Demographic Change and Policy Responses: Implications for the Global Economy

The fertility declines associated with the final phase of the global demographic transition have led to slower population growth and accelerated ageing in developed countries and in several advanced developing countries. A global demographic and economic model is used to assess the implications of these changes for population sizes, age‐gender distributions, labour force growth and their implications for economic performance. A baseline projection that incorporates declining fertility is compared with a hypothetical constant population growth scenario. The results show that slower population growth and ageing reduces average saving rates in industrial regions, yet global investment demand is also slowed and saving rates rise in developing regions, so there is no net tightening of financial markets. Increased aged labour force participation, considered one solution to the resulting rise in aged dependency in advanced regions, is found to redistribute investment in favour of the industrialised regions and hence to accelerate their per capita income growth, while conferring on the other regions compensatory terms of trade improvements. The alternative of replacement migration is found to require inconceivably large population movements. It also impairs real per capita growth in destination regions but by least in Western Europe, where the terms of trade are improved by the immigration.     

Supply Chain Management and Retailer Performance: Emerging Trends, Issues, and Implications for Research and Practice

In an environment with increasing competition and a growing need for operational efficiencies and customer orientation, retailers are looking beyond their organizational boundaries to develop and leverage the resources and capabilities of their supply chain partners to create superior value and competitive advantages in the marketplace. In this article, the authors discuss how three recent trends—global sourcing practices, multichannel routes to market, and relationship-based innovation—are transforming the retail landscape and leading to a variety of performance improvements with regard to brand image, reputation, sales and profits, innovation, and relationships. For each of these major trends, this article highlights key issues, identifies relevant literature, and offers propositions for further research.     

Recruiting and Retaining Older Adult Volunteers: Implications for Practice

There is an increased interest in the promotion of volunteering within nonprofit organizations. In this paper organizational supports for recruiting and managing volunteering among older adults are explored. The paper describes an intervention comprising an intergenerational reading program delivered by volunteers in eight schools in the Republic of Ireland. The research draws on qualitative data from a mixed-methods research project (2009–2011) that evaluated outcome and process aspects of the reading program. The qualitative data was collected from a group of older volunteers aged 55 years and older. This present study frames the empirical findings within a volunteering framework that involved deductively analyzing the data using attributes associated with “volunteerability” and “recruitability.” Through this analytical framework a number of features were identified as contributing to greater knowledge of marketing strategies to recruit and retain volunteers within nonprofit organizations. The paper concludes with a set of core practice messages for organizations that rely on volunteers in the delivery of their service.     

The contribution of implicit cognition to the Theory of Reasoned Action Model: a study of food preferences

Abstract

Attitudes are at the heart of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), but problems in defining and measuring attitudes have contributed to typically low ability to predict behaviour. This article investigates the impact of potential disjuncture between evaluations that an individual externally verbalises (explicit attitudes), and evaluations that are internally held and may exist outside of conscious awareness (implicit attitudes), on the predictive ability of TRA. We study consumers’ attitudes towards eating healthy food and subsequent behaviour in a context of socially consensual behaviour. An Implicit Association Test (IAT) is used to measure implicit attitudes, and these scores are contrasted with self-reported explicit attitude scores. Ninety one participants took part in the study. We found, surprisingly, that implicit attitude has no significant effect on behavioural intention. However, a disjuncture between an individual’s implicit and explicit attitudes, reflecting internal psychological conflict, affected behaviour.     

跨国银行监管的国际惯例及其启示

跨国银行的发展既能促进经济增长,也使得金融体系更加脆弱。跨国银行自身的特殊性决定了跨国银行监管的必要性。为了解决跨国银行业务发展过程中存在的问题,国际社会设计出了许多有益的法规和制度。这些国际惯例对于我们这样一个金融市场并不十分完善、银行业正在逐步开放的国家来讲是十分重要的。     

A Natural Resource Scarcity Typology: Theoretical Foundations and Strategic Implications for Supply Chain Management

World population growth and increased consumption stemming from economic leveling are leading to scarcity of a number of natural resources on a global scale. Scarcity of critical natural resources such as oil, water, food, and precious metals has the potential to greatly impact commercial activity as the twenty‐first century progresses. The challenge of continuing to provide needed goods and services in the face of these constraints falls to supply chain managers, who are ultimately responsible for delivering utility to customers. Unfortunately, there has been almost no research focused on supply chain strategies aimed at mitigating natural resource scarcity’s (NRS) potential effects. The current research positions NRS as a supply chain risk and proposes an NRS typology based on key resource attributes. Supply chain mitigation strategies to counter each resource status are offered, with an overall objective of improving supply chain performance. The study recommends future research aimed at further developing theory and methods for countering NRS based on resource, systems and behavioral theories. In addition, this study has critical implications for practitioners faced with the growing threat of NRS in their supply chains.     

Rethinking Management Theory and Practice for the Indian Context: An International Management Perspective

The Indian economy characterized variously as a slumbering giant, powerful tiger, and the most promising market has witnessed a slowdown, occasional disturbances in the industrial relations space, and attention of the world in the last five years. In this special issue, we raise pertinent questions and present research on multiple dimensions of the dynamic and rapidly changing business environment of India. The suitability of management models and frameworks developed in the North American contexts in emerging markets like India and China is questioned. One example of how the well‐established models in the literature on success of international joint ventures were insufficient to explain the success of three international joint ventures in the insurance space in India is presented as case in point. Finally, the nine papers that materially contribute to the theme of this special issue are introduced. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Group Development (II): Implications for GSS Research and Practice

This article is the second of a two-part series that examines the issue ofgroup development and its impact on the study and design of group supportsystems. It builds on the ideas developed in the preceding article anddiscusses the implications of group development for group support systems(GSS) research. Specifically, the paper examines the impact of computersupport systems on group development processes. Our previous paper reviewed models of development—based on two competingparadigms, sequential and nonsequential—proposed by various researchers.Despite differences between the two paradigms, individual models share somecommon aspects, from the types of processes experienced to the nature ofoutputs produced, that jointly help describe group development. Commonprocesses displayed in the evolution of a group, distilled from the variousmodels, include cohesiveness, conflict management, balance betweensocioemotional and task needs, effective communication, and involvement ingroup activities. Additionally, the various models also indicate that groupshave critical periods in their developmental path. This paper develops the idea that GSS structures can support groups withtheir developmental processes and help them deal with critical periods. MostGSS provide global structures like anonymity, simultaneity, and the capacityfor enhanced information processing. These structures, if appropriatedeffectively by groups, can influence their developmental paths over time. Inmany cases these structures can help the development of groups by improvingtheir ability to manage conflict, increasing their cohesiveness, developing asense of group identity, and enhancing open communication. This paperdevelops a set of testable propositions that can guide researchers of groupbehavior, organizational users of GSS, and developers of these systems.     

A Comparison of the Ethics of Convicted Felons and Graduate Business Students: Implications for Business Practice and Business Ethics Education

This research compares and contrasts the ethics of convicted felons in three midwestern United States prison systems with those of a cross section of MBA students from previous research. Building on and replicating seminal works in business ethics, this study identifies the differences and many similarities between students and inmates on several dimensions of ethics and values. Both groups expressed similar views of which ethical issues need attention from the business community, those constituencies that are most important to business firms, and perceptions of the ethics of other salient groups. When confronted with difficult ethical situations, inmates usually, although not always, tended to be more willing do what was asked and less willing to speak out regarding the conflict. Inmate priorities for ethical issues and constituency groups tended to be very similar to the MBA student sample. Implications for business practice and business ethics education are discussed.     

Predicting Unethical Behavior: A Comparison of the Theory of Reasoned Action and the Theory of Planned Behavior

This study is a comparison of the validity of theory of reasoned action and theory of planned behavior as applied to the area of moral behavior (i.e., illegal copying of software) using structural equation modeling. Data were collected from 181 university students on the various components of the theories and used to asses the influence of attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control on the intention to make unauthorized software copies. Theory of planned behavior was found to be better than the theory of reasoned action in predicting unethical behavior. A modified version of the theory of planned behavior, with a causal path linking subjective norm to attitude, provided a significant improvement on model fit. The results indicated that perceived behavioral control is a better predictor of behavioral intention then attitude. The direct effect of subjective norm on behavioral intention was not significant, but the indirect effect through attitude was highly significant. Applicability of the theory of planned behavior for moral behavior and the implications for future research are discussed.     

Research for Practice: The Management of Expatriates

The objective of this article is to identify expatriate management research questions of interest to international human resource (IHR) managers. We conducted an in‐depth literature review, interviewed a small sample of IHR managers, and reviewed commercially available large sample surveys of IHR managers. Results suggest that IHR managers are concerned about determinants of the decision to accept an offer of expatriation, why expatriates show so little interest in training, perceived equity in rewards, and other areas not well studied to date. The article discusses implications for academics wishing to make their research more relevant to IHR managers and global organizations. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A Maturity Model for Management Control Systems

Corporate management in today’s international companies has become increasingly complex. To cope with the growing challenges, information technology (IT)-based management control systems (MCSs) covering reporting, planning, and consolidation have been deployed. Despite their tradition in management research, the ‘right’ setup of MCSs is still challenging. Maturity models (MMs) are an established instrument to identify strengths and weaknesses of certain domains. As existing MMs rather focus on single MCS domains, neglect an IT perspective and miss a sound methodical foundation, this paper outlines an empirically and algorithmically constructed MCS MM. The model consists of three partial MMs for reporting, planning, and consolidation, which are integrated into one holistic MCS MM. The five levels of the MCS MM guide MCS evolution from a basic, mandatory/external-driven MCS (level 1) to a balanced MCS (level 2), and a comprehensive MCS (level 3). Ultimately, MCSs show a strong strategic focus (level 4) and leverage the potentials of modern IT (level 5).     

Relationship Use and Market Dynamism: A Model of Relationship Evolution

Evidence for the success of relationship marketing remains contradictory, with practitioners reporting that most relationship marketing efforts fail, and academic researchers suggesting that further exploration of the boundary conditions of relationship marketing are needed. A number of researchers have identified changes in the competitive environment as the basis for the adoption of relationship marketing, although recent research suggests a more complex, contingent view. Drawing upon longitudinal case studies from the New Zealand wine industry, this article names a number of contextual conditions that influence the development and evolution of relationship strategies. The findings identify changes in the form and intensity of relationships. The source of these changes is identified. Based on this analysis, four marketing 'gestalts' are identified. The evolution of each gestalt is then explained, with the approaches used by firms to navigate from one gestalt to another described.     

Neuromarketing: Ethical Implications of its Use and Potential Misuse

Neuromarketing is an emerging field in which academic and industry research scientists employ neuroscience techniques to study marketing practices and consumer behavior. The use of neuroscience techniques, it is argued, facilitates a more direct understanding of how brain states and other physiological mechanisms are related to consumer behavior and decision making. Herein, we will articulate common ethical concerns with neuromarketing as currently practiced, focusing on the potential risks to consumers and the ethical decisions faced by companies. We argue that the most frequently raised concerns—threats to consumer autonomy, privacy, and control—do not rise to meaningful ethical issues given the current capabilities and implementation of neuromarketing research. But, we identify how potentially serious ethical issues may emerge from neuromarketing research practices in industry, which are largely proprietary and opaque. We identify steps that can mitigate associated ethical risks and thus reduce the threats to consumers. We conclude that neuromarketing has clear potential for positive impact on society and consumers, a fact rarely considered in the discussion on the ethics of neuromarketing.     

Focusing Service Management Efforts: A Model for Non profit Organizations

ABSTRACT

In recent years, many nonprofit organizations have experienced significant cut-backs in support from traditional sources while demand for their services has continued to increase. Many of these organizations have attempted to bridge this growing chasm by increasing their fund raising efforts. While not without value, these activities alone will not resolve the dilemma faced by many of these organizations. The authors present a 12-step model to assist managers in nonprofit organizations in determining how to reallocate scarce human and financial resources from non-crucial to truly critical service offerings and in so doing, better meet the needs of their critical constituencies.     

A Model of Supplier Responses to Just-In-Time Delivery Requirements

When buyers provide incentives for suppliers to deliver just-in-time, suppliers can respond by choosing to hold additional inventory, reducing the variance of flow time to facilitate just-in-time production, or both. A model characterizing the supplier's optimal response to incentives for JIT delivery is presented. The model shows a situation where the optimal action of the supplier is to hold more inventory. When incentives for on-time delivery are increased, the supplier responds by decreasing the variance of flow time and by increasing the lead time allowance. However, the lead time allowance increases more quickly than the variance is reduced, resulting. in a net increase in the amount of inventory that must be held by the supplier. The result is that inventory is pushed upstream. This paper does not suggest that inventory is always pushed upstream in JIT purchasing. Rather, it provides a counter-example to those who presume that holding more inventory is always a non-optimal response to buyer's requests for JIT delivery.     

产品组合管理新论--以顾客为核心的产品组合管理模型

产品组合管理(PPM)是国际上广为采用的定量分析的经营战略技法，但传统的产品组合管理，无论是波士顿咨询公司法，还是通用电器公司法，都是用产品的指标来对产品进行分类、评估与管理的。“顾客导向”要求企业经营必须被看成一个顾客满意过程，而不是一个产品生产过程。基于此，本文构成了一个以顾客为核心的产品组合管理模型，即以顾客的发展潜力和公司业务所拥有的顾客资产率来反映公司产品(业务)发展前景和竞争优势，从而对产品进行分类、规划、培育和经营。     

The Language of Marketplace Rituals: Implications for Customer Experience Management

The domain of customer experience management (hereafter, CEM) includes every point of customer contact with products, services or businesses (Grewal, Levy, and Kumar 2009). In a recent special issue of the Journal of Retailing, Puccinelli et al. (2009) assert that a key atmospheric element of CEM that can shape customer satisfaction within the retail setting is the “interaction between the customer and employee” (p. 24). In this paper, we delve further into the social-interaction aspects of retail atmospherics, by focusing on how retailers and service providers use language to facilitate a specific type of provider/customer experience that we label the “marketplace ritual.” We use depth interviews and participant observation to: (1) analyze the structure and function of the specific utterances providers identify as salient when creating and executing marketplace rituals; (2) discuss the ways language contributes to perceived strategic CEM-related outcomes; and (3) examine providers’ perceptions of the potentially negative consequences of ritual language for CEM.     

A Dual-Step and Dual-Process Model of Advertising Effects: Implications for Reducing the Negative Impact of Advertising on Children's Consumption Behaviour

Children are important targets of advertising campaigns from companies. However, children have been found to be particularly vulnerable to negative effects of advertising, and protecting children from these effects is an important task of consumer policy. Two important aspects have to be considered in this task. First, advertising affects judgements and behaviour not only during ad exposure but also in delayed consumption and purchase contexts. Second, advertising operates largely at an implicit level—during ad exposure as well as in consumption decisions. The current article introduces a dual-step (ad exposure vs. purchase/consumption) and dual-process (implicit vs. explicit) model of advertising effects on children. The model is based on a review of implicit advertising effects and implicit mechanisms of self-control. It implies that consumer policies intending to prevent undesired advertising effects should support interventions that strengthen advertising and purchasing literacy and, in addition, implicit self-control mechanisms in children. As self-control in consumption decisions is largely relevant for, and learned during, shopping and consumption, such interventions should focus on educating parents or other primary caregivers because they are the most likely persons to accompany children in such situations and have a great influence on children's implicit learning.