Multinational Service Research Articles

An Examination of the Dimensionality of the Vengeance Scale in an Entrepreneurial Multinational Organization

Using a sample of 222 customer service representatives in a large entrepreneurial multinational financial services organization, we examined the dimensionality of the 1992 Vengeance Scale of Stuckless and Goranson. With the use of exploratory principal components analysis, a directly computed parallel analysis criterion, and holdings significant at the .30 level, a one-dimensional solution was adequate for the 20-item scale, and all items loaded on the first dimension.

A study of team orientation in global purchasing

Develops and tests a model of team orientation in the global purchasing process of a Fortune 500 multinational services organization. Based on a sample of 179 domestic and 167 international strategic business units (SBUs), the results indicate that team orientation in a purchasing unit is influenced by transformational leadership behaviors and the SBU user’s flexibility in mental models, which, in turn, affects customer orientation, relationship commitment, and cycle time in the process. The results appear to be strategically robust across the domestic and international purchasing settings, while the tactical implications of the results differ somewhat depending on the purchasing scenarios.

Construction Finance Management Issues in the Russian Federation

Most multinational construction service organizations believe that the future of the Russian Federation will provide significant business opportunities. Potential for construction services opportunities in the areas of industrial development, infrastructure construction, and environmental remediation is predicted to be the most promising. Construction service professionals, however, need to be prepared for the economic, financial, and project funding differences in the Russian Federation as compared with the practices in other business hemispheres.

Discourses of flexibility and the rise of the 'Temp industry, or, How I met the 'Kelly Girl' commuting between public and private

This paper argues that multinational Temporary Help Service (THS) firms use gender narratives to sell labor as flexible and in doing so, they proliferate the flexibilization of labor on a global scale and contribute to economic restructuring. How do global processes become daily lived experience? In this article, it is argued that the Temporary Help Service industry expands and maintains a flexible labor force by referring to the multiple identities of women workers. This process is visible in the print advertisements produced by the industry: 943 advertisements which appeared between 1980 and 1990 were analyzed to show how the industry relies on the trope of white womanhood to position and sell its product.

Market Dynamics and Nonwork Travel Patterns; Obstacles to Transit-Oriented Development?

An essential tenet of the new urbanism is that existing as well as new activity centers of metropolitan regions should be developed to higher densities and a greater mix of uses. New urbanism suggests that if centers with different commercial functions are numerous and linked by high-quality transit service, people will significantly reduce their use of automobiles for both commuting and nonwork travel. Working against this ideal of transit-oriented development (TOD) as an organizing concept for urban design are strong market and socioeconomic forces that have created the current highly variegated commercial structure characteristic of urbanized areas in the United States. Results are reported of a preliminary exploration of retail industry decision making, consumer behavior, economic trends, and other key factors that have shaped the retail environment of metropolitan areas over the past 50 years. Well-known human motivations such as bargain hunting, comparison shopping, and variety seeking are reflected in the ongoing executive decision making and resource allocation by chain stores and multinational service institutions that increasingly dominate consumer markets. Efforts to reshape existing land use patterns often meet strong opposition from current residents. This complex of consumer, organizational, and political behavior could well constrain the vehicle travel reductions sought by proponents of new urbanism. Competitive retail industry practices and the associated consumer response are potential impediments to the success of TOD that should be addressed by metropolitan planners.

Emerging Patterns in Global Telecommunications Alliances and Mergers

This paper examines global telecommunications mergers and alliances. Telecommunications companies are combining with other companies with increasing frequency. OECD customers, companies and governments are the key players driving and shaping this trend. Customers drive companies to provide local infrastructure and multinational services. Company strategies to penetrate foreign markets, exploit production economies, increase control and decrease competitive pressure increase merger and alliance activity. These mergers and alliances may actually increase rivalry rather than decrease it, so decreased government intervention may be in order. Copyright 1998 by Oxford University Press.

The effect of global leadership on purchasing process outcomes

This study examines the effects of transformational and transactional leadership behaviors on cycle time, customer orientation, and relationship commitment in the purchasing process of a multinational services organization. The focus is on the activities and relationships between the international strategic business units (SBUs) and the corporate buying center leadership of the organization. Based on a sample of 346 SBUs and a series of 11 case studies, the results suggest that frequent and infrequent SBU users differ somewhat in the leadership behaviors preferred as determined by the effects on the three purchasing outcomes. The paper concludes with a discussion of the results and the implications for future research endeavors on global leadership in purchasing.

Auditor Concentration of Listed Public Companies on International Stock Exchanges

This paper explores the concentration of audit services provided to listed public companies on the Stock Exchanges of Canada, Hong Kong, London, and Singapore. The Canadian and London stock exchanges are chosen as representatives of the North American and European markets, while the Hong Kong and Singapore exchanges represent the newly developed Asia Pacific markets. Public accounting firms have benefited from the globalisation trends by expanding their own markets. The reason frequently mentioned for the mergers of the Big 8 accounting firms to form the Big 6 is that they want to increase their international presence and be in a better position to service multinationals in different markets. However, previous studies of concentration of firms in providing auditing services have all been restricted to the USA or individual countries. This study uses both concentration ratios and Herfindahl indices to examine concentration of audit firms in the international stock exchanges. The results indicate a disparate competition amongst the larger firms in each of the Canadian, Hong Kong, London, and Singapore markets. In all of the four markets, the concentration ratios and Herfindahl indices calculated indicate a lack of competition even at the four firm level. This imbalance was very pronounced when the size of the companies audited is considered using their reported total assets. We also present the market shares of the leading six firms in each exchange and discuss some implications of this disparate competition.

DDC Open Systems—An Overview

The DDC market is global and is filled with multi-national customers and service providers. This article gives a broad perspective on issues at hand

Accountants as “new guard dogs” of capitalism: Stereotype or research agenda?

Drawing inspiration from the theses of the regulation school, Gerard Hanlon analyses the socialisation process in the “big six”. For accountants are, according to him, the new “controllers” of “a process of flexible accumulation”, one that goes hand in hand with a heightened international division of labour. Unfortunately, his research site remains too limited to confirm—or disconfirm—his ambitious hypotheses. Moreover, the transposition of neo-marxist theories leads him to underestimate the whole work of construction of social credibility of accounting knowledge, as well as the complex play of interaction—and not only of opposition—between these “multinational service conglomerates” and the local or national dignitaries who continue to represent the core of the field of practice.

The Current State of Knowledge in International Business in Producer Services

In this paper the authors review recent research on the characteristics and operations of service multinationals. To provide an understanding of the determinants of internationalization, entry modes, and strategies of product and market diversification, examples are taken from producer service firms with specific emphasis upon accounting and advertising services. The competitive advantage of service multinationals in the United States and Western Europe is at the core of most discussion; however, the competitive strategies of the Japanese advertising firms vis-à-vis their Western counterparts are discussed to highlight interorganizational differences. This paper is organized into five sections: the definition of services and the determinants of growth in producer services in the industrially advanced nations; theoretical explanations of international investments in services; empirical research on the determinants of internationalization, entry mode, and business strategies of service firms; industry-specific examples of competitiveness in accounting and advertising; and implications for future research.

TO OWN OR TO FRANCHISE?: THE INTERNATIONAL CONTROL DECISION FOR SERVICE COMPANIES

Franchising, which accounts for a significant share of the U.S. domestic service industry, has also become a major strategic alternative in the international expansion of U.S. service firms. This article attempts to explain the international franchising and control decision by U.S.‐based service firms in terms of a theoretical framework that borrows from agency theory and transaction‐cost analysis. Specifically, it attempts to answer the following question: Why would a well‐established service firm choose to operate in certain countries through a franchising agreement whereas in others it would set up a wholly‐owned subsidiary?In their empirical test of a sample of over 10,000 international service units that were either owned or franchised by 12 U.S. multinational service companies, the authors find that the most important determinants of the decision to franchise rather than own are the following four: (1) geographical distance from headquarters; (2) extent of cultural differences; (3) years of international experience; and (4) degree of concern about reputation or brand name. Greater geographic and cultural distance make service companies more likely to franchise, as do greater experience and familiarity with international business settings. Greater concern about brand name, by contrast, makes companies more likely to own than franchise. Measures of political and exchange risk have no detectable effect.

Service Industries in the World Economy

1. The Rise of Services: Some Factual and Theoretical Perspectives. Introduction. Services: Definition and Classification. The Recent Expansion of Services. Explanations for Growth. Understatement of Role of Services. 2. The Tradability of Services. TRadable and Non--Tradable Services. Information Technology and Tradability of Services. Transport Technology and the Tradability of Services. Service Multinationals and the Tradability of Services. Case Studies of the Development of Service MNEa S. Retail Internationalisation. Government Influences on the Tradability of Services. Changes in Consumer Requirements and Expectations. 3. International Trade and Foreign Direct Investment in Services. Introduction. Measuring Trade in Services. An Outline of Global Trade in Services. The Role of Comparative Advantage. Foreign Direct Investment in Services. International Trade in Services and the Developing Countries. Developing Country Service MNEa s. Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States and International Trade in Services. Liberalizing International Trade in Services. 4. Services and the Global System of Cities. Services and the Global Urban System: Some Explanations. Services and Cities in the Global Urban System. Services and the Global Urban System: Some Examples. 5. Internationalization of Services and Restructuring of Cities. Services and Employment Restructuring in Large Metropolitan Areas: Some Comparisons. Impacts on the Urban Property Market: Offices. Changes in the Location of Services Within Cities. 6. Services in the World Economy: Some Reflections. Services in the 1990s: Victims of the Decade of Optimism?. Service--Dominated Economies: How Desirable?. Is the Globalization of Services inevitable?. Unfulfilled Potential of Telecommunications?. References. Further Reading. Bibliography. Index.

The globalization of service multinationals

Most frameworks used to aid managerial decision- making in multinationals are largely based upon data collected in the manufacturing sector. This article examines how far these frameworks apply to the service sector. Based upon the analysis of nine case studies of multinational service firms, we conclude that ‘transnationalism’ may require different strategic capabilities in the service sector from those in manufacturing.

The Globalization of Service Multinationals in the “Triad” Regions: Japan, Western Europe and North America

In this study we empirically investigate the determinants of foreign direct investment of service multinationals based in the “triad” regions: Japan, Western Europe and North America. Foreign investment decisions of 168 of the largest service firms in nine service industries over the period 1976–1986 are analyzed and hypotheses that are developed based on findings of manufacturing FDI and studies of single service industries are tested using a logistic regression model. The applicability of the MNE-FDI theories to service MNEs is tested empirically over a broad range of MNE home countries and service industries. Differences in the international behavior of service MNEs based in different countries are uncovered and analyzed.

Identification of Key International Information Systems Issues in U.S.-Based Multinational Corporations

:The transfer and management of information systems (IS) technology present a significant challenge to multinational corporations (MNCS). Very few studies have investigated the managerial concerns and issues that confront IS executives in an international context This paper presents the empirical results of a two-phase study designed to identify and prioritize important international information systems issues in U.S.-based MNCS. The findings are compared to those reported in the earlier domestic MIS issues studies. The study reported here (a) identifies a number of international IS issues unique to multinational corporations; (b) emphasizes that top-rated international IS concerns are a mixture of managerial and technical issues much like the domestic issues studies of the 1980s; (c) concludes that multinational service and manufacturing firms perceive the importance of international IS issues differently; and (d) demonstrates, for manufacturing MNCS, that the level of international involvement does impact on how IS issues are perceived.

A world of services?

It is suggested that services have become a pervasive feature of modern global economic development. This is not as new as it might seem because underestimates and understatements are a long-standing problem for an economic sector that remains inadequately enumerated. There is a better appreciation of the uneven distribution of service activities and there is growing interest amongst geographers in examining the causes and explaining its consequences. The behaviour of service multinationals and the intimate association between information technology and the emerging network of global cities is particularly significant. But, while the world is the stage upon which service enterprises increasingly operate, local opportunities and constraints can increasingly influence the ability of individual locations (cities) to participate fully in the new order.

Multinational service firms

A world survey of multinational firms in the key parts of the service sector showing how they have achieved dominance, how they are maintaining it and what is likely to happen in the future. This book should be of interest to lecturers and students of international business, trade and economics.

Service Multinationals: Conceptualization, Measurement and Theory

The application of MNE definitions, measurements and theories to international services is still in its infancy, despite the considerable size and growth of this sector. There are problems in defining, classifying, measuring, comparing and explaining service MNEs, but they do not require special definitions and theories. Still, research to date suggests: (1) delinking the concepts of multinational enterprise and foreign direct investment under certain conditions, and (2) qualifying the nature of ownership, internalization and location advantages in FDI theory, as far as service MNEs are concerned.

Selected U.S. Multinational Service Firms in Perspective

Indications are that advertising, consulting, and law firms are rapidly becoming as entrenched in the global market arena as their predecessors, the manufacturing and extractive industries.