Motivators of Mobilization

Using data on shareholder-initiated class action lawsuits in the US, I investigate the corporate scandals of US-listed foreign firms. The shareholders of scandal firms suffer considerable loss in both the short term and the long term. I document that firms domiciled in countries with weak institutions are more likely to be embroiled in corporate scandals, but such a relation can be moderated by the presence of Big 4 auditors. Investors automatically adjust for undiscovered misconduct when valuing the stocks of non-scandal firms (i.e., the spillover effect). Investors rely on the audit quality to form their expectations about the severity of undiscovered misconduct, and thus impose less negative spillovers on firms with Big 4 auditors, especially when the firms are from countries with weak institutions. Taken together, my results suggest that listing on US exchanges does not fully compensate for weak local institutions; voluntarily bonding to a more stringent audit process has an incremental effect on protecting shareholder interests and enhances the confidence of investors in firms’ financial integrity.     

Job demand stressors and employees’ creativity: a within-person approach to dealing with hindrance and challenge stressors at the airport environment

Given the competitiveness of twenty-first-century airport landscape, catalyzed by airports’ evolution toward multi-service, and market-driven firms, a thorough investigation into employees’ creativity and its antecedents at the airport environment is warranted. Adopting the two-dimensional job demand stressors – outcome relationships framework and the cognitive-relational theory of stress, the current study interrogated the challenge (i.e. workload and time pressure)/ hindrance (i.e. role conflict and role ambiguity) stressors – creativity curvilinear relationships, and the buffering effects of within-person resources – dispositional mindfulness, and core self-evaluation. Using multi-sourced, cross-sectional data from employees in three airports in Ghana, the research findings showed creativity to have a U-shaped relationship with role ambiguity and role conflict, but with time pressure the relationship was an inverted U-shape. Employees’ workload showed a near-linear relationship with creativity, flattening at high levels of workload. Core self-evaluation displayed itself as an effective buffering component on role ambiguity – and time pressure – creativity relations but not role conflict and workload. Dispositional mindfulness interacted with role ambiguity, role conflict and time pressure – creativity relations, but not workload. To optimize employees’ creative performance, the study findings make a strong case for attending to individual-level factors necessary for stressors management. Further implications and recommendations are discussed.     

Profiling consumers based on information use and trust in a developing economy

In the wake of the intense debate about the effect of poultry imports on domestic poultry industries in sub‐Saharan Africa, information campaigns have evolved to encourage the consumption of domestic poultry meat products. Nevertheless, consumers use numerous channels to find information, and thus, the extent to which resources should be allocated to these channels to reach segments of consumers is vital. The purpose of this paper is to identify consumer groups based on use and trust in information sources and then profile the segments using sociodemographic variables, purchase motives, and meat consumption. Face‐to‐face interviews were used to collect data amongst 500 urban consumers in Ghana, which were analysed with factor analysis and two‐step cluster analysis. Results show that consumers frequently use personal sources of information about chicken. Cluster analysis revealed three consumer segments: cautious consumers (18.2%), enthusiastic consumers (53.0%), and optimistic consumers (28.8%). The segments differed significantly regarding the type of information searched for, sociodemographic characteristics, purchase motives, and chicken meat consumption patterns. The findings can aid actors and institutions seeking to increase the consumption of domestic poultry meat in developing targeted communication strategies that suit the characteristics, motivations, and information needs of different consumers.     

Money,mavens, time,and price search: Modelling the joint creation of utilitarian and hedonic value in grocery shopping

Abstract

This research deductively develops a model of both in-store price search and store deal proneness drawing on hedonic and utilitarian value creation. Based on a sample of 535 US grocery shoppers, the model reveals that in-store price search and store deal proneness share many of the same drivers, amongst these, the value of time being the most important. The opportunity cost of time engaged in price search is explained in terms of shoppers’ financial pressures and role construction as price mavens. Price mavenism influences store deal proneness directly due to its capacity to yield the price information required to build and maintain a role identity, and indirectly through its effect on the opportunity cost of time engaged in price search. The primary implication of the research is that the relationship between time, search, and price mavenism may be best explored by viewing price knowledge, the basis for identity maintenance, as a flow rather than a stock.     

A different perspective on consumer engagement: exploring the experience of using health apps to support healthier food purchasing

ABSTRACT

Healthy food purchasing behaviour may be facilitated through the use of health apps if used for the necessary time period. However, little is known on the factors that influence the user experience and facilitate or impede their continued use. The purpose of the present research is to explore the lived experience of using a health app to support healthier food purchasing behaviour. Findings identify the presence of behaviour change motivation and anticipated effort levels as drivers of app engagement. It appeared that behavioural, cognitive and emotional dimensions of engagement may influence one another, driven by contextual influences, to simultaneously contribute to the intrinsic experience of engagement. The research makes practical and theoretical contributions to the consumer engagement literature and highlights the need to focus on understanding and capturing the specific engagement context to better understand engagement.     

Labour–management relationships in transitional economies: convergence or divergence in Vietnam and Indonesia?

Western labour–management relationships (both formal and informal), their respective rights, obligations and negotiating frameworks, have been well- established, understood, and supported by a complex set of associated legislation for decades. However, in many developing countries, including Vietnam and Indonesia, historical, socio-cultural, ideological or political factors constrained the development of such formalized employee relations until very recent times. This paper explores the different paths taken by Vietnam and Indonesia towards a modern employee relations system, with its concomitant positive and adverse consequences.     

Towards adopting inflation targeting: The credibility and limitations of monetary policy under the fixed exchange system—the case of Jordan

In this paper, the interest rate pass‐through is examined within its intermediate lag of action to shed light on the credibility of monetary policy in Jordan, where the reputation of low inflation is imported through a fixed exchange rate system to the US dollar. We use time series methods which allow us to test for asymmetric adjustment. The results are compared to that of two inflation targeting countries at time proceeding building the credibility of price stability domestically: New Zealand and the UK. The empirical findings suggest that the interest rate pass‐through in Jordan is weak and slow. In addition, our results indicate the existence of non‐competitive pricing behaviour in the market. Comparing the results to the two inflation targeters, the study suggests that Jordan needs to move to a more resilient exchange rate arrangement.     

Black Economic Empowerment Disclosures by South African Listed Corporations: The Influence of Ownership and Board Characteristics

This study investigates the extent to which South African listed corporations voluntarily disclose information on black economic empowerment (BEE) in their annual and sustainability reports using a sample of 75 listed corporations from 2003 to 2009. BEE is a form of socio-economic affirmative action championed by the African National Congress (ANC)-led government to address historical imbalances in business participation and ownership in South Africa. We find that block ownership and institutional ownership are negatively associated with the extent of BEE disclosures, whereas government ownership, board diversity (age, education, ethnicity, nationality and occupation), board size and non-executive directors are positively related to the extent of BEE disclosures. By contrast, dual board leadership structure and gender diversity are not significantly associated with BEE disclosures. Our results are robust when controlling for firm-level characteristics, fixed-effects and alternative disclosure proxies. Our results are largely consistent with the predictions of agency, legitimacy, resource dependence and stakeholder theories.     

Learning by doing: Cross-border mergers and acquisitions

We rely on organizational learning theory and strategic momentum research to examine the international merger and acquisition (M&A) activities of a sample of S&P 500 firms. We hypothesize that the learning associated with a firm's prior acquisition experience increases the likelihood the firm will engage in subsequent international acquisitions. Results from a sample including company-country level data indicate that both prior domestic acquisitions and international acquisitions influence the likelihood of acquisitions in foreign markets by U.S.-based firms. We also find that prior experience with international acquisitions is more predictive of subsequent international acquisitions than prior domestic acquisition experience. Moreover, we find that the acquisition experience within a host country had a stronger influence on subsequent acquisitions within that country than other prior non-host country international acquisition experiences.     

以人为本的创意新思路

广告活动是从研究受众及其行为开始的,而最终广告目的也是确立品牌在受众心目中的特定形象,并诱发受众购买行为。较之以往,营销人员的行为、洞察力、所传达的声音都应该更加人性化。