Blending practice worlds: Impact assessment as a transdisciplinary practice

Organisations with explicit social missions such as social enterprises, impact investors, nonprofits, and foundations are under increasing pressure to illustrate their impact on the social problems they claim to be addressing. These trends have resulted in an increasing sophistication of attempts to measure and report social impact across sectors. Despite the emerging literature on impact assessment, there is little research on how the growing emphasis on, and drive for, impact assessment is experienced in everyday organisational activities. This paper draws on practice theory to understand the purposes of impact assessment and how it influences, and is enacted in, everyday organisational activities. A multiple case design studies the purpose of impact assessment through qualitative interviews with over 90 practitioners within the Australian and United Kingdom impact investment ecosystems. The findings suggest that impact assessment should be understood as a transdisciplinary practice evolving from, and blending together with, multiple practice worlds such as strategy, accounting, marketing, and organisational learning. The main contributions of the paper are the development of the concept of impact assessment as a transdisciplinary practice and an empirical understanding of how impact assessment links to, and blends with, diverse practice worlds.     

Impact investing and sustainable market transformations: The role of venture capital funds

Impact investors often know their financial return on investments, but are less certain about their impact. This article frames impact as their contribution to sustainable market transformation. A sustainable market transformation consists of inception, first movers, critical mass, and institutionalization phases. Given the nature of such transformations, the impact is effectuated at different moments and toward various market actors. Based on an exploratory research design with semi-structured expert interviews, this article aims to create an overview of the roles of impact venture capital funds in sustainable market transformations. The results suggest that the view that the capitalization of start-ups is the only impact of impact investors is a misconception. The needs of companies with sustainability value propositions change over time and consequently impact investors perform various roles. For example, exiting an investment while upholding social and environmental objectives communicates to mainstream business that the start-up is ready to create a greater impact. Further, impact investors fulfill external roles that change the perspectives of institutional actors toward sustainable investments. Based on an overview of the different roles that impact investors fill, this article proposes a future research agenda to strengthen our knowledge about the impact return of investments.     

市场导向、组织学习创新及组织绩效:基于珠江三角洲企业的实证研究

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among market orientation, learning orientation, organizational innovation and organizational performance through a structural equation modeling approach. This study uses a sample of 143 companies in the Pearl River Delta region of China. Results show that (1) market orientation has no positive direct impact on organizational performance; (2) market orientation has a direct impact on learning orientation; (3) learning orientation has a direct impact on administrative and technical innovation; (4) market orientation has a direct impact on organizational innovation by learning orientation; (5) administrative innovation has a positive direct impact on organizational performance while technical innovation does not impact on organizational performance directly; (6) technical innovation has a positive impact on administrative innovation; (7) learning orientation has an indirect impact on organizational performance through influencing organizational innovation; (8) market orientation has impact on learning orientation, which has an impact on organizational innovation, which in turn has an impact on organizational performance. Managerial implications are discussed, along with suggestions for further research. Translated from Guanli Shijie 管理世界 (Management World), 2006, (2): 80–94, 143     

跨组织电子商务与企业间信任、承诺关系研究

跨组织电子商务的发展为合作企业带来诸多优势,并可能会影响到合作企业关系。将经典的关系变量(如信任、承诺和关系价值创造)与跨组织电子商务纳入到模型进行实证研究,结果表明,跨组织电子商务并没有对关系价值创造产生积极影响,而承诺会对跨组织电子商务使用产生积极影响,信任对于跨组织电子商务的使用是否产生影响并不明朗,同时信任和承诺对于关系价值创造的积极影响关系以及信任对于承诺的积极影响关系得到了验证。     

Talk the Walk: Measuring the Impact of Strategic Philanthropy

Drawing a framework from institutional and legitimacy theory, supplemented by concepts from the accounting literature, this study uses longitudinal cross-sectional and cross-national data on over 500 firms listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) to empirically test whether these firms are strategic in their philanthropy as indicated by their measurement of the impact of their philanthropic activities along three dimensions – society, business, and reputation and stakeholder satisfaction. It is predicted that the variables’ company size, amount of philanthropic expenditure, region and industry influence the extent to which the various impact dimensions of philanthropy are measured. Though unexpected considering the lack of common practice in impact measurement, it is found that between 62 and 76% of the DJSI firms measure some sort of impact of their philanthropic activities, mostly impact on society and impact on reputation and stakeholder satisfaction. The number of firms that measure impact increases over the years and so does the number of firms that measure multiple dimensions of impact. Consist with our predictions, we find that larger firms and firms with relatively higher philanthropic expenditures are more likely to measure impact. Moreover, firms in the financial sector and firms from Europe and North America are also more likely to measure impact of their philanthropic activities.     

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。     

人—组织匹配对员工创新行为的影响——心理授权的中介作用

人—组织匹配对员工创新行为具有显著的正向影响,其中价值观匹配和要求—能力匹配对员工创新行为具有显著的正向影响,需求—供给匹配对员工创新行为没有影响;人—组织匹配及三个维度均对心理授权具有显著的正向影响,心理授权对员工创新行为具有显著的正向影响;心理授权在人—组织匹配与员工创新行为之间起到部分中介作用。     

Antecedents of Organizational Commitment in a Chinese Construction Company

This study examines the impact of various ethical climate types and job satisfaction on organizational commitment of 144 employees working at a Chinese private construction company. Both caring and independence climate types had a significant positive impact on organizational commitment. Instrumental climate had a significant negative impact on organizational commitment. Other climate types (professional, rules, and efficiency) had no significant impact on organizational commitment. Overall job satisfaction had a significant positive impact on organizational commitment. Overclaiming was significantly correlated with organizational commitment, caring climate, rules climate, and job satisfaction.     

中国—新西兰自由贸易区的构建对双方经济影响的计量研究

采用GTAP模型,就中新自由贸易区的建立将对双方在贸易规模、贸易结构、生产格局、GDP和福利水平等方面产生的经济影响进行了一般均衡模拟研究。研究结果表明,中国农产品、奶产品、畜牧业、动物肉及其制品等会受到较大冲击;中国各产业的产出水平不会受太大影响,而新西兰各产业的产出变化相对明显;新西兰所受经济影响要大于中国所受经济影响;中国的GDP和福利水平会受到负面影响,而新西兰的GDP和福利会得到较大改善。     

Is foreign direct investment productive? A case study of the regions of Vietnam

By making use of a recently released dataset that covers a large number of manufacturing firms over the period 2000–2005, this paper examines the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) and FDI generated spillovers on total factor productivity (TFP) in eight regions of Vietnam. Unlike most existing studies, this paper focuses on the impact of spillovers that take place through both horizontal and vertical linkages. The results presented in this paper suggest that the impact of FDI spillovers on TFP varies considerably across regions. FDI spillovers generate a strong positive impact on TFP through backward linkages only in Red River Delta, South Central Coast, South East and Mekong River Delta while in other regions the impact is negative and mostly insignificant. The paper also examines the impact of the absorptive capacity on TFP growth in each of the eight geographical regions.     

The impact of brand personality and sales promotions on brand equity

This research assesses the relative impact of a long-term brand management instrument (brand personality) and a short-term marketing mix instrument (sales promotions) on brand equity formation. The authors measure consumer perceptions of promotional intensity and brand personality and model their impact on brand equity. They find a positive impact of brand personality and a negative impact of sales promotion intensity on brand equity at the aggregate level. In line with research that identifies varying consumer responses to promotional deals, this study posits that the relative impact of the two elements varies across consumer groups. Three homogeneous consumer groups differ according to the relative impact of brand personality and consumer promotions on brand equity, following an application of a finite mixture partial least squares procedure.     

不同类型环境规制对地方环境治理的异质性影响

将环境规制分为命令型、市场型以及非正式三类,研究不同类型环境规制对地方环境治理的影响及其异质性。研究结论表明:不同环境规制与地方环境治理之间均呈现出倒U型关系,当环境规制强度未超过拐点值时,能够有效促进地方环境治理,但也存在异质性。命令型环境规制需要滞后一段时间才能发挥对地方环境治理的显著影响;市场型环境规制对地方环境治理的显著性影响会随滞后时间延长而减弱,而非正式环境规制的显著性影响会随滞后时间延长而增强。进一步分析表明:(1)命令型环境规制对地方环境治理的显著影响只存在于经济发展较差的地区,而非正式环境规制对地方环境治理的显著影响只存在于经济发展较好的地区。(2)官员晋升考核体系变化后,市场型环境规制对地方环境治理的显著影响减弱,而非正式环境规制的显著影响增强。研究结论对于如何根据不同类型环境规制的特点,来推动地方环境治理,具有启示意义。     

The impact of brand health on customer equity

This paper aims at studying the interactions between brand and customer assets over the long-term. Through the application of a new behavioural measure called the brand health index (BHI) we examine the impact of brand health on customer equity, and its mediating impact on the advertising-customer equity relationship. Three services industries, department stores, airlines, and banking, were studied from 2001 to 2012. The results show that brand health has a positive impact on customer equity, although the magnitude of the BHI impact varies across different industries. Moreover it was demonstrated that brand health mediates the impact of advertising on customer equity.     

Nonlinear price impact and portfolio choice

In a market with price impact proportional to a power of the order flow, we find optimal trading policies and their implied performance for long‐term investors who have constant relative risk aversion and trade a safe asset and a risky asset following geometric Brownian motion. These quantities admit asymptotic explicit formulas up to a structural constant that depends only on the curvature of the price impact function. Trading rates are finite as with linear impact, but are lower near the target portfolio, and higher away from the target. The model nests the square‐root impact law and, as extreme cases, linear impact and proportional transaction costs.     

The Impact of Emotional Intelligence,Organizational Commitment,and Job Satisfaction on Ethical Behavior of Chinese Employees

This study examines the impact of various factors on ethical behavior of 507 employees working for three state-owned Chinese firms. Regulation of one’s emotions (a facet of emotional intelligence) had a significant positive impact on ethical behavior of respondents. Organizational commitment also had a significant positive impact on ethical behavior of the respondents. Among various facets of job satisfaction, satisfaction with promotion, coworker, and supervision had a significant positive impact on ethical behavior of respondents. Among control variables, age of the employee had a significant negative impact on ethical behavior, which indicated that the young employees showed a better ethical behavior than the old employees.     

居民旅游影响感知、态度与参与意愿研究 ——以世界文化遗产地为例

以世界文化遗产地洛阳为案例地,以居民旅游影响感知为切入点,采用结构方程模型,构建了世界文化遗产地居民旅游影响感知、态度和参与意愿结构方程模型,并应用AMOS24.0软件对模型进行参数估计和假设检验,研究发现:居民正面旅游影响感知显著正向影响其总体态度和参与意愿,居民负面旅游影响感知显著负向影响其总体态度,但对其参与意愿无显著影响,居民总体态度显著正向影响其参与意愿。     

Impact of age on brand awareness sets: a turning point in consumers’ early 60s

Age impacts the brands a consumer knows, i.e., the “awareness set” which critically determines brand consideration and choice. Brands are in between common nouns and proper names but previous psychology research offers contradictory results on the impact of age on knowledge of common nouns versus proper names. Our empirical study on radio stations shows that the direct effect of age on awareness sets is marked by a turning point in consumers’ early 60s, with two contrasted patterns. For long-established brands, age has a direct positive impact up to the turning point but no significant direct impact afterward. For recent brands, there is no direct impact of age before that point but a strongly negative direct impact afterward. Age has also indirect effects through several mediators.     

Assessing mission drift at venture capital impact investors

In this article, we consider a recent trend whereby private equity available from venture capital (VC) firms is being deployed toward mission‐driven initiatives in the form of impact investing. Acting as hybrid organizations, these impact investors aim to achieve financial results while also targeting companies and funds to achieve social impact. However, potential mission drift in these VCs, which we define as a decoupling between the investments made (means) and intended aims (ends), might become detrimental to the simultaneous financial and social goals of such firms. Based on a content analysis of mission statements, we assess mission drift and the hybridization level of VC impact investors by examining their missions (ends/goals) and their investment practices (means) through the criteria of social and financial logic. After examining eight impact‐oriented VC investors and their investments in 164 companies, we find mission drift manifest as a disparity between the means and ends in half of the VC impact investors in our sample. We discuss these findings and make suggestions for further studies.     

产品因素对网络消费者感知风险的影响研究——以网络家电市场为例

目前有关产品因素对消费者感知风险的影响研究,多基于传统购物环境,并大多探讨产品的类别因素对消费者感知风险影响,而针对于网络环境下的具体产品,研究产品的特性因素对感知风险的影响较少。文章基于以上研究中的不足,以网络家电市场为研究对象,探讨家电产品的产品因素（类别、价格、功能、售后服务要求以及品牌知名度）对消费者网络购买家电产品感知风险的影响。实证研究发现,家电产品的售后服务要求对消费者感知经济风险、产品风险及心理风险的影响最大,品牌知名度次之,产品的功能对其影响最小,提出了网络家电零售商可以联合家电生产企业,做好相关产品的售后服务工作的观点。     

众包模式下顾客参与、顾客互动和新产品价值

将众包模式下顾客参与划分为合作众包模式下顾客参与和竞争众包模式下顾客参与两个关键维度,确定顾客互动之人际互动、人机互动的重要维度构成,构建众包模式下顾客参与直接影响新产品价值,以及通过顾客互动的中介效应间接影响新产品价值的理论模型。实证检验结果表明：合作众包模式下顾客参与、竞争众包模式下顾客参与对新产品价值的积极影响都显著;人际互动在合作众包模式下顾客参与影响新产品价值的关系中起完全中介效应,但在竞争众包模式下顾客参与影响新产品价值的关系中无中介效应;人机互动在竞争众包模式下顾客参与影响新产品价值关系中的部分中介效应显著,但在合作众包模式下顾客参与影响新产品价值关系中的中介效应不显著。