Technology and Marketing Capabilities in a Developing Economic Context: Assessing the Resource-Based View within a Boundary Condition

While prior research confirms a positive relationship between organizational capabilities and performance in more developed and emerging economies, this research investigates technology and marketing capabilities in enterprises operating in a highly constrained economic context. Additionally, this research examines how managerial thinking and action influences the development of technology and marketing capabilities, which has received limited investigation in any economic context. Data were gathered by surveying managers in Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga, representing isolated economies with underdeveloped product markets. Results confirm the capability-performance relationship and also support the positive influence of entrepreneurial and learning orientations on technology and marketing capability development

The influence of managerial optimism and self-regulation on learning and business growth expectations within an emerging economic context

This paper examines psychological and behavioral mechanisms that underlie business growth expectations by examining how managerial optimism and self-regulatory focus influence learning behaviors. To empirically examine these relationships, the study situates in a resource-constrained business context by studying managers in two Pacific Island economies. Results indicate that a positive view toward gains encourages exploratory learning in unknown situations; whereas, a less optimistic disposition and avoidance are related to exploitative learning. This finding is consequential as managerial learning that leans toward development of new insights and possibilities is associated with greater business growth expectations versus learning that adheres to familiar and proven ideas and alternatives. The study results have implications for both practice and theory

Economic predictors of differences in interview faking between countries : economic inequality matters, not the state of economy

Many companies recruit employees from different parts of the globe, and faking behavior by potential employees is a ubiquitous phenomenon. It seems that applicants from some countries are more prone to faking compared to others, but the reasons for these differences are largely unexplored. This study relates country-level economic variables to faking behavior in hiring processes. In a cross-national study across 20 countries, participants (N = 3839) reported their faking behavior in their last job interview. This study used the random response technique (RRT) to ensure participants anonymity and to foster honest answers regarding faking behavior. Results indicate that general economic indicators (gross domestic product per capita [GDP] and unemployment rate) show negligible correlations with faking across the countries, whereas economic inequality is positively related to the extent of applicant faking to a substantial extent. These findings imply that people are sensitive to inequality within countries and that inequality relates to faking, because inequality might actuate other psychological processes (e.g., envy) which in turn increase the probability for unethical behavior in many forms

Innovation in Governance: The Case of the Fiji Nursing and Associates Credit Union

One of the reasons for the success of Fiji Nursing and Associates Credit Union (FNACU) was through innovation in governance by making amendments to the Credit Union Act to allow for expansion of their membership to paramedics and minors. Cooperatives including credit unions have played a significant role in alleviating poverty and promoting economic growth worldwide as well as in the Asia, Pacific regions. Some of the most successful cooperatives are the Mondragon group and Grameen Bank. For this study the FNACU is selected due to its success in the cooperative sector in Fiji. Emphasis is placed on the case of the FNACU studying its background, financial status and problems faced by the FNACU and the factors that contributed to its success. The published materials including reports, minutes of meetings and financial statements were studied. The case study discussed resulted from these meetings, observations and visits. The performance of the cooperative took into account its profitability, benefits received by the members, homogeneity of their memberships, and the key role played by the Bergengren Credit Union Training School and the Fiji Credit Union League in making FNACU a success story

Managerial Effectiveness as a Function of Culture and Tolerance of Ambiguity: A Cross-cultural Study of India and Fiji

This paper explores how national culture may predispose managers to a greater or lesser tolerance for ambiguity which then has an effect on their managerial effectiveness. The concept of tolerance of ambiguity is analysed in Indian and Fijian business executives' propensity to avoid uncertainty. The research investigation adopts a 2 x 2 factorial design on a sample consisting of 84 subjects from service and manufacturing organisations in India and Fiji. The results indicate that Indian national managers demonstrate higher levels of tolerance of ambiguity and greater adaptability in comparison to the Fijian Managers. The results suggest that managerial effectiveness is enhanced in an Indian national context as a result of greater tolerance of ambiguity and greater adaptability and this may be linked to the greater homogeneity of the workforce and its associated value congruence than in the Fijian sample. The findings may have relevance for human resource managers, particularly in dealing with training and support

Success mantra for small and medium enterprises in Fiji Islands

This paper demonstrates how entrepreneurial characteristics, organizational structure and corporate culture combine synergistically within an eclectic framework of performance influenced by corporate growth, management's optimism and product diversification in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Fiji Islands. Data analysis and key findings from a survey of 360 respondents indicate that performance of SMEs is neither influenced by the age nor the education level of the entrepreneur but rather their gender and ethnicity. Competitor orientation contributes more to the performance of SMEs than customer orientation. The implications of these findings with respect to SMEs in Fiji are discussed.41 page(s

Marketing concept manifestations in Fiji enterprises: confirming the link to organizational competitiveness

This paper proposes an integrative view of the marketing concept (i.e., the ability to understand and satisfy customers) and examines its prevalence and effect on competitiveness in organizations operating in an isolated and less economically developed country. The marketing concept manifests as marketing expertise, market orientation, and externally directed organizational values. Based on a sample of 86 firms operating in Fiji, the results indicate that these three mechanisms promote organizational competitiveness, thus supporting the universality of the marketing concept. These findings confirm the important role of the marketing concept in the competitiveness of firms in a less developed economy