An organizational capability perspective on multi-unit franchising

Previous research on multi-unit franchising (MUF) has primarily focused on agency and transaction cost perspectives. The present study develops and tests an organizational capability (OC) model of the franchisor’s choice of MUF. According to the OC view, the franchisor gains a competitive advantage by exploration and exploitation of firm-specific resources and capabilities. We hypothesize that, if the franchisor expects to obtain a competitive advantage resulting from higher exploration and exploitation capabilities when using MUF as opposed to single-unit franchising, the franchisor will more likely choose MUF as a governance mode of the franchise system. Based on empirical data from the German and Swiss franchise sectors, the results of the regression analysis support these hypotheses. Our main contribution to the franchise literature is the development of an OC model of the franchisor’s choice of MUF that complements the existing organizational economics ?explanation of MUF.     

Ethics, alterity, and organizational justice

This paper articulates a conception of organizational justice based on the promise of a mode of organizing that does not violate the particularity of each and every other person. It argues that the decisive condition for such a form of justice resides in the realities of the cultural practices of an organization as they are apparent in the conduct of people in relation to multiple others. These are practices that can only seek justification in the primary right of each person to be regarded with absolute alterity. It also argues that a degree of violence is unavoidable within any practical ordering of justice and that any consideration of ethics and justice in organizations must account for such violence and seek to negotiate its existence on ethical terms. The organizational justice that is referred to is one sensitive to the exercise of its own power and authority in the context of its unavoidable violation of its basis in ethics. This is a justice that is ethically necessary, but is never sure of itself.     

A co-evolution perspective of EMNE internationalization and institutions: An integrative framework of 5Cs

While significant progress has been made on the contextual role of institutions, scholarly research on the dynamic process of emerging economy multinational enterprises’ (EMNEs) international activities interacting with home country and host country institutions still seems to be in its infancy. Therefore, in order to move the current academic debate forward, we examine the intersection between the internationalization of EMNEs and their institutional environments by undertaking a critical review of the existing literature, given that institutional forces not only shape organizational behavior but also affect EMNEs’ internationalization strategies and organizational outcomes. We propose an integrative framework of 5Cs (context, capability, change, concomitance and configuration) underlying the co-evolution of EMNEs’ internationalization and institutions, and position all the papers included in this Special Issue within this framework in order to point towards a number of directions for future scholarship.     

An integrative perspective of closeness in retailing: From retailers' sense-giving to consumers' sense-making

This research investigates the concept of closeness in retailing. While previous research on closeness has tended to adopt only consumers' point of view, in-depth interviews with managers and customers of a French supermarket chain show that both parties interpret and define closeness differently. Analysis reveals that “store closeness” comprises a complex set of meanings that are not limited to a geographical notion but rather encompass functional, relational, and integration notions. Furthermore, retailers define store closeness very broadly, which contributes to nurturing their positioning but also leads them to idealize their role in the marketplace. In contrast, consumers’ definition of store closeness is more limited and mainly focuses on the functional features of the store, thus highlighting a discrepancy between retailers’ sense-giving and consumers’ sense-making.     

Understanding consumption in social virtual worlds: A sensemaking perspective on the consumption of virtual goods

Virtual consumption involves consuming virtual goods in cyberspace. Virtual consumption activities are evolving into an essential activity in social virtual worlds. Despite the growing importance of this activity, little research examines this phenomenon. The current study investigates the fundamental question of how users understand the consumption of virtual goods. Using the theory of social representations and core-periphery analysis, this study elicits and analyzes the social representation of virtual consumption. Study participants are 154 Second Life users. Results identify 32 concepts and relationships representing the collective perceptions of virtual consumption in this social virtual world. Social representation map interpretations point to several key themes that provide a foundation for future investigations of virtual economy consumption behavior.     

The organizational ecology of retailing: A historical perspective

Little empirical research has been done on how to help retailing firms survive recessions. Using the “natural experiment” of the Great Depression and the theoretical lens of organizational ecology, we explore survival of retailers during 1929-1939 to test whether strategic competitive advantages related to human capital, the liability of newness, organizational form, and legitimacy facilitated survival through this upheaval. Consistent with theory from organizational ecology, survival was positively influenced by the average wage paid in the population, the average age of the population, chain store penetration, and an interaction of level of chain store penetration and age. The study offers recommendations for research and practice to retailers. The most important application for retailing managers is that high wage employees, presumably of higher quality, help retailers survive recessions better than low wage employees.     

组织学习研究的社会视角分析

群体学习的独特性导致有人认为学习必然是社会性的.群体学习是组织中产生共同理解的一个关键过程.个体学习可以在不需要他人而进行,而群(集)体学习固有地产生于人们的相互交往过程中.本文分析总结了关于组织学习的社会维度的主要研究,并进一步对群体学习的社会过程进行了阐述.最后对未来研究方向进行了展望.     

Exploring the determinants of organizational emergence: A legitimacy perspective

In an attempt to explain why some nascent organizations become new organizations while others do not, we contend that the process of organizational emergence can be understood and predicted by viewing it as a quest for legitimacy. We subsequently find empirical evidence to suggest that the actions a nascent organization takes (or strategic legitimacy) may be more important than its characteristics (or conforming legitimacy) in explaining organizational emergence. Such a conclusion is important in that it provides a theoretical framework with which to understand organizational emergence and in so doing advances our knowledge of this important process.     

The effect of organizational justice, perceived organizational support, and perceived supervisor support on marketing employees' level of trust

For more than four decades, research has investigated the relationship between perceptions of organizational justice and employees' work attitudes. This study used two data sets to examine how perceptions of organizational justice influence marketing employees' perceived support and trust. Specifically, this study examines the role of perceived support as a mediator between organizational justice and trust. The results indicate that in Study 1 perceived organizational support (POS) serves as a mediator between procedural justice and organizational trust. Interactional justice is both a direct and indirect predictor of supervisory trust through perceived supervisor support (PSS). Distributive justice is related indirectly to organizational trust through PSS and directly to organizational trust. In contrast to the results in Study 1, distributive justice is an antecedent to both POS and PSS while procedural justice is related directly to organizational trust.     

Communication channels in markets: a definition and conceptualization

The marketing mix taxonomy by classifying marketing communications according to how they are controlled by the marketer. The proposed definition of 'marketing communications' and 'communication channels' is customer-focused in contrast to the prevailing marketer-focused interpretations in the literature. This definition calls attention to the sources of information received by customers, some of which are only weakly controlled by the marketer. The control of communication channels is conceived in terms of five types-supervisory, contractual, agency, relational and informal.     

Measurement of organizational investments in social capital: The service employee perspective

This paper describes the development and validation of a measure of organizational investments in social capital (OISC). The scale development process is carried out over three stages (item generation, scale purification, scale validation), with two separate data collection phases involving a total of 735 working adults from multiple and diverse service-related workplace settings. As such, the data provide evidence for the face, content, discriminant, convergent and nomological validity, dimensionality and reliability of the OISC measure. The OISC measure is a concise, unidimensional scale that has the potential for significant usage in the development and testing of theory, as well as practical application in retail and other service provision contexts.     

Guanxi and organizational dynamics in China: a link between individual and organizational levels

Guanxi in China is a very ancient concept embedded in the Confucian concept of life and one that is a ‚hot' topic in that it is currently attracting increasing attention from both Western and Chinese scholars. One aspect of Guanxi which has been the subject of most of the research of late is the influence of Guanxi on firm performance. However, relatively few studies have examined how Guanxi at the individual level is transferred into a firm to influence its financial performance. This study first reclassifies Guanxi into obligatory, reciprocal, and utilitarian types at the individual level as a means to clarifying the confusion brought above from previous studies. It then provides a conceptual framework in which to systematically characterize the link between Guanxi at the individual level and organizational dynamics: that is, how is Guanxi at the individual level shifted to a firm and how does it affect organizational dynamics of that firm at the organizational level. Finally, it provides a deeper understanding of the financial implications of Guanxi to business firms in China. Dr. Yi Zhang is Associate Professor of School of Public Administration and a former postdoctor of Scholl of Management at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. His research lie in international business and FDI, strategic management in China, and organizational learning. His work has been and will be published in the Journal of Business Ethic and Singapore Management Review. Zigang Zhang is Professor of College of Management at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. His research interests include strategic management, knowledge management, and cooperation management.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Fourth Asia Academy of Management Conference, December 2004, in Shanghai, P.R. China.     

Focus group interviewing in China: Language, culture, and sensemaking

This paper explores the use of foreign languages in qualitative focus group research in China. I focus on language, culture, and sensemaking from a point of view, which presents language as being context and time specific. While this has been examined recently in the field of International Business, it has not been discussed within International Entrepreneurship and with regard to focus groups. My findings show that shared meaning can be constructed in focus groups across different languages and locations but depends on the use of cultural insiders and resources. This leads us to new levels of understanding within International Entrepreneurship. The author uses the definition of International Entrepreneurship (IE) as provided by Oviatt and McDougall (2005) who qualified IE research as falling into categories: research that provides comparisons of entrepreneurial behavior in multiple countries and cultures or research that examines organization behavior that extends across national borders and is entrepreneurial (Oviatt and McDougall 2005: 540).     

Dysfunctional customer behavior: conceptualization and empirical validation

Service Business - Dysfunctional customer behavior is endemic and prevalent across multiple service sectors. However, despite significant interest from practitioners and scholars, understanding of...     

Employee testing: An ethical perspective

This paper deals with the conflict between the desire of an employer to test employees for honesty and chemical dependency, and the right of the employee to privacy. Not only is the physical privacy of the employee infringed upon, but the psychic privacy of the individual as well. It is the conclusion of the paper that such an invasion of privacy is not justified without serious and compelling reason, and not the mere chance that testing will reveal problems among some percentage of the tested persons. Dan Davidson is Professor of Business Law at Radford University in Virginia. He has five teaching awards, including Razorback Outstanding Business Faculty Award, University of Arkansas. He is the author of four textbooks published by Kent Publishing Co., and his articles have been published in the Education Forum, Journal of Insurance Issues and Practices, and the Business Law Review, among others.