schwartz value theory, which is applied to front-line employees in banking. The findings indicate that both resultant conservation and resultant self-enhancement affect the customer orientation of employees, and that these effects are moderated by job satisfaction and autonomy.

Product involvement, price perceptions, and brand loyalty

Purpose – This paper aims to contribute to the literature on brand loyalty by illustrating the mechanisms through which product involvement influences brand loyalty. In doing so, the study is original in considering the mediating role of the multidimensional price perceptions’ construct. Design/methodology/approach – Two thousand questionnaires were distributed in two shopping malls, yielding a sample of 535 consumers, covering eight different grocery products. To test the hypothesized model, the authors relied on structural equation modelling. Findings – Product involvement influences on brand loyalty are partially mediated by price perceptions. This is a novel finding. Moreover, product involvement relates positively to six price perceptions, and this is also original. As expected, value consciousness and sale proneness are detrimental to brand loyalty, whereas price – quality schema contributes to it. Unexpectedly, however, price consciousness, sale proneness and price mavenism are positively related t...

Organizational Factors Associated with Job Characteristics: Evidence from Frontline Service Employees

Job design is an effective manner for influencing the conduct of employees. However, research has not yet considered how job characteristics are associated with other organizational factors to promote employee attitudes and behaviors in a more sustainable way. The authors develop a structural model that addresses this gap with data from services. The results provide broad support for the proposed model, indicating that, perceptions of a customer‐oriented culture, autonomy, and behavior‐based evaluation systems are associated with task variety, identity, and supervisory support.