Nested identities as cognitive drivers of strategy

Research Summary: Organizations face tensions to conform to industry norms for legitimacy yet differentiate for competitive advantage when implementing strategies. We suggest this tension is due to and resolved through organizations’ cognitive negotiations of multiple levels of identity. Through an inductive study in the recreational vehicle industry, we find that organizations concurrently draw on identities at the organizational, industry, and strategic group levels to formulate and enact specific competitive actions. Specifically, we find that organizational identity relates to decisions on product offerings; industry identity relates to downstream strategy; and strategic group identity relates to upstream strategy, firm boundaries, and expansion mode. Our findings highlight the importance of strategic group identity and inform a grounded model describing how organizations draw upon different levels of identity to influence strategy. Managerial Summary: Many managers experience tensions of differentiating their firms’ competitive actions from rivals, while conforming with industry norms and practices. In this article, we argue that a manager can navigate these tensions by understanding their firm, strategic group, and industry identities and how these identities interrelate. Through a qualitative case study of the U.S. recreational vehicle industry, we show that each level of identity influences different competitive actions, with firm identity connected to product offerings, industry identity related to managing downstream distribution, and strategic group identity related to firm boundary and acquisition strategies. Overall, strategic group identity is the most critical for managers as this level filters how they view competitors and provides the rules of competition.     

Moderating effect of capital intensity on the relationship between leverage and financial distress in the U.S. restaurant industry

During the recent and ongoing economic turmoil, countless businesses have been facing financial distress and many have filed for bankruptcy. This issue is especially critical for the restaurant industry due to restaurants’ sensitivity to economic fluctuations. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the financial distress issue in the U.S. restaurant industry. In particular, the study examines a moderating effect of capital intensity on the relationship between a firm's leverage and degree of financial distress. The dataset includes publicly traded U.S. restaurant firms during the period 1990–2008. The study measures the degree of financial distress by modified Z-scores, and findings suggest a positive moderating effect of capital intensity on the relationship between leverage and financial distress.     

Sustainable travel writing? Exploring the ethical dilemmas of twenty-first-century travel writers

There is a paucity of academic literature on travel writing that examines travel writers and their perceived influence on sustainability. This article addresses this lacuna by exploring how travel writers understand their responsibilities and reflects on ethics in their profession, particularly in how foreign destinations and cultures are portrayed. This is significant because some travel writers have been accused of contributing to what interviewees called the “Lonely Planet Syndrome”, the notion that writing about a place will introduce and encourage mass tourism, changing the original state of the place for the worse. In this qualitative, phenomenological study, data were collected from 23 in-depth interviews with twenty-first-century travel writers and analysed using an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. Findings suggest that while some interviewees expressed anxiety about their perceived accountability to mediate foreign cultures responsibly, others embraced their role as a cultural mediator. They cared about local cultures and wanted to write in responsible ways by supporting more sustainable outcomes, reflected in the themes of cross-cultural understanding, socio-cultural and environmental advocacy and promoting benefits of tourism to communities. Future studies could include exploring the role of travel editors, travel writers’ professional knowledge and the growing role of travel blogs.     

A short-form measure for assessment of emotional intelligence for tour guides: Development and evaluation

Emotional intelligence (EI) is being recognized as a correlate of success in various domains of personal and professional life. The aim of this study is to generate and evaluate a shortened Chinese version of the Emotional Skills Assessment Process-Condensed Version (ESAP-CV) instrument for tour guides. Two stages with a total sample of 660 tour guides were conducted. The first sample (N = 260) was to develop the brief version through various deletion criteria, and the second sample (N = 400) was to examine factor structure, reliability, and validity of the short form through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The results indicate that the reliable and valid 35-item version (ESAP-CV-35), reduced from 104 items, captures the multidimensional nature of EI in six subscales. It offers tourism researchers a promising tool for conducting further EI-related research in a timely, effective and easily-administered manner.     

The managed heart: The structural analysis of the stressor–strain relationship and customer orientation among emotional labor workers in Korean hotels

This study examined the structural relationships among three different dimensions of workplace stressors (customer-related stressor, CRS; work environment-related stressor, WERS; job-related stressor, JRS), negative affectivity (NA), emotional exhaustion (EE), and the negative effect of that strain on customer orientation (CO) in the context of the emotional labor (EL) of frontline employees in the hotel industry. Data were collected from self-administrated questionnaires distributed among frontline employees in room and F&B divisions in Korean deluxe tourist hotels, where EL is intense. The results of the structural equation analysis indicated a positive association between all three workplace stressors and NA and between NA and EE. There was also a relationship in the opposite direction with EE and CO, as hypothesized. The moderating effect of organizational level on the workplace stressors–NA relationships was also confirmed. In addition, in an alternative model, we found that NA partially mediates the relationship between JRS and EE; whereas, NA fully mediates the relationships between CRS/WERS and EE. Practical implications are discussed in detail and limitations of the study and future research directions are also suggested.     

The effects of social TV on television advertising effectiveness

Social TV is the use of communication devices to connect with family and friends watching other TV screens. Plausible arguments suggest both positive and negative effects of social TV viewing on ad-effectiveness. This study contributes by providing evidence for the direction of social TV's effects. The results of a controlled laboratory experiment suggest that the benefits of social TV, principally its association with live TV and therefore less ad-avoidance, come at the cost of negative distraction effects. Like normal coviewing, social TV viewing distracts from ad-processing, reducing unaided recall and brand attitude favorability, compared to individual (solus) viewing. However, social TV messaging about ads improved brand attitude. Perceived creativity increased the likelihood of ad-related messaging. Social TV also has an additional source of distraction, multitasking, but in this study, multitasking did not further reduce ad-effectiveness compared to coviewing. The paper concludes with implications for advertisers and future research.     

Mitigating information asymmetry through sustainability assurance: The role of accountants and levels of assurance

This paper aims to examine the usefulness of sustainability reporting in reducing information asymmetry as result of lower dispersion and higher accuracy in financial analysts’ earnings forecasts. The empirical results from an international sample of listed companies indicate that the disclosure of sustainability information alone is not sufficient in this regard as our findings indicate that information asymmetry is reduced to a greater when such information is assured, supporting the value relevance role of sustainability reporting and assurance. In addition, the empirical findings suggest differences in terms of assurance attributes (provider and level of engagement) and such differences are even more relevant when controlling the institutional context. Assurance is highly appreciated by investors in more stakeholder-oriented countries; however, in more shareholder-oriented environments, assurance affects information asymmetries only when it is provided by accounting professionals who also report a “reasonable” opinion.     

U.S. Auditors' Perceptions of the PCAOB Inspection Process: A Behavioral Examination

This study examines U.S. auditors' observations of the PCAOB inspection process, and its impact on their work, in order to understand the current U.S. regulatory audit climate. Using 20 interviews with experienced auditors, we consider behavioral factors (e.g., perceived power of and trust in the PCAOB) that can impact the level and form of auditor compliance according to theory from the slippery slope framework on audit regulation (Kirchler et al. 2008; Dowling et al. 2018). Our participants described an audit climate with a powerful regulator. They reported that their desire to receive “clean” inspection reports has had a substantial impact on audit procedures and quality control. However, our participants do not appear to have high trust in the PCAOB, as they questioned aspects of the inspection process and its expectations. Accordingly, we conclude that U.S. public company auditors operate in an antagonistic environment in which auditors perceive the PCAOB has high coercive power. In other words, they comply due to fear of enforcement rather than agreement with the PCAOB's views on audit quality. Some auditors also indicated that they consider both the costs and benefits of compliance. Theoretical intuition implies that any future increases to perceived costs relative to perceived benefits of compliance could ultimately decrease the PCAOB's coercive power and reduce U.S. auditor compliance. Our findings have implications for regulators and researchers interested in understanding behavioral factors that may influence regulatory compliance.     

The fundraiser's journey: A developmentally informed,grounded theory analysis

Fundraisers play a vital role in the success of nonprofit organizations, yet relatively little is known about the experiences, motivations, and thought processes that inform their career choice and development. This exploratory, cross-comparative case study of 3 fundraisers addresses this gap in the literature by examining some formative influences on fundraisers' careers, their professional growth aspirations and opportunities, and how, if at all, they engage in personal philanthropy. Results suggest that fundraisers' aptitudes, skills, and abilities may influence their career choice more than a sense of connection to the nonprofit sector or organizational mission. Further, fundraisers seek opportunities to exercise leadership at the individual, organizational, and community levels. Additionally, their personal philanthropy and social embeddedness play integral roles in their professional development. Although not large enough for generalization, these results suggest the need to study fundraisers holistically, including their psychological development and social embeddedness over time. We argue for the need to move beyond traditional marketing and public relations perspectives to explain fundraising. Instead, future studies should adopt a service-dominant logic framing that considers fundraisers as part of a larger philanthropic ecosystem. We conclude with several questions to guide future studies toward this line of inquiry.     

Western Households’ Water Knowledge,Preferences, and Willingness to Pay

Water conflicts are intensifying as the population grows in the American West. Stakeholders seek a better understanding of households’ water knowledge, preferences, and willingness to pay (WTP) as they contemplate various water allocation initiatives. An Internet survey provides insight into western households’ perceptions and preferences regarding water use and management, their familiarity with water terminology, and their WTP a fee in support of eight potential water initiatives regarding water acquisition, conservation, and reallocation. Further analysis identifies factors that influence the decision. Just over half of all respondents express a WTP the fee, with an estimated median WTP among survey respondents of $15.65 per summer month. Respondents with higher self-reported water knowledge are more likely to support the fee. The probability of supporting the fee is also influenced by respondents’ demographic characteristics and attitudes toward water scarcity and management. Les conflits liés à l’eau s’intensifient à mesure que la population s’accroît dans l’Ouest américain. Les parties prenantes cherchent à découvrir les connaissances sur l’eau, les préférences et le consentement à payer des ménages étant donné qu’elles envisagent divers schémas d’allocation de l’eau. Un sondage en ligne a donné un aperçu des perceptions et des préférences des ménages de l’Ouest américain concernant l’utilisation et la gestion de l’eau, de leur degré de connaissance de la terminologie de l’eau et de leur consentement à payer une taxe pour appuyer huit projets éventuels d’acquisition, de conservation et de réallocation de l’eau. Une analyse plus détaillée a déterminé les facteurs qui influençaient les décisions. Un peu plus de la moitié des répondants ont indiquéêtre prêts à payer une taxe. Chez les répondants, le consentement à payer médian s’élevait à 15,65 $ par mois durant la saison estivale. Les répondants qui ont indiqué avoir de bonnes connaissances sur l’eau sont plus susceptibles d’appuyer l’imposition d’une taxe. Les caractéristiques démographiques et les attitudes des répondants envers la rareté et la gestion de l’eau influencent la probabilité d’appuyer l’imposition d’une taxe.