Search results
1 – 10 of over 6000Business 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
Keywords
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…
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
Keywords
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
Keywords
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…
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
Keywords
Traditionally, mainstream cross‐cultural accounting research has applied a societal norms and values measure to the examination of differences in culture. This approach is…
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
Keywords
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
Keywords
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
Keywords
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
Keywords
Eugene Lee, Renee Mitson and Hao Xu
The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of leaders’ use of motivational language on psychological relatedness and its effect on employee well-being in flexible and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of leaders’ use of motivational language on psychological relatedness and its effect on employee well-being in flexible and remote working conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey among 375 full-time working professionals in the US was conducted with varying frequencies of remote work arrangements. For the analysis, we used a series of PROCESS analyses to examine the moderating effect of leaders’ motivational language use on the relationship between participants’ remote work status and relatedness, with employee well-being as the dependent variable.
Findings
The findings revealed a significant moderating effect of leaders’ perlocutionary (direction-giving) language use on the relationship between employees’ remote work status and relatedness. Specifically, the relationship between remote work status and relatedness was stronger when the use of perlocutionary (direction-giving) language gradually increased. Such enhanced relatedness, in turn, generated higher satisfaction and psychological well-being. The study shows the strategic advantage of direction-giving language in enhancing relatedness, thereby contributing to higher levels of employee satisfaction and psychological well-being in remote work environments.
Originality/value
The originality of this article lies in its integration of motivational language theory and self-determination theory to explore the well-being of employees within flexible and remote work status. Furthermore, we conceptualize remote work as a continuous variable with different degrees of flexibility, ranging from occasional telecommuting to fully remote work, allowing for a nuanced understanding of how leaders’ use of motivational language interacts with varying levels of remote work arrangements to influence employee well-being.
Details
Keywords
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