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1 – 9 of 9Social media influencers (SMIs) have become vital components of interactive marketing to promote beauty-endorsed products. However, there are three major research gaps in the…
Abstract
Purpose
Social media influencers (SMIs) have become vital components of interactive marketing to promote beauty-endorsed products. However, there are three major research gaps in the literature on influencer marketing. This research aimed to fill these gaps by integrating the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model with theories of source credibility and parasocial interaction (PSI).
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative method was used to gain a deep understanding of the Korean beauty field in YouTube influencer marketing.
Findings
The data showed that YouTube influencer marketing is an ongoing PSI process that conforms to the extended SOR model. This model was based on four concepts: stimulus, which was the SMIs’ source credibility; organism, which was the followers’ perceptions of homophily/relevance to the SMIs in PSIs; response, which was the desire to imitate and engage in impulse buying behavior, and management, which was the parasocial trust friendship and/or relationship.
Originality/value
This study expands the new concept into the existing SOR model and releases an insight into ongoing PSIs in YouTube influencer marketing.
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Kangning Liu, Bon-Gang Hwang, Jianyao Jia, Qingpeng Man and Shoujian Zhang
Informal learning networks are critical to response to calls for practitioners to reskill and upskill in off-site construction projects. With the transition to the coronavirus…
Abstract
Purpose
Informal learning networks are critical to response to calls for practitioners to reskill and upskill in off-site construction projects. With the transition to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, social media-enabled online knowledge communities play an increasingly important role in acquiring and disseminating off-site construction knowledge. Proximity has been identified as a key factor in facilitating interactive learning, yet which type of proximity is effective in promoting online and offline knowledge exchange remains unclear. This study takes a relational view to explore the proximity-related antecedents of online and offline learning networks in off-site construction projects, while also examining the subtle differences in the networks' structural patterns.
Design/methodology/approach
Five types of proximity (physical, organizational, social, cognitive and personal) between projects members are conceptualized in the theoretical model. Drawing on social foci theory and homophily theory, the research hypotheses are proposed. To test these hypotheses, empirical case studies were conducted on two off-site construction projects during the COVID-19 pandemic. Valid relational data provided by 99 and 145 project members were collected using semi-structured interviews and sociometric questionnaires. Subsequently, multivariate exponential random graph models were developed.
Findings
The results show a discrepancy arise in the structural patterns between online and offline learning networks. Offline learning is found to be more strongly influenced by proximity factors than online learning. Specifically, physical, organizational and social proximity are found to be significant predictors of offline knowledge exchange. Cognitive proximity has a negative relationship with offline knowledge exchange but is positively related to online knowledge exchange. Regarding personal proximity, the study found that the homophily effect of hierarchical status merely emerges in offline learning networks. Online knowledge communities amplify the receiver effect of tenure. Furthermore, there appears to be a complementary relationship between online and offline learning networks.
Originality/value
Proximity offers a novel relational perspective for understanding the formation of knowledge exchange connections. This study enriches the literature on informal learning within project teams by revealing how different types of proximity shape learning networks across different channels in off-site construction projects.
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While higher education has been encouraging interdisciplinary research, few studies have been conducted to understand how interdisciplinarity shapes the identity construction of…
Abstract
Purpose
While higher education has been encouraging interdisciplinary research, few studies have been conducted to understand how interdisciplinarity shapes the identity construction of scholars, especially doctoral students who may already strive to socialize into academia.
Design/methodology/approach
Therefore, this study adopts the approach of autoethnography to analyze my lived experience of developing disciplinary literacy and constructing interdisciplinary identity as a Chinese international doctoral student at a North American university. Communication theory of identity (CTI) is the theoretical framework through which I understand the negotiation among my personal, enacted, relational and communal identities while communicating my research through diverse literacy practices.
Findings
This autoethnography reveals that interdisciplinary doctoral students can flexibly use discursive resources from different disciplines and literacy practices in both English and their first language to dynamically create interdisciplinary identities communicable to different discourse communities. Their identities in different disciplines can develop simultaneously, rather than suppressing one for the development of the other as they do interdisciplinary research.
Originality/value
This study first extends current scholarly discussion of disciplinary literacy to a less-investigated setting, i.e. doctoral education in higher education. Second, it adds an additive and current layer of interdisciplinarity to the existing understanding of international doctoral students’ identity construction. Third, it helps to understand how the development of disciplinary literacy can facilitate disciplinary identity construction and how disciplinary identity construction can facilitate the development of disciplinary literacy.
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Wejdan Alakaleek, Sarah Yvonne Cooper, Barbara Orser and Richard Harrison
This study sought to examine how women founders navigate gender and cultural influences in constructing network ties in Jordan.
Abstract
Purpose
This study sought to examine how women founders navigate gender and cultural influences in constructing network ties in Jordan.
Design/methodology/approach
In-depth interviews document the experiences of 14 women founders operating digital technology-based businesses in Amman, Jordan.
Findings
Gender homogenous ties were perceived to be of diminished quality, limiting the ability of the women founders to acquire resources while risking isolation from diverse networks. Formal professional, male-centric ties were perceived to offer more business impact due to the applicability and usefulness of information. Formal communication, use of intermediaries and industry events were used to develop network ties. These approaches enable founders to respect gendered collectivist norms, such as adhering to family members’ expectations about occupational roles, while meeting new business associates. The strength of network ties emerged as a continuum with strong, weak and midpoint ties. Midpoint ties offered valued encouragement and emotional support but were perceived to be less effective and provided fewer resources compared to strong network ties.
Originality/value
Mechanisms of gender inequality are evidenced in how gender, culture and social networks operate in relation to each other. Perceptions reflect culturally situated, within-group stereotypes, informing how women founders discount other women’s knowledge and experience.
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This study aims to critically discuss and reorient the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) debate toward the idea of addressing and rectifying the pervasive structural…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to critically discuss and reorient the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) debate toward the idea of addressing and rectifying the pervasive structural inequalities that DEI, in its undiluted form rooted in social justice (SJ), aims to combat. Drawing on Bourdieu, the study first examines the diffusion and contestation of DEI into international business (IB). It then proposes a Bourdieu-inspired agenda to advance the transposition of SJ principles into IB.
Design/methodology/approach
The study interpretively reconstructs the process of DEI’s ideational diffusion. It examines how the interplay between ideas and field dynamics in IB shapes ideational processes and outcomes.
Findings
In response to rising global inequalities – to which multinational enterprises (MNEs) have significantly contributed – SJ movements have propelled DEI into the wider social and political arena, including corporate boardrooms. Within IB, a diluted version of DEI – IB-DEI – emerged as a paradigm to improve MNEs’ performance, but failed to address underlying structural inequalities. As the social impacts, utility and legitimacy of DEI have been challenged, the DEI debate has come to a flux. The study proposes conceptual and contextual extension of DEI within IB and advancing socially engaged research and practice that help reinforce DEI’s core SJ purpose – tackling structural inequalities.
Originality/value
The study is one of the few to openly tackle SJ-IB contradictions on DEI, while advancing the application of Bourdieu to critical studies of IB.
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Christopher Hudson, David Tigchelaar and Anton Zastavnyi
The purpose of this paper is to explore how two educational leaders are leading their school communities during a time of war in Ukraine.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how two educational leaders are leading their school communities during a time of war in Ukraine.
Design/methodology/approach
Through the use of narratives, two of the co-authors of this paper explore the tensions and opportunities they have encountered, and continue to encounter, as educational leaders during a time of war in Ukraine. Particular emphasis is placed upon how the two co-authors are responding in contextually sensitive and productive ways to build a sense of safety and community in their schools.
Findings
The two narratives in this paper demonstrate both leaders displaying a proclivity for building and sustaining collaborative and networked practices to build a sense of safety, stability and belonging for all members of their respective school communities.
Originality/value
This paper offers international insights into school leadership, at all times but especially during the current state of war in Ukraine.
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Eva Cerio, Alain Debenedetti and Rieunier Sophie
Peer-to-peer (P2P) secondhand resale platforms (SRP) are competitive places where different value systems beyond market values interact. This study aims to investigate the…
Abstract
Purpose
Peer-to-peer (P2P) secondhand resale platforms (SRP) are competitive places where different value systems beyond market values interact. This study aims to investigate the conflicts that may arise in interactions between users on SRP and the extent to which these conflicts are (ir)resolved, by drawing on economies of worth theory.
Design/methodology/approach
The study takes a qualitative and interpretative approach to examine 22 active users on P2P resales platforms such as Vinted, including in-depth interviews. Following the Straussian view of grounded theory, the study uses constant comparison (open, axial and selective coding) to analyze data on SRP users’ experiences.
Findings
Drawing on the economies of worth theory, the study shows that SRP users rely on four different value systems or “worlds” when using the platforms (market, domestic, green and civic worlds) that come into conflict, at either an interactional (three conflicts identified) or an individual (two conflicts identified) level. The findings reveal that these conflicts are temporarily resolved at the interactional level and in a sustainable way at the individual level.
Originality/value
This study sheds further light on the relationship between consumers on SRP by offering a more nuanced perspective on these exchanges than market-oriented exchanges. It also analyzes the data through the economies of worth theory, which is an appropriate lens to better understand social interactions and conventions. Finally, the study offers recommendations on how managers can improve buyers’ and sellers’ experiences on these platforms and, thus, foster their satisfaction.
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Rosa Hendijani and Reza Saeidi Saei
This study aims to examine the interaction between different types of supply chain integration (SCI) and competitive strategies on firm performance.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the interaction between different types of supply chain integration (SCI) and competitive strategies on firm performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The research method is quantitative. The study develops a structured model and a set of hypotheses based on the related theories. Empirical data is collected in a cross-sectional manner using an online survey to test the model and its hypotheses. The survey comprised standard scales to measure study variables. The scales had high reliability and validity and were commonly used in the literature. The study was conducted on Iranian firms working in steel and auto parts industries. Based on official reports, a total of 305 active companies were found in these two industries. Due to the small population size, all companies in the two industries were contacted for participation. Overall, 84 firms completed the survey. To test the research hypotheses, the authors used hierarchical regression analyses using SPSS 27 software.
Findings
Results showed that internal integration improves financial performance when firms follow a cost leadership strategy. Differentiation strategy and process integration interact positively and improve operational performance. Type of industry had no significant effect. The results add to the SCI literature by showing that a match between competitive strategy and integration type can influence both operational and financial performance. In total, firms should focus on the appropriate dimension of SCI based on their competitive strategy to improve the performance of the firm.
Originality/value
The impact of competitive strategy as a moderator on the SCI-performance relationship has not been widely addressed in the literature. In one study, Huo et al. (2014) investigated this relationship using data from 604 manufacturing companies in China. The results provided support for financial performance but not for operational performance. However, the influence of competitive strategies on the SCI performance may vary in different countries and contexts with dissimilar environmental, social and cultural characteristics. As several supply chain scholars have argued, understanding contextual conditions that influence the effect of best practices such as SCI on performance are critical
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Naiding Yang, Xianglin Zhu, Mingzhen Zhang and Yu Wang
This study aims to investigate the influence of network power on exploratory and exploitative innovation and examines the moderating effects of power distance and procedural…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the influence of network power on exploratory and exploitative innovation and examines the moderating effects of power distance and procedural justice on these untested relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses survey data collected from firms in China and explores the influential mechanisms of network power, power distance and procedural justice in firm innovation.
Findings
This study empirically shows that network power has an inverted U-shaped effect on exploratory and exploitative innovation. Power distance weakens the effect of network power on exploratory and exploitative innovation, and procedural justice enhances the effect of network power on exploratory and exploitative innovation.
Research limitations/implications
This study extends resource dependence theory and contributes to the literature on innovation management. Future studies should use different collection channels or research methods to provide more evidence for model promotion. In addition, the dynamic power game among network members and the roles of other mediators or moderators warrant further consideration.
Practical implications
Managers should exercise power strategies properly and ensure that their innovation income exceeds expenditures. Managers need to pay serious attention to power distance and procedural justice in the network and formulate suitable cooperation strategies based on actual conditions.
Originality/value
This study applies the resource dependence theory to investigate the influence of network power on exploratory and exploitative innovation. In addition, the moderating roles of power distance and procedural justice in the above relationships, which have rarely been discussed in previous studies, were tested.
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