The Hoede–Bakker Index Modified to the Shapley–Shubik and Holler–Packel Indices

We present some modifications of the Hoede–Bakker index defined in a social network in which players may influence each other. Due to influences of the other actors, the final decision of a player may be different from his original inclination. The modifications presented in the paper are defined for an arbitrary probability distribution over all inclination vectors. In particular, they concern the situation in which the inclination vectors may be not equally probable. Furthermore, by assuming special probability distributions over all inclination vectors, we construct modifications of the Hoede–Bakker index that coincide with the Shapley–Shubik index and with the Holler–Packel index, respectively. We present a practical example in which the concepts in question are applied to Dutch parties, and a theoretical example in which we show how the modifications can be calculated.     

Brand wars: consumer–brand engagement beyond client–agency fights

Engaging consumers with their brands has emerged as a priority in marketers’ agenda. Brand decision-makers share a clear representational view of consumer-brand engagement (CBE). Despite this agreement, practitioners are currently finding hard to practically achieve CBE. The clash between an ideal representation of CBE focused on consumer protagonism and its fragile execution urges a rethinking of consumer-brand relationship modes and timeframe. We argue that this clash is nurtured by the long-established conflicting relational dynamics among brand decision-makers illustrated by client–agency (CA) disputes of which consumers represent the ending-point recipient. This paper reflects on how consumer protagonism as an inherent component of CBE is currently reshaping the relation dynamics among all brand actors. We represent CBE as a relational hub resting upon a co-creation rather than a separation logic. We finally provide a pragmatic reflection on the relationship culture required by CBE among actors beyond the CA dyad.     

Customer segmentation using unobserved heterogeneity in the perceived-value–loyalty–intentions link

Multiple facets of perceived value perceptions drive loyalty intentions. However, this value–loyalty link is not uniform for all customers. In fact, the present study identifies three different segments that are internally consistent and stable across different service industries, using two data sets: the wireless telecommunication industry (sample size 1122) and the financial services industry (sample size 982). Comparing the results of a single-class solution with finite mixture results confirms the existence of unobserved customer segments. The three established segments are “rationalists”, “functionalists” and “value maximizers”. These results point the way for value-based segmentation in loyalty initiatives and reflect the importance of a multidimensional conceptualization of perceived value, comprising cognitive and affective components. The present results substantiate the fact that assuming a homogeneous value–loyalty link provides a misleading view of the market. The paper derives implications for marketing research and practice in terms of segmentation, positioning, loyalty programs and strategic alliances.     

From merchant to merchant-ruler: A structure–conduct–performance perspective of the East India Company's history, 1600–1765

Many nineteenth-century historians claimed that the English East India Company's trade and commercial activities, right from inception, were never really a financially profitable enterprise. This argument is incorporated within an altered structure–conduct–performance (SCP) paradigm to rearticulate the Company's history between 1600 and 1765. Rather than characterising the Company as simply a chartered monopoly, the article instead argues that the market structure in which it operated was competitive or contestable but, at the same time, wrought with high sunk costs and free-riders. This framework allows us to understand why the Company desperately pursued market conduct strategies to gain monopoly and monopsony power in England and India respectively, which simultaneously contributed to its transformation from merchant to merchant-ruler. In this process the Company redefined not merely industry boundaries but also those between industry and state.     

The British corporate network, 1904–1976: Revisiting the finance–industry relationship

The relationship between finance and industry in Britain has received substantial attention, largely focusing on the role played by clearing banks as lenders to industry. This article, through the use of a unique dataset detailing the composition of the British corporate network, aims to investigate the corporate connectivity of industry to banks but also, importantly, highlight the increasing presence of financial institutions other than banks in British business. Additionally, the position of these financial institutions within the network reflects the changes in patterns of ownership of British business through this period as institutional investors’ share of British companies increased. This changing position is further articulated by an analysis of network density over the period, providing critical insights into wider patterns in British business between 1904 and 1976.     

Unfolding executive coaches' identity work through the social constructivist lens: Coach–coachee–organisation

This study responds to a recent call on coaches' professional identity work through a socially contextualised lens. Coaches, as the freelancer, encounter complex working relationships with clients due to multiple contracting entities; yet coaches' identity work has been neglected in the extant training and development courses. A total of 36 semi-structured interviews with coaches and relational others (e.g., coachees and organisational stakeholders) were conducted to understand how coaches develop professional identity as part of their career development in responding to interactions with relational others. The research findings identify that learning facilitator is the core identity of coaches regardless of varied stages of the coaching process. Three layers of sub-identity are distinguished for them to handle a multi-level working relationship with clients. Coaches often ‘travel’ in-and-out between layers of these sub-identities to incorporate micro-personal career interests, meso coaching dyadic working relationships and the macro-level organisational scope into their identity development and negotiation. Accordingly, coaches' learning agility is required to remain identity flexibility for coping with varied coaching scenarios. This study outlines a conceptual framework which illustrates coaches' identity work as a conscious cognitive learning process embedded social and psychological exchanges. This framework offers coaching professional development courses a groundwork to facilitate coaches' identity development.     

United States–China Plane Collision Negotiation

On April 1, 2000 an American surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter plane collided off the coast of China. The Chinese pilot parachuted out of his aircraft but was presumed dead; his body was not found. The U.S. plane made an emergency landing at a Chinese military airfield without receiving permission. China thus had possession of the U.S. plane and crew. China said that the U.S. was responsible for the crash and demanded an apology. The U.S. expressed regret over the collision but declared it had no apology to give as the fault lay with the Chinese pilot. On April 10 with negotiation between the two countries remaining deadlocked, the author considered the problem in the Evolutionary Systems Design (ESD) framework. The article discusses the author's analysis and solution, his efforts to implement it, and the agreed solution announced by the U.S. and China on April 11.     

The academician–practitioner gap in advertising

The existence of the academician–practitioner gap is readily acknowledged and widely discussed in the marketing/advertising literature. This paper analyses key writings on the nature of the academician–practitioner rift and proposes a new approach complementing the literature. The review identifies five prevailing explanations why miscommunication between academicians and practitioners exists: (1) the failure of academic knowledge dissemination systems; (2) problems with the knowledge content and knowledge form academicians produce; (3) counterproductive academic organisational systems; (4) questions of philosophy of science; and (5) practitioners’ inability and unwillingness to process academic information. The study concludes that one potential explanation is entirely missed in these accounts: the possibility that practitioners’ knowledge about how advertising works is an autonomous construct, which has its own rules and deep structure, and resists simple assimilation attempted by academicians. The study also complements the existing literature by basing the review on firm theoretical grounds: the authors apply the influential sociological theory of professionalisation. Finally, future directions for research investigation are suggested, which moves the predominantly normative discourse into the empirical world.     

Celebrity endorsement: How celebrity–brand–user personality congruence affects brand attitude and purchase intention

The present study provides and tests a conceptual framework aimed at comparing the relative effectiveness of celebrity–user, brand–celebrity, and user–brand personality congruence on brand attitude and brand purchase intention (BPI) thereafter. The data collection was done via an online survey of a representative group of consumers (n = 431) located across India. Hypotheses were tested using regression analysis with mediation approach. The results indicate that while user–brand and brand–celebrity personality congruence have a significant impact on brand attitude and purchase intention, celebrity–user congruence does not. Further, brand attitude is found to be a partial mediator on the relationship between the pair-wise personality congruence on BPI. The findings have major implications for marketers in understanding the significance of personality congruence among celebrity–brand–user in the formation of brand attitude and purchase intention that can be used in positioning and in increasing the advertising effectiveness of brands using celebrity endorsement. The present study is a pioneer in contributing to the celebrity endorsement literature by investigating the relative impact of three pairs of personality congruence: celebrity–brand, brand–user, and celebrity–user, on brand attitude and BPI, thereby supporting the applicability of McCracken's Meaning Transfer Model [McCracken (1989), The Journal of Consumer Research, 16 (3) 310–321) and the Hierarchy-of-effects model (Lavidge and Steiner (1961), Journal of Marketing, 25 (6) 59–62].     

Labour–Intensive Industrialization in Hong Kong, 1950–70: A Note on Sources and Methods

This research note critiques published quantitative sources on employment in manufacturing enterprises during a crucial epoch of rapid industrialization, and uses newly discovered archival sources to investigate organizational dualism, the co-existence of labour and capital-intensive modes of production. New quantitative data demonstrates that a high proportion of the industrial workforce was employed in small enterprises, notably workshops using labour-intensive techniques. New surveys of two ‘traditional’ Hong Kong industries (rattan ware furniture and basket ware; and umbrella making) show that factory, workshop, and home-based production co-existed within the same sector across the whole period, 1950–70.     

A modified and extended Triandis model for the enablers–process–outcomes relationship in hotel employees' knowledge sharing

The primary objective of this study is to propose and investigate the integrative model which was formulated by modifying and extending the Triandis model (TRIANM); this explores the structural relationships among knowledge-sharing enablers, process, and outcomes in hotels from a holistic perspective. The hypotheses are examined with data from 327 employees in 10 five-star hotels in Busan, Korea. Anticipated usefulness and reciprocal relationships are confirmed as the two most important enablers of employees' knowledge-sharing behaviour. Other significant enablers include facilitating conditions and social factors. New enablers, enjoyment in helping others and knowledge self-efficacy, that we have added to the TRIANM are also found to be significant. The path from knowledge-sharing behaviour to organizational innovation capability, the path from organizational innovation capability to organizational performance is found to be significant, respectively. The findings and theoretical and practical implications are then discussed.     

A Stakeholder Perspective on Buyer–Supplier Conflict

This study seeks to investigate how stakeholder power and an organization's pursuit of legitimacy influence its reaction to conflict with a supplier. We conducted an empirical study among travel agents and tour operators to test the relationship between conflict and stakeholder power and legitimacy derived from three different stakeholders. Our findings imply that power has a dual role. Whereas supplier power reduces buyer–supplier conflict, stakeholder power increases it. Moreover, this study shows that the quest to achieve greater legitimacy from the firm's competitive arena increases conflict. This study is one of the few that test stakeholder theory empirically. We demonstrate that stakeholder theory provides additional explanations above the hitherto taken dyadic approach toward understanding conflict. This study also shows that power can simultaneously reduce and increase conflict depending on which party possesses power. Greater supplier power decreases conflict, while greater stakeholder power and stakeholder-derived legitimacy increases it. Therefore, organizations have to balance their stakeholder and supplier interests.     

Intra-Industry Specialization in United States–China Trade

Frictions in U.S.–China bilateral trade relations have intensified in recent years. Changes in intra-industry specialization indicators are used to assess factor adjustment pressures that may have been experienced by U.S. and Chinese industries from recent growth in bilateral trade. Many industries experienced large increases in intra-industry trade over the 2000–10 period. Only 14 of 62 U.S. industries may have experienced factor adjustment pressures. Most U.S. industries gained from growth in U.S.–China trade. Nine Chinese industries may have faced factor adjustment pressures. The United States should refrain from using trade remedy measures to address bilateral trade frictions and focus instead on improving trade relations.     

Salesperson's listening in buyer–seller service relationships

Research has consistently shown that salesperson's active listening behavior leads to strong sales performance. Yet the influence of management policies on listening has received very limited attention, and prior research linking listening to customer retention has led to mixed findings. This study examines how listening is enhanced through control systems and the influence of listening on customer retention in a service context. Dyadic data from salespeople and their customers show that a behavior-based control system (measured as a second-order construct) positively influences listening and the salesperson's customer orientation totally mediates the influence of listening on customer commitment to the salesperson and loyalty to the service company. Our findings indicate that listening is a necessary but not sufficient condition for assuring relationship development. More specifically, customer orientation is the generative mechanism through which listening is able to influence customer retention. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Asymmetries exist in the Feldstein–Horioka relationship

Most studies assume symmetry between saving and investment changes. They are wrong to do so. We model the response of investment to positive and negative changes in saving for 17 OECD countries from 1960 to 2015. We use both panel and time series methods. We find that negative changes in saving have a stronger effect on investment than positive changes in saving do. In the short run, causality only runs from negative changes in saving to investment. In the long run, both negative and positive changes in saving Granger cause investment. Models relying on saving-investment symmetry in the long run are called into question. Policies assuming symmetric effects throughout the business cycle are similarly flawed.     

Disney in Spain (1930–1935)

Abstract

This article looks at the ways in which the global brand par excellence – Mickey Mouse – spread throughout Spain in the early 1930s. In tracing the creative and commercial interplay with the Mickey character we show how the Disney Company failed to obtain any significant intellectual property rights in its own name or obtain a sympathetic hearing by Spanish patent and trademark officials. Yet this was undoubtedly a period of significant global development of the Disney brand. With the attempt to explain such an apparent contradictory situation, this article highlights the importance of the management of particular struggles in the flux of desires, appropriation and investments that contributed to the emergence of the elusive ‘merchandising right’.     

Misleading Consumers with Green Advertising? An Affect–Reason–Involvement Account of Greenwashing Effects in Environmental Advertising

Drawing from the affect–reason–involvement model, we examine how misleading advertising about the environmental features of products, or greenwashing, affects how consumers perceive ads and brands. Using data from two experimental studies with quota-based samples in the United States (N = 486) and Germany (N = 300), we compare nondeceptive claims with two types of claims often used in greenwashing: vague claims and false claims. We also identify the presence of pleasant nature-evoking images and test for interaction effects with two types of environmental involvement: environmental concern and environmental knowledge. Results indicate that while vague claims do not enhance consumers' perceived greenwashing regardless of their environmental knowledge or concern, false claims do, which consequently harms consumers' attitudes toward those ads and brands. In the United States, consumers' environmental knowledge moderates that effect, whereas all consumers in Germany could identify false claims as attempts at greenwashing. Moreover, associating greenwashing claims with nature-evoking images activates an affective persuasive mechanism that appeals to consumers' affinity for nature, which not only positively influences their evaluations of ads and brands but also influences their attitudes toward ads and brands more strongly than perceived greenwashing. In closing, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.     

Corporate Legitimacy and Investment–Cash Flow Sensitivity

This study provides novel evidence of the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on investment sensitivity to cash flows. We posit that CSR affects investment–cash flow sensitivity (ICFS) through information asymmetry and agency costs, commonly viewed as the two channels through which investment responds to the availability of internal cash flows. We find that CSR performance leads to a decrease in ICFS. We further find that ICFS decreases (increases) when CSR strengths (concerns) increase. Finally, we find that the effect of CSR on ICFS is driven by the areas Community, Diversity, and Human Rights. In sum, the findings of this study stress the relevance of CSR—in particular, of CSR activities that extend beyond compliance behavior and reflect what is desired by society—in reducing market frictions and improving firms’ access to financial capital.