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This study examines whether product specialization offers retailers greater performance in a period of market turbulence. Incumbent retailers of home improvement products were followed over six years (1995-2001) comprising a period before, during, and after a period of environmental turbulence generated by the entry of large format retailers Home Depot and Revy to the Winnipeg market. Data collection involved survey, interview, and observational methods of 58 participants. Niche width was operationalized using four different methods, yet no significant difference could be found in the performance of organizations that specialized or generalized in home improvement products. This finding goes against much of the cross-sectional research on product specialization and niche strategies in retail, underscoring the importance of longitudinal study in research on organizations.

EN :

This research is aimed at studying the impact of a substantial share repurchase financed through debt (known as a Leveraged Buyback) on the value of the stock of a company. Prior research shows evidence of a positive average effect, but factors determining the magnitude of response for an individual company are not well understood. This study focuses on explaining variations in response to a leveraged buyback. The study suggested that shareholders like a LBB when the size of the LBB is small and the principle behind it is to supplement their dividend income. However, in cases when the company announces a substantial LBB the shareholders perceive it as bad news. This is because the shareholders feel that such a major restructuring of the capital structure at the hands of an untrustworthy management would put at risk not only their dividend income, but also their original investment.

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Global competition forces companies to invest intensively in brands in order to hold their market positions. Hence, a company's market competitiveness can be estimated based on an assessment of its brand equity. This study developed a preliminary metric that assesses a company's brand equity based on several different dimensions. Six hundred and forty in-depth interviews were conducted to assess brand equity of the leading brand in the drinkin' box market. The assessment for the leading brand was then compared to that of other major competing brands within the New Brunswick market. Preliminary results suggest that the metric tested in this study is a valid tool for the determination of brand equity and that although the leading brand is a home brand and is able to hold its market position, competitive pressure from other brands is real and inescapable.

EN :

Cross-cultural management research suffers from many shortcomings. While some of these shortcomings are related to methodology, others can be identified as epistemological problems. By recognizing that epistemological positions determine methodological approaches, this paper attempts to discuss both epistemological and methodological issues in cross-cultural research. Based on extant literature, major drawbacks are discussed and some suggestions for future research are presented.