Social and organisational implications of CAD usage: a grounded theory in a fashion company

This paper focuses on the process of Computer Aided Design (CAD) diffusion into a group engaged in the development of innovative products. Adopting an ethnographic approach, we build a grounded theory for interpreting CAD usage in terms of the interplay between variables such as management orientation, training, actors' specialisation and deskilling, availability of shared archives, technological discontinuities between organisational areas.     

DS-optimal designs in one way ANOVA

Characterization and construction of optimal designs using the familiar optimality criteria, for example A-, D- and E-optimality are well studied in the literature. However the study of the Distance Optimality (DS-) criterion introduced by Sinha (1970) has very recently drawn attention of researchers. In the present article, we consider the singularly estimable full rank problem of estimating the full set of elementary treatment contrasts using the DS optimality criterion in the set up of a one way ANOVA model. Using a limit argument it turns out that a CRD in which difference between any two allocation numbers is at the most unity is uniquely DS-optimal. Acknowledgement. We are thankful to Prof. B. K. Sinha for suggesting the problem to us and many helpful discussions with him. We are also thankful to the referees for drawing our attention to the reference of Bischoff (1995) and many helpful comments.     

How should charitable organisations motivate young professionals to give philanthropically?

One hundred and fifty‐eight bankers, accountants and corporate lawyers, aged under 40 years, earning more than £50,000 annually and working in the City of London were questioned about their attitudes and behaviour in relation to charitable giving. A conjoint analysis of the respondents' preferences revealed strong predilections for certain types of charitable organisation; for ‘social’ rewards in return for donating (invitations to gala events and black tie dinners for example); and for well‐known charities with established reputations. ‘Planned giving’ whereby donors receive tax breaks and other financial incentives to donate (as increasingly practised in the USA) did not represent a significant inducement to give so far as this particular sample was concerned. Overall the results suggest that young affluent male City employees constitute a distinct market segment for charity fundraisers, with unique characteristics that need to be addressed when developing donor products. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications     

Cultivating Quality Employee-Organization Relationships: The Interplay among Organizational Leadership,Culture, and Communication

Based on a random sample of employees (n = 391) working in various industrial sectors in the United States, we examined the respective linkages between employee–organization relationships (EORs) and authentic leadership, symmetrical internal communication, and organizational culture. Results indicated that authentic leadership, organizational culture of supportiveness, emphasis on reward, and stability were significant predictors of the symmetrical internal communication system of an organization and EORs. Symmetrical internal communication cultivates quality EORs and mediates the effects of authentic leadership and cultural dimensions of supportiveness on EOR outcomes. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings were also discussed.     

Time series approaches to Italian regional convergence

This article investigates the evolution of the gap between Italian regions and Italy as a whole during the period of 1980 to 2007. We tested for the presence of the stochastic and β-convergence hypotheses using different time series approaches. The former was studied, first, for the entire sample period and then, with an exogenous instantaneous break in the series. The presence of β-convergence, instead, was estimated considering a known and an unknown trend break date model. Our results show that most of the regions do not converge in an ‘actual’ way, since they do not present a stochastic and β-convergence simultaneously.     

Improving Assessments of Gender Bargaining Power: A Case Study from Bangladesh

Gender bargaining power has entered into mainstream economic theory and public policy. However, common empirical measures are only loosely related to the theoretical concept, and research has not produced consistent results regarding the causal chains underlying women’s empowerment. This study critically examines accepted measures of bargaining power, arguing that participation in specific household decisions is not directly associated with the theoretical concept of bargaining power. The study analyzes the relationship between measures of participation in household decisions and individual and household characteristics thought to contribute to bargaining power. Using Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data on Bangladesh over the period 1999–2011, the study finds that despite the loose relationship of the survey questions to the theoretical construct bargaining power, the decision-making questions provide relatively consistent and theoretically supported measures of this unobservable characteristic. Simple changes in using the measures would contribute to more robust and consistent findings.     

Understanding the cultural consumption of a new wave of immigrants: the case of the South Korean community in South West London

The purpose of the study was to develop and test a model explaining the cultural consumption of a new immigrant ethnic group (South Korean) in terms of their highbrow, middlebrow, lowbrow, public/private and ethnic minority cultural pursuits. A core premise of the study was that due to the overall higher socio‐economic standing of the South Korean community (in comparison to many other ethnic minority groups residing in the UK), this particular immigrant group would more closely resemble the omnivore and not the univore cultural consumer. A model was developed on the basis of previous literature in the fields of audience development research, arts marketing and educational sociology and was tested, consequent to qualitative interviews conducted with relevant experts and with South Korean immigrants, on a sample of 351 residents of an area in South West London that contains a high density of South Korean immigrants. The findings indicated that bridging social capital, perceived barriers to the arts, passion for the arts and educational motivation were the strongest predictors of omnivorous consumption amongst this group. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Consumer engagement with brands on social network sites: A cross-cultural comparison of China and the USA

To advance theoretical understanding of consumer engagement on social media, this cross-cultural study evaluates how culture influences consumers’ engagement levels and activities on brand pages of social network sites. It further evaluates the underlying motivations and engagement mechanisms in two culturally distinct countries, China and the USA. Specifically, social media dependency, parasocial interaction, and community identification are examined as the key antecedents of consumer-brand engagement. The results confirm the effects of the proposed antecedents and reveal both cultural differences and similarities between Chinese and American consumers’ engagement with brand pages on social network sites.     

Operational planning and competitive strategies of male and female retailers

Interest in the managerial practices of females in business has increased over the past decade due to women's increased representation in business. Anecdotal evidence has suggested that women approach decision making differently from men. The purpose of this study is to determine if gender differences regarding managerial strategies exist in the retail setting. Targeted managerial strategies focused on short-term planning processes (personnel, financial, inventory and market planning) and competitive strategies in operation (differentiation, cost leadership and focus). In a sample of 459 retailers from a twelve-state region, MANOVA was used to determine if significant differences in managerial strategies existed between genders. The data on retail competitive strategies suggest that men and women more likely than male business owners to recognize in the importance of differentiation and focus as retail competitive strategies in their business operations. Gender differences were also found in the operational planning areas of market and inventory planning.     

Misleading Characteristics of Implied-Superiority Claims

Abstract

Characteristics of implied-superiority claims that mislead consumers were examined. Claims for four products were investigated using a factorial design to manipulate type of claim (three variations of implied-superiority claims and a noncomparative claim), concreteness of the referent attribute (concrete, vague, and omitted), and brand familiarity (familiar and fictitious brand names). Implied-superiority claims were more misleading than noncomparative claims, as shown by the percentage of subjects who believed that brands described by such claims were superior. Ratings of brand quality and interest in trial were not increased by such claims. Concreteness of referent attributes does not account for these findings; however both the use of indirect comparisons to competitors and the use of familiar brand names contribute to the misleading effects of implied-superiority claims.