Determinants Of Residents Recycling Behaviour

Environmental concerns, combined with the scarcity of landfill sites have made recycling a more desirable alternative to traditional methods of garbage disposal. The purpose of the paper is to determine the factors that influence recycling behaviour. We also examine the socio-demographic characteristics of those who recycle. Logistic regression and means-end-based laddering techniques are used. The results of this research should be helpful in designing public campaigns to promote recycling

Culture Shock Re-Visited: What Features Of The Polish Culture Most Bother Expatriates In Poland?

This paper investigates how symptoms of culture shock may be related to cultural features. A group of expatriate executives are tested on how they respond to Polands culture dimensions which are specified in accordance with Hofstedes indices. Symptoms of their culture shock are identified and juxtaposed with everyday behaviours of Poles in the workplace and public place/social arena. The results show that some of those functional patterns of Poles which result in extreme/inefficient/counterproductive behaviours and constitute sources of culture shock for the expatriates are linked to large Power Distance and strong Uncertainty Avoidance in Poland or a combination of the two dimensions. Implications for researchers are specified. Recommendations for expatriate managers vis-vis induction training and the content of in-company courses for Polish managers are listed

Consumer Purchase Motives And Product Perceptions: A Hard Laddering Study Of Smoking Habits Of Poles

The objective of the study is to apply the Means-End Theory to the analysis of smoking habits of Poles, based on a quota sample of 418 smokers in Krakow. The Means-End Theory posits that consumers learn to associate attributes (A) of products with particular consequences (C), and that these consequences are important because they accord with personal values (V) held by the individual. Each chain of associations A-->C-->V depicts the consumers personal motivations with respect to a given product. The paper-and-pencil assisted approach (which is called hard laddering, as opposed to soft, conventional tape-recorded interviews) is used to uncover links between personal values and the smokers choices. The results are then transposed into a meaningful market segmentation strategy

Segmentation Of The Off-Peak Wine Tourist In Canadas Niagara Region

This paper segments the off-peak wine tourist in Canadas Niagara region. Three factors, Wine Knowledge (cognition), Winery Enjoyment (affect), and Winery Behaviour (behavioural intention), grounded in attitude theory, were discovered

The Effect of Early Internationalization on Survival Consistency, and Growqth of Export Sales

This paper presents the results of a ten year longitudinal analysis of almost 19,000 Polish manufacturing firms engaged in export operations. Export dynamics was measured by the rate of growth, consistency of export sales and survival in international operations. It was found that early involvement in international activities negatively affected the survival and regularity of sales of small exporters but that had a positive impact on larger exporters. A strong commitment to internationalization and a capacity for managing rapid growth are factors in achieving high growth in international sales over time. Managerial implications include recognizing the risk of possible failure when they enter international markets, and take into account that export volumes may stagnate after a first opportunity and not justify the initial effort to expand abroad. To remedy such unfavorable outcomes, managers should plan carefully before entering export markets or undertaking subsequent phases of export growth

Market Segmentation Based on Consumers' Cognitive-Motivational Structures

The article is devoted to the subject matter of means-end chain-based approaches to market segmentation, which are critically viewed from the perspective of their ability to yield properly defined market segments. There are emphasised in it these approaches, grounded in the means-end chain (MEC) theory that was developed to better understand how consumers link attributes of products with particular consequences and how these consequences satisfy personal values. The author's whole deliberations confirm that the means-end chains are often seen as a representation of the basic drives that motivate consumer behaviour

The Impact of Export Dynamics on a Firm’s Growth

Purpose: This research aimed to identify the prevalence and particular characteristics of export-driven growth as opposed to those of the domestic market. It examined how the relative dynamics of export sales vs. domestic sales were affected by internationalization intensity (FSTS), age of the fi rm, early internationalization, size of the fi rm and industry technological level. Similarly, it examined the impact of sales growth and its direction (domestic vs. export-driven) on company performance. Methodology: The analysis was based on panel data from approximately 300 manufacturing fi rms in the Mazovia region of Poland that were engaged in sustained export operations during 2003 to 2010. Several hypotheses were tested regarding factors affecting the growth dynamics of regular exporters as well as their performance (productivity). Findings: This research proved that only a small percentage (less than 10%) of fi rms reached the status of regular exporter, although regular exporters engaged in international operations shortly after their foundation, They formed a distinct category of early internationalizing firms. For the management of young, ambitious ventures, achieving regularity in their initial export operations represented a major challenge. Implications: Regularity of international sales is crucial for export performance, both at the enterprise and country levels. This implies that export promotion efforts should concentrate on growth-oriented fi rms, specifi cally to assist them in reaching regular exporter status shortly after initiating sales outside the domestic market. Originality: The analysis of the internationalization process was expanded by adding the regularity dimension,which has been rarely addressed in the extant literature

Managerial Discretion and Constraints: A Bounded Leadership Model

Purpose: We propose and test a new leadership model. Our model is an extension of the leaderplex model which proposes that leader cognitive and social complexities are linked with leader effec tiveness indirectly, in a mediation scheme, through behavioral complexity. We enhance the leader plex model with a leader’s degree of managerial discretion as the moderator of the links in this mediation format. Methodology: We test our model with a moderated mediation approach (Baron-Kenny four-step procedure and Preacher-Hayes bootstrapping methods). Findings: We use results of interviews with top leaders in Poland and demonstrate that a leader’s managerial discretion is a moderator affecting the mediation scheme assumed in the leaderplex model. Limitations: The sample size is only 29 leaders. To preserve the respondents’ anonymity, their opinions were evaluated by only one researcher who interviewed them directly. The results may be country specific (Poland). Originality: We define new boundary conditions for the leaderplex model by showing importance of a leader’s real position (managerial discretion) in an organization. Specifically, we show that the nature of the relationships between the variables of interest will change when a leader operates in one physical environment (e.g., high managerial discretion) rather than another (e.g., low managerial discretion). nul

THE SPEED OF INTERNATIONALIZATION OF ENTREPRENEURIAL START-UPS IN A TRANSITION ENVIRONMENT

This article examines the speed of internationalization by newly established firms operating in the rapidly changing environment of a country undergoing radical systemic transition, as exemplified by Poland. A longitudinal analysis of the speed of internationalization, measured by the time between the year of establishment and the year of the first export sale, identified three interesting patterns. First, both incumbent state-owned firms and private companies operating under communism played marginal roles in the internationalization process after transition to the market economy system. Second, the entrepreneurial start-ups typically embarked on exports shortly after their establishment. Third, the entrepreneurial start-ups that focused initially on the domestic market were rarely engaging in export operations later on. This aspect of the internationalization process has not been adequately explained by the extant mainstream management theories (new institutional economics, transaction cost and resource-based view). This paper offers an alternative theoretical framework for the internationalization of entrepreneurial start-ups in transition economies by extending Shapero's social psychological model of entrepreneurial events.Internationalization process, institutional context, transition economies, social and psychological context of entrepreneurship