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This paper aims to identify the archetypes of marketing mix standardization-adaptation in MNC subsidiaries and to examine the relationships between MNC subsidiary strategy, environment and performance through the theoretical lenses of fit and equifinality.

The authors use a mail survey to collect data from MNC subsidiary business units located in multiple countries. They apply a novel archetypal analysis method to identify the diverse archetypes of marketing mix standardization-adaptation in MNC subsidiaries. Finally, through cross-tabulation and regression analysis, they examine the relationships between MNC strategy, environment and performance.

They identify four archetypes of MNC subsidiary standardization-adaptation including a new archetype that is not recognized in the literature. This analysis finds partial support for both fit and equifinality, suggesting complementarity between the two theories.

The study could be extended with longitudinal data to examine the dynamics in MNC marketing mix strategy and performance in response to the changing business environment.

The findings suggest that MNC subsidiary managers could deploy a broader set of international marketing strategy configurations than those currently prescribed to enhance performance.

The authors use a novel configuration-based archetypal analysis method and extend the theoretical typology of international marketing strategies pursued by MNC subsidiaries. The partial support for both fit and equifinality expands the theoretical lens through which we can examine the relationships between MNC marketing strategy, environment and performance.

Analyses, in depth, the problem of overlap between the areas of different television companies, the effect on this of the new UHF television network, and the implications from a marketing viewpoint. Based mainly on the results of research carried out by the author in the summer of 1969, and reported elsewhere in greater detail. Focuses on the marketing implications of the existing and future overlap areas between ITV companies. Couples some projects of future overlaps made on the basis of existing information and discusses the difference between UHF and VHF frequencies. Summarises that this analysis has shown an area definition is needed which is more suited to the needs of marketing and enabling the more efficient use of resources.

There is a great divide between the degree to which academic research accounts for the role of managerial discretion in firm performance and the weight given by the popular press and financial community to the importance of the management of an organization. The purpose of this paper is to bridge this gap by quantifying the way managerial beliefs influence the quality of firm performance in a turbulent environment based on e‐business.

An e‐business research setting is used that is associated with a situation of environmental turbulence to allow for sufficient variance in managerial beliefs to measure their effect on firm performance. The sample contains 293 firms.

Aggregate level results indicate that managerial beliefs have a positive and significant effect on firm performance. Four distinctive segments were also found to exist. These segments vary in terms of the strength of the position that a manager holds regarding the value of e‐business and firm performance.

The paper shows that the affect of e‐business on firm performance is not structural in the sense that firm performance does not depend on the firm or industry but is reflective of the strength of the beliefs held by managers. This implies that the “black box” approach that is characteristic of much management research may be problematic because it fails to measure the variables that may matter most to performance.

Using data collected from 302 firms spanning a wide range of industry sectors, tests a model designed to explain the decision of whether to use or not to use an outside technical consultant when purchasing a big‐ticket, high technology product in the information technology area. The results indicate that different categories of variables influence the decision to include or not to include an outside technical consultant in the buying center. In order to assess the degree of convergent validity in our findings, a second model was tested using a somewhat different, but nonetheless related dependent measure, namely the extent of the consultants’ involvement across eight buying stages. Overall, the model testing results provide good support for the majority of the hypothesized relationships, especially those related to the buyer’s access to external networks, product class knowledge, and technical/administrative role. A major finding is that 28 percent of firms in our sample engaged an outside consultant to help them make the purchasing decision. Analysis of the consultants’ extent of participation in these purchasing decisions indicates that they had high involvement in seven of the eight buying stages. Though the consultants were found to have least involvement in the final stage of the buying process, i.e. the selection of the preferred supplier, it seems reasonable to expect that they are key influencers in this final stage as they had a significant effect on shaping all the preceding buying stages.

This paper explores route‐choice patterns among motorists on a scenic road in south‐western Norway. Factor analysis is used to identify the characteristics of the types of motorists who seek particular benefits when they choose to travel along this specific route. Five factors were found: 1) experiencing landscapes and attractions; 2) outdoor recreation; 3) off the beaten track; 4) a suitable road; and 5) a variation of travel experiences. In conclusion, the paper offers an alternative framework of road choice structures.

This article is premised on the idea that social networks represent an important, but often overlooked, unit of analysis in management and entrepreneurship studies. The concept of embeddedness, emphasizing the significance of social relationships, is of particular relevance as more and more frequently minorities and immigrants engage in small businessownership. This article borrows from the ethnicity and social network traditions, and offers that an analysis of the ethnic homogeneity of an entrepreneur's strong and weak social ties would be fruitful in gauging entrepreneurial success.

This paper seeks to energise discussion around philosophical assumptions in entrepreneurship education (EE). Far from being abstract considerations, this paper underscores that philosophical assumptions – which are embodied in research products and inherited from others – have practical implications.

The study’s approach is to purposefully unsettle taken-for-granted assumptions implicit within 44 influential articles which have been said to reveal EE's Invisible College. The authors utilise three heuristic tools offered by problematisation – identifying paradigmatic assumptions, (re)conceptualising subject matter and making a reversal – to explore the implications of the meta-theoretical underpinnings of this body of work. The goal of this paper is not to find a definitive answer to the question “what is EE's underlying philosophy?” but rather ask, “what can we learn about philosophical assumptions by reconsidering this particular set of influential articles at a deep level?”

With some notable expectations, EE's Invisible College is a place where ideas about an external social reality accessible to the dispassionate researcher are implicitly accepted, where assumptions about the possibility of objective knowledge and the superiority of scientific methodology dominate and where functionalist research products reproduce the social status quo. Thus, whilst the EE research studied might appear diverse at a surface level (topics, research design, inter-disciplinary perspective), diversity is less apparent when considering the deeper, philosophical assumptions which underpin this body of work.

Revealing assumptions which are embodied within research products may prompt critical thinking about the practical implications of research philosophies in the field of EE. In considering the implications of philosophical assumptions, a connection is made between problems that are observed at surface level – from lack of legitimacy, criticality and taken for grantedness of the field – to the deeper hidden system of ideas which lies beneath. Having highlighted potential problems of these deeper assumptions, the paper concludes by posing questions in relation to the type of research that is pursued and legitimised in the field of EE, the socialisation of researchers and the implications for criticality in the field. Such issues illustrate that, far from philosophical assumptions being an abstract or unimportant concern, they are highly practical and have the power to constrain or empower action and the social impact of research.

Aarhus Kommunes Biblioteker (Teknisk Bibliotek), Ingerslevs Plads 7, Aarhus, Denmark. Representative: V. NEDERGAARD PEDERSEN (Librarian).

Analyses the wide range of issues to be considered when launching a new product development programme. Stresses the importance of new product development in taking a successful company forward. Discusses the risks involved – in the marketplace four out of five new products result in failure. Examines options for where a new product development department should fit into the company – e.g. in the marketing department, in the technical department or as a stand‐alone department. Outlines the advantages and disadvantages of using an external consultant to advise on the setting up of new product development or relying on existing staff. Stresses the importance of analysis and feedback from any methods used. Concludes there is no ideal new product organisation – what's best for one firm might not be best for another. Asserts that in reality, a range of new product organisations can be found, and tailored to meet individual needs.

Customers' participation in co-creation is a prerequisite for co-creation success. To identify customer co-creators, research has shown a recent interest in the role of personality traits as predictors of customers' engagement in co-creation. However, the empirical results regarding the direction and significance of these relationships have been inconclusive. This study builds on the five-factor theory (FFT) of personality to enhance one's understanding of the nomological network that determines the relationship between personality traits and customers' willingness to co-create (WCC).

Based on a large-scale empirical study on technology-based services (TBSs) in healthcare (n = 563), the authors empirically investigate the role of the five-factor model (FFM), innate innovativeness (INI) and enduring involvement (EI) in predicting customers' WCC using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

The authors’ empirical findings show that depending on the configurational setting of the personality traits tied to the FFM, INI and EI evolve as mediators in determining customers' WCC.

This study is the first to introduce the FFT of personality into co-creation research. The results of this paper shed light on the relationships between personality traits, characteristic adaptations and customers' WCC.