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1 – 10 of 936Ludivine Adla and Virginie Gallego-Roquelaure
From a relational perspective, this research aims to answer the following question: How can human resource management (HRM) and innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises…
Abstract
Purpose
From a relational perspective, this research aims to answer the following question: How can human resource management (HRM) and innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) be articulated at different levels through gift/counter–gift relationships?
Design/methodology/approach
The authors' longitudinal and exploratory study was conducted in an innovative SME that constitutes an “emblematic” case. The data were gathered from diverse sources: 2 life stories, 21 semi-structured interviews, observations and documentary analyses.
Findings
The results provide a dynamic view of the relationship between HRM and innovation through multi-level analysis. The authors consequently propose a three-step process: freeing up, mobilizing and rethinking gifts.
Originality/value
This article examines how to articulate HRM and innovation in SMEs through gift/counter-gift theory. This relationship is analyzed from a relational and multi-level perspective.
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Marek Hudik, Miroslav Karlíček and David Říha
This paper aims to examine whether consumers’ appreciation of promotional gifts exceeds firms’ cost of providing these gifts. The paper also compares characteristics of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine whether consumers’ appreciation of promotional gifts exceeds firms’ cost of providing these gifts. The paper also compares characteristics of appreciated and unappreciated gifts.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors surveyed 1,289 college students in five European countries. The authors use willingness to accept cash (WTA) for an item to assess consumers’ appreciation of promotional gifts. They then compare WTA to firms’ estimated cost of providing the gifts.
Findings
On average, consumers’ appreciation of promotional gifts is 2.4 times the estimated cost of these gifts to sellers. Appreciated gifts tend to be less costly, tend to accompany more expensive purchased items and are more likely to complement these items. The results also reveal that more expensive items come with more costly gifts, although the gifts’ cost increases less than proportionally with the associated items’ price. The gift items are appreciated by men more than women.
Originality/value
This study enriches the literature on promotional gifting by introducing a simple measurement that can help firms decide whether to use gifts or discounts to promote their products.
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Ines Branco-Illodo, Teresa Heath and Caroline Tynan
This research paper aims to understand how givers characterise and manage their gift giving networks by drawing on attachment theory (AT). This responds to the need to illuminate…
Abstract
Purpose
This research paper aims to understand how givers characterise and manage their gift giving networks by drawing on attachment theory (AT). This responds to the need to illuminate the givers–receivers’ networks beyond traditional role-based taxonomies and explore their changing dynamics.
Design/methodology/approach
A multi-method, qualitative approach was used involving 158 gift experiences captured in online diaries and 27 follow-up interviews.
Findings
Results show that givers organise receivers into gifting networks that are grounded in a contextual understanding of their relationships. The identification of direct, surrogate and mediated bonds reflects three different dimensions that inform gift-giving networks of support, care or belongingness rooted in AT. The relative position of gift receivers in this network influences the nature of support, the type of social influences and relationship stability in the network.
Research limitations/implications
This study illustrates the complexity of relationships based on the data collected over two specific periods of time; thus, there might be further types of receivers within a giver’s network that the data did not capture. This limitation was minimised by asking about other possible receivers in interviews.
Practical implications
The findings set a foundation for gift retailers to assist gift givers in finding gifts that match their perceived relations to the receivers by adapting communication messages and offering advice aligned with specific relationship contexts.
Originality/value
This study illuminates gift-giving networks by proposing a taxonomy of gifting networks underpinned by AT that can be applied to study different relationship contexts from the perspective of the giver. This conceptualisation captures different levels of emotional support, social influences and relationship stability, which have an impact on the receivers’ roles within the giver’s network. Importantly, results reveal that the gift receiver is not always the target of gift-giving. The target can be someone whom the giver wants to please or an acquaintance they share with the receiver with whom they wish to reinforce bonds.
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The gift-giving literature has documented several cases in which givers and recipients do not see eye-to-eye in gift-giving decisions. To help integrate this considerable segment…
Abstract
Purpose
The gift-giving literature has documented several cases in which givers and recipients do not see eye-to-eye in gift-giving decisions. To help integrate this considerable segment of the gifting literature, this paper aims to develop a social norms-based framework for understanding and predicting giver-recipient asymmetries in gift selection.
Design/methodology/approach
Five experimental studies test the hypotheses. Participants in these studies evaluate gifts used in previous research, choose between gifts as either gift-givers or gift-recipients, and/or indicate their level of discomfort with choosing different kinds of gifts. The gifts vary in ways that allow the authors to test the social norms-based framework.
Findings
Gift-giving asymmetries tend to occur when one of the gifts under consideration is less descriptively, but not less injunctively, normative than the other. This theme holds for both asymmetries recorded in the gift-giving literature and novel ones. Indeed, the authors document new asymmetries in cases where the framework would expect asymmetries to occur and, providing critical support for the framework, the absence of asymmetries in cases where the framework would not expect asymmetries to emerge. Moreover, the authors explain these asymmetries, and lack thereof, using a mechanism that is novel to the literature on gift-giving mismatches: feelings of discomfort.
Research limitations/implications
This research has multiple theoretical implications for the literatures studying gift-giving and social norms. A limitation of this work is that it left some (secondary) predictions of its model untested. Future research could test some of these predictions.
Practical implications
Billions of dollars are spent on gifts each year, making gift-giving a research topic of great practical importance. In addition, the research offers suggestions to consumers giving gifts, consumers receiving gifts, as well as marketers.
Originality/value
The research is original in that it creates a novel framework that predicts both the presence and absence of gift-giving asymmetries, introduces a psychological mechanism to the literature on giver-recipient gift choice asymmetries, and unifies many of the mismatches previously documented in this literature.
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Michael Tews, John Michel, Ethan Kudler and Sydney Pons
The annual holiday party is a long-standing tradition in many organizations, yet academic research has largely left the holiday party unexamined. The present study sheds light on…
Abstract
Purpose
The annual holiday party is a long-standing tradition in many organizations, yet academic research has largely left the holiday party unexamined. The present study sheds light on this significant social event by exploring what factors help differentiate successful events from less successful ones.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the authors developed a taxonomy of characteristics of good holiday parties using a critical incident technique in which stories of holiday party experiences were analyzed following a mixed-method approach. Second, the authors quantitatively examined the relationships between these characteristics and three outcomes, including perceived organizational support, positive interpersonal interactions, and experienced fun.
Findings
The critical incident analysis revealed 11 key characteristics that distinguish good from bad holiday parties. Primary findings from the quantitative study are that games and activities, music, good food, and notable positive leader behavior are key characteristics of more successful events.
Research limitations/implications
As the data were obtained using a traditional survey methodology, further research would be valuable that adopts an experience sampling methodology to capture employee experiences, perceptions, and feelings about holiday parties in real-time before, during, and after an event has occurred.
Practical implications
From an event planning standpoint, this research provides a framework for designing holiday parties and provides evidence as to which features matter most. From a strategic leadership perspective, this research signals that different features of holiday parties can influence different outcomes.
Originality/value
Beyond merely identifying important characteristics, this research provides a framework for further research on holiday parties and identifies theories that can be used in future research to explore the mechanisms that influence how and under what conditions holiday parties impact employees’ experiences at work.
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Eulália Santos, Fernando Oliveira Tavares and Margarida Freitas Foliveira
Christmas is the most consumed event of the year, always full of traditions, namely family ones, which are very significant. In this way, it is intended to find out the importance…
Abstract
Purpose
Christmas is the most consumed event of the year, always full of traditions, namely family ones, which are very significant. In this way, it is intended to find out the importance of traditions at Christmas time and analyze their implications for family businesses.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is quantitative in nature, based on a questionnaire survey carried out with 551 Portuguese individuals, over 18 years of age, where different issues related to Christmas traditions and family are addressed.
Findings
The results demonstrate that the Christmas traditions scale is made up of four factors: family traditions on Christmas Eve, aspects related to the Christmas spirit, changes in Christmas traditions with the COVID-19 pandemic and traditions of participating in events with family at Christmas. Cod and octopus dishes are the most popular dishes on Christmas Eve. In relation to sweets/desserts, king cake, rabanadas, vermicelli, children's bread and sponge cake are the most common on Christmas Eve.
Originality/value
The study helps to understand Portuguese Christmas traditions, providing knowledge that allows defining strategies for family businesses, improving the experience and relationship with consumers at a special time of year. It is hoped that the trends in Christmas traditions in this study will contribute to unveiling the Christmas spirit, also serve as a marketing image and create curiosity and motivation on the part of other cultures to visit Portugal during this festive season, in order to experience Christmas traditions.
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