International Trade and Finance

In order to improve Turkey's market share in world tourism, organizations of the sector should develop means for the supplied quality and competitiveness. This study surveyed four-star city hotels in Istanbul and found areas of improvement. The survey tool is based on o widely recognized self assessment form, i.e., the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model and applied to eight hotels as a multiple-case studies design. In general, findings demonstrate that, while hotels are managing customer related processes properly, there appears a big gap between the current approaches and the Model's leadership, strategy, and people criteria.

Bu çalışmanın amacı işletmeleri çevreye duyarlı politikalar uygulamaya iten güçleri incelemek ve bu güçleri yeni bir tarafsal sınıflandırmayla tanımlamaktır. Bu sayede çevre hareketindeki en etkili aktörün kim olduğu belirginleşecektir. Literatürdeki yaklaşımların yanı sıra, ikincil veri olarak bireyler ve üst düzey işletme yöneticileri üzerinde yapılmış çeşitli araştırma raporları bu çalışmanın kavramsal çerçevesine ve varsayımlarına dayanak oluşturmaktadır. Bu çalışmada önerilen yeni tarafsal sınıflandırmanın, işletmelerin çevreye duyarlı politikalar oluşturmasına sebep olan güçlere farklı bir perspektif getireceği düşünülmektedir.

This study aims to analyze the hybrid forms, as an organizational structure, where market and hierarchy mechanisms intersect. In essence, it is a case study, which investigates the framework of franchising relationship as being one of the hybrid structure types. In that perspective, the organizational solutions, processes, and values of a firm case in retailing sector are attempted managerial levels. This paper is assumed to contribute to further studies on hybrid forms where blended governance mechanisms exist.

Bu çalısmanın amacı rekabet stratejilerinin küçük ölçekli isletmelerin büyümesi üzerindeki etkisini bir örnek olay kapsamında incelemektir. Çalısmada, öncelikle küçük isletmelerle ilgili kavramlar ve stratejik yönetim literatürünün bu isletmeler hakkındaki yaklasımları tanımlanmıstır. Ardından, sanayi sektöründe ticari faaliyet gösteren küçük ölçekli bir firmanın 6 yıllık dönemde rekabet çevresiyle ilgili
olarak yasadıgı çesitli kritik olaylar karsısında aldıgı kararlar ve bunların sonuçları örnek olarak incelenmistir. Çalısma sonunda, odaklanmıs farklılastırma stratejilerinin bu küçük ölçekli isletmenin rekabet altında büyümesine yardımcı oldugu tespit edilmistir. Çalısmanın, ekonomideki yaygınlıgı yüksek olan küçük ölçekli isletmelerde, yönetim becerilerinin ve kurumsal yetkinliklerin gelistirilmesine katkı saglayacagı düsünülmektedir.

Management practices, strategic responses and strategies is an important part of strategy research. However, little is known about the linkage of those themes in general, restaurant services context and crisis times in particular. Thus, this study examines the relationships among crisis management practices such as income and cost reductions and efficiency and competitivity improvement, strategic responds such as reactive and proactive responses, adding customer value and gaining flexibility and strategies of customer loyalty and price strategy within the context of "branded" restaurants in Turkish hospitality industry. The study employs a questionnaire that evaluates the attitudes of fine dining restaurants in terms of those themes during economic downturn in 2009. Evidence from 45 restaurants reveals that strategic responses, management practices, and customer royalty have significant relationships.

This study aims to review the factors, which force business organizations to adopt environment friendly policies and propose a new classification of those factors. This categorization has enabled an argument to underline the party which has the greatest effect on environmental action. Literature review and analysis of secondary data from global surveys on citizens and corporate executives have been used to create a conceptual basis and develop the propositions. The new categorization offered in this study is assumed to provide a different perspective of the pressures on organizations for taking environment sensitive actions.

This study aims to analyze the hybrid forms, as an organizational structure, where market and hierarchy mechanisms intersect. In essence, it is a case study, which investigates the framework of franchising relationship as being one of the hybrid structure types. In that perspective, the organizational solutions, processes, and values of a firm case in retailing sector are attempted to be identified in terms of the firm's managerial levels. This paper is assumed to contribute to further studies on hybrid forms where blended governance mechanisms exist.

This study aims to investigate modern inventory control policies which play a key role for successful and sustainable business operations. Furthermore, to propose solutions for appliance firms in terms of inventory management is another purpose of this paper. Inventory holding by its several advantages and disadvantages may be an important burden for companies and may constitute an obstacle for reducing costs and increasing profitability. Home appliances include all mechanical and electrical devices used in a household and this sector is a multi-billion dollar industry. This chapter proposes sections about inventory control, home appliances, and modern inventory control systems. The study ultimately will talk about conclusions and further discussions.

ÖZ: Stratejik yönetimin kalbini oluşturan strateji formülasyon yeteneği, işletmelere rekabet avantajı sağlayan temel yeteneklerin başında yer almaktadır. Hâlbuki bazı araştırmacılar bu temel yeteneğin, işletmelerin iç ve dış çevre özelliklerine bağlı olarak performanslarına etkisinin farklılaşacağını ileri sürmektedirler. Bu bağlamda, çalışmanın amacı; çevresel unsurlardan "rekabet şiddetinin", strateji formülasyon yeteneğinin işletme performansına etkisinde düzenleyici rolünü araştırmaktır. Literatürde kullanılan ölçeklerin uyarlanmasıyla oluşturulan anket, Türkiye'de üretim sektöründe faaliyet gösteren büyük ölçekli işletmeler üzerinde uygulanmıştır. 233 firma yöneticisinden elde edilen verilerin analizi sonucunda, rekabet şiddetinin, strateji formülasyonu yeteneğinin işletme performansına olan etkisinde düzenleyici role sahip olduğu bulgusuna ulaşılmıştır. Abstract: Strategy formulation capability is at the forefront of core capabilities resulting in competitive advantage. However, some researchers propose that this basic capability will have different effects on businesses performance depending on internal and external environmental factors. In this context, the aim of this study is to examine the moderating role of "competition intensity", as an environmental factor, on the effect of strategic formulation capability on performance. The measurement scale has been adopted from the literature and conducted on 233 managers of large scale firms operating in manufacturing industry in Turkey. The research findings revealed the moderating effect of competitive intensity on the relationship of strategy formulation capability to business performance.

The main object of this paper is to define the concept of "success" in the implementation of a Strategic Tool; an Enterprise-wide Software System generally called as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and to calculate the success rates of their implementations in the Turkish market. ERP Systems integrate information and process across entire business areas of a company in a single computer system. They communicate as a nerve system across the business transactions and serve all particular needs of different departments. Many people believe that they bring great benefits for operational infrastructure and decision processes. Since the implementation of ERP affects on the structure and the market position of a company, this process should be handled as a strategic decision. Researches about the success rates of ERP projects in the Turkish market are very rare. Even though some factors, which affect ERP projects, are determined with the descriptive methods, the concept of "success" in ERP projects has not been studied in detail yet. This paper proposes a success model to the companies that plan to change the way of doing their own business by the help of Enterprise-wide Computer Systems and the researchers who study on the subject of "Enterprise-wide Projects ".