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21 – 30 of 30Ana María García-Pérez and Vanessa Yanes-Estévez
This work develops a longitudinal analysis of perceived environmental uncertainty applying the Rasch methodology (1960). The environmental uncertainty is defined as an…
Abstract
Purpose
This work develops a longitudinal analysis of perceived environmental uncertainty applying the Rasch methodology (1960). The environmental uncertainty is defined as an individual's perceived inability to predict the environment accurately (Milliken, 1987). The study focuses on analysing the state uncertainty from the perspective of the information and under the cognitive approach to the business reality.
Design/methodology/approach
Rasch measurement theory (1960) is applied, specifically the differential item functioning analysis based on the responses to a survey of SMEs.
Findings
The main sources of uncertainty for all the SMEs in the sample are two sectors in their general environment: economic and political-legal ones. These segments are the only ones in the environment that generate uncertainty that in 2016 is significantly different from that in 2019, being lower in the latter year.
Originality/value
This is a pioneering analysis of uncertainty both for its longitudinal nature and the methodology applied.
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The purpose of the paper is to bring to the attention of academics the innovations which have rapidly been developed to sell goods and services across sectors using what the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to bring to the attention of academics the innovations which have rapidly been developed to sell goods and services across sectors using what the authors describe as “confusion marketing”.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual, integrative, critical assessment of a number of marketing disciplines addressing aspects of confusion marketing. Confusion practices are evolving rapidly, with little theoretical explanation of why many of them are successful. This paper seeks to answer such questions by examining a wide range of sectors and confusion practices.
Findings
Patterns are identified across sectors, companies and business practices, providing the basis for this holistic assessment of marketing research on confusion since its inception and the design of a systemic framework of confusion.
Research limitations/implications
The study attempts to bring all marketing schools and traditions of confusion together and presents a synthesis of scholarly accomplishments in the area by matching them, where possible, to current practices. It advances extant literature by designing a systemic framework which has, so far, been absent in marketing and by identifying avenues for future research maturation.
Practical implications
This discussion challenges assumptions regarding the ethicality, sustainability and profitability of confusion practices. Businesses practicing confusion are successful, suggesting that such practices may be economically sustainable. Contrary to expectations in marketing, confusion seems to benefit some consumers; confusion practices are not necessarily unethical or detrimental.
Originality/value
Confusion is a controversial area in marketing. Although the literature on confusion has grown, extant research continues to concentrate on consumers’ perceptions of confusion and tends to assume that confusion practices are undesirable, unethical and unsustainable. This paper provides a first integrative critical analysis of marketing thinking and challenges the aforementioned literature assumptions, demonstrating that past research has not sufficiently explained the nature, consequences and success of confusion marketing.
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Jörg Henseler, Christian M. Ringle and Marko Sarstedt
Research on international marketing usually involves comparing different groups of respondents. When using structural equation modeling (SEM), group comparisons can be misleading…
Abstract
Purpose
Research on international marketing usually involves comparing different groups of respondents. When using structural equation modeling (SEM), group comparisons can be misleading unless researchers establish the invariance of their measures. While methods have been proposed to analyze measurement invariance in common factor models, research lacks an approach in respect of composite models. The purpose of this paper is to present a novel three-step procedure to analyze the measurement invariance of composite models (MICOM) when using variance-based SEM, such as partial least squares (PLS) path modeling.
Design/methodology/approach
A simulation study allows us to assess the suitability of the MICOM procedure to analyze the measurement invariance in PLS applications.
Findings
The MICOM procedure appropriately identifies no, partial, and full measurement invariance.
Research limitations/implications
The statistical power of the proposed tests requires further research, and researchers using the MICOM procedure should take potential type-II errors into account.
Originality/value
The research presents a novel procedure to assess the measurement invariance in the context of composite models. Researchers in international marketing and other disciplines need to conduct this kind of assessment before undertaking multigroup analyses. They can use MICOM procedure as a standard means to assess the measurement invariance.
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Mohammadali Zolfagharian and Audhesh Paswan
The success of service innovation programs rests on whether consumers discern the novelties built into service offerings. Hence, service firms must base the evaluation of…
Abstract
Purpose
The success of service innovation programs rests on whether consumers discern the novelties built into service offerings. Hence, service firms must base the evaluation of innovation programs on customer attitude in addition to internal measures. The study examines whether consumers are capable of discerning the novelties built into service elements, and explores the underlying dimensions therein.
Design/methodology/approach
Research contexts include fitness centers and auto repair shops in the USA. A list of tangible and intangible service elements was developed based on a literature review. This list was improved through interviews with service managers and a focus group using frequent customers of each service. A total of 34 items emerged, comprising seven dimensions. These items were administered to 120 students who used each service frequently. Factor analysis supported the seven‐dimension model. Finally, a confirmatory study using 527 professional adults supported these findings.
Findings
Respondents were capable of discerning the novelties built into the elements of service offerings. The 32‐item scale included seven dimensions: administration, interior facilities, exterior facilities, employees, service core, technology, and responsiveness.
Research limitations/implications
The representativeness of the samples and the two service contexts, and a sole focus on customers' (versus the firm's) subjective perception are the primary limitations.
Practical implications
One reason behind new product failures is the mismatch between the service provider's and the consumers' views of innovativeness. The scale provided here can help tap consumer perspective throughout the new product development process.
Originality/value
This study can help bridge the gap between service development processes.
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Heike Schulze, Lydia Bals and Thomas E. Johnsen
Implementing sustainability into global supply networks remains a challenge for companies. Purchasing and supply management (PSM) interacts closely with supply network actors…
Abstract
Purpose
Implementing sustainability into global supply networks remains a challenge for companies. Purchasing and supply management (PSM) interacts closely with supply network actors, thus influencing how the firm’s value creation is delivered. While previous sustainable PSM (SPSM) research has shed light on how to manage sustainability on an organizational level, the individual competences PSM professionals require are less understood. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a systematic literature review to determine the current research coverage of specific competences and knowledge required to implement sustainability. The authors complemented this with data from 46 interviews with practitioners. From coding the data with NVivo, a first comprehensive competence overview for SPSM was developed.
Findings
The literature review results, complemented with interview data, highlight that functional-oriented, cognition-oriented, social-oriented and meta-oriented competences form part of a comprehensive SPSM competence model. We propose a framework that includes these, and integrates two behavioral moderators on the organizational level, i.e. situational enabling, as well as empowerment and obligation.
Research limitations/implications
While the proposed framework provides a basic first systematization of SPSM competences, further research is needed to extend it. There is ample opportunity to shed further light on both individual and organizational-level factors that influence the application of SPSM competences, and therefore SPSM behavior.
Practical implications
The results have implications for higher education and professional training programs in companies. The framework provides an overview of competences needed for SPSM. The discussion highlights the need to apply education and training methods for different types of competences that are suitable for conveying implicit knowledge apart from explicit knowledge.
Originality/value
Adressing a current research gap in sustainability-related competences in PSM, the overall framework highlights SPSM competences of interest to both scholars and managers alike.
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Joseph Henry Robinson, Ian Robert Thomas Ashton, Eric Jones, Peter Fox and Chris Sutcliffe
This paper aims to present an investigation into the variation of scan vector hatch rotation strategies in selective laser melting (SLM), focussing on how it effects density…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present an investigation into the variation of scan vector hatch rotation strategies in selective laser melting (SLM), focussing on how it effects density, surface roughness, tensile strength and residual stress.
Design/methodology/approach
First the optimum angle of hatch vector rotation is proposed by analysing the effect of different increment angles on distribution of scan vectors. Sectioning methods are then used to determine the effect that the chosen strategies have on the density of the parts. The top surface roughness was analysed using optical metrology, and the tensile properties were determined using uni-axial tensile testing. Finally, a novel multi-support deflection geometry was used to quantify the effects of rotation angles on residual stress.
Findings
The results of this research showed that the hatch rotation angle had little effect on the density, top surface roughness and strength of the parts. The greatest residual stress deflection was measured parallel to unidirectional scan vectors. The use of hatch rotations other than alternating 90° showed little benefit in lowering the magnitude of residual stresses. However, the use of rotation angles with a good suitability measure distributes stresses in all directions more evenly for certain part geometries.
Research limitations/implications
All samples produced in this work were made from commercially pure titanium, therefore care must be taken when applying these results to other materials.
Originality/value
This paper serves to increase the understanding of SLM scanning strategies and their effect on the properties of the material.
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Vincent Bicudo de Castro and VG Sridharan
This paper aims to capture the effects of access to information and deadlines on empowerment and subordinate managers’ effectiveness. The purpose is to contribute to the growing…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to capture the effects of access to information and deadlines on empowerment and subordinate managers’ effectiveness. The purpose is to contribute to the growing empowerment-related discourse within the management control discipline.
Design/methodology/approach
To test the hypotheses derived from empowerment theory, this paper collects survey data from 103 middle-level managers. Using a path model that describes all the potential theoretical relations, this study tests the survey data using a boot-strapped linear regression approach.
Findings
This study finds evidence for both direct and indirect positive effects between access to information and subordinate managers’ performance, which supports the view that empowerment has a partial mediating effect on performance. The study also finds that though the effect of access to information on empowerment is not moderated by the specification of deadlines, empowerment is negatively affected when priorities change with new deadlines.
Originality/value
This study offers two new insights as follows: First, in addressing the concern relating to the lack of clarity in the extant literature on the role of empowerment, this study finds that empowerment partially mediates the relation between access to information and performance. Second, the study finds that time-based performance targets per se do not affect empowerment as much as the task uncertainty, which arises with frequent changes to such a target.
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Economics had a strong linkage to ethics up to the 1930s but this has virtually disappeared today. Amartya Sen first sketched the historical relationship in his book On Ethics &…
Abstract
Purpose
Economics had a strong linkage to ethics up to the 1930s but this has virtually disappeared today. Amartya Sen first sketched the historical relationship in his book On Ethics & Economics. This article seeks to explore the ethical foundations of economics in ancient Greece, focussing on Socrates and Xenophon.
Design/methodology/approach
Various ancient Greek primary sources are used to investigate the foundations of economics as an ethical enterprise. For Socrates, the primary sources are the reports of his conversations by two students: Plato and Xenophon. For Xenophon, one has to rely upon his own writings, which are extensive and have survived in good condition.
Findings
For Socrates, human flourishing (eudaimonia) was the goal, rather than great accumulation of material goods. Xenophon accepts private property and the division of labour within certain ethical limits. In his work, the development of the ethical approach to household management (oikonomia or oikonomikē), or microeconomics, within the context of the Greek city (polis) can be seen. Friendship (philia) and gentlemanship (kalokagathia) are discussed together with oikonomia as a united package. Further, Xenophon anticipates several elements of Sen's understanding of good human functioning. There is a strong linkage between ethics and economics in Socrates and Xenophon.
Originality/value
While great efforts have been devoted to tracing the origins of Sen's capability framework back to Aristotle, this article represents the first attempt to trace that framework back further, to Socrates and Xenophon.
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M. Mar Serrano-Arcos, Raquel Sánchez-Fernández, Juan Carlos Pérez-Mesa and Petra Riefler
Consumer affinity may be a key factor in overcoming ethnocentric barriers and promoting a favourable attitude towards specific foreign countries and their products. However…
Abstract
Purpose
Consumer affinity may be a key factor in overcoming ethnocentric barriers and promoting a favourable attitude towards specific foreign countries and their products. However, progress in knowledge of this concept in international marketing literature has suffered from a lack of integration and analysis. The purpose of this study was to shed new light on the concept of consumer affinity based on a comprehensive systematic review of the literature, provide a critical analysis of previous research in terms of conceptual, methodological and substantive issues and problems and offer avenues for future research.
Design/methodology/approach
This structured systematic review of consumer affinity included articles published in international peer-reviewed journals from 2008 to 2021, examining key conceptual, operational and substantive aspects.
Findings
This systematic review of articles on consumer affinity published over the past 14 years revealed that this line of research is a growing vibrant domain in the context of international marketing. It also showed that current knowledge of consumer affinity is characterized by theoretical inconsistencies, contradictory empirical results and scant international marketing research in the affinity domain.
Originality/value
This article provides an overview of the extant literature on consumer affinity and yields a consolidated image of its current status, as well as a research agenda that raises new questions for the academic community.
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Aaminah Zaman Malik and Audhesh Paswan
While language is vital for a successful service exchange, it can also become a source of vulnerability if one party is a non-native speaker in an inter-culture service encounter…
Abstract
Purpose
While language is vital for a successful service exchange, it can also become a source of vulnerability if one party is a non-native speaker in an inter-culture service encounter (ICSE). Hence, the purpose of this study is to understand the relationship between language-related stigma that non-native customers perceive in an ICSE and the associated psychological and behavioral responses.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey-based research method and an experimental study was used to collect data from non-native speakers in the USA with English as their second language. Structural equation modeling procedure was used to test the hypothesized relationships.
Findings
The findings suggest that the customers who perceive language-related stigmatization in an ICSE context experience intergroup anxiety and lack of social belonging. In turn, intergroup anxiety influences their interaction comfort with the service provider. In the end, these experiences shape their future buying behavior, i.e. they tend to avoid direct interactions with the servers and prefer smart services.
Research limitations/implications
Future research is needed to explore the focal phenomenon in other service contexts and cultures to enrich knowledge on language vulnerabilities.
Practical implications
The study highlights the importance of technology, not just from a convenience perspective, but also as an accommodation mechanism for linguistically vulnerable customers.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to empirically examine the language-related stigmatization and associated psychological and behavioral responses from the non-native customers’ perspective in a services exchange setting.
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