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The study of international business has become increasingly important in recent years. So important that the American Assembly of the Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) has called for the internationalisation of business curricula. In 1992 and beyond, successful business people will treat the entire world as their domain. No one country can operate in an economic vacuum. Any economic measures taken by one country can affect the global economy. This book is designed to challenge the reader to develop a global perspective of international business. Globalisation is by no means a new concept, but there are many new factors that have contributed to its recently accelerated growth. Among them, the new technologies in communication and transport that have resulted in major expansions of international trade and investment. In the future, the world market will become predominant. There are bound to be big changes in the world economy. For instance the changes in Eastern Europe and the European Community during the 1990s. With a strong knowledge base in international business, future managers will be better prepared for the new world market. This book introduces its readers to the exciting and rewarding field of international management and international corporations. It is written in contemporary, easy‐to‐understand language, avoiding abstract terminology; and is organised into five sections, each of which includes a number of chapters that cover a subject involving activities that cross national boundaries.

Since its introduction by Motorola in the 1980s, Six Sigma and its philosophy have found widespread application in many manufacturing and service industries. It is felt that there is a need to take stock of the spread of Six Sigma implementation in service organisations. The purpose of this paper is to investigate five main themes which have emerged from literature and to draw on those themes to reflect on wider applicability of Six Sigma in services.

The study involves two exploratory questionnaire surveys. The small‐scale survey is conducted in service organizations in Singapore. The large‐scale survey was web‐based and involved service organisations throughout the world. The objective is to explore and understand the issues highlighted by the service organisations during Six Sigma implementation.

The findings confirm the inclusion of critical success factors, critical‐to‐quality characteristics, and set of tools and techniques as observed from the literature. In the case of key performance indicators (KPIs), there are different interpretations about them in the literature and also by industry practitioners. Some literature explains KPIs as performance metrics whereas some feel they are key process input or output variables, which is similar to interpretations by practitioners of Six Sigma. The responses of “not relevant” and “unknown to us” as reasons for not implementing Six Sigma show the need for understanding specific requirements of service organizations.

The limited responses from the authors' surveys restrict the possibility of generalising the findings. Therefore, more extensive survey is required. The three‐phase approach with mixed method used in the overall study has been shown to be useful.

Although much theoretical description is available about Six Sigma, there has been limited rigorous academic research on it. This gap is far more pronounced about Six Sigma implementation in service organizations, where the theory is not yet mature. Identifying this need, the paper contributes, by empirical research through surveys, to understand the issues involving Six Sigma implementation in service organizations.

This paper aims to explore current management attitudes towards benchmarking and its implementation within small business‐to‐business service firms in order to enhance a deeper understanding of benchmarking within such contexts.

The paper uses in‐depth case analysis of small architectural services to collect empirical data on benchmarking initiatives, attitudes, key characteristics and constraints on benchmarking.

Findings suggest that there are significant variations in the receptiveness of small business‐to‐business firms towards the adoption of benchmarking. There may be an inherent distrust of benchmarking, as it is primarily perceived as being a tool for larger organizations, where productivity improvements are the main driver. Evidence of perceived constraints in both the implementation of benchmarking and in the definition of what constitutes best practice highlighted a cultural difficulty for small architectural firms when adopting a business process orientation. Traditionally, when evaluating their services, architectural practices are oriented towards professional design criteria, often with creative rather than business process priorities. Results suggest less cumbersome measurement models than key performance indicators (KPI) are needed to allow organically developing firms, such as architectural services, to apply benchmarking and quality ideas flexibly.

Research on current management attitudes towards benchmarking or actual implementation of benchmarking techniques in small business‐to‐business service firms is scarce. This paper addresses this by developing a deeper and richer contextual understanding of benchmarking within such contexts.

Many organizations use quality management to improve firm performance, but the results do not always come quickly. Research in the manufacturing sector has found that different organizational characteristics, such as firm size and the degree of capital intensity, influence the perceived benefits of quality management. Uses data from 281 firms that work with quality management to investigate the role of quality practices in service organizations. The results of our investigations support that the relationship between quality practices and business performance is dependent on firm size. In addition provides insight into how the business results are influenced by individual quality practices such as employee management, process orientation and customer orientation, depending on firm size.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between total quality management (TQM) practices and customer satisfaction and also to investigate the association between TQM practices and service quality within the context of Malaysia's small service organizations.

The paper uses data from the perceptions of sales and marketing managers in 108 small service organizations in Malaysia. Data were analyzed by employing correlation and multiple regression analysis to test the relationship between TQM practices, customer satisfaction and service quality.

The results showed that TQM practices are significantly and positively linked to customer satisfaction and service quality of the small service business firms. It was further confirmed that the dimensions of customer focus and information and analysis were strongly linked to customer satisfaction and service quality.

The results of this paper can be used by marketing/sales managers to prioritize the adoption of the dimensions for TQM practices. For instance, those dimensions that are found to have positive influence on customer satisfaction and service quality can be recommended to marketing/sales managers so that they can allocate resources to improve these practices to achieve higher customer satisfaction and quality of service.

This paper identifies two dimensions of TQM namely, customer focus and information and analysis that can influence customer satisfaction and service quality in Malaysia's small service business firms.

Viewdata was a British invention. The inventor, Sam Fedida, came to work at the Post Office research centre in 1970, on a “viewphone” project. Apart from providing television pictures of the caller and recipient involved in a telephone conversation, the viewphone was also to allow transmission of computer data. Such a piece of equipment would, it was hoped, increase telephone network use during off‐peak periods.

In times of strong global competition and worldwide economic downturn, there is an imperative need for public services organizations to reform and improve their quality. These organizations can base their improvement efforts on Lean philosophy. The purpose of this study is to assess the employees’ perceived degree of adoption of Lean principles by public services organizations in Greece. Determining the differences in the perceptions of groups of employees with regard to the adoption of Lean principles by public organizations is also an aim of the study.

A questionnaire survey was published online, inviting employees of Greek public services organizations to assess the degree of Lean adoption by their organizations, specified on the basis of general principles. A total of 1,022 employees completed the structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were applied to assess the degree of adoption of Lean principles by public organizations. The nonparametric Mann–Whitney U Test and Kruskal–Wallis Test were also applied to determine whether there are statistically significant differences in the perceptions of groups of employees with regard to the adoption of Lean principles by public organizations.

According to the perceptions of employees, Greek public organizations adopt Lean principles to a high extent. However, there is room for further improvement in the degree to which Lean is adopted. Statistically significant differences are observed in the perceptions of groups of employees from different sized organizations, hierarchical levels, skill sets and service subsectors, with regard to the degree of adoption of Lean principles by their organizations.

The employees of the public sector who were invited to respond to the survey through social media, the subjective nature of the data collected and the fact that this is a country-specific study constitute the main limitations of the present study, based on which future studies can be designed.

By determining the strong and weak points of the adoption of Lean principles by Greek public services organizations, suitable managerial initiatives can be undertaken by these organizations to fully adopt Lean, eliminate waste and enhance quality management.

Understanding and improving the current status of the adoption of Lean principles by Greek public organizations will influence the services provided to the citizens in terms of time, quality and delivery.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study which provides insights, based on employees’ perceptions, into the adoption of Lean by the public services sector.

This research aims to undertake a business theory application into the political marketing context, examine the degree and nature of its theoretical and practical compatibility, and develop a preliminary conceptual marketing communications (MCs) framework for small political parties (SPPs) in developed countries.

The paper is conceptual and incorporates and interrelates the findings of existing business marketing research as applied to the context of political marketing. Through a comprehensive literature review, it adopts a multi‐perspective analysis and interrelation of three dimensions of existing theory: the behavioural, the contextual and the operational dimension. The paper eventually bridges the fields of political and business marketing, identifies the underlying causes of voter behaviour, and distils the critical factors of SPPs' marketing communications success.

The research identifies a number of critical factors of SPPs' marketing communications success and four principal SPPs' marketing communications findings: an increasing association between business and political marketing, an environmental context that stimulates and nurtures a symbiotic relationship between parties and voters, a predominant association of SPPs' critical factors of success with the concept of “perception management”, and the existence of a number of discrepancies regarding the application of classical marketing theory to SPPs. Based on these findings, the research finally develops a marketing communications framework for SPPs in developed countries.

While the conceptual nature of the research is a methodologically viable approach to understanding the complex interrelation of the elements involved, so early in the development of a contextually new theory, it is also its main limitation. Hence, the research considers the framework produced to be preliminary and that substantial primary research is further required to test and refine the individual framework components and to provide the necessary validity to the framework in its entirety.

The value of the paper relates to its focus on small political parties, which are largely overlooked by existing research. Additionally, the research adds considerable value to academic knowledge on the fundamental discussion on the applicability of business marketing theory to politics, also contributing an analogous political marketing framework to the existing literature.

Through a comprehensive literature review and data analysis, the purpose of this paper is to adopt a multi‐perspective interrelation of different dimensions of existing theory to eventually bridge the fields of political and business marketing, identify the underlying causes of voter behaviour, and distil the critical factors of small political parties' (SPPs') strategic marketing communications (MCs) success. The research finally develops a preliminary conceptual strategic MCs model for SPPs that fits the context of developed countries and concentrates on the strategic aspects of MCs.

The paper is largely conceptual and is based on an extensive literature review and secondary data; strengthened through additional and focused quantitative and qualitative data.

The findings indicate an increasing association between business and political marketing, an environmental context that stimulates and nurtures a symbiotic relationship between parties and voters, an enhanced role of “perception management”, and substantial divergence of SPP reality from classical theory.

Further and focused primary research is required towards model testing.

A scientific basis is provided for practical strategic implementation of MCs by SPPs.

The research value stems from its focus on SPPs, its contribution to the generic discussion on business marketing theory applicability to politics; its reinforcement of existing research on the subject through further data and analyses; and additionally to existing researches' focus, its concentration on the strategic aspects of the subject and its contribution to literature of an analogous strategic political marketing model.