Author/Abstract Index

Abstract

This study assesses consumer perceptions of advertising messages for two proenvironmental products by examining the effectiveness of environmental versus personal benefit appeals and .99 versus .00 price endings. The authors borrow from Prospect Theory and Mental Accounting Theory to explain consumers' perceptions of psychological pricing and product attributes. In addition, the moderating role of environmental skepticism is assessed as it relates to the effectiveness of environmentally friendly advertisements. Results indicate that consumers feel that some products advertised with environmental appeals are more costly, but are not perceived as lower quality as compared with products advertised with personal benefits. Findings also indicate a price ending × appeal interaction for two different products, but the effects vary between the products. Finally, environmental skepticism is found to moderate perceptions of the message appeal. Implications are provided.     

The political economy of the Ecuadorian financial crisis

This paper takes the unusual step of exploring economic hypothesesthrough interviews with key economic agents. It focuses on thecauses of Ecuador's 1999 banking collapse, within an eclecticframework with Minskian elements. Broad support is found for‘endogenous’ explanations of financial crises andlittle backing for explanations such as accidents or policymistakes. Interviewees argued that after the stabilisation programmeof 1992, agents became euphoric and accumulated debt to financeimprudent levels of expansion; that incentives for moral hazardled to financial corruption and excessive risk taking; and thatweak regulation after financial liberalisation encouraged financialfragility.     

R&D Outsourcing and the Effectiveness of Intangible Investments: Is Proprietary Core Knowledge Walking out of the Door?

Intangible relationship‐specific investments can be double‐edged swords, as they facilitate not only the governance of business relationships but also undesired knowledge transfers. Building on transaction costs theory and the relational view of alliances, we analyse the effectiveness of these investments in R&D outsourcing agreements from the viewpoint of the client. We argue that, when outsourcing to business firms, the safeguards adopted by the clients to prevent spillovers may reduce the effectiveness of the supplier's specialized investments. Using original survey data from 170 European and US technology‐intensive firms, we find that the contribution of these investments to client performance decreases the more a client's core knowledge is required to perform the service, except when outsourcing to non‐profits. This suggests that as the appropriability hazards associated with outsourcing to business firms rise, the client is able to capture less value from the supplier's relationship‐specific investments.     

The Internet,employment and Polish migrant workers: communication,activism and competition in the new organisational spaces

This article discusses the content of Polish community–administered websites and trade union engagement. It is based on three sources of data, firstly, semi‐structured interviews with Polish web administrators and trade union officers in the north of England. Secondly, audits of the location of Polish administered UK websites undertaken in April 2007 and 2008. Lastly, an in‐depth thematic questionnaire was undertaken of websites in November 2008. The key findings are that the Internet is an increasingly systematic feature of new migrant politics and representation. Further the trade union movement is not ‘at odds’ with independent and virtual forms of communication and representation. It does pose questions of how to combine and coordinate these and create a more meaningful and sustainable dialogue based on a politics of empowerment.     

Ecological consumer behaviour: an empirical analysis

Increasingly, consumers choose ecological products when they do the shopping, not only because it is a healthier option but also because it helps to sustain the environment for future generations. They are prepared to switch products for ecological reasons and stop buying products from companies that cause pollution. Firms and other economic institutions are aware of the importance of reflecting these attitudes towards the environment in developing their products. This paper is focused on environmental attitudes as meaningful predictor of ecological behaviour. A three‐dimensional approach to this variable has been developed, which addresses its emotional, cognitive and conative components. A random sample survey of 573 individuals was used to verify the conceptual model and framework. This model was assessed initially by principal factor analysis and subsequently, by structural equation modelling. Findings of this study showed that environmental attitudes have a significant effect on ecological behaviour. This research improves our understanding of how consumers feel and what attitudes best define their way of behaving in relation to environmental problems.     

Organisational Change and the Tensions of Decentralisation: the Case of Royal Mail

Miguel Martinez Lucio and Mike Noon, who are Lecturers in Industrial Relations and Organisational Behaviour respectively at the Cardiff Business School, draw on a case study of Royal Mail to explore the reasons for decentralisation and the issues this poses for managers and employees. They argue that the restructuring of Royal Mail was the result of three different imperatives for change: market, technological and political – pressurising managers to decentralise the formal structures of management-trade union relations. Decentralisation of these structures, however, has been far from a straightforward process: it has led to considerable tensions in the management of industrial relations, created scope for the development of new workplace industrial relations institutions and agendas, and given rise to a constant process of management reform.     

Presenteeism and burnout among teachers in public and private Portuguese elementary schools

This research aims to study the possible relation between presenteeism and burnout in the public and private education sector. Presenteeism – a groundbreaking concept in organizational behaviour literature – refers to productivity losses that occur when employees come to work but under-perform due to physical and psychological causes. Next, we further clarified the burnout criterion with three groups of predictors: personal, contextual and presenteeism. Results from a sample of 281 elementary school teachers from private and public institutions revealed that personal and contextual characteristics as well as presenteeism were predictive of teacher burnout. We also found that public school teachers exhibited higher levels of both presenteeism and burnout. Finally, the implications of these results are discussed and directions for future research in the field are provided.