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Article
Publication date: 19 December 2023

Lifu Li and Kyeong Kang

The purpose of this study is to present the relationship between family support factors and Chinese college students’ online-startup thinking on live streaming platforms…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to present the relationship between family support factors and Chinese college students’ online-startup thinking on live streaming platforms. Considering China's specific online entrepreneurial environment, this paper divides Chinese college students’ online-startup thinking according to the liberal–conservative thinking theory. This study classifies family support factors based on the tangible–intangible resource division theory. Different tangible and intangible factors have different impacts on their online-startup thinking.

Design/methodology/approach

This study tests 588 samples based on the partial least squares path modelling and variance-based structural equation modelling. This study promotes importance-performance map analysis to explore additional findings of influencing factors and provide suitable suggestions for Chinese college students and related departments.

Findings

Tangible family support factors, such as labour resources support, and intangible family support factors, such as verbal encouragement, can positively enhance Chinese college students’ liberal thinking to online-startup and decrease their conservative thinking. Meanwhile, according to importance-performance map analysis results, verbal encouragement from the intangible unit instead of financial resource support from the tangible unit has a higher total effect and performance on Chinese college students’ liberal thinking and conservative thinking.

Originality/value

This study draws on psychology research based on Chinese college students’ unique entrepreneurial mentality. This paper divides Chinese college students’ thinking in online-startups into liberal thinking and conservative thinking based on the liberal–conservative thinking theory. Meanwhile, according to the feature of Chinese family support factors, this paper classifies various elements based on the tangible–intangible resource division theory, which is helpful for scholars to understand that the student perceptions of the value of family support are critical to the success of the online-startup.

Details

Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-4604

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 June 2023

Lifu Li and Kyeong Kang

This study aims to analyse what factors influence ethnic minority group (EMG) college students’ attitudes towards promoting online start-ups and how their different attitudes…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to analyse what factors influence ethnic minority group (EMG) college students’ attitudes towards promoting online start-ups and how their different attitudes impact their final online start-up behaviours on the live streaming platform. Based on the COM-B behaviour changing model and the theory of liberal and conservative attitudes, the research model has been established in this study, and it divides influencing factors into the environmental opportunity unit and personal capability unit.

Design/methodology/approach

To test relationships among the environmental opportunity, personal capability and personal attitude units, the partial least squares path modelling and variance-based structural equation modelling have been applied on the SmartPLS. Meanwhile, this study considers the regional difference between China’s developed and less-developed regions and promotes multi-group analysis based on it.

Findings

Research results show that the online start-up opportunity and capability positively affect EMG college students’ liberal attitudes but reduce EMGs’ conservative attitudes. Meanwhile, this study finds four significant differences, such as the path between conservative attitude and EMG students’ online start-up behaviour and the path between online start-up capability and conservative attitude.

Originality/value

This paper analyses the relationship between influencing factors and EMG students’ online start-up attitudes based on the COM-B behaviour changing model, contributing to the theoretical implications. Meanwhile, considering the impact of regional differences, this paper promotes the multi-group analysis and compares EMG college students from developed regions and others from less-developed areas.

Details

Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-4604

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 August 2024

Lifu Li, Kyeong Kang and Fatuma Namisango

The paper focuses on online younger viewers’ motivation to purchase virtual gifts on live-streaming platforms. To explore influencing factors, this study draws on the…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper focuses on online younger viewers’ motivation to purchase virtual gifts on live-streaming platforms. To explore influencing factors, this study draws on the Capability-Opportunity-Motivation-Behaviour (COM-B) theory and liberal-conservative thinking theory to establish the research model. It analyses factors that influence the use of environmental opportunity, personal capability and personal thinking style units, which differ from traditional user behaviour research.

Design/methodology/approach

Through the variance-based structural equation modelling and partial least squares path modelling, three influencing factors positively affect online younger viewers’ virtual gift-purchasing motivation: technical opportunity, financial capability and liberal thinking.

Findings

Considering the economic imbalance between urban and rural regions, this paper focuses on online younger viewers’ regional differences and designs their urban-rural backgrounds as moderating factors. The multi-group analysis based on a non-parametric approach presents several significant points in the current study, such as younger viewers from rural areas paying more attention to technical opportunities and liberal thinking factors.

Originality/value

The study distinguishes the differences between urban and rural areas and explores online viewers’ specific opinions on the virtual gift-sending system. The regional differences are caused by local technical development and economic background. The results can help live-streaming platform managers and related departments improve their techniques and functions, aiming to drive the development of the live-streaming industry.

Details

Aslib Journal of Information Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-3806

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 February 2024

Kim Brooks and Thomas Nichini

This paper aims to use the origin story of Dalhousie’s Faculty of Management as a foil for unpacking the tensions between deep disciplinary specialization and liberal education in…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to use the origin story of Dalhousie’s Faculty of Management as a foil for unpacking the tensions between deep disciplinary specialization and liberal education in business schools in Canada and the USA. Ultimately, the paper reveals that those tensions are not irreconcilable, and that through the fortunes of historical contingencies and deliberate decision-taking, a faculty can embrace the benefits of both breadth and depth.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper proposes a critical organizational history of management education through a case study. By drawing on secondary literature and archival sources, the authors focus on moments in business education, such as the founding of the Wharton School of Business, the release of the Carnegie and Ford Reports and the trend towards increased specialization to situate a case study of Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Management.

Findings

The authors find that the evolution of business education in North America from its broad, liberal origins towards narrow, specialization has come at a cost to some of the benefits of business and management education. An alternative approach, one reflected in the design of Dalhousie’s Faculty of Management, its programme offerings and its interconnection with other disciplines, enables the advantages of deep disciplinarity to co-exist (and cross-inform) with the advantages of liberal approach to knowledges.

Originality/value

The Dalhousie model offers business schools an example of a faculty that balances the rich insights of liberal interdisciplinarity with the need for sophisticated approaches to more granular, often disciplinary, topics. In addition, the paper offers the story of a multidisciplinary management faculty, some explanation for how that faculty was maintained despite pressures towards specialization; and in doing so, contributes to the limited historical research of management education, particularly in Canada, post-2000.

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 December 2023

Iryna Kushnir, Zara Milani and Marcellus Forh Mbah

This article aims to address the response from the higher education (HE) sector in the United Kingdom (UK) to the full-scale war in Ukraine which started in 2022.

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to address the response from the higher education (HE) sector in the United Kingdom (UK) to the full-scale war in Ukraine which started in 2022.

Design/methodology/approach

Relying on theoretical ideas of neoliberalism and the collection and thematic analysis of relevant official communications from six UK universities, the article uncovers three major ways in which these universities have been responding to the war.

Findings

They include (1) altruistic responses, (2) the promotion of equal treatment of all people and (3) the condemnation of the invasion and its implications for UK’s international cooperation in HE. These responses suggest the strengthening of the liberal ideals in the UK HE sector, heavily dominated by marketisation.

Originality/value

This analysis is significant not only for advancing a very limited scholarship on the topic of HE in the context of this war but also for understanding the development of the neoliberal landscape of UK HE and neoliberalism as a phenomenon in times of crises.

Details

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-7003

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 August 2024

Everton Coelho, Mário Augusto and Pedro Torres

This study aims to clarify the influence of different CEO’s political orientation (liberal/conservative) and corporate political activity on ESG performance, considering…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to clarify the influence of different CEO’s political orientation (liberal/conservative) and corporate political activity on ESG performance, considering contingencies related to CEO attributes and corporate governance mechanisms.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a sample of 131 companies from the Standard and Poor’s 500 index, this study employs fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fs/QCA) to analyze combinations of conditions (i.e. configurations) that lead to greater ESG (i.e. environmental, social, and governance) performance.

Findings

Drawing on the upper echelon theory and the theory of social exchange, the findings show that different CEO’s political orientation (liberal/conservative) can contribute to ESG performance, depending on the combination of conditions. Furthermore, the results emphasize the importance of corporate political activity as a core condition to enhance ESG performance.

Originality/value

Taking a configurational approach, this study explores combinations of conditions that explain ESG performance, including CEO’s political orientation and corporate political activities as antecedent conditions. Unlike past research, this study examines possible complementarities between these two conditions and assumes that different CEO’s political orientation can have a positive influence on ESG performance, depending on the combination of conditions.

Details

Management Decision, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 September 2024

Maria Tsouroufli, Anita Walton and David Thompson

In this paper we explore the gendered ways in which academic staff resistance and compliance is configured in a post-1992 University in England, including the emotions implicated…

Abstract

Purpose

In this paper we explore the gendered ways in which academic staff resistance and compliance is configured in a post-1992 University in England, including the emotions implicated in the navigation of neo-liberalisation and research intensification of their academic institution and its associated disciplinarian mechanisms.

Design/methodology/approach

We draw on data from an interview study of a diverse sample of 32 academics of different gender, discipline and academic grade. Analysis informed by a feminist post-structuralist framework of power and discourse explored different forms of academic resistance and compliance; how the embodied academic subject was (re)negotiated within gendered discourses of neo-liberal research excellence and managerialism and the gendered emotions generated in processes of resistance and compliance.

Findings

Institutional change and expectations to engage with research performativity generated fear, anxiety and anger. Female staff appeared to actively resist the masculinized research subject performing all hours work and individualism in the context of private and institutional gendered relations and labour. Male staff though actively resisted the feminization of higher education and the neo-liberal instrumentalization of caring and therapeutic cultures and ideologically resisted the surveillance mechanisms of higher education including the REF.

Research limitations/implications

Our work contributes to scholarship problematizing the assumed neutrality of resistance and compliance and highlighting women’s symbolic struggle to (dis)identify with a masculine professional norm. In terms of theorising academic resistance to neo-liberalism and identity construction, further attention should be given to the mobilization and symbolic capital of academics and emotions positioned differently due to their gender and intersecting differences.

Originality/value

Our study addresses a gap in the scholarship of academic resistance and compliance by advancing the understanding of gender inequalities and emotions implicated in the process of resistance and compliance against neo-liberalism.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 September 2024

Eleni Tsougkou, Maria Karampela and George Balabanis

The phenomenon of global brands taking a stance on crucial, yet polarizing, socio-political issues, namely global brand activism, is rising. However, how consumer views on this…

Abstract

Purpose

The phenomenon of global brands taking a stance on crucial, yet polarizing, socio-political issues, namely global brand activism, is rising. However, how consumer views on this practice are shaped when global branding elements are factored in remains unclear. Drawing from the functional theory of attitude formation, this study investigates the relationships of consumer characteristics (political ideology, consumer ethnocentrism) and brand factors (global brand attitudes and perceived motivation of global brand activists) with attitudes toward global brand activists.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a survey of a UK nationally representative sample (n = 439), we test our hypothesized model via structural equation modeling and mediation analysis.

Findings

Our findings reveal direct and indirect effects of political ideology on attitudes toward global brand activists (AttGBACTIVs). While consumer ethnocentrism and global brand attitudes do not directly drive AttGBACTIVs, they do influence them indirectly. Perceived motivation of global brand activists emerges as a key mechanism activating these effects and affecting AttGBACTIVs.

Originality/value

First, this study constitutes a novel examination of consumer views of brand activism through a global branding lens. Second, our investigation uniquely combines important determinants of brand activism outcomes with key international marketing factors (namely consumer ethnocentrism and global brand attitudes). Third, the concurrent exploration of individual and brand factors in our mediated model reveals the complex mechanisms through which attitudes toward global brand activists are formed.

Details

International Marketing Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-1335

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 August 2024

Muhammad Yousaf Malik, Linzhuo Wang and Fangwei Zhu

Variations of human-versus-structure and within-humans at the organizational and the project level are critical in shaping the internal arrangement for effectiveness of…

Abstract

Purpose

Variations of human-versus-structure and within-humans at the organizational and the project level are critical in shaping the internal arrangement for effectiveness of project-based organization’s (PBOs) governance. Recent discourse presents governmentality at the organizational level and leadership at the project level as human agency of governance, whereas governance structures to be their counterpart. However, project-level mechanisms of governmentality that can help to understand possible variations among these governance dimensions remained veiled. This study uses institutional theory to explore these internal arrangements accommodated by variations of PBOs governance dimensions at the project level.

Design/methodology/approach

The study followed Eisenhardt protocols of multiple case study design using an abductive research approach. Considering the heterogeneity of governance as a phenomenon in literature, boundary conditions were established before theorizing the model of the study to avoid ambiguities and define the research scope. Five PBOs were chosen using theoretical sampling, yielding 70 interviews. Data were analyzed by constant comparison with theory, using replication logic and cross-case analysis.

Findings

Findings revealed that project managers perform a buffer function for governmentality at the project level. Identified mechanisms of governmentality at the project level included two downward mechanisms, i.e. communication and informal interactions of governors, and two upward mechanisms of adaptation and reciprocity by project managers and project team members. Cross-analysis for variations among PBOs’ governance at the project level revealed seven arrangements showcasing synergies or contrasts.

Originality/value

The study adds to organizational project management literature by advancing the significance of congruence between humans and structures in project governance. Furthermore, the synchronization of the project manager’s leadership style with the governmentality approach and governance structure of PBOs is of crucial importance at the project level. Findings suggest the same by showcasing synergetic versus contrasting internal arrangements accommodated in varying PBOs governance dimensions. Implications highlight that synergies among PBOs governance dimensions and project manager’s styles can minimize conflicts and inconsistencies in governance implementation, whereas contrasts might trigger them.

Details

International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8378

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 May 2024

Christina Zacharia Hawatmeh, Iman Abu Hashish and Rawand Rami Alazzeh

This article aims to illuminate the gendered organisational structure of higher education in Jordan by collecting and analysing a national-level snapshot of the current…

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to illuminate the gendered organisational structure of higher education in Jordan by collecting and analysing a national-level snapshot of the current distribution of women and men in leadership positions and academic ranks across Jordanian universities to pinpoint inequalities in specific levels and fields.

Design/methodology/approach

Grounded in gendered organisational theory, this study presents a snapshot of the gender composition of 10 public and 14 private universities in Jordan. The snapshot, collected in September 2022 from these universities’ websites, examines counts of male and female administrative leaders as well as academic staff across all ranks for all faculties in both STEM and liberal arts fields.

Findings

The distribution of women and men in leadership positions in universities across Jordan is highly unequal, with men outnumbering women in the uppermost positions by nearly 10:1. This gap decreases as the rank of positions decreases, indicative of a highly gendered organisational structure, with only three to four fields approaching gender parity.

Research limitations/implications

This paper offers a comprehensive and detailed quantitative foundation for researchers to investigate the underlying social, cultural, legal, political and economic factors perpetuating gender inequality in academia in Jordan and in comparative studies.

Practical implications

This study is relevant for targeting policies for advancing sustainable development goals, specifically 5.5, which aim at women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making.

Originality/value

This study provides the most detailed and extensive macro-level analysis of the gender composition of universities in Jordan.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

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