Search results
1 – 10 of over 221000Ratan Kumar and Vibhava Srivastava
The purpose of this study is to extend and contribute to the evolving phenomenon of social media usage by business-to-business (B2B) salespersons. It draws on the interactional…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to extend and contribute to the evolving phenomenon of social media usage by business-to-business (B2B) salespersons. It draws on the interactional psychology model and extended technology acceptance model to explore the said phenomenon.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey-based quantitative study was carried out. Responses were gathered through a self-administered and structured questionnaire, from 218 B2B salespersons who were pooled in using purposive and snowball sampling. The final data set was subjected to partial least squares-based structural equation modelling using WarpPLS 7.0.
Findings
This study found that individual factors, namely, salesperson’s social media competence and sales capabilities; organizational factors, namely, organizational commitment and organizational competence; and social factors, namely, image, result demonstrability and subjective norms, contribute positively and significantly towards social media usage by B2B salespeople. The study also found that the impact of individual factors on intention to use social media was partially mediated by its perceived usefulness, while in the case of organizational and social factors, the impact was fully mediated by its perceived ease of use.
Research limitations/implications
This study provides a valuable addition to the existing literature on sales and social media; however, the contextualization cannot be ignored.
Practical implications
This study enables firms to understand various factors affecting salespeople’ perception of social media and to make them appreciate its usage in improving sales performance and customer satisfaction.
Originality/value
It is the first study that models the factors of salespeople’s usage of social media in their job at three levels, namely, individual, organizational and social, and establishes the link between B2B salespersons’ perceived usefulness of social media, sales capabilities, social media competence and intention to use social media.
Details
Keywords
Galina N. Semenova, Elena I. Larionova, Oleg G. Karpovich, Sergei V. Shkodinsky and Fatima M. Ouroumova
The purpose of the work consists in studying social integration as a factor of economic growth. The authors focus on experience and perspectives of developing countries, as they…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the work consists in studying social integration as a factor of economic growth. The authors focus on experience and perspectives of developing countries, as they show the highest rate of economic growth and have high potential of its acceleration.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors determine the interconnection between the processes of social integration in the four distinguished manifestations with the help of regression analysis and determine the level of homogeneity of data selections for each studied indicator with the help of variation analysis. Scenario analysis of future perspectives of the change of economic growth depending on the influence of the factor of social integration in the unity of its distinguished types is performed. Monte Carlo method is used for forecasting of change of the values of indicators of social integration.
Findings
It is substantiated that social integration is an important factor of economic growth. At the same time, the influence of this factor on economic growth of developing countries is ambiguous. Due to the offered proprietary classification of social integration according to the criterion of involved subjects, it is possible to establish that such types of social integration as integration of social groups, integration of business and society and integration of state and society have a positive influence. However, individual's integration into society has a negative influence.
Originality/value
The research contributes to development of economics by substantiating the significance of the social integration factor for economic growth and specifies the logic of management of this factor, which should be flexible. The perspectives of developing countries in acceleration of the rate of economic growth based on managing the factor of social integration are rather wide and envisage the increase of society's inclusion and the level of consumer consciousness and more active involvement of population into state management in the digital economy.
Details
Keywords
There are many ways for young people to get involved with their communities, but Community participation is one of the most important ways. As a way of expressing their…
Abstract
There are many ways for young people to get involved with their communities, but Community participation is one of the most important ways. As a way of expressing their commitment, young people form political and social action groups, devise educational initiatives tailored to their interests, and serve as community activists. This study was carried out in Myanmar prior to the military takeover in 2021. A military coup protest was organized by CEC (Chief Executive Committees). In addition, the majority of the committee members advocate for democratic values in this era. For the purpose of this study, researchers looked into which factors had the greatest impact on the participation of youth affairs committee members in their communities. Mon State was chosen as the study site because the median age of the population there is 26.7 years old. The 2014 Census revealed a range of median ages that is lower than this one. It shows that the median age of Mon state's youth affairs committee members is lower than the state's overall median age. In addition, the state of Mon was home to three major ethnicities: the Mon, the Kayan, and the Burmese. This situation demonstrates that young people have settled in Mon state with a wide range of viewpoints and ideas. The 131 members of Mon state's youth affairs committee were selected from each of the state's three levels of youth affairs committee. The data collected was analyzed using linear regression and descriptive methods. It was discovered that the community involvement of young leaders is positively influenced by social, political & legal factors.
Details
Keywords
Franziska Goetz, Ismail Türkmen, Christoph Buck and Reinhard Meckl
As coopetition often characterizes relationships in ecosystems, social factors are particularly important to ensure resilient and reliable relationships, therefore efficient…
Abstract
Purpose
As coopetition often characterizes relationships in ecosystems, social factors are particularly important to ensure resilient and reliable relationships, therefore efficient collaboration, and a corresponding outcome. Social factors have so far only been considered as peripheral factors in the ecosystem literature. Thus, this study aims to analyse the current state of literature to provide initial insights into the impact of social factors on value co-creation in supply chain ecosystems.
Design/methodology/approach
A structured literature review was conducted. Eleven articles were identified which explicitly examined social factors in the context of supply chain ecosystems.
Findings
The findings showed that in current research contributions, especially three social factors are considered crucial for value co-creation within supply chain ecosystems: trust, commitment and mindset. Moreover, researchers focus so far only on positive-affected social factors.
Research limitations/implications
The findings enable ecosystem orchestrators as well as actors to strengthen social factors in supply chain ecosystems. The cultivation and proactive consideration of social factors is crucial for efficient and effective collaboration and has a corollary effect on supply chain ecosystems value co-creation.
Originality/value
This paper extends the limited literature on social factors within supply chain ecosystems, notably from a strategic management perspective. The findings help scholars to understand why social factors do play a crucial role regarding the value co-creation in supply chain ecosystem and how specific social factors influence the overall business outcome. By raising awareness of the importance of social factors for all ecosystem actors, complementary cooperation in the ecosystem improves, which in turn has a positive impact on value co-creation.
Details
Keywords
Niina Herttuala, Lauri Kokkinen and Anne Konu
The purpose of this study was to describe factors that support and prevent managers' work wellbeing by reviewing international studies and interviewing Finnish social- and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to describe factors that support and prevent managers' work wellbeing by reviewing international studies and interviewing Finnish social- and healthcare managers.
Design/methodology/approach
Twenty-two studies were identified in the systematic literature search. Seven social care and healthcare managers were recruited to participate in thematic interviews. Data were analyzed by using content analysis.
Findings
Supportive and preventive factors for managers' work wellbeing were identified in the literature review, including managerial position, decision latitude, job control, social support and ethical culture at the workplace. The interviews further suggested that the supportive and preventive factors affecting social and healthcare managers' work wellbeing could be divided into five broad categories: (1) Individual factors, (2) Social factors, (3) Professional support from one's own manager, (4) Work-related factors and (5) Organizational factors.
Originality/value
We conducted a systematic literature search together with expert interviews to find the factors most crucial to managers' work wellbeing. These findings can assist social and healthcare organizations and policymakers to pay attention to these factors as well as in policies guiding them.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this study is to propose a theoretical model of how content-related factors, social factors and perceptual factors influence consumer engagement in brand social…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to propose a theoretical model of how content-related factors, social factors and perceptual factors influence consumer engagement in brand social networking sites (SNSs) pages and further how consumer engagement behavior influences the customer–organization relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used an online and offline questionnaire to conduct empirical research and collected and analyzed data of 430 samples by using the structural equation modeling approach.
Findings
The result showed that all three factors, i.e. content-related factors, social factors and perceptual factors, had positive influence on consumer engagement. Further, the result also showed a positive influence of consumer engagement on the customer–organization relationship. Another important thing the study found was that social media users mostly engage in consuming the content and contributing.
Research limitations/implications
This study has considered one popular SNS: Facebook. As the usage purpose and features of different SNSs vary, the future research should be directed by taking other popular SNSs, such as Twitter and LinkedIn, to gain a broader insight of consumer engagement on other brand SNS pages. Further, the present study has stressed on the exploring the quality of customer–organization relationship as the major outcome of consumer engagement on brand SNS pages. Therefore, the future study should be directed toward measuring the relationship between consumer engagement and other important outcomes, such as brand advocacy behaviors, positive word-of-mouth behaviors and brand loyalty.
Practical implications
This paper suggests strategies for consumer engagement through SNSs, especially Facebook advertisements. First, the study has identified content-related factors, social factors and perceptual factors which will help the managers to set strategies for engaging new and prospective consumers on brand SNS pages. Second, it also describes how the online activities of consumers on brand SNS pages strengthen the relationship between customer and organizations. This conception will definitely help marketing managers to develop quality relationship with their existing and new customers.
Originality/value
The novelty of this study is that it attempts to explore the combined effect of content-related factors, social factors and perceptual factors on consumer engagement and also explores the nature and specific types of engagement behavior on brand SNS pages.
Details
Keywords
Wei Jin, Yongqiang Sun, Nan Wang and Xi Zhang
Prior studies on virtual product purchase have focused on external technological factor but have paid less attention to internal user factors. Thus, drawing upon the social…
Abstract
Purpose
Prior studies on virtual product purchase have focused on external technological factor but have paid less attention to internal user factors. Thus, drawing upon the social presence and user engagement theories, the purpose of this paper is to develop a research model considering both technological factors and user factors and empirically examine the validity of the proposed research model.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey from 214 World of Warcraft players was conducted to test the proposed research model, and structural equation modelling approach (specifically, PLS) was used to test the proposed hypotheses.
Findings
The data analysis results suggest that both social presence and user engagement positively influence the intention to purchase virtual products. Furthermore, two technological factors, interactivity and sociability, are found to affect social presence, and two social factors, social ties and social identity, are found to affect user engagement.
Originality/value
This study proposes a dual factor framework (i.e. technological and user factors) to investigate the factors influencing the intention to purchase by integrating the social presence perspective and user engagement perspective. The findings would be beneficial for service provider of massively multiplayer online role-playing games to recognize that triggering user demand is of equal importance with offering better technologies and suggest new ways to promote users’ virtual product purchase intentions.
Details
Keywords
Quan Zhou, Chei Sian Lee, Sei-Ching Joanna Sin, Sijie Lin, Huijie Hu and Muhammad Fahmi Firdaus Bin Ismail
Drawing from social cognitive theory, the purpose of this study is to examine how personal, environmental and behavioral factors can interplay to influence people's use of YouTube…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing from social cognitive theory, the purpose of this study is to examine how personal, environmental and behavioral factors can interplay to influence people's use of YouTube as a learning resource.
Design/methodology/approach
This study proposed a conceptual model, which was then tested with data collected from a survey with 150 participants who had the experience of using YouTube for learning. The bootstrap method was employed to test the direct and mediation hypotheses in the model.
Findings
The results revealed that personal factors, i.e. learning outcome expectations and attitude, had direct effects on using YouTube as a learning resource (person → behavior). The environmental factor, i.e. the sociability of YouTube, influenced the attitude (environment → person), while the behavioral factor, i.e. prior experience of learning on YouTube, affected learning outcome expectations (behavior → person). Moreover, the two personal factors fully mediated the influences of sociability and prior experience on YouTube usage for learning.
Practical implications
The factors and their relationships identified in this study provide important implications for individual learners, platform designers, educators and other stakeholders who encourage the use of YouTube as a learning resource.
Originality/value
This study draws on a comprehensive theoretical perspective (i.e. social cognitive theory) to investigate the interplay of critical components (i.e. individual, environment and behavior) in YouTube's learning ecosystem. Personal factors not only directly influenced the extent to which people use YouTube as a learning resource but also mediated the effects of environmental and behavioral factors on the usage behavior.
Details
Keywords
Mark D. Agars, James C. Kaufman and Tiffany R. Locke
Organizational creativity and innovation are inherently complex phenomena, and subject to a myriad of broad contextual and social influences. As the evidence grows for the link…
Abstract
Organizational creativity and innovation are inherently complex phenomena, and subject to a myriad of broad contextual and social influences. As the evidence grows for the link between innovation and organizational effectiveness and, ultimately, organizational survival, there is no doubting the need for theoretical and practical advances in our understanding. The complex nature of these constructs, however, requires that such efforts utilize a multi-level lens. This chapter discusses key aspects of creativity and innovation in organizations, including fundamental construct definition issues, which underscore the need for a multi-level perspective. It also reviews extant theoretical perspectives for their contributions to a multi-level understanding, and the research in two key areas of social influence – group factors and leadership – that have received substantial attention in the organizational literature. The review and discussion of these areas reveal not only numerous advances, but also substantial limitations that must be resolved through more complex and comprehensive (i.e., multi-level) approaches. The chapter concludes with several recommendations intended to guide and inform future work in the organizational creativity and innovation field.