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1 – 10 of over 56000Lihan Zhang, Yongcheng Fu, Wenxue Lu and Jian Liu
How to depict conflict characteristics? Previous literature has overwhelmingly used intensity and frequency of conflict, resulting in an incomplete understanding of conflict…
Abstract
Purpose
How to depict conflict characteristics? Previous literature has overwhelmingly used intensity and frequency of conflict, resulting in an incomplete understanding of conflict itself and its impacts. To fill this knowledge gap, this paper aims to develop a comprehensive theoretical framework for conflict attributes.
Design/methodology/approach
Through a systematic and integrative literature review, this study has achieved the objectives by synthesizing the current state of knowledge on conflict and borrowing insights from event system theory.
Findings
A total of 16 conflict attributes were identified to constitute the event-oriented conceptualization of conflict, describing conflict from three dimensions – strength, time and space. Four promising areas for future conflict inquiry are proposed: linking the effectiveness of conflict to its attributes; exploring the interplay and configuration of multiple conflict attributes; progressing from variance- to process-oriented conflict theories; and developing symmetric/asymmetric views of conflict.
Originality/value
This paper conceptually clarifies conflict attributes from the event perspective and offers a nuanced understanding of conflict, which contributes to the current fragmented knowledge of conflict attributes. Scholars can build on this study’s findings to fill gaps and move conflict research forward. It also enhances researchers’ awareness of time and space and thus encourages more longitudinal exploration into the dynamics of conflict.
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Chunyi Xian, Hessam Vali, Ruwen Tian, Jingjun David Xu and Mehmet Bayram Yildirim
The authors investigate the varying impact of three categories of conflicting consumer reviews (i.e. conflicting opinions on attributes of a product item, conflicting ratings of…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors investigate the varying impact of three categories of conflicting consumer reviews (i.e. conflicting opinions on attributes of a product item, conflicting ratings of an item and the intensity of conflicting reviews of an item) on the potential customers' perceived informativeness, which is expected to affect the perceived correct purchase.
Design/methodology/approach
To test their proposed hypotheses, the authors conducted an experiment using a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design for each conflict type comprising two levels (low vs high).
Findings
The results of this study found that conflicting opinions on product attributes can enhance potential customers' perceptions of informativeness and subsequent correct purchase decisions while conflicting ratings and the intensity of conflicting reviews can diminish potential customers' perceptions of informativeness. In addition, conflicting ratings negatively moderate the effect of conflicting attributes on perceived informativeness such that the positive effect of conflicting attributes on perceived informativeness will be less prominent when conflicting ratings are present (vs absent).
Originality/value
While potential customers are browsing product descriptions, reviews and comments from other purchasers are also playing a role in influencing a potential customer's purchase decision. However, given the different experiences and temperaments of individuals, the subjective remarks and ratings of individuals are sometimes inconsistent or even conflicting, which can lead to confusion among potential customers. The authors categorize the positive or negative effects of the three conflicting reviews based on the two dimensions of ease of capture and product diagnosticity. The findings can help platforms optimize the display of product reviews to help potential customers make more accurate purchase decisions.
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Chris I. Enyinda, Charles Blankson, Guangming Cao and Ifeoma E. Enyinda
Rising expectations for exceptional customer experiences demand strategic amalgamation of cross-functional, customer-focused teams (marketing/sales/service departments). However…
Abstract
Purpose
Rising expectations for exceptional customer experiences demand strategic amalgamation of cross-functional, customer-focused teams (marketing/sales/service departments). However, the long history of interface conflicts between functional teams continues to attract research attention. Past research has given more attention to conflicts between marketing and sales teams than to triadic interface conflict between custom-focused teams and their sub-conflicts in a business-to-business (B2B) sales process. The purpose of this research paper is to quantify the triadic interface conflicts and associated sub-conflicts between customer-focused teams, discuss conflict resolution strategies and perform a sensitivity analysis (SA) to give a fuller account of functional team conflict.
Design/methodology/approach
Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) based in the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is proposed for identifying and resolving conflicts in customer-focused team interfaces. A group of 30 managers of a large electronics company participated in this research. The authors collected the data from customer-focused team managers during training sessions on interface conflicts and conflict management/resolution strategies. The authors perform SA to test the robustness of conflict resolution strategy rankings.
Findings
The findings reveal that managers adjudge task as the most crucial conflict attribute driving teams apart, followed by lack of communication. For the sub-conflicts, managers considered how to do the task as the most important conflict attribute, followed by lack of regular meetings. For conflict resolution strategies, managers regarded collaboration or integration as the overall best strategy, followed by compromise. Leveraging the AHP-based MCDM to resolve customer-focused team interface conflicts provides managers with the confidence in the consistency and the robustness of these solutions. By testing the SA, it is also discovered that the final outcome stayed robust (stable) regardless when the priorities of the main criteria influencing the decision are increased and decreased by 5% in every combinations.
Research limitations/implications
This study examined only a large B2B company in the electronics industry in African and Middle East settings, focusing on interface conflicts among customer-focused departments. Future research could address these limitations.
Practical implications
This paper advances our understanding of customer-focused team interface conflicts in a B2B sales process. It also provides valuable insights on effective management of major and sub-interface conflicts. This paper provides a framework for and practical insights into how interface conflicts that are prevalent in marketing, sales and service sectors can be resolved to improve customer experience and business performance.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature by developing an AHP-based MCDM, which not only extends our conceptual understanding of the interface conflicts between customer-focused teams by emphasizing their triadic nature but also provides valuable strategies and insights into the practical resolution of such conflicts in a B2B firm’s sales process. Methodologically, SA is valuable to ensuring the robustness of the conflict resolution strategies’ rankings that will influence relevant pragmatic decision-making.
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Freddy C. Coronado and Christian A. Cancino
The purpose of this paper is to explain how two task characteristics and two individual differences influence which heuristics individuals use, and as a results explain their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explain how two task characteristics and two individual differences influence which heuristics individuals use, and as a results explain their decision performance when choosing performance measures (PMs) for incentive compensation.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 76 MS accounting students volunteered to participate in an experiment. A between-subjects experimental design was used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The experimental evidence suggests that individuals, while using high-complexity heuristics, can choose an incorrect PM when PM attribute conflict is present and the difference between PM attribute differences is small. Individuals with high goal commitment are more likely to make the correct choice than individuals with low goal commitment, because they focus more on the PMs’ goal congruence than on the PMs’ noise when making tradeoffs between the conflicting PMs’ attributes.
Research limitations/implications
The social context can stimulate individuals’ empathic concern and/or goal commitment and thus explain individuals’ performance when PM attribute conflict is present and the difference between PM attribute differences is small.
Practical implications
The results of this study are important to those responsible for designing incentive systems give greater importance to considering not just congruency attributes in PM but precision attributes as well.
Originality/value
This paper develops predictions and provides experimental evidence on two task characteristics that influence individuals’ use of heuristics when choosing PMs for incentive compensation. In addition, it provides evidence that individual differences can affect individuals’ PM choice performance when tradeoffs between PMs’ congruity and precision are required.
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Hiba Alkhalaf, Alaa Elhabashi, Yassmen Hesham, Abdulsalam Hiba, Abdulkader Omaar, Hafed Walda and Will Thomas Wootton
This paper introduces a methodology to identify, analyse and represent heritage site attributes, emphasizing their impact on value, authenticity, integrity and management, with a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper introduces a methodology to identify, analyse and represent heritage site attributes, emphasizing their impact on value, authenticity, integrity and management, with a case study on Ghadames, Libya. Inscribed in 1986 and moved to the In-Danger List in 2016 due to conflict, this work seeks to update the site's attributes and values for improved management.
Design/methodology/approach
This methodology, focusing on Ghadames, leverages recent heritage management advancements to monitor conflict-induced changes, aiming to enhance decision-making through a detailed analysis of the site's natural and cultural attributes.
Findings
Our findings highlight the need for systematic and holistic assessments of heritage site attributes and values, crucial for managing sites of both local and global significance. This approach is a key to understanding their identity, guiding interpretation, management and preserving cultural significance.
Research limitations/implications
Developed for Ghadames, the methodology requires adaptation for other sites, underscoring the importance of identifying core tangible and intangible attributes that define a site's uniqueness.
Practical implications
Our developed methodology offers a replicable framework that can be modified by local heritage professionals to map attributes and assess the direct and indirect impact of conflict on heritage sites.
Originality/value
The detailed assessment provides a foundation for crafting informed policies and effective management strategies. It specifically targets minimizing the adverse effects of conflict on heritage sites' attributes. This effort is instrumental in preparing the necessary documentation to support the delisting of these sites from the UNESCO World Heritage Site In-Danger List, promoting their preservation and recovery.
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With the progress of new technologies of information and communication, more and more producers of data exist. On the other hand, the web forms a huge support of all these kinds…
Abstract
With the progress of new technologies of information and communication, more and more producers of data exist. On the other hand, the web forms a huge support of all these kinds of data. Unfortunately, existing data is not proper due to the existence of the same information in different sources, as well as erroneous and incomplete data. The aim of data integration systems is to offer to a user a unique interface to query a number of sources. A key challenge of such systems is to deal with conflicting information from the same source or from different sources. We present, in this paper, the resolution of conflict at the instance level into two stages: references reconciliation and data fusion. The reference reconciliation methods seek to decide if two data descriptions are references to the same entity in reality. We define the principles of reconciliation method then we distinguish the methods of reference reconciliation, first on how to use the descriptions of references, then the way to acquire knowledge. We finish this section by discussing some current data reconciliation issues that are the subject of current research. Data fusion in turn, has the objective to merge duplicates into a single representation while resolving conflicts between the data. We define first the conflicts classification, the strategies for dealing with conflicts and the implementing conflict management strategies. We present then, the relational operators and data fusion techniques. Likewise, we finish this section by discussing some current data fusion issues that are the subject of current research.
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Lilian M. Hoogenboom, Maria T.M. Dijkstra and Bianca Beersma
Scholars and practitioners alike wish to understand what makes workplace conflict beneficial or injurious to, for example, performance and satisfaction. The authors focus on…
Abstract
Purpose
Scholars and practitioners alike wish to understand what makes workplace conflict beneficial or injurious to, for example, performance and satisfaction. The authors focus on parties’ personal experience of the conflict, which is complementary to studying conflict issues (i.e. task- or relationship-related conflict). Although many authors discuss the personal experience of conflict, which the authors will refer to as conflict personalization, different definitions are used, leading to conceptual vagueness. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop an integrative definition of the concept of conflict personalization.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a systematic literature review to collect definitions and conceptualizations from 41 publications. The subsequent thematic analysis revealed four building blocks that were used to develop an integrative definition of conflict personalization.
Findings
The authors developed the following definition: Conflict personalization is the negative affective as well as cognitive reaction to the self being threatened and/or in danger as a result of a social interaction about perceived incompatibilities.
Practical implications
The integrative definition of this study enables the development of a measurement instrument to assess personalization during workplace conflict, paving the way for developing effective research-based interventions.
Originality/value
Conceptual vagueness hampers theoretical development, empirical research and the development of effective interventions. Although the importance of conflict personalization is mentioned within the field of workplace conflict, it has not been empirically studied yet. This paper can serve as the basis for future research in which conflict issue and personal experience are separated.
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Nurshahirah Abd Majid, Mohd Mohid Rahmat and Kamran Ahmed
This study aims to examine the ability of independent directors to discipline related-party transactions (RPTs) among listed companies in Malaysia. Firms typically appoint…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the ability of independent directors to discipline related-party transactions (RPTs) among listed companies in Malaysia. Firms typically appoint independent directors individually, not as a group. However, board members are commonly viewed collectively as a group, and evidence of the abilities of individual directors is scarce.
Design/methodology/approach
The attributes of individual independent directors include accounting literacy, length of service, audit committee membership and active participation in board and audit committee meetings. The unit of analysis is the individual independent director. The final sample consists of 1,552 observations in 2017, and RPTs are categorized as either efficient or conflicting.
Findings
The study finds that the tenure of individual independent directors and active participation in board meetings affect the firm’s engagement in RPTs. However, the financial literacy, audit committee membership and attendance of independent directors at audit committee meetings do not affect the firm’s engagement in RPTs, either efficient or conflicting. Overall, this result offers limited support for the upper-echelon theory concerning the attributes of individual independent directors and RPTs.
Research limitations/implications
This study uses cross-sectional observations for 2017, which predates the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, this study ignores the impact of restrictions in community mobility during the pandemic on the independent director’s ability to monitor the corporation. This circumstance may have implications for practice and merit further research.
Practical implications
The findings provide information for board nominating committees, regulators and policymakers that the capability of individual independent directors to fulfill their responsibilities is limited. The firm’s nominating committee must be very selective in nominating and appointing independent directors with appropriate competencies. Investors should choose companies that have reappointed the same independent directors for an extended period, as they may benefit from the experience in protecting investors’ interests.
Originality/value
This paper contributes novel evidence to upper-echelon theory literature on the association between independent directors and RPT types from the perspective of individual independent directors.
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The primary purpose of the paper is to demonstrate how corporate responsibility and accountability could be fostered through monitoring and the involvement of governments in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The primary purpose of the paper is to demonstrate how corporate responsibility and accountability could be fostered through monitoring and the involvement of governments in the regulation of firms.
Design/methodology/approach
In considering why practices which stimulate incentives for private agents to exert corporate control should be encouraged, this paper highlights criticisms attributed to government control of banks. However, the theory relating to the “helping hand” view of government is advanced as having a fundamental role in the regulation and supervision of banks.
Findings
Governments have a vital role to play in corporate responsibility and regulation given the fact that banks are costly and difficult to monitor – this being principally attributed to the possibility that private agents will lack required incentives or the ability to supervise banks.
Research limitations/implications
Banks are costly and difficult to monitor – this being principally attributed to the possibility that private agents will lack required incentives or the ability to supervise banks.
Practical implications
The paper illustrates how structures which operate in various systems, namely, stock market economies and universal banking systems, function (and attempt) to address gaps which may arise as a result of lack of adequate mechanisms of accountability.
Social implications
The paper also draws attention to the impact of asymmetric information (generally and in these systems), on levels of monitoring procedures and how conflicts of interests which could arise between banks and their shareholders, or between governments and those firms being regulated by the regulator, could be addressed.
Originality/value
Through its supervision of banks, governments also assume an important role where matters related to the fostering of accountability are concerned – not only because banks may have the power to affect firm performance, but also because some private agents are not able to afford internal monitoring mechanisms.
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Mei-Yu Yang, Fei-Chun Cheng and Aichia Chuang
The purpose of this paper is to identify the roles of trait affectivity and momentary moods in conflict frames and conflict management. This paper goes beyond affect induction and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the roles of trait affectivity and momentary moods in conflict frames and conflict management. This paper goes beyond affect induction and focuses on the affective – rather than rational – antecedents of the choice of conflict management strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts a within- and between-person approach and uses hierarchical linear modeling to test the hypotheses with group-mean centering. Over the course of 12 days within a three-week period, the authors collected participants’ momentary moods and how they thought about and would respond to conflict scenarios. Data were gathered from 1,545 observations, involving 180 individuals.
Findings
After controlling for anger raised from the conflict scenario, both positive trait affectivity and positive momentary moods were found to be positively related to a compromise frame. Surprisingly, neither negative trait affectivity nor momentary mood was related to the win frame. A compromise frame predicted a cooperative strategy, and a win frame predicted a competitive strategy. The relationships between trait and momentary affects and conflict management strategy were partially mediated by conflict frame, but only for positive affects.
Practical implications
If seeking a constructive resolution, choose the right person (i.e. an individual with positive trait affectivity) and the right moment (i.e. the individual is in a positive mood state) to communicate disagreements.
Originality/value
This paper sheds light on the prediction of conflict frame and conflict management behavior by testing trait affectivity and momentary mood simultaneously.
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