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Stephen Hodgetts read the e-mail over and over again and still could hardly believe what he had read. He had just come back from his vacation, well rested and refreshed, and this e-mail had dampened his high enthusiasm. It took time to absorb such bad news and for Hodgetts to get over his incredulity.Yet in the end Hodgetts accepted the truth‐a deep, dark terrible truth that would not go away. Robert Davis, his business partner’s son, had confirmed in an e-mail his worst fears about their newest business partner, David Russ.Many thoughts were running through his mind simultaneously yet each screamed to be heard.“How could he and his partner Richard Davis have been so blind, so trusting?” “How could Russ not have heeded the advice of his business partner, Richard Davis, Russ’s former English professor?” And most important, “What was now going to happen to their new business?” Yet the one thought that continued to echo among them all was surprisingly a quote from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved character, Sherlock Holmes: “But there are always some lunatics about. It would be a dull world without them.”

In this two-part case, Richard Davis and Stephen Hodgetts, co-owners of D&H Management LLC, are trying to come to terms with changes in the real estate market‐changes that have made their rental homes worth less than their mortgages and at best yielding at most a break-even cash flow. In Part A Davis and Hodgetts are weighing the following options: (1) sell all of the properties, assume a loss (walk away with nothing), and avoid the negative cash flow; (2) walk away from all of the properties, assume a loss (walk away with nothing), and avoid the negative cash flow; (3) delay paying the mortgage on some of the homes, allow these properties, if necessary, to go into foreclosure, and in the interim use the positive cash flow to shore up some of the more positive cash flow homes; (4) contact all of the lenders and try to renegotiate the mortgages so as to have lower monthly rates.

In Part B Davis proposes that he and Hodgetts go their separate ways. Davis walks away with the two properties that have mortgages in his name, while Hodgetts obtains the four properties that have mortgages in his. From Hodgettsʼ perspective this is a losing proposition since (1) he would have to take over the management of four “loser” properties rather than Davisʼs two, an ʼunfairʼ split of the liabilities; (2) he had no interest in managing properties; and (3) he and Davis would be splitting up a long-standing team.

“I quit.” Those two little words were dropped like an atomic bomb and seemed to explode across the dinner table at the Davis residence. The meal had not yet been served though everyone was at the table engaged in a lively discussion, which of course included their business, DHR Patio Homes, LLC. Immediately, a hush descended upon the Davis family and their guest, close friend, and business associate, Stephen Hodgetts, as an imaginary mushroom cloud filled the room. No one could move or say a word although numerous glances of varying nature were being exchanged in rapid succession. The somberness of the situation was quickly broken, however, by another barrage of discontent. “I've had it, I quit. Find someone else to act as the contractor for the company.” With those words, RJ Davis quickly vacated the dining room and zoomed upstairs into the Davisesʼ spare garage apartment.

Trust has become a major issue among online shoppers. This underresearched subject will predictably determine the success or failure of e-commerce vendors. The lack of face-to-face interaction, the inability to inspect goods and services prior to purchase, and the asynchronous exchange of goods and money all contribute to the perceived risk of purchasing online and the resulting need for trust. Trust is particularly critical for small and new Internet ventures confronted by the liability of newness (Stinchcombe 1965). Lacking, among other things, a name that is readily recognized in the marketplace, entrepreneurial Internet ventures require trust if they are to succeed. The research presented in this article addresses this issue by building on the work of McKnight and colleagues and considering the effects of propensity to trust on trusting beliefs. Specifically, the author predicts that propensity to trust will significantly affect perceived ability, benevolence, and integrity but only for those individuals with limited direct experience. Based on a sample of web survey participants, the author found that propensity to trust significantly impacted perceived ability and benevolence for individuals with limited direct experience only. No statistically significant results were found for the effects of propensity to trust on perceived integrity.

The Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of Business at Shenandoah University engaged in an intense planning process in the fall of 2004. In addition to clarifying its mission and strategic directions, the Byrd School clearly articulated its vision: to become recognized as a provider of individualized business education driven by entrepreneurial thinking, global understanding, and ethical practice. The development of the Institute for Entrepreneurship described in this article is a critical step in actualizing this vision.

Despite ample research on the adoption of online banking, the post-adoption phase remains largely neglected. The purpose of this paper is to develop a new conceptual model to investigate drivers, attitudes and behaviours in the post-adoption phase of the e-postbox, a co-creative online banking feature.

Research from bank marketing, services marketing, information systems and relationship management informs the proposed post-adoption model. Empirical tests rely on structural equation modelling and a sample of 750 current customers of the e-postbox of a large German bank.

The proposed model provides a multifaceted view of the post-adoption phase, including task-related, organisation-related and interpersonal communication-related drivers. This study reveals the importance of integrating dual interpersonal communication as a post-adoption driver and a post-adoption behaviour. It also extends the technology acceptance model by applying it to the post-adoption phase. Significant effects of age further suggest that younger customers express the most favourable attitudes towards and highest intentions to continue using the e-postbox; interestingly, older customers use it more and share more word-of-mouth.

This paper develops a post-adoption model that highlights the importance of continued usage for successful co-creation between the bank and its customers.

Managers can encourage continued usage during the post-adoption phase of a co-creative, digitalised service, which determines the retention of current customers and opportunities to attain new customers.

This study defines and establishes constructs for the post-adoption phase and categorises them according to post-adoption drivers, attitudes and behaviours.

There is strong consensus that the Internet has the potential to positively impact firms, and SMEs in particular; however, not all firms have realized benefits from adoption. The present study extends research in the area by addressing the need to examine the “chain” of variables explaining Internet adoption. We do this by exploring SME owner/manager Internet-related usefulness and ease-of-use cognitions and intention to use the Internet for supplier information management. We also explore the influence of behavioral norms and two broader strategic perspectives, market and learning orientation, on the Internet-related cognitions. Findings have implications for researchers and practitioners by identifying factors that contribute to effectively leveraging the Internet in an important area for SMEs.

Recent attention has been given to organizations that claim to run on faith-based principles. Activities such as at work bible study groups, charitable giving, and the individual practices of the owners are often the focus of such discussions. In such discussions little attention has been paid to those who not only hold strong religious views, but have chosen to put those views into practice‐even when it may not appear to make good business sense.

Since 1946, S. Truett Cathy, founder and chairman of Chick-fil-A Inc., has run his enterprises based on his understanding of Christian principles. Starting with his first restaurant, the “Dwarf Grill,” which he opened with his brother Ben in 1946, continuing when he opened the first “Chick-fil-A” in 1967, and even as he finished the remodeling of the companies headquarters in 1997, S. Truett says he tries “to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on other people. . . .” In fact, this purpose is engraved in a bronze plaque that rests at the entrance to Chick-fil-A’s corporate headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.

In practice, this purpose has lead S.Truett to never have his businesses open on Sunday, a time in the quick service industry that normally generates 20 percent of revenue. It has caused him to shut down another restaurant venture, Markos in Florida, rather than serve alcohol, which most patrons wanted. Despite his staunch adherent to principles that seem to run counter to “good business sense,” S.Truett Cathy has built a successful, privately held organization that operates in 38 states, has more than 1,300 franchisees, and generates over $2 billion a year in revenue.

In the following interview, S.Truett offers his perspective on why focusing on principles is more important than focusing on profits and what he thinks it takes to succeed in business and in life.

This is an empirical study of family firm size, as measured by the number of employees, and the relationship of a firmʼs size to a variety of management activities, styles, and characteristics. A statistical analysis of data drawn from 159 American family businesses indicates significant differences by size with regard to the number of nonfamily members in top management, use of outside advisors, time spent engaged in strategic management, use of sophisticated methods of financial management, proportion of women family members involved in firm management, and level of conflict between family members. Implications are offered for family firm owner-managers, for those who assist such businesses, and for researchers in the field of family business.

This study analyzes the impact of sports social media on a country regarding three international events connected to the brand Spain. It examines (1) the use and importance of various social media platforms in sports events and (2) identifies the countries generating the most social media content.

A total of 1,711,084 posts were collected for analysis, focusing on FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, XLI Marathon Valencia Trinidad Alfonso 2022 and Davis Cup 2022, with a particular emphasis on the Spain brand. Through Atribus, diverse social media data were recovered and analyzed. Later, we recommended employing various metrics and ANOVAs to address the research questions. Additionally, we conducted a sentiment analysis.

The results show differences between (1) the use and relevance of social network platforms and events and (2) the content generated by different countries. The practical implications offer valuable insights for sports event organizers, destination managers and other stakeholders. The research implications suggest potential avenues for future research based on the observed patterns and behaviors in social media posts related to sports events and Brand Spain.

(1) Some papers have studied the role of sports events’ social media, ignoring the comparison among different social media platforms; (2) usually, previous literature has focused on a single event or sport and (3) although there is considerable research related to the strategic and operational Inés Küster Boluda Inés Küster Boluda role of social media, there is less systematic analysis related to the extent sports events use social media in general and in specific social media platforms and virtually nonexistent studies that employ index measurements.

本研究擬分析就三個與西班牙品牌有關的國際體育賽事而言，體育社交媒體對一個國家的影響。俱體而言，本研究擬探討： (一) 、各體育賽事社交媒體平台的使用和其重要性，以及 (二) 、是哪些國家生成最多的社交媒體內容。

研究人員收集共計1,711,084帖子以便進行分析;其焦點放在2022年卡塔爾世界盃 (即2022年國際足聯世界盃) ，2022年特尼利尼達阿方索馬拉松賽－瓦倫西亞 (XLI Marathon Valencia Trinidad Alfonso 2022) 和2022年台維斯盃;研究人員特別把重點放在西班牙品牌上。研究人員透過 Atribus 重新取得多種多樣的社交媒體數據，然後進行分析。之後，研究人員建議使用不同的度量和方差分析去處理各研究問題，以及進行了情感分析。

研究結果顯示了以下兩者之差異：(一) 、社交網絡平台和比賽項目的使用和關聯，以及 (二) 、不同國家生成的內容。從這個研究發現，體育賽事的籌辦者、目的地管理人員和其它利益相關者，均會獲得寶貴的實務啟示;至於就未來學術研究的路向而言，學者和研究人員或許可觀察關於體育賽事和西班牙品牌的社交媒體帖子裡顯示的模式和行為，從而找到合適的研究路徑。

本研究有以下的貢獻：(一) 、從前的研究多只探討關於體育賽事的社交媒體所扮演的角色，而忽略了要比較不同社交媒體平台的需要;(二) 、過去的文獻通常聚焦於單一的賽事或運動上;以及 (三) 、雖然探討關於社交媒體在戰略上和在操作上所扮演的角色的研究為數不少，但甚少研究、就體育賽事大體使用社交媒體的程度，或使用特定的社交媒體平台的程度進行分析和探討。再者，幾乎沒有學者或研究人員在有關的研究上使用指標測量法;就此三點而言，本研究可說填補了有關的研究空白。