Search results

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the distinct reasons and more common reasons that reduce customer satisfaction and are antecedents to customer churn behavior in the telecommunication industry.

The study adopted the netnography approach to investigate churn behavior by utilizing online user-generated content in qualified social media communities.

The investigation revealed that “data speed issue”, “ineffective relationship building”, “service area coverage issues” and “billing issues” are some of the most important attributes that influence a consumers' decision to churn. Further, the churn consequence influencers model summarizes the attributes that contribute to overall dissatisfaction and finally results in churn behavior. The study found out the application of the netnography approach in a quantitatively dominant research area and stands out with its insights from a rich qualitative data.

Proper clarification of customer expectations and pain points can help reduce customer churn. The study will serve as the basis for developing future churn prediction models that will contribute to the informed decision-making process.

Contributing to research on customer churn behavior, the study offers a novel attempt to study customer satisfaction and customer churn behavior jointly. The paper is the first attempt that contributes to the extant literature by adopting the unique qualitative approach to understand the reasons for telecommunication churn behavior in the emerging Indian market. Another contribution of this research is that the paper shifts the focus of the electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) literature to the telecommunications industry, thus adding another block to ongoing research in eWOM communication.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ OIR-02-2020-0048

One of the main strengths of qualitative research is to focus on ideas, concepts and meanings involving individuals and groups of people in their own discourse. Instead of testing a narrow hypothesis or making a generalisation about a population on certain issues under investigation, qualitative research attempts to present different insights which can only be unearthed by direct and personal engagement with research participants (Brannen, 1992). This engagement should take place in a natural social context where real life takes place. However, conducting qualitative research in China can pose a huge challenge for both Chinese and international researchers. This paper examines some problems (ethics, linguistics, etc) of using qualitative research methods and tools such as interviews, participant observation, and Critical Discourse Analysis in China.

During the COVID-19 crisis, diversified attitudes and behaviors of structural equation modeling (SME) retailers were observed in using social media marketing that could have helped mitigate the adverse effects of this crisis on businesses. This paper aims to present a thorough investigation of these perceptions and limited acceptance of social media marketing among SME retailers in a developing country during a crisis.

The investigation was designed using a mixed-method design. A qualitative investigation, as the first part, explored SME retailers’ perceptions of the use of social media marketing when they were faced with mandatory lockdown that stifled their business activity. The insights from qualitative study and literature helped devise the second part of the study, a quantitative study using the technology acceptance model (TAM). Analysis of responses from a sample of SME retailers (n = 149) was done using SEM in this study.

In the qualitative study, SME retailers were found to have a varying outlook toward social media marketing. Some ventured into social media marketing while others were impeded by their limited understanding. The second (quantitative) study showed the general applicability of TAM such that perceived ease of use through perceived usefulness influenced SME retailers’ attitudes toward the usage of social media marketing during the COVID-19 crisis. An important finding in both studies was that business owners’ education level influenced their perceptions of social media marketing.

The investigation, albeit a comprehensive one, was conducted in a particular market and for SME retailers. This opens avenues for conducting similar studies in other segments of entrepreneurs to generate insights based on comparative analysis across segments and scenarios.

Limited or no marketing in the physical marketplace amid lockdown meant almost an existential crisis for entrepreneurs, especially SME retailers, in developing countries during the COVID-19 crisis. While technology acceptance by SME retailers has been discussed in the literature, there are limited discourses on technology acceptance among entrepreneurs and SME retailers during a crisis. These findings from the COVID-19 crisis explicate the possibilities and limitations of technology usage as a means to mitigate challenges faced by entrepreneurs during a crisis.

In 2005, the Qualitative Methods in Psychosocial Health Research Group (QMiPHR) at the University of Nottingham was established as a forum to bring together academics, researchers and practitioners with an interest in qualitative methods. The group has provided colleagues in nutrition, psychiatry, psychology, social work and sociology with a forum for discussion around the question of how qualitative research is able to contribute to understanding mental health and the development of evidence‐based treatment. As a group, we asked ourselves where we stood in relation to the use of qualitative methods in mental health. While we are unified in our view that qualitative research is important and under‐utilised in mental health research, our discussions uncovered a range of views on the underlying philosophical stance of what it means to be a qualitative researcher in mental health. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of our discussions and our view that as qualitative approaches have become more widely accepted they have largely been assimilated within the mainstream ‘medical model’ of research. In this paper, we call for researchers to re‐engage with the philosophical discussion on the role and purpose of qualitative enquiry as it applies to mental health, and for practitioners and decision‐makers to be aware of the implicit values underpinning research.

This article examines the function of documents as a data source in qualitative research and discusses document analysis procedure in the context of actual research experiences. Targeted to research novices, the article takes a nuts‐and‐bolts approach to document analysis. It describes the nature and forms of documents, outlines the advantages and limitations of document analysis, and offers specific examples of the use of documents in the research process. The application of document analysis to a grounded theory study is illustrated.

The purpose of this paper is to build understanding of the concept of social enterprise in the social marketing community and to report on empirical research designed to develop an understanding the perceptions and practices of marketing within social enterprises. This addresses a significant gap in the current literature base and also provides insights for social marketers seeking to pursue social change initiatives through social enterprise.

This empirical investigation uses a qualitative investigation of 15 social enterprises informed by a grounded theory approach. Researchers conducted interviews with senior decision-makers responsible for marketing activities and strategic policy, and gathered additional data regarding the organizations in the form of archival materials, including strategic planning documents, promotional materials and firm-generated online content.

Strategic marketing practices used by social enterprises are shaped by moral, pragmatic and cognitive legitimacy influences stemming from imperatives to achieve congruence with institutional norms. This study exposes the challenges social enterprises face in developing strategic marketing activities that address business needs, while balancing stakeholder interests linked to the social missions of such organizations.

This qualitative study pursues depth of understanding through focused investigation of a small, regional sample of Canadian social enterprises. The findings demonstrate that social enterprises are similar to both not-for-profit and small- and medium-sized firms in terms of their marketing approaches, but face particular institutional legitimacy challenges when developing and implementing strategic marketing activities.

This paper highlights the influences of institutional legitimacy on marketing practices and approaches in social enterprises. Understanding these influences is crucial for social marketing practitioners, as they develop strategic activities. The findings from the research provide a baseline upon which to begin to build both our theoretical and practical understanding of the potential utilization of social marketing through social enterprises.

Understanding the challenges social enterprises face in developing their strategic marketing activities provides deeper insights into social enterprises for social marketers, who might consider using social marketing in such organizations to achieve social change.

This paper offers empirical evidence grounded in depth investigations of 15 social enterprises operating in a Canadian context. The findings help to extend our understanding of the complex institutional influences impacting marketing practices within social enterprise organizations. These institutional influences help to attune social marketers to the potential opportunities and challenges of using social enterprise as an organizational form for launching social marketing programs.

Provides an introduction to, and general explanation of, qualitative analysis. Explains why this approach is best suited to the examination of management competences. The competency framework is designed to allow organizations to self‐audit their executive development needs. Shows how individual organizations might identify their own standards and establish their relevant strengths and weaknesses. Highlights the principles of survey design and gives an indication of the possible explanatory variables and analytical perspectives a researcher might use. Concludes by summarizing the possible scenarios of development an organization may face having conducted such an exercise.

Guided by a relational, stakeholder perspective of resource-based theory, the purpose of the current investigation is to help unpack the complexity of the performance-enhancing nature of coopetition for international entrepreneurs, namely the interplay between collaboration and competition. The context features under-resourced wine producers owned and managed by entrepreneurs that have implemented an internationalised business model. The focus of the study involves the influence of a “competitor orientation”, namely when decision-makers understand the short-term strengths, weaknesses, long-term capabilities and strategies of key current and potential rivals.

Data collection primarily featured semi-structured interviews with owner-managers of wine-producing firms in New Zealand that reflected heterogeneity amongst international entrepreneurs' strategies targeting different product markets within their respective business models. Secondary data were also collected where possible. Specifically, interviewees' firms exhibited different portfolios involving wine sales (with varying export intensities) together with augmented sales of tourism-related products/services focussed on the domestic market.

Coopetition activities amongst international entrepreneurs varied; i.e. influenced by respective owner-managers' competitor orientations. Illustrations of different decision-makers' business models within a 2 × 2 matrix feature those with a low- or high-export intensity, together with a narrow or augmented product portfolio. Internationalising entrepreneurs' perceptions varied regarding the extent to which their respective business model was oriented towards local cluster-based domestic tourism with limited export sales, as opposed to those with national and more importantly international wine sales. Possessing and acting upon relevant knowledge manifested in which competitors international entrepreneurs collaborated with and the extent to which this took place across product-market strategies. In turn, this enabled particular decision-makers to exhibit flexibility; hence, entrepreneurs enter and exit certain markets together with changing export intensities, as varying opportunities were identified and exploited.

Although the performance-enhancing nature of coopetition is largely established in prior literature, the complexity of that relationship remains relatively under-researched, not least, amongst international entrepreneurs. More specifically, the extent to which decision-makers that are engaged in coopetition exhibit a competitor orientation remains under-researched. Unique insights feature a 2 × 2 matrix in order to provide originality regarding international entrepreneurs' respective product-market strategies within their business models that are underpinned by varying coopetition relationships and competitor orientations.

The purpose of this paper is to present the proposition that culture in international management has been dominated by a “Western dualism to measuring culture” (Caprar et al., 2015, p. 1024), which has resulted in severe problems and persistent limitations. The suggestion is that cultural research can be more productively conceived as a paradox involving a duality between two contrasting yet co-determined spheres or domains.

The paper provides an outline of culture as a paradox and an outline of a research approach to address the dualities of culture.

A cultural duality is described, which involves a paradoxical “yin-yang” relationship between two contrasting yet mutually constituted aspects of the collective mind. One domain, which involves conscious cognitive elements has dominated research characterized by positivism and empirical cross-cultural explorations of phenomenological cultural values. The second, more recondite domain, involves unconscious and embodied cultural phenomena, which are more tacit and hidden in indirect expression through communicative interaction, exchanges of symbolic representations and embodied behaviour in context.

A methodological duality of qualitative and quantitative mixing in order to provide a bi-focal understanding of both tacit and explicit aspects of culture is proposed as a research agenda.

The suggestion is that these cultural shadows have been relatively neglected thus far in cross-cultural management research. This means that in order to better comprehend culture as paradox, an equalization of approaches sensitive to both sides of the duality is prescient. In pursuit of this idea, a complementary qualitative analysis directed at more nebulous cultural phenomena is proposed in order to provide a balanced analysis of culture as paradox.

Due to the practical complexity and fragmented nature of the construction industry, digitalisation, like other innovations, is not easily achieved. This study aims to explore organisational influences on digitalisation within construction firms.

The study uses structured open-ended questions as a data collection tool for a qualitative investigation. The qualitative approach enabled participants to express their inputs and maximise the diversity of data, offering new insights and discussions that are distinct from previous works.

Construction professionals from 22 organisations provided their perspectives on digital transformation and their organisations. Under four constructs – structure, culture, leadership and internal processes, findings uncovered 16 determinants critical to digitalisation in construction firms. The study offers a theoretical perspective supported by empirical data to explore the complex dynamics and internal interactions of organisational influence on the uptake of digitalisation in the construction industry.

This paper offers arguments from a theoretical lens by applying the organisational influence model and capturing the variables under each construct in an exploratory manner to highlight the reasoning behind the low digital uptake in construction firms. This research aids academia and practice on the pressure points responsible for enhancing, or undermining, digital uptake in construction firms at an organisational level.