利益相关者显著性的整合研究框架——主观感知与主体属性

利益相关者显著性研究经历了“基于身份”静态观到基于“主观感知”和“主体属性”动态观的转变过程。静态观的利益相关者显著性研究已不能帮助焦点企业管理者在一个动态复杂环境中有效识别出显著的利益相关者,但动态观在“谁是显著的利益相关者”问题上仍争议颇多。鉴于此,以动态观为切入点,把利益相关者显著性的影响因素分为焦点企业的主观感知和利益相关者的主体属性这两大研究视角,提炼出一个识别利益相关者显著性的整合研究框架。     

Understanding how the message appeal of moral beauty influences advertising effectiveness under mortality salience

Consumers may be reminded of life mortality by some life events and media content. Mortality salience as a contextual factor has not been sufficiently investigated in the existing literature of advertising. The present research analyzes how the interplay between mortality salience and moral beauty influences consumers’ perceptions of life meaning and their responses to advertisements. Results of two studies confirmed that participants perceived increased life meaning when viewing advertisements that presented moral beauty. In Study 1, participants who were reminded of death evaluated an advertisement that presented moral beauty more favorably than an advertisement without such content. In Study 2, younger (i.e., age 18–25) and older participants (i.e., 55 and above) were recruited and the results indicated that the phenomenon observed in Study 1 was only prominent among younger participants. These results are believed to provide interesting insights to marketing communication both theoretically and practically.     

Do small pecuniary incentives motivate residential peak energy reductions? Experimental evidence

This article evaluates demand-side interventions aimed at reducing residential consumption during the peak energy periods. The interventions were applied to a sample of high-income households and included a set of text message reminders advising participants to reduce electricity use during peak hours. One group of participants received accompanying intra-day increases in peak-hour kWh rates, while another group of participants did not receive any price incentives. We find that intra-day price increases, though small in absolute magnitude, produced significant reductions in peak energy use. Reductions in use, as compared to a control group, were significantly higher among the pricing group compared to the group only receiving text messages, suggesting that pricing played a central role in influencing behaviour. Our results contribute to ongoing policy discussion about the effect of dynamic pricing on consumer energy demand.     

Stakeholder Salience in Public and Private Firms: Results from Tanzania

It has become evident that Western concepts of business and management must be evaluated within their realms of application. The objective of this research was to analyze the effects of stakeholder attributes of power, legitimacy, and urgency on the stakeholder salience of shareholders, employees, customers, and community in state-owned and privatized firms in Tanzania. In general, the framework developed and used in Western studies proved useful in characterizing Tanzanian management perceptions toward stakeholders. That is, when using a common questionnaire, results were obtained that linked stakeholder saliency with underlying attributes. Nevertheless, the saliency profile for stakeholders was different in the Tanzanian culture from previous studies in the United States and Spain. In a Tanzanian context, employees, customers, and community attained inferior status compared to the results obtained in developed countries for which the theory had been developed. Profiles were also different in comparing state-owned and privatized firms in Tanzania. Results indicated that the effects on salience are similar for shareholders but different for the remaining stakeholder groups in the two categories of firms. Some policy recommendations are made as a consequence of observations, and the need for further work is acknowledged.     

How do institutional investors react to local shocks during a crisis? A test using the COVID-19 pandemic

We examine how institutional investors reacted to geographically dispersed local shocks during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of real estate investment trusts (REITs) enables us to link two layers of geography: the locations of the assets in which the REITs were invested and the headquarters locations of institutional investors who owned REIT shares. We find that the institutional ownership of firms with an economic interest in the investors’ home markets declined more if those markets were heavily affected by the pandemic. In addition, the ownership responses to the COVID-19 shock were larger in those markets in which REITs had larger portfolio allocations and in markets that were home to the investors. Importantly, we find that nonpassive and short-term investors may have overreacted to the local shocks because their REIT portfolios subsequently underperformed relative to passive and long-term investors. Our study highlights the importance of geography in the formation of investors’ expectations during market crises.     

Out of the frying pan and into the fire? Uncovering the impact of FSMA’s sanitary food transportation rule on the food logistics industry

Public policy affects businesses in several ways, yet its intersection with the food logistics industry is not well understood. This article explores the case of the Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food Rule—enforced in 2018—and its impact on the food logistics industry. It is one of the most significant rules of the U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act and, in many ways, improves the rulebook for U.S. food haulage. The objective is to prevent food contamination during transportation by establishing vehicle design and maintenance requirements, safe transportation operations, transit temperature controls, carrier personnel training, and record-keeping. The Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food Rule also transforms the roles and responsibilities of traditional industry stakeholders (i.e., brokers, shippers, carriers, loaders, and receivers) and creates unique challenges for them. This article works to develop an understanding of stakeholders’ evolved roles via the salience model, identify challenges, and suggest relevant solutions, including a compliance checklist for each stakeholder.     

It may be urgent,but is it important? A look at how employees evaluate their emails

This paper presents the results of a study designed to identify the cues employees use to identify an email as important and/or urgent. Taking an emic perspective, a qualitative research methodology is used to analyze interview responses from knowledge workers. Our findings support the notion that employees use strategies similar to those encapsulated in Mitchell et al.’s (1997) operationalization of stakeholder salience when evaluating an email's importance and/or urgency. Results from this study can be used to design email policies to support knowledge worker performance.     

CSR and stakeholder salience in MNE subsidiaries in emerging markets

The purpose of this study is to identify the key stakeholder groups pressuring multinational enterprises (MNEs) in emerging markets (EMs), also if the pressure is global or local, to develop corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies. Drawing on stakeholder salience and institutional theories, all the stakeholder groups acknowledged and analysed in the literature were identified and examined to understand if they were perceived by MNEs in China as effective in pressuring them to engage in CSR strategies and activities. Results demonstrate that only stakeholder groups with power – government power or voting power – are perceived as having enough pressure to make MNEs’ Chinese subsidiaries engage in CSR, which is contrary to current theories. Our results allow us to theorise on an extension of the concept of utilitarian power and political power when analysing stakeholder salience in EMs. This research has important implications for managers as balancing and working with limited resources and correctly identifying and prioritising key stakeholders are vital to successfully improving performance.