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This work addresses how consumer perceptions of quality may be influenced by the composition of competition. I develop a theoretical framework that explains how consumer evaluations of quality can be negatively impacted by a product's stylistic similarity to popular competitors. These issues are examined empirically using more than 75,000 online consumer evaluations, from the evaluation aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, of 123 feature films released in the United States during 2007. Results suggest that during a movie's opening week, movies that are stylistically similar to the top-performing box office movie are evaluated less favorably. Additional analyses indicate that this negative effect may persist in later periods due to social conformity pressures, and that there is reduced demand for those movies that are stylistically similar to the top box office performer. This article contributes to the broader literature in strategic management by depicting how stylistic features of competitors can affect consumer behaviour and perceptions of quality in markets. This work also suggests managerial implications for entry-timing decisions and positioning choices.

Work–family balance is important for working parents, their children, and their family functioning. However, little research has considered how one’s sense of work–family balance may influence parenting behavior. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether perceived work–family balance of fathers of infants predicts engagement behaviors and whether stress mediates this relationship. The sample (n = 64) completed a phone survey, and data analysis consisted of linear regression tests and path analysis models for mediation. Perceived work–family balance did not significantly predict overall father engagement, but did predict fathers telling stories to their infant more often (B = 0.91, t(55) = 2.22, p < 0.05) and dressing their infant more often (B = 0.70, t(55) = 2.05, p < 0.05). Although perceived work–family balance was found to have a significant negative effect on father stress (r = –0.48, p < 0.001), stress did not mediate the relationship between perceived work–family balance and the two engagement behaviors. Greater perceived work–family balance may encourage engagement in behaviors above and beyond the stereotypical fathering behaviors (e.g., playing) and basic caregiving behaviors (e.g., changing diapers). Limitations include a small sample size, cross-sectional nature of the data, and self-report measures. It is recommended future studies use longitudinal designs, larger samples that differ in family type, and include mothers. This study provides preliminary evidence that one’s perceived work–family balance may influence parenting behaviors; thus, workplace policies that increase work–family balance, through greater job flexibility, for example, could promote positive family outcomes and reduce stress.

Transformational leadership has been found to positively influence employee attitudes and behaviors. However, research also has shown that a variety of task and motivational factors lead to similar outcomes. Yet, little research has explored the potential interaction of transformational leadership with these other factors. We utilize fuzzy-set/qualitative comparative analysis to explore the ways these factors may interact to produce positive employee outcomes. Specifically, we found that high levels of employee commitment and performance can be achieved in the absence of a transformational leader through various “bundles” of enriched jobs, challenging goals, and high quality leader–follower relationships.

Guided by Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System’s model, this study documented acculturation and parental involvement in low-income Chinese immigrant homes that serve as predictors of parental mediation. By surveying 165 parents of 3–13-year-old immigrant children, this study found that low-income Chinese parents enacted restrictive mediation the most and exhibited a slow acculturation process even after an average of seven years of emigration. Higher parental acculturation was related to a higher use of active and restrictive mediation. Additionally, different aspects of parental involvement also served as predictors of the three mediation strategies. Chinese cultural emphasis on academic excellence and success was used to help interpret the findings. Future research should consider implementing research-based adult media literacy programs for immigrant parents to help them practice their parental mediation skills in the host culture.

The chapter briefly reviews the eight volumes in my Legend series – organizational buying behavior, consumer behavior, product and new product management, marketing strategy, market segmentation, global marketing, marketing research and modeling, and the future of marketing. In addition, the chapter highlights the three driving forces of much of my research: (a) the real world challenges facing corporations and organizations, (b) the search for new methodological developments, and (c) the continuous challenge of the prevailing marketing concepts and approaches. The chapter concludes with some reflections on the evolution of marketing in the past five decades and my wish list for the discipline and my future activities.

The emerging roles of management accountants as either hybrid accountants or business partners are a cause for much debate in the literature. Of the two characteristics related to these roles, namely information provider and interpreter, and decision-maker, the latter remains under-researched. The present study adds to the decision-maker debate by examining business decision-making involvement. Survey responses from a diverse sample of mostly Institute of Management Accountants (USA) and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK) members were obtained and analysed to examine their current business decision-making involvement, including an investigation guided by role theory into possible contextual factors associated with different levels of decision-making involvement. The business decision-making involvement of management accountants varies significantly, and is less pervasive than widely believed. A significant proportion (53%) of management accountants in traditional management accounting positions report no, or limited, business decision-making involvement. Management accountants employed in smaller firms, and middle-aged professionals, are more likely to be involved in making business decisions. The inverted u-shaped association between age and decision-making involvement identified in this study, requires further investigation. The large cross-sectional analysis of the present study extends prior research which was mostly narrowly focussed due to its case study nature. The varying levels of decision-making involvement, and contextual variables associated with higher level involvement, shed some light on the intricacies of the role of management accountants. Professional associations and educators should note that the roles of today’s management accountants vary greatly between information provider and decision-maker.

In this chapter, we identify three distinct transformational performance improvement (TPI) approaches commonly used to redesign work processes in health care organizations. We describe the unique components or tools that each approach uses to improve the delivery of health services. We also summarize what is empirically known about the effectiveness of each TPI approach according to systematic reviews and recent studies published in the peer-reviewed literature. Based on examination of this research, we discuss what knowledge is still needed to strengthen the evidence for whole system transformation. This involves the use of conceptual frameworks to assess and guide implementation efforts, and facilitators and barriers to change as revealed in a recent evaluation of one major initiative, the Lean Enterprise Transformation (LET) at the Veterans Health Administration. The analysis suggests ways in which TPI facilitators can be developed and barriers reduced to improve the effectiveness and sustainability of quality initiatives. Finally, we discuss appropriate study designs to evaluate TPI interventions that may strengthen the evidence for their effectiveness in real world practice settings.

This research aims to shed light on organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) of different generations of hospitality workers in relation to their psychological contract. The psychological contract, which describes employees' implicit expectations of their employer, is related to a range of work-related outcomes such as commitment, turnover intention and OCB. Yet, virtually no studies have explored the psychological contract or OCB in a hospitality setting. These topics were approached from a generational context as a new generation of employees is entering the workplace with a reportedly different approach to work. Data were collected through face-to-face surveys on site from a sample (N=111) in 7 hotels of an international hotel chain. Findings provide evidence of generational differences in the content of the psychological contract, as well as the process through which the psychological contract impacts OCB. In particular, findings indicate that hospitality managers will increasingly have to consider motivating their staff through satisfaction of intrinsic needs for development, job content, and a pleasant working atmosphere. This was found to be particularly true for Generation Y, the youngest generation of workers.

Guided by social exchange theory and signaling theory, this chapter investigates the relationship between individual perceptions of high-performance work systems (HPWS), union instrumentality, and employees’ turnover intention. The results obtained from a multilevel and multisource sample of more than 1,300 employees in 37 multinational corporation based in China show that, in contrast to our hypothesis, union instrumentality is not directly related to turnover intention; rather, the results from the post hoc mediation analysis show that union instrumentality is indirectly and negatively related to turnover intention through affective organizational commitment. Consistent with our hypothesis, the results of our analysis show that union instrumentality serves as an important contingent factor in the relationship between HPWS and employee turnover intention. The relationship between HPWS and turnover intention becomes positive when employee union instrumentality is low.

Finance courses are major offerings in UK business schools, at various levels. Seldom do these courses move beyond theoretical modeling and textbook approaches. This is corroborated by the paltry literature on challenge-based learning (CBL) in the finance arena.

In this chapter, we describe the experience of implementing an investment fund designed by experienced members of staff and set up and run by students in one of the UK business schools in 2018. The seed capital of the Fund was donated by a variety of sources and has enabled students to use this as a jump start for their investment skills. The ethos of the Fund is not to teach students just how to invest but to put students in a real-life investment setting where they deal with the running of day-to-day activities of managing investments through a practical framework. In doing so they discover, adapt, and apply theoretical models to funds while preparing performance reports. Students have been successful in getting jobs by demonstrating their involvement, and the Fund has put them in touch with investment banks and future employers. The functioning of the Fund is analyzed in this chapter.

The chapter suggests the practical steps involved in setting up such a schema of CBL, which might aid other higher education institutions and promote entrepreneurial, creative, and team building activity.