bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Antecedents and consequences of upward and downward social comparisons
Authors: Foley Sharon , Ngo Hang-yue , Loi Raymond 
Published: March 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to extend and test a theory of uncertainty and directional social comparisons. Prior studies have posited that uncertainty leads to increased upward and downward social comparisons. The authors ' view is that uncertainty affects upward and downward comparisons differentially. They test their theory in the Chinese workplace, and focus specifically on employees’ comparisons of career progress. Workplace consequences of social comparisons are also investigated.Design/methodology/approach– The authors achieve their objectives by collecting data from respondents in China that measure uncertainty, directional social comparisons, organizational commitment and job satisfaction. They use a longitudinal design to assess causality.Findings– This paper found that perceived organizational support, an antecedent that lowers uncertainty in the workplace, is related to upward social comparison, whereas psychological entitlement, an uncertainty-raising antecedent, is related to downward social comparison. Upward social comparison positively affected organizational commitment, whereas downward social comparison positively impacted job satisfaction.Research limitations/implications– The data collection relied on self-reports and hence the findings may be adversely affected by common method bias. Another limitation involves the generalizability of results, given that the respondents were drawn from three large firms in China.Originality/value– This paper indicates that directional social comparison processes serve as an important mechanism for understanding how employees’ work attitudes are developed. It also demonstrates the applicability of social comparison theory to the study of organizational behavior in China.
The effect of transformational leadership on the profitability of Finnish firms
Authors: Brandt Tiina , Laitinen Erkki K , Laitinen Teija 
Published: March 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this study is to find the effect of transformational leadership in profitability in different contexts.Design/methodology/approach– Data are gathered of 200 Finnish firms. Profitability is measured by profitability ratios one to two years after the survey to take account of lagged effects. The sample is split into sub-samples with respect to four context variables indicated by prior research to be important for transformational leadership: size, competition, perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU) and research and development (R & D) effort. The effect of leadership dimensions on lagged profitability was assessed by partial least squares analysis.Findings– Factor analysis gave a five-factor solution for transformational leadership variables indicating dimensions as: challenging, enabling, visioning, rewarding and contesting. Results did show that transformational leadership has a weak general effect on profitability. Results also offer some support for hypotheses for the strong effects of transformational leadership in different contexts. Enabling has an effect in low competition context; rewarding has an effect in low PEU, low competition and high R & D contexts; and contesting has an effect in large companies and in high PEU context.Research limitations/implications– The commonly used Bass’ measurement of transformational leadership was not used here; instead, Kouzes and Posners’ modified version was in use. Factor analysis of this version resulted to the three factors only in a few loadings, even if high.Practical implications– The importance of rewarding behavior of leaders is even stronger than previously thought. Thus, managers should concentrate more on the positive feedback of followers.Originality/value– This paper fulfills a gap of research on leadership and profitability and also stresses the importance of situational variables which may affect the usefulness of different leadership styles.
Organizational caring and organizational justice
Authors: Faldetta Guglielmo 
Published: March 2016

Purpose– This article aims to analyze, from a theoretical point of view, if organizational caring and organizational justice are compatible and complementary. It proposes a link between justice and care, expanding the common notions of organizational justice, to find a relational concept of organizational justice that can lead to organizational caring.Design/methodology/approach– The article reviews the literature on the common notions of organizational justice. To find a relational concept of justice, it refers to Lévinas’ thoughts. Therefore, it develops two complementary approaches to organizational caring and analyzes their practical implications.Findings– The article shows that the relational approach based on the logic of gift and on a Lévinasian concept of organizational justice can constitute the ethical basis, which will most likely lead to the creation of a caring organization.Research limitations/implications– The article is a starting point of a conceptual path that should be directed toward the theoretical and practical use of an approach about organizational caring based on the logic of gift. It is necessary to support the theoretical considerations with future empirical investigation showing the possibility of practical applications of the concept analyzed.Practical implications– The main implication for organization theory is the possibility to propose organizational caring through the logic of gift and Lévinasian ethics as a new approach in managing relationships in the organizational context.Originality/value– In the past, organizational justice has been analyzed as a way to an end and not as an end in itself. This concept of justice can make it difficult to find a link with organizational caring, unless it is based on organizational rules and norms. In this paper, the author proposes another concept of organizational justice rooted on philosophical basis, which can lead to a more effective approach to organizational caring.
Factors potentially affecting the successful promotion of electric vehicles
Authors: Bennett Roger , Kottasz Rita , Shaw Stephen 
Published: March 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper was to identify whether the promotional materials used by government bodies and private producers to stimulate the mass market for electric vehicles (EVs) embodied themes deemed attractive by a sample of motorists in Greater London.

Design/methodology/approach
– The EV websites and advertisements of EV manufacturers and the EV websites of relevant public bodies were subjected to semantic network and categorical content analyses. Outcomes were inputted to a conjoint analysis, the results of which were clustered into customer segments using the NORMCLUS generalized market segmentation procedure.

Findings
– Substantial disparities between, on one hand, the EV characteristics emphasized in manufacturers’ and public bodies’ EV promotional materials and, on the other, potential EV buyers’ views regarding the key qualities of EVs became evident.

Research limitations/implications
– The sample size of motorists was limited and the research was completed in a single country.

Practical implications
– Social marketing campaigns initiated by government and private bodies concerning EVs need to incorporate specific themes reflecting the preferences of various segments of motorists.

Social implications
– A “one-size-fits-all” approach is unlikely to be appropriate for the mass marketing of EVs.

Originality/value
– This was the first study to explore the appeal to potential EV purchasers of the value of the contents of EV marketing messages used by government bodies and vehicle manufacturers.
Gamblers’ aces in the hole: the effect of erroneous cognitions on dysfunctional gambling
Authors: Vergura Donata Tania 
Published: March 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether gambler’s cognitive errors affect gambling involvement and addiction. As the popularity of gambling has grown, questions are being raised about its excessive use and factors related to addictive behaviours.

Design/methodology/approach
– An online survey on 508 gamblers was conducted. Structural equation modelling was used to investigate the relationships among gambling beliefs, gambling involvement and problem gambling.

Findings
– Among the three sets of erroneous beliefs investigated, luck and superstition were significant predictors of both gambling involvement and the severity of gambling problems (according to the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI)), while the illusion of control showed a negative relationship with the PGSI. Moreover, gambling involvement positively affected the potential risk of disease and mediates the relationship between luck and superstition and PGSI.

Research limitations/implications
– Because not all cognitive dimensions apparently influence gambling behaviour, future research should extend the analysis to include other variables that may moderate or mediate the causal relationship.

Practical implications
– The results are useful to marketers in developing social marketing campaigns wishing to discourage gambling. Moreover, factors that influence gambling involvement and addiction may be used as diagnostic tools to correct gamblers behaviour.

Originality/value
– The paper proposes a deeper exploration of the relationships among beliefs, gambling involvement and dysfunctional gambling and an appropriate scale to capture the entire spectrum of gambler’s beliefs in relation to every form of gambling activity.
The social marketing theory-based (SMT) approach for designing interventions
Authors: Manikam Shamini , Russell-Bennett Rebekah 
Published: March 2016

Purpose– Despite the importance of theory as a driving framework, many social marketers either fail to explicitly use theory as the basis of designing social marketing interventions or default to familiar theories which may not accurately reflect the nature of the behavioural issue. The purpose of this paper is therefore to propose and demonstrate the social marketing theory (SMT)-based approach for designing social marketing interventions, campaigns or tools.Design/methodology/approach– This conceptual paper proposes a four-step process and illustrates this process by applying the SMT-based approach to the digital component of a social marketing intervention for preventing domestic violence.Findings– For effective social marketing interventions, the underpinning theory must reflect consumer insights and key behavioural drivers and be used explicitly in the design process.Practical implications– Social marketing practitioners do not always understand how to use theory in the design of interventions, campaigns or tools, and scholars do not always understand how to translate theories into practice. This paper outlines a process and illustrates how theory can be selected and applied.Originality/value– This paper proposes a process for theory selection and use in a social marketing context.
Antecedents of FDI options by Thai public firms
Authors: Rittippant Nattharika , Rasheed Abdul 
Published: March 2016

Purpose– This paper aims to develop and test a real-options model investigating the antecedents predicting the types of options exercise (i.e. growth, delay and exit options) by multinational enterprises (MNEs) after their initial foreign direct investment (FDI) announcements. Firm-, industry- and country-specific factors that influence the real options’ processes and different subsequent options to exercise were examined.Design/methodology/approach– Binomial and multinomial logistic regressions were performed on the data collected from 281 pairs of initial FDI (mostly within Asia) announcements and subsequent announcements regarding further investment decisions by 41 Thai MNEs listed in the Securities Exchange of Thailand for 1995-2005.Findings– The empirical evidence shows that host country factors (i.e. economic growth rate and economic freedom), industry competition and ownership concentration have significant effects on the MNEs’ further decisions on whether to grow, delay or exit out of their initial FDI.Originality/value– The findings of this study suggest that the options’ lens is an appropriate approach to study managerial decisions and actions in the face of uncertainty. While the majority of prior empirical literature has dealt with situations that involve option creation, this study goes a step further by examining decisions subsequent to option creation. Option creation is not an end in itself, and only by studying subsequent exercise of options, one can fully appreciate the value of the real options’ approach. The empirical evidence from this study showed that the host country’s factors (i.e. economic growth rate and economic freedom), industry competition and ownership concentration have significant effects on the MNEs’ further decisions on whether to grow, delay or exit out of their initial FDI.
National identifications as determinants of the reception of country-of-origin sensitive advertising
Authors: Gerpott Torsten J. , Bicak Ilknur 
Published: March 2016

Purpose
– This paper aims to empirically analyze the extent to which advertising reception among consumers with a migration background (German-Turks) is influenced by a person’s strength of national identifications with his/her country-of-origin (COO) and with his/her country-of-residence (COR). The focus is on Turkey-sensitive advertisements (ads) of telecommunication service suppliers in Germany because such communication measures are quite common and about three million German-Turks constitute an economically important group.

Design/methodology/approach
– Measures of COO and COR identification as well as of three ad reception criteria were obtained in a survey of 291 German-Turks and analyzed via moderated regression models.

Findings
– Strength of COO identification was a significantly positive predictor of the frequency with which participants remembered Turkey-sensitive ads for telecommunication services. Additionally, COO identification related significantly to two criteria that capture facets of attitudes toward such ads. By contrast, COR identification acted partly as a moderator which attenuated links between respondents’ COO identification and two ad reception measures. Nevertheless, German-Turks with a strong COR identification (i.e. “accultured” consumers) were still receptive to Turkey-sensitive telecommunication services ads even if their self-image was simultaneously strongly dependent on their COO. “Alienated” German-Turks who identify neither with their COO nor with their COR were least responsive to ethnic ads.

Practical implications
– The research indicates that marketing practitioners should not use uniform communication measures to address migrant consumers with a specific COO but segment this target group further by simultaneously considering their members’ COO and COR identifications.

Originality/value
– The contribution of this paper results from the simultaneous inclusion of both COO and COR identifications as factors explaining differences in reactions to communication measures among migrant consumers which share the same COO. Furthermore, the scarcity of empirical work on reactions of German-Turks to ethnomarketing is reduced.
Determinants of dividend policy of public listed companies in Malaysia
Authors: Yusof Yusniliyana , Ismail Suhaiza 
Published: March 2016

Purpose
– This study aims to investigate the determinants of the dividend policy of public listed companies in Malaysia. The factors examined in this study include earnings, cash flows, free cash flows, debt level, growth, investment, size, largest shareholders, risk and lagged dividend.

Design/methodology/approach
– Data were obtained from the relevant databases and annual reports of the sampled companies. The study examines a total of 147 listed companies. In analyzing the data, the study used fixed and random effects, pooled least squares model, robust standard errors on fixed effects and random-effects models.

Findings
– The results revealed the five factors that are earnings, debt, size, investment and largest shareholder have a significant influence on dividend policy, with earnings, firm size and investment revealed to have a positive significant effect, while debt and large shareholders have a negative significant effect.

Practical implications
– The findings from this study are useful to the board of directors and management team of companies in deciding an appropriate dividend policy for the company. The results are also useful to shareholders in making investment decisions.

Originality/value
– The study extends empirical evidence on dividend policy determinants which are currently reported to be inconclusive. In addition, the study fills the lacuna in the existing literature by focusing on the issue of dividend policy determinants in the context of an emerging economy, namely, Malaysia.
The effect of corporate governance mechanisms on earnings management
Authors: Al-Thuneibat Ali Abedalqader , Al-Angari Hussam Abdulmohsen , Al-Saad Saleh Abdulrahman 
Published: March 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the compliance of Saudi shareholding companies with the requirements of corporate governance issued by the Board of Capital Market Authority in the Kingdom and their impact on earnings management.

Design/methodology/approach
– A questionnaire was used to collect data about the compliance of the Saudi shareholding companies with corporate governance requirements and discretionary accruals (DAs) were calculated from the financial statements of these companies using the modified Jones model, then multiple regression was used to test the relationship between the variables.

Findings
– The results of the study revealed that there was no statistically significant linear dependence of the mean of DAs on corporate governance. Additionally, no statistically significant effect for internal audit, audit committee and board of directors on earnings management was detected. However, the results revealed that there was a slight negative effect for internal audit scope of work and independence and audit committee independence on DAs.

Research limitations implications
– This research paper is applied on Saudi Arabia, a Middle East country with specific characteristics, that is, a specific context, and, therefore, the results must be interpreted within this context

Practical implications
– Regulators of Saudi corporations may need to reassess the effectiveness of corporate governance requirements issued by the Capital Market Authority and the actual implementation of these requirements. Researchers also may need further investigation of this phenomenon within its context.

Social implications
– The results of the study are very important to the Saudi society because they put a big question mark on the relevance of corporate governance of the Saudi shareholding companies

Originality/value
– The paper provides new evidence about the effect of corporate governance mechanisms on earnings management in a Middle East environment, which may suggest that there is a need to expand this study using other methodologies to delve into the depths and understand this phenomenon within its context.
Efficiency of Gulf Cooperation Council Banks
Authors: Aghimien Peter A , Kamarudin Fakarudin , Hamid Mohamad , Noordin Bany 
Published: March 2016

Purpose
– This paper aims to investigate the efficiency level of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) banks on technical efficiency (TE), pure technical efficiency (PTE) and scale efficiency (SE). Both PTE and SE represent the potential factors that influence the efficiency of the GCC banks. In total, 43 GCC banks were observed in this study over the period from 2007 until 2011.

Design/methodology/approach
– The Data Envelopment Analysis, a non-parametric method using variable returns to scale under Banker, Charnes and Cooper model, was used with assets and deposit (as input) and loan and income (as output).

Findings
– On average, the results show that many GCC banks are operating within an optimal scale of efficiency. Nevertheless, the results also show managerial inefficiency in the use of resources. Furthermore, the results indicate that, while the larger banks (the 22 largest) tend to operate at constant returns to scale (CRS) or decreasing returns to scale, the smaller banks (the 21 smallest) are susceptible to operate at either CRS or increasing returns to scale.

Research limitations/implications
– Because of the chosen research method, the results may lack generalisation. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the propositions further. An additional implication of the results is that it was able to identify some banks that may become potential targets for outside acquisition.

Practical implications
– The findings should be useful to banks in the GCC in increasing their efficiencies and recognizing those with a potential for outside acquisition.

Originality/value
– The findings are valuable because they will facilitate the maintenance of efficient banks in the GCC. This is necessary to enable the countries to maintain a healthy and sustainable economy.
Records management practices in the administration of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)
Authors: Ajiboye Bosede Adebimpe , Alegbeleye Olubunmi Gabriel , Okonedo Sarah , Oyedipe Wuraola Janet , Emmanuel Sunday Oluwafemi , Alawiye Mariam Kehinde 
Published: March 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this study is to examine records management practices as factors influencing the administration of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion).Design/methodology/approach– The study adopted the causal-comparative research design of theex post factotype. The multi-stage sampling technique was used to select the sample for the study. A four-point Likert scale questionnaire that ranged from strongly disagree, disagree, agree and strongly agree was used to collect data. Three research questions were raised and answered. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics.Findings– The outcome shows the various records management practices that the Church engaged in which include the creation, maintenance, ease of access to, use, preservation and final disposal of the records. Other findings of the study also revealed the joint influence (positive relationship) of records management practices (records creation, use, maintenance and retention or disposal) on the administration of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) to be significant which follows that there is a significant positive relationship between records management practices and administration of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion). Also, it is only record use (β= 0.27;t= 5.53;p< 0.05) that has a significant relative influence on the Church of Nigeria’s (Anglican Communion) administration. Others like record creation or received (β= 0.02;t= 0.28;p> 0.05), records maintenance (β= −0.06;t= −0.93;p> 0.05) and records retention or disposal (β= 0.11;t= 1.76;p> 0.05) have no significant influence on the church administration. Therefore, it is only records use that can predict or influence the administration of Anglican Church positively.Originality/value– The study is the original findings of the authors.