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Many apparel brands use growth strategies that involve extending a brand’s line horizontally (same price/quality) and/or vertically (different price/quality). While such opportunities for growth and profitability are enticing, pursuing them could dilute a highly profitable parent brand. Categorization theory’s bookkeeping model and the cue scope framework provide the theoretical framework for this study. The purpose of this study is to test whether specific attributes of a line extension (i.e. direction of extension, brand concept, price discount and perceived fit) make a parent brand more susceptible to dilution.

This experimental study manipulates brand concept (premium or value brand) and price level (horizontal or vertical: −20per cent, −80per cent) and measures perceived fit to test effects on parent brand dilution. ANOVA and t-tests are used for the analysis.

Vertical extensions dilute the parent brand, but horizontal extensions do not. Dilution is strongest for premium (vs value) brands and when line extensions are discounted (i.e. −20per cent or −80per cent lower than the parent brand), regardless of the perceived fit between brand concept and brand extension price. Overall, brand concept is the strongest predictor of parent brand dilution in the context of vertical-downward extensions.

This study establishes which factors emerge as important contributors to parent brand dilution. Although previous studies on brand dilution are abundant, few studies have compared the effects of horizontal and vertical extensions on brand dilution. This study offers strong theoretical as well as practical implications.

This paper aims to discuss the association between human resource management and performance from a process perspective, differentiating intended and implemented vertical and horizontal fit. Although researchers have examined deeply the relationship between these constructs, extant literature demonstrates inconclusive results. Previous studies have stressed the strategic importance of vertical and horizontal fit from a prescriptive view. Nevertheless, a deeper understanding, focused on management processes, is needed.

This paper reviews and integrates two streams of strategic human resources management (SHRM) literature: the fit perspective, drawing on Martín-Alcázar et al.’s (2005) model, and the system strength approach, proposed by Bowen and Ostroff (2004).

The conceptual analysis developed in this paper concludes that HRM system strength mediates the effects of an aligned strategy on performance. In this sense, the paper argues that success in implementation of the HRM strategy depends on employees’ perceptions about the system of policies and practices through which it is carried out. Additionally, organizational communication is considered as the mechanism to create a shared HRM meaning to translate to employees.

Drawing on the theoretical discussions in the paper, the following implications for HRM practice are identified: the usefulness of the system strength construct as a tool to measure employees’ perceptions and anticipate potential problems at the implementation stage, the importance of organizational communication mechanisms, the relevance of formal and informal connections between HR managers and top executives and the need for specific training to promote HR managers’ communicational skills.

This study examines the relationship between HRM and organizational performance by presenting a new model that integrates HRM strategy formulation and implementation, proposes employee perceptions concerning HRM are mediators of HRM strategy and firm performance, highlights the role of organizational communication in creating and managing shared HR messages and introduces system strength as an instrument to assess vertical and horizontal fit during implementation.

This paper aims to go a step further in the analysis of double fit in the human resource management (HRM) strategy context, exploring how its effect on performance is influenced by employees’ perceptions about the HRM strategy. Traditionally, the literature has considered the need for a double fit (horizontal and vertical) in the design of HRM strategies. However, as recent critical reviews have argued, a deeper theoretical analysis seems to be needed to understand fully how they affect organisational performance, and why firms with similar levels of alignment have different human resource outcomes.

Based on the literature review, the paper proposes a new theoretical model combining two fields of the strategic HRM literature which had been traditionally disconnected: the double fit approach and the literature on employee satisfaction and involvement. The design of the HRM strategy is reviewed considering the classical distinction between universalistic, contingent, contextual and configurational perspectives.

The findings of this paper provide an alternative model to examine the double fit in the HRM strategy context.

Drawing on these approaches, the paper proposes the introduction of the “system strength” construct, which measures the perceived robustness of the HRM system, as a moderator of the effects of double fit on organisational performance.

In this research, the authors try to answer the question of when broad-based employee share ownership (ESO) is more likely to be used and how it can be managed more effectively from the vertical fit perspective in strategic human resource management (HRM).

The study analyzes an unbalanced panel sample of 614 organizations (1,601 organization-year data points) in South Korea, utilizing hierarchical linear modeling (HLM).

The analysis demonstrates that organizations are more likely to adopt broad-based ESO when they utilize the prospector and analyzer strategies as opposed to the defender strategy. The analysis also reveals that the relationship between broad-based ESO and labor productivity is positive only when organizations utilize the prospector strategy as opposed to other types of strategies (i.e. analyzer and defender strategies).

The findings first indicate that the decision to adopt a broad-based ESO in organizations should be informed by their business strategy if they want to enhance labor productivity. Specifically, the results demonstrate that only the prospector firms, rather than defenders or analyzers, can reap the productivity benefit of broad-based ESO. Second, since innovation is a major source of productivity for prospector firms, the findings demonstrate that a broad-based ESO can be a vehicle that drives innovation. As a result, firms may want to consider utilizing broad-based ESOs to foster innovation.

The findings emphasize the relevance of the “vertical fit” perspective in examining the broad-based ESO and firm productivity relationship. Most past research utilized the “horizontal fit” framework in refining the relationship between broad-based ESO and productivity. Thus, the study emphasizes the need to utilize the “vertical fit” perspective, and not only the “horizontal fit” perspective, in the broad-based ESO research. Through this, the study meaningfully extends the research on the productivity effect of broad-based ESO by adding an important moderator (i.e. strategy) to the model.

The purpose of this study is to examine whether the performance of the compensation system is better explained by the universalist approach or the contingent approach. The paper also attempts to determine the type of fit that yields the most promising gains in terms of perception of performance.

Data were collected by questionnaire from 602 large organizations in three countries (Canada, France, and the UK), and from this, five hypotheses were formulated and tested using moderated regression analysis.

The study shows that having an optimal relationship among compensation policies (intra‐activity fit) leads to a more efficient compensation system than that obtained following an alignment with business strategies (vertical strategic fit) and with organizational development strategies (internal organizational fit). However, the results suggest that the universalist perspective cannot be rejected.

Human resources managers should exercise prudence regarding the pairing of compensation policies with various organizational characteristics, particularly those related to compensation management policies, because it is the interaction between compensation policies and their management methods that most influences the perception of performance. Of all these management policies, transparency of salary information seems to be central to the contingency perspective.

One of the most interesting contributions of this research is the identification of negative alignments that may result in negative performance. The joint application of two compensation policies, which, individually, have a positive influence on performance, can create a negative interaction. Contingency is therefore not always desirable, and prudence is recommended in the types of alignments introduced.

In this article M. Isacco concludes his exposition of what he believes to be the underlying principles of flight by direct‐lift machines. He here surveys the types that have been built up to the present from the point of view of their stability characteristics. This involves a critical description of practically every helicopter built during the last thirty years. His paper therefore constitutes a history of all that has been done in this field of aeronautics in modern times

ACCORDING to historical records the earliest known drawings for an aerial machine that can be classified under the heading of helicopter were made in the fifteenth century by the world renowned Italian scientist and artist Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519). Probably the Chinese had been making their helicopter toy for some considerable time before da Vinci commenced his experiments. This toy consisted of two feathers, joined together by means of a cork or soft wood boss, to form a crude type of propeller which was pushed up a threaded stick so that upon leaving the stick the propeller rotated at high speed and continued to screw itself up in the air. When the speed of rotation decreased the propeller slowly windmilled down to the ground. A similar toy is still being sold today.

Managers need to be sensitized to the undesirable consequences of implementing plans that contain incongruent elements.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of perceived organizational support (POS) in the relationship between employee participation and organizational commitment, and the moderating role of organizational strategy in those relationships.

The proposed hypotheses were tested by multilevel analyses with data from surveys of 1,105 employees and 49 managers in 49 companies located throughout South Korea.

The results demonstrated that POS mediated the relationship between employee participation and organizational commitment, and that participation practices were related more strongly to POS and organizational commitment in companies with a prospector or analyzer strategy than in companies with a defender strategy.

Organizational-level variables were measured by one manager in each company. This study provides important implications regarding the fit between participation practices and organizational strategy.

Managers in prospector or the most innovative companies should provide employees with more opportunities to make decisions and to receive financial incentives for their contributions.

This study is unique in that it simultaneously examined the horizontal fit and the vertical fit while focussing on individual employees’ outcomes rather than organizational performance.

The purpose of this paper primarily contributes to the social enterprises and human resource management (HRM) literature by examining the roles of founders in shaping how workers in social enterprises are managed.

This paper uses a cross-case analysis of three social enterprises in the food and agricultural products and food and beverage industries in Thailand. The case study evidence in this paper draws on semi-structured interviews with each social enterprise’s founders, managers and employees; field visits to each social enterprise in Bangkok and other provinces in Thailand; and a review of archival documents and web-based reports and resources. This paper uses thematic analysis to pinpoint, examine and record the patterns or themes found in the data.

This paper proposes that the founders of social enterprises play a variety of roles in shaping the human resource (HR) systems and practices used in these enterprises. First, founders serve as role models for managers and employees of social enterprises. Second, founders serve as succession planners for social enterprises. Third, the founders serve as builders and enforcers of corporate culture in social enterprises. Finally, founders serve as builders and enforcers of the HR systems and practices used in these enterprises. Put simply, without the roles of founders, the corporate culture and HR systems and practices of social enterprises might not be sustainable over time.

Because this research is based on case studies of three social enterprises located in Thailand, the findings may not be generalizable to all other social enterprises across countries. Rather, the aim of this paper is to further the discussion regarding the roles of founders in shaping the HR systems and practices used in social enterprises. Another limitation of this research is that it does not include social enterprises in several other industries, including the entertainment and media, printing and publishing and hotel and restaurant industries. Future research may explore how the founders of social enterprises in other industries shape the HR systems and practices used in those enterprises. Moreover, quantitative studies using large samples of social enterprises across industries might also be useful in deepening the understanding of a topic that is important from the perspectives of both social enterprises and HRM.

This paper has practical implications for founders and/or top managers of social enterprises is not only Thailand but also other countries. It also has social/policy implications for the government and/or relevant public agencies in Thailand and for several other developing countries/emerging market economies.

Very little research has examined the various roles of founders in shaping how workers in social enterprises are managed. In addition, there has been relatively little research focusing on the characteristics of social enterprises’ founders in developing countries, including Thailand. This paper aims to fill this gap in the literature on social enterprises and HRM regarding how the founders of small, hybrid organizations such as social enterprises in Thailand play their roles as builders and enforcers of HR systems and practices and other roles relevant to the management of workers.