Building relationship innovation in global collaborative partnerships: big data analytics and traditional organizational powers

This study examines how relationship innovation can be developed in global collaborative partnerships (alliances, joint ventures, mergers, and acquisitions). The recently emerging theory of big data analytics linked with traditional organizational powers has attracted a growing interest, but surprisingly little research has been devoted to this important and complex topic. Therefore, after developing the theoretical foundations, our study empirically quantifies the links between the theoretical constructs based on the data collected from chief executive officers, managing directors, and heads of departments who work in contemporary global data‐and‐information driven collaborative partnerships. The results from structural equation modeling indicate that the relationship innovation depends on the power of big data analytics and non‐mediated powers (NMP, expert and referent). The power of big data analytics also mediates the correlation between NMP and relationship innovation. However, mediated powers (coercive and manipulative) negatively affect the power of big data analytics and relationship innovation. The interaction effects further depict that analytically powered partnerships have better relationship innovation compared with those which focus less on the analytical power. Consequently, the contributions of this study provide a deeper understanding of mechanisms of how modern collaborative partnerships can use big data analytics and traditional organizational powers to co‐create relationship innovation.     

Natural resource rents and internal conflicts: Can decentralization lift the curse?

We study how natural resource rents affect the risk of internal conflict within countries and how the federal structure of countries influences this relationship. Natural resource abundance may induce excessive rent-seeking and thus increase the risk of internal conflict. Fiscal and political decentralization as an institutional arrangement for rent-sharing and political codetermination of regions within a country may limit the destructive effect of natural resource rents on internal stability. Using cross-country and panel data from more than 90 countries covering the period 1984–2004, we find evidence that natural resource rents indeed increase the risk of internal conflict, but this relationship is significantly mitigated by political decentralization.     

Information flow between prediction markets,polls and media: Evidence from the 2008 presidential primaries

Are the forecast errors of election-eve polls themselves forecastable? We present evidence from the 2008 Democratic Party nomination race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton showing that the answer is yes. Both cross-sectional and time series evidence suggests that market prices contain information about election outcomes that polls taken shortly before the contests do not. Conversely, election surprises relative to polls too Granger cause subsequent price movements. We then investigate whether the additional information in prices could come from the media coverage of these campaigns, and uncover a set of complex relationships between pollster’s surprise, price movements, and various aspects of media coverage. Prices anticipate the balance and content of media coverage, but not the volume. On the other hand, it is the volume of media coverage, not the balance or content, that anticipates the surprise element in election outcomes. Moreover, Granger causality between prices and election surprises barely changes after controlling for media coverage, and causality from media volume to surprises persists too after controlling for price movements. Taken together, the results suggest that both prices and the volume of media coverage contain independent election-relevant information that is not captured in polls.     

Does ethics improve stock market resilience in times of instability?

This paper compares the resilience of ethical (Islamic and socially responsible) indexes among five developed (US, UK, Japan, Canada, Australia) and three emerging markets (Brazil, India, South Africa) during the period following the 2008 subprime crisis. It relies on a multivariate CAPM-EGARCH model that accounts for sudden changes in volatility through the application of an iterated cumulative sums of squares (ICSS) algorithm on daily data over the sample period 2008–2014 to model time-varying volatility and ensure reliable estimates. The study confirms the lower systemic risk associated with Islamic indexes during the bearish period and reports that SRI, despite being more subject to systemic risk, offered higher alphas in highly integrated markets, while Islamic indexes performed better in less integrated ones. The evidence also reveals a very limited increase in the models’ predictability power from the integration of sudden changes in volatility into the EGARCH models during the full sample period. This limit is more marked during the bearish sub-period. Our findings have important implications for international investment and portfolio diversification perspectives in times of financial downturn.     

Sustainable development carbon pricing initiative and voluntary environmental disclosures quality

Although corporate environmental disclosures have been researched extensively, empirical evidence regarding the indirect impact of carbon pricing on firms' voluntary disclosures is scarce. The objective of this study is to identify the indirect impact of carbon pricing initiatives on the voluntary environmental disclosures (VEDs) of electricity generating companies, analyzed through the lens of institutional theory. This study adds to the growing literature on the determinants of VED, investigating the impact of adoption of the Global Reporting Initiative and ISO 14001 on VED. Secondary data were collected from 2015 annual reports and/or standalone sustainability reports of electricity generating companies from 53 countries around the world. Content analysis approach was adopted for measuring the extent of the quality of VED. Findings of multiple regression analysis suggest that there is an indirect institutional impact of carbon pricing on the quality of VED. This study also finds that, as the form of nongovernment guidance, the Global Reporting Initiative adoption and ISO 14001 certification also have an institutional influence on the VED. VED is also affected by company size although this study reveals no significant relationship of leverage with VED.     

The Relationship Between Consumer-Brand Identification and Brand Extension

The present research aims at examining the role of consumer-brand identification (CBI) in attitude toward brand extension regarding the congruency between the values of consumers and brands. In this way, the benefits of CBI to consumers and brand managers are outlined. This research has been conducted through designing a survey and collecting data through a questionnaire. For data mining and investigating the model, the SEM approach is implemented. According to the findings, high levels of CBI lead to positive attitudes toward the brand extension, and that value congruity positively impacts this relationship. The results outline that CBI impacts fit and tie in separate ways, so that CBI effect on fit is more substantial. Furthermore, according to the results, in comparison to the role of tie, the role of fit is more significant in predicting attitudes toward brand extension. The sample from university students is appropriate for testing theory, but limits generalizing the results of the research. In addition, this research has studied one product category and is limited in this perspective. The findings have remarkable recommendations for implementing brand extension as they emphasize the role of perceived fit. Moreover, by reexamining CBI in a less known market, the research has outlined its positive outcomes for firms. This research has used perceived tie in a brand extension context and, similar to perceived fit, has implemented it as another factor to predict attitude toward brand extension. In addition, this research is unique, as it has investigated CBI in a new context.     

State of the art in business analytics: themes and collaborations

In this study, we illustrate the most recent stage in the scholarly development of the field of Business Analytics. Using around 23,000 research publications collected from the Web of Science, we network-analyzed four types of dataset that include keywords, titles, institutions, and countries. It is noteworthy that we found a thematic cluster focusing on analytical techniques and tools, particular with the rapid dissemination of “big data”-related studies. It is not surprising that universities and institutions in advanced countries in the West still occupy the central position of the collaboration network. However, we can discern a global shift toward certain developing and transitional economies in the world science base.     

Balancing social and political strategies in emerging markets: Evidence from India

This article explores the substitution and complementary effects between political and social strategies on firm performance in the context of an emerging market (EM). Using in‐depth, historical case‐study approach, the article investigates how companies integrate political and social resources in this market. Corporate performance includes traditional measures, such as accounting performance and nonfinancial measures like the ease of doing business. The study finds that social strategies are stronger enablers of firm long‐term performance than political strategies. The latter have a short‐term impact on performance, but their success over time is limited. The main drawback of reliance on political resources in EMs is the lack of political stability, fragmented polity, and weak political coalitions. We identify rather limited evidence of firms using these two strategies as complements. Thus, we suggest that firms should employ both these strategies in the EM.     

Mobile learning adoption for tourism education in a developing country

Since developing countries are gradually introducing mobile-based tourism education, it is a growing demand to understand the students’ intention to adopt mobile learning. The study used partial least squares-based structural equation modelling to analyse survey data from 176 questionnaires at three tourism education institutes in Bangladesh. The study contributes to the theory of planned behaviour by examining the antecedent impact of innovativeness and moderating effect of self-efficacy. Results confirmed innovativeness as a significant antecedent on the attitude–intention relationship; however, the moderating effect of self-efficacy has not been supported. The study has marketing implications for tourism education institutes and government bodies.     

Economic Targeting of Agricultural Beneficial Management Practices to Address Phosphorus Runoff in Manitoba

The mechanisms used to deliver agricultural beneficial management practices (BMPs) can influence the performance of these policies. Research has suggested that agri‐environmental instruments targeted based on specific economic or environmental characteristics can improve policy performance. Using a case study approach, we evaluate the relative performance of different mechanisms to target subsidized water retention pond BMPs to reduce phosphorus (P) runoff in an agriculture dominated subwatershed within the Lake Winnipeg watershed in southern Manitoba. The water retention pond BMPs were targeted based on estimated establishment costs (cost targeting), total phosphorus removal from surface water (benefit targeting), and pond‐specific benefit–cost ratios. The targeting was simulated using predictions of retention pond‐specific P removal from an adapted hydrology model and site‐specific pond construction and land opportunity costs assembled in a geographic information system database. Targeting of water retention pond BMPs has an impact on the cost effectiveness of the policy delivery with benefit–cost targeting being the most cost‐effective approach. Water retention ponds providing higher P removal at lower cost were smaller in size and on land previously used for the production of lower value crops. Le ciblage économique des pratiques de gestion bénéfiques en agriculture pour remédier au ruissellement du phosphore au Manitoba Les mécanismes utilisés pour livrer des pratiques de gestion bénéfiques (PGB) peuvent influencer la performance de ces politiques. Des études suggèrent que le ciblage d'instruments agroenvironnementaux basé sur des caractéristiques économiques ou environnementales précises peut améliorer la performance des politiques. Au moyen d'études de cas, nous évaluons la performance relative de divers mécanismes pour cibler les PGB des bassins de rétention d'eau subventionnés pour réduire le ruissellement de phosphore (P) dans un sous‐bassin du bassin du Lac Winnipeg au sud du Manitoba. Les PGB du bassin de rétention des eaux ont été ciblées en fonction des coûts estimés d'établissement (ciblage des coûts), de l′élimination totale du phosphore de la surface de l'eau (ciblage des bénéfices), et des ratios avantages‐coûts liés au bassin. Le ciblage fut simulé au moyen de prédictions du taux de suppression de P spécifique à chaque bassin de rétention obtenues à partir d'une adaptation d'un modèle hydrologique et d'une base de données d'un système d'information géographique (SIG) contenant les sites de chaque bassin de rétention et le coût d'opportunité du terrain. Le ciblage des PGB des bassins de rétention d'eau a un impact sur la rentabilité de la mise en ?uvre de politiques, le ciblage coût‐avantages étant l'approche la plus rentable. Les bassins de rétention d'eau ayant le plus haut taux d'élimination de P à moindre coût s'avéraient plus petits et sur des terrains ayant servi, auparavant, à la production de cultures de moindre valeur.