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1 – 10 of over 1000Jeroen Schepers and Edwin J. Nijssen
Many organizations expect their service engineers, or frontline employees (FLEs), to behave as brand advocates by engaging in favorable communication about the brand and its…
Abstract
Purpose
Many organizations expect their service engineers, or frontline employees (FLEs), to behave as brand advocates by engaging in favorable communication about the brand and its offerings toward customers. However, this approach is not without risk as customers may be disappointed or even frustrated with brand advocacy behavior in many service encounters. The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of FLEs’ brand advocacy on customer satisfaction with the service encounter, and identify the conditions under which the effects are detrimental. This paper specifically considers service issue severity and product newness as contingency conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
Building on social identification theory, the paper builds a conceptual model, which is empirically tested using a data set that matches data from service engineers, customers, and archival records from the after-sales service department of a globally operating business-to-business print and document management solutions provider.
Findings
This paper finds that brand advocacy behavior harms customer satisfaction especially in service encounters that involve simple service issues (e.g. maintenance) for products that are new to the market. Fortunately, brand identification can compensate this negative effect under many service conditions. While the joint effect of brand identification and advocacy is most beneficial for severe service issues of new products, no effect on customer satisfaction was found for established products.
Practical implications
This paper identifies those service situations in which brand advocacy is advisable and guides managers toward achieving more favorable customer evaluations.
Originality/value
Past research has considered several FLE branding activities in the frontline but the effects of brand advocacy have not been isolated. In addition, most studies have assumed the effects of employee brand-related behaviors on customer satisfaction to be universally positive rather than negative and focused on antecedents and not on moderators and consequences.
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Developing followers is just as important as developing leaders. This brief outlines strategies for integrating material on followership into three leadership course units…
Abstract
Developing followers is just as important as developing leaders. This brief outlines strategies for integrating material on followership into three leadership course units: introduction to leadership, leadership theories, and leadership ethics. Instructors can highlight the importance of followership by emphasizing that (a) leaders and followers have an interdependent relationship, (b) followers are essential to group success, (c) followers are an important component in many leadership theories, and (d) followers are responsible for their moral choices and face their own set of ethical challenges.
Theresa Eriksson, Alessandro Bigi and Michelle Bonera
This paper explores if and how Artificial Intelligence can contribute to marketing strategy formulation.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores if and how Artificial Intelligence can contribute to marketing strategy formulation.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative research based on exploratory in-depth interviews with industry experts currently working with artificial intelligence tools.
Findings
Key themes include: (1) Importance of AI in strategic marketing decision management; (2) Presence of AI in strategic decision management; (3) Role of AI in strategic decision management; (4) Importance of business culture for the use of AI; (5) Impact of AI on the business’ organizational model. A key consideration is a “creative-possibility perspective,” highlighting the future potential to use AI not only for rational but also for creative thinking purposes.
Research limitations/implications
This work is focused only on strategy creation as a deliberate process. For this, AI can be used as an effective response to the external contingencies of high volumes of data and uncertain environmental conditions, as well as being an effective response to the external contingencies of limited managerial cognition. A key future consideration is a “creative-possibility perspective.”
Practical implications
A practical extension of the Gartner Analytics Ascendancy Model (Maoz, 2013).
Originality/value
This paper aims to contribute knowledge relating to the role of AI in marketing strategy formulation and explores the potential avenues for future use of AI in the strategic marketing process. This is explored through the lens of contingency theory, and additionally, findings are expressed using the Gartner analytics ascendancy model.
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Research into the interpretability and explainability of data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) systems is on the rise. However, most recent studies either solely promote…
Abstract
Purpose
Research into the interpretability and explainability of data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) systems is on the rise. However, most recent studies either solely promote the benefits of explainability or criticize it due to its counterproductive effects. This study addresses this polarized space and aims to identify opposing effects of the explainability of AI and the tensions between them and propose how to manage this tension to optimize AI system performance and trustworthiness.
Design/methodology/approach
The author systematically reviews the literature and synthesizes it using a contingency theory lens to develop a framework for managing the opposing effects of AI explainability.
Findings
The author finds five opposing effects of explainability: comprehensibility, conduct, confidentiality, completeness and confidence in AI (5Cs). The author also proposes six perspectives on managing the tensions between the 5Cs: pragmatism in explanation, contextualization of the explanation, cohabitation of human agency and AI agency, metrics and standardization, regulatory and ethical principles, and other emerging solutions (i.e. AI enveloping, blockchain and AI fuzzy systems).
Research limitations/implications
As in other systematic literature review studies, the results are limited by the content of the selected papers.
Practical implications
The findings show how AI owners and developers can manage tensions between profitability, prediction accuracy and system performance via visibility, accountability and maintaining the “social goodness” of AI. The results guide practitioners in developing metrics and standards for AI explainability, with the context of AI operation as the focus.
Originality/value
This study addresses polarized beliefs amongst scholars and practitioners about the benefits of AI explainability versus its counterproductive effects. It poses that there is no single best way to maximize AI explainability. Instead, the co-existence of enabling and constraining effects must be managed.
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Arsalan Safari and Ali Salman Saleh
Various barriers discourage small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from entering or expanding their export activities in the international markets, especially SMEs in emerging…
Abstract
Purpose
Various barriers discourage small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from entering or expanding their export activities in the international markets, especially SMEs in emerging markets. The purpose of this study is to look at capacity building to accelerate SMEs’ export performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This study draws on contingency theory and takes a resource-based and market-based view to provide a holistic understanding of the issue. This study uses primary data collected via extensive surveys from active SMEs in three main industrial regions in Vietnam to undertake confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling for quantitative analysis.
Findings
The results confirm and show the significant effects of various determinants on firms’ export performance. These research findings have scientific contribution and significant implications by understanding the effective internal and external export drivers and mediators in an emerging market and enhancing SMEs’ export performance.
Practical implications
This study helps SMEs to improve their export performance by systemizing their decision-making in export activities, improving main export drivers highlighted in this study and developing required training programs for their teams. The outcomes also helps policymakers and regulators to improve the current SME ecosystem in Vietnam through training programs, improving policies, facilitating trades, providing more government assistance etc. The results of this study can be extended to other emerging markets with a similar economic structure and legal system.
Originality/value
Given the need for more work on export performance, this paper develops and tests a holistic conceptual framework that accounts for all aspects of export drivers, and provides a more comprehensive model for examining SMEs’ export drivers. This theoretical framework also incorporates three potential mediators (i.e. innovation strategy, export marketing strategy and business strategy) to investigate the effect of internal and external factors on export performance, highlighting the importance of the mediating effects on SMEs in achieving growth and competing in the international arena.
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Mira Bloemen-Bekx, Frank Lambrechts and Anita Van Gils
This study explores how and when intuitive forms of planning can be used in a family firm's succession process.
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores how and when intuitive forms of planning can be used in a family firm's succession process.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses an extended focus group meeting, consisting of individual, group and subgroup discussions with seven highly experienced external family business advisors in the Netherlands to gain a holistic understanding of the succession process and its underlying logic. The study also employs pre- and post-group questionnaires.
Findings
This study reveals that advisors perceive intuitive forms of planning as an integral part of the succession process, with the latter containing both intuitive and formal logic and activities. Both logics are used situationally and flexibly to deal with the uniqueness and unpredictability of the succession process and to build strong relations and manage relational dynamics in business families to address tasks, dilemmas and contingencies.
Originality/value
The succession process is an important part of business families' achievement of transgenerational intent. Creating commitment among potential successors begins when they are children, and understanding the role of the more intuitive forms of planning during the succession process will provide us with a more holistic perspective on its dynamics.
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Waheed Ali Umrani, Kabiru Maitama Kura and Umair Ahmed
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between corporate entrepreneurship (CE), organizational culture (OC) and business performance (BP). Additionally, the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between corporate entrepreneurship (CE), organizational culture (OC) and business performance (BP). Additionally, the study has attempted to address the moderating influence of OC on CE–BP relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from middle managers of Big Five banks of Pakistan. A two-step approach to structural equation modeling was used. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the measurement model fit was determined. The significance of the theoretical relationship was assessed using structural model.
Findings
The results have supported the hypothesized direct and moderated relationship.
Originality/value
The present study extends the body of knowledge in testing the resource-based view of the firm theory and contingency theory through providing empirical evidence on the hypothesized relationships. Additionally, the study has contributed in the existing theory through evaluating the moderating of OC by using interaction effect in partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).
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Hung Quang Bui, Tu Thanh Hoai, Hoa Anh Tran and Nguyen Phong Nguyen
Based on the contingency theory and resource-based view, this study develops and tests a moderated mediation model explaining the performance implications of the interaction…
Abstract
Purpose
Based on the contingency theory and resource-based view, this study develops and tests a moderated mediation model explaining the performance implications of the interaction between the accountants’ participation in strategic decision-making (APAR) and accounting capacity (ACAP) in promoting the use of management accounting systems (MAS) toward enhancing firm performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Using partial least squares structural equation modeling, the authors tested the proposed model and its hypotheses with survey data from 340 large Vietnamese firms.
Findings
The results indicate that (1) MAS act as the full mediator in the positive relationship between APAR and firm performance, and (2) ACAP positively moderates the effect of APAR on the use of MAS.
Originality/value
This study bridges the gap between accounting and strategic management literature by elucidating the mechanism by which the involvement of accountants in strategic issues improves the use of MAS toward enhancing firm performance and increases the current understanding of ACAP as a boundary condition for this mechanism.
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Olav Torp, Ingemund Jordanger, Ole Jonny Klakegg and Yvonne C.B. Bjerke
The purpose of the paper is 1) to address the importance of contingency at the right level when defining project control baseline, including cost reserves / “room to manoeuvre”…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is 1) to address the importance of contingency at the right level when defining project control baseline, including cost reserves / “room to manoeuvre” and 2) present proactive uncertainty management as a regime to ensure cost effective management of project reserves and contribute to project success.
Design/Methodology/Approach
The paper is a combination of literature study and quantitative research on how contingency develops during the lifetime of a case project. The investigation into the case project includes document study into quantitative material from the case project. The combination of empirical material and theory makes the discussion robust.
Findings
Unrealistic low cost uncertainty will lead to unrealistic low contingency. The case study from a Norwegian mega project shows a contingency of 15 per cent in addition to expected costs. The case study shows that by continuous opportunity management and risk reduction, the needs for management reserves are systematically reduced and the contingency is controlled.
Research Limitations/Implications
This research is limited to one case study. A higher number of cases are necessary to generalise the findings. However, the authors would claim that the systematic mapping of need for management reserve towards the project contingency, and a continuous uncertainty management system will help to obtain cost effective management. The findings from the case study could be applied on similar cases.
Practical Implications
The case study shows a way of setting contingencies and managing contingencies through systematic uncertainty management.
Originality/Value
Improved management of project provisions will increase the value of future projects.
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Francis Donbesuur, Magnus Hultman, Nathaniel Boso and Pejvak Oghazi
The aim of the study is to examine the effects of opportunity creation and discovery on the performance of family firms. Specifically, from the tenets of dynamic capabilities and…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of the study is to examine the effects of opportunity creation and discovery on the performance of family firms. Specifically, from the tenets of dynamic capabilities and organizational contingency perspectives, this study proposes and tests a framework of how family firms' creation and discovery behavior impact venture growth and the conditions under which such impact can vary.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses moderated-hierarchical regression to analyze survey data from 156 family-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating within a sub-Saharan African economy.
Findings
The findings indicate that creation behavior has a curvilinear U-shaped relationship with venture growth, while discovery behavior has a direct positive relationship with venture growth. Further analysis reveals that the curvilinearity of the U-shaped relationship between creation and venture growth will be stronger for older family firms than for younger ones.
Research limitations/implications
The study findings may be limited by the cross-sectional nature of the data and the specific focus on family firms only.
Practical implications
The results highlight the significance of pursuing both opportunities among family firms. In fact, both creation and discovery opportunities are significant drivers of family firm growth, albeit in different capacities. Relatedly, managers of older family firms (compared to younger firms) can invest more in exploiting creative opportunities.
Social implications
From these findings, governments and other stakeholders should create enabling environment and institutional frameworks conducive to exploiting opportunities by entrepreneurial firms.
Originality/value
The study is novel – as it provides unique findings on the performance implications of creation and discovery behavior of entrepreneurial family firms within developing economies.
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