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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 30 October 2023

Grzegorz Zasuwa

This study aims to outline the role of causal attributions in consumer responses to irresponsible corporate behaviour. Specifically, this paper presents a moderated mediation…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to outline the role of causal attributions in consumer responses to irresponsible corporate behaviour. Specifically, this paper presents a moderated mediation model that explains how four types of perceived motives behind an irresponsible action shape corporate blame and word-of-mouth recommendations.

Design/methodology/approach

To test the hypotheses, the study uses data from a large survey assessing consumer reactions to a real case of corporate socially irresponsible behaviour in the banking industry.

Findings

The findings show that market-, unethicality- and rogue employee-driven attributions increase corporate blame and subsequently make people more likely to spread negative comments regarding the culprit. The difficult situation of a bank, as a perceived reason for wrongdoing, does not reduce the blame attributed to the irresponsible organisation.

Originality/value

The literature offers little information on the attributions people make following egregious corporate behaviour; however, such cognitions can play an important role in stakeholders’ reactions to wrongdoing. This study therefore extends the understanding of how irresponsibility attributions affect consumers’ responses to misbehaviour. Given the empirical context, the findings might be particularly important for communication and bank managers.

Details

Social Responsibility Journal, vol. 20 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-1117

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 March 2024

Jitesh J. Thakkar, Rishabh Rathore and Chandrima Chatterjee

Despite the fact that hygiene and sanitation are becoming more critical for improving the present situation in developing nations, the factors that affect them are not well…

Abstract

Purpose

Despite the fact that hygiene and sanitation are becoming more critical for improving the present situation in developing nations, the factors that affect them are not well covered in the present research. This paper investigates the quality of the hygiene and sanitization factors and identifies the interrelations between the identified factors.

Design/methodology/approach

A graph theory-based approach is proposed to assess the factors influencing the practice, and a critical service index (CSI) is used to quantify the same.

Findings

Two Indian villages are used to illustrate the implementation of the suggested approach. This represents the validation of the suggested method, as well as assisting in the development of essential suggestions for increasing the quality of hygiene and sanitization in the Indian context. In spite of the increasing importance of hygiene and sanitation for improving the current situation in developing countries, the factors that influence them are not well-researched.

Research limitations/implications

This study contributes in two ways. First, it provides an organized methodology for quantifying hygiene and sanitation factors and a critical service index that incorporates the findings. The suggested approach may also be used to evaluate and classify other sectors. Second, it shows how the methodology was used to create key recommendations for two Indian villages, which may be considered the first effort in India’s hygiene and sanitation initiatives.

Originality/value

This research discussed improvements in sanitation and hygiene habits among Indian households, which have not been achieved as expected under the Swachh Bharat Mission.

Details

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

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 March 2024

Ahsan Siraj, Yongming Zhu, Shilpa Taneja, Ehtisham Ali, Jiaxin Guo and Xihui Chen

With rapidly changing marketing landscape, nowadays, the formulation of various marketing strategies is increasingly focused on how consumers tend to make decisions. To meet the…

Abstract

Purpose

With rapidly changing marketing landscape, nowadays, the formulation of various marketing strategies is increasingly focused on how consumers tend to make decisions. To meet the highly demanding consumer expectations, market segmentation can be used as an important marketing strategy. Due to gender marketing concept familiarity in the contemporary world, gender difference is one of the reference features in the process of market segmentation for marketers. This research is aimed to examine various determining factors that foster consumer purchase decision-making and the differences between consumers of different genders while making shopping and purchase decisions with special reference to an emerging economy, i.e. Pakistan.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a cross-sectional sample of 367 consumers, the study adapted Sproles and Kendall's (1986) Consumer Style Inventory (CSI) to scrutinize the decision-making of both genders in Pakistan. For data analysis, the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis in addition to the structural equation modeling has been used.

Findings

The study emphasized that, with the exception of quality awareness, brand consciousness, fashion consciousness, option overload and price consciousness greatly affect buying decisions. In addition, when it comes to consumer purchase decision-making, significant gender variations were discovered for both fashion consciousness and price consciousness.

Originality/value

Drawing upon the distinctive cultural characteristics of Pakistan and its people, in-depth research was conducted on purchasing behaviors of Pakistani consumers and the decision-making characteristics of customers of different genders were summarized. The outcomes are expected to make a significant contribution to the field of gender marketing by organizations.

Details

Arab Gulf Journal of Scientific Research, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1985-9899

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 12 March 2024

Grażyna Kędzia

I aimed to obtain a deeper insight into the link between supplier involvement in product development (SIPD), supplier relationship resilience and company performance.

Abstract

Purpose

I aimed to obtain a deeper insight into the link between supplier involvement in product development (SIPD), supplier relationship resilience and company performance.

Design/methodology/approach

To collect data, a survey among 500 Polish manufacturing companies was conducted. I used quantitative methods (structural equation modeling) to test several research hypotheses referring to a single supplier–customer relationship. Thanks to the use of multi-construct measurement of SIPD and supplier relationship resilience, the study provides detailed research results on the topic.

Findings

Collaborative practices implemented during SIPD increase procurement flexibility and decrease redundancy in the relationship with the involved supplier. Communication during SIPD increases supplier flexibility and procurement flexibility. Increased supplier flexibility and increased procurement flexibility in the relationship with the involved supplier as well as collaborative practices during SIPD positively impact company performance. I confirmed the indirect effect between communication during SIPD and company performance when the mediators are supplier flexibility and procurement flexibility. Decreased redundancy in relationship with involved supplier does not impact company performance.

Practical implications

Supply chain managers need to rethink SIPD practice to effectively ensure supply chain resilience (SCRES), especially in the face of the contemporary global crisis and black swans affecting the supplier base. My article provides important managerial insights into drivers of SCRES and company performance.

Originality/value

To the best of my knowledge, this research is among the first to conclude that SIPD does not have an unequivocally positive or direct impact on supplier relationship resilience. The research fills the gap by analyzing the impact of SIPD on two main SCRES elements. The study examines supplier relationship resilience, understood as flexibility and redundancy elements, in a single supplier–buyer relationship perspective. Thus, the presented considerations go beyond the traditional understanding of flexibility and redundancy in supplier relationship management, that is through the prism of double or multi sourcing and having back up-suppliers.

Details

Central European Management Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2658-0845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 June 2023

Chandan Acharya, Pratigya Sigdyal, Divesh Ojha, Pankaj C. Patel and Amandeep Dhir

This paper aims to address the challenges knowledge actors face when using knowledge codifiability to develop common interests. The challenge is compounded when actors with…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to address the challenges knowledge actors face when using knowledge codifiability to develop common interests. The challenge is compounded when actors with diverse knowledge domains depend on each other to complete tasks, and, simultaneously, update their knowledge to address novelty in the organizational environment.

Design/methodology/approach

Given this context, this paper studies the impact of two moderating variables, systems dependence (Z) and novelty (W), on the relationship between knowledge codifiability (X) and common interests (M). This study also examines whether common interests (M) mediate the relationship between knowledge codifiability (X) and knowledge transfer (Y). To test the hypotheses, the authors collected data from 163 entrepreneurs in the southwest USA.

Findings

The results demonstrate that novelty in the knowledge domain of actors provides a supporting context for knowledge codifiability to develop common interests, but only when actors’ dependence on each other to complete tasks is at low to medium level. Moreover, the results also provide evidence that common interests mediate the relationship between codifiability and ease of knowledge transfer.

Originality/value

Using the results, this study provides a decision-making framework for managing tasks based on system dependence and novelty level.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 28 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 15 March 2024

Andrew Ebekozien, Clinton Aigbavboa, Zinhle Mohlasedi, Opeoluwa Akinradewo and Emmanuel Bamfo-Agyei

Studies showed that stakeholders want the construction sector’s organisations to be more accountable and transparent regarding social and environmental issues through corporate…

Abstract

Purpose

Studies showed that stakeholders want the construction sector’s organisations to be more accountable and transparent regarding social and environmental issues through corporate social responsibility (CSR). There is a paucity of literature regarding CSR implementation in the construction sector, especially in developing countries like South Africa. Hence, the study evaluated CSR’s merits and hindrances and suggested solutions to enhance its implementation in the South African construction sector of Mpumalanga Province.

Design/methodology/approach

The researchers employed a questionnaire survey method to collect data from 68 useable respondents in the South African construction sector of Mpumalanga Province. The main section of the questionnaire was divided into three parts, each addressing an objective mean item score ranking technique.

Findings

Findings show management lacks willingness, absence of recognition for implementing CSR at tender adjudication, professionals regard CSR as a “soft issue,” inadequate ability to carry out CSR initiatives and lax CSR knowledge emerged as the key issues hindering construction stakeholders, especially construction companies, from participating in CSR in South Africa. The research suggests initiatives to enhance CSR in the construction industry.

Originality/value

The study shows that the findings can be used to improve the implementation of CSR engagement and possibly enhance a policy to stimulate friendly CSR in the South African construction sector.

Details

Property Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-7472

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 15 April 2024

Adriana AnaMaria Davidescu, Eduard Mihai Manta and Maria Ruxandra Cojocaru

Purpose: Students’ transition from education to employment is influenced by factors like the length and calibre of their education, demography, labour market conditions, and the…

Abstract

Purpose: Students’ transition from education to employment is influenced by factors like the length and calibre of their education, demography, labour market conditions, and the general state of the economy. Regardless of the economy, education systems should seek to ensure that students have the skills required for the labour market. This will help them better transition from school to work. This study examines the work skills that companies require for entry-level positions in Romania.

Need for Study: Previously, text analysis studies treated the job market only for the IT industry in Romania. To understand the demand-side opportunities and restrictions, assessing the employment opportunities for young people in the Romanian labour market is necessary.

Methodology: A text mining approach from 842 unstructured data of the existing job positions in October 2022 for fresh graduates or students is used in this chapter. The study uses data from LinkedIn job descriptions in the Romanian job market. The methodology involved is focused on text retrieval, text-pre-processing, word cloud analysis, network analysis, and topic modelling.

Findings: The empirical findings revealed that the most common words in job descriptions are experience, team, work, skills, development, knowledge, support, data, business, and software. The correlation network revealed that the most correlated pairs of words are gender–sexual–race–religion–origin–diversity–age–identity–orientation–colour–equal–marital.

Practical Implications: This study looked at the job market and used text analytics to extract a space of skill and qualification dimensions from job announcements relevant to the Romanian employment market instead of depending on subjective knowledge.

Details

Contemporary Challenges in Social Science Management: Skills Gaps and Shortages in the Labour Market
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-170-7

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 March 2024

Bai Liu, Tao Ju, Jiarui Lu and Hing Kai Chan

This research investigates whether focal firms employ strategic supply chain information disclosure, focusing on the concealment of supplier and customer identities, as part of…

Abstract

Purpose

This research investigates whether focal firms employ strategic supply chain information disclosure, focusing on the concealment of supplier and customer identities, as part of their supply chain environmental risk management strategies (supplier sustainability risk and customer loss risk, respectively).

Design/methodology/approach

Using a panel dataset of Chinese listed firms from 2009 to 2019 and utilizing the suppliers’ environmental punishment of peer firms (peer events) as an exogenous shock and employing ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation, this study conducts a regression analysis to test how focal firms disclose the identities of their suppliers and customers.

Findings

Our results indicate that focal firms prefer to hide the identities of their suppliers and customers following the environmental punishment of peer firms’ suppliers. In addition, supplier concentration weakens the effect of withholding supplier identities, whereas customer concentration strengthens the effect of hiding customer identities. Mechanism analysis shows that firms hide supplier identities to avoid their reputation being affected and hide customer identities to prevent the deterioration of customers’ reputations and thus impact their market share.

Originality/value

Our study reveals that reputation spillover is another crucial factor in supply chain transparency. It is also pioneering in applying the anonymity theory to explain focal firms’ information disclosure strategy in supply chains.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 July 2023

Kunwar Saraf, Karthik Bajar, Aaditya Jain and Akhilesh Barve

This study aims to determine the barriers hindering the incorporation of blockchain technology (BCT) in two key service industries – hotel and health care – as well as to assess…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to determine the barriers hindering the incorporation of blockchain technology (BCT) in two key service industries – hotel and health care – as well as to assess their readiness for implementing BCT after overcoming the barriers.

Design/methodology/approach

The barriers of this study are determined through two phases: a review of prior literature and obtaining expert opinions, which are then analyzed to identify specific barriers that are impeding the incorporation of BCT. Moreover, to generate a blockchain implementation reluctance index (BIRI), this study presents an interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy set (IVIFS) that uses graph theory and matrix approach (GTMA). The permanent function in the GTMA approach is computed using the PERMAN algorithm. Finally, to compare the readiness of the hotel and health-care industries to adopt BCT, the BIRI values are plotted and evaluated.

Findings

The barriers identified by this study are listed under five major headings, namely, financial, operational, behavioral, technical and legal. This study revealed that the operational and technical barriers of BCT are critically hindering its widespread integration in hotel and health-care industries. Furthermore, on comparing the BIRI values of both industries, the result suggested that the hotel industry needs to work more on these barriers to effectively incorporate BCT. Besides the comparison, the BIRI values clearly indicate that both industries have to put a lot of effort into the mitigation of the barriers found by this study to successfully integrate BCT.

Research limitations/implications

The experts’ opinions are used to evaluate the identified barriers, which raises the chance that the opinions are prejudiced based on the experts’ perspectives and ideologies. The sensitivity of decision-maker loads toward preference outcomes is not analyzed in this manuscript. Therefore, any recent sensitivity analysis may be considered a prospective field for future research. This study applies a multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) approach, IVIFS–GTMA, which limits the evaluation of the influence caused by individual barriers on the integration of BCT in the hotel and health-care industries. Henceforth, in future investigations, alternative MCDM methods may be used to analyze individual barriers.

Practical implications

According to the findings, if the hotel or health-care industry aims to incorporate BCT in its supply chain operations, it is recommended to emphasize more on the operational barriers along with the technical and behavioral barriers. The barriers mentioned in this manuscript can be used as guidance for developers in their development activities, such as scalability concerns, establishment costs, the 51% attack and the inefficient nature of BCT. Furthermore, they may address the potential users’ negative perceptions about security, privacy, trust and risk avoidance through creatively developed blockchain solutions to promote BCT implementation.

Originality/value

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that identifies barriers toward BCT incorporation in the major service industries, i.e. hotel and health care. Moreover, this is the first study that compares the preparedness of the hotel and health-care industries to determine the industry that requires more work to implement BCT.

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 15 April 2024

Abstract

Details

Contemporary Challenges in Social Science Management: Skills Gaps and Shortages in the Labour Market
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-170-7

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