Stuart Sanderson

The effect of two variables on industrial mail survey returns

Abstract An experiment was designed to test the effectiveness on response rates of (1) an offer of a full survey report with respondents entering their names and addresses on the questionnaire and (2) the use of typed and handwritten postscripts for an industrial population. Results demonstrate that the use of postscripts was ineffective, while the offer actually reduced response. The ineffectiveness of the handwritten postscript strengthens the viewpoint that methods that may be successful for household populations may not always be effective for industrial populations.

New approaches to strategy: new ways of thinking for the millennium

Much has been written about the impact of the millennium. The plain fact is that much of what will happen in the early part of the next millennium is already happening. This is not to underestimate the effects of such change. Perhaps chief among all of the major forces for change which will affect organisations and the way in which they are managed will be the impact of knowledge. The need to base competitive strategies on intellectual capacity will directly influence management processes and organisational forms. The paper draws on the work of influential writers in the area of environmental change and knowledge management and attempts to trace the linkages between the need to actively manage knowledge and the resultant changes in organisations. Finally the point is made that although we may be in a new information age the concept of knowledge based strategies is not new and predates the industrial revolution.

A factorial investigation of methods of stimulating response to a mail survey

Abstract The mail survey is a useful data collection instrument for surveying commercial populations. However, its major drawback is that response rates can sometimes be low, throwing doubt upon the validity of the results. A factorial experiment was designed to test the effectiveness of a small monetary incentive and a booklet enclosed with the questionnaire on response. Theory suggested that both had high potential for success, but neither technique had been previously tested on a commercial population in the UK. Support was found for the monetary incentive but the booklet failed to induced higher response. Test of their impact on response quality, sample bias and willingness to be further interviewed showed that neither technique had any influence. The results suggest that a small monetary incentive can raise response rates to commercial mail surveys with no loss response quality nor distortion of sample composition.

Hybrid strategic thinking in deregulated retail energy markets

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the results of research undertaken to test the use of traditional strategic approaches in developing competitive advantage through the assessment of the importance to small‐ and medium‐sized firms of cost and services available in a competitive retail market.Design/methodology/approach – A survey involving 181 small‐ and medium‐enterprises provided responses to a questionnaire that measured the importance of key success factors to the customer when making a decision regarding their choice of natural gas supplier.Findings – The findings suggest that, the use of a low‐cost strategy alone may not be sufficient to create a competitive advantage for suppliers and that a hybrid strategy of cost, service quality, enhanced communication and unbundled services will.Research limitations/implications – The sample was limited to natural gas customers in Ontario, Canada at a specific period of time in the deregulation process reducing the ability to generalize results ...

Great Expectations?:: Brazilian Managerial Perceptions on Prospective European High-Technology Joint Ventures

In this paper the authors examine the views of Brazilian Managing Directors of prospective high-tech joint ventures with European or US firms. It provides insights on the importance of contributions from a typical local (Brazilian) partner firm, as well as from a typical foreign (European or US) partner firm. It also uses a panel of Specialists in order to classify independently two groups of firms: the most suitable and the least suitable to international joint ventures. Several differences concerning the perceived importance of prospective contributions were identified between the two groups of local firms.