bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Are supply chains global or regional?
Authors: Rugman Alan M. , Li Jing , Hoon Oh Chang 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the following questions: Are supply chains global or regional? What are the performance implications for firms?Design/methodology/approachThis paper classifies 183 large North American firms into home‐region oriented, host‐region oriented, bi‐regional, and global firms by using geographic distributions of their upstream and downstream activities. The performance implications of the regional supply chains of a broader set of 273 firms by using Tobin's Q and data on intra‐regional sales or assets are further evaluated.FindingsIt is found that the evidence to support the regional nature of supply chains – that is, over 85 percent of firms in our sample – have their supply chains within North America. The paper also finds that a regional focus of firms in terms of sales contributes to improved performance as measured by Tobin's Q.Originality/valueThe regionalization perspective proposed by Rugman and Verbeke to develop and test the regional nature of supply chains is applied.
The internationalisation of born global and international new venture SMEs
Authors: Crick Dave 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine whether differences exist between born global (BG) firms and international new ventures (INVs) in respect of their performance in overseas markets. These terms have arguably been used as interchangeable to characterise firms that internationalized rapidly, typically but not exclusively within three years of their business start‐up. The term “global” suggests firms have a presence in at least the world's triad regions and arguably a commitment spread across them. INVs, however, may have internationalized quickly to address opportunities but without necessarily a global presence.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology in this exploratory study employs both quantitative but also primarily a qualitative methodology involving 21 technologically oriented small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) based in the UK. This methodological approach is used to assess the strategies used by the two types of firms after their start‐up phase and the factors that shaped their international trajectory and performance.FindingsThe findings provide some initial understanding of the two types of firms' patterns of internationalization and more specifically suggest foreign market strategies can be formulated in various ways, i.e. some planned and others by serendipitous means, but that BG and INVs exhibit different characteristics. BGs focused globally in comparison to the more regional focus of INVs.Practical implicationsThe implication of the findings is to suggest that researchers should not use the terms interchangeably to characterise different types of firms and behaviour.Originality/valueThe main aspect of originality is to offer insights into managerial practices of different types of firms that have to date been viewed in some studies as representing the same international marketing behaviour.
International marketing adaptation versus standardisation of multinational companies
Authors: Vrontis Demetris , Thrassou Alkis , Lamprianou Iasonas 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to position multinational companies on a linear continuum indicating their overall attitude towards standardisation/adaptation, examines the reasons influencing multinational companies' tactical (7Ps – marketing mix) behaviour towards it, and finally presents the underlying managerial implications of the results.Design/methodology/approachA rating scale Rasch model is used in order to place the multinational companies' attitude towards standardisation and adaptation on a linear continuum. Structural equation modelling is subsequently used in order to investigate the relationship between the adaptation and standardisation variable against other variables. An extensive literature review is also undertaken to provide the theoretical foundation.FindingsThe paper corroborates the findings of past research by placing multinational companies on a linear continuum; by identifying their overall attitude towards adaptation/standardization; and by describing the relationship between AdaptStand and other variables. Furthermore, it categorises the reasons pulling towards adaptation or standardisation into “significant” and “peripheral”; and provides valuable insights towards practical application.Practical implicationsThe paper provides marketing researchers and practitioners with an overview of the main factors that influence marketing tactical behaviour in international markets. Additionally, the research transcends descriptive analysis to identify vital behavioural issues and to prescribe marketing approaches regarding internationalisation.Originality/valueThough the subject of “adaptation versus standardisation” has been extensively researched, this paper provides original work through in‐depth quantitative analysis of a sufficient sample of multinational companies. The paper reaches specific and explicit conclusions that scientifically test existing theory on the subject, categorise factors according to their significance in the adaptation/standardisation decision process and offer valuable prescriptions of marketing tactics based on the findings.
Signals of global advertising appeals in emerging markets
Authors: Oyedele Adesegun , Minor Michael S. , Ghanem Salma 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate advertising appeals and cultural values in television advertisements from newly emerging markets. Specifically, the paper hypothesizes that the advertising appeals in the advertisements of sub‐Saharan African (SSA) emerging consumer markets (ECMs) with higher level of economic development (South Africa) will reflect more hedonic appeals than the ones from SSA ECMs with a lower level of economic development (Ghana). The paper also developes hypotheses in relations to Munene, Schwartz, and Smith's cultural value framework in SSA.Design/methodology/approachThe research approach used in this paper, entails a combination of qualitative and empirical content analysis of 505 unduplicated advertisements from Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa. Content analysis technique is appropriate if the paper is focused on testing how environmental trends (e.g. cultural values, economic situations, etc.) impact the content of sampled advertisements from different regions of the world (Holbrook, 1977).FindingsThe paper reveals some global advertising appeals. The findings from the paper also suggest that the advertisements from SSA are homogenous in terms of the use of the cultural values underlying the conservatism dimension and heterogeneous with respect to the use of the cultural values underlying the hierarchy dimension.Practical implicationsThe paper uncovers important dimensions that can be employed in implementing standardized and localized advertising programs in SSA.Originality/valueThe paper identifies novel categories of cultural values (e.g. hospitality) in the television commercials from SSA.
Babbling before banking? Online communities and pre‐purchase information seeking
Authors: Berger Sven C. , Messerschmidt Christian M. 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explain the use of online communities for information seeking in the financial products purchasing process and identify relevant usage antecedents.Design/methodology/approachA theoretical framework is proposed based on the three dimensions community, environment and user characteristics. Subsequently, a representative survey among German consumers is described, illustrating the value of the framework.FindingsThe study validates the framework to analyze online community usage and identifies financial knowledge and employment status as main drivers of financial community usage among user characteristic.Research limitations/implicationsThe present study was carried out in only one country, but provides a starting point for more international research.Practical implicationsThe results identify community users as an interesting clientele, which should be considered in financial services providers' online strategy development, especially by encouraging word‐of‐mouth communication. Usage drivers should be considered in web site development to prevent churn. Providers of communities should be concerned about system usability, but also especially take measures to boost the social aspects of community experience.Originality/valueThe study is the first to explain online community usage in the economically highly relevant pre‐purchase stage for financial services.
The social role of financial companies as a determinant of consumer behaviour
Authors: del Mar Garcia de los Salmones Maria , Perez Andrea , Rodriguez del Bosque Ignacio 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe present study aims to analyze the influence of ethical and philanthropic responsibility of a financial entity on consumer behaviour. Specifically, it aims to analyze relationships among these dimensions and diverse constructs, such as the relationship satisfaction, trust, identification with the firm, business performance, relational outcomes and loyalty.Design/methodology/approachThe benefits of corporate social responsibility as a marketing tool are analyzed in a real context, directly asking the user for his/her perceptions about the financial entities. A personal survey for users was carried out, obtaining 789 valid responses. In order to comply with the aims of this research a model of structural equations was developed.FindingsIt is seen that the relationship satisfaction, trust and identification with the entity are the main determinants of loyalty, while the ethical and social dimensions have an indirect effect. The ethical behaviour influences the perceived commercial performance and it enhances trust, while corporate philanthropy improves the identification with the bank.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study indicate that social responsibility influences consumer behaviour and loyalty, so financial entities must especially take care of these aspects. A firm with a correct ethical behaviour and a strong social commitment will be able to achieve better financial results.Originality/valueThis paper completes the loyalty model with the inclusion of variables of social responsibility. Specifically, it analyzes separately two dimensions of social responsibility in order to check the effect of each dimension on the consumer behaviour.
The fit between organisational structure, management orientation, knowledge orientation, and the values of ISO 9000 standard
Authors: Shah Abdullah Hazman , Ahmad Jasmine 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this conceptual paper is to examine the fit between values underpinning the ISO 9000 standard and selected managerial and organisational factors.Design/methodology/approachThe study is a conceptual one relying on the literature on the selected strategic factors and also the standard. The values of institutionalisation, explicitation, systematisation, delineation and Taylorisation underpinning ISO 9000 standards were distilled from the origin and the principles of ISO 9000 and the ISO 9000 certification practices. The values are juxtapositioned with the imperatives of control and creativity, knowledge management and organisational structure to understand the consequent synergism or tension.FindingsIt is postulated that the more mechanistic and explicit knowledge based organisations will enjoy ISO 9000 certification while the more organic and tacit knowledge based organisations will experience tensions arising from lack of fit. Hence, conceptually, the standard will work best in a more mechanistic and routine knowledge based settings. Creativity oriented strategies will find the standard quite dysfunctional while control and operation‐based strategies are likely to benefit most from the certification.Originality/valueMost ISO 9000 related studies are weak on conceptualisation of the relationships examined. Despite the growing volume of studies on ISO 9000, the values of the standard have not been explicitly outlined. Consequently, discussion of the efficacy of the standard has focused on the explicit requirements of the standard rather than the instrumental values it promotes. Based on the explication of the standard's values, the article examines the possible synergies and contradictions between the standard and, management orientation (control vs creativity), knowledge orientation (explicit vs tacit) and structure (organic vs mechanistic).
Which management practices are contributory to service quality?
Authors: Ueno Akiko 
Published: October 2009

PurposePreviously, a questionnaire survey was conducted and it was found that some management practices were more influential to service quality than others. The purpose of this paper is to identify in more detail the reasons behind the survey findings.Design/methodology/approachEighteen in‐depth interviews into a range of management practices which support service quality were conducted.FindingsIt was found that there were difficulties in implementing some of the management practices due to the type of staff employed and to the nature of tasks undertaken.Research limitations/implicationsAs the purpose of this research is to facilitate interpretation of the quantitative data, the investigation did not go in detail beyond mass and technological services. Hence, individual organisational characteristics, individual circumstances, or details of the service offered to customers are not considered beyond the category of either mass or technological services.Originality/valueThe paper identifies that the actual contribution from different management practices to service quality varied, and explains the reasons behind the diverse contributions in each type of service business.
Modified closed loop model for service performance management
Authors: Parameshwaran R. , Srinivasan P.S.S. , Punniyamoorthy M. 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated closed loop performance management model for service industries.Design/methodology/approachThe service performance of any organization is measured by considering qualitative and quantitative dimensions. The qualitative dimension includes the service quality factors. In order to measure the service quality precisely, fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) has been employed in this paper. The data pertaining to both qualitative and quantitative dimensions are combined using extended Brown‐Gibson (EBG) model to measure the service performance. As an improvement process, fuzzy quality function deployment (FQFD) has been employed to redesign the existing services. A case study from automobile repair shops illustrates the usability of the model.FindingsThe developed model quantifies service performance and ensures the improvement of the service process. The proposed model takes into account the uncertainty that occurs while capturing the subjective assessment from customers and service engineers. The case study shows that the model can be used to gain service process understanding and identify significant factors for redesigning. Detailed results are presented.Originality/valueThe paper describes a novel method for service performance management. Fuzzy assessment of customers' feedback and service managers' feedback is much closer to human thinking than methods based on crisp numbers.
Effects of electronic mail policies on invasiveness and fairness
Authors: Paschal Jennifer L. , Stone Dianna L. , Stone‐Romero Eugene F. 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe widespread use of electronic mail (e‐mail) at work has prompted a growing number of companies to implement e‐mail policies to protect both business interests and the privacy of employees. However, very little is known about the effects of such policies on such outcomes for employees such as perceived invasiveness and fairness. Thus, the paper aims to consider these issues.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses a 2×2 experimental design and a sample of 592 employed internet users to examine the effects of e‐mail policy characteristics (i.e. policy restrictiveness and policy justification) on perceptions of invasion of privacy (invasiveness) and fairness.FindingsResults indicate that policy restrictiveness has effects on both invasiveness and fairness, and that policy justification has an effect on fairness. In addition, privacy values are related to both invasiveness and fairness, and moderated the effect of policy restrictiveness on fairness.Practical implicationsImplications for practice and the integration of organizational justice and organizational privacy theory are discussed. In terms of practice, for example, the study's results have implications for the formulation and enforcement of policies concerning the use of e‐mail systems.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to consider the effects of e‐mail policies on employee reactions (i.e. fairness and invasiveness).
Comparison of online and traditional performance appraisal systems
Authors: Payne Stephanie C. , Horner Margaret T. , Boswell Wendy R. , Schroeder Amber N. , Stine‐Cheyne Kelleen J. 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to compare employee reactions to the use of an online performance appraisal (PA) system to the traditional paper‐and‐pencil (P&P) approach.Design/methodology/approachA quasi‐experimental study is conducted comparing the reactions of a group of 83 employees evaluate with a traditional P&P PA instrument to the reactions of a group of 152 employees evaluated with an online version of the same assessment tool.FindingsEmployees rate with the online version reported significantly higher levels of rater accountability and employee participation than employees rate with the traditional instrument. They report no difference in perceived security of the ratings, utility of the ratings, or satisfaction with the PA. Online employees report significantly lower levels of quality for the PA ratings than traditional employees.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is limited to employees in one organization and the variables examined. In the future, researchers should examine supervisor and human resource (HR) manager reactions to the system, additional individual difference variables, variables related to technology acceptance and use, and additional PA reactions.Practical implicationsThe findings inform HR managers about how one sample of employees' reacted to an online appraisal. It is important for organizations to ensure all system users are well‐trained in how to provide quality ratings and feedback through the system.Originality/valueThis is the first quasi‐experiment comparing employees' attitudes toward an online administration of PA to a traditional P&P administration.
Technology, trainees, metacognitive activity and e‐learning effectiveness
Authors: Johnson Richard D. , Gueutal Hal , Falbe Cecilia M. 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to integrate previous research findings on the factors which affect e‐learning effectiveness. To do this, a model is developed which proposes that the effects of individual learner characteristics and technology characteristics on e‐learning outcomes are partially mediated by the metacognitive learning processes in which the learner engages.Design/methodology/approachA survey of 914 individuals in an online introductory information systems course examines the relations between general computer self‐efficacy (GCSE), locus of control, age, peer interaction, technology reliability, social presence, media synchronicity, and metacognitive activity and the e‐learning outcomes of course, performance, course utility, and course satisfaction.FindingsThe results indicate that GCSE, age, social presence, reliability, media synchronicity, and metacognitive activity are related to course satisfaction and utility judgments. In addition, age, metacognitive activity, and reliability are related to course performance and interaction is related to satisfaction. Finally, metacognitive activity partially mediates the relationship between social presence, media synchronicity and satisfaction, and utility judgments.Originality/valueThis paper represents one of the first to investigate a model of e‐learning effectiveness which integrates research on metacognitive activity as well as the role of technology and trainee characteristics.
Group membership salience and task performance
Authors: van Dick Rolf , Stellmacher Jost , Wagner Ulrich , Lemmer Gunnar , Tissington Patrick A. 
Published: October 2009

PurposeSocial loafing is described in the literature as a frequent problem reducing individuals' performance when working in groups. This paper aims to utilize the social identity approach and proposes that under conditions of heightened group salience social loafing can be reduced and turned into social laboring (i.e. increased performance).Design/methodology/approachTwo experimental studies are conducted to examine the impact of participant's group membership salience on task performance. In Study 1, school teachers work either in coactive or in collective working conditions on brainstorming tasks. In Study 2, participants perform both a brainstorming task and a motor task.FindingsThe results show social laboring effects. As predicted, participants in the high salient group conditions outperform participants in the low salient group conditions and the coactive individual condition.Practical implicationsThe results indicate that rather than individuating group members or tasks to overcome social loafing, managers can increase group performance by focusing on group members' perceptions of their groups as important and salient.Originality/valueThe studies presented in this paper show that social identity theory and self categorization theory can fruitfully be applied to the field of group performance. The message of these studies for applied settings is that collective work in groups must not necessarily negatively impact performance, i.e. social loafing. By heightening the salience of group memberships groups can even outperform coactively working individuals.
On whistleblowing judgment and intention
Authors: Zhang Julia , Chiu Randy , Wei Li‐Qun 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose whistleblowing judgment (WBJ), positive mood (PM), and organizational ethical culture (OEC) as predictors of whistleblowing intention (WBI).Design/methodology/approachThe study obtains the data from 364 usable questionnaires collected from Chinese employees of ten banks in China.FindingsWBJ explains a high variance in WBI while OEC moderate the relationship. A three‐way interaction effect is observed, in which organizational culture affects the strength of PM as a moderator.Research limitations/implicationsFindings are interpreted with respect to theories of moral psychology and organizational behavior. Theoretical implications and limitations of the study are discussed, including potential self‐report bias and self‐selection bias.Originality/valueThe effect of PM on whistleblowing decision making depends on people's perceptions of OEC. Only when people perceive their organizational culture to be unethical do the effect of PM come into play.