What's Behind the Hype of Decoupling?

The meaning of decoupling "You either believe in decoupling or globalization--but not both",said Stephen Roach,an economist at Morgan Stanley.AND"you can have both decoupiing and globalization at the same time";said an article in The Economist.     

A Scientometric Analysis of Publications in the Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing 1993–2014

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To conduct a scientometric analysis of the contents of the Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing from 1993 to 2014.

Methodology/approach: The authors use the Leximancer computer-aided text analysis program, which reliably and reproducibly identifies the main concepts embedded in the text—their frequency and patterns of co-occurrence—based on the ways words move together in the text. They also identify key concepts that differentiate among the networks of concepts occurring in each of the first four five-year periods of the Journal’s history.

Findings: There are four common underlying conceptual themes: relationships, market, study, and business. But the focal mix of concepts has changed over time, from a narrower initial focus on distribution and power and conflict, to a greater focus on firm business marketing strategy and pedagogy, to a focus on networks, the Internet and more collaborative relations, to a focus, in the most recent period, on psycho-social network concepts, such as trust and commitment.

Research implications: The results complement and provide a baseline for evaluating and comparing researcher-conducted literature reviews of business marketing and JBBM’s contributions. The methodology provides possibilities for further analysis as it can be extended to analyze the business marketing and wider marketing literature more generally and how it has evolved.

Practical implications: Leximancer provides a comprehensive, accessible summary of the content of the JBBM and demonstrates its value as a text analysis program.

Originality/value/contribution: The authors are among the first to use this novel computer text analysis program to conduct a scientometric analyses of journal content. It provides a template for conducting studies of other journals and text.     

What's Behind Spring Festival?

Similar to what the Christmas Day means for the westerners,the Spring Festival is the most important celebration for Chinese people.This big event according to Chinese traditional lunar calendar relaxes and pleases the whole country as the happiest gathering time of the year.National-wide crusade for going back home,too-difficult-to-get train tickets,generous family-going-out shopping,Miaohui laundering,New Year Eve reunion dinner,visiting friends and relatives,watching annual TV gala......each piece of clue reminds us of the smell of Chinese Spring Festival.     

What's in the box? Investigating the benefits and risks of the blind box selling strategy

This study explores the benefits and risks of the blind box selling strategy, a unique type of marketing approach wherein consumers purchase a package from a retailer without knowing its content. To this end, this study develops a new framework by incorporating hedonic benefits, perceived risk, risk propensity, customer delight, and brand evangelism in an integrated conceptual model. The findings of a survey of 486 respondents demonstrate that hedonic benefits have a positive influence on customer delight, while perceived risk has a negative effect, and risk propensity moderates the relationship between the two constructs. The findings also reveal that customer delight stimulates brand evangelism and mediates the relationship between hedonic benefits, perceived risk, and brand evangelism. This research highlights the importance of the blind box selling strategy and provides valuable managerial insights for brand managers.     

What's behind the Successful Pass of the Registration Report?

On December 1, 2005, the registration report for Shanghai Expo was passed inParis. This is a critical moment for Shanghai, and the result of the hard work jointly.What is behind the smooth success? Here we got some first hand information fromthe insiders.…     

Is Guanxi Ethical? A Normative Analysis of Doing Business in China

This paper extends the discussion of guanxi beyond instrumental evaluations and advances a normative assessment of guanxi. Our discussion departs from previous analyses by not merely asking, “Does guanxi work?” but rather “Should corporations use guanxi?” The analysis begins with a review of traditional guanxi definitions and the changing economic and legal environment in China, both necessary precursors to understanding the role of guanxi in Chinese business transactions. This review leads us to suggest that there are distinct types of, and uses for guanxi. We identify the potentially problematic aspects of certain forms of guanxi from a normative perspective, noting among other things, the close association of particular types of guanxi with corruption and bribery. We conclude that there are many different forms of guanxi that may have distinct impacts on economic efficiency and the well-being of ordinary Chinese citizens. Consistent with Donaldson and Dunfee (1999), we advocate a particularistic analysis of the different forms of guanxi.     

Dynamics of Stakeholders’ Implications in the Institutionalization of the CSR Field in France and in the United States

This study supports the idea that fields form around issues, and describes the roles of various stakeholders in the structuring, shaping, and legitimating of the emerging field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). A model of the institutional history of the CSR field is outlined, of which a key stage is the appearance of CSR rating agencies as the significant players and Institutional Entrepreneurs of the field. We show to which extent the creation and further development of CSR rating agencies, and the activism of other significant stakeholders of the field (typically portrayed as “standard setters” and “regulatory agents”), contribute to the institutionalization of CSR. With this in mind, among various stakeholders that legitimate the field of CSR, we present the efforts of global and local stakeholders such as the European Union, the United Nations, the International Organization for Standardization, and governments and their interactions. We suggest that the different paths of CSR development and institutionalization in France and in the United States depend on the nature of local and global stakeholders’ involvement in this process and their interactions.     

What are the Building Blocks of Customer Brand Loyalty in Department Stores? A Multi-Level Mediation Analysis

Building customer brand loyalty through branding strategies to sustain competitiveness in the retail industry has gathered momentum among researchers. The purpose of this study is to examine the role of brand personality and consumer brand identification on customer brand loyalty via the mediating variables of perceived service quality, perceived value, brand trust, brand commitment, and word-of-mouth communication among Malaysian department stores' customers. Using a self-structured questionnaire, 381 usable responses are considered for data analysis by applying a covariance-based structural equation modeling approach. The results of exploratory factor analysis show that sincerity, followed by sophistication and competence, are the most significant dimensions used to predict brand personality in department stores. The outcomes also reveal that brand personality indirectly influences customer brand loyalty via consumer brand identification. Furthermore, perceived service quality, perceived value, brand trust, word-of-mouth communication, and brand commitment mediate the effects of consumer brand identification on brand loyalty. Finally, the proposed competing model implies that the indirect impact of brand personality and consumer brand identification is inevitable in building department stores' brand loyalty.     

Is the Ethical Culture of the Organization Associated with Sickness Absence? A Multilevel Analysis in a Public Sector Organization

The main aim of the present study was to examine whether an ethical organizational culture is associated with sickness absence in a Finnish public sector organization at both the individual (within-level) and work unit (between-level) levels. The underlying assumption was that employees working for organizations that are characterized by a strong ethical organizational culture report less sickness absence. The sample consisted of 2192 employees from one public sector city organization that included 246 different work units. Ethical organizational culture was measured with the Corporate Ethical Virtues scale covering eight sub-dimensions. Sickness absence was inquired by asking the participants to report how many days they had been absent from work because of their own sickness over the past year. Multilevel structural equation modelling showed that, at the individual level, perceptions of a strong ethical organizational culture were associated with less sickness absences after controlling for the background factors. This link was not found at the work-unit level. The findings indicate that an ethical organizational culture plays a significant role in enhancing employee well-being measured as sickness absence. It seems that especially supervisor’s ethical role modeling and possibilities to discuss about ethical issues are important factors in preventing sickness absence in the organizations.     

Analysis of Influences of the Information Media in Rural Areas

The channel of information in the rural marketare not well developed. Enterprises should payadequate attention to this fact when opening therural market.Peasants' Consumption Habits are SimilarA survey targeting 20 thousand of ruralfamilies in 14 provinces has been jointlyconducted by a research committee from theChina rural appliance market. The committeeconsists of experts and scholars from theresearch and development center of the StateCouncil, the China National information Center,the …     

The Profile of Research on Exporter–Importer Relationships: A Chronological Analysis

This article presents a chronological analysis of bibliographic and thematic aspects of exporter–importer business relationships research based on a systematic review of 211 articles published between the years 1975 and 2017 in business journals. The study findings indicate that, in terms of bibliographic aspects, this literature is characterized by (a) an increasing collaboration among different institutions and countries, despite a heavy concentration of authors from Europe and North America; (b) a predominance of a small number of scholars producing a substantial part of the literature; and (c) dominance of empirical articles with relatively moderate average impact. In terms of thematic aspects, behavioral dimensions and relationship characteristics constitute the nucleus of the literature, with research efforts focusing on their environmental and internal drivers and performance outcomes. These study findings carry significant implications for major stakeholders of the exporter–importer relationships research, including authors, editors, and conference organizers.     

Can Firms Grow Without Credit? A Quantile Panel Analysis in the Euro Area

This paper explores the effects of changes in bank credit on firm growth before and after the recent global financial crisis, taking into account firm-specific and country-specific characteristics as well as structural characteristics of domestic banking sectors. Panel quantile analysis is used on a sample of 2075 euro area firms in 2005–2011, enabling thus the identification of potential differences in the dynamics between high-growth and low-growth firms. The post-2008 credit crunch is found to seriously affect mostly high-leveraged, low-growth firms operating in concentrated banking systems with weak foreign presence, and in riskier and less financially developed European economies. By contrast, high-growth firms are not affected and, thus, may be expected to facilitate and sustain the post-crisis credit-less recovery in the euro area. A policy implication of our findings is that creating the right conditions for the emergence of innovative high-growth firms may be a more effective growth strategy, especially in adverse times, as compared to a general policy covering all types of firms.     

What's up in China's VC?

Given three years of back to back growth in venture in- vesting in China,is the trend likely to continue?What sorts of changes are ahead? Earlier in 2005,Francesco Guerrera in Hong Kong and Andrew Yeh in Beijing said of all the industries that could be created by government fiat, venture capitalism looks like an unlikely candidate.Based on the interaction between entrepreneurs with more vision than funds,     

Still Big in Bangkok? An Empirical Analysis of the Regional Distribution of Foreign Direct Investment in Thailand

This paper analyses regional Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Thailand. Its determinants are identified using a unique assembled panel dataset comprising all 76 Thai provinces during the period 1985–2005. The work is premised on the view that foreign investors consider various determinants of location choices in each province (including labour costs, Gross Provincial Products (GPP) per head, areas of industrial estates, communication and transportation issues, population characteristics, educational attainment, population density and distance from the centre of town to the main ports of Thailand) as well as government incentives, before deciding to undertake FDI in a given region. Our econometric model estimates suggest that government regional policy, and the effect of zoning in particular, however, has a significant and positive effect on regional FDI, drawing FDI to those zones where the greatest incentives are on offer. The other possible determinants of FDI amongst regions are largely shown to be insignificant.     

Any complaints? A review of the framework of self-regulation in the Australian advertising industry

Prior to 1996, the Australian system of advertising self-regulation was regarded as a world model and many Asia-Pacific systems included components adapted from the Australian system. The recent changes to this system, encouraged by the abolition of the media accreditation system, consumer association pressure, criticism from the national advertisers association and the lack of a strong advertising agency presence, present an interesting framework in which to review the foundation concepts of self-regulation in advertising. This paper compares the new code of ethics with its predecessor and an international standard. It examines the performance of the code in terms of the number of complaints upheld and complaint by medium and product type and the voluntary response of advertisers. The findings suggest a weakening in the standard of advertising self-regulation in Australia, with fewer provisions in the Code of Ethics, a significantly fewer number of complaints upheld and no real power of enforcement. Although the case is Australian, it raises universal questions such as the vested interest of advertisers in controlling the process and roles of the consumer association, the media and the advertising agencies in guaranteeing the privilege of self-regulation.     

A Multiple-Criteria Analysis Application for Vertical Coordinatıon in the Transportation of Agricultural Commodities in Brazil

The strategies used to perform the transportation of agricultural commodities by truck in Brazil are a challenge to decision-making. This article brings together the widely held theories vertical coordination and decision analysis to present a discussion of decision-making in organizations. From a model capable of processing main objectives, multiple criteria, and variables found in transport verticalization problems, the results showed worse performance than hybrid or outsourced alternatives. These results support that in environments with high dependence on low costs and asset specificity, they are no more likely to meet hybrid structures or market coordination. As the price difference between the outsourced and vertical model decreases, there is a preference for hierarchical structure, given its better performance related to the benefits offered. Changes in the institutional environment, such as transport regulations, may modify competitive arrangements. This type of preference by decision-makers for vertical structures could allow larger scale in conjunction with strategies by shippers, as operation costs remain close to those charged by carriers.     

The Role of Local Context in Headquarters–Subsidiaries Relationships: A Global Analysis of the Literature

This study reviews the literature on multinational corporations’ headquarters–subsidiaries relationships, focusing on the role of the local context and its influence on subsidiaries in developed and emerging markets or countries. The author searched the literature using several terms directly related to these issues. The findings demonstrate that subsidiaries can only operate successfully in foreign locations by adjusting their policies to fit into the local environment because there are multiple contexts. Multinational corporations manage the local context by integrating their home behavior and that of the subsidiaries’ operating environments. A framework for identifying and managing different local contexts is proposed.     

What＇s Behind the Hype of Decoupling？

The meaning of decoupling “You either believe in decoupling or globalization—but not both”, said Stephen Roach, an economist at Morgan Stanley. AND “you can have both decou-pling and globalization at the same time”, said an article in The Economist. How diffusing about the meaning of decoupling especially in the context of international finance crisis in which the developed countries can＇t hold the world together while the developing riecountries play a more increasing role in the arena of international affairs! We can get a clearer look if we go back to see what happened in the past thirty years. The global economic landscape has shifted dramatically since the mid-1980s. There are two phenomena which attracted our attention. First, with the cost-downing and demand-increasing, there has been a rapid increase in interna-tional trade and financial linkages across national countries. Second, emerging economies have increasingly become major players in the world and they now account for about a quarter of world economic output every year and a more major driver of global growth due to industrial economies＇ slowing economic development.