Top Management Emphasis Research Articles

Gaining competitive advantage through new product development capability in Malaysian Government Linked Companies

A new product development capability can be shown through organisational routines that shape the processes of innovation, which are aimed to reconfigure a firm’s product portfolio. It is aimed to create a concrete physical asset from an idea and this relates to the innovation that is the mechanism by which firms to produce new products, processes and systems that essential in order to adapt market changes, technologies and types of competition. New product development capability aids corporate managers plan and execute strategies successfully while securing sustainable competitive advantages. This paper aims to explore the extent of top management emphasis on the measures of new product development that are deemed important for business survival and sustainability in the context of Malaysian government-linked companies (GLCs). A questionnaire survey was distributed with a response rate of 47%. Findings revealed that design a high quality of product or service is the most important measures. This revealed that it is a common exercise for Malaysian GLCs to put high emphasis on the importance of the quality of the new products or services.

Gaining competitive advantage through new product development capability in Malaysian Government Linked Companies

A new product development capability can be shown through organisational routines that shape the processes of innovation, which are aimed to reconfigure a firm’s product portfolio. It is aimed to create a concrete physical asset from an idea and this relates to the innovation that is the mechanism by which firms to produce new products, processes and systems that essential in order to adapt market changes, technologies and types of competition. New product development capability aids corporate managers plan and execute strategies successfully while securing sustainable competitive advantages. This paper aims to explore the extent of top management emphasis on the measures of new product development that are deemed important for business survival and sustainability in the context of Malaysian government-linked companies (GLCs). A questionnaire survey was distributed with a response rate of 47%. Findings revealed that design a high quality of product or service is the most important measures. This revealed that it is a common exercise for Malaysian GLCs to put high emphasis on the importance of the quality of the new products or services.

Antecedents of market orientation: marketing CEOs, CMOs, and top management team marketing experience

While market orientation has been extensively studied, there is a dearth of research that empirically explores its antecedents, particularly those related to top management emphasis. This study integrates upper echelons theory and its behavioral integration perspective with the market orientation literature, to empirically investigate the impact of marketing representation in the top management team (TMT)—through CMO presence, and marketing experience of the CEO and the TMT—on market orientation. The results show that appointing a CEO with a marketing background is directly associated with increasing market orientation in the firm. While CMO presence is also hypothesized to make firms more market-oriented, such an effect is observed only at relatively high levels of marketing experience in the rest of the TMT. The study’s results have important theoretical and practical implications for the market orientation, marketing organization, and TMT research streams.

An exploratory study of affecting key factors on market orientation by small and medium scale enterprises

Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs) are called as the engine of the economy in developing countries such as Sri Lanka. Accordingly, SMEs are playing significant role in socio economic development of any country. In Sri Lanka, SMEs are contributed for the national GDP by 70% (Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 2013). Majority of SMEs are being engaged with local resources utilized business activities. SME creates a platform for locals to manufacture products and services using indigenous resources to get its optimum contribution for the nation. Majority of SME entrepreneurs are doing their own enterprises utilizing their own skills, knowledge, and expertise and so on. They are much creative enough in developing new product and service concepts in order to the market standards. How much standards they are following on, marketing their products and services is the main obstacle they have confronted. Due to poor market orientation practices followed by SMEs, still they cannot produce their maximum contribution to the economy. Having an intention on these obstacles confronted by SMEs, this study is designed to identify the key determinants affecting on market orientation by SMEs. Further this study attempted into identification of issues and barriers that are inhibited the producing market oriented products and services by SMEs. For the purpose of this field study researches have selected Matara District as their research site. Small and Medium scale entrepreneurs were the population for this study. Numbers of 50 SMEs have been randomly selected for the sample and a structured questionnaire was used to gather relevant primary data. Using factor analysis technique results were found. The results were discussed relating to four key areas; market based rewards systems, top management emphasis, inter-functional connectedness and management risk posture. Finally the study concluded that designing the cushion environment for SMEs is the responsibility of policy making bodies to get the maximum of SMEs within this challenging economic conditions and hostile competitive environment.

Effect of Management Behaviours and Environmental Dynamics on Market Orientation Behaviours among Botswana’s Small Service Firms

Market orientation has emerged as a significant antecedent of organizational performance and is presumed to contribute to the long term success of a firm. While all firms are strongly influenced by their external environmental, small and medium sized firms may be more influenced by their own tangible and intangible management behaviours as well as environmental dynamics. The growing number of academic studies on market orientation and mixed findings they have reported complicate the efforts among managers and academics to identify the real antecedents of this construct. The results of this study shows that there is a positive association between top management emphasis, interpersonal connectedness,market turbulence, competition and market orientation behaviours of small service firms. Centralization component of management behaviours among small service firms was however found to have positive relation with market orientation attitudes of small service firms. This contrast with extant findings in developed economies. This study thus explicate some new insights and questions on this important strategic direction.

Revisiting the Psychometric Properties of Market Orientation Framework in an Emerging Economy: a Case-Study of Botswana’S Small Service Firms

While much empirical work has centered on market orientation, an investigation of the psychometric properties of Market Orientation (MO) scale items as adapted from Kholi and Jaworski,(1993), in the Botswana context has been under researched. A reliable scale with demonstrated content and convergent validity is developed in this empirical study and the impact of market orientation efficiency on economic and noneconomic performance of service firms is evaluated based on key informant data drawn from sampled service firms in Botswana. Top management emphasis, centralization, market turbulence, intelligence generation, dissemination and responsiveness, business performance, customer satisfaction, technological turbulence, market based reward system, and overall market orientation were found to be reliable and valid antecedents and consequences of market orientation. The study results using factor analysis approach, therefore offer one more robustness in the applicability of MO scale items among Botswana’s small service firms by ensuring that managers use psychometrically valid scale items to generate, disseminate and respond to information with a view to improving performance of small service firms.

Antecedents and Outcomes of Brand Management from the Perspective of Resource Based View (RBV) Theory

Brand management requires greater emphasis on internal factors to increase brand performance. A model of antecedents and outcomes of brand management is developed in this study based on the Resource Based View (RBV) Theory. Top management emphasis on brand, corporate supportive resources and market orientation are identified as crucial internal factors or antecedents for success of brand management. Apart from that, the brand management measurement are expanded in this study with the introduction of three new marketing constructs namely marketing capabilities, innovation and brand orientation as new dimensions in brand management which currently comprised of management related constructs. This study also contributes in the brand management of small and medium enterprise (SMEs) literature as previous studies mainly focused on the brand management for multinational companies or large organizations. One important issue of SMEs is the “internal” brand management which is currently under-researched even though it is critical in brand building and management. Therefore, this research aims to highlight the antecedents and outcomes of brand management in Malaysians’ SMEs based on RBV theory. A comprehensive literature review was done and a conceptual model is proposed in this literature review. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n10p432

Antecedents of market orientation in semi-public service organizations: a study of Dutch housing associations

The purpose of this study is to explain which factors affect the market orientation of semi-public service organizations in their transition from public to private. Change capacity and interdepartmental and organizational system factors are hypothesized to affect market orientation, which is operationalized in behavioural and cultural dimensions. Results of a survey among top-level executives of Dutch housing associations show that interdepartmental and organizational system factors have a significant effect. The most important antecedents, however, are two change capacity factors: process improvement control and top management emphasis. This suggests that change capacity is crucial for understanding market orientation in many service industries.

The Role of Top Management in Developing a Customer-Oriented Sales Force

A national random sample of industrial salespeople was surveyed to examine the effects of salespeople’s perceptions of top management long-term orientation, top management emphasis, and top management risk aversion on customer-oriented selling behaviors. The results indicated that perceived top management long-term orientation had a significantly positive effect on perceived top management emphasis and a significantly negative effect on perceived top management risk aversion. In turn, perceived top management emphasis positively affected customer-oriented selling, whereas perceived top management risk aversion did not affect customer-oriented selling. The study underscores the importance of salespeople’s perceptions of top management factors for implementing the marketing concept. The managerial implications of these findings are discussed and several directions for future research are proposed.

The Impact of Integration and Responsiveness on MNC Subsidiaries’ Market Orientation

ABSTRACT In this study, the author explored the impact of integration and local responsiveness on the market orientation of multinational corporations’ foreign subsidiaries. An investigation of a sample of 250 foreign subsidiaries in the United Kingdom revealed different effects of integration and local responsiveness on market orientation. In specific, integration directly impacts the development of market orientation of multinational corporations’ subsidiaries, whereas responsiveness effects on market orientation are mainly indirect through first affecting the top management emphasis and then the use of market-based reward systems at subsidiaries. Managerial and research implications are discussed.

Antecedents and performance of electronic business adoption in the hotel industry

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the environmental and organizational factors that influence the intensity of electronic business adoption by contemporary organizations, and provide evidence regarding the relationship between e‐business adoption and organizational performance.Design/methodology/approach – The study develops an integrative conceptual model of the antecedents and performance outcomes of e‐business adoption. The research model is subsequently tested empirically using data collected from 154 hotel companies. Structural equation modeling procedures were used to assess the psychometric properties of measurement scales and test research hypotheses.Findings – The study findings indicate that customer power has the greatest impact on the intensity of e‐business adoption, followed by organizational learning ability, adhocracy culture, and top management emphasis. The results also suggest that companies that use the internet more extensively to perform a range of value‐chain act...

Market orientation as a competitive tool: Empirical evidence from ‘quartile one’ banks in Ghana

The positive impact of market orientation has been agreed upon generally, yet few studies have focused explicitly on its implications for banks. Based upon a case study involving the top four banks in Ghana (that is, ‘quartile one’ banks), this article examines the incidence of market orientation in banks. Research evidence was obtained from in-depth face-to-face interviews of eight managers and questionnaires completed by 109 managers. Qualitative data were analysed deductively and the quantitative data were analysed using univariate and multivariate techniques. The interview results highlight that customer orientation seems to dominate the patterns of bank market orientation while the descriptive statistics show strong emphasis on intelligence dissemination. From the regression results, top management emphasis, market-based reward systems and interdepartmental coordination are the essential internal values for developing market orientation in Ghanaian banks. It is found that market orientation is a significant factor for achieving high levels of employees’ esprit de corps and customer satisfaction, which are particularly viable for banks facing severe competition, technological turbulence and operate in a weak economy. It suggests that without competition, technological turbulence and weak general economy, market orientation is an insignificant factor for business success. Discussions, managerial implications and avenues for further studies are provided.

Antecedents and Performance Consequences of Integrated Brand Management in China: An Exploratory Study

ABSTRACT This study explores the role of integrated brand management in China. Using the survey data for 309 brands, our results show that integrated brand management has a positive effect on business performance in China. We also find that top management emphasis and corporate supportive resources directly foster integrated brand management. In addition, the emphasis of top management indirectly affects integrated brand management through reward system. Furthermore, we find that these relations vary between high- and low-performance brands. The implications for transitional economies are discussed.

Antecedents of market orientation in the microfinance industry of Pakistan

The performance of microfinance providers in Pakistan is very weak whereas market orientation has been found to significantly influence performance of firms in the general business field. This study attempted to identify those factors (antecedents) that determine the level of market orientation of microfinance providers in Pakistan. The results of the study indicated that top management emphasis on market orientation and formalization had significant effects on the level of market orientation of microfinance institutions. This suggests that for a microfinance institution to be market oriented, it needs commitment and reinforcement from the top management to motivate employees at the lower level to be sensitive and responsive to the changing borrowers’ needs and preferences. Further, policies, rules and regulations need to be in accordance with the market situations. Key words: Market orientation, antecedents, Pakistan, microfinance, sustainability.

DOES BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT MATTER TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MARKET ORIENTATION?

Developing a market orientation is one of the key issues in market‐orientation research. In this study, based on a survey of top managers from 143 Chinese hotels and 72 travel services—two tourism sectors with distinctly different business environments—we explore the effects of environmental conditions on the development of market orientation. In particular we examine whether environmental conditions have a direct impact on the level of market orientation or whether they moderate the relationship between market orientation and its antecedents. We find that the effectiveness of top management emphasis varies under different environmental conditions but that the impact of other antecedents is not influenced by environmental conditions.

The Relationship between Organizational Commitment and Market Orientation

Existing literature seems to disagree on exactly what role organizational commitment plays in the market orientation of a firm. This paper hypothesizes that organizational commitment mediates the relationship between a market‐based reward system and market orientation, and moderates the strength of the relationship between top management emphasis and market orientation. Data collected from 105 firms and 306 managers across Canada indicate that organizational commitment fully mediates the relation between market‐based reward systems and market orientation. Our hypothesis that organizational commitment moderates the relation between top management emphasis and market orientation was not supported.

The determinants of multiple forms of controls in foreign subsidiary manager evaluations

This study explores how the determinants of financial, non-financial and behavioural controls vary in foreign subsidiary manager performance evaluations. Possible impacts of the following factors are analysed: extent of geographical dispersion, decentralisation and perceived environmental changes. Hypotheses are tested, using principal component and multiple regression analysis, with data collected from annual reports and from 103 top managers from a wide range of Finnish business unit headquarters. The results suggest that, in MNCs, top management's emphasis on financial controls tends to remain very high, regardless of the contingencies analysed. However, the data support several regularities between the factors examined and non-financial controls in particular and behavioural controls to a smaller extent. This, in turn, leads to variations in the relative emphasis on financial controls.

A comparative study of market orientation in China's two services sectors

Developing a Market Orientation (MO) is one of the key managerial issues. In this study, using a sample of firms from two services sectors in China with distinctly different business environments, we explored the effects of business environment on the development of a MO. A key finding of our study is that the effectiveness of top management emphasis on the MO development varies under different environmental conditions.

Orientação para o mercado: antecedentes e conseqüências

Esta pesquisa aborda três perguntas: (1) Por que algumas organizações são mais voltadas para o mercado do que outras? (2) Que efeito essa orientação para o mercado tem sobre os funcionários e o desempenho da empresa? (3) O elo entre a orientação para o mercado e o desempenho da empresa depende do contexto ambiental? As conclusões de duas amostras de âmbito nacional sugerem que a orientação para o mercado está relacionada com a ênfase que a alta administração dá à orientação, com a aversão dos principais gestores ao risco, com conflitos e ligações interdepartamentais, com a centralização e com a orientação do sistema de recompensas. Ademais, as conclusões sugerem que a orientação para o mercado está relacionada com o desempenho empresarial (mas não com o market share) geral (subjetivo), com o compromisso dos funcionários com a organização, e com o espírito de classe. Finalmente, a ligação entre a orientação para o mercado e o desempenho parece ser muito forte em quaisquer contextos ambientais caracterizados por diversos graus de turbulência no mercado, intensidade competitiva e turbulência tecnológica.

The Impact of Market Orientation on the Internationalization of Retailing Firms: Tesco in Eastern Europe

This paper investigates a Western retailer's market orientation levels in two emerging markets. We examine whether the market orientation-company performance link holds true for retailers in emerging economies, despite environmental differences. By using concepts from key studies we have assimilated a fully representative model - applied through interviews with top management from Tesco and its subsidiaries and affiliates in Hungary and Slovenia. Using this example, we find that the market orientation-business performance link is valid for Western retailers in emerging economies. Here, the retailer applied market orientation predominately through; the use of matching with suppliers of own brand goods; top management emphasis on market orientation and risk taking. Intelligence generation and dissemination was exercised via global processes such as brand review.