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The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a survey of business schools examining the impact of market orientation on overall business school performance. The authors extend previous research by examining the possible moderating influence of accrediting body affiliation and administrative position of key informants on the relationships between the components of market orientation (customer orientation, competitor orientation, and inter-functional coordination) and overall performance for each of three markets (student, parent, and employer). Research objectives are stated in terms of 18 hypotheses.

The authors apply moderated regression analysis following the methodology used by Sharma, Durand, and Gur-Arie (1981) and Slater and Narver (1994), examining the variable relationships within schools affiliated through two accrediting bodies, from the perspective of business school deans and chief academic officers.

Results suggest moderating effects for three of the 18 relationships that were tested. Intelligence gathered from survey research within higher education is indicated to vary somewhat depending on key informant characteristics (accrediting body affiliation and administrative position in this study).

These results have practical implications for strategic planning within higher education. A better understanding of the differences within higher education will assist decision makers in responding to intelligence gathered within their own university, and will also assist them with strategies involving other universities (such as competitors or global partners).

These results within higher education have implications for survey research more broadly, supporting concerns by Phillips (1981) and others that researchers be mindful of key informant characteristics and other factors that could bias their judgments regarding organizational properties and other variables under investigation.

This study aims to investigate the moderating role of investor demand on the relationship between the investors' divergence of beliefs and the first-day initial public offering (IPO) return.

The study sample covers the period from 2010 to 2019 and consists of 117 IPOs that are priced using the fixed price and listed on the Malaysian stock exchange (Bursa Malaysia). This study employed both the ordinary least square (OLS) and the quantile regression (QR) methods.

Investor demand, proxied by the over-subscription ratio (OSR), plays a moderating role in increasing the effect of investors' divergence of beliefs on initial return, and the moderation effects vary across the quantile of initial return. Pure moderation effects are observed at the bottom and top quantiles, suggesting that investor demand is necessary for divergence of beliefs to influence IPO initial return. However, at the middle quantile of initial return, investor demand is a quasi-moderator. That is, the OSR not only moderates the relationship between the divergence of beliefs and initial return but also has a positive effect on the initial return.

Investors' excessive demand for an IPO issue exacerbates the IPO under-pricing issue induced by a divergence of beliefs amongst investors, thus rendering greater equity market inefficiency.

To the authors' knowledge, this study is amongst the first to empirically investigate the moderating role of investor demand on the investors' divergence of beliefs and IPO initial return relationship.

This paper aims to examine the role of rational culture in the relationship between lean manufacturing practices and operational productivity in the machinery and equipment industry.

This study uses a cross-sectional quantitative approach to conduct the research. Using an online survey questionnaire, 118 responses were collected. SPSS was used to assess validity, reliability and hypothesis testing of the study variables. Hierarchical regression analysis was employed to investigate the moderating effects of rational culture.

The study results reveal that quick setup and quality control were significantly related to operational productivity. Rational culture was a significant quasi-moderator.

This study highlights the importance of quick setup and quality control for machinery and equipment firms to gain higher operational productivity. Rational culture could be used to drive the firms toward greater achievements in this regard.

The use of rational culture as a quasi-moderator in the relationship between lean manufacturing practices and operational productivity is unprecedented. This study offers new findings by introducing the role of rational culture to enhance the effects of lean manufacturing practices on operational productivity.

The paper reports an investigation into the marketing and performance consequences of organisations operating in regulated, deregulated and open market environments in Zimbabwe’s developing economy. The findings suggest that organisations do not respond to environmental changes by adapting their marketing effort, hence the environment is a poor predictor of marketing effort. Organisational strategy has a far greater impact on marketing effort than the environment. However, the environment is an important predictor of organisational performance and has significant interaction with business strategy in influencing organisational performance hence it is a quasi‐moderator. Our result suggests that in regulated environments there may be “ideal‐type” strategies for effectiveness and across all environments the concept of equifinality is not supported. There is evidence to suggest that more adaptable strategy types outperform their less adaptive competitors. These results extend a popular typology to developing economies and allow some findings to be generalisable across countries at different stages of economic development.

In the GSM mobile telephony sector, the main condition for protecting the subscriber base is to win customer loyalty, a key necessity for the maintenance of a brand's life in the long term. To achieve this aim, customer satisfaction and trust must be measured and “switching costs” identified. The latter render subscribers' preference for rival operators more expensive. In this connection, this paper's aim is to measure the effects of customer satisfaction and trust on customer loyalty, and the direct and indirect effect of “switching cost” on customer loyalty.

The data set covered 1,662 mobile phone users in Turkey. The data were analyzed by moderated regression analysis to test the hypotheses.

The findings of this study show that the switching cost factor directly affects loyalty, and has a moderator effect on both customer satisfaction and trust. Therefore, it plays a crucial role in winning customer loyalty. In short, it is a quasi moderator. However, switching costs was measured as a unidimensional factor, but switching costs in fact contains psychological, financial and procedural sub‐dimensions. Therefore, future research might measure the sub‐dimensions of switching costs and examine their moderating effects.

With respect to the findings, trust has more importance than customer satisfaction in engendering loyalty, since trust contains belief in the brand, which provides positive outcomes not only in the present but also in the future. But customer satisfaction does not contain this dimension. So, the effect of trust on loyalty becomes greater than the effect of customer satisfaction. Therefore, any GSM operator who wishes to preserve its existing subscriber base should concentrate on winning its subscribers’ trust.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the linkage between economic satisfaction and relationship commitment in distribution channels. The moderating effects of three variables are considered: the use of behavior based coordination strategy; the perceived level of environmental uncertainty; and the use of collaborative communication strategy.

The hypotheses are tested through a sample survey among 101 channel partners of mobile service providers in a state in India.

The results indicate the moderating variables act as quasi moderators wherein they both directly and indirectly impact the dependent variable.

Limitations of the sampling methodology and sample size restricts the scope for generalizing the hypothesis. Further, data were collected from only one side of the dyad.

The paper endorses and attempts to establish the view that channel satisfaction is a multidimensional concept and there are different routes to channel commitment.

The purpose of the study is to examine the moderating effects of support service quality (SSQ) on marketing information services sophistication (MISS) and bank’s core competencies within banking sector.

To collect the data, the questionnaire approach and random sampling are chosen. The survey sample consisted of 180 banking branches information technology managers in Sudan’s banking industry.

The study evidenced that the effect of SSQ on the relationship between MISS and bank’s core competencies is a quasi-moderator and also indicate that the two components of MISS are positively and significantly associated with bank’s core competencies.

The study is conducted in Sudan banking industry and generalization could be limited. Future studies will replicate the study in different industries or countries.

For the managers’ practice, the findings showed that MISS can deliver superior performance and efficiency (such as proper work flow, employee satisfaction, reducing complaints or enquiries and competitive capabilities) if it reinforced or strengthened by SSQ.

Empirical results support the positive link between MISS, SSQ and top core competencies. The benefit of that contribution is performance excellence competencies at the market.

The aim of this study is to investigate and examine the impact of strategic purchasing practices (SPP) on strategic-fit (SF) by analyzing the influence of SPP on purchasing involvement in business strategy formulation with path-goal theory leadership styles as moderators.

Using survey data from 320 respondents representing 64 manufacturing firms in the Middle East, the authors measure SPP, purchasing involvement, leadership styles and SF of the purchasing function with business strategy.

Building on the path-goal approach to leadership, results suggest that participative, supportive and achievement-oriented leadership (AOL) styles are pure moderators, while directive leadership style (DLS) is a quasi-moderator in boosting the relationship between SPP and strategic purchasing involvement (SPI).

Limitations of the sampling methodology and sample size restricts the scope for generalizing the hypotheses. Further, data were collected only from manufacturing companies. The paper provides managerial implications on purchasing involvement in business strategy formulation and the different roles of leadership styles.

This is the first scholarly work to examine the different leadership styles as a moderator that affects the strategic involvement and status of strategic purchasing.

A main focus in recent online consumer research has been on context specific trust, risk, and online buying experience. Despite the importance, their individual level “equivalents” – trust disposition, risk aversion, and technology readiness – have received limited attention. This research attempts to fill that gap by focussing on these crucial personality traits.

This research employs a survey‐based method to test a theoretically grounded set of hypotheses. The measurement model is tested using SEM and the hypotheses are tested using regression techniques.

The personality characteristics are found to have significant moderating effects on online purchase intentions. Interestingly, provided the consumers are satisfied, risk aversion is found to increase the likelihood of purchase. Moreover, while technology readiness increases the likelihood of online purchase, dispositional trust is found not to have a similar effect.

Significant full and quasi moderator effects of three hitherto untested personality traits on online purchase behaviour are found. Results show that risk aversion, trust disposition, and technology readiness are fundamental to online consumer behaviour literature.

The results suggest that to be successful, relatively unknown web‐based service providers need to go beyond matching their large competitor and need to offer unique web sites to browsers. Results also indicate that personality traits pose both significant challenges as well as unexpected opportunities to online service providers in identifying inherently more loyal customers.

The paper identifies a set of hither to untested personality traits that have fundamental relevance to online consumer behaviour. It also offers practical recommendations to relatively unknown online service providers on how to compete with their better known competitors. Results are generalisable to online service providers in a number of industries.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and investigate firm level determinants of the firm's decision on acquisition strategy.

A total of 360 firms across fast growing sectors in India, namely automobile, FMCG and pharmaceutical were selected for six years, i.e. from 2004‐2010, thus making a sample of 360 firms. Hypothesis were tested using panel logit regression and instrumental IV variable regression.

Findings suggest that earnings volatility and business group affiliation are statistically significant determinants of the firm's acquisition decision. Earnings volatility follows inverted “U” curvilinear relationship with a firm's propensity to bid for acquisition and business group affiliation is a quasi moderator, i.e. has both direct and moderating impact on earnings volatility and acquisition likelihood relationship.

Out of several manufacturing and service sectors only three fastest growing sectors are selected. Moreover, though study has been conducted in emerging market, i.e. India. For further generalization, other emerging economies should have also been selected. However, availability of data restricts scope of study.

Managers can look at strategies like acquisition to reduce their volatility. However, they have to make this decision in a prudent manner as acquisition itself is a risky strategy. Moreover, managers of stand alone firms should seek to find solutions of resource scarcity.

Determinants mentioned above have not been investigated earlier with respect to acquisition decision especially in emerging market context.