HARSH NORMS AND SCREENING FOR LOYALTY

Norms that restrict choice sets or impose otherwise harsh requirements would seem to act as barriers to group formation by raising the costs of adherence to potential and continuing members. Contrary to that intuition, one observes a broad range of group norms in the real world that impose large costs on group members. Iannaccone provides a rationale for harsh norms as a mechanism to reduce free‐riding in supplying a club good. This paper proposes a new rationalization for harsh group norms as a mechanism under which harsh norms serve to screen out disloyal members, providing what is essentially a technology for measuring loyalty in environments where group leaders cannot reliably measure group members' loyalty. The model demonstrates that loyalty can be signalled through acts that are seemingly irrelevant to the group's core objectives and identity.     

Team creativity: the effects of perceived learning culture,developmental feedback and team cohesion

This study investigates the influence of perceived learning culture, developmental feedback and team cohesion on team creativity. The results showed that the demographic variables, the three antecedents and their interactions explained 41 per cent of variance in team creativity. Team creativity was positively correlated with a higher level of learning culture, developmental feedback and team cohesion. In addition to the main effects, two interaction effects (developmental feedback and team cohesion; learning culture and team cohesion) were significant. In view of these results, organizations seeking to increase team creativity need an integrated strategy incorporating elements of culture management, effective coaching and team development. Implications, limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Business unit relatedness and performance: A look at the pulp and paper industry

Discussions of relatedness in the strategy literature concentrate on linkages among business units in terms of key business functions such as marketing and production. While much is known about relatedness from the standpoint of corporate diversification, evidence about the relationship between relatedness and performance at the business unit level has been notably lacking. To further our understanding of the benefits and costs of relatedness, this study examined the perspectives of business unit managers to assess: (1) how the relationship between the two primary types of relatedness–production and marketing–are emphasized at the business unit level, and (2) how these types of relatedness affect business unit performance.     

合并纳税制度的国际比较及对中国的启示

发达国家为了提高本国企业的国际竞争力、吸引投资,普遍实施企业集团合并纳税制度。我国现行的合并纳税制度在保持税收公平和税收中性、控制国内税收流失和国有资产流失、国际税收协调等方面存在诸多不完善之处,不仅使中国企业集团在国际市场上处于不利位置,也制约了企业的稳定发展。因此,应通过比较和分析中国与其他国家的企业集团合并纳税制度,找出中国合并纳税制度的不足之处,并加以完善。     

The influence of college students' shopping orientations and gender differences on online information searches and purchase behaviours

Using the data collected from a survey of 1277 US college students, this study investigated college students' shopping orientations, and examined the relationships between their shopping orientations and searches for information about and purchases of apparel products online and the differences between male and female students in their shopping orientations, online information searches and purchase experiences. Seven shopping orientation constructs were identified: shopping enjoyment, brand/fashion consciousness, price consciousness, shopping confidence, convenience/time consciousness, in‐home shopping tendency and brand/store loyalty. Results showed that participants' shopping orientations were significantly related to their searches for information about and purchases of apparel items online. In addition, male and female participants showed significant differences in their shopping orientations, online information searches and purchase experiences. This study provided suggestions for apparel e‐tailors to develop effective marketing strategies to reach their target market, for consumer educators and for educators in the retail merchandizing area to prepare their students for future careers.     

Recognizing Native Ads as Advertising: Attitudinal and Behavioral Consequences

This study assessed consumers' initial reactions to in‐feed native ads appearing as news content. In particular, it focuses on consumers' recognition of advertising when they realize that content they had thought were news stories had in fact been advertising. Recognition of advertising made consumers infer that advertisers had deliberately manipulated them. Consequently, consumers engaged less with the message, had less positive attitudes toward the brand, and were less likely to purchase and share. The results demonstrated the mechanisms through which the two mediators, manipulative intent and message engagement, lowered brand attitude, purchase intention, and sharing intention. In addition, ad disclosure made more people recognize the ad when they were exposed to it than when it was not disclosed as an ad.     

The performance dimension in symbolic management revisited: the functional role of traditional mechanisms in large Korean firms*

Symbolic management perspective argues that newly adopted shareholder-oriented mechanisms promote positive market responses, whereas traditional mechanisms assume sociopolitical power struggle for their sustainability. Beyond the dichotomous understanding, this study proposes that the continuation of traditional mechanisms is also attributable to their performance contribution. Using panel data on 100 large Korean firms (1998–2011), this study found that the positive influence of traditional mechanisms such as business group on performance, measured by ROA and R&D intensity, improves market responses, i.e. market capitalization and Tobin’s q. In the process, shareholder-oriented mechanisms, such as foreign ownership, positively moderates the influence of traditional mechanisms. For corporate governance reform, this study suggests that balanced attention should be paid to the performance contribution of traditional mechanisms in interaction with shareholder-oriented mechanisms.     

Avoiding the Pitfalls of Net Uniformity: Zero Rating and Nondiscrimination

The current debate over network neutrality has not fully appreciated how service differentiation can benefit consumers and promote Internet adoption. On the demand-side, service differentiation addresses the primary obstacle to adoption, which is the lack of perceived need for Internet service, and reflects the growing heterogeneity of consumer demand. On the supply-side, monopolistic competition has long underscored how product differentiation can create stable equilibria with multiple providers—notwithstanding the presence of unexhausted economies of scale—by allowing competitors to target subsegments of the overall market that place a higher value on particular services. Conversely, prohibiting service differentiation would restrict competition to price and network size, which are factors that favor the largest players. These dynamics are well illustrated by global enforcement patterns with respect to a practice known as “zero rating”, which permits subscribers to access certain content without having that traffic count against their data caps. Of the six countries that have brought enforcement actions against zero rating, only India has categorically banned the practice. The other five countries (the United States, Chile, Canada, Slovenia, and The Netherlands) have adopted a more nuanced approach. A case-by-case approach is consistent with the empirical literature on vertical integration and restraints and the well-established principles for determining when to impose per se illegality and when to apply the “rule of reason”. The U.S. Supreme Court’s antitrust jurisprudence also helps identify factors that militate against liability, such as the lack of market power, nonexclusivity, and nonproprietary services.     

Motivations behind Consumers’ Organic Menu Choices: The Role of Environmental Concern,Social Value,and Health Consciousness

This study aimed to examine underlying motivations of consumers’ intention to visit a restaurant featuring organic menu items and willingness to pay (WTP) for organic menu items. In particular, this study incorporated environmental concerns, social value, and health consciousness as key motivators. An online survey was conducted with a self-administered questionnaire, and a total of 473 responses were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results showed that environmental concern was the strongest predictor of WTP, followed by social value and health consciousness, whereas health consciousness was the most influential factor on intention to visit, followed by social value and environmental concern.