University of Mannheim

About: University of Mannheim is a education organization based out in Mannheim, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & European union. The organization has 4448 authors who have published 12918 publications receiving 446557 citations. The organization is also known as: Uni Mannheim & UMA.

International Orientation as a Precondition for Export Success

Abstract: Every country, particularly if it depends on foreign trade to such a high degree as the Federal Republic of Germany, has a vital interest in exploiting all its export opportunities. The authors have developed a measurement concept focusing on the foreign orientation of business managers. Their empirical research suggests that as many as one-third of the small- and medium-sized firms with a primarily domestic focus in their country could be turned into successful exporters. The paper not only reveals obstacles to exporting as perceived by the managers of these companies, but also points to specific measures to improve the efficiency of existing export promotion programs.

Neglected Outcomes of Customer Satisfaction

Abstract: Although there is significant evidence that customer satisfaction is an important driver of firm profitability, extant literature has largely neglected two intermediate outcomes of customer satisfaction, namely, a firm’s advertising and promotion efficiency and its human capital performance. On the basis of longitudinal analyses of large-scale secondary data from multiple sources, the authors find that customer satisfaction boosts the efficiency of future advertising and promotion investments. This finding can be explained by the possibility that customer satisfaction generates free word-of-mouth advertising and saves subsequent marketing costs. In addition, customer satisfaction has a positive influence on a company’s excellence in human capital (employee talent and manager superiority). This finding is highly novel, indicating that human resources managers should have a strong interest in customer satisfaction as well. Finally, the authors investigate the moderating influence of market concentration on both relationships. The uncovered results have important implications for marketers in their dialogue with financial executives and human resources managers.

Individual differences in components of reaction time distributions and their relations to working memory and intelligence

Abstract: The authors bring together approaches from cognitive and individual differences psychology to model characteristics of reaction time distributions beyond measures of central tendency. Ex-Gaussian distributions and a diffusion model approach are used to describe individuals' reaction time data. The authors identified common latent factors for each of the 3 ex-Gaussian parameters and for 3 parameters central to the diffusion model using structural equation modeling for a battery of choice reaction tasks. These factors had differential relations to criterion constructs. Parameters reflecting the tail of the distribution (i.e., tau in the ex-Gaussian and drift rate in the diffusion model) were the strongest unique predictors of working memory, reasoning, and psychometric speed. Theories of controlled attention and binding are discussed as potential theoretical explanations.