Family firms’ identity communication and consumers’ product involvement impact on consumer response

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the image transfer theory and the elaboration likelihood model can provide a theoretical framework capable of assessing the influence of consumers’ product involvement and family firms’ identity communication through websites on consumer responses. This research conducted an experiment using an eye‐tracking technique measuring attention to family and nonfamily corporate websites. The procedure involved 120 participants. Consistent with the image transfer theory, family firms’ identity through websites positively impacts attitude toward the website and intention to buy. Additionally, the attitude toward the website affects the relationship between family firms’ identity through websites and the intention to buy. In line with the elaboration likelihood model, consumers’ product involvement negatively impacts the relationship between family firms’ identity through websites and intention to buy.     

Mobile Commerce Website Success: Antecedents of Consumer Satisfaction and Purchase Intention

With the rapid development of apparel mobile commerce in the United States, more companies view mobile commerce as a new source of competitive advantage. Despite the importance of apparel mobile website quality and its effect on consumer satisfaction and future purchase stimulus, extant research has paid little attention to these topics. This study proposes a website quality–consumer satisfaction–purchase intention research model based on the self-regulatory process theory. Six dimensions of apparel mobile website quality—website visual appeal, apparel visual appeal, brand trust, website information quality, website response time, and website security—were investigated. In all, 293 eligible responses were collected via an online survey. Multiple regression analysis was utilized to test the proposed relationships. Results reveal that website information quality, website visual appeal, apparel visual appeal, and website security positively affect consumer satisfaction toward apparel mobile commerce websites, while website response time and brand trust show insignificant impacts on consumer satisfaction. With higher satisfaction on an apparel mobile commerce website, consumers are more likely to purchase apparel through the website.     

How User‐Created‐Content (UCC) Service Quality Influences User Satisfaction and Behaviour

The Internet is undergoing a gradual shift from Web 1.0‐based user interaction to Web 2.0, which has a greater emphasis on user‐created content (UCC) and user collaboration (Hsu & Hsu, 2008). Since existing models of e‐service quality are likely deficient under Web 2.0, we build on them and test a new framework using 319 users who frequented UCC websites. Among other findings, three service elements together explained 44% of the variance in user satisfaction and 33% of the variance in website usage. These elements were: the provider‐user relationship (customization and participation), the relationship among users (e.g., user empowerment), and user compensation. Copyright © 2012 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

高性能电子商务网站前端设计理念研究

随着电子商务的发展,电子商务网站数量越来越多,流量越来越大,页面元素也越来越多,这就使得电子商务网站的页面响应速度变慢,为了使电子商务网站前端提高其性能,本文首先对相关概念进行界定,然后找出影响电子商务网站前端性能的因素,最后根据这些因素提出高性能电子商务网站前端设计理念。     

论老年人电子商务网站的规划和建设

随着互联网的发展,电子商务的应用日渐走向深入和全面,形形色色的电子商务网站层出不穷,老年人电子商务网站就是其中的一种。本文分析了建设老年人电子商务网站的积极意义,总结了我国老年人电子商务网站建设所取得的成就和存在的一些不足,最后从不同方面阐述了我国老年人电子商务网站的规划和建设的思路,以期指导建设一个符合老年人特点和需要的电子商务网站。     

H‐1B and L‐1 visa‐sponsored guest workers in the USA: An analysis of the strategic impact of Indian and other firms

Organizational sponsors of guest workers to the United States claim foreign‐born workers enhance productivity and innovation. Drawing upon a unique dataset of all organizational sponsors of guest workers in the United States from 1993 to 2008, we find a 10% increase in guest worker sponsorship is associated with a 2.2–3.1% increase in patenting within firms. Furthermore, we examine how organizational industry and country of origin are associated with the effects of guest worker sponsorship on organization‐level measures of innovation and productivity. Despite an overall within‐firm positive association between sponsorship and patenting, higher percentages of a firm's workers on visas are associated with lower patenting, but higher labor productivity. Firm‐level industry and country of origin heterogeneity is significantly related to the relationship between guest work sponsorship and both patent‐related and nonpatent investment in innovation such as research and development (R&D) expenditures. Semiconductor firms and universities spend more on R&D in conjunction with guest worker sponsorship, while semiconductor companies and hardware companies patent less. We discuss theoretical and human resource implications, and offer suggestions for future research.     

The roles of trust and experience in consumer confidence in conducting e‐commerce: a cross‐cultural comparison between France and Germany

Based on the Eurobarometer survey data, this study examined the roles of experience and cultural propensity to trust in consumer confidence in conducting e‐commerce. Compared with consumers in a low‐trust culture (France), consumers from a high‐trust society (West Germany) exhibit more confidence in conducting e‐commerce. This cultural difference is only evident among consumers with no prior e‐commerce experience but disappears among consumers with prior e‐commerce experience. There is no interaction effect of culture and experience. While consumer confidence in conducting e‐commerce declines with age within each culture, consumers of the same age groups tend to have higher confidence in conducting e‐commerce in West Germany than in France. Academic and practical implications were provided.     

Exporting and Environmental Performance: A Firm‐level Productivity Analysis

The objective of this paper is to study empirically the relationship between export orientation and firms’ environmental performance from different perspectives of trade theory. On the one hand, productivity heterogeneity is analysed within the new trade‐theoretical framework. The approach followed is to determine firm‐level productivity components, including an environmental productivity indicator (as a performance measure) and taking as reference the Spanish food industry. On the other hand, from the traditional comparative advantage perspective, this study also develops an export performance model to evaluate the effect of technology, environmental variables and factor endowment on exporting. The results show greater environmental productivity and corporate efficiency for export‐oriented firms. Our findings also determine the positive effect on firms’ export intensity of environmental performance as a factor of specialisation and technology proficiency.     

Explaining country and cross‐border liquidity commonality in international equity markets

Using a large cross section of intraday data from 25 developed countries, we study commonality in liquidity, both within and across international equity markets, over 15‐minute intervals. Within‐country and cross‐border liquidity commonalities are found to be significant and, after controlling for country and industry effects, relate to such firm‐specific measures as size, bid–ask spread, and the extent of analyst coverage. Additionally, within‐country liquidity commonality is lower for firms with depository receipts cross listed in New York or London. Cross‐border liquidity commonality is particularly high for firms with relatively high actual ownership by foreign institutions. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 29:630–652, 2009     

International website disclosure of codes of ethics: auditor‐specific and stock‐exchange‐listing differences

This research examines whether having a readily available code of ethics on a corporation's website associates with either their auditor or stock exchange listing. As such, it is the first research that studies the association among readily available codes of ethics, client auditor and stock exchange listing on a longitudinal basis. In our data gathering, we went to the website of each corporation and searched for a readily available disclosure of its code of ethics at the beginning of April 2006 through April 2009 – third‐through‐sixth anniversaries of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act. Our data indicate that the average readily available rate of codes of ethics for Ernst and Young's clients was significantly lower than the average readily available rate for the clients of Deloitte and Touche in 2006 and 2007 and PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2007. However, our data indicate no differences among the Big Four firms in 2008 and 2009. Our data indicate that the average readily available rates for the clients listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) were significantly higher than for clients that were not listed on the NYSE for all four observation points (2006–2009).     

Combining Formal Controls to Improve Firm Performance

Formal controls are an essential part of organizational design, and are theorized to positively influence organizational performance. Mello and Hunt ([2009] Transportation Journal, 48:20–39) were the first to suggest using formal controls to influence truck drivers' behavior. Extending the salesperson control literature, they documented an underresearched method of formal control that we term technology control, whereby firms use on‐board and communications technology to influence drivers. We build on their work by investigating the contingent effects of formal controls that influence the behavior of truck drivers and thereby influence the operational performance of firms in the U.S. motor carrier industry. Our work integrates the monitoring aspect of agency theory with the theory of operant conditioning and the theory of psychological reactance to develop a rationale for hypothesized contingent effects of formal controls on motor carriers' operational performance. We collected primary data pertaining to the controls used to influence truck drivers' behavior from a large sample of U.S. motor carrier firms. The results of our analyses using nonlinear structural equation modeling suggest a complex set of relationships between formal controls and operational performance. Our results shed light on scenarios where using technology to monitor driver behavior can result in positive and/or negative organizational outcomes.     

Some implications of search and switching costs for the price dynamics of electronic markets

This article develops a model, based on switching costs and technological uncertainty, which explains some aspects of the price dynamics of e‐commerce. Switching costs and intertemporal cost correlation lock‐in consumers. Firms initially charge low prices to build a customer base. If firms fail to reduce costs, and reservation prices are low, firms exit the industry. Over time, prices increase if no exit occurs, and decrease if exit occurs. Prices may also decrease over time, if the proportion of low search cost consumers increases.     

THE LAST MILE: AN EXAMINATION OF EFFECTS OF ONLINE RETAIL DELIVERY STRATEGIES ON CONSUMERS

The Internet has increased the level of importance of the end‐consumer market to transportation carriers. In two between subject experiments, carrier disclosure on retail merchant websites is examined as a strategic differentiation strategy. Predictions are offered concerning effects of carrier disclosure strategies on product delivery‐related expectations, consumer attitudes, and intentions to purchase a product online. Results from Study 1 reveal significant differences between disclosure and nondisclosure of the carrier for numerous product delivery‐related variables, as well as many differences between the six carriers examined in this first study. Study 2 extends these findings by showing that providing consumers with a choice of carrier leads to increased levels of satisfaction with the online experience and greater willingness to buy, relative to nondisclosure and disclosure strategies.     

Four visions of e‐commerce in Latin America in the year 2010

Excitement is growing around the world about the Internet's potential to enable a global electronic commerce. The reality, however, differs a great deal depending on what part of the world we consider. In Latin America, the e‐commerce theme is often found in the popular press portraying it as a solution for multiple national problems and as a catalyst to propel the region to a stronger position in the world economy. Unfortunately, many of the “new” capabilities required to harness the economic benefit of e‐commerce, which emphasize value‐adding steps performed through and with information, are very scarce in the region. This article raises questions about Latin America's ability to exploit the Internet, and to implement and capitalize on e‐commerce applications. It underscores the region's need to engage in a future planning discourse about the adoption of e‐commerce within organizations, communities, and across traditional boundaries of competition and national borders. To start the dialogue, four scenarios are presented as “future snapshots” written from the vantage point of the year 2010. Each scenario considers issues regarding technological adoption and potential social responses, and discusses some of the critical assumptions about patterns observed in the region today and their implications for the future. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Gulf Arab E‐Business Environment: Localization Strategy Insights

The Gulf Arab region, particularly Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), took significant steps toward adopting e‐business and is poised to become a significant online marketplace. The region has a number of vital ingredients that could make it an e‐commerce powerhouse; however, e‐commerce has not reached its full potential. In this article, the authors explore the e‐business environment in the Gulf Arab region and shed light on some of the opportunities and challenges that are shaping and restricting e‐business infiltration. The article places greater emphasis on the idea of localization and how it may impact consumer behavior and expansion of e‐commerce. We argue that by increasing the focus on culturally customized online content by considering country‐level cultural, geopolitical, and linguistic factors, this region could be lucrative for companies looking to attract online consumers. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Optimal timing to invest in e‐commerce

The timing of investment in e‐commerce remains hotly debated in both the academic and investment communities. This study develops a framework for analyzing the optimal timing for a company to invest in e‐commerce for conducting its business‐to‐business (B2B) or business‐to‐consumer (B2C) transactions. This study applies a real option theory to assess a new risk–reward dynamic for investing in e‐commerce. The numerical results demonstrate that the optimal timing of investment in e‐commerce depends on uncertainties regarding future cash flows and the opportunity costs associated with e‐commerce. Implications with regard to the behavior of Internet companies from a financial perspective are discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Driver Management That Drives Carrier Performance

The trucking industry provides the majority of transportation services in the United States. Truck drivers, particularly their driving performance, which influences how customers perceive motor carriers, are integral to the success of their firms. Hence, driver management is a topic of great interest to the trucking industry, logistics practitioners, and logistics researchers. Although the logistics literature does address issues relating to driver management, advice is scarce regarding how motor carriers might manage drivers to improve operational performance and thus the bottom line. Our results shed light on the processes whereby some formal controls directly influence operational performance, whereas others indirectly influence operational performance; that is, in the latter case, the influence of formal controls on operational performance is mediated by certain informal controls. According to our findings, motor carrier firms that employ a combination of formal and informal controls perform better operationally than firms that do not do so. And, thus, those employing such a combination of controls will realize a larger market share.     

Protect,profit, profess,promote: Establishing legitimacy through logics of diversity in Canadian accounting firm recruitment documents

Prospective accounting recruits are increasingly diverse. Drawing on a theoretical framework that combines legitimacy theory, impression management, and institutional logics, we use content analysis to examine how the eight largest Canadian accounting firms refer to diversity in their recruitment websites. Our analysis reveals accounting firms adopt multiple institutional logics and various impression management strategies to enhance legitimacy in the eyes of prospective diversity‐sensitive employees. We find four “Ps” of diversity‐related institutional logics—protect, profit, profess, and promote—all of which are at play in accounting firms' websites. Further, we find that diversity is far from being an institutionalized concept. Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Multivariate Time‐Series Examination of Motor Carrier Safety Behaviors

Motor carriers’ operational safety affects multiple stakeholders including truck drivers, motor carriers, insurance companies, shippers, and the general public. In this article, I devise and test theory regarding motor carriers’ longitudinal performance for three classes of safety behaviors linked to carriers’ accident rates—Unsafe Driving, Hours‐of‐Service Compliance, and Vehicle Maintenance—tracked by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration as part of the Compliance, Safety, and Accountability (CSA) program. Specifically, I draw on core concepts from sociological agency theory and resource dependency theory to devise middle‐range theory that generates never‐before‐tested hypotheses regarding carriers’ longitudinal safety performance for these classes of safety behaviors after the start of the CSA program. The hypothesized predictions are tested by fitting a series of multivariate latent curve models to four years of panel data for a random sample of 484 large, for‐hire motor carriers operating in the United States. The empirical findings corroborate the theoretical predictions and remain after robustness testing. These findings have important implications for scholars, motor carrier managers, procurers of motor carrier transportation services, and public policy makers.     

The Supply of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosures Among U.S. Firms

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a dramatically expanding area of activity for managers and academics. Consumer demand for responsibly produced and fair trade goods is swelling, resulting in increased demands for CSR activity and information. Assets under professional management and invested with a social responsibility focus have also grown dramatically over the last 10 years. Investors choosing social responsibility investment strategies require access to information not provided through traditional financial statements and analyses. At the same time, a group of mainstream institutional investors has encouraged a movement to incorporate environmental, social, and governance information into equity analysis, and multi-stakeholder groups have supported enhanced business reporting on these issues. The majority of research in this area has been performed on European and Australian firms. We expand on this literature by exploring the CSR disclosure practices of a size- and industry-stratified sample of 50 publicly traded U.S. firms, performing a content analysis on the complete identifiable public information portfolio provided by these firms during 2004. CSR activity was disclosed by most firms in the sample, and was included in nearly half of public disclosures made during that year by the sample firms. Areas of particular emphasis are community matters, health and safety, diversity and human resources (HR) matters, and environmental programs. The primary venues of disclosure are mass media releases such as corporate websites and press releases, followed closely by disclosures contained in mandatory filings. Consistent with prior research, we identify industry effects in terms of content, emphasis, and reporting format choices. Unlike prior research, we can offer only mixed evidence on the existence of a size effect. The disclosure frequency and emphasis is significantly different for the largest one-fifth of the firms, but no identifiable trends are present within the rest of the sample. There are, however, identifiable size effects with respect to reporting format choice. Use of websites is positively related to firm size, while the use of mandatory filings is negatively related to firm size. Finally, and also consistent with prior literature, we document a generally self-laudatory tone in the content of CSR disclosures for the sample firms.