The evolving role of managerial ties and firm capabilities in an emerging economy: evidence from China

As emerging economies experience unprecedented market and institutional changes, where should firms focus their attention to address new marketing challenges: network-based resources (e.g., managerial ties) or market-based capabilities? Building on institutional theory, this study examines the evolving roles of managerial ties and firm capabilities, as well as their interplay, in China. A longitudinal survey of 166 Chinese firms reveals that over time, the positive role of ties with the government (i.e., political ties) declines, whereas the positive effect of ties with the business partners (i.e., business ties) persists; marketing capability has a persistent effect, and technology capability exerts a stronger impact on performance. Moreover, as market development progresses, marketing capability positively interacts with business ties, whereas technology capability positively interacts with political ties, in fostering performance.     

Are generational differences in work values fact or fiction? Multi-country evidence and implications

Few would disagree that human resource initiatives aimed at enhancing employees' quality of life have universal appeal, but the definition of ‘quality of life’ varies by generation. Workplaces are becoming increasingly age diverse and the likelihood that an older employee will report to a younger manager is increasing. Burke's study for the Society for Human Resource Management found that in organizations with 500 or more employees, 58% of human resource management (HRM) professionals reported conflict between younger and older workers, largely due to their different perceptions of work ethics and work–life balance requirements. While cultural and gender diversity have received significant attention in the literature, little attention has been paid to the impact of age diversity on HRM practices. This study attempts to bridge this gap by examining the work values of four generational cohorts – Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y – across five countries. Generational differences were found when the effects of culture and life stage were controlled for. Significant differences were observed with Generation Y in particular, presenting creative challenges in accommodating the needs of this cohort while still watching the bottom line. This study establishes the legitimacy of intergenerational differences as an important social categorization variable.     

About the authors

This article is inspired by a somewhat counter-intuitive phenomenon that has recently been highlighted in the contemporary business literature, but which does not appear to have been examined within a peer-reviewed environment. We are witnessing increasing successes by domestic brands in China, often at the expense of established multinational brands. Given that China is the world's largest national market in terms of population, this trend is worthy of investigation. Our approach is neither causal nor confirmatory. Instead, we undertake an exploratory review of robust secondary data sources. Our goal is to shed empirical light on what appears to be a ‘Sinosyncratic anomaly’, and then to provide a framework and springboard for future research in this domain. Clearly, our approach is not without limitations, which we do consider. However, there is a pressing need for global marketers to recognise and understand the reasons behind the mixed fortunes being experienced by some of the world's most admired (Western) brands in China, with a view to making empirical generalisations to other emerging markets.     

Contemporary factors influencing association conference attendance

Abstract

Competition amongst conference tourism destinations has intensified. Understanding the factors influencing delegate attendance thus becomes increasingly important. This paper aims to extend the current body of academic knowledge by examining motivators and inhibitors deriving from not only previous academic research but also contemporary industry reports. Delegate expectations relating to new and established factors influencing conference attendance are explored, while motivating and inhibiting factors are ranked in order of importance. Proactive management and organization responses to these factors are proposed. The research findings are important to destination managers in prioritizing the investment of their limited resources aiming to address the higher-importance factors. This allows such destinations to improve in their competitiveness in attracting conference tourism and conference delegates.     

Game theory and open source contribution: Rationale behind corporate participation in open source software development

The rising participation of for-profit corporations in the development of open source software raises the question of why corporations are motivated toward this engagement. The increased participation is an observable phenomenon; many researchers and practitioners assume that the practice of community sharing does not improve the bottom line, but rather believe the practice is altruistic in nature. Our intuition is that participation offers tangible and intangible benefits to corporate participants. We show this by exploring a variety of models in game theory and use game theory as a methodological lens to explain the rationality of corporate participation in open source software development. Since game theory has evolved to include rational- and emotional-based reasons, we explore such lenses as cooperative games, metagames, coopetition, and Drama Theory. Our research question, “Why do for-profit corporations participate in the development of open source software?” was broad enough to adopt several useful perspectives to understand our data. One useful lens was game theory. In this article, we examine interview responses and field study data from corporate members of open source communities to determine how they justify devoting time and effort to community engagement. Our study makes a contribution to open source software literature by revealing that numerous rational and emotional reasons exist for corporate participation in open source software development.     

Unraveling consumer suspense: The role of hope, fear, and probability fluctuations

This empirical research focuses on suspense, which is proposed to be a formative construct comprised of the emotions of hope and fear. Two measurement studies that focus on developing a scale for suspense, as well as scales for its two emotional components of hope and fear, are first presented. Next, using a 2 (approach appraisal) × 2 (avoidance appraisal) × 2 (probability fluctuation) experiment, we first show that hope and fear are valid indicators of suspense. We also determine that hope is influenced by an approach appraisal of a potential event, whereas fear is influenced by an avoidance appraisal of a potential event. Further, we demonstrate that probability fluctuation positively affects outcome uncertainty, which in turn, positively affects the anticipatory emotions of hope and fear.     

Using structural restrictions to achieve theoretical consistency in benefit transfers

Analysts often extrapolate estimates of the value of environmental improvements reported in prior studies to evaluate new policy proposals, a practice sometimes referred to as “benefit transfer.” Benefit transfer functions are frequently specified based on statistical considerations alone. However, such a purely statistical approach can lead to willingness-to-pay functions that fail to satisfy some aspects of theoretical consistency that may be especially important for policy evaluations. In this paper, we examine several previous meta-analyses of nonmarket valuation studies in light of the adding-up condition, which is one important aspect of theoretical validity. We then use meta-regression to estimate a new willingness-to-pay function for surface water quality improvements intended to be used for benefit transfers. We estimate the meta-regression model using summary results from 51 previously published stated preference studies. An important feature of our approach is that we develop the meta-regression estimating equation to ensure that the resulting benefit transfer function will necessarily comply with the adding-up condition. This is achieved by first specifying a marginal willingness-to-pay function and then deriving an expression for total willingness-to-pay. This leads to a non-linear estimating equation, so we estimate the parameters of the model using non-linear least squares. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of our approach relative to other structural approaches, and we compare our empirical results to a more traditional nonstructural meta-regression model. Finally, we examine the quantitative importance of imposing the adding-up condition in our case study by performing some illustrative calculations of willingness-to-pay for hypothetical water quality improvements using both structural and non-structural models.     

Ecology,Sustainability, and Care: Developments in the Field

Over the past three decades, scholars and activists have been attempting to enrich the field of economics with both feminist and ecological perspectives. This essay reviews some highlights of such efforts, describes the current state of the field (particularly in regard to notions of “care”), and introduces a short symposium.