Search results

This study aims to investigate the effect of acquisition modes on customer behavioral loyalty to enrich our knowledge of the effectiveness of acquisition modes and how to better target customers in the service industry.

Using a data set from a large commercial bank in China, this study conducts a series of empirical analyses to examine the impacts of two types of acquisition modes (i.e. the gift acquisition mode and customer referral) on customer behavioral loyalty.

Gift acquisition has a negative effect on customer behavioral loyalty, as measured by the dropout probability, consumption amount and consumption frequency. Furthermore, this negative relationship could be weakened if the customer is referred by an existing customer.

Although prior studies have investigated the effectiveness of some acquisition modes in terms of customer loyalty, customer acquisition through the provision of gifts, which is widely implemented in marketing practice, has not been well investigated. This study addresses this research gap and identifies the joint influence of acquisition modes on customer behavioral loyalty, further enriching our knowledge of the effectiveness of different acquisition modes.

This study intends to reveal how to manage the dynamic process of information technology business (IT-business) strategic alignment; managing this alignment is an unknown yet critical issue that must be addressed by any firm trying to unleash the business value of their IT investments.

This study presents our case study of a healthcare organization after healthcare information systems (HIS) implementation and investigates the strategic alignment between the implemented HIS and the organizational strategy from a dynamic perspective.

Two different patterns of alignment (i.e. an IT-strategy–driven pattern and a business-strategy–driven pattern) are identified, and a process model of the IT-business strategic alignment is developed. Moreover, this study focuses on the social dimension of strategic alignment and examines the role of this dimension, which is critical and fundamental with respect to other dimensions, in achieving strategic alignment.

This paper makes important theoretical contributions to the understanding of strategic alignment by taking a dynamic view of alignment, identifying different patterns of alignment, emphasizing the role of social alignment and developing a comprehensive process model.

From a managerial perspective, managers should periodically scrutinize the IT-business alignment patterns of their organizations and develop dynamic capabilities for strategic alignment.

While most of the literature on the dynamics of strategic alignment have focused on confirming the dynamics of strategic alignment and identifying the factors that create dynamics in alignment, this study examines IT-business alignment as a continuous process over time, thus providing a novel perspective. Moreover, while the role of social alignment and its impact on downstream performance remain unclear in the current literature, this study incorporates the social dimension of alignment to investigate the role of this dimension in achieving IT-business strategic alignment.

The purpose of this study is to use empirical data to examine the hierarchical impact of the Internet of things capability on supply chain integration (SCI), supply chain capability (SCC) and firm performance (FP) in the UK retail industry.

A deductive approach was employed to carry out this research. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was performed using the partial least square method (SmartPLS 3.3.3) to test theoretical predictions which underlie the relationships among Internet of things capability (IoTC), SCI, SCC and FP. Data are collected using an online survey completed by senior executives of 66 large, medium and small firms within the UK retail industry.

The empirical results of this research reveal that IoTC has a significant positive effect on the UK retail industry FP through the mediating role of SCI and SCC.

The research results from this study provide useful management insights for firms within the retail industry into the development of effective strategies for integrating their supply chain alongside the adoption of IoTC into SCI, consequently leading to improvements in FP.

Although previous studies have explored the impact of IoT on FP through the sequential mediating role of SCI and SCC, few have explored the impact of the IoT capability (IoTC) on FP through sequential mediators, i.e. SCI and SCC. This study examines the relationship between IoTC, SCI, SCC and FP in the UK retail industry supply chain to address this knowledge gap. Moreover, this study examines the effects of IoTC on FP by applying partial least square (PLS)-SEM techniques. Testing the sequential mediating role of SCI and SCI is undertaken, and the relationships among IoT-enabled SCI and SCC is analysed to improve FP. The robustness check's result through PLSpredict analysis also confirms the power of the model proposed in this study.

This paper intends to provide a thematic literature review of the scholarly research articles orbiting the Sino–African education cooperation and exchange, published between 2005 and 2022.

The methodology used in this paper is qualitative in nature with a thematic approach. The author used content analysis techniques to spotlight the major themes of the topic studied. The author selected the papers and theses, based on their heuristic capacity, from two major databases for the English and Chinese literature: Web of Science and CNKI. The selection process resulted in 60 high-quality peer-reviewed articles and theses. Another 30 research articles and theses were used as supplementary resources.

The literature concentrates on six points: the historical development, the nature of the exchange, the frameworks of the cooperation, vocational training and knowledge transfer, African students in China and their experiences, and education cooperation and soft power. However, research tends to be somewhat polemical rather than an academic debate between Chinese researchers and their western peers. Therefore, empirical studies beyond the geopolitical preoccupations and the “YEA” or “NAY” to the Sino–African education exchange are critically needed.

The implications of this study go beyond the east/west or developed/developing world rhetoric and focus more on sustainable educational development on a global scale. Understanding how the literature on the Sino–African education engagement is shaping, provides valuable insights into international education in the global south. It can also be implied to approach educational engagement with other destinations such as India, Türkiye and Brazil.

This thematic literature review concentrates on the educational aspect of Sino–African relations. It compares English and Chinese peer-reviewed scholarly articles and theses on China–Africa educational engagement and has heuristic implications for sustainable educational development globally.

Presents a special issue, enlisting the help of the author’s students and colleagues, focusing on age, sex, colour and disability discrimination in America. Breaks the evidence down into manageable chunks, covering: age discrimination in the workplace; discrimination against African‐Americans; sex discrimination in the workplace; same sex sexual harassment; how to investigate and prove disability discrimination; sexual harassment in the military; when the main US job‐discrimination law applies to small companies; how to investigate and prove racial discrimination; developments concerning race discrimination in the workplace; developments concerning the Equal Pay Act; developments concerning discrimination against workers with HIV or AIDS; developments concerning discrimination based on refusal of family care leave; developments concerning discrimination against gay or lesbian employees; developments concerning discrimination based on colour; how to investigate and prove discrimination concerning based on colour; developments concerning the Equal Pay Act; using statistics in employment discrimination cases; race discrimination in the workplace; developments concerning gender discrimination in the workplace; discrimination in Japanese organizations in America; discrimination in the entertainment industry; discrimination in the utility industry; understanding and effectively managing national origin discrimination; how to investigate and prove hiring discrimination based on colour; and, finally, how to investigate sexual harassment in the workplace.

Using the theory of planned behavior as its basis, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships among beliefs about electronic service quality (E-S-QUAL); consumers’ need for uniqueness (CNFU); and beliefs about perceived behavioral control, expectations of important others, and cross-border online purchasing behavioral intention. The effects of E-S-QUAL and CNFU on attitude are examined with data collected from Korean consumers who have cross-border online purchasing experience.

The authors evaluate the research model in this study and test the hypotheses using partial least squares, an OLS regression-based estimation method that focuses on predicting independent variables hypothesized to have a causal relationship that maximizes the explanatory variance of the dependent variable.

Analysis of the data emphasizes that beliefs about E-S-QUAL and CNFU positively affect attitudes toward buying online from international sites, which in turn positively affect purchasing intention. Also, beliefs about self-efficacy and normative structure regarding cross-border online purchasing positively affect behavioral intentions.

This paper develops a conceptual model explaining consumers’ intentions to shop online across national borders. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, none of the previous studies have particularly mentioned the associations between beliefs about e-service quality and actual behavioral intentions in the context of cross-border online shopping. Also, the important role of CNFU has been ignored as one of the factors that can affect consumers’ decisions to shop online beyond national borders. In regard to this matter, the authors aim to investigate cross-border online shopping factors that can help international e-commerce gain a better understanding of the needs of their consumers.

Extant research documents the importance of lean thinking for organizations, however, as prior research has largely focused on hard lean practices, but little is known about the effects or the significance of soft lean practices. This research attempts to address this issue by examining how soft lean practices enhance organizational lean readiness, and in turn increase the success of lean implementation.

This research adopts a single case study design in a small-medium enterprise livestock feed manufacturing organization, and investigates the period from late 2011 through the end of 2019 covering two attempts at lean implementation – an initial failed attempt followed by a successful introduction of lean within the case organization. The research analyzes interviews with 29 managers and employees from all organizational levels and departments within the case organization. Secondary data including organizational documents and performance measures and metrics were also incorporated into the research design.

Drawing on agency theory, the authors advance a principal-agent interaction perspective to conceptualize organizational lean readiness – specifically, the authors consider the “state or condition” of four agency factors (goal conflict, information asymmetry, risk aversion and length of relationship), and explore if these four agency factors can be utilized as proxies for organizational readiness for lean implementation. The authors identify the formation of a shared vision and identity within the organization as an effective mechanism through which soft lean practices enhance organizational lean readiness. Finally, the analysis offers an understanding of how the long-term success of lean implementation is improved by the introduction of soft lean practices as a prerequisite to create organizational readiness for the implementation of hard lean practices.

The study is unique in the sense that it empirically links agency theory and the role of soft lean practices in developing organizational lean readiness in a small-medium enterprise context by defining the ideal state of four agency factors as proxies for organizational readiness.

The development of online brand communities employed by marketers to maintain consumer relationships and brand building is increasing. This study aims to explore how value co-creation practices can cultivate consumers' brand loyalty.

Using partial least squares modeling, the hypotheses testing involves the utilization of and data collection from 599 Chinese consumers who actively engage in brand communities in China.

Value co-creation practices in brand communities cultivate consumers' affective commitment and psychological brand ownership, which in turn can further contribute to consumers' brand loyalty.

By offering a more comprehensive insight into how affective commitment and psychological brand ownership act as intermediaries between value co-creation practices and consumers' brand loyalty, this research enhances the existing knowledge on value co-creation and brand management.