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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 3 April 2023

Simone Splendiani, Mauro Dini, Francesca Rivetti and Tonino Pencarelli

The purpose of the present study is to investigate travel agencies' social media usage and its perceived effectiveness by small- and micro-Italian travel agencies; the…

2317

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the present study is to investigate travel agencies' social media usage and its perceived effectiveness by small- and micro-Italian travel agencies; the pre-pandemic period is compared to the forecasts for the post-Covid-19 period and different characteristics of firms and entrepreneurs are considered. Furthermore, the study analyses the expected benefits in terms of marketing objectives, such as improving brand image and/or personalizing the offer.

Design/methodology/approach

The research was developed through a questionnaire administered electronically to travel agents (282 respondents). The resulting data was analyzed by applying the McNemar test, a pairwise t-test and the multivariate analysis of variance.

Findings

The results show that social media are strategically significant for travel agents, even though their adoption is influenced by different agency aims; the perceived effectiveness results are diversified according to varying agency typologies.

Research limitations/implications

The two main limitations of the study are its focus on the Italian context only and the missing consideration of the consumer's point of view. The latter prevents an exhaustive assessment of future trends regarding the use of social media in the client–agency relationship.

Originality/value

The study, which focuses on a little debated topic concerning the relationship between social media and SMEs, organically explores various dimensions related to the adoption of social media by small agencies, also considering the impact of the Covid-19 on the perception of travel agents. As a further element of originality, the research takes into consideration the main social platforms separately rather than the set of tools as a whole.

Details

The TQM Journal, vol. 35 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2731

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 28 March 2023

Ricardo Godinho Bilro, Sandra Maria Correia Loureiro and Pedro Souto

The purpose of this paper is to offer a comprehensive overview of current research on customer behavior in the business-to-business (B2B) context and propose a research agenda for…

11149

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to offer a comprehensive overview of current research on customer behavior in the business-to-business (B2B) context and propose a research agenda for future studies. Despite being a relatively recent area of interest for academics and practitioners, a literature review that synthesizes existing knowledge into coherent topics and outlines a research agenda for future research is still lacking.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on a systematic literature review of 219 papers and using a text-mining approach based on the Latent Dirichlet Allocation algorithm, this paper enhances the existing knowledge of B2B customer behavior and provides a descriptive analysis of the literature.

Findings

From this review, ten major research topics are found and analyzed. These topics were analyzed through the lens of the Theory, Context, Characteristics and Method framework, providing a summary of key findings from prior studies. Additionally, an integrative framework was developed, offering insights into future research directions.

Originality/value

This study presents a novel contribution to the field of B2B by providing a systematic review of the topic of customer behavior, filling a gap in the literature and offering a valuable resource for scholars and managers seeking to advance the field.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 38 no. 13
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 January 2024

Sumaya Hashim, Maura McAdam and Mattias Nordqvist

Drawing on indigenous theory of Ibn Khaldun, the rise and fall of States, this paper explores the agency of women entrepreneurs in family business in Bahrain and the underlying…

Abstract

Purpose

Drawing on indigenous theory of Ibn Khaldun, the rise and fall of States, this paper explores the agency of women entrepreneurs in family business in Bahrain and the underlying enablers in supporting and facilitating the exercise of this agency. This study attempts to move beyond the Western-centric studies to reflect and bring to light the unique institutional settings of the Gulf States.

Design/methodology/approach

The research builds on a rich qualitative single case of a family business based in Bahrain. The single case study methodology was motivated by the potential for generating rich contextual insights. Such an approach is particularly valuable to gain a more holistic and deeper understanding of the contextualized phenomenon and its complexity.

Findings

In this study the authors show how women entrepreneurs take two different paths to enter and become involved in the family business, the barriers they are subjected to and the active role they play in dismantling the challenges to the extent that they become the main mediators between the family business and central institutions in society.

Originality/value

By incorporating indigenous theory with Western family business concepts, the study extends existing understanding of women entrepreneurs in family business by underscoring the agency that women entrepreneurs have in “doing context” and the role that women play in strengthening common cause and destiny within the family and the business by building and drawing on different forms of loyalty.

Details

International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, vol. 16 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-6266

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 12 July 2023

Patrick Kwashie Akorsu

Credit Default Swap (CDS) trading alters equilibrium interactive monitoring of external corporate monitors due to a possible change in private lenders' incentive to monitor client…

Abstract

Purpose

Credit Default Swap (CDS) trading alters equilibrium interactive monitoring of external corporate monitors due to a possible change in private lenders' incentive to monitor client firms. This study explores how audit fees change in response to CDS trade initiation on client firms and how this effect is moderated by investor protection.

Design/methodology/approach

With 6,052 cross-country firm observations, the author conducts estimations in the systems dynamic general methods of moments framework.

Findings

The author documents that audit fees rise on average after CDS trade initiations with and/or without investor protection. Meanwhile, change in auditors' risk perception result in increased audit costs when CDS trade initiation and investor protection interact. The effect of CDS trading on audit fees remain after controlling for firm, audit, and auditor features are robust to different proxies of audit cost.

Practical implications

The need for firms in high investor protection jurisdictions to initiate CDS trade to implement policies in order to maximize their gains from investor protection activities to lessen the overall impact of any increased audit cost that may arise. Furthermore, CDS regulation may be strategically targeted to lessen the effect of increased audit costs on firms after initiation. This would ensure that the resulting increase in audit cost may not materially impact the cash or profitability position of such firms.

Originality/value

This study is distinct from previous ones by focusing on variation in private lenders incentive to monitor after CDS trade initiation after controlling for possible monitoring by short-term creditors. Given that monitoring is not costless for private lenders and CDS trading on their borrowers causes a change in this cost structure, the author documents how auditors react to such changes in incentive to monitor.

研究目的

信用違約互換交易會改變外部監督機制的均衡互動監測,這是因為私人貸款者去監控客戶公司的激勵可能有所改變。本研究擬探究審計費用如何改變,以應對向客戶公司進行的信用違約互換交易啟動;研究亦探討投資者保障、如何緩和上述的影響。

研究設計/方法/理念

我們透過6,052個穿越全國的企業觀察,進行了對系統動力廣義矩估計體系的估測。

研究結果

無論投資者保障存在與否,信用違約互換交易啟動必帶來審計費用一般的平均升高,我們已把這關聯記錄下來。同時,當信用違約互換交易啟動和投資者保障兩者互相影響時,審計員的風險認知的改變,是會導致審計費用增加的。若拔除公司和審計的影響,信用違約互換交易對審計費用的影響會保持不變;而且,就各個不同的審計費用代理權而言,審計員特點是牢固的。

實務方面的啟示

本研究的結果,確定了若公司屬高投資者保護管轄權的類別,則有需要去啟動信用違約互換交易來實施政策,其目的為能從投資者保障的行動中取得最大的收益,從而減弱審計費用的增加所帶來的全面影響。再者,信用違約互換的管理或許可戰略性地訂立目標,俾能減弱於啟動後,審計費用的上昇對公司帶來的影響;這或會確保審計費用的增加、不會對有關公司的貨幣頭寸或盈利狀況產生重大的影響。

研究的原創性/價值

本研究有別於從前的研究,因它的焦點在於短期債權人可能的監督的影響給拔除的情況下,在信用違約互換交易啟動後,以監督為目的私人貸款者激勵的變化。鑒於對私人貸款者來說,監督不是不需要成本的;而且,為他們的借貸者的信用違約互換交易會為這個成本結構帶來變化,我們記錄了審計員如何對以監督為目的的激勵的有關改變作出回應。

Details

European Journal of Management and Business Economics, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2444-8451

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 23 May 2024

Chiara Oppi, Cristiana Cattaneo and Giovanna Galizzi

Further investigation is needed of network effectiveness in healthcare and how it is influenced by unpredictable events like COVID-19. Based on Provan and Milward’s (2001…

Abstract

Purpose

Further investigation is needed of network effectiveness in healthcare and how it is influenced by unpredictable events like COVID-19. Based on Provan and Milward’s (2001) framework, this study investigates the effectiveness criteria of healthcare networks and their potential contribution to network effectiveness during the pandemic’s challenges.

Design/methodology/approach

This research employs an explanatory case study in a local area of Italy’s Lombardy Region and analyzes network effectiveness at the network level based on network member perceptions.

Findings

Network effectiveness refers to the network’s ability to address patient needs, guaranteeing services through network members' coordinated efforts and a central coordinator that facilitates their interaction. Members’ capacity to strengthen their roles played a crucial part in sustaining network effectiveness when COVID-19 revised other members’ priorities and threatened achievement of network goals.

Practical implications

This study’s findings equip healthcare managers and policymakers with knowledge about network effectiveness criteria at the network level, offering suggestions for managerial practices and network design to address exogenous shocks.

Originality/value

This study identifies factors that influence network effectiveness criteria and provides insight into how network members can contribute to sustaining effectiveness during crises.

Details

Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1096-3367

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 29 August 2023

Vilja M.R. Levonius and Eveliina Saari

This paper aims to introduce the Empatia video reflection method, designed to enhance care workers’ awareness of empathic care. The method makes the quality of care visible, which…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to introduce the Empatia video reflection method, designed to enhance care workers’ awareness of empathic care. The method makes the quality of care visible, which is needed when digitalization efforts in elder care focus on the efficiency and adequacy of care work.

Design/methodology/approach

The Empatia method leans on previous studies of the interaction between care professionals and clients and elaborates further previous video reflection methods. In empathic care work, the care worker sees the client on their life continuum, rather than focusing on only medical treatments.

Findings

The empirical example demonstrates how a care worker gained awareness of their empathic interaction habits. Within the work community, the reflection process sparked discussions on values: the purpose of care work and how to conduct empathic care. Focusing on empathic relationships in care fosters both the client’s and the care worker’s well-being.

Practical implications

The strength of the Empatia method is that it makes empathy visible in interaction and something that is individually and collectively learnable. The Empatia includes an analytical tool for researchers to reveal empathy in client interaction. It can be developed further into a reflection tool for service work to learn how to be empathic in service encounters.

Originality/value

Compared to other video-stimulated recall methods, the Empatia involves contextual understanding of care work. Empowering positive interactions instead of detecting errors and solving problems is a novel concept and is scantily used in studies of organizational learning. The Empatia provides a detailed method description that allows for the replication of the method by anyone.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 35 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 5 January 2024

Samaneh Khademi, Caroline Essers and Karin Van Nieuwkerk

This article develops an innovative multidisciplinary conceptual framework in the field of refugee entrepreneurship by combining the theory of mixed embeddedness with the concepts…

Abstract

Purpose

This article develops an innovative multidisciplinary conceptual framework in the field of refugee entrepreneurship by combining the theory of mixed embeddedness with the concepts of intersectionality and agency. Focusing on the phenomenon of refugee entrepreneurship, this conceptual framework addresses the following questions: how is entrepreneurship informed by the various intersectional positions of refugees? And how do refugees exert their agency based on these intersecting identities?

Design/methodology/approach

By revising the mixed embeddedness approach and combining it with an intersectional approach, this study aims to develop a multidimensional conceptual framework.

Findings

This research illustrates how the intersectional positions of refugees impact their entrepreneurial motivations, resources and strategies. The authors' findings show that refugee entrepreneurship not only contributes to the economic independence of refugees in new societies but also creates opportunities for refugees to exert their agency.

Originality/value

This conceptual framework can be applied in empirical research and accordingly contributes to refugee entrepreneurship studies and intersectionality theory.

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 30 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 10 June 2024

Hiba Elbirou

This study aims to discern and refine the role of emotional intelligence (EI) in the development of customer orientation among banking employees in Morocco. This analysis seeks to…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to discern and refine the role of emotional intelligence (EI) in the development of customer orientation among banking employees in Morocco. This analysis seeks to enhance understanding about the significance of this emotional skill within the Moroccan banking sector.

Design/methodology/approach

The research embraces an interpretivist philosophical perspective to gain insight into the subjective meanings and experiences of study participants. The methodology employed is qualitative, involving data collected from semi-structured interviews conducted with 21 front-office bank employees. The analysis of the data was conducted through employing thematic analysis.

Findings

The findings of this study conclude that emotional intelligence fosters and stimulates customer orientation for bank employees. The perception, understanding and effective management of emotions – both those of the contact personnel and their customers – enable employees to better comprehend customer reactions. They experience heightened empathy through the impact of accumulated professional experience, adapt their behaviors according to the emotional state of the customer, maintain a positive relationship with them and ultimately gain their confidence.

Originality/value

This study offers clear theoretical explanations and conceptualizations that have identified and linked pertinent literature on the topic. It focuses on a salient subject, investigating how emotional intelligence influences the customer-oriented behavior of front-office bank employees. Notably, this study represents one of the first attempts to explore this relationship within the Moroccan context. As a result, it contributes to the enhancement of managerial practices and human resource policies, thereby fostering a more productive and harmonious working environment.

Details

Journal of Trade Science, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2815-5793

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 10 August 2023

Barbara Da Roit and Maurizio Busacca

The paper aims to analyse the meaning and extension of discretionary power of social service professionals within network-based interventions.

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to analyse the meaning and extension of discretionary power of social service professionals within network-based interventions.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirically, the paper is based on a case study of a network-based policy involving private and public organisations in the Northeast of Italy (Province of Trento).

Findings

The paper identifies netocracy as a social policy logic distinct from bureaucracy and professionalism. What legitimises netocracy is neither authority nor expertise but cooperation, the activation of connections and involvement, considered “good” per se. In this framework, professionalism and discretion acquire new and problematic meanings compared to street-level bureaucracy processes.

Research limitations/implications

Based on a case study, the research results cannot be generalised but pave the way to further comparative investigations.

Practical implications

The paper reveals that the position of professionals in netocracy is to some extent trickier than that in a bureaucracy because netocracy seems to have the power to encapsulate them and make it less likely for them to deviate from expected courses of action.

Originality/value

Combining different literature streams – street level bureaucracy, professionalism, network organisations and welfare governance – and building on an original case study, the paper contribute to understanding professionalism in welfare contexts increasingly characterised by the combination of bureaucratic, professional and network logics.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 44 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 22 June 2023

Diego Monferrer Tirado, Lidia Vidal-Meliá, John Cardiff and Keith Quille

This research aims to determine to what extent corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions developed by bank entities in Spain improve the vulnerable customers' emotions and…

1889

Abstract

Purpose

This research aims to determine to what extent corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions developed by bank entities in Spain improve the vulnerable customers' emotions and quality perception of the banking service. Consequently, this increases the quality of their relationship regarding satisfaction, trust and engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

Data from 734 vulnerable banking customers were analyzed through structural equations modeling (EQS 6.2) to test the relationships of the proposed variables.

Findings

Vulnerable customers' emotional disposition exerts a strong influence on their perceived service quality. The antecedent effect is concentrated primarily on the CSR towards the client, with a residual secondary weight on the CSR towards society. These positive service emotions are determinants of the outcome quality perceived by vulnerable customers, directly in terms of higher satisfaction and trust and indirectly through engagement.

Practical implications

This research contributes to understanding how financial service providers should adapt to the specific characteristics and needs of vulnerable clients by adopting a strategy of approach, personalization and humanization of the service that seems to move away from the actions implemented by the banking industry in recent years.

Originality/value

This study has adopted a theoretical and empirical perspective on the impact of CSR on service emotions and outcome quality of vulnerable banking customers. Moreover, banks can adopt a dual conception of CSR: a macro and external scope toward society and a micro and internal scope toward customers.

Details

International Journal of Bank Marketing, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-2323

Keywords

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