Online Repurchasing: The Role of Information Disclosure,Hope, and Goal Attainment

The emergence of online purchasing has changed the relationship between consumers and brands. Our research focuses on online information disclosure and consumer hope in an online shopping environment. Two studies are undertaken to test the theoretically derived hypotheses. Study 1 evaluates the causal relationship between information disclosure and hope via an experiment in an online shopping context. Study 2 involves an online survey to test the nomological network presented in this research. The models identify the moderating effect of consumer product knowledge on online information disclosure and consumer hope. For academics, this research advances knowledge of how consumers' confidence in sharing personal information develops hope, consequently enabling them to attain their goals and repeat their purchases. For practitioners, it offers a better understanding of how investments are successful in aiding consumers to attain their goals and generate repeat purchase intentions in an online shopping environment.     

The Financial Services Environment and Schools' Savings Rates in the San Francisco Kindergarten to College Program

Children's savings accounts (CSAs) have emerged as a promising intervention to improve educational outcomes, curtail rising student loan debt, and promote equality of opportunity. Numerous localized CSA programs have emerged in the last decade, and many are embedded within school systems. This study leverages novel data to investigate participation in one of the oldest and most well‐known CSA programs in the country: the San Francisco Kindergarten to College (K2C) Program in the San Francisco Unified School District. Spatial analysis of 21,617 accounts at 74 elementary schools reveals statistically significant differences in the rates of elementary schools' K2C account participation based on the concentrations of banks, credit unions, and alternative financial service providers—net controls for neighborhood demographics. Unless explicitly addressed, substantial variations in the financial service environment across neighborhoods could undermine participation in school‐based CSA programs for the very children these programs intend to support.     

Big Data for Creating and Capturing Value in the Digitalized Environment: Unpacking the Effects of Volume,Variety, and Veracity on Firm Performance*

Despite significant academic and managerial interest in big data, there is a dearth of research on how big data impacts the long‐term firm performance. Reasons for this gap include a lack of objective indices to measure big data availability and its impact, and the tendency of studies to ignore the costs associated with collecting and analyzing big data, assuming that big data automatically delivers benefits to firms. Focusing on how firms create and capture value from big data about customers, we use the resource‐based view and three dimensions of big data (i.e., volume, variety, and veracity) to understand when the benefits outweigh the costs. Relying on the number of downloads of mobile device applications, we find that volume of big data has a negative effect on firm performance. This result suggests that the “bigness” of big data alone does not ensure value creation for a firm, and could even constitute a “dark side” of big data. Because big data variety—measured as the number of types of information taken per each application—moderates the negative effects of big data volume, simultaneous high values of volume and variety allow firms to create value that positively affects their performance. In addition, high levels of veracity (i.e., a high percentage of employees devoted to big data analysis), are linked to firms benefiting from big data via value capture. These findings shed light on the circumstances in which big data can be beneficial for firms, contributing to a better theoretical understanding of the opportunities and challenges and providing useful indications to managers.     

New development: ‘Healing at a distance’—telemedicine and COVID-19

ABSTRACT

In extreme circumstances such as pandemics, the presence of patients in hospital emergency departments becomes untenable. Healthcare professionals and organizations worldwide are leaning on technology as a crucial ally to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak. This article focuses on the positive impact of telemedicine for helping service provision, from enabling virtual triage to mitigating the negative psychological effects of social isolation. The authors discuss the challenges and opportunities to telemedicine practices.     

HR and analytics: why HR is set to fail the big data challenge

The HR world is abuzz with talk of big data and the transformative potential of HR analytics. This article takes issue with optimistic accounts, which hail HR analytics as a ‘must have’ capability that will ensure HR's future as a strategic management function while transforming organisational performance for the better. It argues that unless the HR profession wises up to both the potential and drawbacks of this emerging field and engages operationally and strategically to develop better methods and approaches, it is unlikely that existing practices of HR analytics will deliver transformational change. Indeed, it is possible that current trends will seal the exclusion of HR from strategic, board‐level influence while doing little to benefit organisations and actively damaging the interests of employees.     

Innovation in R&D service firms: evidence from the UK

Research and Development (R&D) service firms make significant contributions to innovation in other businesses. The extant literature considers these firms a homogenous sub-group of Knowledge Intensive Business Service firms (KIBS). The objective of this study is to investigate how R&D service firms innovate and the variety of innovation practices within these firms. Employing data from semi-structured interviews with senior managers from 32 UK-based R&D service firms, we suggest that there are two different modes of innovation: in the first mode, R&D service firms innovate similarly to KIBS whose innovation is ad-hoc in nature and driven by customers’ requests; another group of R&D service firms innovate like New Technology-based Firms (NTBFs) relying more on structured in-house R&D activities.     

Demographic Ring Study Reports with GIS Technology

Market analysis that is performed in support of commercial real estate decisions has long included demographic ring study reports. Recent advancements in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology has spilled over to ring-study reporting. Contemporary ring studies have detailed breakdowns of populations by subgroup, include expenditure projections by product category, and are available for purchase for use on desktop computers at under $300. Two ring-study products are contrasted here: Site Reporter from CACI and CensusCD+Maps from GeoLytics.     

The development of purpose and strategy within British charitable organisations: historical impressions

This paper is based on research work undertaken as part of a PhD thesis. It considers the development of purpose and strategy within British charitable organisations. First, the historical path of charity in Britain is traced. Secondly, an assessment of the more fundamental forces that constitute the nature of charitable initiative are explored, much of which is applicable beyond ‘our island home’.[Churchill, W. (1957) ‘A History of the English Speaking Peoples’, Cassell and Company, London.] The historical relationship of charity to business is then examined, particularly in terms of the influence that business ‘culture’ is gaining in shaping charitable endeavour today. Finally, an initiative to link business and charity is presented and conclusions are noted. Copyright © 1999 Henry Stewart Publications     

International Competition for Multinational Investment

We examine the economic justification for providing investment subsidies to foreign-owned multinationals. These provide employment opportunities and generate demand for domestic intermediate inputs, produced by domestic workers with increasing returns to scale. Offering subsidies to multinationals may be in the national interest if the investment raises the net value of domestic production. When agglomerative forces are sufficiently strong, a subsidy that attracts the first foreign firm may induce several to enter, establishing a thriving modern sector. With a limited number of foreign enterprises, countries may compete to attract investment. This subsidy competition transfers much of the rents to the multinationals.
JEL classification: F 12; F 23