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Article
Publication date: 11 March 2019

Anders Pehrsson

Business relatedness is important in international diversification because it enables a firm’s transfer of resources to business units operating in foreign markets. The purpose of…

Abstract

Purpose

Business relatedness is important in international diversification because it enables a firm’s transfer of resources to business units operating in foreign markets. The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual model based on a review of the major contributions of studies regarding the relatedness of subsidiaries, joint ventures or any other foreign unit.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper examines theory bases, the relatedness construct, data issues and the key achievements of previous studies. Drawing on organizational learning, transaction costs economics and industrial organization, a conceptual model and propositions are developed that intend to close important research gaps.

Findings

The model includes competitive strategy as a mediator of the effects of relatedness on foreign unit performance, type of foreign unit – that is, a wholly owned unit or joint venture – as a moderator; and competition barriers as a moderator.

Research limitations/implications

In future research, the propositions need to be transformed into testable hypotheses. It is recommended to treat relatedness as a multidimensional concept.

Practical implications

A firm is primarily advised to evaluate how its relatedness with foreign units enables knowledge transfer. A foreign cost leadership strategy benefits from product relatedness, while a differentiation strategy calls for resource relatedness.

Originality/value

The proposed model is unique as it includes an actionable component that mediates the effects of relatedness on international performance, i.e. competitive strategy, and concerns both wholly owned foreign units and international joint ventures.

Details

European Business Review, vol. 31 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-534X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 14 May 2020

Paula Bitrián, Isabel Buil and Sara Catalán

Gamification is a tool with great potential to motivate individuals to increase their physical activity. That is why sport apps for mobile devices, such as Nike+ or Strava, have…

11684

Abstract

Purpose

Gamification is a tool with great potential to motivate individuals to increase their physical activity. That is why sport apps for mobile devices, such as Nike+ or Strava, have integrated game elements. There is, however, little evidence of gamification's effectiveness in this field. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to analyze the impact of game elements included in gamified sports' apps on the satisfaction of basic psychological needs (i.e. competence, autonomy and relatedness). Similarly, the research analyzes the impact of these needs on autonomous motivation.

Design/methodology/approach

To achieve these goals, data were collected from users of gamified sport apps, using an online questionnaire. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results showed that interaction in the app with achievement-related game elements satisfied the needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness; social-related elements satisfied the need for relatedness; and immersion-related elements satisfied the needs for competence and autonomy. Similarly, satisfaction of the needs for autonomy and relatedness while using the app is crucial to experience autonomous motivation.

Practical implications

The findings of this study provide guidelines for practitioners and app developers.

Originality/value

Based on self-determination theory, the paper provides new insights into the relationship between game elements included in sport apps and individuals' basic psychological needs and motivation.

目的

遊戲化在推動人們增加其體力活動方面是有極大潛能的。因此,設於流動通訊設施的運動應用程式如耐克(Nike)及Strava等都結合了遊戲的元素。唯遊戲化在這領域的功效方面的證明並不多。因此,本研究的目的,在於分析遊戲化運動應用程式內的遊戲元素,對滿足基本心理需要的影響 (即是說,能力水平、自主及關聯性)。同樣地,本研究分析這些需要對自主積極性的影響。

研究設計/方法/理念

要達到這些目標,數據以一項網上問卷調查方法取自遊戲化運動應用程式的使用者。數據並以偏最小二乘結構方程模型進行分析。

研究結果

研究結果顯示、在帶有成就相關的遊戲元素的應用程式內的互動滿足了能力水平、自主和關聯性的需要; 與社交有關的元素滿足了關聯性的需要,而與沉浸相關的元素則滿足了能力水平和自主的需要。同樣地,使用應用程式時,要能體驗自主動機、關鍵在於自主及相關性的需要得到滿足。

實務方面的含意

本研究結果為執業者及應用程式開發商提供了指引。

研究的原創性/價值

以自決理論為基礎,本研究為運動應用程式包含的遊戲元素與個人的基本心理需要和動機之間的關係提供新的見解。

Details

European Journal of Management and Business Economics, vol. 29 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2444-8451

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 February 2023

Shuang Ma, Dahui Li, Yonggui Wang and Myat Su Han

This study aims to examine how three types of information technology (IT) capability (supplier technological capability, customer technology-sensing capability and relatedness of…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine how three types of information technology (IT) capability (supplier technological capability, customer technology-sensing capability and relatedness of IT infrastructure) facilitate knowledge acquisition by the customer when the supplier is dominant in the supplier-customer relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

The unit of analysis was project. The authors designed two different questionnaires that were responded by the project manager of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software supplier and the contact person of the customer organization in the same project, respectively. The two questionnaires were matched by means of project name. The final sample included a total of 136 projects. The authors used ordinary least squares to test the research hypotheses.

Findings

The authors found that supplier power advantage negatively influenced knowledge acquisition by the customer. The three types of IT capability did not have direct impacts on knowledge acquisition. The moderating effect of customer technology-sensing capability was not significant either. However, supplier technological capability and relatedness of IT infrastructure attenuated the negative effect of supplier power advantage on knowledge acquisition, indicating that both factors promoted knowledge acquisition.

Originality/value

Knowledge acquisition is important for the success of software implementation in the supplier-customer relationship. There is limited evidence in the literature on how to apply externally oriented IT capability to enhance knowledge management, improve knowledge acquisition and manage the business relationship that is typically dominated by the software supplier. The authors provide evidence to examine related issues.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 27 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2013

Elise Marescaux, Sophie De Winne and Luc Sels

Based on soft HRM and self‐determination theory, the aim of this paper is to test whether basic need satisfaction mediates the relationship between five HR practices and HRM…

15806

Abstract

Purpose

Based on soft HRM and self‐determination theory, the aim of this paper is to test whether basic need satisfaction mediates the relationship between five HR practices and HRM outcomes. An important distinction (in line with soft HRM and self‐determination theory) is made between the presence of, and the quality of, a practice's implementation (in terms of the degree to which employees' talents, interests and expectations are taken into account).

Design/methodology/approach

A theoretically grounded model is developed and tested using survey data from 5,748 Belgian employees.

Findings

The results indicate that autonomy and relatedness satisfaction partially mediate the relationship between HR practices and HRM outcomes. Taking into account talents, interests and expectations within HR practices is associated with higher basic need satisfaction and subsequently HRM outcomes in addition to the presence of practices.

Research limitations/implications

Future research could focus on HR practices and job design as both might affect basic need satisfaction and subsequently HRM outcomes. Additionally, behavior of the supervisor when administering HR practices can be further explored as a catalyst of basic need satisfaction.

Practical implications

HR actors should be aware that merely implementing soft HR practices may not suffice. They should also devote attention towards sufficiently taking into account individual talents, interests and expectations of employees when implementing them.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the HRM literature by integrating soft HRM and self‐determination theory into one model. In doing so, it sheds light on the possible pathways through and conditions under which HR practices lead to favorable outcomes.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 42 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2000

Susan Greer and Chris Patel

Traditionally, mainstream cross‐cultural accounting research has applied a societal norms and values measure to the examination of differences in culture. This approach is…

7940

Abstract

Traditionally, mainstream cross‐cultural accounting research has applied a societal norms and values measure to the examination of differences in culture. This approach is limited, however, because it effectively disfranchises the culture of minority groups such as indigenous peoples within nations. Our paper provides evidence of cultural differences between indigenous Australian values and the Western capitalist values implicit in the language of accounting and accountability. Utilising an alternative yin/yang framework developed for accounting by Hines, we argue that the core indigenous yin values of sharing, relatedness and kinship obligations inherent in indigenous conceptions of work and land, are incompatible with the yang values of quantification, objectivity, efficiency, productivity, reason and logic imposed by accounting and accountability systems. This conflict of values then brings into question the impact of accounting and accountability systems on the indigenous peoples of Australia whose beliefs, norms and values are organised differently. The need to address such a conflict is critical for all of the world’s indigenous peoples. Perhaps even more so for the Australian indigenous peoples because of the insistence by governments, at both the state and federal levels, that the extreme social and economic disadvantages experienced by the Australian indigenous peoples can be dissipated by the imposition of strict financial accountability measures for all indigenous organisations and representative bodies. We argue that the demonstrated conflict of values is a significant reason for the inability of accounting and accountability systems to deliver such social and economic outcomes. The research findings of non‐indigenous researchers are largely drawn on in this paper. The two authors of this paper are not indigenous people and therefore we are speaking “of” indigenous culture and not “speaking for” them.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 13 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 January 2020

Édua Holmström

The collaborative assessment and management of suicidality (CAMS) is a first-encounter suicide-specific brief intervention that motivates suicidal individuals for voluntary…

Abstract

Purpose

The collaborative assessment and management of suicidality (CAMS) is a first-encounter suicide-specific brief intervention that motivates suicidal individuals for voluntary treatment engagement and choosing life. How the intervention works, however, has not been theoretically explained. The purpose of this paper is to explain the effectiveness using self-determination theory (SDT).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper focuses the theoretical examination on the philosophy of care and the clinical procedures of the CAMS suicide intervention. SDT is used as the theoretical lens of the examination.

Findings

The underlying philosophy of care and the clinical procedures of CAMS enhance the autonomy, relatedness and competence of the client in the first encounter. The paper proposes that fulfilling these basic human needs results in the intervention outcomes of treatment engagement and choosing life for the time being.

Research limitations/implications

The research is limited to the examination of the documented clinical procedures and philosophy of care. Further research applying SDT to the design and empirical testing of therapeutic interventions for suicide prevention is warranted.

Practical implications

Clinicians working with suicidal clients need to empathically address suicidal individuals’ motivation to engage in voluntary treatment and reduce controlling and autonomy-thwarting approaches.

Social implications

Suicidal behaviour is conventionally considered the manifestation of a mental disorder characterized by limited informed decision-making. The success of CAMS points to the contrary. Despite their suffering, many suicidal individuals make informed decisions about treatment with the support of an empathetic clinician.

Originality/value

CAMS has not previously been theoretically explained. This paper explains the effectiveness of the intervention in engaging suicidal clients in further treatment through SDT.

Details

Mental Health Review Journal, vol. 25 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1361-9322

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 September 2022

Michelle Richey, Jade Brooks and M. N. Ravishankar

This paper examines how entrepreneurship focused programs build capacities for disadvantaged groups to pursue more dignified lives. The struggles of disadvantaged entrepreneurs…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper examines how entrepreneurship focused programs build capacities for disadvantaged groups to pursue more dignified lives. The struggles of disadvantaged entrepreneurs against pronounced structural constraints are well documented, but less is known about how targeted programs of entrepreneurship focused support change the status quo for disadvantaged communities.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is grounded in a mainly inductive, interpretive study and explores the work of an entrepreneurship focused program targeted at refugee participants. The paper reports on intensive fieldwork and in-depth interviews with 23 program participants in London, UK.

Findings

The empirical sections elaborate three key mechanisms supporting greater self-determination and better opportunities: building entrepreneurial intention, building contextual legitimacy and building proximal ties. These mechanisms empower disadvantaged groups to pursue a wide variety of meaningful goals, including but not limited to starting a business.

Originality/value

This paper draws attention to problems of over-emphasizing the disadvantaged entrepreneurs' agency. It uses the vocabulary of self-determination theory (SDT) and offers a psychosocial perspective of the consequences of disadvantage and the potential for entrepreneurship focused programs to build key capacities and improve precarious lives.

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 28 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 October 2017

Anders Pehrsson

The study draws on the resource-based view and the contingency view of strategy. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to international strategy literature by extending the…

Abstract

Purpose

The study draws on the resource-based view and the contingency view of strategy. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to international strategy literature by extending the current understanding of foreign subsidiary’s competitive strategy in terms of cost leadership and product differentiation.

Design/methodology/approach

Hypotheses concern associations between corporate support building on product and skills relatedness and subsidiary strategies. Also, it is hypothesized that strategies are due to the type of local competitive intensity. The hypotheses were tested on wholly owned subsidiaries of Swedish industrial firms in Germany, the UK and the USA.

Findings

Product and skills relatedness between the subsidiary and the corporate core unit are positively associated with the subsidiary’s emphasis on cost leadership. Also, a positive association was found between skills relatedness and product differentiation, and extensive competitive intensity strengthens the relationship.

Research limitations/implications

The study specifies what business relatedness is needed for a subsidiary’s competitive strategy; skills relatedness is more important than product relatedness; the type of local competitive intensity is important; corporate support and local strategy operate simultaneously.

Practical implications

Management is advised to implement a foreign subsidiary’s competitive strategy by recognizing the mechanisms identified in this study.

Originality/value

In a unique way, the study captures the role of corporate support of a foreign subsidiary’s competitive strategy relying on business relatedness and the importance of aligning the strategy with competitive intensity.

Details

European Business Review, vol. 29 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-534X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 February 2023

Faheem Gul Gilal, Naeem Gul Gilal, Luis F. Martinez and Rukhsana Gul Gilal

This paper aims to explore whether brand corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives increase consumers’ happiness via a mediating mechanism of emotional brand attachment…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore whether brand corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives increase consumers’ happiness via a mediating mechanism of emotional brand attachment and to examine how brand CSR’s effect may be moderated by CSR fit (e.g. CSR-brand fit vs misfit) and sense of relatedness (e.g. low vs high).

Design/methodology/approach

A series of six studies (including the one that is available online), combining field and experimental data, were conducted to test the hypothesized relationships.

Findings

Results support the hypothesis that brand CSR initiatives make consumers happy by increasing their attachment to the brand (Studies 1 and 2). This effect is strengthened both directly and indirectly through emotional attachment when brands engage in CSR fit activities (Study 3), but it is weakened when brands engage in CSR misfit activities (Study 4). Furthermore, the effect is more pronounced when brands choose CSR activities that have a high sense of relatedness, and it is eliminated when brands use CSR activities with a low sense of relatedness (Study 5). Finally, the results indicate that when brand CSR programs make consumers happy, they become more likely to purchase, spread positive word of mouth and pay a premium (Study 6).

Originality/value

This research has several major implications for business-to-consumer companies that are unsure about the value of brand CSR initiatives, want to make consumers happy but are unsure which CSR strategies to focus on and/or have decided to launch CSR initiatives but lack guidance on the specific strategies relevant to their desired performance outcomes.

Details

Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 32 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1061-0421

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 5 July 2016

Martin Weiss

The linkage between diversification and performance has puzzled scholars for decades. A vast amount of empirical studies, together with the help of meta-analyses condensing…

Abstract

The linkage between diversification and performance has puzzled scholars for decades. A vast amount of empirical studies, together with the help of meta-analyses condensing diverse results, established a widely shared understanding that related diversification leads to superior firm performance. The main rationale for this finding is that relatedness within a company’s portfolio of businesses allows the company to achieve synergies by sharing or transferring resources. Although the predominant importance of related diversification seems generally accepted, scholars raise severe concerns about our ability to precisely define and measure relatedness. In most studies, traditional measures of diversification such as the Berry index are used, which assess relatedness from a product/market perspective. However, these measures face strong criticisms for their low degree of content validity. So if we doubt our understanding of relatedness, how can we agree on the performance effect of related diversification? To reassure our understanding of the diversification-performance linkage, this study critically reflects upon the underlying phenomenon of relatedness. By compiling and evaluating the different perspectives of relatedness with their heterogeneous conceptualizations and measures, this study supports the view that the multi-facetted nature of relatedness can only be captured inadequately so far. Moreover, most prior work mainly focuses on synergy potential rather than on the realization of synergies, thereby neglecting a mechanism that may have an important bearing on the performance effects of diversification.

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