Training investment and organizational outcomes: a moderated mediation model of employee outcomes and strategic orientation of the HR function

Using a predictive research design with data collected at three different time points over a four-year period from 277 firms in South Korea, we investigated how and when investment in employee training leads to improved organizational outcomes. The results showed that employee commitment and competence mediated the relationship between training investment and organizational outcomes. The moderated mediation analyses further revealed that the mediated relationship between training investment and organizational outcomes via employee commitment and competence was stronger when the human resources (HR) function within an organization was highly strategically oriented. Based on the results, implications for strategic HR research and practice were provided.     

Advancing consumer neuroscience

In the first decade of consumer neuroscience, strong progress has been made in understanding how neuroscience can inform consumer decision making. Here, we sketch the development of this discipline and compare it to that of the adjacent field of neuroeconomics. We describe three new frontiers for ongoing progress at both theoretical and applied levels. First, the field will broaden its boundaries to include genetics and molecular neuroscience, each of which will provide important new insights into individual differences in decision making. Second, recent advances in computational methods will improve the accuracy and out-of-sample generalizability of predicting decisions from brain activity. Third, sophisticated meta-analyses will help consumer neuroscientists to synthesize the growing body of knowledge, providing evidence for consistency and specificity of brain activations and their reliability as measurements of consumer behavior.     

The effect of attribute-based and alternative-based processing on consumer choice in context

The current research proposes that the extent to which consumer choices are affected by the decision process depends on the underlying nature of the choice problem. Specifically, choices resulting from substantial inter-brand comparisons and tradeoff analyses are vulnerable to whether product information is evaluated by attribute- or alternative-based processing. By contrast, choices resulting from a minimal cognitive processing are less sensitive to variations in the decision strategy employed. We test our theory in the well-known domain of choice context effects. Across three studies using multiple operationalizations of the decision process (i.e., information display format, product presentation mode, and processing goal), we find converging evidence that the more cognitively involving compromise choice increases when the environment facilitates attribute- versus alternative-based processing. Conversely, the choice of asymmetrically dominating option, which is characterized by relatively little analytical processing, does not depend on the type of decision strategy highlighted by the task.     

It's all the miners' fault: On the nonlinearity in U.S. unemployment rates

The U.S. unemployment rate is generally regarded as nonlinear. In this study, we show that if there had been no miners' general strike in October of 1949, and if the aggregate unemployment rate had been 0.3% lower during that month, the 1948–2002 U.S. unemployment rate would have been linear. Hence, just a single alteration of past events would have resulted in significantly different findings regarding the linearity in the U.S. unemployment rate. This finding illustrates a need for linearity tests to be developed that are robust against the effects of outliers.     

Is high real interest rate persistence an intrinsic characteristic of industrialized economies?

Recent empirical findings show that post-war real interest rates are quite persistent and that they also contain a large number of structural changes in their means. In this study, we also find concurring results for real interest rates from thirteen industrialized countries. We show, however, that when the presence of various nonstationarities such as changing means is accommodated, some of the real interest rates exhibit substantially lower persistence or even become I(0). Our findings indicate that high real interest rate persistence is not necessarily an intrinsic characteristic of industrialized economies.     

Understanding consumption behaviours for fair trade non‐food products: focusing on self‐transcendence and openness to change values

Using the Schwartz value system, this study explored the personal values of consumers related to fair trade product consumption. This study further investigated how the values determine beliefs, attitudes and purchase intentions associated with fair trade non‐food products. Data were collected using an online survey from a random sample of 1824 nationwide consumers. The results of this study revealed that fair trade purchasers show a higher level of self‐transcendence (universalism, benevolence) and openness to change values (self‐direction, stimulation) than non‐purchasers. These values also have positive effects on the formation of beliefs, attitudes and purchase intentions pertaining to fair trade non‐food products. Fair trade purchasers were also found to possess distinctive socio‐demographic characteristics concerning age, education and income. Findings can offer marketers specific information regarding consumers' motivations to purchase fair trade goods, which can improve targeting of products and ultimately increase the business and benefits of fair trade.     

Crude oil prices and the balance of trade: Asymmetric evidence from selected OPEC member countries

The contribution of this article is to assess whether the effects of crude oil price fluctuations on the trade balance are symmetric or asymmetric in the context of an individual oil-exporting country, specifically four OPEC member countries – Iran, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. To examine this subject thoroughly, we use three different measures of trade balances such as oil trade balance, non-oil trade balance, and total trade balance, and examine whether oil prices are asymmetrically passed on to the trade balances for those OPEC countries in the long- and short-run. After implementation of the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, we find that changes in oil prices indeed have asymmetric effects on the oil trade balance for all four OPEC countries in the long-run, though not in the short-run. In the case of the non-oil and total trade balance, however, the asymmetry of oil price changes is not detected in both the long- and short-run.     

Understanding college students' opinions on a smoking policy

Because of the negative aspects of smoking, the US National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse has recommended that university campuses should be smoke free. The purpose of this research was to learn students' opinions about the effectiveness of a smoking policy on campus. The policy simply stated there should be no smoking within 30 feet of a building. However, no areas were designated as smoking areas. Using phenomenological inquiry, the authors observed and interviewed both smoking and non‐smoking students. Findings suggest that the existing smoking policy was weak and often ignored. Students felt the purpose of the smoking policy should be clearly stated because they were not sure if the policy was intended to make smokers quit or prevent them from smoking in front of doors. This study demonstrates the utility of careful observation as a prelude to the design and implementation of qualitative data collection methods. The results indicate observation is a valuable part of a qualitative research strategy.     

Buchanan on increasing returns and anticommons

This article discusses Buchanan’s work on increasing returns and anticommons. The two topics have externality as a common element. And size matters in both cases. Increasing returns is a case of positive externalities, the anti-commons is a case of negative externalities. Buchanan demonstrated that a work ethic generates economy-wide benefits in a setting of generalized increasing returns. In contrast, unanimity (in anticommons) can make it more difficult to address other externality problems in analyzing work ethic and moral community. This article provides an overview of both these areas of research.     

The New Approach to Assessing the Marketing Effectiveness of Korean Firms

This study attempted to revise Philip Kotler's marketing effectiveness model to diagnose and offer managerial implications for Korean marketing practices. Nineteen Korean firms, divided into ten manufacturing and nine service sectors, were examined to assess their level of marketing effectiveness. By industry, these firms were further divided into five categories; electronics, machinery, chemicals, finance, and service-oriented. The five marketing effectiveness attributes — strategy, organization, operations, personnel, and information system — along with accompanying factor components were incorporated into the measurement of the marketing effectiveness. The findings showed that manufacturing sector firms were less effective in marketing operations than the service sector firms. In both sectors, relative to the predetermined factor importance weights, the Korean firms were found to underperform in planning and controlling functions. Managerial implications regarding the underperforming marketing functions and future recommendations are offered.