Are social media companies motivated to be good corporate citizens? Examination of the connection between corporate social responsibility and social media safety

This paper explores the connection between corporate social responsibility and social media safety. By examining the legal framework governing social platforms in the United States and case studies of online harms, we explore whether current U.S. laws and company content moderation policies are effective in eliminating content (revenge porn and acts of terrorism) that is universally agreed to be harmful. Finally, the paper makes a number of suggestions for improvements in policy.     

What is dark about the dark-side of business relationships?

Over the last decade or so, the term ‘dark-side’ in referring to business relationships has been increasingly used in academic discourse. Despite such a growth in the number of studies, relatively little critique has been offered among scholars. The fact that effectively managing the dark side of business relationships has potentially greater influence of contributing to inter-organizational success beyond more focus on the positive side necessitates an urgent critique surrounding ‘what is dark about the dark side of business relationships?’ Thus, we aim to provide an overview relating to the ‘dark side’ of business relationships in a quest to generate greater debate on the subject.     

Are products striking back? The rise of smart products in business markets

The business world is experiencing a shift away from ‘physicality’ due to the ubiquitous growth of the service sector and a progressive shift from selling product to offering service. Yet, at the same time, with regard to technology-based phenomena such as the Internet of Things (IoT), it is physical products equipped with sensors that are at the centre of the transformation. Our research seeks to understand how business products become smart products. It focuses on how product physicality (visibility of smartness; additional functions) and product ecosystems (product connectedness; degree of autonomy) are changing, and the resulting issues for marketing managers. We propose a typology of smart products along two dimensions: ‘Product Attributes’ and ‘Ecosystemic attributes’. We distinguish four categories of smart products: More Efficient Products (MEPs), Augmented Products (APs), Products as a Node (PN), and Products as a Hub (PH). In each category, a product acquires a certain degree of ‘digital enhancement’, ‘embeddedness’ and ‘transformativeness’, as we describe. We also discuss several implications of our work both at the theoretical and managerial levels.     

Evaluating the effectiveness of inter-regional trade and storage in Malawi’s private sector maize markets

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the private sector maize marketing system in Malawi using threshold autoregression models. Two dimensions of maize market performance are evaluated: (1) inter-regional trade and spatial price transmission; and (2) storage and seasonal price relationships. In both cases, threshold autoregression models which account for nonlinearities predicted by economic theory are applied. Results indicate that spatial price transmission and seasonal price patterns in private sector maize markets in Malawi are generally consistent with long-run competitive inter-regional trade and storage behavior, and that in most cases shocks to long-run equilibrium are arbitraged away quickly. This suggests the private sector in Malawi is generally doing a good job of transporting maize from surplus to deficit regions and smoothing maize consumption between harvests.     

How do strategic factor markets respond to rivalry in the product market?

This paper explores the interplay between product market, strategic factor market, and resource development. More competition in the product market makes resource buyers bid higher for resources, as the value of trying to preempt the resources is higher. Holding other initial conditions constant, resources are developed more in industries with factor markets than in industries without. When buyers of resources cannot integrate more than one resource, developers choose to develop either at a low or high level, generating a type of heterogeneity that would not arise otherwise. Changes in the intensity of competition in the product market can have the opposite effect on resource development efforts depending on the presence or absence of factor markets. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

‘It's almost like taking the sales out of selling’—Towards a conceptualization of value-based selling in business markets

While the creation of superior customer value is regarded as fundamental to a firm's long-term survival and growth, little is known about the effective implementation of a firm's value orientation at sales force level. As the sales force plays a pivotal role in implementing marketing strategies, this study adopts a discovery oriented approach and conceptualizes value-based selling as an effective sales approach in business markets. Based on in-depth interviews with sales managers in a variety of industries, we identify and portray three salient dimensions of value-based selling, namely (1) understanding the customer's business model, (2) crafting the value proposition, and (3) communicating customer value. The selling behavior entails a mutual orientation and focuses on the value-in-use potential of the offering for the customer's business profits. We argue that value-based selling is a unique concept that differs from the established selling approaches and propose a conceptual model linking value-based selling to performance outcomes. To further advance our knowledge about the effective implementation of a firm's value orientation, we identify future research avenues embracing qualitative and quantitative research methodologies.     

Married to the firm? A large‐scale investigation of the social context of ownership

Research summary : Using a large sample of private firms across Europe, we examine how the social context of owners affects firm strategy and performance. Drawing on embeddedness theory and the institutional logics perspective, we argue that embeddedness in a family, in particular the nuclear family, can strengthen identification and commitment to the firm, but can also induce owners to behave more conservatively. Consistent with this argument, we find that family‐owned firms have higher profit margins, returns on assets, and survival rates compared to single‐owner or unrelated‐owners' firms, but also invest and grow more slowly, hold greater reserves of cash, and rely less on external debt. These differences are most pronounced when the two largest shareholders are married. Our results highlight the key role of marital ties in explaining differences in behavior and performance among firms. Managerial summary : Despite the prevalence of the married‐couple ownership structure in firms, little research has been dedicated to understanding how these firms are managed and perform. We examine the behavior and performance of firms owned by married couples in a large panel of closely held Western European firms. We find that married‐owner family firms are managed more conservatively relative to firms with unrelated owners and even to other family‐owned firms. In particular, married‐owner family firms invest and grow more slowly and rely less on external finance. However, they also exhibit greater performance stability and higher profitability. Our findings suggest that social relationships among owners have a large impact on firm strategy and performance, and highlight some potential trade‐offs to performance when married couples control firms. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Regional differences in business ethics in the People’s Republic of China: A multi-dimensional approach to the effects of modernisation

This paper investigates the influence of modernisation on the moral judgements of 211 managers in the People’s Republic of China, based on their responses to a series of vignettes depicting potentially unethical behaviour in organisations. Since modernisation can take many forms, this paper takes a multi dimensional approach to examining levels of modernisation in different provinces in China. Three different measures are used, believed to represent different aspects of the modernisation process. These include the level of industrialisation of various provinces, the level of marketisation, or progress toward a market-based economy, and a new measure of Westernisation, or the extent to which individuals adopt aspects of Western lifestyle and materialism. This latter measure is developed and tested in the present study. Statistically significant associations between these three measures of modernisation and managers’ moral judgements were observed and the implications of these findings are discussed.     

What does it take to make the most of supplier relationships?

The supply context of companies has changed substantially during the past two decades because of outsourcing, globalisation and digitalisation, and through growing concern for sustainability and public procurement. These changes, combined with recognition of the potential benefits to be derived from more extensive involvement with suppliers, have made the task of purchasing and supply management broader and more complex. This paper's aim is to examine how the evolving supply context affects the scope of purchasing and supply management and what the consequences for management are. We argue that effective use of supplier relationships involves three main issues – interacting in supplier relationships, dealing with supply network interdependences and handling dynamic changes in the supply context. Coping with these matters requires: (i) conceptual tools that support monitoring and sense-making of what is on-going at the supply side of the firm; (ii) the individual and organisational skills and capabilities required to develop workable solutions; and (iii) organisational arrangements to support the development of these solutions.     

Is business lobbying in the European Union context-dependent? Evidence from the policy field of radio spectrum

This paper investigates contextual factors which impact on how business lobbying is carried out in radio spectrum policy in the European Union (EU). Based on the empirical evidence collected by means of ten expert interviews, the following considerations are drawn: first, the European Commission (hereafter “the Commission”) weighs highly information provided by corporate stakeholders which is in line with the EU objective to promote EU-wide coordinated use of radio spectrum. Second, the way the Council of the EU (hereafter “the Council”) is lobbied at EU level is unclear because of lack of transparency in the Council. Third, radio spectrum policy issues require niche expertise to be addressed because of high degree of complexity. Fourth, radio spectrum policy issues are characterised by low degree of salience as they are too technical for the wider public. Although centred on the EU context, the issues raised in this study, such as lack of transparency and civil society underrepresentation, are not unique to the EU system. In this respect, comparative studies between the EU and other institutional contexts may contribute to a better understanding of variation in business lobbying.     

Does bridging the Internet Access Divide contribute to enhancing countries' integration into the global trade in services markets?

This paper examines the impact of countries' distance between their Internet usage and the world' average of the Internet usage intensity on their integration into the world market of trade in commercial services. Using an unbalanced panel dataset of 175 countries over the annual period 2000–2013, the empirical analysis indicates that the narrowing of the Internet-related distance would improve countries' integration into the world trade in commercial services market. Furthermore, it helps those countries that are geographically far from the world market to compensate for the adverse effect of this geographical distance on their integration into the world market of trade in commercial services.     

Startups versus incumbents in ‘green’ industry transformations: A comparative study of business model archetypes in the electrical power sector

Scholars have recently argued that startups and incumbents play differential roles in the disruptive transformations of industries toward sustainability and that the transformations are only likely to succeed if both startups and incumbents contribute. To understand their respective contributions and, thus, to understand how industries make the transition toward sustainability, comparative studies of incumbents versus startups during this transformation have been identified as a central pursuit, but yet they are mostly lacking. Since business models have become a principal way of characterizing firms, the present study takes a business model perspective and derives business model archetypes in the electrical power sector from an analysis of 280 startups and incumbents in three different countries. The selected countries (USA, UK, and India) represent three different energy profiles and leading instances of disruption in the energy sector. The article, then, undertakes a comparative analysis of startups and incumbents based on the empirically distilled business model archetypes and develops propositions on startups, incumbents, and business models in industry transformations. This analysis produces several important insights. First, incumbents do not seem to engage in less business model experimentation than startups. Second, incumbents have adopted several new business models that are not pursued by startups. Third, startups have espoused some business models that are not pursued by incumbents. Fourth, foreign firms can also affect the ‘green’ transformation of an industry in a focal country. Finally, the identified business model archetypes are likely to be of interest to scholars and practitioners who are seeking an improved understanding of business models in the electrical power industry and the industry's competitive landscape.     

Competition aspects of pricing access to networks: What are the issues?

The introduction of competition between service providers in industries with some sort of network—such as telecommunications, but also gas and electricity—has created the regulatory problem of access pricing. Where a service provider requires access to a network owned by another firm, how much should that other firm be allowed to charge for access to its network? The problem arises where no agreement is forthcoming through normal market negotiations. The paper discusses the question of access pricing in telecoms, and the issues involved in actually deriving a price fixing mechanism for access to a network.     

Taking a hit to save the world? Employee participation in a corporate social initiative

Research Summary: Companies often justify their corporate social initiatives by citing talent management benefits. We examine the extent of, and the reasons for, employee interest in such an initiative in a global management consulting firm. We find a large fraction of employees to be interested in participation in the initiative even when participation requires a personal sacrifice in the form of a salary cut. However, this interest is driven not just by prosocial motivation: Expectations regarding private benefits, such as improved career prospects from new skills acquired, also play a role. Considerations of social impact and private benefits are equally salient when no salary cut is required, but private considerations become more prominent when participating employees are asked to accept a salary cut. Managerial Summary: Many companies are moving from stand‐alone corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects to social initiatives integrated into strategy. Providing employees with the opportunity to participate in such initiatives is said to help attract, motivate and retain talent. In this study, carried out in collaboration with a management consulting firm, we examine how much and why employees value participation in a corporate social initiative. Based on interviews and survey data, we find that employees are not only interested in, but often even willing to accept, a temporary salary cut for the opportunity. However, altruistic motivation is not the only driver of this interest: Employees also expect and value the possibility that the experience would lead to private benefits, such as developing skills likely to enhance their career prospects.     

Reflections on the interplay between cognition,action and outcomes in industries and business markets: What have we learned so far and where might we go next?

This essay traces the genesis and evolution of research pertaining to the interplay between cognition, action, and outcomes in industries and business markets and offers suggestions for the advancement of theory, research, and practice. Through a process of autobiographical self-reflection, covering the period from the mid-1980s–present, the author offers his views on developments and progress, first at a philosophical level, and then in terms of theory development and empirical advances, the development and application of methods for mapping actors' representations of strategic knowledge, and what this body of work has contributed and might contribute, going forward, to the design and evaluation of intervention tools and practices to aid strategic adaptation.     

What matters to managerial knowledge acquisition in international joint ventures? High knowledge acquirers versus low knowledge acquirers

Although there is a general agreement amongst scholars that international joint venture (IJV) is a vehicle to acquire technology and knowledge from foreign parents, key factors differentiating high knowledge acquirers from low knowledge acquirers are not yet conclusive. For the purpose of this study, the samples are divided into two groups based on the extent of knowledge acquisition using cluster analysis. Then the two groups are examined to identify the main factors classifying the groups by using logistic regression. This study finds that managerial knowledge that has more sticky characteristics than technology is acquirable know-how. It also shows that trust between parents, international experience of IJV employees, and foreign parent’s support in various managerial functions will considerably increase the extent of knowledge acquisition for IJVs. In conclusion, based on the findings from this study, this paper offers suggestions to IJVs and multinational enterprises investing in Korea.     

What’s in a name? The incidence of gasoline excise taxes versus gasoline carbon levies

Legislators often attach specific names to individual taxes to help explain their purpose, increase transparency, and ease public backlash over tax increases. It may be politically beneficial, but does the simple act of naming a tax and attaching it to a specific set of benefits have an actual effect in the marketplace? Do consumers respond differently to tax-induced price increases depending on what that tax is? In this article, a natural experiment is used to evaluate tax incidence after the introduction of two gasoline taxes in Alberta - 1) an increase in the generic excise tax and 2) an environmentally-targeted “carbon levy”. While similar on the cost side, the taxes were very different in name and transparency on the benefit side. Results show that benefit-side transparency can matter – responses were lower and incidence higher for the more transparent carbon levy than with the less transparent excise tax.     

To invest, or not to invest, in brands? Drivers of brand relevance in B2B markets

When allocating resources to brand investments, managers should consider the relevance of brands to the purchase decision process. Past research on consumer markets shows that brand relevance generally is driven by three functions: image benefits as well as information cost and risk reductions. This study is the first to investigate these underlying mechanisms of brand relevance in a business-to-business setting. Our main contribution is that, in contrast with consumer markets, brand relevance in industrial markets depends primarily on risk and information cost-reducing effects. Therefore, business-to-business firms should invest in their brands using tactics that support the reduction of risk and information search costs for customer decision making. This article also demonstrates that brand relevance differs across product categories, such that depending on the specific category, investing in brands may or may not be a promising strategy.     

Does it pay to be really good? addressing the shape of the relationship between social and financial performance

Building on the theoretical argument that a firm's ability to profit from social responsibility depends upon its stakeholder influence capacity (SIC), we bring together contrasting literatures on the relationship between corporate social performance (CSP) and corporate financial performance (CFP) to hypothesize that the CSP‐CFP relationship is U‐shaped. Our results support this hypothesis. We find that firms with low CSP have higher CFP than firms with moderate CSP, but firms with high CSP have the highest CFP. This supports the theoretical argument that SIC underlies the ability to transform social responsibility into profit. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.