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This paper presents the results of an empirical research concerning the influence of the Chief Executive Officer’s (CEO) personality on the export behaviour and performance of 81 manufacturing firms in a small European country. Regression analysis was applied in order to determine which of the personality characteristics studied could explain the export performance of the firms. The results showed that there are several personality traits of the decision maker that can be related to export involvement, supporting the “upper echelons model” that contends that firm performance is a reflection of its top managers. Moreover, the effect of the CEO’s personality on the export performance was found to be much stronger in small enterprises than in larger ones.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine types of exporting firms featuring strategy orientations and profitability of differential emphasis.

To answer the questions the paper raises, data of 82 exporting firms established in Greece are analysed with the help of factor analysis, cluster analysis and cross‐tabulation.

The findings reveal three types of firms pursuing different strategy orientations for dealing with competition in export markets (i.e. the marketing‐based strategists, the hybridists and the non‐strategists). Furthermore, they suggest that export profitability is dependent on these strategy types.

Generalisation of the research results should be made with caution. A fruitful direction of further research is to replicate the principal features of the study with other samples of firms in Greece or in comparable national contexts, especially within the European Union.

The empirical results highlight the discussion of more vs less profitable forms of competitive advantage pursued by firms operating in foreign markets. A message of utmost importance for practitioners is that the hybrid form of competitive advantage, although dominant, does not offer the most profitable strategic choice.

The study focuses on strategy types of firms competing in the international arena to offer a view on the basis of competitive advantage. By excluding the well‐known pure and stuck‐in‐the‐middle alternatives, the evidence highlights either no‐strategy or combined choices of strategy orientations, which differ in terms of export profitability. As such, the study sheds some light on the relation of strategy to export performance, which is under‐researched outside the USA.

The purpose of this paper is to address the issue of corporate identity modeling. Corporate identity is an abstract concept that takes many forms, from the brand and logo, to the product and the company's reputation. One of the keys to a successful business presence hinges on effective management of corporate identity. The paper seeks to explain the stages that are involved in developing, then assessing, a model of corporate identity, which has academic rigor and managerial relevance.

The process started by postulating a “six‐station” model that should assist firms to build and manage their corporate identities effectively. This was done by reviewing the corporate identity literature and appreciating the limitations of existing models. The literature review indicated that ten criteria were important for the creation of a robust model and the six‐station model was based on these. The six‐station model was then investigated by means of a single hypothesis. Two empirical phases – qualitative and quantitative – accompanied the study to test the hypothesis.

The validity of the six‐station model was corroborated by the research, which indicated that the six‐station model was considered by managers and consultants to be a valid and reliable model in managing the concept of identity and describing the way corporate identity operates.

A logical approach was employed in constructing the model, which was assessed for validity and managerial applicability. The model provides a conceptual framework for analysis of the identity development process, and is not intended as a mechanical model of what is in reality a continuous, synergistic and non‐linear process. Developments in later stages do not always depend exclusively on causes arising from the previous stage. It is believed that by postulating a corporate identity model, which meets key criteria for robustness, and providing some indication of its managerial applicability, researchers will be stimulated to consider how refinements can be made to corporate identity models by initiating and implementing closer dialogue between researchers and practitioners.

The purpose of this paper is to deal with the attitudes towards women as managers, and the leadership style that women managers adopt. By replicating a study that was conducted in 1990, it is intended to explore how things have changed during the last 15 years, in terms of attitudes towards women in management, as well as in terms of the leadership style that each gender tends to apply at work.

A longitudinal survey, first run in 1990 and repeated in 2006, with a similar to the original sample of 229 Greek middle managers. Three very popular research scales are used to study the phenomenon: the women as managers scale, the satisfaction with the supervisor and the Likert four types of leadership styles.

The 2006 initial findings indicate greater presence of women in managerial positions, and relatively stable attitudes towards women as managers. Satisfaction with supervisor does not appear to be significantly correlated with the managers' gender, while, at the same time, no significant difference appears to exist between the leadership styles that male and female managers adopt.

This research is unique in drawing on cross‐time, large pool of data, to support the existence of persisting effects in the attitudes towards women as managers, as well as the effect of gender on the satisfaction with supervisor.

In drawing attention to certain important gaps in the exporting literature, reports on a systematic study of the export competitive advantages of indigenous manufacturers in a small European country. The focus is on the examination of potential differences in perceptions of export competitive advantages with regard to firms′ size, export involvement and export market experience. The research findings suggest the existence of significant differences in perceived export competitive advantages between different exporter groups in terms of company size and degree of export involvement. However, no relationship is established between perceptions of competitive advantages and export market experience. Discusses managerial and public policy implications of these findings and outlines directions for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate a control engineering-based system model that allows for any value of production delay for a three-tier supply chain with information delays between tiers or systems with epos.

A discrete z transform model of automatic pipeline, variable inventory and order based production control system three-tier supply chain is obtained using a state-space model using a reachable control formulation. This model provides a discrete time state-space model conversion using an exponential production delay with no loss of generality.

This work allows a three-tier supply chain model to be computed via a spreadsheet using any production delay and can be modified to include different sales smoothing procedures. The model is fully controllable and observable. Stability of these models is obtained from the system eigenvalues and agrees with our previously published stability boundaries.

The system is described by a linear control model of the production process and does not include production limits or other resource limitations, including history of sales demand and response.

This present model is an extension of the model devised by White and Censlive, in that it allows accurate modelling of multi-tier inventory production systems by permitting flexible selection of delay parameter values for real systems.

Lalwani et al. devised a controllable state-space model for a general APVIOBPCS production and inventory system. However, their procedure did not cater for production delays of other than one time unit. The authors have sought to devise a model that allows for any value of production delay.

A discrete z transform model of APVIOBPCS inventory is obtained using conventional algebra and converted to a state-space model using a reachable control formulation. This is then analysed to produce an analytic expression for the eigenvalues and then the general stability solution is derived from the unit circle condition.

This model allows a state-space model conversion from a discrete time input-output model using an exponential production delay with no loss of generality and is fully controllable and observable. Stability of these models can be obtained from the system eigenvalues and agrees with the authors' previously published stability boundaries using transform models.

The system is described by a linear control model of the production process and does not include production limits or other resource limitations. It does not include any past history of sales demand and responses.

This work allows a model to be implemented in a spreadsheet of APVIOBPCS PIC that can be used for any production delay and can be modified to include different sales smoothing procedures.

This present model is an extension and improvement of the model devised by Lalwani, in that it allows more accurate modelling of inventory production systems by permitting a more flexible selection of delay parameter values, closer to those of real systems.

This personal narrative describes the results of a tragic gun accident involving my young son and his close friend. In this autobiographical narrative, I trace the effects of youthful offender laws on my family and explain how our state's juvenile justice system transformed our family's lives for over three years. In addition, as both a participant and a sociologist observer, I show how race and class have conditioned the accident's outcome. As Griffith and Smith's (2005) work on mothering for schooling illustrates, social class greatly affects the relationship between school and family.

In our case, largely because of my training as a researcher and my husband's background in education and psychology, we were able to make the juvenile justice system work as positively as possible for our son. And, because of my privileged position as an academic, I am now able to make visible the effects of youthful offender laws on one youthful offender and his parents.

Drawing attention to certain important gaps in the exporting literature, develops and evaluates a model of export performance using a sample of regular exporters from a small European Union country, in their trading activities with overseas distributors. Integrates and views specific firm characteristics, export commitment and export‐related perception variables as potentially important factors in explaining firm performance in the export market context. Tests the model in a three‐step procedure employing multiple regression analysis and identifies several elements that are related directly to export performance. Discusses the implications of the study for both business practitioners and public policy makers and highlights future research directions.

Anti‐corruption Agencies (ACAs) have been seen by donors and commentators as a visible and discrete institutional response to a country's commitment to anti‐corruption work. A number of reports have commented adversely on the general effectiveness and impact of ACAs in practice. Much of the concern relates to the environment in which the ACA works, but over which they have limited control, but often fails to address an ACA as an organisation something over which an ACA does exercise much more control. The purpose of this article is to argue that there are common organisational issues that face any new and small institutions in both public and private sectors, that may assist an ACA's development.

The article reviews the extensive literature to assess what appear to be the key issues facing such organisations in the private sector usually termed small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) – and discusses whether their experiences offer any applicability to an ACA's organisational strategy and development.

The article argues that a number of organisational issues are generic and ACAs, and those who support and fund them, should draw on the lessons from the wider private sector management and organisational development literature on SMEs for ACAs.

The article provides a framework for ACAs to consider organisational reform and to guide donor support.

ACAs are rarely reviewed as an organisation. Indeed, much of the criticism identified in this article points to this as a significant issue, for which private sector approaches may provide guidance for organisational reform.