Engaging stakeholders in corporate accountability programmes: A cross‐sectoral analysis of UK and transnational experience

This paper explores the type of stakeholder engagement currently being undertaken by many organisations as part of social and ethical accounting, auditing and reporting (SEAAR) processes. Specifically, the paper seeks to determine the extent to which current corporate practice iteratively promotes stakeholder participation in collaboratively designing accountability programmes, or whether it merely is a new term for canvassing stakeholder opinions. Arnstein's Ladder of Citizen Participation is used as a conceptual model for positioning contemporary methods of stakeholder dialogue. The findings from interviews with representatives from twenty‐nine UK and transnational organisations actively engaged in stakeholder dialogue are presented. This paper concludes that contemporary organisations seem to be seeking to engage with stakeholders in partnerships, yet their attempts still fall short of what Arnstein called Citizen Control, the level of achievement that non‐governmental organisations would like stakeholder engagement to attain.     

How Does Brand-related User-generated Content Differ across YouTube,Facebook, and Twitter?

This study tests hypotheses regarding differences in brand-related user-generated content (UGC) between Twitter (a microblogging site), Facebook (a social network) and YouTube (a content community). It tests them using data from a content analysis of 600 UGC posts for two retail-apparel brands (Lululemon and American Apparel), which differ in the extent to which they manage social media proactively. Comparisons are drawn across six dimensions of UGC; the dimensions were drawn from a priori reading and an inductive analysis of brand-related UGC. This research provides a general framework for comparing brand-related UGC, and helps us to better understand how particular social media channels and marketing strategies may influence consumer-produced brand communications.     

Introducing Empirical Exercises into Principles of Economics

McGrath and Tiemann discuss the rationale for requiring students to become familiar with the empirical side of economics and describe seven exercises that can be used in the first course.     

Hedonic and utilitarian shopping goals: The online experience

Marketers offering Web-based shopping typically try to provide a convenient, safe, and pleasant online environment, appropriate to addressing shoppers' functional goals. They might also try to create an experience that encourages more escapist elements of “flow”, a sense of deep involvement that is intrinsically enjoyable, because they assume that this enhanced experience leads to more online buying. The present research suggests that utilitarian flow elements that facilitate shopping may indeed increase purchasing. However, hedonic elements of flow are found to be unrelated to online buying, although they are positively related to outcomes associated with pathological Internet use.     

Factors influencing women's decision to leave an organization following childbirth

The purpose of this study was to understand the reasons why college-educated women leave organizations after childbirth. Results from 228 women who participated in a study of intention to work following childbirth indicated specific work and family factors that differentiated mothers who returned to work from mothers who stayed home after childbirth. Comparisons were also made between women who had a child and those who anticipated having a child. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for organizational policy makers.     

Examining relationships between director leadership practices and manager worklife and burnout

Managers are subject to high stress and burnout in their demanding roles, so addressing their worklife and level of burnout is important to retain leadership in healthcare organizations. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the observed leadership style of directors and the worklife and burnout of healthcare managers. A secondary analysis of data from 176 leaders in five different managerial cohorts within a provincial cancer agency was conducted using multiple regression and MANCOVA analysis. The study used data collected from the Worklife Improvement and Leadership Development study in 2006, the Kouzes and Posner Leadership Practices Inventory, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the Areas of Worklife Survey. Findings indicate the importance of transformational leadership styles to empower managers. Directors may improve the worklife of managers by using transformational leadership practices to address the amount of control and appropriateness of rewards to positively influence the job satisfaction of managers.     

NPO branding: preliminary lessons from major players

• Are nonprofits (NPOs) exhibiting the brand orientation believed to be critical to successful outcomes? To answer this question, we investigate the brand orientation and brand management of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), American Red Cross (ARC), and The Salvation Army to assess the implementation of brand concepts in two different locations within the USA compared to each agency's central body. Despite the support of some propositions, there exists inconsistent evidence of strong brand management in the organizations studied. The variation of brand visuals, missions, and taglines indicates that good structure, policy, and guidelines are not enough. There must be true brand orientation, which includes oversight of consistent application of all brand constructs to achieve organizational goals. This study provides a framework upon which future in‐depth empirical research may be based. The authors outline these next steps as a foundation for enhancing the study and practice of brand management in NPOs.

Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Equity and asset growth among Subchapter S banks

Since 2004, commercial banks in the United States have been allowed to elect Subchapter S (hence Sub-S) status with up to 100 shareholders. That limitation may promote more effective monitoring of bank managers by shareholders which can, in turn, explain previous findings of superior performance among Sub-S banks. The present research focuses on the possibility that the shareholder limitation also constrains opportunities for bank growth, or a slow growth hypothesis for Sub-S banks. Using a differences-in-differences regression approach for a sample of community banks (i.e., less than $1b in assets) from 2004 to 2014, and controlling for initial assets and urban location, it is found that annual growth in real assets and equity was significantly higher among banks that never held Sub-S status than for banks that always held Sub-S status, and that banks switching to Sub-S later grew significantly faster than those that always held Sub-S status. Fixed effects regressions show that switching to Sub-S status significantly reduced equity growth, with asset growth significantly reduced after 2008. In conjunction with earlier findings, the results suggest that the availability of Sub-S status helped to protect and strengthen community banks across a time period including substantial financial turmoil.