Josep Rialp

Family-Owned Business Succession: The Influence of Pre-Performance in the Nomination of Family and Nonfamily Members: Evidence from Spanish Firms

Although family‐owned business succession has been widely researched, very few studies investigate the relationship between preperformance and succession. Drawing on the agency and the resource‐based view theories, we investigate how previous firm performance may influence the nomination of a family or a nonfamily member to top senior positions. We argue that positive firm performance will lead to the nomination of a family member, while negative firm performance leads to nonfamily nominations. Using a stepwise logistic regression with a bootstrap procedure on a sample of nonfinancial firm listed in the Spanish Stock Exchange, the results indicate that performance prior to succession does not affect these nominations, while directive experience does.

Technological Innovation and Exports: Unpacking Their Reciprocal Causality

The authors aim to advance extant understanding of the dynamics of firms operating abroad by considering the effects of innovation (research-and-development intensity, product and process innovations) on exports (breadth and depth), and vice versa. The study analyzes a panel data set of 696 Spanish manufacturing firms during 1994–2005 using Tobit and logit regressions and the Granger test of causality to offer a more complete picture of this complex relationship. They find broad support for the notion that innovation and exports have a reciprocal causal relationship, although the findings are partly nuanced by positive but nonsignificant associations between product innovation and exports and between export depth and process innovation. Furthermore, both export and innovation processes Granger-cause each other, demonstrating that there is a double causal relationship.

Assessing Advertising Efficiency

This research focuses on a major concern for marketers addressing the claims of inefficiency of spending on advertising. We examine whether the Internet can help increase overall advertising efficiency. Using a sample from the Spanish automobile industry, we combine a nonparametric method—Data Envelopment Analysis—with recent important insights from statistics and econometrics studies, and find that online advertising improves the efficiency levels and that this effect is more pronounced in the long-term temporal framework.

Conceptual frameworks on SMEs' internationalization: Past, present and future trends of research

This study attempts to facilitate the future development of a more general theory relative to the nature of small business internationalization and provides a step toward a more holistic understanding of this process. More concretely, its general goal is to draw attention to this potential: the possibility of better examining this process - and developing a more accurate explanation of it - by encouraging future writers to consider the consolidated contributions of four major streams of research in the international business literature: FDI theories, the stage models, entry-mode research and the network approach. Some relevant conclusions and implications are derived from this holistic approach.

A market segmentation approach for higher education based on rational and emotional factors

Market segmentation is an important topic for higher education administrators and researchers. For segmenting the higher education market, we have to understand what factors are important for high school students in selecting a university. Extant literature has probed the importance of rational factors such as teaching staff, campus facilities, and quality of education. Less attention has been devoted to the relevance of emotional factors such as personal values. The aim of this paper is to suggest a segmentation approach based on integrating rational and emotional factors that prospective students value when selecting a university. We gather information from 21 focus groups and develop a survey applied to a sample of high school students. We find six segments characterized by distinct rational and emotional underlying factors that lead to a particular composition for each segment. The factors discussed in this research can be used as a guide for higher education managers to develop segmentation and communication plans.

Internationalisation and technological innovation: Empirical evidence on their mutual relationship

Broadly speaking, internationalisation means the entry to new-country markets. It may, therefore, be described as a process of innovation (Bilkey & Tesar, 1977; Andersen, 1993; Casson, 2000). Faced with increasing international competition, innovation has become a central focus in firms’ long-term strategies. Firms competing in global markets face the challenges and opportunities of change in markets and technologies. One important aspect within innovation management is the optimal integration of external knowledge, since innovation increasingly is derived from a network of companies interacting in a variety of ways (Veugelers & Cassiman, 1999).

International Marketing Research: Opportunities and Challenges in the 21st Century

According to a recent and interesting revision of advances in international marketing theory and practice, the international marketing literature has grown exponentially in recent years in order to offer sufficient support to corporate and public policy makers confronting todays hostile global business conditions (Katsikeas, 2003a). In fact, some of the most relevant academic journals in this field (Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of International Marketing, International Marketing Review, International Business Review, Advances in International Marketing, among others) can be considered highly stable and mature publications, with research articles covering a wide range of topics within the international marketing domain and usually authorized by leading contributors to other high-ranking marketing journals (DuBois & Reeb, 2000; Malhotra, Wu, & Whitelock, 2005).

From export entry to de-internationalisation through entrepreneurial attributes

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine export behaviour from a broad perspective considering the influence of entrepreneurial attributes on export entry, export sustainability and de-internationalisation in Romanian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach – Based on theoretical underpinnings from the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm and the Institutional Economics (IE) framework, the proposed hypotheses are tested with a rich survey data set of 319 Romanian SMEs. The data are analysed by means of a multinomial logit regression. Findings – The study reveals that exporting is not a single event and that variables commonly used to study export propensity linked to the entrepreneurial attributes have a differential influence over the export decisions. More concretely, export entry is positively impacted by the presence of management studies and an entrepreneurial team while sustainment in the international arena is strongly and positively influenced by decision-...

SME networks and international performance: unveiling the significance of foreign market entry mode

This study investigates the relevance of interorganizational networks for the international performance of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in relation to the foreign market entry mode (FMEM) selected. We distinguish two groups of internationalized SMEs: exporting firms and micromultinational enterprises (mMNEs). Drawing on insights from the network theory, our study accounts for the role of intermediate outcomes (innovative behavior and foreign market knowledge). Structural equation modeling is conducted in a sample of U.K.‐based internationalized SMEs. Our findings suggest that interorganizational networks have an indirect influence on international performance but differences are found among the two groups of internationalized SMEs.

Internationalisation of Central and Eastern European small firms

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the internationalisation of small firms from a Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) country with an emerging market economy, while accounting for the constantly changing institutional framework as well as resource (un)availability which may influence their involvement in foreign market operations. In doing so, it supports the applicability of the revised Uppsala internationalisation process model (2009), which highlights the key role of networks for international activity. Design/methodology/approach – This study is based on a qualitative approach leading to multiple case studies. The main source of data is semi-structured, in-depth interviews conducted within six small firms. Findings – The revisited Uppsala model proves to be generally valid for the small firms analysed in this study. Networks play a crucial role for knowledge creation and exchange, and frequently represent the most reliable resource at firms’ disposal. Trust is an indispensable ingredie...