Antecedents and Consequence of Key Account Management Success: a Review, Framework and Research Agenda

Ahmmed, Kawsar,Noor, Nor Azila Mohd. KNU The Institute of Management Economy Research 2013 Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Vol.4 No.1

This paper traces the issue of key account management success which has regarded as a pressing concern of many companies' sales efforts at the organizational business-to-business context. Based on the extensive review of extant literatures, we introduced a theoretical framework that covers the antecedents and consequence of key account management success. We theorized the conditions under which organizational and relational factors influence the success of key account management approach. We endeavor to develop research propositions for each construct and provide necessary suggestions to isolate a platform for future empirical research. Beyond this span, an improved understanding from this framework will help developing policies for successful key account management approach.

A New Higher Education Policy In Russia : Enhancing Meaning-Centered Education via its Realization

Ivashchenko, Natalia P.,Malovichko, Tatyana V. KNU The Institute of Management Economy Research 2014 Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Vol.5 No.1

Social and economic changes in the world, along with changes in the culture of government and structural changes in the relationship between the state, the market and higher education institutions, have resulted in new approaches pursued by states towards higher education (Konstantinov & Philonovich, 2007; Peterka, 2011). Higher education institutions, in its turn, enjoy more freedom in choosing to focus on various tasks and goals to their academic activities. This contributes to the diversity of expectations when it comes to the various roles modern academic institutions take on with regard to their development. Among many existing concepts in the current academic environment, the concept of "entrepreneurial university" is becoming a critically important concept in Russia. In this article, we consider the concept of the Entrepreneurial University as developed in Clark and Etzkowitz's theories, and the ways the concept is being adjusted in the higher education system in Russia. We analyze comparatively both contemporary and prior historical [1990s-mid2000s] state policies pertaining to higher-education institutions in Russia in order to provide an insight into how the national market of knowledge intensive production is being established in the country. As a consequence of these analyses, we present a new model of how universities can take a more systemic and meaningful approach to creating research-based innovation entrepreneurial activities. This approach is also viewed as making universities' innovation activities more sustainable and thus less dependent on the state support.

Entrepreneurial Orientation and Organizational Performance: The Mediating Role of Knowledge Capabilities

Batra, Shruti KNU The Institute of Management Economy Research 2015 Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Vol.6 No.1

In this study, we identified the various mechanisms through which entrepreneurial orientation impacts firm performance. We proposed that entrepreneurial orientation assists organizations in building cultural, structural, human and technical knowledge capabilities, which in turn lead to sustainable competitive advantage. We tested our proposed hypothesis using data collected from 76 managers of small entrepreneurial firms. We found that cultural knowledge capabilities are the strongest mediators of entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance relationship. By bringing in knowledge capabilities in the literature of entrepreneurial orientation, we open new directions for research. Our findings have implications for theory as well as practice.

An Empirical Research of Gender Impact on Customer Behaviour towards Mobile Entertainment Services in India

Satish Kumar, G.N. KNU The Institute of Management Economy Research 2012 Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Vol.3 No.2

Mobile Entertainment is the new era in mobile communication. Mobile Entertainment service is a combination of games, music, videos, chatting and telecommunication which has created a wide market in India. There is a variation between male and female customers towards Mobile Entertainment services. This study is aimed at analyzing gender impact of attitude, subjective norm, perceived behaviour control intention and behaviour towards mobile entertainment services. The Theory of planned Behaviour (TPB) provided a framework. Total 566 male and 376 female mobile users of different age groups participated in the research. The data analysis was conducted in three-stages. First, reliability tests were performed. Upon satisfactory results, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is used to analysis convergent, concurrent and discriminant validity of the model. Once the model was validated Structural Equation Model (SEM) Multi-group analysis is used to find the impact of gender behaviour towards Mobile entertainment services. The results of the study confirmed that the model is viable in predicting variation in gender impact on mobile entertainment services. The findings have revealed that attitude, perceived behaviour control and intention has a significant impact on behaviour to use mobile entertainment but subjective norm has no significant impact on behaviour to use mobile entertainment.

Systems Approach to Change Management for Sustainable Tourism Development in Bangladesh

Bhuiyan, Bashir Ahmed,Alam, Md. Jahangir KNU The Institute of Management Economy Research 2014 Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Vol.5 No.2

Tourism has been considered as the largest industry in the world, which is contributing towards employment generation, wealth creation and pursuing social benefits. Growing concern about the impact of human activities upon the environment, increased awareness of and concern for global environment have intensified the demand for sustainable tourism and their focus on balancing of: profit-driven motives, preserving and enhancing the social as well as ecological balance. Based on secondary materials and content analysis present study evaluated existing status of sustainable tourism development and explored important change strategies for future improvement of tourism sector in Bangladesh. The study recognized different views of change management and various strategies for obtaining sustainability in tourism industry. The present study identified the institutional networks, challenges in the way of applying systems approach to change management for sustainable tourism development and suggested important options for overcoming the impediments to operate through the proposed strategic framework in Bangladesh.

An Empirical Study on Business Ethics in Manufacturing Sector

Ratna, Rajnish,Chawla, Saniya,Arora, Isha KNU The Institute of Management Economy Research 2013 Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Vol.4 No.2

Ethics involves distinguishing between what is right or wrong thereby making a correct choice. An organization should treat its internal as well as external stakeholders ethically. This research gives valuable insights on the prevailing ethical climate and potential organizational challenges in institutionalizing ethics and its management in the manufacturing sector. The present study is designed to analyze four parameters of ethical climate in the manufacturing sector with reference to different managerial levels, to identify the critical factor of the ethical code of conduct and to find correlations between four parameters of ethical climate. Descriptive research has been used and data are collected from 200 employees of three Indian companies of manufacturing sector using a well designed questionnaire. Analyzing data with SPSS, It has been found that overall good number of people believe that MBE (Management of Business Ethics) process is well implemented. People are well aware and trained and involved in the ethical process. Senior management is very much committed to promote the ethical environment in the organization and thus company values are well communicated to the employees. Concern resolution mechanism is well established in the organization. MBE in the organization is more prevalent in higher-level employees. Senior management commitment and reinforcement is very critical for CoC (code of conduct). Correlation between all the 4 parameters is positive and significant. But the parameters are not highly correlated with each other. Organizations need to work upon these parameters to promote an ethical climate in the organization by awarding or felicitating exemplary ethical behavior. More emphasis should be given on senior management commitment and reinforcement of the ethical behavior across all levels.

Composition,Dimensional Issue and Nature of Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) Construct

Gupta, Rakesh,Sebastian, V.J. KNU The Institute of Management Economy Research 2014 Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Vol.5 No.1

Entrepreneurship is considered as an important driver of economic growth, new firm creation, business rejuvenation& job creation. Over a period of time research within entrepreneurship literature has shifted from entrepreneur and his personality to his behavioral disposition. This has led to emergence of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) construct, which focuses on the process of entrepreneurship at firm level and it has emerged as the most widely researched area within entrepreneurship field. Though research in this field has been rigorous and exhaustive, still there have been concerns that researchers might have prematurely agreed on the composition, dimensionality, and nature of EO Construct. There has been considerable debate about whether EO Construct comprises three or five dimensions, about co-variance or independence of these dimensions and nature of construct whether formative or reflective. This article builds an argument about the multidimensional nature of EO construct comprising five dimensions, which vary independently and the fact that EO is better explained through formative construct rather than reflective one.

Determinants of Shopping Experience for Mall Shoppers: Empirical Investigation in an Emerging City of Raipur (India)

Singh, Harvinder,Prashar, Sanjeev,Agarwal, Rashmi,Sharma, Tarun Kumar KNU The Institute of Management Economy Research 2014 Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Vol.5 No.1

Shopping malls have become key players in the Indian retail space. Even in upcoming Indian towns, malls have been mushrooming. Raipur, the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh has witnessed the growth over the last few years. However, this unplanned growth of malls in cities is expected to lead to oversupply of mall space in the near future, making things difficult for mall developers. The study is an attempt to identify appropriate strategies for mall developers to iron out such kinks. This paper presents 'shopping experience' as a tool to compete, succeed and explore its composition in terms of its constituent factors. The paper uses Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) on a non-probability sample of 350 respondents. It condenses a set of twenty-two mall variables into five factors that directly influence the shopping experience. These factors included ambience, infrastructure, marketing focus, convenience and safety and security. In terms of significance, shoppers assigned different weightage to each of these factors. The study shed light on interesting insights regarding the expectations of mall shoppers in the city of Raipur. The results though interesting, may be extended to different social, economic and geographic contexts to check the universality. While strategizing, mall developers must assign proportionate effort on the factors based on the respective contribution to shopping experience. In light of intensifying competition in Raipur, the study is significant for future prospects of malls. In the absence of a scientific and objective basis, the developers run risk of making wrong investment and management decisions. This paper is a useful addition to the body of knowledge on management of shopping malls in India and is unique in terms of its focus on mall shoppers in the smaller Indian cities like Raipur.

Cost and Profit Efficiency of Banks: Stochastic Frontier Analysis vs Data Envelopment Analysis

Baten, Md. Azizul,Kasim, Maznah Mat,Rahman, Md. Mafizur KNU The Institute of Management Economy Research 2015 Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Vol.6 No.2

This study compares the most widely used parametric and non-parametric techniques to measure cost and profit efficiency of banks, namely the Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). We formulate the specification form of both stochastic cost and profit frontier models and constant return to scale Cost DEA and Profit DEA models and provide an empirical assessment of the cost and profit frontiers based on a panel dataset of National Commercial Banks (NCBs) and Private Banks (PBs) in Bangladesh over the 2001-2010 period. The cost inefficiency and profit efficiency are slightly higher for PBs than NCBs in case of both SFA and DEA. The coefficients of advance and off-balance sheet items are significant that positively influence the banks in stochastic cost frontier model while the advance, other earning assets, price of borrowed fund are significant and negative effects on the banks in stochastic profit frontier model. The average cost inefficiency and average profit efficiency are recorded with 16.3% and 91% respectively. The highest and lowest cost inefficiency are observed for Janata Bank and United Commercial Bank Limited whilst the highest and lowest profit efficiency are recorded for Eastern Bank Limited and Janata Bank respectively. The average technical and allocative efficiency are 68.8% and 35.9%, respectively in case of CRS cost-DEA model whereas they are 70.3% and 31.8% in case of CRS profit-DEA model. The average cost inefficiency is recorded 6.3% by SFA whereas it is 24.5% by DEA. The average profit efficiency is found 91% by SFA while it is 22.1% by DEA, and SFA method shows better bank efficiency than DEA.

The effect of security factors on the continuance of Internet banking usage among Malaysians

Normalini, M.K. KNU The Institute of Management Economy Research 2015 Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Vol.6 No.1

The objective of the present study is to identify the security factors that influence customer trust towards intention to continue using Internet banking in Malaysia. The participants are individual Internet banking users in Peninsular Malaysia. Data was collected through self-administered questionnaires distributed using the drop-off and pick-up (DOPU) technique to bank branch managers who then passed the questionnaires to their customers. A total of 413 respondents completed the questionnaires. The SPSS statistical analysis software package and Partial Least Squares statistical method were used for data analysis and hypothesis testing. The results show that authentication, confidentiality, data integrity and non-repudiation are significant factors that influence customer trust towards intention to continue using Internet banking. Trust plays a critical role in influencing the intention to continue using Internet banking in Malaysia while perceived privacy does not. An understanding of the factors identified in this study will enable Internet banking providers to effectively and efficiently enhance the security of services and thereby promote continued usage of Internet banking among customers. The findings of this study are thus expected to be of great use to Internet banking providers as improvements in Internet banking security will increase business in the long run.