ALBERT

Notes: By using a core element of culture, human values, the paper seeks to identify patterns in the way individuals perceive other countries and their products. Based on the above a conceptual framework and a set of hypotheses were developed. Variables such as direct contact with a country, fluency in a country's language as well as demographic differences are included as control variables. Results indicated that human values can predict better country of origin images than other variables. However, the predictive ability of different human values was inconsistent across the two samples, suggesting that the context within which values are developed is important.

Notes: Purpose - The main objective of the study is to classify export intermediaries (EIs) on the basis of their service offering and to understand how they adjust the composition of their service-mix to a number of internal and external contingencies. Design/methodology/approach - A set of hypotheses were developed and tested on data collected from a random sample of British EIs through a postal survey. Cluster analysis was used to classify EIs on the basis of their service-mix composition, whereas multinomial logit and multivariate analysis of variance were used to test the main hypothesis. Findings - Results showed the existence of three types of EIs: full-service provider (FSP) EIs; transaction creator EIs; and physical fulfiller EIs. Transaction creator EIs are the smallest group of the three and FSP EIs, the largest. The composition of the service mixes of these EIs is influenced by the number of countries served; physical presence to foreign markets; distance of the foreign markets and the extent to which an EI takes title of the goods. Specifically, results showed that "full service" EIs tend to be physically present in foreign markets, to serve more countries, and to serve geographically distant markets. Research limitations/implications - The main limitation of the study is that it provides evidence from only one country and results may not apply in other contexts. Thus future research, on a different context is desirable and it should take into account additional factors that affect the provision and configuration of EI services. The quality of the offered services is an important issue that was not examined by this study. Different types of EIs are likely to be linked with different levels of service quality as well as service assortment. It would be interesting in the future to examine the possible determinants of EI service quality as well as the existence of trade-offs between service quality and service assortment. Practical implications - Practical implications can be drawn for both the EIs as well as the current or potential users of EI services. The study offers guidelines to EIs on how to adjust their service offering to the characteristics of their external and operational environment. The result of the study helps the users and potential users of EI services to identify the types of EIs that can match better their needs and objectives. Originality/value - First, it provides a systematically derived and practically useful classificatory scheme of EIs on the basis of services. Second, it examines an extended number of contingencies integrated in a conceptual framework that jointly influence an EIs service offering.

Notes: Export marketing research over the last four decades has covered a number of theoretical and practical issues such as standardisation and customisation, export development processes, barriers to exporting, export performance, etc. Rapid technological, institutional, legislative, economic and attitudinal changes across the globe pose challenges for the future development of export marketing research. The emergence of turbulent and hypercompetitive business environments calls for exporters to reconsider the bases and sustainability of their competitive advantage to overseas markets. In particular, future research should focus on the identification of the right export marketing capabilities that firms should develop or acquire, the ability to leverage or transfer them across markets, and the ability to constantly upgrade them using proper organisational learning routines. Of critical importance are the processes used to develop capability-based strategies and to manage relationships with international customers. This double issue comprises ten articles that deal with some of the main challenges posed to export marketing.

Notes: This paper investigates the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the economic performance of corporations. It first examines the theories that suggest a relationship between the two. To test these theories, measures of CSR performance and disclosure developed by the New Consumer Group were analysed against the (past, concurrent and subsequent to CSR performance period) economic performance of 56 large UK companies. Economic performance included: financial (return on capital employed, return on equity and gross profit to sales ratios); and capital market performance (systematic risk and excess market valuation). The results supported the conclusion that (past, concurrent and subsequent) economic performance is related to both CSR performance and disclosure. However, the relationships were weak and lacked an overall consistency. For example, past economic performance was found to partly explain variations in firms' involvement in philanthropic activities. CSR disclosure was affected (positively) by both a firm's CSR performance and its concurrent financial performance. Involvement in environmental protection activities was found to be negatively correlated with subsequent financial performance. Whereas a firm's policies regarding women's positions seem to be more rewarding in terms of positive capital market responses (performance) in the subsequent period. Donations to the Conservative Party were found not to be related to companies' (past, concurrent or subsequent) financial and/or capital performance.

Notes: Examines the degree to which leading UK charities have adopted the marketing concept in the last five years and how this has affected their performance. Based on Kohli and Jaworski's (1990) work, an adaptation of the MARKOR scale was used to measure charities' orientation towards their markets for funds and volunteers (donors). A mail questionnaire was sent to the top 200 UK charity organizations and a response rate of 29 per cent was achieved. Although charities' orientation towards their donor market is still relatively low, it has significantly increased in the last five years. No differences in the levels of donor market orientation among different type of charities were observed. Donor market orientation was negatively related to the organizational size and the number of departments. A lag effect between donor market orientation and performance was detected. Discusses limitations and recommendations for future research.

Notes: The study examines the impact of product, functional and geographical diversification on the sales, exports and profitability of export intermediaries (EIs). It is based on a mailed survey of a sample of 135 British EIs. The results indicated that product and unrelated functional diversification are important to an EI's export stability. EIs that tend to carry undifferentiated products also exhibit more stable export sales. Although geographical diversification itself was not found to affect performance, focus on the economically developed countries seems to be critical for an EI's stability and growth of sales and exports.