The context determines the meaning of the word quality to different people. Quality can be described as conformance of output to planned goals, specifications and requirements [2]. Service marketing scholars believe that quality is about exceeding customer expectations [13]. quality ineducation as the fitness of educational outcome and experience for use [8]. This paper is premised on transcendent view of quality by Garvin [8]. Scholars argue that recognition of quality is dependent on experience gathered from repeated exposure to the service. This perspective of quality is consistent with innate excellence, high achievement and uncompromising standards [11,12]. Interactive quality is one of the essential dimension of service quality. It refers to the nature of communication and relationship that exist between the students and faculty and staff of the University. It is also about the quality of teaching and learning process in the University. Instruction may be described as the impartation of skills, values as well as knowledge that came as a result of quality teaching. The education literature presents a good number of teaching strategies and there are also a good number of research studies that validate them [1,10]. The issues of teaching quality and teaching effectiveness have been attracting scholarly debates and controversies in the higher education community. As a result, a good number of scholars focused on teaching quality from different views [6,7]. Many researchers agreed to the fact that teaching quality is one of the major factors that influence student achievement, other school-related factors include financial condition, class size, leadership or school organization [3,4]. However, only limited studies considered the views of the alumni of the universities [5].

مقاله سال 2016

 مجله تحقیقات بازاریابی – Journal of Business Research

In an increasingly global economy, some western firms are aggressively expanding overseas. The fast-growing Chinese market has been a source of considerable opportunities for businesses (Ling, Yi, & Chuanlong, 2014). The Chinese business environment is very different from the western one due to myriad political, cultural, economic, technological and historical conditions, so securing business-tobusiness (B2B) customer relationships in the transitional economy of China for new entrant foreign firms is often challenging and time consuming (Fang, Olsson, & Sporrong, 2004; Salmi, 2006). This is due to myriad political, cultural, economic, technological and historical differences which exist between China and the ‘West’. While relationship marketing in general, as well as specific research into business relationships in China has garnered considerable attention, the dynamics and strategies for actual initiation of B2B customer relationships for new entrant firms in China are still under-researched (Murray, Masaki, & Zhou, 2005; Yen & Barnes, 2011).

One particularly challenging relational phenomenon firms must come to terms with is the tradition of guanxi. This venerated concept represents specific forms of interpersonal connections and social ties, which are indigenous to China and still prevalent in the Chinese economy (Herndon, 2008; Tang, 2009). Exactly what guanxi is and how it affects business relationships is often disputed. Some ‘Western’ authors describe guanxi as a Chinese form of relationship marketing, whereas some Chinese authors cite important differences between the two concepts. For business practitioners working within and between cultures, developing knowledge and understanding of how the two approaches to business, along with other conditions, can be harnessed for mutual benefit is critical (Shaalan, Reast, Johnson, & Tourky, 2013).

In addition to a need for further studies on business relationship initiation (Shaalan et al., 2013), there is also a lack of research on small and medium sized enterprise (SME) engagements with China (Ndubisi & Matanda, 2011). SMEs often possess limited resources and experience in comparison to large firms, which are factors that require further consideration in international business research (Fang et al., 2004). China’s services sector accounts for 46.9% of the nation’s GDP and its further development is a priority item for the PRC government (Rutkowski, 2015). Still a majority of studies on export success have focused on products (Sichtmann & Selasinsky, 2010). While business sentiment for the future of the crucial China’s trade with the West remains positive, Western companies still grapple with the many challenges in fostering profitable long term relationships in China (LaPlaca, 2011; Lin, Lu, Li, & Liu, 2015). The crucial question is how to perform well when operating businesses in China. To explore this, the present study uses a sample of 72 Australian firms and analyzes each of them on firm management demographics, survey respondents, operating in China, and business performance. The study examines the respective influence of firm management demographics and survey respondents on operating in China, and the respective influence of firm management demographics and operating in China on business success. High market share and sales targets are two criteria for business success.

مقاله سال 2016

Various studies recommend that managers aiming to venture into the challenging field of internationalisation should create a competitive edge that helps them to demonstrate the superior abilities of their firm (Barney, Wright, & Ketchen, 2001; Porter, 2011; Samli, Wirth, & Wills, 1994). But, fear of the unknown deters managers from stepping out of their home country and benefiting from internationalisation because growth markets tend to be very complex as they foster competition (Knight, 1995; Thai & Chong, 2013). A business-to-business model of distribution allows managers of international firms to successfully deal with entry barriers and enter smoothly into a foreign market and effectively address the complexity of a place that offers high potential of growth to their businesses (Yan, 2012).

A distributor simultaneously facilitates the entry of multiple firms with competing products into the market and engages micro level small and medium firms in the local market for selling (Chen, 2003). Since distributors offer multiple similar and competing products to resellers, markets being served through resellers become very competitive for international brands. Competition in a market encourages competing firms to demonstrate their ability to innovatively serve customers (Freeman, Edwards, & Schroder, 2006). Lack of in-depth native knowledge in such markets is a major shortcoming for firms aiming to internationalise because it decreases their capability to innovate their marketing related business practises by predicting the business environment and trends in the consumption patterns of the foreign market (Bell, 1995; Johanson & Vahlne, 2009). Distributors and resellers have an important role to play in the successful penetration of a foreign market showing that an international firm develops its capability to innovatively market its products through reseller networks that needs to be understood.

The resource advantage theory recognises the creation of a competitive edge as a function of marketing and identifies the role of branding in creating the capability of a firm to demonstrate its superior abilities (Hunt & Morgan, 1995, 1996; Srivastava, Fahey, & Christensen, 2001). Simultaneously, the industrial practises of industrial brands particularly in the IT and telecom sector indicate that the managers of strong brands can compete in foreign markets based on their brand leadership and brand relationships in the local market. It has also been noticed and reported in the literature of local firms by studies like Gupta and Malhotra (2013) that a brand that contributes to the competitiveness of the reseller is able to compete at the local level using innovative marketing initiatives. These observations of various researchers indicate that the relationship between an international brand and its resellers in foreign markets becomes very important for brands in a market that poses strong competition (Anderson & Weitz, 1992).