Search results

Megaprojects have large impact on the environment and stakeholders should take collective action to ensure that these projects are developed in a socially responsible manner. Hitherto, it is not known whether group and subjective norms and social identity could compel stakeholders to take socially responsible collective actions in megaprojects. The aim of this study is to design and test a model to boost stakeholders' intention to take socially responsible collective action in the context of mega water transfer projects in China.

A quasi-experimental causal research design was adopted to establish cause–effect relationships among the dependent variable (we-intention) and independent variables (subjective norms, group norms, social identity and desire). This study adopts the belief–desire–intention model and social influence theory to empirically investigate how to boost the stakeholders' intention to participate in socially responsible collective action. An online questionnaire survey was conducted and data was collected from 365 respondents who were involved in mega water transfer projects in China. The partial least squares structural equation modeling technique was employed to analyze the data.

The results from partial least squares analyses indicate that the presence of subjective norms, group norms and social identity (collectively known as social influence process) could increase stakeholders' intention to take socially responsible collective action. In addition, the desire to be socially responsible also boosts stakeholders' intention to take collective action. Desire partially mediates the relationship between social influence process and intention to take socially responsible collective action.

This study adds to existing knowledge by discovering social influence process as an antecedent to taking socially responsible collective action in megaprojects. Strong group norms and subjective norms could propel stakeholders to be more socially responsible. The study also adds to knowledge by discovering that stakeholders' desire to fulfill social responsibility also leads them to take concrete actions. Implications and recommendations are provided on how to manipulate different types of social influence processes to facilitate stakeholders to adopt socially responsible collective action in the process of managing megaprojects.

The study aims to better understand the impact of susceptibility to social influence (normative and informational) on perceived risk and the consequent impacts on attitudes towards counterfeiting and intention to purchase counterfeit brands.

A single cross-sectional descriptive research was employed, and questionnaires were used to collect data from 361 counterfeit buyers. Structural equation modelling (SEM) based on partial least squares (PLS-SEM) was applied to analyse data and test the research hypotheses.

Results showed that normative susceptibility to social influence significantly increased attitudes towards counterfeiting but not purchase intention; its impact on intention was mediated by perceived risk and attitudes. Although information susceptibility to social influence increased purchase intention, it had no significant impact on attitudes and perceived risk.

The current study empirically explores the relationship between susceptibility to social influence and perceived risk in the context of non-deceptive counterfeit consumption, by integrating the foundations of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and social cognitive theory (SCT).

This study aims to investigate the causal complexity of ECF investors’ peer effect through two different paths of structural social influence.

Using the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) approach, we employ 157 samples from a Chinese ECF source to explore how peer-effect are caused by both informational and normative mechanisms.

The findings suggests that there are multiple configurations could lead to ECF investors’ high level peer-effect through both informational and normative mechanisms, and the informational mechanism' role depends on the normative mechanism, while the normative mechanism could lead to peer-effect independently.

The findings enrich the literature on ECF investors’ behaviors by revealing the diverse configurations resulting in investors’ peer-effect and shedding new light on investigating the decision-making driven by information asymmetry and relationship settings for individuals at a disadvantage.

This is the first study that investigates the multiple-driven of ECF investors’ decision-making and the importance of mutual norms in individuals' decision-making by complex network analysis approach and qualitative comparative analysis from the perspective of complexity. The results reveal the complexity of investors’ decision-making in ECF.

Alternative theoretical perspectives on performance measurement and management (PMM) have been advanced in response to shortcomings observed with the dominant control systems-based paradigm. The purpose of this investigation is to ascertain whether one such perspective, rooted in social systems theory and practice theory, can accommodate these shortcomings and positively impact organisational effectiveness (OE) and performance.

Longitudinal critical realism-based case study research is employed in action research mode to investigate how adopting a social complexity perspective on PMM affected the behaviour and performance of a commercial organisation.

The case study observations suggest that by putting people and their behaviour and organisational practices at the centre of PMM, near-term organisational outcomes can be influenced favourably in complex and dynamic environments.

This investigation provides a tool for undertaking a social complexity interpretation of PMM.

This research supports the proposal that complexity theory provides an alternative paradigm for managing performance in organisations and describes the first practical application of a social complexity interpretation of PMM. It presents a model for use and further development by other researchers.

This study aims to explore and classify the fragmentary findings of previous studies and improve understanding of the overall roles of supervisors in newcomer organizational socialization (NOS) and their relationships to NOS outcomes.

The study chiefly involves undertaking a literature review, with an emphasis on the perspective of human resource development (HRD). A structured literature review was conducted to identify and select articles through the Web of Science database.

Five important roles of supervisors during NOS – supporting training transfer, providing information, clarifying newcomers’ roles, facilitating sensemaking and providing feedback – were revealed from an examination of extant work. These roles markedly influence five different components of newcomers’ adjustment: task mastery, role clarification, organizational knowledge, social identification and social integration.

Although the concept of NOS used in this paper did not include all meanings of organizational socialization, the findings proposed key areas that require further study to enhance the understanding of supervisors’ roles for NOS.

The literature review suggests key efforts that supervisors should pursue to enhance the efficacy of newcomers’ adjustment. HRD professionals can use this information to design supervisor training programs aimed at enhancing supervisors’ knowledge and skills for successful NOS.

Studies have reported that supervisors markedly impact NOS and ultimately a newcomer’s success or failure. Relatively little work, however, has investigated how supervisors’ roles in the NOS process can enhance newcomers’ successful NOS outcomes.

As fitness apps have integrated gamification elements into their design to transform exercise into a compelling and competitive experience, this study draws on the expectation confirmation model (ECM) and self-determination theory (SDT) to propose a comprehensive framework for sustained usage by satisfying the psychological needs of users.

A longitudinal study design is utilized where data from 598 fitness app users were gathered over two distinct phases separated by 24 weeks, where data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

The findings until phase 1 depict that motivational affordances significantly affect mastery, autonomy and relatedness, which in turn exert a significant influence on flow. Identification and compliance have a more pronounced effect in phase 2 compared to stage 1 of the analysis.

Individuals are more prone to being swayed by fellow members of their social group who share an affiliation with fitness apps, leading them to sustain their usage of fitness apps. These insights can potentially guide app developers and marketers in formulating strategies based on modifiable factors to foster sustained growth for gamified fitness apps.

This study takes a novel stance by employing social impact theory (SIT) in a longitudinal setting to reveal how users react to identification and compliance effects during initial and post-adoption usage of gamified fitness apps.

We aim to ascertain whether and how an individual’s social comparison affects their self-gifting motivations (SGMs).

We survey a North American sample comprising 619 Canadian and US respondents. We apply partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine relationships between social comparison, attachment orientation, parenthood, and self-gifting motivations.

We find that social comparison positively impacts self-gifting motivations. Additionally, we find that attachment orientation and parenthood can moderate social comparison’s impact on positively valenced SGMs and negatively valenced SGMs, respectively.

We elevate and expand existing scholarship on consumers’ self-gifting. Through the current study, we contribute new, empirical evidence illuminating how individuals’ attachment orientation (i.e. secure v. insecure) and parenthood status (i.e. parent v. non-parent) serve as agency-oriented moderators to temper social comparison’s influences on SGMs.

Despite the most efficient mechanism to fight against corruption is whistleblowing, in most cases, civil servants prefer to remain silent. For this reason, this research seeks to understand the decision-making process by which civil servants, who witness corrupt actions, prefer to remain silent.

A grounded theory was constructed, based on the coding of 27 in-depth interviews with civil servants from Bogotá, Colombia, who claimed having witnessed acts of corruption.

It is proposed that corruption tolerance is a process in which, upon observing an act of corruption, there is an emotional response (apathy, anger and fear) that influences the way civil servants rationalize irregular situations and determines their intention to whistleblowing. Additionally, it was found that behaviors such as patronage are normal for civil servants while irregular procurement and fraud are considered serious moral transgressions.

This research explores two important elements to advance the understanding of public corruption: (1) The comprehension, of the role that plays emotions in the corruption tolerance process by civil servants. Results revealed the existence of an ambivalence between anger and fear that could condition the decision to whistleblowing. (2) The validation of some theoretical elements that had been analyzed in previous research comparing them with the collected empirical information.

This study aims to build on the well-documented case of the Olympus scandal to dissect how social networks and corporate culture enabled corporate elites to commit fraud across multiple generations of leaders.

A flexible pattern matching approach was used to identify matches and mismatches between behavioural theory in corporate governance and the patterns observed in data from diverse sources.

The study applies the behavioural theory of corporate governance from different perspectives. Social networks and relationships were essential for the execution of the fraud and keeping it secret. The group of corporate elites actively created opportunities for committing misappropriation. This research presents individuals committing embezzlement because the opportunity already exists, and they can enrich themselves. The group of insiders who committed the fraud elaborated the rationalizations to others and asked outside associates to help rationalise the activities, while usually individuals provide rationalizations to themselves only.

The social processes among actors described in this case can inform the design of mechanisms to detect these behaviours in similar contexts.

This study provides both perspectives on the fraud scandal: the one of the whistle-blowers, and the opposing side of the transgressors and their associates. The extant case studies on Olympus presented the timeframe of the scandal right after the exposure. The current study dissects the events during the fraud execution and presents the case in a neutral or a negative light.

People's socializing behavior in social networking services (SNS) presents dramatically different features, forming differentiated online social interaction patterns (DOSIP) in SNS. This study aims to explore the relationships between users' multidimensional psychological needs and multiple social interaction patterns in SNS.

Based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs and use and gratifications (U&G) theory, the authors develop the research model to examine the effects of psychological needs on DOSIP. A survey is used to collect the data of SNS users' social interaction. The authors adopt structural equation modeling–neural network (SEM-NN) integrated method to examine the research model.

Need to belong, need for self-esteem, need for social contact, need for emotional expression, need for cognition, and need for external-esteem have significant influences on both active and passive social interactions respectively.

Based on the categorization of DOSIP into six types in terms of the level of activity and disclosure of social interaction, the authors construct an integrated research model of multidimensional psychological needs to multiple social interaction patterns, and validate the antecedents of DOSIP from the perspective of psychological needs.