Knowledge that Transforms

This study reports on the construction and psychometric assessment of a measure of export market orientation. Four multi-item scales were developed showing strong evidence of reliability and convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity in samples of U.K. and Dutch exporters. Further analysis revealed full invariance of the final measure across the two country samples. Several suggestions for applying the measure in substantive research are offered.

Our goal is to develop a profile of Chinese managers, and in particular a profile of the New Generation of Chinese managers. The purpose for developing this profile is primarily to provide relevant information for non-Chinese business people, especially Westerners, who plan to engage in business in China. This profile is based on measures of individual values (Individualism, Collectivism and Confucianism) relevant to China and business. Our findings suggest that the New Generation manager is more individualistic and more likely to act independently, while taking risks in the pursuit of profits. However, these New managers are, likewise, not forsaking their Confucian values. Thus, they may be viewed as crossverging their Eastern and Western influences, while on the road of modernization.

The extent to which exchange rate fluctuations affect international prices is called “exchange rate pass-through.” This paper develops a conceptual model in explaining how exchange rate fluctuations are channeled into international pricing strategy, and offers research propositions. Our model posits that the extent of exchange rate pass-through in international pricing is affected by the firm's pricing orientation, performance orientation, distribution policy, and brand equity, as well as by exchange rate uncertainty and competitive symmetry.

A causal model of salesperson performance and satisfaction is tested using data collected in Japan and the United States. The model seems to work well for both cultural groups, that is, comparable levels of variance are explained. However, the data appear to fit the model differently across samples; culture appears to moderate the relationships among constructs. Pay and valence for pay play a more central role for the Americans than the Japanese. Value congruence has a strong influence on job satisfaction for the Japanese, but not the American sales representatives. These findings confirm both the conventional wisdom that financial incentives are crucial in the United States, and the anecdotal evidence that closer supervision and corporate culture will be more useful sales management tools in Japan.

Guanxi refers to a Chinese system of doing business on the basis of personal relationships, and it is representative of the way that business is done throughout much of the non-western world. In this paper we first evaluate guanxi from an ethical perspective, and then attempt to shed light on the sources of its economic advantages and disadvantages through the use of a simple mathematical model. Finally, we point out how eastern and western business practices may already be converging toward systems based on more complete models of trust to deal with the conditions of progress coupled with uncertainty that form our new economic reality.

Australians and Japanese working in Australian and Japanese organizations in both countries were involved in a research project that estimated stereotypical views of national culture. Respondents rated the importance of cultural values in Australia and Japan using the List of Values (LOV) instrument. The results of a discriminant analysis suggested that potentially detrimental misunderstandings about their respective cultures may exist between Australians and Japanese engaged in mutual international business.

Market share performance and profitability of overseas business activities has long been an important issue in international business. In this study, we explore the impact of order and mode of market entry into an overseas market. We find that early entrants have significantly higher market shares and profitability than late followers. We also find that equity joint ventures have a higher profitability than either wholly owned operations or contractual joint ventures. A significant interaction exists between order and mode of market entry. As expected, firm efficiency and size affect the performance of firms. These results are based on the business activities of a sample of 14,466 foreign firms in China in 1995.