Our faculty are involved in a wide range of research projects.
Here is just a sample of some of issues being addressed through recent studies within the theme of Business and Enterprise.
- Testing the Regional Performance of Multinational Enterprises in the Retail Sector
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Most of the world’s largest 500 companies operate regionally rather than globally. Only recently have studies started to explore the effect of the regional nature of mulitnational enterprisess (MNEs) on their performance, but without yet investigating the link between home region concentration and performance.
The study
A study by Dr Vikrant Shirodkar and colleagues investigates the determinants of MNE performance and contributes to the development of regional strategy theory. The researchers analyse the performance consequences of MNEs’ home region concentration as well as the moderating effect of entry timing, internationalization speed and international experience.Methodology
The hypotheses of the paper is developed on the basis of regional strategy theory and is tested by a newly created longitudinal data set of 1028 firm/year observations based on the international activities of 128 retail MNEs over the periods ranging from two to 16 years during 1995-2010.Key Findings
The study showed that the operations of the largest retail MNEs are mainly concentrated in their home region and manifest low levels of globalization. Home region concentration was shown to have a positive effect on performance which supports the basic tenet of regional strategy theory. The variables of entry timing, internationalization speed and international experience proved to be important factors in the relationship of home region concentration and performance. Entry timing and internationalization speed had, as expected, turned out to be positive moderating effects. On the other hand international experience was found to strengthen the link between performance and home region concentration, contrary to expectations.Future research into the performance effect of home region concentration would benefit from including additional variables such as the size of MNE’s home markets and international differences in corporation tax rates. It would also be useful to study different industries in the future rather than just focusing on a single industry.
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Mohr, Alexander, Fastoso, Fernando, Wang, Chengang and Shirodkar, Vikrant (2014) Testing the regional performance of MNEs in the retail sector: the moderating effects of timing, speed and experience. British Journal of Management, 25. S100-S115. ISSN 1045-3172 - The role of employee job satisfaction in strengthening customer repurchase intentions
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Retaining customers in today’s competitive market is a key corporate objective. Customer service employees play an important role in shaping customer’s perceptions of service quality, and therefore potentially repeat buying behavior.
The Study
Dr Achilleas Boukis with Spiros Gounaris examines the role of front line employee job satisfaction in relation to customers’ behavioral. The researchers develop a multilevel framework in order to investigate how employee satisfaction affects perceived service quality, customer satisfaction, relational switching costs and repurchase intentions. Using data derived from both customers and employees provides a thorough understanding of the complex system.Methodology
The researchers use a nested research design to be able to incorporate employees and customers in a single investigation. The data was collected from 15 bank branches comprising 604 questionnaires from customers and 183 usable questionnaires from front-line employees.Key findings
The study shows that customer service employees who are satisfied with their job develop relational bonds with the company’s customers. This direct effect reflects the impact of the caring attitude that (satisfied) employees demonstrate during the encounter with the customer on the attitude of the latter who adapts his/her emotional state to meet that of the employee - allowing for relational bonds between customers and front-line employees to grow.This finding is important from a marketing perspective because it establishes a direct effect between employee job satisfaction and customer perceived relational bonds. Of note too is that the smaller the size of the branch the higher the employees’ ability to offer personalized service and the older employees are, the better the customer’s perception of service quality and the stronger the relational bonds, provided that employees are satisfied with their job
The results of this investigation imply that employee job satisfaction represents a strategic resource that affects company performance in terms of customer retention because the human capital represents a significant basis for deriving a sustainable competitive advantage. In turn, the internal-marketing skills required to enhance employee job satisfaction are company capabilities of equal strategic importance.
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Gounaris, Spiros and Boukis, Achilleas (2013) The role of employee job satisfaction in strengthening customer repurchase intentions. Journal of Services Marketing, 27 (4). pp. 322-333. ISSN 0887-6045 - The Foreign Direct Investment location decision: Distance and the effects of spatial dependence
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Many national, regional, and municipal governments are keen to attract inward foreign direct investment (FDI) for the perceived benefits it brings to their local economies. Foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs) typically calculate the relative merits of different locations when making their FDI decisions, and various studies have established that such MNEs take multiple factors into account including inter alia labour costs, infrastructure, and local market size.
The study
In this study by Prof Roger Strange et al, the authors consider the effects of different specifications of geographic, administrative and economic distance. The majority of previous studies have treated different locations as distinct places isolated in space, yet the attractiveness of any location also depends upon its distance from, or its proximity to, other potential locations. Distance may be conceptualized in many ways, and this study considers the impact of various conceptions of distance upon the FDI location decisions of MNEs.Methodology
The data for the study came from China, a country that has been the recipient of substantial FDI inflows. FDI data were collected for 224 cities over the four-year period 2004-07, and the spatial distribution of the FDI within China was modelled using the well-established determinants (such as labour costs, infrastructure, and market size) but also incorporating various measures of the geographic, administrative and economic distances between the cities.Key Findings
This study highlights the importance of the distance between alternative locations and provides rationales for how and why different concepts of distance should have an impact. The policy implications of the study are twofold:- The authors confirmed that foreign MNEs, when considering the sub-national location of their investments within a host country, are influenced by a range of factors. City governments intent on attracting inward FDI might therefore consider additional expenditure on measures to enhance these ‘attractors’ – whilst giving due consideration to whether or not the likely benefits of such policies outweigh the costs incurred.
- The research emphasises that such expenditure is more likely to attract FDI if the city is economically (and administratively) close to alternative city locations. In contrast, expenditure on improving the ‘FDI attractors’ may fail to yield additional FDI inflows if the city is economically distant from other alternative city locations.
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Blanc-Brude, F. ; Cookson, G. ; Piesse, J. ; Strange, R (2014) The FDI location decision: Distance and the effects of spatial dependence International Business Review, Volume 23, Issue 4, pp. 797–810 - EU enlargement effects on cross-border informal entrepreneurial activities
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An increase in regional disparities has been a key outcome of the transition to market economies and the integration into the European Union of former socialist countries. The EU enlargement process has led to border regions becoming vulnerable and therefore having to rely on informal entrepreneurial activities (IEAs) to balance regional inequalities.
The Study
Several empirical studies have looked at informal entrepreneurial activities in former socialist countries. However, studies on informal activities in this region fail to show how diverse and complex these activities are depending on the context.The research by Dr Mirela Xheneti, Smallbone and Welter aims to explore the effect the geography of borders had on the diversity and persistence of cross-border informal entrepreneurial activities in former socialist countries since joining the EU. By looking at these issues, it contributes to the discussions on diverse economies in Europe focusing on borderlands as distinct and transitory spaces of various forms of entrepreneurial activities, enabled or constrained by the very presence of the border and its economic, political and sociocultural meanings.
Methodology
The study draws on a recently completed EU-funded project, which was mainly concerned with cross-border entrepreneurship in EU border regions. 12 border regions were investigated and a total of 100 household interviews were conducted. These interviews were semi-structured and the data gathered were qualitative.Key Findings
The EU integration process of post-communist countries has reduced the appeal of cross-border informal entrepreneurial activities because of changes in the status of borders and the convergence of prices. The research indicates that:
- Cross-border IEA is a transient form of entrepreneurial activity in these regions.
- Enlargement had varying effects on cross-border IEAs depending on regional characteristics
Where IEAs still persist, they are sustained by the socio-cultural context consisting of not only the traditional network of friends, family or other ethnic links but also the common mentality as a result of shared historical experiences and hardships during the transformation period.
The empirical evidence in this study contributes to a better understanding of the diversity of economic practices in contexts undergoing major economic and institutional change. An improved understanding of cross-border IEAs can lead to better policy design in the region and inform the future EU enlargement of the South East European region.
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Xheneti, Mirela, Smallbone, David and Welter, Friederike (2013) EU enlargement effects on cross-border informal entrepreneurial activities. European Urban and Regional Studies, 20 (3). pp. 314-328. ISSN 0969-7764