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This paper extends the concept of market orientation from the firm to the value chain level and seeks to develop empirically founded propositions on determinants of different levels of market orientation of value chains.

Four case studies on value chains within the areas of agribusiness and fisheries are conducted. For each value chain, desk research is combined with interviews with decision‐makers of all types of value chain members. Interview guidelines were derived from a conceptual model of potential determinants of value chain market orientation.

Degree of market orientation of value chains is found to be related to degree of heterogeneity and dynamism of end‐users served, nature of chain relationships, regulations and prevailing mental models of decision‐makers. Short and balanced chains are believed to further upstream market orientation.

The results point at two areas, where additional research on market orientation is called for: a better conceptualization of market intelligence and theorizing on most cost effective ways of being market oriented, including implications for the distribution of market oriented activities among value chain members.

The paper underlines the importance of managing channel relationships, up to and including vertical integration, when serving markets with high degrees of end‐user volatility.

This paper is the first empirical contribution to the market orientation literature employing a perspective encompassing the whole value chain.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how organizations focusing on employee-driven innovation (EDI) use information and communication technologies (ICT)-based tools in their innovation work. EDI involves systematic exploitation of knowledge resources in organizations. Thus, the role of ICT for efficient knowledge management is important in this respect.

In-depth interviews with employees, managers and union representatives from 20 organizations focusing on EDI were conducted. The sample included organizations from eight different industries, representing both private and public sectors.

The results show that ICT-based tools can support the processes of acquisition, dissemination and exploitation of knowledge, which are important aspects of EDI. However, use of ICT-based tools has to be aligned with organizational structures and professional role conduct to be efficient.

This study contributes to practice by highlighting several factors that organizations should emphasize to succeed with application of external and internal knowledge in their innovation work.

This study applies a knowledge management perspective on the role of ICT-based tools to support EDI in organizations. The findings contribute to an improved understanding of organizational conditions for succeeding with use of ICT-based tools in innovation work, and emphasize that perspectives on knowledge management, technology management and human resource management have to be combined to understand how EDI can be promoted by using ICT in organizations.

International trade shows have become a significant promotional tool for exporters. However, little academic research has been used to examine the role of trade shows within marketing. Reviews the extant literature and develops a new framework of trade show participation modes (i.e. exhibitors and visitors) and motives (i.e. selling and buying). Notes that the two perspectives of buying exhibitors and selling visitors have not been discussed in the literature. Applies the framework to an empirical study of Norwegian seafood exporters participating at international trade shows. Finds significant differences in firm characteristics, participation motives and effectiveness between different participation modes and motives. Develops managerial implications and directions for future research.

SELECTED by the European Council of the International Committee for Scientific Management (C.I.O.S.) to organise the first European Conference devoted entirely to management problems, the British Institure of Management has risen nobly to the occasion with a three‐day programme full of interest and variety within the main framework of the conference theme. It is hoped that representatives from no less than fourteen European countries will attend.

Current relationship marketing literature has stressed the importance of building customer‐employee bonds. These efforts sometimes result in customer‐employee relationships that overwhelm or supersede the customer‐firm relationships. Previous studies report that such an imbalance weakens the firm's position with the customer. Very little research has investigated what factors contribute to the imbalance and its consequences for the firm's relationship with the customer. This research aims to look at customer relationship quality (RQ) imbalance, specifically the imbalance that favors the employee, and identifies six factors as important antecedents. Also studied are the customers' cognitive and emotional reactions to the termination of the customer‐employee relationship when RQ imbalance favors the employee.

In total, 780 customer‐employee pairs from 72 service firms were surveyed using a structured questionnaire.

Analyses of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant group difference along all six antecedents and three consequences.

The findings of this study suggest that imbalanced customer relationships might be prevented, or at least predicted, if the causes of such relationship structure are better understood.

Service organizations should be aware of the negative consequences of imbalanced customer relationships and take necessary caution in their company policies in order to eliminate the negative consequences of imbalanced customer relationships.

This study is the first quantitative inquiry into imbalanced customer relationship issues, which are extremely important in the services industry. Thus, it enhances the literature on services management.

This paper seeks to examine the differences at international trade shows between exhibitors who participate in joint booths and those who participate in individual booths. The structure, strategy and trade show performance of exhibitors at joint booths and those at individual booths are analysed.

The paper presents an empirical study of 208 exhibitors at an international food and beverage show, focusing on the differences in structure, strategy and performance between individual exhibitors and exhibitors at joint booths. The differences are identified and discussed.

Individual exhibitors place more personnel and products at their booths and they allocate more resources, top management commitment and planning. However, exhibitors at joint booths have more formalised planning and objective setting. The performances of five groups of trade show activities were assessed. Individual exhibitors perform significantly better on image‐building activities at the show. There are no differences with regard to firm characteristics between the two participation modes.

The study is limited by the fact that the sampling frame is made up of exhibitors at a single international food and beverage show, and may therefore be more representative of that kind of show. Despite the limitations encountered, the findings have important implications for exhibitors at international trade shows and export marketing programmes as well as other marketing programmes offering services to international trade show exhibitors.

A broad range of joint booths and strategy variables is investigated. Also, a more comprehensive and theoretical grounded performance measure is adopted compared with previous research.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse environmental responsibility of companies from industrialized countries when they source materials and products in countries with less environmental protection.

The paper is a study of corporate environmental management in the Danish textile and clothing sector, with 13 cases based on interviews and material from reports and websites. The criteria for choosing the cases were variety of size and market segment, and a mixture of companies that take environmental initiatives and companies for which it was not known whether they take environmental initiatives.

Several different environmental practices were identified: some companies were early which got sustained initiatives, and some early and not sustained initiatives; some companies were late with sustained initiatives, and some late and not sustained initiatives; and finally, some have a practice without environmental initiatives. Dominating types of initiatives are cleaner technology, environmental management systems and cleaner products. Driving forces are governmental regulation, customer demands, market expectations and protection of corporate brands. Some companies focus on capacity building at the suppliers in developing countries, while other companies seem to focus the complex activities at domestic suppliers. Two new facilitating actors in environmental management in product chains were identified.

The focus on one sector in one country limits the number of variables in the analysis. It enables comparisons among the analysed companies, but limits the possibilities for comparison across sectors and countries.

The paper has value as a study of the development of environmental management in a number of companies within the same sector over a number of years, whereby changes in management focus and the embedding of initiatives can be analysed.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate Chinese food retailers' positioning strategies. Specifically, retail segments and critical factors related to the nature of the food supplier relationships that may be influenced by the positioning strategies are investigated.

The retail markets in Guangzou and Chengdu are investigated. Data are collected by means of observation and survey and then combined in the analyses. Observational research (i.e. expert assessments) is conducted in 152 retail outlets in order to assess their positioning strategies. The purchasing managers in the same retail outlets are personally interviewed by means of structured questionnaires.

A three‐cluster solution for the positioning strategies is revealed: down‐market stores, middle‐range stores, and up‐market stores. The annual sales and the number of self‐service counters are highest among up‐market retailers. They are also typically joint ventures, supermarkets and department stores, and members of a retail chain. A broad range of brands and products and also marketing support from the suppliers are most important for the up‐market stores.

The study is limited to two regional retail markets and should therefore be cross‐validated with other retail sectors and markets. Thumbnail sketches of the retailer segments enable food suppliers to make better and more informed decisions about how to position their product offer and marketing mix.

Although positioning strategies are at the core of modern marketing, relatively little research has been conducted addressing how retailers in general and Chinese retailers specifically include their retail buying behaviour and structural characteristics in the positioning strategy. This study contributes to filling this gap in knowledge.

The readability of annual reports is an important feature that determines the quality of communication between a firm and its stakeholders. Extant literature has demonstrated that readability characteristics of annual reports are crucial in facilitating the investor's ability to process and analyze information, resulting in higher firm performance and lower agency costs. This study examines the relationship between annual report readability, agency costs and the firm performance of listed financial sector companies in Oman.

Using a sample of 150 firm-year observations of listed financial sector companies on the Muscat Securities Market (MSM) over the period 2014 to 2018, a panel regression analysis is used, along with the system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation to address endogeneity concerns. The readability of annual reports is proxied by the length of the annual report, the Flesch reading ease and the Flesch–Kincaid index.

The ordinary least squares (OLS) results suggest that readability proxied by the length of the annual report has no significant relationship with agency cost, return on assets (ROA) or stock returns. The OLS results are confirmed through the system GMM estimation model for agency costs, Tobin's Q and stock returns. Easier-to-read annual reports measured by the Flesch reading ease demonstrate high asset utilization ratio and Tobin's Q. These results emphasize Flesch reading ease measure in explaining the economic significance of agency cost and Tobin's Q. In contrast, difficult-to-read annual reports are observed for firms with high ROA.

The study is limited to the financial sector. Its generalizability could be extended to a similar sector or countries with features similar to Oman. Future studies on readability could be extended to other sectors of Oman, and financial firms with easier-to-read annual reports show a high Tobin's Q, which reflects the confidence of investors in the stock market. These findings may encourage policymakers to regulate the readability features of annual reports and influence the reporting quality of financials and disclosures also including cross-country comparisons.

Financial firms with easier-to-read annual reports show a high Tobin's Q, which reflects the confidence of investors in the stock market. These findings may encourage policymakers to regulate the readability features of annual reports and influence the reporting quality of financials and disclosures.

While the study extends prior literature on readability, agency costs and firm performance, it is also one of the first to examine the financial sector of an emerging country, namely, Oman. The study supports the obfuscation hypothesis through the association of readability measure with agency cost. Unlike prior research that has focused on common computational linguistic literature, this study uses three proxies for readability to assess information quality.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the motivations for participating in international trade shows and perceptions of effectiveness and challenges faced by exhibiting firms.

A multiple‐methodology approach is adopted. Initially, interviews are conducted with travel trade exhibitors. These then serve as a foundation for a survey of senior tourism managers.

Exhibitors perceive efficient and effective products/services being displayed on the stand as the central factor for success. The key motivation for participating in travel trade shows is to improve relationships with customers. The primary motivation in participating in specific travel trade shows was influenced by the reputation of the fair, and the key challenge relates to following up leads from the fair.

As the study emphasises tourism and travel, generalising to other trade shows must be done with caution.

The intangible and simultaneous nature of the offering emphasises empathy, responsiveness and reliability of the staff and will affect visitors' perceived service quality of the interaction. Furthermore, an explanation of the various motivations may aid exhibitors in their objectives for participating in travel trade shows.

Although the tourism industry, and consequently travel trade shows, are booming, little research examines the motivations and effectiveness of travel trade from the exhibitor's perspective. Furthermore, the services nature of travel trade shows and its effects on marketing travel trade shows have seen only limited investigation.