Search results

The American Dream is tightly woven into the American culture and way of life. Despite the importance and ubiquitous nature of the American Dream, the topic is difficult to define and belief in the attainability of the American Dream changes over time. Because of the little academic research on the topic, this study aims to fill this gap and investigate what people think about the American Dream and what factors influence the perception that this concept is outdated among different two generations – Baby Boomers and Millennials.

An online survey containing both open-ended and close-ended questions was conducted in two age groups via Qualtrics – 245 Millennials (born 1980–1996) and 253 Baby Boomers (born 1946–1964). Open-ended questions were analyzed using NVivo and closed-ended questions were analyzed using SPSS. Items on the online survey measured the definition of the American Dream, factors in defining it, the relevancy and attainability of the Dream, whether it was outdated, as well as Schwartz’s list of values (Lindeman and Verkasalo, 2005).

Three research questions were investigated. First, the results show that Baby Boomers and Millennials define the Dream similarly in terms of a house, family, happiness, freedom and equality. Second, they differ, however, in whether they believe that the Dream is relevant and attainable. Specifically, only Baby Boomers believe that the Dream is still relevant, but both generations believe that it is harder for younger generations to achieve the Dream. Third, the authors found similarities and differences in terms of demographics and values predicting whether the two generations believed that the Dream is outdated, and new values should be added. For both generations, values were more likely to predict the belief that the Dream was outdated. Using Schwartz’s values, those high in universalism were more likely to believe that the Dream was outdated and that new values should be added to the definition of the Dream for both generations. The values of security, self-direction, achievement and benevolence differed between the generations in believing that the Dream was outdated and that new values should be added.

This research provides insight into how these macrolevel beliefs influence people at the microlevel and how businesses or public policymakers can use these concepts to influence attitudes or behaviors.

This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/08858629210035391. When citing the article, please cite: Ann T. Kuzma, William L. Shanklin, (1992), “How Medium-market-share Companies Achieve Superior Profitability”, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 7 Iss: 3, pp. 29 - 39.

Examines the position of medium‐market‐share companies in relation to their smaller and larger counterparts and compares the inherent competitive advantages and disadvantages. Highlights the options available to such companies attempting to change their position, e.g. increasing market share or concentrating on specific profitable core accounts. Considers the relationship between market share and profitability. Concludes that such companies require product differentiation and a high‐level of customer orientation in order to compete successfully.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to gain insight into fans' perceptions, attitudes and behavioural responses toward their favourite college football team in the context of a new beer sponsorship agreement. Specifically, the chapter examines differences in fans' attitudes and behaviours based on their gender, team identification and drinking habits.

Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design was employed. The sample was comprised of Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) workers who self-identified as college football fans. A hypothetical scenario was used as a manipulation, whereby participants were asked to imagine their favourite college football team had entered into a new alcohol sponsorship agreement while completing a questionnaire.

Findings: Highly identified fans exhibited more positive attitudes and behaviours after being presented with the hypothetical scenario than less identified fans. In terms of gender, female fans had increased attitudes toward sponsorship compared to males, and highly identified females had the most positive attitudes and behavioural intentions toward their favourite teams of any of the four subgroups in the study.

Research limitations/implications: The small sample sizes of some fan subgroups affected statistical power, which may have led to falsely insignificant findings. The range of favourite teams among the participants (50 universities) meant there was likely a high degree of variation between fans' previous experiences with beer/alcohol at college sport venues.

Originality/value: The study offers valuable insight into the intersection of sport fandom and gender in the context of alcohol sponsorship in US college sport, and is also among the first investigations of the effects of team identification on perceptions toward alcohol sponsorship.

In recent years, sustainable supply chain practices (SSCPs), including corporate social responsibility (CSR), have been recognised as important means of developing firms’ sustainability performance (SP). However, empirical findings on the SSCP–SP interaction are inconsistent and even contradictory. This research presents a quantitative meta-analysis that aims to uncover SSCP–SP interactions based on the correlations found in previously published empirical studies.

Based on the main and moderating variables and selection criteria, 64 sample studies were selected after a systematic literature review and meta-analysis.

The findings confirm a positive correlation (0.438) between SSCP and SP. The results also reveal various critical moderators identified through meta-regression.

This study provides insights for operations managers and policymakers regarding the significance of control variables (e.g. ISO certification, type of economy, innovation approach, data collection method) on the relationship between SSCP and SP for business operations. This research uncovers the impacts of ISO regulations and proposed hypotheses through the lens of the natural resource-based view (NRBV) and institutional-based view (IBV).

This research is unique in that it provides a systematic view of the SSCP–SP interaction, validates the results through a theoretical lens (NRBV and IBV) and generalises the results by evaluating the moderation effects via checking prior literature.

This study delves into the significant impact of entrepreneurial leadership (EL), organizational innovation (OI) and competitive advantage (CA) on the sustainability of organizations in the Jordanian Islamic insurance sector. This study aims to unravel the intricate dynamics among these pivotal factors, highlighting their collective role in the sustained success and resilience of Islamic insurance companies in Jordan. By examining the synergistic interplay between EL, OI and CA, the research seeks to offer invaluable insights into cultivating a sustainable future for these institutions.

This study adopts a positivist, quantitative approach to investigate the relationships between EL, OI, CA and organizational sustainability (OS). Data collection was achieved through questionnaires in a cross-sectional analysis of these variables. Convenience sampling yielded 389 valid responses, an 81% response rate, ensuring a thorough understanding of the dynamics within this framework.

The findings from the study on Jordanian Islamic insurance companies highlight the critical role of EL in influencing organizational dynamics. The research establishes a positive relationship between EL and both OI and OS. Furthermore, it identifies a significant positive correlation between EL and CA, underscoring the importance of leadership in securing a competitive edge. This study also emphasizes the vital role of OI in bolstering OS and confirms that a strong CA enhances OS, reinforcing the interconnectivity of these essential organizational components.

This study provides important insights for professionals in the insurance sector, especially those within the Jordanian Islamic insurance industry. It emphasizes the crucial role of EL in fostering innovation, competitiveness and sustainability. By understanding the significance of EL, companies can adopt more dynamic and effective strategies in leadership, organizational development and strategic planning, thereby enhancing their overall performance and resilience.

By conceptualizing EL and OS as second-order constructs, this study seeks to provide a detailed understanding of how EL catalyzes OI, CA and sustainability in an organizational context. This approach contributes significantly to the broader discussion on EL and OS, particularly within the Arab region and specifically in Jordan, offering nuanced insights into their roles and interrelations in shaping organizational dynamics.

This paper analyses the factors that make fashion-product crowdfunding campaigns successful. The authors argue that crowdfunding is an innovative and functional way of bringing new fashion items to the market. The purpose of this paper is to answer the question whether product innovation, lifecycle and sustainability have a positive effect on the success of fashion crowdfunding campaigns. The findings highlight that the success of the fashion crowdfunding campaigns depends on creators' adherence to the values of the platform which they use to raise capital.

A total of 300 fashion crowdfunding projects running between the 17th of October and the 15th of December 2017 were collected from Kickstarter – the world's largest crowdfunding platform based on reward-based all-or-nothing model. Two-step binomial logistic regression was used to analyse the data.

The model predicted a significant increase in the odds of success for the fashion items crowdfunded during the first-time production, and innovative and environmentally sustainable products with a higher price range of rewards. In line with previous literature, regression analyses predicted a significant effect of the control variables of goal amount (negative) and the number of rewards (positive). Contrary to previous studies, neither the presence of a video nor the campaign length predicted success.

The novel findings of this study contribute to the literature by providing an analysis of success factors of fashion items on crowdfunding platforms. The results show that innovative, environmentally sustainable and higher-priced products produced by early-stage ventures are better welcomed by the audiences.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how to use social media in e-government to strengthen interactivity between government and the general public.

Categorizing the determinants to interactivity covering depth and breadth into two aspects that are the structural features and the content features, this study employs general linear model and ANOVA method to analyse 14,910 posts belonged to the top list of the 96 most popular government accounts of Sina, one of the largest social media platforms in China.

The main findings of the research are that both variables of the ratio of multimedia elements, and the ratio of external links have positive effects on the breadth of interactivity, while the ratio of multimedia features, and the ratio of originality have significant effects on the depth of interactivity.

The contributions are as follows. First, the authors analyse the properties and the topics of government posts to draw a rich picture of how local governments use the micro-blog as a communications channel to interact with the public. Second, the authors conceptualize the government online interactivity in terms of the breadth and depth. Third, the authors identify factors that will enhance the interactivity from two aspects: structural features and content features. Lastly, the authors offer suggestions to local governments on how to strengthen the e-government interactivity in social media.

This paper examines the promises and pitfalls of integrated models of mental health care in primary care settings, and presents the findings of a successful pilot study of integrated care. There are a number of technological breakthroughs which could improve treatment outcomes. However, research indicates improved outcomes are likely only when changes include new practice patterns, patient education, and systematic monitoring of patient process and outcomes. A study in a health maintenance organization is presented based on a staged model of treatment and exemplifying these principles. We conclude that integrated models while technically feasible, are organizationally complex in actual practice.