The business model and balanced scorecard in creative tourism: the ultimate strategy boosters

Despite the various studies on creative tourism, little managerial frameworks such as a business model and a balanced scorecard are investigated for this new phenomenon. The overall image that emerges from the literature is ambiguous and fuzzy. Also, many activities known as creative tourism experiences may provide new participative experiences but rarely include a creative process. This study covers a whole aspect in designing a feasibility test model for creative experiences based on balanced scorecard through qualitative content analysis and as the essence of that, a Business Model by content validity and clustering analysis. Analysis of data by the mentioned methods reveals that four perspectives and 13 critical success factors are essential for the feasibility of a creative tourism experience. In addition, 22 indicators in 3 main dimensions determine the success of a creative tourism business model. This study is part of a growing body of research focused on discovering hidden aspects of creative tourism.     

Entrepreneurial intention and startup preparation: A study among business students in Malaysia

Intention, as the starting point of pursuing self-employment and creating new ventures, is crucial before actually establishing a business enterprise. Entrepreneurship is understood to be an essential ingredient for enhancing a country's economic competitiveness, growth, and sustainability while confronting the escalating challenges of globalization, such as increasing unemployment. This study provides empirical evidence on the factors influencing entrepreneurial intention and startup preparations among university students in Malaysia. The findings provide scholars and academic policymakers with insights into the effectiveness of Malaysia's entrepreneurial education as designed and practiced by public universities. The Malaysian government should apply these findings to fortify existing policies and programs and formulate new ones to support graduate entrepreneurs, while universities and other higher education institutions should provide high-quality entrepreneurial courses and programs to young Malaysians to foster an inclination toward entrepreneurship.     

You May Not Reap What You Sow: How Employees’ Moral Awareness Minimizes Ethical Leadership’s Positive Impact on Workplace Deviance

Although a growing body of research has shown the positive impact of ethical leadership on workplace deviance, questions remain as to whether its benefits are consistent across all situations. In this investigation, we explore an important boundary condition of ethical leadership by exploring how employees’ moral awareness may lessen the need for ethical leadership. Drawing on substitutes for leadership theory, we suggest that when individuals already possess a heightened level of moral awareness, ethical leadership’s role in reducing deviant actions may be reduced. However, when individuals lack this strong moral disposition, ethical leadership may be instrumental in inspiring them to reduce their deviant actions. To enhance the external validity and generalizability of our findings, the current research used two large field samples of working professionals in both Turkey and the USA. Results suggest that ethical leadership’s positive influence on workplace deviance is dependent upon the individual’s moral awareness—helpful for those employees whose moral awareness is low, but not high. Thus, our investigation helps to build theory around the contingencies of ethical leadership and the specific audience for whom it may be more (or less) influential.     

The impact of traffic sign deficit on road traffic accidents in Nigeria

This study assesses the impact of traffic sign deficit on road traffic accidents in Nigeria. The participants were 720 commercial vehicle drivers. While simple random sampling was used to select 6 out of 137 federal highways, stratified random sampling was used to select six categories of commercial vehicle drivers. The study used qual-dominant mixed methods approach comprising key informant interviews; group interviews; field observation; policy appraisal and secondary literature on traffic signs. Result shows that the failure of government to provide and maintain traffic signs in order to guide road users through the numerous accident black spots on the highways is the major cause of road accidents in Nigeria. The study argues that provision and maintenance of traffic signs present opportunity to promoting safety on the highways and achieving the sustainable development goals.     

Mapping the consumer‐subject in advertising

Traditionally marketing communication‐or more specifically advertising‐has been framed in terms of products/ services, needs and wants of consumers as if these were real givens, existing independently of the forms and acts of marketing communication itself. From this perspective, advertising is merely seen as a purveyor of information about products/services/needs between producers and consumers but hardly as actively implicated in shaping, not only the relation between the processes of production and those of consumption, but also the conception of the consumer‐subject. This paper makes a brief diachronic account of advertising with a view to highlighting how the consumer‐subject is represented. Whereas early advertising conceives of the consumer‐subject as a “rational” decision‐maker, aware of its needs and desire, more recent advertising constitutes the consumer‐subject in a hyperreal, dream‐like world, which seduces and spellbinds it.     

An examination of the relationship among consumer lifestyles,ethnocentrism, knowledge structures,attitudes and behavioural tendencies: a comparative study in two CIS states

The objective of this study is to investigate ethnocentric and/or regiocentric behaviour of Azeri and Kyrgyz consumers. In particular, the study focuses on how ethnocentrism explains consumers' attitudes, intentions and actual purchasing behaviour towards products from major sourcing countries. Data for the study were collected through personal interviews in four districts of Greater Bishkek: the capital city of Kyrgyz Republic, and Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan. Survey findings lend greater support to earlier studies conducted in the USA, Western and Eastern Europe and Japan. Non-ethnocentric Kyrgyz and Azeri consumers have significantly more favourable belief structures, attitudes, intentions and the resultant purchasing behaviour regarding imported products compared to their ethnocentric Azeri and Kyrgyz consumer counterparts. The findings of the study offer important research, public policy and managerial implications for companies, government agencies and international donor agencies alike who are either operating in the region or contemplating an entry in the future. Foreign companies may use pan-regional marketing strategies and may be able to standardise their products and marketing strategies in the region, since consumers have identical and/or very similar use behaviour and uses for the products and services.     

Linking Human Resource Development Practices to Counterproductive Work Behaviour: Does Employee Engagement Matter

ABSTRACT

Although there is strong evidence in the literature to support the relationship between human resource development (HRD) practices and counterproductive work behavior (CWB), little is known about the psychological processes underlying this relationship. The present study examined whether employee engagement mediates the relationship between HRD practices and CWB. Participants were 271 employees enroled in a part-time Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at a large public university in Nigeria. After controlling for demographic characteristics, results showed that HRD practices were negatively related to CWB. The results also indicated that employee engagement plays a role in mediating the relationship between HRD practices and CWB.     

The Impact of Social Influence on Individuals' Adoption of Innovation

This article empirically examines the impact of social factors (peer and social network) on attitudes toward innovation and the impact of that attitude on individual employees adopting innovation in their workplaces in Australia. This research uses quantitative research methodology and specifically multivariate statistical analysis. The research framework is based on the theory of reasoned action, the technology acceptance model, Frambach and Schillewaert's conceptual framework, and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. Data were collected from employees of a tertiary institution in Australia using a structured questionnaire. The results of multiple regression analysis show that social network impacts significantly on attitudes toward an innovation which, in turn, affects the innovation adoption behavior of employees. Furthermore, social network has been found to directly influence the innovation adoption process. This outcome has strategic implications for organizations in the effective management of innovation involving employees. These implications are highlighted in the article. This research has focused on only one organization in a particular region in Australia. Future research can explore the relationship between variables by including a number of organizations across Australia and beyond to provide a deeper insight into the issues explored in this article.     

Evaluating the Effect of Affinity Card Programs on Customer Profitability Using Propensity Score Matching

Affinity card programs have become popular in recent times and account for one fifth of all credit card accounts. There is no research that links affinity card programs to customer profitability. Moreover, little is known about what type of affinity card programs would lead to higher profit. Using a large proprietary dataset we answer the above questions. We also apply propensity score matching, a relatively new technique, to control for selection bias in addressing the above issues. Contrary to previous research and common belief, we show that affinity card customers are no more profitable than non-affinity card holders. We also show that sports-based affinity programs are the least profitable and surprisingly, alumni-based affinity programs also do poorly relative to other types of affinity. On the positive side, affinity card customers are lower risk and help to lower the average risk of the portfolio of customers.     

Leveraging Virtual Attribute Experience in Video Games to Improve Brand Recall and Learning

This article extends the concept of virtual direct experience (VDE) from a product to an attribute as video gamers can virtually experience an attribute within a gaming environment. Using a 2 (VAE: present versus absent) x 2 (order of brand presentation: first or second) between subjects experimental design, we find that associating a brand with virtual attribute experience (VAE) by exposing consumers to the brand name and the virtual experience simultaneously has a positive effect on brand recall, brand extension acceptance, overall attitude, and purchase intention. In addition, our results demonstrate a significant interaction between VAE and telepresence on brand recall.