Taking Stock of the Century‐long Utilization of the Case Method in Management Education

Over the last century, the case method has been a key teaching tool in management education. This article takes stock of the main characteristics of the case method, clarifies its learning goals, and exposes the relationships between these goals and supporting learning theories, in particular active‐learning theory and experiential learning. It then examines the multiple variations of the case method that have developed over the years and discusses arguments against the case method. Finally, four proposals are made in view of strengthening the case method's value: extend case variety, moderate the case method's ambition to foster experiential learning, conduct empirical research about the case method's learning impacts, and emphasize the close relationship between case research and case teaching. Copyright © 2013 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A cross-cultural perspective on the role of emotion in negative service encounters

The purpose of this research is to examine cross-cultural differences in emotional responses to negative service encounters and the consequent impact on behavioural intentions. Focus groups of UK and West African consumers discussed two video scenarios, described employee and consumer behaviour, and projected emotional responses. Although anger was a major emotion, African consumers emphasised feelings of ‘sadness’ (humiliation and embarrassment). Such feelings were more likely to influence switching and other behavioural intentions when attributable to employee behaviour. Differences were also identified in interpretations of employee behaviour and perceived attribution of negative emotions.     

Emotional intelligence and caring behaviour in nursing

The research reported in this paper relates six dimensions of nurses' emotional intelligence (EI) with two dimensions of their caring behaviours. One hundred and twenty nurses self-reported their EI, and three patients of each one described their caring behaviours. The main findings are: (a) nurses' EI explains a significant but low unique variance of caring behaviours; (b) self-encouragement and self-control against criticisms are the best predictors; (c) high empathy can have positive or negative impact on caring behaviours depending on the way it combines with other EI dimensions.     

Defending Brands: Effects of Alignment of Spokescharacter Personality Traits and Corporate Transgressions on Brand Trust and Attitudes

Two repeated-measure experiments examine the role of spokescharacters in defending consumer perceptions of brand attitude, brand trust, and the willingness to pay a price premium (WPPP) for the brand. Based on the theory of anthropomorphization, the first experiment assesses the moderating role of the alignment between the spokescharacter personality and negative information. Results show that nonaligned negative information and personality traits offer a stronger defense for the brand. The second experiment extends the first by comparing the role of spokescharacters relative to another visual promotion tool, brand logos. Results show that when personality and negative information are not aligned, there are no significant (unfavorable) effects on brand attitude and trust when either spokescharacters or logos are used, but the brands are susceptible to unfavorable effects when the negative information is aligned. In addition, the spokescharacter offers somewhat greater protection for the brand than does the logo when the negative information is aligned.     

Children,Smoking and Advertising: The Evidence is There for Those Who Wish to See it (A Reply)

In a recent article in this journal, Colin McDonald (1993) criticized our research on cigarette advertising and children's smoking. This paper refutes each of his criticisms and shows that our research and that of others in this field provides a convincing argument that cigarette advertising does influence children's smoking. These arguments are now widely accepted, with the only prominent disagreement coming from those with most to lose—the tobacco industry.     

Mediatized Humanitarianism: Trust and Legitimacy in the Age of Suspicion

The article investigates the implications of mediatization for the legitimation strategies of humanitarian organizations. Based on a (full population) corpus of ~400 pages of brochure material from 1970 to 2007, the micro-textual processes involved in humanitarian organizations’ efforts to legitimate themselves and their moral claim were examined. A time trend analysis of the prioritization of actors in the material indicates that marked shifts in legitimation loci have taken place during the past 40 years. A discourse analysis unfolds the three dominant discourses behind these shifts, namely legitimation by accountancy, legitimation by institutionalization, and legitimation by compensation. The analysis relates these changes to a problem of trust associated with mediatization through processes of mediation.     

Defining the gap between research and practice in public relations programme evaluation – towards a new research agenda

The current situation in public relations programme evaluation is neatly summarized by McCoy who commented that ‘probably the most common buzzwords in public relations in the last ten years have been evaluation and accountability’ (McCoy 2005, 3). This paper examines the academic and practitioner‐based literature and research on programme evaluation and it detects different priorities and approaches that may partly explain why the debate on acceptable and agreed evaluation methods continues. It analyses those differences and proposes a research agenda to bridge the gap and move the debate forward.     

Extending the theory of metaphor in marketing: The case of the art gallery

Abstract

This study analyses the metaphor of spirituality in the non-profit art gallery, a metaphor overlooked in previous marketing research. Using content analysis and interviews in a single depth case study, this article illustrates how spirituality has been a staple in the non-profit art gallery over time. It was found that even though the non-profit art gallery acknowledges its use of spirituality, it has a paradoxical attitude to it. Therefore this article (a) traces the historical influences that led to the extension of metaphor in the art gallery and its relationship to marketing theory, and (b) draws on Hunt and Menon (1995 Hunt, S.D. and Menon, A. 1995. Metaphors and competitive advantage: Evaluating the use of metaphors in theories of competitive strategy. Journal of Business Research, 33(2): 81–90. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) to identify deliberate and emergent strategies using metaphor in the non-profit cultural organisation.     

Industry,Organizational Age,and Size as Predictors of Organizational Values in the Context of a Transition Society: The Case of Estonian Organizations

ABSTRACT

Over the past 20 years, China and India have emerged as the fastest growing economies in the world. In this context, the authors review, examine, and list the factors that have contributed to the emergence of China and India (referred to as Chindia). The authors compare the antecedents, characteristics, and consequences of their emergence in the global market. This article provides insights for the researchers and multinational enterprises from rest of the world to carry out studies on country analysis as well as foreign market entry modes. Besides, we posit theoretical and testable propositions for future research.