Showing papers on "Empirical research published in 1978"

Empirical evidence for a descriptive model of implementation

Abstract: This article presents a model of factors associated with the successful implementation of a computer-based information system or OR/MS model. The model hypothesizes that two classes of variables, model quality and management support, influence attitudes and perceptions of a model or system. The research model also predicts that attitudes and perceptions, management support, system or model quality, decision style and situational and personal factors are related to successful implementation. In general, the relationships in the model receive support from the data; however, further research is needed, particularly to provide more evidence on possible causal links in the model. Certain classes of variables are also difficult to relate to implementation success, including decision style and personal and situational factors. If the evidence for the model is considered sufficient to take action, implementation strategies should concentrate on several key variables. First, the quality of the model must be high, both in terms of logic and user interface. Favorable attitudes and perceptions should be stressed during development of a model or system. Management support should be encouraged and solicited and the implementor should try to consider different decision styles. Finally, personal and situational factors are likely to be related to success. The purpose of this article is to summarize the findings of nine empirical studies which furnish data to test hypotheses derived from a descriptive model of implementation. It is hoped that hypothesis testing and models of implementation such as those proposed in [14] along with empirical studies will provide a better understanding of the variables associated with successful implementation.

The internationalisation process of the firm

Abstract: This thesis examines the process of international expansion by the individual firm. An overall model of the internationalisation process is developed as a framework for explaining the firm's growth from its earliest international activities through to the point of the initial investment in foreign manufacturing facilities. The model is then applied to the various stages of the internationalisation process, reflecting the pattern of sequential development, by means of a series of connected sub-models. Various aspects of the models' operations are through an empirical study of a sample of Australian-owned manufacturing firms. The overall model provides a conceptual framework which is suggestive of the type of influences operating to induce new international expansion. The model extends the behavioural analysis of the firm into an inter-disciplinary approach. This is evident in the introduction of learning and commitment as international growth forces. They result from past activities initiated by the firm but change its ability to undertake new activities. A basic contention of the model is that for any new expansion decision to be made, the relevant decision-maker must perceive the stimuli as being sufficiently strong to warrant action, provided the risk and uncertainty of so doing has been, or is capable of being, reduced to acceptable levels. An important point demonstrated in the thesis is that the beginnings of the internationalisation process are established in the pre-export stage. The activities undertaken and experience generated during this stage explain why only some firms become exporters. The empirical evidence indicates that new exporters are more likely to come from those firms which have pursued an active interest in the possibility of exporting. Also, it has been argued that extra-regional expansion is one of the key background preparatory factors in a firm's early move into exporting. Within Australia, the evidence reveals that a firm is unlikely to begin exporting before selling interstate; while there is a marked difference between exporters and non-exporters with regard to the extent and speed of interstate expansion. Initially, the period after exporting is an experimental and tentative phase in the overall growth process. Limited background pre-export preparation and negative feedback are important contributing factors to a high failure rate during this period. Continued expansion of exporting activities depends on a combination of factors, although the type of feedback resulting from export operations and the ability to expand internal resources, given the demands of the domestic market, are particularly important. Past experience and commitments can be said to prepare the firm for new steps in the internationalisation process such as foreign investment, and provide a clearer basis for the perception of market possibilities. Nevertheless, new commitments do not simply grow out of past developments. For example, the stimulus to foreign investment often arises from an external threat to an established market. Of course the meaning of the threat can only be understood within the context of past actions and their results. It is the past activities which make the foreign investment decision feasible. In this manner international expansion is throughout characterised by a process of incremental gradualism. A number of case studies of the initial foreign investment by Australian firms confirm this characteristic. This approach also means that each firm's behaviour cannot be deduced from a given set of environmental conditions. The individual firm's experience and the perceptions of its decision-maker are to some extent unique, so each new expansion decision can only be understood within this context. The research suggests that, if a government is to expand exports from the manufacturing sector, the policies adopted will be most effective when designed to suit the special characteristics of each stage of the internationalisation process. The internationalisation model demonstrates that international expansion decisions can be better understood as part of an overall growth process. It could, however, be developed further by continued research in such areas as the role of perceptual and personal factors in decision-making.

A Psychometric Development of a Test for Consumer Alienation from the Marketplace

Abstract: Alienation has interested philosophers and researchers for many years, but only recently has empirical study been directed toward consumer alienation from the marketplace. The author reports the de...

Reconsidering Our Dependent Variables: A Critique and Empirical Study

Abstract: This paper builds a case for the refocusing of research away from the search for additional determinants of individual performance, turnover, and absenteeism, as now practiced in organizational res

Internal organization and profit: an empirical analysis of large u.k. companies

Abstract: PREVious empirical studies of firm and industry profitability have examined many causal factors, but almost without exception these have not included organizational form: the type of internal information and control structure employed by the firm.1 In this respect empirical work has generally run parallel with orthodox theory, in which the specification of a single-valued production function pre-empts discussion of organizational arrangements, along with all other concrete details of production technology. In practice the internal organization of firms is very likely to affect their efficiency and hence their profitability. Moreover, the type of internal control apparatus employed and its effectiveness are quite likely to be correlated with variables such as size, growth, and degree of owner- or managercontrol. Hence the neglect of this influence in previous work may not only have reduced the ability of the models to explain observed variations in profitability, but also given rise to serious specification bias in the estimated parameters. The present paper attempts to isolate the effects of internal organization on profitability in a cross-sectional analysis of 82 large U.K. companies in the period I967-7I. Internal organization variables are employed which test for efficiency gains from multidivisional (M-form) organization as identified by Williamson [27], [28]. The classification according to type of organizational form is described in section II. A model incorporating organizational form variables is outlined in section III, and the sample, our data sources and the measurement of variables are all described in section IV. Our empirical results are reported in section V, which is followed by a brief conclusion.

A Demand Model for the Local Public Sector

Abstract: IN recent years there have been notable advances in the methodology used in empirical studies of state and local public spending. The rather ad hoc econometric studies of the mid-1960s are being replaced by more carefully specified models, e.g., Barr and Davis (1966), Ohls and Wales (1972), Borcherding and Deacon (1972), and Bergstrom and Goodman (1973). Most of these efforts share the common feature that expenditures are viewed as responses to collectively exercised demands. While these studies have yielded insights, all have been partial equilibrium in nature and none has incorporated the possibility of substitution among public services in response to changes in relative costs. A goal of the present paper is to fill this gap by directly modeling and estimating such substitution effects in collective consumption. To accomplish this, it is convenient to view expenditure decisions in the public sector as analogous to consumer choices in the private sector, i.e., as if generated by utility maximization subject to a budget constraint. Quite aside from any advantages this approach holds for empirical analysis, this view of the public decision-making process has been highly attractive to theoretical researchers. Although the utility maximization paradigm has never been subjected to a direct empirical test, it has been employed to predict the effects of intergovernmental grants and spillovers across jurisdictions, and to examine other topics. A second aim of this analysis, therefore, is to provide empirical evidence on the tenability of this view of the local public sector.

Factors Affecting Consumers' Choice between Manufacturer Brands and Retailer Own Labels

Abstract: Assesses consumers' choice and behaviour with regard to manufacturer brands and retailer own labels and the contributions of these different approaches. Presents the results also of an empirical study that throws additional light on brand‐choice decision. Gives tabular results of two studies, one by Myers and the other by Mintel, and examines the results of these in depth. Goes on to the results and methods used by one of the author's herein, which involved 100 housewives answering a number of questions about their brand choice decisions. Proposes that two, tentative, conclusions emerged: first, consumers can be classified as either manufacturer or retailer brand‐prone based on their needs; and second, the classification is only valid on a product‐by‐product basis — but some consumers had other reasons, such as personal budget, involved in their decisions. Accepts that, because of the study's limitations, more research is required.

Theoretical and empirical studies of program testing

Abstract: Two approaches to the study of program testing are described. One approach is theoretical and the other empirical. In the theoretical approach situations are characterized in which it is possible to use testing to formally prove the correctness of programs or the correctness of properties of programs. In the empirical approach statistics are collected which record the frequency with which different testing strategies reveal the errors in a collection of programs. The results of two research projects which investigated these approaches are presented. The differences between the two approaches are discussed and their relative advantages and disadvantages are compared.

Spiritual well-being: A neglected subject in quality of life research

Abstract: The social indicators and quality of life (QOL) movements have given scant attention to religiosity, in spite of theoretical and empirical evidence that it is related to personal and social well-being Reasons for this include the constitutional provisions pertinent to religion, problems of funding, the lack of measuring instruments, conceptual and theoretical difficulties, biases of researchers, and the lack of consensus regarding the definition of QOL A partial solution to this neglec is to engage in conceptual, theoretical, qualitative, and empirical research on spiritual well-being (SWB) The authors indicate its potential and some initial steps toward bringing SWB into the QOL movement

Implications for problem‐solving groups of empirical research on ‘brainstorming’: A critical review of the literature

Abstract: This paper attempts a review and critical examination of brainstorming as a purported aid to creative problem solving in groups. The review presents: (1) a discussion of the history of brainstorming and its practice; (2) a survey of empirical studies of brainstorming; and (3) an examination of theoretical explanations for superior brainstorming performance by individuals as against that of groups. Pedagogical implications are discussed in an attempt to correct the uncritical appraisal of brainstorming offered by most small‐group textbook writers.

Paradigm Development in the Social Sciences: A Proposed Research Strategy

Abstract: A paradigm development strategy of research consists of: fitting data into a theoretical framework with general laws to explain the data; deducing hypotheses from the general laws; and subjecting these hypotheses to empirical test. Deductive-nomological reasoning, crucial experiments, and typology of experimental control strategies are presented. Methods of strong inference are discussed, followed by a description of paradigm development research. Examples illustrate the strategy of paradigm research.

An Empirical Study of Some Zone-Design Criteria

Abstract: The results obtained from studies of spatially aggregated data are not independent of the choice of zoning system. The paper investigates the effects of different zone-design criteria on a linear-r...

Theoretical and Empirical Studies of Program Testing

Abstract: Two approaches to the study of program testing are described. One approach is theoretical and the other empirical. In the theoretical approach situations are characterized in which it is possible to use testing to formally prove the correctness of programs or the correctness of properties of programs. In the empirical approach statistics are collected which record the frequency with which different testing strategies reveal the errors in a collection of programs. A summary of the results of two research projects which investigated these approaches are presented. The differences between the two approaches are discussed and their relative advantages and disadvantages are compared.

Evaluation Methodology in Organization Development: An Analysis and Critique:

Abstract: The purpose of this analysis is to present a detailed overview of the current state of evaluation methodology in organization development. A detailed search procedure yielded 35 empirical studies i ...

Collusion, Efficiency, and Antitrust

Abstract: THE structuralist approach to antitrust rests upon two fundamental propositions. One is that high seller concentration facilitates explicit and/or tacit collusion. The other is that leading firms in concentrated industries tend to be larger than the minimum optimal size dictated by scale economies. Together the propositions imply that a policy of deconcentration will promote lower prices without sacrificing production efficiency. These propositions are not without substantial empirical support. Empirical studies consistently reveal a positive if weak relationship between industry concentration and profitability.' These results are interpreted as evidence that concentration induces monopoly pricing through collusion. Leading engineering cost studies indicate a strong tendency in concentrated industries for firm sizes to exceed estimated minimum optimal scales.2 This evidence is generally corroborated by statistical cost studies and survivor tests.3 A number of economists, most notably Yale Brozen, John McGee, and Harold Demsetz, have challenged the thesis that deconcentration will increase economic welfare.4 Expressing some skepticism regarding the economic meaningfulness of the concentration-profitability correlation noted above, these economists go on to argue that the concentration itself is explained by the superior efficiency of large firms. Hence, while deconcentra-

Fiscal illusion, the nature of public goods and equation specification

Abstract: In a recent article Richard Wagner (1976) has developed the hypothesis that the structure with which governments raise revenues can affect the level of public expenditures. In addition to providing the theoretical basis for this argument, Wagner empirically tested his hypothesis. The results of this test were supportive. The purpose of this note is to re-examine the empirical test employed by Wagner in light of a criticism of his original econometric specification. The first section briefly reviews Wagner's discussion. The second section presents additional empirical evidence. The final section presents some concluding remarks.

Impact of the Business Environment on the Long-Range Planning Process: A Contingency View.

Abstract: An empirical study of 199 corporations provided significant evidence that firms tend to adopt more complete formal long-range planning processes as the turbulence of the business environment increa...

The Formulation of Price Expectations: An Empirical Test of Theoretical Models

Abstract: Price expectations are an important part of many models of economic behavior. In spite of this, little is known of the process by which decision makers formulate their expectations when making actual decisions (for two studies on the subject, see Turnovsky, and Heady and Kaldor). The aim of this study is to test various hypotheses about the formulation of price expectations, using data obtained from individual decision makers.

The Planning of Industrial Investment Programs: A Methodology

Abstract: This report introduces a new series of research publications, the planning of investment programs, by outlining a systematic approach of sectorwide investment analysis, placing special emphasis on complications arising in the presence of economies of scale Although the methodology is offered as a powerful aid to project identification, the authors also provide a candid assessment of its limitations Readers unfamiliar with mathematical programming techniques will find this book a helpful grounding in linear and mixed-integer programming, facilitating understanding of subsequent books in the series Ongoing research at the World Bank has studied the importance for investment analysis of interdependence among economic activities, with reference to particular industrial sectors Two main conclusions emerged First, in the presence of significant economies of scale, interdependence is important enough to warrant explicit recognition in the investment analysis phase Second, computer technology now permits a far more comprehensive and systematic analysis of sectorwide investment problems than was ever possible before, enabling the analyst to examine many variants of a given project or groups of interdependent projects In this methodological introduction, the authors develop a planning model and suggest guidelines for its use, which includes the ability to make decisions about size, location, time-phasing, technology, and product mix to be made within its framework

Using Marx’s Theory of Alienation Empirically

Abstract: Although there is a very large literature concerning Marx’s theory of alienation, there is unfortunately little agreement about precisely what the theory is, let alone how best to use it in empirical research. The purpose of the present paper is to try and identify the major issues concerning the theory, and, through a critical examination of existing research, to suggest appropriate directions for future research.

Patterns of Budgeting

Abstract: Budgeting is such a universal and essential activity of governments, that it is often assumed it may be discussed in terms of a single set of concepts, and that research findings from one experience may be extrapolated beyond their specific context without further thought. All governments appear to have to undertake very similar functions in mobilizing and spending revenues. It is, therefore, not surprising that for a long time budgeting has been subjected to a "principles" or "how-to" approach, which abstracts it from the environment altogether. Budgeting has been seen as a technique operating in a closed system, whose success depends on the enlightment and cooperation of those within the system. The dependence of those budgetary techniques upon specific conditions beyond the control of the direct participants has often not been appreciated, and the failure of advanced techniques of budgeting to gain acceptance or to accomplish their aims has left a wake of suspicion against attempts at generalized theorizing. The danger now is one of over-reaction, and of contentment by scholars with "an anarchy, a superfluity of unconnected findings."' Facts may be built up without coherence, waiting for the "one big computer" which will magically glue them together. The fallacies that "more" equals "better," and that theorizing must await comprehensiveness may impede clear thinking about what is already at hand, and result in random fact collection in place of focused research. What appears to be required is a comparative approach. The need for empirical research, whether confined to one country or even a single jurisdiction or administrative unit, should not be downgraded. It remains essential, but it is also necessary to provide a perspective upon the methods and findings of that research-a self-awareness guarding against total and uncritical immersion in things as they are at the moment, and allowing room for comparison with things as they are in some place else, or as they have been in the past. At present even a vocabulary, outside formal budget categories, is lacking for this purpose. The need is to link budgeting and public finance with their environment, and to endeavor to promote meaningful hypotheses regarding mutual relationships between modes of handling financial resources and specific contextual features, between institutional constraints and possible budgetary outcomes. Any move toward theory along these lines is fraught with difficulties over and above the normal problems of comparative research. Public budgeting stands at the cross-roads of many disciplines2 and is open to many perspectivese.g., administrative theory, policy analysis, economics, political science-which tend to pull in different directions, and whose efforts cannot easily be added one to another to provide an integrated account. Depending on the perspective chosen, therefore, there

Specification of agricultural supply functions - empirical evidence on wheat in southern n.s.w

Abstract: The implications of alternative disturbance specifications in supply functions have been considered in recent theoretical work but little, if any, empirical evidence has been provided on such specifications. Any empirical investigation of the nature of a supply function disturbance is hampered by considerable uncertainty about the deterministic part of the function. Nevertheless, some progress might be made by considering alternative disturbance specifications in conjunction with a variety of deterministic specifications. Applying this approach to the supply of wheat in southern N.S.W., we find some empirical support for an additive disturbance and, surprisingly, for the use of price, rather than revenue, as an argument In supply functions.

Research and Social Work

Abstract: From the beginning there has been a strained relationship between social work practice and research. The choice of moral imperative or empirical knowledge as a base for social work has been debated for decades. The Flexner speech emphasized science as the knowledge base for a profession at a time when social workers were, in fact, establishing practice wisdom as the intellectual foundation for practice. The result has been an official commitment to research but a very limited demand from the field for actual research. In the university the research model of the sciences dominates. Research interests of social work faculty tend to reflect the science model even though the resulting research may have little relevance for practice. There is a need for a nationwide research strategy for social work which focuses primarily on the empirical study of social work practice.