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Article
Publication date: 26 July 2013

Zhe Qu, Youwei Wang, Shan Wang and Yanhui Zhang

Despite the growing popularity of internet based social media on e-commerce platforms, systematic examination of the emerging phenomenon is scarce. This paper aims to study…

4705

Abstract

Purpose

Despite the growing popularity of internet based social media on e-commerce platforms, systematic examination of the emerging phenomenon is scarce. This paper aims to study whether online retailers ' social activity on e-commerce platforms improves their business performance, and if it does, what are the underlying mechanisms.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper proposes a typology of online retailers ' social activities on e-commerce platforms. Then drawing on social capital theory and social network theory, the authors develop hypotheses that relate online retailers ' social activities to their business performance. The hypotheses are tested using a large dataset collected from an e-commerce platform in China.

Findings

The paper shows that: online retailers ' social activities for friend-making improve their business performance, regardless of the directional attribute of the activities; social activities for advice-seeking decrease online retailers ' business performance; and social activities for advice-giving increase online retailers ' business performance.

Research limitations/implications

The data in the empirical study are from an e-commerce platform in China, hence the research results may lack generalisability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed hypotheses further.

Practical implications

The paper includes implications for e-commerce market makers and online retailers operating on e-commerce platforms. The authors show that online retailers ' social activities on e-commerce platforms can be an important source of business value. However certain types of social activities may hurt online retailers ' business performance, implying the necessity of a thoughtful social activity strategy in online marketplaces.

Originality/value

This paper represents an early effort to study whether online retailers ' social activities on e-commerce platforms improve their business performance and the underlying mechanisms of the effect.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 47 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 2002

Patrick Ring

The Financial Services Authority’s (FSA) Consultation Paper 121 suggesting depolarisation in the retail financial services sector has generated a great deal of debate. The…

Abstract

The Financial Services Authority’s (FSA) Consultation Paper 121 suggesting depolarisation in the retail financial services sector has generated a great deal of debate. The motivation for the reforms, primarily to improve the position of the consumer, cannot be disputed. Nevertheless, in attempting such a wide‐sweeping change, it is clear that the reforms could bring difficulties as well as improvements. This paper argues that, to the extent that the current polarisation regime is detrimental for the consumer, this can be addressed without dismantling the basic framework of the current advice system. It acknowledges that there is a need for greater consumer education in this area, and that more needs to be done to address the needs of lower‐income consumers. Nevertheless, it is argued that the advantages anticipated as a result of the more radical reforms in the Consultation Paper are likely to be accompanied by problems that could negate the overall benefit accruing to consumers.

Details

Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance, vol. 10 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1358-1988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 December 2020

Yaoyi Zhou and Ying Hua

The purpose of this paper is to study whether the use of a shared study space played a role in shaping graduate students’ social networks by exploring how the copresence in space…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study whether the use of a shared study space played a role in shaping graduate students’ social networks by exploring how the copresence in space was related to the structure of friendship and advice networks. The authors first proposed two concepts of spatial copresence: measured spatial-temporal copresence and perceived copresence. The authors then examined the role of copresence through a case study of a shared study space occupied by 27 graduate students in the same department.

Design/methodology/approach

Copresence relations were first constructed through a six-month room access history data set and self-reported data to examine whether measured spatial-temporal copresence was consistent with perceived copresence. Friendship and advice network relations were then analyzed with copresence, social media connections, class project collaboration relations and social homophily (nationality, gender, cohort) through quadratic assignment procedure (QAP) and MQAP analysis.

Findings

The authors found that students who used the shared study space more often reported more friendship and advice ties. The perceived copresence and the measured spatial-temporal copresence were highly correlated. Copresence relations, as measured by survey and room access history, were both significantly correlated with advice relation, which was associated with perceived social support.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the debate about whether “space” continues to play significant roles in graduate students’ social networks in the context of flexible learning environments. The results also reveal new directions for research methods in studying spatial proximity in flexible settings.

Details

Journal of Facilities Management , vol. 19 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1472-5967

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 December 2015

Luljeta Hajderllari

The purpose of this paper is to investigate “embeddedness” of business relationships within social relationships of Danish farmer investors (DFI) concerning agricultural…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate “embeddedness” of business relationships within social relationships of Danish farmer investors (DFI) concerning agricultural investment and expansion abroad.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a survey of 61 DFIs operating abroad, information is elicited regarding their organisational network connections in terms of business and social relationships to other DFIs also operating abroad.

Findings

Results indicate that cooperation and received and given advice are positively related to social ties, whereas competition is negatively related, thereby supporting the idea that business relationships are embedded in social relationships. This implies that actors may behave less cooperatively in new institutions where they compete for scarce resources.

Originality/value

This paper assesses what happens when farmers change from the stable Danish environment to a foreign one. Will they be still cooperating with each other or they will adjust to the new institutions?

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 42 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 August 2022

Yi-Hwa Liou, Yong-Shiuan Lee, Tsung-Jui Chiang-Lin and Alan J. Daly

Educational reform is a complex undertaking and the interactions between leaders as they go about a change are consequential for realizing desired outcomes. Advice relationships…

Abstract

Purpose

Educational reform is a complex undertaking and the interactions between leaders as they go about a change are consequential for realizing desired outcomes. Advice relationships are one such interaction and can play a key role in driving knowledge transfer and development and as such are an important social capital asset supporting organizational change. Building on the growing scholarship around a social network approach to understanding educational leadership and systems change, the study draws from network concepts to examine advice relationships within a district-wide leadership team as the leaders engages a reform initiative, and what accounts for the development of these important relational ties.

Design/methodology/approach

Quantitative data were collected through an annual survey at six points over six years from the leadership team in one public school district in the Western United States, including perceptions of organizational learning, beliefs about reform, and reform-related advice relationships.

Findings

Using multilevel mixed modeling, findings reveal downward trends in leaders' advice-seeking and -receiving ties over time and that seeking and receiving advice is positively related to organizational learning, beliefs about reform impact, or beliefs about their efficacy in implementing the reform. However, views about reform-related resources are negatively associated with seeking and receiving advice ties over time.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature on the social side of change specifically related to leadership, reform, organizational learning, and leader beliefs about reform implementation. Further, the work offers practical implications for potential social infrastructure design for joint work.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 60 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 June 2021

Sharath Sasidharan

Knowledge acquired by employees from co-workers through social networks may serve to reduce technostress during the use of a new and complex information system. The role of…

1282

Abstract

Purpose

Knowledge acquired by employees from co-workers through social networks may serve to reduce technostress during the use of a new and complex information system. The role of gender-based employee preferences in forming and acquiring system-related knowledge through friendship, advice, and expertise networks, and the impact of network-embedded expertise on performance outcomes are explored.

Design/methodology/approach

The research hypotheses were empirically tested through survey data collected from employees of a large organization that had implemented an enterprise system.

Findings

The advice networks of female employees were an extension of their friendship networks, whereas that of male employees were configured to include co-workers with system-related expertise. Exposure to high quality knowledge flows resulted in lowered technostress levels among male employees compared to their female counterparts. However, there was only a marginal difference in performance outcomes. The “expertise-deficit” in the advice network of female employees was apparently compensated through their dependence on the helpdesk.

Originality/value

Research on system-related knowledge support through social networks has focused on the structural features of interaction ties with little or no emphasis on networking employees and their individual preferences. Moving away from this structural orientation, this study validates the contention that gender-driven motivations impact employee networking preferences, determine network-embedded expertise levels, and influence employee technostress. This study can help configure implementation environments that maximize network acquisition of high-quality knowledge, reduce technostress, and enhance performance outcomes.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 35 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 July 2021

Meghan Comstock, Jonathan Supovitz and Maya Kaul

This study examines the relational dynamics between teachers and formal teacher leaders (TLs). We examine the association between relationship structure and leader-member exchange…

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines the relational dynamics between teachers and formal teacher leaders (TLs). We examine the association between relationship structure and leader-member exchange (LMX) quality and the extent to which LMX mediates the relationship between social network (SN) measures of dyadic relationships and TL influence.

Design/methodology/approach

Using survey data from 1,895 teacher-TL relationships, we employ path mediation analysis using hierarchical linear modeling.

Findings

Our results indicate that voluntary advice-seeking and multiplex ties are associated with stronger exchange quality between teachers and TLs. In addition, LMX partially mediates the relationship between voluntary ties and TL influence.

Originality/value

SN and LMX theories offer two complementary lenses for studying relational dynamics in organizations, though they seldom are used together, especially in education. This study bridges SN and LMX theories and measures to bolster studies of relational dynamics in organizations and highlights that in the case of formal teacher leadership, there is a need for school structures that enable teachers and TLs to seek out one another informally and develop strong social exchanges.

Details

Journal of Professional Capital and Community, vol. 6 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-9548

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 June 2018

Yi-Hwa Liou and Alan J. Daly

Secondary school leadership provides multiple challenges in terms of the diversity of tasks, multiple demands on time, balancing communities and attending to instructional…

Abstract

Purpose

Secondary school leadership provides multiple challenges in terms of the diversity of tasks, multiple demands on time, balancing communities and attending to instructional programming. An emerging scholarship suggests the importance of a distributed instructional leadership approach to high school leadership. However, what has been less thoroughly explored is how secondary school leadership is distributed leaders across a school district. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the social structure and positions urban high school principals occupy in the district system.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was conducted in one urban fringe public school district in southern California serving diverse students populations. The data were collected at three time points starting in Fall 2012 and ending in Fall 2014 from a district-wide leadership team including all central office and site leaders. All leaders were asked to assess their social relations and perception of innovative climate. The data were analyzed through a series of social network indices to examine the structure and positions of high school principals.

Findings

Results indicate that over time high school principals have decreasing access to social capital and are typically occupying peripheral positions in the social network. The high school principals’ perception of innovative climate across the district decreases over time.

Originality/value

This longitudinal study, one of the first to examine high school principals from a network perspective, sheds new light on the social infrastructure of urban high school principals and what this might mean for efforts at improvement.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 56 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 February 2016

Kristine Kuhn, Tera Galloway and Maureen Collins-Williams

The purpose of this paper is to examine small business owners’ informal advice-seeking from peers, with a focus on the opportunities afforded by the internet for owners to acquire…

2026

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine small business owners’ informal advice-seeking from peers, with a focus on the opportunities afforded by the internet for owners to acquire assistance from other owner-managers outside their local community.

Design/methodology/approach

Over 600 owner-managers in a rural US state were surveyed about their advice-seeking during the previous year from peers in the same community, from non-local peers they had met in person, and from peers known only online. Mixed effects logistic regression analysis was used to test both main effects of business and owner characteristics on advice-seeking and interactions with type/location of peer advisors.

Findings

Most owners had received advice from peers, and one-third had received advice online from a peer whom they had never met in person. Business performance was not associated with overall use of peer advice, but did interact significantly with source; the use of online-only advisors was associated with business growth, suggesting the possible benefit of weak ties. Over two-thirds of respondents reported having used social media and/or online forums to access advice or support from other owners (both those met in person and those not), with women and younger owners more likely to rely on such tools.

Originality/value

This study shows that entrepreneurial research needs to consider peer advisors beyond local networks as potential resources for small business owners. While previous research has examined entrepreneurs’ use of social media for marketing, this study shows its utility for accessing advice.

Details

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 23 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1462-6004

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 July 2014

Tao Zhu

– The purpose of this paper is to propose an empirical linkage of intrafirm network characteristics to individual-level mindful marketing (MM).

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose an empirical linkage of intrafirm network characteristics to individual-level mindful marketing (MM).

Design/methodology/approach

Based on current literature in network, market orientation and MM research, this paper presents one conceptual model to capture enablers of MM execution with a network approach. The authors identified a pair of antecedent/barrier to MM execution: individual employees’ shared cross-functional tie and firm-level segmentation of the network.

Findings

The paper shows that to execute MM, employees possessing more cross-functional ties are more likely to develop higher level of MM. Meanwhile, it was also found that firm-level segmentation of intrafirm network will negatively affect employees in executing MM.

Research limitations/implications

The paper shows that to execute MM, employees possessing more cross-functional ties are more likely to develop higher level of MM. Meanwhile, it was also found that firm-level segmentation of intrafirm network will negatively affect employees in executing MM.

Practical implications

The proposed empirical linkage shows that a manager shall intervene and help employees to build cross-functional ties in advice network among themselves. Thus, firms are able to effectively maintain mindfulness of people and profit and ensure optimal execution of MM strategy. Meanwhile, they should offset possible negative effects of the advice network due to segmentation at firm level, which provides useful customer information flow throughout the firm.

Originality/value

The paper is one of the first attempts to advance and examine the role of intrafirm network in executing the concept of MM. Methodologically, this paper also explores the use of network analysis in discussion of an organizational structure that favors MM.

Details

Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-5201

Keywords

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