Adoption of Online Grocery Shopping: Personal or Household Characteristics?

This article analyzes how sociodemographic characteristics impact the adoption of online grocery shopping, and relies on the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA) model to explore what these sociodemographics actually capture and how they are linked with consumer motivations. The researchers exploit a survey among 468 customers of Belgian supermarket chain Colruyt. Their logistic regression shows that while variables at the personal level do affect adoption of the online channel, consumers’ motivations to adopt in fact lie on the household level. In particular, the effect of age disappears or becomes less strong when it is combined with household characteristics. An examination of respondents’ self-reported motivations confirms that age does not only capture a person’s ability to use the technology but also its usefulness for that person’s household, in that age is correlated with the presence of young children and the working situation in the household.     

The Ethics of Slotting: Is this Bribery, Facilitation Marketing or Just Plain Competition?

The practice of manufacturers' payments of fees to retailers for the display and sale of their products has become a common practice. In the grocery retail business, the fees paid by manufacturers are called slotting fees, or a payment made for a slot on the shelf. The same practice is used now in the retail book industry. Large book chains command high fees from publishers for the prominent display of books. Entrepreneur's products are often precluded from stores and markets because slotting fees are prohibitive. The fees are non-uniform and often paid in cash, creating an atmosphere that has already spawned illegal activity on the part of retail executives. This article examines the ethics of slotting fees.     

The role of the human resources manager: strategist or conscience of the organisation?

The human resource manager treads a fine line in seeking to reconcile the values of the organisation with professional values about the ethical management of people. This paper seeks to explore this ambiguity. The research findings suggest that the extent to which HR professionals can influence organisational ethics is dependent on the culture and structure of the organisation, as well as on the status and credibility of the HR specialists themselves. In the main there is little evidence that their influence is significant.     

The curious case of interdisciplinary research deficiency: Cause or symptom of what truly ails us?

This article introduces some service research challenges and opportunities then comments on the articles in this special issue on emergent topics in service research. It is an exciting time for service research as the area is rapidly developing and growing on a global basis. Service research is also especially apt for interdisciplinary as service is not developed by any one function in a company; it is a purpose in some way for everyone across the organization regardless of where they are working. It is strange, then, that we have not advanced further on interdisciplinary research, particularly since it has been in focus for a long time in the field. In this opinion piece we take the opportunity to suggest ways forward that include goals of mastering paradoxical thinking and making a difference.     

Does the inflation rate affect the performance of the stock market? The case of Egypt

The intention of this paper is to examine the impact of the inflation rate on the performance of the Egyptian stock market. Particular attention is paid to the effects of the rate of inflation on various stock market performance variables, in terms of market activity and market liquidity. From the co-integration analysis through error correction mechanisms (ECM), significant long-run and short-run relationships between the variables are found, implying that the inflation rate has had an impact upon the Egyptian stock market performance generally.     

The UK National (and Scottish) Vocational Qualification System: State of the Art or in a State?

The creation of a new competence-based framework of National (and Scottish) Vocational Qualifications (N/SVQs) in the UK has been fraught with difficulties and the ensuing debate has sharply divided those involved in education and training. Some argue that the N/SVQs are doomed to failure because the underlying philosophy is fundamentally flawed or see their introduction as part of a political conspiracy of the right to wrest power away from liberal educationalists; others see national standards and N/SVQs as a way of ensuring that education and training better meet the needs of employment; a few hold on to the original idealistic vision of opening up access to qualifications and giving credit where credit is due, especially for those workers who have been disadvantaged in the education system. Early implementation has been puncuated by scandals and, with a few notable exceptions such as the Care Sector, take-up rates have fallen well below what is necessary for achievement of National Education and Training Targets for the year 2000. In 1996, the publication of three major reviews of 16–19 qualifications, of assessment in General National/Vocational Qualifications and of the top 100 most commonly used N/SQVs, marked a crisis in confidence in the emerging UK system. Yet variations on the outcomes-based approach established by NCVQ/SCOTVEC are increasingly finding favour in the European Union and in New Zealand, Australia and the new South Africa, not least because they hold out the promise of greater transparency for all stakeholders. Extensive changes are now anticipated but they may be too little too late to get this radical innovation back on course.     

Resistance Will Be Futile? The Stigmatization (or Not) of Whistleblowers

Journal of Business Ethics - Does speaking up ruin one’s life? Organizational and whistleblowing research largely accept that “whistleblower” is a negative label that effects...     

Competition or partnership?: CCT and EC public procurement rules in the single market

This study was carried out to investigate the impact of compulsory competitive tendering (CCT) and the EC procurement rules on small and medium enterprises in one region of the UK. A comparison of purchasing systems between private, utility and public sectors revealed two distinct models of purchasing. At one end of the spectrum is the competitive or adversarial model; at the other end is the partnership sourcing model. Public-sector purchaser-supplier relationships tended towards the competition end while private-sector relationships were nearer the partnership end. These differences are related to the commercial pressures exerted on public authorities by CCT and the EC Procurement Rules.     

Born global or local? Factors influencing the internationalization of university spin-offs—the case of Halmstad University

A wealth of research in the past decades has examined born globals or international new ventures, which are firms that from inception view the whole world as a market and as a source to access resources. Many of these firms build their competitive advantage on high-tech knowledge. However, although many studies have shown how born globals can achieve success if they access resources through their relationships from actors in their networks, few studies have explored the relationship between born globals and universities. Universities are important actors in creating new technology knowledge, and many studies have shown how new firms, or so-called university spin-offs (USOs), are formed around universities. The current study explores why some USOs are successful in their international growth strategy and discusses the factors that influence and facilitate the internationalization process. The study investigates 10 USOs around the newly established Halmstad University in Sweden and finds that universities have a positive effect on firm creation and initial international growth. The regional competence base increases from the establishment of a local university, primarily by strengthening the regional human capital and by increasing university research. This study shows that researcher entrepreneurs’ ventures start as born globals, but that these firms do not continue to grow. Born global business models, per se, do not lead to competitive advantage and successful internationalization. Instead, a strategy built on customer focus and an ability to adapt to different customer demands lead to growth, and the location of growth is dependent on the size of the home market. This study also shows that student entrepreneurship can be a successful growth strategy for USOs focusing on both international and local markets.     

The entrepreneurial control imperative: A case history of Steria (1969–2000)

Steria, a leading French information systems and services company, was created with the vision that it would be owned by employees of all ranks. Founded in 1969 with US$80,000 initial capital and eight employees, Steria achieved its initial public offering (IPO) in 1999, and in May 2000 had sales of US$400 million, 3000 employees, and a market value of US$800 million, with a price/earnings ratio of 55. Steria's strategy was driven by the entrepreneurial control imperative. While the founder entrepreneur gradually relinquished control in favor of new employees, Steria was wary, almost paranoid, in ensuring its independence from takeovers by other companies. We discuss the four stages of growth of Steria, separated by three internal crises. Two of these crises were caused by the revolt of dissatisfied employees, the “barons,” and were resolved through the statesmanship of the founder entrepreneur. We analyze the key factors that contributed to the success of Steria, and we discuss whether the strategy of maintaining entrepreneurial control was beneficial to Steria and whether this strategy is still valid for the post-IPO “New Steria.”     

The Dynamics of Online Purchase Visits: Inertia or Switching?

This paper studies the dynamics of online purchase patterns, focusing on the impact of the channel used on conversion probability, as well as the transition of channel use over time. A novel data set from a major Chinese online travel agency is used for analysis, consisting of four months of data with 24,337 store visits through three types of channels: direct visit, search advertising and referral. Results of a Bayesian multinomial logit model show that the search channel significantly affects consumers’ conversion probability, and show a high degree of inertia in channel use. This finding contrasts sharply with suggestions of previous research that most future purchases will converge to the direct-visit channel.     

The real estate code of ethics: Viable or vaporous?

Several recent articles in the field of ethics and business have raised questions concerning the viability of professional ethical codes. Are such codes serious, effective tools for promoting and enforcing an ethical standard of behavior? Or do the codes more closely resemble clever, elaborate public-relation ploys? The purpose of this paper is to analyze the content, role and efficacy of one such ethical code, namely, The Code of Ethics of the National Association of Realtors. The paper examines the ethical principles embodied, implicitly or explicitly, in this Code; it tests these principles for coherence, comprehensiveness, clarity and enforce-ability. Furthermore, it seeks to determine whether this Code articulates standards of ethical conduct that are higher than those already required by law and whether the Code successfully translates a general ethical vision down to concrete, everyday real estate practice.     

Normative Self-Interest or Moral Hypocrisy?: The Importance of Context

We re-examine the construct of Moral Hypocrisy from the perspective of normative self-interest. Arguing that some degree of self-interest is culturally acceptable and indeed expected, we postulate that a pattern of behavior is more indicative of moral hypocrisy than a single action. Contrary to previous findings, our results indicate that a significant majority of subjects (N = 136) exhibited fair behavior, and that ideals of caring and fairness, when measured in context of the scenario, were predictive of those behaviors. Moreover, measures of Individualism/Collectivism appear more predictive of self-interested behavior than out-of-context responses to moral ideals. Implications for research and practice are discussed. George W. Watson received his Ph.D. from Virginia Tech, his M.B.A. from California State at Fullerton, an M.S. in Systems Management from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, an a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Washington, Seattle. His teaching focus is on corporate social responsibility and ethics. Dr.Watson’s current research interests include moral psychology,ethical decision making, and ideology. He has published in Business Ethics Quarterly, Business and Society, and the Journal of Business Ethics. Farooq Sheikh received his BS in Physics from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and his Ph.D. from Smeal College of Business, Penn State University. He is currently Assistant Professor of Operations Management, School of Business at the State University of New York at Geneseo. Dr. Sheik’s research interests include rational and behavioral models in business operations, bounded-rational behavioral models in population games, social norms, game theory and cross-disciplinary research involving behavioral models.     

Compensating Competitors or Restoring Competition? EU Regulation of State Aid for Banks During the Financial Crisis

We contrast the theory underpinning state aid for failing banks with that for failing firms in the non-financial sector. We argue that there is little justification for measures to ‘compensate’ rivals when the bank has been saved for reasons of systemic stability. The Commission’s approach to bank restructuring aid takes insufficient notice of this. Furthermore, the use of punitive divestitures is not the best way of addressing moral hazard. Worse, such divestitures can impede competition by creating weak rivals. We provide four detailed case studies to illustrate the problems. We conclude that the Commission provided a useful constraint in the midst of a crisis of unprecedented scale and complexity, but its approach could have been improved by more systematic attention to effective competition relative to the appropriate counterfactual.     

Credit rating agencies: Part of the solution or part of the problem?

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Credit rating agencies: Part of the solution or part of the problem?     

Is the Daily Deal Social Shopping?: An Empirical Analysis of Customer Panel Data

Shortly after Groupon started its business in 2008, selling one deal a day with substantial price discounts, daily-deal sites became new online shopping places for many people. Starting with Groupon, most daily-deal sites required that voucher sales be higher than a predetermined number before deals become active. This feature, known as the “tipping point,” was a unique characteristic of the daily-deal business and is identified as one of the most prominent features of social shopping. Most daily-deal sites also required that a redemption period start after a deal was over and be fixed, usually 90 days, presumably to maximize the promotional effect of deals by encouraging rapid voucher redemption. The question remains, however, whether such features actually contributed to the success of the daily-deal industry. Using individual-level panel data from a major daily-deal site in Korea, we analyze whether consumers' purchase and redemption behaviors were affected by these features and how consumers changed their behaviors as they continued to purchase and redeem vouchers over time. We find that the presence of the tipping point did not boost voucher sales and likely deterred new customers from buying deals right away. We also find that new customers tended to redeem their vouchers quickly, and this likely caused the small businesses that offered deals to become overwhelmed. It is not surprising, given our findings, that both Groupon and the Korean daily deal site abandoned the use of the tipping point and modified redemption rules.     

All about fun(ds) in emerging markets? The case of equity mutual funds

Using an expanded sample of emerging market (EM) mutual fund returns, we find that funds predominantly investing in EM equities have, on average, higher reward-to-risk ratios compared to benchmark indices. However, adjusted for risk factors EM funds outperform before costs but not after costs. Only growth and Chinese funds generate returns that more than recoup their costs. Local funds have an edge over their foreign counterparts, outperforming them by approximately 1.8% annually. Foreign funds tend to invest more cautiously in small-cap and growth-stocks. We also show that most funds in EMs pursuing a market-timing strategy have rather poor market-timing skills negatively affecting risk-adjusted performance measures.