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1 – 10 of 14
Article
Publication date: 26 July 2024

Mukta Srivastava, Sreeram Sivaramakrishnan and Neeraj Pandey

The increased digital interactions in the B2B industry have enhanced the importance of customer engagement as a measure of firm performance. This study aims to map and analyze…

Abstract

Purpose

The increased digital interactions in the B2B industry have enhanced the importance of customer engagement as a measure of firm performance. This study aims to map and analyze temporal and spatial journeys for customer engagement in B2B markets from a bibliometric perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

The extant literature on customer engagement research in the B2B context was analyzed using bibliometric analysis. The citation analysis, keyword analysis, cluster analysis, three-field plot and bibliographic coupling were used to map the intellectual structure of customer engagement in B2B markets.

Findings

The research on customer engagement in the B2B context was studied more in western countries. The analysis suggests that customer engagement in B2B markets will take centre stage in the coming times as digital channels make it easier to track critical metrics besides other key factors. Issues like digital transformation, the use of artificial intelligence for virtual engagement, personalization, innovation and salesforce management by leveraging technology would be critical for improved B2B customer engagement.

Practical implications

The study provides a comprehensive reference to scholars working in this domain.

Originality/value

The study makes a pioneering effort to comprehensively analyze the vast corpus of literature on customer engagement in B2B markets for business insights.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 18 June 2024

Richard W. Puyt, Finn Birger Lie and Dag Øivind Madsen

The purpose of this study is to revisit the conventional wisdom about a key contribution [i.e. strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT) analysis] in the field of…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to revisit the conventional wisdom about a key contribution [i.e. strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT) analysis] in the field of strategic management. The societal context and the role of academics, consultants and executives is taken into account in the emergence of SWOT analysis during the 1960–1980 period as a pivotal development within the broader context of the satisfactory, opportunities, faults, threats (SOFT) approach. The authors report on both the content and the approach, so that other scholars seeking to invigorate indigenous theories and/or underreported strategy practices will thrive.

Design/methodology/approach

Applying a historiographic approach, the authors introduce an evidence-based methodology for interpreting historical sources. This methodology incorporates source criticism, triangulation and hermeneutical interpretation, drawing upon insights from robust evidence through three iterative stages.

Findings

The underreporting of the SOFT approach/SWOT analysis can be attributed to several factors, including strategy tools being integrated into planning frameworks rather than being published as standalone materials; restricted circulation of crucial long-range planning service/theory and practice of planning reports due to copyright limitations; restricted access to the Stanford Research Institute Planning Library in California; and the enduring popularity of SOFT and SWOT variations, driven in part by their memorable acronyms.

Originality

In the spirit of a renaissance in strategic planning research, the authors unveil novel theoretical and social connections in the emergence of SWOT analysis by combining evidence from both theory and practice and delving into previously unexplored areas.

Research implications

Caution is advised for scholars who examine the discrete time frame of 1960–1980 through mere bibliometric techniques. This study underscores the risks associated with gathering incomplete and/or inaccurate data, emphasizing the importance of triangulating evidence beyond scholarly databases. The paradigm shift of strategic management research due to the advent of large language models poses new challenges and the risk of conserving and perpetuating academic urban legends, myths and lies if training data is not adequately curated.

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 July 2024

Shaheen Borna, Samer Elhajjar and Qiannong Gu

The purpose of this study is to systematically review the existing literature on the concept of consumer sovereignty.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to systematically review the existing literature on the concept of consumer sovereignty.

Design/methodology/approach

By leveraging a systematic literature review using a data-driven approach and quantitative methodology, this study provides an overview of the intellectual structure of consumer sovereignty research.

Findings

We explored the main topics that researchers tackled in consumer sovereignty research. Furthermore, we identified the theoretical lenses used in these studies. Finally, we proposed a research agenda to advance the scholarly debate on consumer sovereignty.

Research limitations/implications

Some limitations should be acknowledged. First, the study only studied and analyzed consumer sovereignty articles that were published in peer-reviewed academic journals. Second, our review comprised journals identified in Scopus. Third, in this study, we have taken into account only articles written in English.

Practical implications

The authors expect the current review to significantly impact the identification of theories for the main trends in the academic analysis of consumer sovereignty and consumer behavior.

Originality/value

This study is the first to provide an integrated view of the body of consumer sovereignty. This review provides a strong contribution to consumer sovereignty literature by recommending a new research agenda for the concept of consumer sovereignty.

Details

American Journal of Business, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1935-5181

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 September 2022

Aitzaz Ahsan Alias Sarang, Asad Ali Rind, Mamdouh Abdulaziz Saleh Al-Faryan and Asif Saeed

This study aims to examine whether information asymmetry (IA) mediates the relationship between women directors and the cost of equity (COE). Specifically, this study posits that…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine whether information asymmetry (IA) mediates the relationship between women directors and the cost of equity (COE). Specifically, this study posits that women directors tend to lower the COE through the channel of IA.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses the US-listed firms’ data from 2002 to 2014, comprising 11,189 firm-year observations. This study measures the COE by aggregating the four unique market-based COE models and apply pooled ordinary least square to estimate our results.

Findings

This study documents that women directors are linked to IA, and that IA is linked to the COE. Furthermore, in the mediation test, IA fully mediates the relationship between women directors and the COE. This study's results also validate the critical mass hypothesis, as the IA shows full mediation between the critical mass of women directors and COE. This study also discusses the limitations and major implications of the results along with possible future directions.

Social implications

This study also supports the positive role of females in improvising the economic performance of the firms and supporting the sustainable development goals-5 (gender equality).

Originality/value

The originality of this study lies in its theoretical as well as empirical contributions. First, this study follows the line of inquiry of the mediation analysis, thereby contributing by examining whether the relationship between women directors and financial value, i.e. COE, is indirect. Second, in addition to ex post measures of the COE, this study used four ex ante unique market-based models to measure the COE. Most of the prior studies just rely on book-based measures or use a single market-based mode. Third, the findings contribute insights into how women directors add value and benefits firms.

Details

Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1985-2517

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 14 April 2023

Kenneth Appiah-Nimo, Amukelani Muthambi and Richard Devey

South Africa is the leading market for luxury goods in Africa – a fact evident from the statistics on luxury retail and the expanding footprint of international and local luxury…

4444

Abstract

Purpose

South Africa is the leading market for luxury goods in Africa – a fact evident from the statistics on luxury retail and the expanding footprint of international and local luxury brands. In a market that is dominated by prominent international brands, indigenous South African brands are seldom the subject of empirical research. This study addresses this gap by analysing the consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) of South African luxury fashion brands and its outcomes on the purchase/repurchase intention of consumers of South African luxury fashion brands.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopted quantitative research methods and utilized survey questionnaires to acquire data from 130 respondents. Structural equation modelling was used in testing the proposed alternative hypotheses.

Findings

The study affirmed the relevance of Aaker's (1991) CBBE model for luxury goods in the emerging economy of South Africa. It established perceived quality and behavioural loyalty as significant predictors of brand equity while affirming the prevalence of hedonism and behavioural loyalty in South Africa's luxury fashion market.

Research limitations/implications

The small sample size and the limited geographic scope of the study had a significant adverse impact on the broad application of the study's outcome. Furthermore, Aaker's (1991) CBBE model, while adequate, may have diminished the probability of a nuanced outcome.

Originality/value

This study advances the frontiers of interdisciplinary research by applying the marketing framework of CBBE to fashion studies in South Africa. The validated measurement scale, which emphasises the relevance of hedonism and behavioural loyalty in South Africa, may be useful for a similar study on luxury fashion brands in other emerging economies.

Details

Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1361-2026

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 July 2024

E.E. Lawrence and Virginia Sharpe

The purpose of this paper is to determine how we ought to distinguish between reference and readers' advisory (RA) service, given the latter’s turn toward a whole collection…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine how we ought to distinguish between reference and readers' advisory (RA) service, given the latter’s turn toward a whole collection approach. In other words, the paper answers this question: If both reference and RA librarians aim to meet patrons’ information needs and may theoretically do so using the same materials, then how are we to differentiate the two services conceptually?

Design/methodology/approach

In this conceptual paper, we posit that we can distinguish between RA and reference using Louise Rosenblatt’s theory of the aesthetic transaction. With this theory in hand, we can redefine the service distinction in terms of the stance – aesthetic or efferent – that the patron expects to take toward the material they seek.

Findings

On our account, the reader’s desired stance becomes a kind of hermeneutical lens through which a library worker may productively evaluate plausible pathways and materials. An aesthetic lens is characteristic of RA; it makes features of potential aesthetic transactions between a particular reader and a particular text (or genre or author’s oeuvre) salient.

Originality/value

The proposed account constitutes a novel application of Rosenblattian response theory, one that grounds and refines the going view that RA’s proper focus is on supporting a particular sort of experience rather than providing particular sorts of texts. This theoretical emendation also better aligns the service distinction with contemporary conceptualizations of RA as a “whole collection” service. Important practical and philosophical implications follow from the new account.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 May 2023

John Kwaku Amoh, Kenneth Ofori-Boateng, Randolph Nsor-Ambala and Ebenezer Bugri Anarfo

This study explored the tax evasion and corruption–economic development nexus in Ghana and the moderating role of institutional quality in this relationship.

Abstract

Purpose

This study explored the tax evasion and corruption–economic development nexus in Ghana and the moderating role of institutional quality in this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

To achieve this objective, this study employed the structural equation modelling (SEM) strategy and maximum likelihood (ML) estimation method on selected quarterised data from 1996 to 2020.

Findings

The study found that tax evasion has a positive impact on GDP per capita and urbanisation but a negative impact on the Economic Freedom of the World Index (EFWI). The study revealed that corruption has a positive relationship with GDP per capita but relates with EFWI inversely. Finally, the study found that institutional quality moderates the nexus between tax evasion and corruption and economic development.

Social implications

The findings imply that the quality of state institutions has a significant impact on the government's ability to control tax evasion and corruption in order to drive economic development.

Originality/value

One novelty of the study is the examination of the combined effects of tax evasion and corruption as exogenous variables in a single econometric model. Again, to moderate the multivariate relationships of the study, the principal component analysis (PCA) was used to create an institutional quality index. The study recommends that policymakers implement comprehensive tax evasion and corruption reduction strategies simultaneously in order to increase tax revenues for economic development and SDGs achievement.

Details

Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2054-6238

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 May 2024

Thanh Tiep Le, Thoi Le Quan Chau, Quynh Phan Vo Nhu and João J.M. Ferreira

This research aims to shed light on the linkage between digital platforms and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) performance and consider the moderating effect of…

Abstract

Purpose

This research aims to shed light on the linkage between digital platforms and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) performance and consider the moderating effect of intellectual capital and environmental dynamism.

Design/methodology/approach

This study applies a quantitative approach using a sample of primary data from 508 managers and directors of Vietnamese SMEs, using structural equation modeling (SEM).

Findings

The utilization of digital platforms by managers and directors has a positive impact on enhancing intellectual capital. However, under the influence of external environment changes, this trend may shift towards a negative direction. The ability to utilize digital platforms, whether directly or through information communication, positively affects the performance of businesses. Research has shown that the positive promotion of digital platform capability for intellectual capital factors such as human capital, organizational capital, and relational capital decreases when the external environment changes in the context of uncertain globalization.

Originality/value

This research focuses on SMEs operating in the technology and e-commerce sectors and it evidences that digital platforms are an effective baseline driver for promoting high-performing SMEs. By examining the connection between digital platform’s capability and IC and the significance of intellectual capital for SMEs’ performance, this study adds to the body of literature already available on the destructive regulatory potential of environmental dynamism. This study broadens the dynamic capabilities theory’s outcome audience and adds a new dimension to the impact of the digital platform’s capability (resource utilization) on the performance of SMEs.

Details

Management Decision, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 November 2023

Kenneth Lawani, Billy Hare, Michael Tong and Iain Cameron

Over 2.7 million workers are employed in the UK construction industry and with the fragmented nature of the construction sector; cases of poor mental health of workers are on the…

Abstract

Purpose

Over 2.7 million workers are employed in the UK construction industry and with the fragmented nature of the construction sector; cases of poor mental health of workers are on the increase. This upsurge in the number of workers experiencing poor mental health could directly impact construction safety with significant financial adverse consequences on employers and the UK economy. Studies have identified lapses within the construction sector emphasising the lack of transparency regarding reporting of mental health and well-being of construction workers due to the inadequate engagement from employers and the lack of genuine leadership commitment to tackle mental health.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopted a non-probability purposive sampling strategy, using a self-selected sample. A self-administered questionnaire benchmarked against the mental health core and enhanced standards tools by the “Stevenson/Farmer review of mental health and employers” served as the basis for the methodology. A total of 106 industry managers from highways, construction, maritime, utilities, home building, rail and haulage/fleet were involved in this study.

Findings

The findings indicate that the industry is making good strides towards addressing mental health issues; poor mental health have significant financial burdens on businesses and the economy; some contractors have mental health initiatives and programmes in place; there is inconsistency of support available to employees; some contractors now integrate leadership training; the level of engagement vary based on the strategy and action plan adopted by organisations; different mechanisms are adopted for monitoring mental health issues, and there are cross-industry initiatives.

Research limitations/implications

A limitation of this study is the number of participants which is not representative of the entire UK construction workforce. Therefore, the findings from this study as much as it presents some understanding of employee mental health and well-being cannot be overtly generalised across multiple industries, different geographic regions or contexts.

Originality/value

Employers should have a clear representation of the mental health of their employees to help them understand what affects worker’s mental well-being and how they can support them. Disregarding the multifaceted causes of mental ill-health due to the perceived financial implications could be more devastating for the industry.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology , vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 September 2022

Kenneth Javier Tua, Gabriel Victor Aves Caballero and Susan C. Aquino-Ong

This paper serves as a pilot study for the education of cultural landscape heritage conservation (CLHC) and review the preparedness of landscape architecture curricula in the…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper serves as a pilot study for the education of cultural landscape heritage conservation (CLHC) and review the preparedness of landscape architecture curricula in the Philippines for the CLHC specialization. It proposes the utilization of the “Geodesign” framework in formulating a developmental process and validation of the interrelationship and collaborative activity created by the thematic areas towards landscape heritage education and professionalization. The goal of the study is to create new possibilities for the profession through the study and professionalization of cultural landscapes, thus, raising awareness and significance of cultural heritage and heritage conservation in the lenses of the Philippine landscapes.

Design/methodology/approach

The research opted for literature reviews, comprehensive desktop reviews of the landscape architecture syllabi of higher education institutions (HEIs) and SWOT and PESTEL analyses as qualitative assessments, including stakeholder feedback discussions with the current four (4) HEIs, Philippine Association of Landscape Architects (PALA), Technical Committee for Landscape Architecture, Commission on Higher Education (TCLA CHED), Professional Regulation Commission–Board of Landscape Architecture (PRC–BOLA) and the ICOMOS IFLA International Scientific Committee on Cultural Landscapes, National Philippine Committee (Philippine NSCCL). The data were complemented by a quantitative assessment using Leopold and Lohani and Thann assessment matrix on importance (without considering magnitude), and for this study, it is the level of preparedness and integration.

Findings

The paper brings forth to the conclusion that the landscape architecture curricula at the bachelor's degree level of the University of the Philippines – Diliman (UP – Diliman) in Quezon City and University of San Carlos (USC) in Cebu are prepared to integrate and/or consider updating their respective curriculum in accordance to the CLHC specialization. The curricula of Bulacan State University (BulSU) in Malolos, Bulacan, and the University of San Agustin (USA) in Iloilo may need to consider introducing courses related to the thematic areas to be able to create an area of basis for integration.

Research limitations/implications

The study is initiated as part of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) Philippines Internship programme during a master degree study wherein the research is bounded within the limit of its duration. Therefore, the study was able to only identify and chose the possible thematic areas and course concentrations for the specialization of CLHC; select, review and propose courses related to CLHC; screen courses from the landscape architecture curricula of the universities based on its course title, course information (if provided) and cross–checked with Government syllabi; and allocation of units and time per identified course as well as required prerequisite from thematic areas was not covered in this study.

Practical implications

The paper can be used as a tool to engage discussions with the PRC–BOLA in its development of the specialization of CLHC currently being planned. Study topics and themes identified can be the starting point of training programmes that can benefit students of the current four universities in the study and landscape architecture professionals alike. This will eventually translate to benefits to society as heritage conservation methodologies are developed by practitioners who can apply such knowledge to places of cultural and natural significance and develop learnings to concrete heritage laws and policies protecting landscapes.

Originality/value

This paper serves as a pilot study for the education and professionalization of CLHC in the Philippines. Significantly, the development of CLHC specialization in the Philippines shall open various opportunities in developing Philippine cultural landscape heritage conservationists trained at the local context.

Details

Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-1266

Keywords

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