Eyes open and hands on: market knowledge and marketing capabilities in export markets

PurposeDrawing on the knowledge-based view of the firm (KBV) and Dynamic Marketing Capabilities (DMC), this paper examines the role of key internationalization knowledge absorption processes as learning strategies, namely market exploitation and market exploration in enabling internationalization knowledge absorption in export-oriented firms involved in manufacturing goods or producing electrical/engineering products.Design/methodology/approachThe data were gathered via a cross-sectional survey using a questionnaire (i.e. n = 315) on a sample of Bangladeshi manufacturing firms exporting in US and European markets.FindingsThe findings suggest that an export firm's internationalization absorption strategies are positively associated with export performance. The authors also found that the mediator, DMC, strengthened the relationship between knowledge absorption and export performance. Moreover, the findings of moderated mediation model revealed that the direct and indirect effects of market exploitation on export performance are more prevalent when competitive intensity is low. While competitive intensity is high, the direct and indirect effects of market exploration on export performance are more prevalent.Practical implicationsBy introducing a higher-level dynamic marketing capability approach and linking it to ambidexterity constructs (learning though exploration and exploitation), export business professionals should appreciate the full spectrum of mid-level marketing capabilities they need to develop alongside their exploration and exploitation strategies to improve their export performance. This study directs attention to the competitive intensity conditions the exporting firm is facing. When export business professionals are faced with high-level of competitive intensity in the market, they should establish a clear focus on their exploration learning strategies if they wish to enhance their export performance.Originality/valueThe authors contribute to two broad domains of literature: organizational learning and DMC strategy. The study results show that how the two components of international ambidexterity as organizational learning constructs (i.e. market exploration and exploitation) influence knowledge management processes within firms through a firm's possession of a fine configuration of higher-level marketing capability. This study also theoretically and empirically examines how higher-level DMC strategy can mediate the consequence of international knowledge absorption mechanism on firm export performance. From a practical perspective, this study provides useful lessons for exporting firms wishing to enhance their performance.

Neurodiversity and remote work in times of crisis: lessons for HR

PurposeThe rich qualitative study builds on 11 semi-structured interviews with nine neurodivergent employees and two business professionals supportive of neurodiversity to understand the lived experiences of dealing with crisis in a remote working environment.Design/methodology/approachThe purpose of the reported research is to understand how neurominorities experience remote working in the times of crisis and what the implications of this are for human resource (HR) professionals.FindingsMoving to remote work resulted in a lack of routine, distractions and working long hours, which can all be difficult for line managers to monitor. Further problems with communication in a virtual environment and lack of understanding by others were found to be particularly burdensome to neurodivergent individuals. On the positive note, remote working in the times of crisis allowed for avoiding sensory overwhelm and was seen as an important step in creating a healthy work–life balance (WLB).Practical implicationsThe findings of this study point HR practitioners' attention towards building a more neurodiversity friendly post-pandemic workplace and prompt employers to offer working arrangements, which better suit employees' domestic and personal circumstances.Originality/valueThis study addresses the lack of research on the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on neurominorities. In doing so, it answers recent calls to move away from universal HR as a route to positive employee outcomes and facilitates a more accurate reflection of organizational reality for disadvantaged members of society.

Exploring the benefits and challenges of Internet of Things (IoT) during Covid-19: a case study of Bangladesh

The Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to have a huge impact, especially during the pandemic period. The study reveals that people are using the IoT mostly for education purposes (as students and educators), office work, banks and medical purposes during the pandemic. The topmost benefit of using IoT services experienced by people during pandemic situations is that it helps to strictly maintain physical distance. However, the greatest challenge faced by people is that the use of the IoT increases social distancing and reduces personal communication. Data were collected through a questionnaire distributed online and using a convenient random sampling method. A total of 260 participants’ properly completed responses were analyzed after conducting Three-fold validation. Research method was quantitative and empirical. Although, some studies have been found about IoT prospects in Bangladesh, no study has specifically explored the benefits and challenges of IoT services in diverse fields of Bangladesh during this new normal COVID-19 situation. The results can be beneficial to academic scholars, business professionals and organizations in different sectors and any other parties interested in determining the impact of IoT services on pandemic.

Assessing Malaysia and Indonesia as emerging retail markets: an institution-based view

PurposeDespite the significant potential of Malaysia and Indonesia as emerging Southeast Asian retail markets, their nuanced differences in relation to global retailers have not been fully analyzed. Drawing the institutional theory, this study analyzed the institutional environments of Malaysian and Indonesian markets contrasting their similarities and differences in formal (i.e. explicit, regulatory) and informal (i.e. tacit normative and cultural-cognitive) institutions.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis of this exploratory is based on a large number of publicly available sources, including research papers, government documents and reports. The paper triangulated the validity of the data with multiple sources, including scholars, business professionals and government officers at the chamber of commerce in the countries.FindingsAlthough the two countries adjacently located in Southeast Asia share Islam as a major religion and the Bahasa language, there are significant differences in their formal institutions related to the retail environment, such as openness to foreign investment and retail infrastructure. Based on the analyses, this study provided recommendations for global retail companies targeting or planning to enter the Malaysian and Indonesian markets.Originality/valueThis paper was an original application of institutional theory to Malaysia and Indonesia and analyzed the two emerging economies where institutions vary and are less visible to many multinational companies.

Transdisciplinarity in Japanese business communication

Transdisciplinary collaboration has become one of the most important agendas in the field of Applied Linguistics and professional communication. Investigation into transdisciplinary collaboration has been conducted at the interface of both fields through knowledge transformation and multimethod action research. In Japan, however, investigation into transdisciplinary collaboration or transdisciplinarity still holds great potential for development. As the first step to investigate transdisciplinary collaboration, the author conducted in-depth interviews with eight Japanese business professionals who are also engaged in academic collaboration. The purpose of this study is to understand the challenges and opportunities they are currently facing in transdisciplinary collaboration and to identify shared goals that both applied linguists (academics) and business professionals can explore by focusing on shared language and knowledge transformation in business practice. The whole interview data were analysed using the Modified Grounded Theory Approach (M-GTA) (Kinoshita, 2003), in which nine basic concepts were obtained in the Open Coding Stage. These were then categorised into four larger groups in the Selective Coding Stage: (1) the current barriers for transdisciplinarity, (2) integration of theory and practice, (3) sensitivity to common ground, and (4) contribution to Japanese society. After presenting these concepts, the construction of shared language as a theme of collaboration is highlighted in the Discussion section.

Collaboration between the Conscious and the Unconscious: A Jungian Analysis of the Negotiation Process

The common approach to the negotiation process focuses on the external manifestation of the interaction between two parties who are trying to reach a satisfactory agreement. This view does not take into account the internal drivers of behavior of the involved parties. The externalized dynamic between the negotiators is only the secondary result of the interplay between the conscious and unconscious elements in the psyche of both parties. The condition of a long-lasting agreement is therefore a collaboration between the conscious and unconscious representation on the individual level. This article examines the transcendent function as a union between the conscious and the unconscious, specifically the ego and the self. It focuses on the tendencies of these two factors that can either hinder or make the transition of energy possible in view of reaching a successful manifested agreement. The study provides a straightforward reference that can be used by analysts and business professionals to help them understand what are the psychological aspects that affect the negotiation process, both on the individual and on the collective level.

Enhancing Interactional Competence Through the Use of English Expressions

An exploratory study was conducted on the use of common English expressions in accountancy and business courses in a Singapore university. The aim of the study was to investigate the use of English expressions required by students to engage in effective communication at their workplace either during their internship period or upon graduation. Data garnered through a quiz, an online survey, semi-structured focus group interviews with students, and face-to face interviews with business professionals were analysed through descriptive statistics and qualitatively to gather the perceptions of students and business professionals on the use of English expressions such as common idioms, proverbs and catchphrases relevant for workplace communication. The study found that students’ interactional competence can be enhanced by increasing their learning engagement through relevant communicative activities that include English expressions in the physical and/or virtual classroom.

Business Ethics for Better Behavior

Business Ethics for Better Behavior concisely answers the three most pressing ethical questions business professionals face: 1. What makes business practices right or wrong? 2. Why do normal, decent businesspeople of goodwill sometimes do the wrong thing? 3. How can we use the answer to these questions to get ourselves, our coworkers, our bosses, and our employees to behave better? Bad behavior in business rarely results from bad will. Most people mean well much of the time. But most of us are vulnerable. We all fall into moral traps, usually without even noticing. Business Ethics for Better Behavior teaches business professionals, students, and other readers how to become aware of those traps, how to avoid them, and how to dig their way out if they fall in. It integrates the best work in psychology, economics, management theory, and normative philosophy into a simple action plan for ensuring the best ethical performance at all levels of business practice. This is a book anyone in business, from an entry-level employee to CEO, can use.

The Rule of Law as an Emergent Social Norm: Evidence from Qualitative Research in Russia

We study attitudes to legality and the rule of law in Russia through analysis of interviews with legal and business professionals conducted in 2013–14, the high point of the stabilisation of the Russian economy and polity following the transition of the 1990s. The annexation of Crimea occurred during the course of our fieldwork but the effects of the cooling of relations with the west and the introduction of sanctions were yet to be felt. We observed a perception that the administration of civil justice was not uniformly corrupt, but that in ‘political’ cases, that is, those involving state officials or powerful private interests, judicial decisions could in effect be bought and sold. This commodification of civil justice was the result of an empowered but predatory state. While the state was strong enough to engage in predation, however, it was seen as lacking the capacity to manage the economy in an effective way or to deliver essential public goods. We consider the implications of our findings for a conception of the rule of law as an emergent social norm. We conclude that the 1990s policy of weakening the state through privatisation and the removal of regulatory controls, a policy designed to ensure that the command economy did not return, has left Russia with a dysfunctional public order, under which the ‘normality’ envisaged by the reforms of the 1990s is a distant prospect.

The Financial Press and the Investing Public

For centuries, Britain has had a financial media landscape unrivalled in Europe with newspapers like the Financial Times or The Economist traditionally keeping business professionals up to date about market developments. But by the early twentieth century, punters could get the latest prices and market-moving stories from tabloids like the Daily Express and the Daily Mail. By 1960, even the working-class Daily Mirror had a designated City page—right next to the racing coverage—and gave investment advice to people of modest means. This chapter takes a fresh look at the financial press as the main source of information for private investors of different social backgrounds. When seeking to explain why economic liberalism became fashionable again in Britain during the 1970s, we must consider that for more than two decades, millions of newspaper readers had been increasingly exposed to the asserted benefits of free-market capitalism and were actively encouraged to take part in the market. Recent studies on the history of neoliberalism state that financial journalism became an important amplifier for the Thatcherite language of profits in the 1980s. This chapter argues that this misses the point and shows instead how Britain’s financial press was not an echo chamber of Westminster politics—it set the tone of the wider share ownership agenda. The newspaper columns of the Financial Times and the Daily Telegraph or the market populism of The Express, The Mail, and The Mirror played a crucial part in shifting British public opinion in favour of free-market capitalism.