The Interaction of Top Management Group,Stakeholder, and Situational Factors on Certain Corporate Reputation Management Activities*

abstract This study examines when a firm's members are most likely to promote and defend its reputation. Building on past research in impression management theory and the upper‐echelons perspective, I argue that firms facing increased visibility among different stakeholder groups will increase corporate reputation management activities towards those groups and decrease activities towards other groups. I further argue that top management group characteristics will moderate these relationships, suggesting that certain top management groups are more attuned to the situational needs of reputation management. A set of hypotheses are tested using pooled cross‐sectional time‐series data on a set of Fortune 500 companies. Results indicate that firms generally directed reputation management activities towards their more visible stakeholders. However, the type and extent of reputation management behaviour varied. Specifically, for firms whose top management groups were more highly educated or output oriented, highly visible situations with the media were more likely to be associated with a higher use of press releases. Moreover, those same firms devoted more resources to mass media advertising under situations of high consumer visibility compared to firms whose top management groups were less educated or throughput oriented.     

Shareholder Primacy and the Trajectory of UK Corporate Governance

Core institutions of UK corporate governance, in particular those relating to takeovers, board structure and directors’ duties, are strongly orientated towards a norm of shareholder primacy. Beyond the core, in particular at the inter‐section of insolvency and employment law, stakeholder interests are better represented, thanks largely to European Community influence. Moreover, institutional shareholders are redirecting their investment strategies away from a focus on short‐term returns, in such a way as to favour stakeholder‐inclusive practices. We therefore suggest that the UK system is currently in a state of flux and that the debate over shareholder primacy has not been concluded.     

Donation dilemmas: A consumer behaviour perspective

With the aim of developing a better understanding of an individual's donation decision process this paper focuses on the information search undertaken by a prospective donor. It discusses the level of problem solving that characterises various donations, using the body of consumer decision-making literature to provide a theoretical framework for the investigation. From the results it appears that donor decision making follows a similar pattern to consumer buying decisions. There appears to be a low incidence of extended problem solving, even where relatively large donations are concerned. Examples of limited problem solving and routine response behaviour, by contrast, were more prevalent.     

360‐degree feedback with systematic coaching: Empirical analysis suggests a winning combination

Wanted: High‐performance work practices to gain a competitive advantage. An increasingly common answer to this desperate call is 360‐degree programs; unfortunately, they have, at best, mixed reviews when empirically assessed. This study found that a way to improve the effectiveness of 360s may be to combine them with coaching focused on enhanced self‐awareness and behavioral management. In a small manufacturer, this feedback‐coaching resulted in improved manager and employee satisfaction, commitment, intentions to turnover, and at least indirectly, this firm's performance. This feedback‐coaching may be a winning combination to help in the competitive battles in today's global economy. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Millenials’ intentions to book on Airbnb

ABSTRACT

The sharing economy has witnessed a significant growth in recent years, enhanced by the development of online platforms. In particular, Airbnb has witnessed a significant worldwide year-on-year growth. Given the importance and popularity of Airbnb, it is crucial to examine which factors affect intentions to book on this website. This study proposes and tests a model based on the Theory of Reasoned Action, to examine millennials’ determinants of intentions to book on Airbnb. Based on two online surveys targeting millennials from Germany and China, the results show that intentions to book on Airbnb is mostly influenced by subjective norm, desire for unique accommodation and variety, attitude and economic benefits. Surprisingly, economic benefits have the smallest effect. Perceived risk with the purchase channel was found to have no impact on intentions to book on Airbnb. Managerial implications and theoretical contributions are provided.     

Moving beyond positivism: reflexive collaboration in understanding agritourism across North American boundaries

Extant agritourism studies have employed positivistic methodologies and quantitative approaches. As such, these approaches have predominately concluded that economics motives the diversification in agritourism at the expense of uncovering the complexity of multiple factors involved. Captured in this paper are the experiences of two, independent North American (agri)tourism researchers who used interpretative research approaches, specifically interpretative phenomenological analysis and appreciative inquiry, for getting at a deeper understanding of the complexity of agritourism on family farms. Agritourism is revealed as a transitional process, and supporting farms getting into agritourism would best be accomplished through building business skills and entrepreneurial capacities. Likewise, networks are critical, especially farmer-to-farmer connections. Interpretative research methods uncovered a more holistic and complex understanding of agritourism. This perspective will better inform farmers, their families, as well as policy-makers when they design and implement new businesses, programmes, and policies in the best interest of farm families and rural communities.     

‘Absent fear’: Re-envisioning a future geography

This paper explores the significance fear plays, or does not play, in the practice of envisioning. Envisioning is seen as a powerful tool in the delivery of education for sustainable development, for it seeks to engage people in imagining and creating a better future. However, drawing on work undertaken with undergraduate students at the University of Glamorgan, South Wales, we argue that envisioning relies upon ‘absent fear’: it works to suppress, or make absent, fear as a valid response to present and future development. The presence of ‘absent fear’, we suggest, poses a barrier to fully engaging with the challenges and opportunities of a sustainable future, for it is difficult to conceive of a positive vision without first acknowledging and confronting our fears. It is in articulating fear, we observe, that people are more able to respond to the challenges of the future in hopeful and creative ways. Utilising work undertaken with our students this paper revisits envisioning and suggests the need to understand envisioning as a broader process of reflection and action.     

Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Governance: Role of Context in International Settings

This research aims to explore the relationship between corporate governance and CSR: What are the major factors that play a direct role in the establishment of this relationship? How does context and institutional background impact upon the relationship between CSR and Governance? Using in-depth semi-structured interviews from two types of governance systems in three countries over three years, this study has demonstrated that in practice, within different settings, CSR is being used both as a strategy as well as a reaction to different drivers. We call this adaptive governance where governance can be defined as a flexible system of action incorporating strategic and monitoring activities that determines the way a company enacts its responsibilities to its shareholders and stakeholders and which is determined at any given time by the interrelationship of institutional drivers and behavioural norms. Governance systems and their interrelationships with CSR are demonstrated as fluid according to the national and institutional context, economic situation and industry impact. In the eyes of practitioners corporate governance includes both structural and behavioural factors as well as responsibilities and actions towards shareholders and stakeholders. Contextual factors that this research highlights to be important to the incorporation of CSR into governance include the economic environment, national governance system, regulation and soft law, shareholders, national culture, behavioural norms and industry impacts. Hypotheses on the impact of institutional contexts, industry impacts and economic situations on different types of CSR actions are proposed for further research.     

What the EU Can Learn from the American Experience with Unemployment Insurance

This paper aims to contribute to the ongoing unemployment insurance dialogue and debate by providing an overview of the equivalent program in the US and identifying valuable lessons from the American experience.     

Information systems project management in PMJ: A brief history

The Project Management Institute (PMI) plays an important role in the training, career development, and recognition of information systems (IS) project managers. Indeed, not only do IS professionals account for a large proportion of the PMI constituency, but PMI is also influential in the training of IS project managers. This study explores further the contribution of PMI to IS project management by means of its main publication outlet, the Project Management Journal (PMJ). To do so, the contents of the 39 IS project management articles published in PMJ during 1988–2005 were analyzed. The article focuses on the following dimensions: the relative importance of IS project management articles published by PMJ; the profile of the authors of IS project management articles in PMJ; the main issues, in terms of IS project management, covered by PMJ; and the major gaps, in terms of IS project management, in the coverage of this domain by PMJ.