Advertising Effectiveness of Different Media in Promoting Technology-Oriented Ideas among Young Consumers: A Multidimensional Study

Historically, media choice criteria have mostly been company driven. This article offers a four-dimensional 17-item media effectiveness assessment index as perceived by young consumers. The methodology of the study is based on quantitative data collected from 1,257 respondents in Bangladesh. Radio was rated best in six out of 17 criteria whereas TV and billboard were found to be the second choice. Radio was found to be the most effective medium in creating purchase intention. As the study didn’t find complete domination by any single medium, the paper recommends a mixed-media strategy while dealing with young consumers.     

Societal institutions and HRM practices: an analysis of four European multinational subsidiaries in Bangladesh

Using the ‘societal-effect’ approach, a variant of the institutional theory developed and tested in Europe, this study investigates the impact of societal institutions on human resource management (HRM) practices of European multinational subsidiaries in Bangladesh, which is now on the list of the Next-11 economies of the world. In-depth case studies of four European multinational subsidiaries revealed the presence of different degrees of influence – partly attributable to societal effect – on the human resource practices of these subsidiaries. Our study added a new dimension to the interface between the strong and weak institutions and how such interfacing accords both legitimacy and reverse legitimacy to MNC subsidiaries and their societal institutions respectively. Another interesting finding of the study is the emergence of political system as a societal institution and, hence, a determinant of HRM practices in these subsidiaries. The study's implications are given.     

Institutional Ownership, Strategic Choices and Corporate Efficiency: Evidence from Japan

Based on the tenets of capital allocation systems theory, stewardship theory, and 'going concern' concept of business, institutional ownership is proposed to affect corporate productivity, both directly and indirectly, in large Japanese corporations through a set of four firm-level choices: product/market development, R&D intensity, capital intensity, and leverage. Using data on 118 corporations drawn from five industry sectors in Japan, and applying a partial mediation technique, this study tests an integrated, causal model of the relationships among these variables. Results show mixed support for the model. No direct relationship between institutional ownership and productivity is observed. However, institutional ownership affects productivity indirectly through R&D intensity and leverage. Although product/market development and capital intensity also affect productivity, institutional ownership has no significant relationship with them.     

Economic development,food demand and the consequences for agricultural resource requirements: an application to Indonesia

We analyse food demand patterns of Indonesian households from a resource intensity perspective and quantify the impact of changed demand patterns on the use of three major resource inputs: fossil fuel; land; and water in agricultural production. Using Indonesian Family Life Survey data, 13 major food items (which constitute 70 per cent of food expenditure) are categorised into low, moderate and high resource intensity, and income elasticity and Engel curves are estimated for the period from 1997 to 2007. Our results show that income growth in Indonesia is associated with demand patterns that are more resource intensive. By 2007, per capita requirements of fossil fuel, land and water increased by 42.7 per cent (3.13 MJ), 44.9 per cent (1.24 m²) and 50.4 per cent (2.1 kL), respectively, relative to 1997. The results imply that, at least for Indonesia, changed food demand patterns resulting from economic development will increase the demand for natural resources substantially.     

Social business collaboration at the bottom of the pyramid: The case of orchestration

Social business orchestrators (SBOs) help social businesses of various sizes to tackle major societal issues by filling gaps in knowledge and resources. However, research has overlooked these types of collaboration. Situated within a bottom of the pyramid context in Bangladesh, the current study sheds light on the process of value creation for SBO–social businesses partnerships by comparing different collaboration partners. Multiple case study research through the lens of the relational view were used to ask how SBOs facilitate value creation in social businesses by flexibly adapting resource inputs and governance mechanisms to the specific endowment and size of partners; this approach was informed by interviews and field note analyses. The combined deductive–inductive analysis enhances knowledge of idiosyncrasies of SBO–social business collaborations. Our study draws attention to the role of large orchestrators, whose model could be scaled and transferred to other world regions, including industrialised countries.     

Adoption of new technology and joint venture instability

We consider a joint venture between a local firm from a less developed country, and a foreign multinational. In a dynamic two period model, we demonstrate that the availability of new technology can trigger a joint venture breakdown, a result that is consistent with the empirical evidence. We find that such breakdown is more likely if the MNC is relatively patient, or, in contrast to the existing literature, there is an increase in the level of demand. Moreover, our results are robust to alternative assumptions regarding bargaining power and control.     

The Role of Spiritual Well-Being and Materialism in Determining Consumers’ Ethical Beliefs: An Empirical Study with Australian Consumers

A survey was conducted to investigate the relationship of Australian consumers’ lived (experienced) spiritual well-being and materialism with the various dimensions of consumer ethics. Spiritual well-being is composed of four domains—personal, communal, transcendental and environmental well-being. All four domains were examined in relation to the various dimensions of consumers’ ethical beliefs (active/illegal dimension, passive dimension, active/legal dimension, ‘no harm, no foul’ dimension and ‘doing good’/recycling dimension). The results indicated that lived communal well-being was negatively related to perceptions of the active/illegal dimension and the passive dimension and was positively related to perceptions of the ‘no harm, no foul’ dimension and the ‘doing good’/recycling dimension. Lived personal well-being was negatively related to perceptions of the active/illegal dimension and was positively related to perceptions of the ‘no harm, no foul’ dimension and the ‘doing good’/recycling dimension. Lived transcendental well-being was negatively related to perceptions of the passive dimension, the active/legal dimension and the ‘no harm, no foul’ dimension. Lived environmental well-being was negatively related to perceptions of the active/legal dimension and the ‘no harm, no foul’ dimension. The findings also indicated that materialism was positively associated with perceptions of actively benefiting from illegal actions, passively benefiting at the expense of the seller, actively benefiting from questionable but legal actions and benefiting from ‘no harm, no foul’ actions. Public policy implications of the findings and opportunities for future research are discussed.     

Buffering in evacuation management for optimal traffic demand distribution

This paper presents a new framework for managing congestion during emergency evacuations. The algorithm allows a long link of the network to be used as a buffer to keep the traffic flow moving in. Concurrently, a detour trigger time is estimated to keep the traffic under-saturated in the buffer zone and minimize the total travel time. The integration algorithm presented in this paper is an efficient mathematical solution for travel time cost calculation. A case study is presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the traffic demand buffering strategy developed in this research for managing the evacuation flow.     

Cultural influences on new product adoption of affluent consumers in India

The purpose of the study was to explore how individual/personal and group-level factors influence Indian consumers' adoption of new food products. The results reflect the interdependence of consumers' individual views and beliefs with those of the group. Indian consumers' perceived characteristics of new foods and their innovativeness are key personal-level factors in impacting their new food purchase decisions. Reflecting collectivist tendencies, interpersonal communication sources and subjective norms at the group level are important mediators of Indian consumers' new food purchases. Marketing implications for food businesses are discussed.     

Labor Market Policies as Instruments of Industry Policy: What Can Europe Learn from Southeast Asia?

Abstract . It seems there is a pessimistic view about the need and effectiveness of industry policy in an era of unprecedented globalization. The discussion about industry policy has been mostly on the fiscal, credit, and tariff measures, which are generally designed to favor particular activities. However, the rationale for industrial policy does not have to be the infant industry argument or market failures and knowledge spillover. In advanced industrial countries, the rationale for industry policy arises from the need to constantly restructure their economies to maintain competitiveness. The lesson that mature democracies can learn from East and Southeast Asia is the importance of consensual policy making, especially in the realm of the labor market. Such policies have not only helped them maintain macroeconomic stability but also accelerated industrial restructuring.