Franchising in the Balkans: History,status, and challenges

Abstract

Since the Balkans have not been covered with regards to franchising in any comprehensive fashion in the past, this study represents a first look at the topic in this part of the world and contributes to the literature on franchising in emerging economies. This research contrasts the development of franchising in the ten Balkan countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia. A comprehensive overview of the franchise industry and its history is created for each country, integrating economic and franchise infrastructure development. The study reveals severe deficiencies in the region with regards to the availability of official data and a lack of specific legislation with regards to franchising and disclosure mandates, as well as education about franchising and a reliable legal environment. Implications for researchers and policy makers conclude the study.     

Getting Lapsed Donors Back: An Empirical Investigation of Relationship Management in the Post-Termination Stage

Firms lose customers for various reasons all the time, raising the question of whether to stop marketing to these customers or to try to win them back through sending more marketing instruments. The answer lies in knowing the probability of regaining a lapsed customer. However, since customers have various reasons for dropping out, identifying which customers are worth reviving becomes important. This article examines this issue in a donation context, using data from a large not-for-profit organization. Results suggest that sending marketing communications with an appropriate frequency has a positive influence on reviving lapsed donors but sending overly frequent communications may evoke resistance to appeals. Furthermore, the varied behavioral histories and characteristics of lapsed donors affect the probability of revival. The article provides a useful approach to fundraising managers in a not-for-profit industry.     

Service Business Markets: Relationship Development in the Maritime Industry

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Prior literature has acknowledged the growing importance of service business markets (SBMs). However, relatively little research has examined the relationships and the motives for relationship development in SBMs. The aim of this paper is to investigate the nature of relationships and the various motives for relationship development between service provider and customers.

Methodology: This paper adopts a qualitative research strategy and a case study approach. The context is the maritime industry. One of the largest container terminals in China represents a unique and revelatory case study, wherein nine container terminal-shipping line dyads are the units of analysis. The data were mostly collected via 34 semistructured interviews with maritime industry professionals. The data were triangulated by including archival records and industry reports.

Findings: The interdependence and nonidentical nature of service delivery episodes are identified and considered to add to the knowledge on SBMs. This research provides evidence of the applicability of three groups of motives—economic, strategic, and social—for relationship development to SBMs. The motives are found to coexist and to have greater or lesser weight in the actors’ decision making depending on external factors, such as industry and company development stage, and internal factors, including the companies’ common vision and desire to collaborate.

Contribution: Academic papers have usually focused on specific types of motives, associated with a particular theoretical framework (e.g. transaction cost theory). Motives have rarely been discussed from multiple theoretical lenses. When motives are identified it is not clear what they really imply in different contexts, and what factors cause them to appear. This paper provides a number of contributions. First, it integrates several theoretical perspectives and specifies three groups of motives for relationship development in SBMs: economic, strategic, and social. Second, through the analysis of empirical findings the paper provides a deeper understanding of each group of motives, proposing an integrated framework of motives and the factors affecting their appearance. Subsequently, the research is carried out through a dyadic perspective, which is relatively rare in SBM research. A dyadic perspective allows similarities and differences in actors’ perceptions and actions to be illuminated. Finally, the research brings in a relatively new and important context—the Chinese maritime industry.

Practical implications: Knowing the needs and motives of counterparts can greatly assist SBM actors in formulating their strategies and planning their investments. It is also important that actors realize that the extent to which the other side is open to collaboration depends on the interplay of various motives. In general, business professionals should realize that end users increasingly perceive various service delivery stages within a supply chain as interdependent. Thus, to deliver a more integrated and flawless service to the end user, service providers and customers in SBMs should develop communication and collaboration beyond the operational level.     

When institutional change outruns the change agent: The contested terrain of entrepreneurial microfinance for those in poverty

We argue that institutional change moves through stages punctuated by recurring attempts to formally redefine the boundaries and logics of organizational fields that institutional entrepreneurs initially establish. With a grounded theory model, we demonstrate that institutional change in microfinance started with dominant development logic, shifted to market logic, and got stuck in a conflict over regulatory logic. We show how the role of the entrepreneur can change markedly over time while the institutional change process continues unabated. We present institutional entrepreneurship as an evolving phenomenon and suggest that the interplay between institutional entrepreneurs and established organizational fields is highly nuanced.     

The Effects of Moral Development and Adverse Selection Conditions on Managers’ Project Continuance Decisions: A Study in the Pacific-Rim Region

According to agency theory, agents base their economic decisions on self-interests when adverse selection conditions exist. However, cognitive moral development theory predicts that ethics/morals may influence decision-makers not to behave egoistically. Rutledge and Karim (1999; Accounting, Organizations and Society 24(2), 173–184) find both the moral reasoning level of the managers and an adverse selection condition affect a manager’s project evaluation decisions significantly. Since prior studies have shown that national␣culture might influence the application of agency theory in project evaluation, this current study uses a different moral development measurement to reexamine Rutledge and Karim’s hypotheses in another culture. A total of 73 Taiwanese executive MBA students with an average of 12.17 years work experience participated in this study. We found that both moral development level and adverse selection conditions significantly affect managers’ project continuance decisions. The interaction effect of these two factors indicates that, when adverse selection conditions exist, participants with a high level of moral development exhibit less of a tendency to continue an unprofitable project than those with a low level of moral development. With subjects from a different culture, our results confirm the findings of Rutldege and Karim. That is, the effects of moral development and adverse selection conditions on managers’ project continuance decisions are robust and can be generalized to different cultures. Implications of the findings of this study to multinational firms are also discussed. C. Janie Chang, Ph.D., is the Vern Odmark Professor of Accountancy at San Diego State University. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine. She is the co-editor of the Review of Accounting and Finance, and has published in the areas of auditing, managerial accounting, and information systems to investigate information processing of experts. She has also studied cross-cultural issues related to professional judgments and decisions in auditing and managerial accounting. Sin-Hui Yen, Ph.D., is currently a Professor of Accounting at Tamkang University in Taiwan. He received his Ph.D. from national Taiwan University. He is the executive editor of the Journal of Contemporary Accounting, and has published in the areas of accounting and finance to investigate human information processes, as well as ethical issues related to business professionals.     

A Foot in the Door: Relationship Marketing Efforts Towards Transaction-Oriented Customers

Despite the growing awareness and use of relationship marketing principles, there are still limitations to the range of exchange situations to which relationship marketing is applicable. Customers may resist suppliers' attempts to become intimate. This contribution deals with how suppliers seek to overcome customer unwillingness, through an investigative case study. Seven propositions are developed on the marketing relationship policies followed by suppliers seeking to initiate, maintain and terminate relations with transaction-oriented customers.     

“订单农业”中交易关系的建立、发展与维护——以经纪人主导的蔬菜流通渠道为例

通过建构"订单农业"中交易关系建立与发展过程的概念模型,研究发现,在交易关系的发展过程中,政府的介入与人际关系的发展具有至关重要的作用。其中,企业与农户互动过程中人际关系的作用是以往研究中不曾被关注的方面。研究还发现,订单农业中企业与农户人际关系的发展具有稳定交易关系、促进交易关系升级的重要作用。     

Administering the Employment Relationship: The Ethics of Conflict Resolution in Relation to Justice in the Workplace

The purpose of this paper is to provide a historical overview of the ethical concept of organizational due process in relation to contemporary issues in the utilization of company grievance procedures in the rapidly growing nonunion arena. Another objective of this paper is to appraise the current practices that employers have evolved for resolving issues generated by grievances, particularly those of professional, white collar employees.     

Considering Technological Impacts When Selecting Food Suppliers: Comparing Retailers' Buying Behavior in the United States and Europe

Purpose: The research investigates the impact of emergent technologies, specifically supply-chain technology and food-production technology (i.e., genetically modified organisms [GMO]), on global food retailers' supplier decisions.

Methodology/approach: Qualitative research is conducted to examine technology-related vendor selection criteria of food retailers in 5 European countries comparing to those in the US.

Findings: Our findings show that global food retailers view supply-chain technology as a competitive advantage and is integrated as an important selection criteria; however, selection criteria differ for food-production technology between the United States and the European countries. European food retailers explicitly oppose food-production technology (GMO), while U.S. food retailers implicitly accept food-production technology. Emerging from this opposing view, global food retailers establish similar criteria for organic food (non-GMO) supplier selection: reliability, distance, consistent quality, and relationships with suppliers.

Research implications: Applying the supplier choice criteria framework (Lehmann and O'Shaughnessy 1982 Lehmann, D. R. and 'Shaughnessy, J. O. 1982. Decision criteria used in buying different categories of products. Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management, 18: 9–14.  [Google Scholar]) to further analyze organic food suppliers, we find that reliability (adaptive criterion), distance (integrative criterion), consistent quality (performance criterion), and relationships with suppliers (economic criterion) are essential, but price is not.

Practical implications: This study suggests that to sustain competitiveness in the global food market, food suppliers not only need to ensure technological compatibility in supply-chain, but also adapt to the local food-production restriction (GMO) and organic food selection criteria preferences.

Originality/value/contribution: Supply-chain technology is strategically important and is adopted by global food retailers for competitive advantage; yet, there are dramatic differences regarding the acceptance of food production technology. This research contributes to the better understanding of how technologies exert significant and strategic weight in the food supplier selection process.     

“关系”的魅力与移民的“社会适应”：中哈移民的一个考察

从"关系"、"制度"、"区域选择"三个中心概念入手,通过对移民哈萨克斯坦共和国中国侨民的调查,论证了移民的"异国适应"主要取决于迁入国的移民制度和迁移者的"关系"强弱亲疏.种族歧视性导致了移民在初始状态的不平等,影响了其适应的进度.但对于迁移者个人的心理感受而言,种族群聚地是其最理性的区域选择.     

社会资本、道德资本与企业客户稳定关系：基 于在华跨国管理咨询服务公司顾客视角的研究

本文通过理论与实证相结合研究发现,企业社会资本、道德资本对客户稳定关系维护具有正的影响效应;企业道德资本对社会资本具有正的影响效应;企业道德资本对社会资本与企业客户稳定关系间具有调节效应。本文的主要理论贡献在于,为社会资本和企业客户稳定关系维护的关系模型输入了非常有价值的元素,同时也首次尝试用定性与定量相结合的方式对社会资本、道德资本与企业客户稳定之间的关系进行了有益探索。本文的主要实践贡献在于,警示那些拥有广泛社会资源的大企业,更要注重自己的道德伦理建设,履行社会责任,否则可能造成一损俱损的局面。     

团队任务冲突与关系冲突转化机制——团队氛围的调节作用

团队中不同类型冲突之间作用机制的关系,日益成为组织管理领域的重要问题.本文引入团队氛围作为调节变量,对团队任务冲突对关系冲突影响的边界条件进行了探索.实证研究结果表明,团队氛围能对任务冲突与关系冲突的正相关关系产生负向调节作用,从而减弱任务冲突对关系冲突的负向影响.通过促进和谐的团队氛围,能够使团队在任务冲突存在的前提下形成有效的团队合作.团队经理应尽量避免任务冲突向关系冲突转化,促使团队中的任务冲突发挥促进信息交流和团队学习的作用,从而促进团队绩效的提升.     

订单农业中交易关系的治理机制与风险防范——基于辽宁盛德集团的案例研究

采用案例研究方法,以辽宁省盛德集团订单肉鸡养殖为背景,对相对完善的契约条款和农村人际关系是如何有效地规避交易关系中的各种风险及稳定交易关系进行了研究。研究发现:采用复合治理机制(契约治理与关系治理)更有利于订单农业中各种风险的规避和交易关系的稳定;根植于农村社会的人际关系及以此为基础的关系治理机制对订单农业中道德风险和信用风险具有重要的防范作用。     

Relationship Quality as Predictor of B2B Customer Loyalty in the Pharmaceutical Sector: Evidence from Jordan

This article aims to investigate the impactful effect of relationship quality dimensions (i.e., trust, satisfaction, and commitment) on aspects of loyalty represented by attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty. A quantitative survey method was employed to achieve the objectives of the study. Furthermore, a convenience sampling technique was adopted to select a representative sample from physicians working in the public healthcare sector in Jordan. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed, and 408 questionnaires were used in the statistical analyses. The data were analyzed by applying structural equation modeling to test the study model, and hypotheses were constructed and tested quantitatively and discussed qualitatively. The results revealed that both aspects of customer loyalty (i.e., behavioral and attitudinal) were affected positively by the overall dimensions of relationship quality (i.e., trust, satisfaction, and commitment), providing a recommendation for pharmaceutical companies in Jordan to focus on improving the relationship quality between their medical representatives and physicians due to the importance of such a factor in improving customer loyalty, which will reflect positively in managing their customers effectively and enhancing future business opportunities.     

Partnerships Between Businesses and NGOs in the Field of Corporate Social Responsibility: A Model of Success From the Perspective of Relationship Marketing

Social alliances have become a mechanism that businesses and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have adopted in order to work together to address complex social problems that neither sector alone has the knowledge and resources needed to deal with appropriately. In combining the 2 different perspectives, these partnerships can create mutual value. Many such alliances have, however, been unsuccessful. The present work focuses on designing a theoretical model of successful partnerships between businesses and NGOs constructed within the perspective of relationship marketing—a theory that is found to be well suited to setting up and maintaining successful, long-term, relational exchanges.     

供应链伙伴特性对跨企业知识交易影响路径的实证研究——基于关系质量的中介效应

通过引入关系质量这一中介变量,构建了供应链伙伴特性、关系质量对跨企业知识交易影响的概念模型,其中供应链伙伴特性包括文化相容、资源依赖和知识距离等三个方面内容。利用结构方程模型结合256家供应链上下游企业的调查数据对上述概念模型进行了实证研究。研究结果表明,文化相容、资源依赖对关系质量与知识交易有显著的正向影响;知识距离对关系质量有显著的负向影响,对知识交易负向影响不显著;关系质量对知识交易有显著的正向影响;由于关系质量中介效应的存在,知识距离可以间接地影响知识交易,文化相容对知识交易总的影响最大。     

Relationship Commitment and Ethical Consumer Behavior in a Retail Setting: The Case of Receiving Too Much Change at the Checkout

In this study, we conducted two experiments to examine the effect of relationship commitment on the reaction of shoppers to receiving too much change, controlling for the amount of excess change. Hypotheses based on equity theory, opportunism and guilt were set up and tested. The first study showed that, when the less committed consumer is confronted with a large excess of change, he/she is less likely to report this mistake, compared with a small excess. Conversely, consumers with a high commitment towards the retailer are more likely to tell when they receive too much change, especially when the amount is large. The second experiment provided an explanation for these findings: the less committed consumer is driven by opportunism, whereas guilt-related feelings play an important role in a high commitment relationship. These results have several implications for both retail management and future research.