Management and Law: Recent submissions
Now showing items 21-40 of 1410
-
Construct Development for Resilient Leadership Model (Rel Model): A View from Malaysian SMEsEntrepreneurs need to be more resilient. As economic disruptions are inevitable, organizations need to have resilient leaders. Resilient organizations possess the capacity to sustain favorable transformations and successfully navigate numerous hurdles during periods of crisis or adversity. The purpose of this research is to develop a new measurement tool for resilient leadership within the context of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. Despite vast empirical evidence on the topic of leadership toward sustainable performance, validated assessments of resilient leadership are still underexplored. Therefore, the researchers initiated a quantitative research approach by gathering data from 100 SME leaders across various industries. The newly developed resilient leadership questionnaires were electronically distributed to the respondents. The data was analyzed using SPSS 26.0. The data analysis comprised descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, and exploratory factor analysis. The results revealed and verified six- dimensions of resilient leadership, which include adaptability, emotional intelligence, visionary, spiritual intelligence, growth mindset, and internal ecosystem. The measurement scale developed, and the factor structure produced can be used to assess and develop more resilient leaders that could help to sustain business performance among SMEs. The inclusion of a spiritual element into the model adds value and provides a holistic view of a resilient leadership model that is not only applicable to the context of SMEs in Malaysia but also across borders.
-
Workplace innovation and work value ethics: The mediating role of leadership in Asian SMEsResearch on the correlations between design leadership, work values and ethics, and workplace innovation is lacking, especially in non-Western regions. This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of design leadership in the relationship of work values and ethics with workplace innovation in Asian small- and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs). Five hypotheses were established to explore the proposed model. Data were obtained from 995 SMEs in Japan, Thailand, China, and Vietnam and were examined using partial least squares analysis. The findings indicated a correlation between work values and ethics and design leadership, with the latter influencing workplace innovation across its four dimensions. This demonstrated the significant association between work values and ethics and workplace innovation. Design leadership was also shown to fully mediate the relationship between work values and ethics and workplace innovation in Asian SMEs. This study provides a deeper understanding of the emerging literature on the associations of design leadership, work values and ethics, and workplace innovation. It emphasizes the importance of design leadership and its correlations with various aspects of workplace innovation and work values and ethics, which have not received adequate attention in the existing literature. Asian SME entrepreneurs can improve the innovation capabilities of their organizations by focusing on and implementing design leadership behaviors, which may thereby help their organizations establish a competitive advantage and promote long-term sustainability.
-
Using firm-level intellectual capital to achieve strategic sustainability: examination of phenomenon of business failure in terms of the critical events"The purpose of this study is twofold. Firstly, the authors have conducted a systematic investigation considering the historical pandemic periods (1991–2021) over 30 years to identify critical factors and business failure phenomenon during pandemics to explore “what”, “why” and “how” factors contributing to business failure during the COVID-19 pandemic and secondly identified interlinks of these factors to explain the phenomenon of business failure strategically through various quantitative models.
-
Identifying the influence of obsolescence risk and health beliefs in fitness wearable healthcare technologyThis study aimed to examine factors influencing the adoption of fitness wearable technologies (FWTs) by extending the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2). A survey was conducted with 574 fitness wearable users in India to test a conceptual Fitness Wearable Adoption Model (FWAM) incorporating additional constructs of obsolescence risk, health belief, and perceived accuracy alongside UTAUT2 variables. Structural equation modeling revealed performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, hedonic motivation, price value, health belief, and obsolescence risk positively affected adoption intentions, while perceived security had no effect. Perceived accuracy mediated the impact of performance expectancy, while price value mediated the relationship between obsolescence risk and intentions. The research makes key contributions by adapting UTAUT2 to a new context, integrating additional adoption factors, identifying mediating mechanisms, and revealing moderating effects of age. Findings provide valuable insights into consumer acceptance of fitness wearables that can inform strategies for manufacturers, marketers, and health practitioners to promote adoption. A major focus of the investigation is to develop strategies for increasing the adoption of wrist-worn fitness technology that provides an opportunity for fitness wearable technology manufacturers to strengthen relationships with older age groups through effective communication techniques.
-
From Interaction to Immersion: Exploring AR and VR's Transformative Role in Consumer EngagementIn recent times, marketers have started using augmented and virtual reality (AR-VR) to offer unique customer experiences and enhance engagement. While the use of AR-VR in marketing has become the ‘new normal', businesses are still struggling to use these tools to effectively attract and retain customers. Building on the existing literature, this chapter argues that overcoming these challenges requires understanding how to seamlessly integrate these tools throughout the customer journey. This will help businesses in curating AR-VR-enabled spaces that are aligned with customers' experiential preferences at different stages. In this chapter, the authors first summarize the impact of AR-VR technologies on customer engagement. Secondly, the challenges related to integrating these immersive technologies are highlighted. The authors then integrate the literature on AR-VR technologies and the customer journey and propose a framework and encourage academicians and practitioners to focus more on the different stages of the customer journey while designing AR-VR enabled marketing strategies.
-
Internationalisation of Board GamesAdapting board games for international markets and considering cultural differences, language barriers, and preferences is part of internationalizing board games. This book chapter aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the internationalization of board games from the perspectives of players, designers, and business firms. The first part of this book chapter discusses the role of board games in international markets, considering cultural differences, language barriers, and preferences with more focus on historical evolution. The second section discusses the internationalization of board games from players’ perspectives. The third section discusses the internationalization of board games from the perspectives of designers. The fourth section discusses the internationalization of board games from the perspective of business firms. The final section discusses the managerial implications for future game-designing firms to create board games catering to the international markets.
-
Family leadership and CSR decoupling: Founder-descendant differences in socioemotional wealthFounders of family firms differ from descendants, particularly in terms of affective attachment, cognitive identification, and social concern. This study examines how these generational differences between founder-led and descendantled family firms affect corporate social responsibility (CSR) decoupling, which is the gap between stated CSR policies on paper and their actual implementation in practice. While decoupling may yield economic benefits by saving on implementation costs if concealed, it can damage socioemotional wealth if revealed. The findings, based on a sample of 3,576 firm-year observations from large firms in the United States, demonstrate that the relationship between family ownership and CSR decoupling is contingent upon family generation. Family ownership decreases CSR decoupling in founder family firms, while it increases CSR decoupling in descendant family firms. It indicates that family firms perceive the benefits and risks of CSR decoupling differently based on the generation of family leaders.
-
Job Demands-Resources Theory Extended: Stress, Loneliness, and Care Responsibilities Impacting UK Doctoral Students’ and Academics’ Mental HealthGiven the increasing challenges in academia since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is crucial to understand how work demands, life demands, and job resources affect the mental health of academic researchers. In extending the job demands-resources theory, the present study investigates the relationships between job resources, research work demand, life demand (i.e. caring responsibility), stress, loneliness and mental health among doctoral students and academics. The results from a secondary dataset of 4,563 academic researchers (academics undertaking research and doctoral students) in the UK indicate that job resources are positively associated with mental health, while caring responsibility and loneliness are negatively impacted mental health. Stress is also found to partially mediate (explains) the relationships between job resources, research work demand, and mental health. Moreover, loneliness moderates the positive impact of job resources on mental health, particularly attenuating this relationship for academic researchers who experience higher levels of loneliness. Surprisingly, during Covid-19, the moderation effect of gender on the path from caring responsibility to stress is significantly stronger for males than for female colleagues. Feeling unprepared, male colleagues who were pressured to take on caring responsibilities experienced higher stress. We suggest strategic interventions to enhance job resources and support researchers who have caregiving responsibilities, while also alleviating stress and feelings of loneliness. Future research should engage alternative perspectives at both individual (e.g., age, familial wealth) and institutional (e.g., education system, discipline/field) levels.
-
Digital Exclusion and Relative Digital Deprivation: Exploring Factors and Moderators of Internet Non-Use in the UKThis paper investigates internet non-use in the UK. We apply Resource and Appropriation Theory (RAT), identifying main factors associated with internet non-use in the UK: (1) older age, (2) lower socio-economic classification, (3) disability, (4) less education/qualifications, and (5) lower housing tenure. We extend RAT by exploring magnifying effects of disadvantages, particularly, moderating effects of gender, housing tenure, urban/rural, North/South divide, and ethnicity. Internet non-users tend to be in lower-paid jobs, which impacts productivity even more during than before Covid, closing the loop of the RAT vicious circle. A thread runs through the results on the importance of attitudes and motivation. Accordingly, we recommend interventions based on Relative Digital Deprivation Theory. Once an individual understands that they suffer digital inequality, they are more likely to change attitudes and behavior to reduce inequality. If encouraged by family and friends, they may then view internet non-use as fixable and worth fixing, potentially becoming internet users.
-
When mass meets prestige: The impact of symbolic motivations, inspirations, and purchase intentions for Masstige productsLuxury brands are increasingly targeting the middle class through ‘masstige marketing’ as the trendy business opportunity,' which combines luxury and mass appeal. This strategy aims to make high-end brands more accessible to a wider audience, catering to the desires and preferences of the middle class. Grounded in the Mass Prestige (Masstige) theory, this study examines the direct and indirect impact of Symbolic motivations (snob, Veblen, and bandwagon) on Masstige Purchase Intention (MPI) via Inspiration Towards Masstige (ITM) as a mediator. Moreover, the contingent impact of Brand Credibility (BC) between ITM and MPI was assessed. Two independent studies were conducted among consumers of clothing and car brands. Results supported all the hypothesized paths reflecting symbolic motivations as important predictors of MPI directly and through the underlying mechanism of ITM. However, significant differences were observed in the impact size of the Veblen and bandwagon motivations on ITM and MPI among clothing and car brand consumers. Moreover, results revealed that BC significantly interacts with ITM to augment the MPI in both studies. However, this contingent impact was stronger to enhance MPI among the consumers of car brands than clothing brands. Furthermore, study implications and future research directions are presented in detail.
-
Moving diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) research forward with(in) international business: Addressing blind spots through critical and reflexive management scholarshipWe present a scene-setting viewpoint that critically examines various diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) blind spots within the field of international business (IB). These include issues such as social justice, intersectionality, de-colonization, the co-creation of inclusive research practices in indigenous spaces, social dialogue, and the gap between DEI rhetoric and reality. We also contextualize our discussion in terms of the six papers which make up the first part of our two-part special issue on DEI in IB. We build on existing DEI overview works and comment on specific DEI blind spots. We also discuss the role of positionality as critical reflexive scholarship practice, which we see as an essential step in problematizing structural inequalities. We then discuss six specific areas where DEI blindspots persist within the IB literature and link our discussion to the six papers included in the first part of our DEI special issue. Addressing the contradictions between the business and social justice cases for DEI requires addressing the ontological contradictions between the two perspectives through problematizing structural inequalities. A key contribution of the paper is also the discussion around positionality in DEI research and the relevance of positionality statements as part of critical reflexive scholarship in support of a socially just DEI research agenda. We discuss the role DEI research plays and can play within the evolution of the IB discipline. We apply a critical management studies perspective to pervasive DEI issues, as well as engage with the topics in the special issue through a unique critical reflexive epistemology which includes our own positionality statements as guest editors and researchers. Our critical discussion and recommendations for future research serve as a kind of whetstone to sharpen IB’s DEI research tools and in turn for IB to help sharpen DEI research’s tools, supporting it to become more socially just.
-
Spirit at work and its impact on employee outcomes in Australian higher educationThis study adopted a mixed methods approach, with the quantitative element forming the core component and the qualitative dimension assuming the supplementary component to assess Job Satisfaction (JS)and Organisational Commitment (OC) as mediators in the relationship between Spirit at Work (SAW) and Organisational Citizenship Behaviour(OCB) within the Australian higher education sector. It is expected that by 2025, job satisfaction and burnout will cause large numbers of academic staff to leave Australian universities. Regression and structural equation modelling analysed the study’s quantitative data. NVivo was used to analyse qualitative data. The findings illustrate that SAW significantly affects OCB, JS and OC. Most notably, the results indicate no significant differences between the permanent and casual staff’s level of SAW and none between their JS, OC and OCB levels. This finding contradicts previous research. The overall findings in this article further highlight necessary changes to Australian universities’ current management and leadership approaches to create more satisfied and committed employees.
-
Negotiating entry to the professional labour market among Vietnamese skilled migrants in Australia: The impact of cultural distanceThis study investigates the employment transition among Vietnamese skilled migrants in Australia and examines the cultural factors that influence this transition. Employing a qualitative approach, we conducted fifty semi-structured interviews with Vietnamese skilled migrants who migrated to Australia within the last five years and twelve interviews with Australian recruiters to gain further insights into the barriers skilled migrants face. The findings highlighted the cultural challenges encountered by Vietnamese skilled migrants as they moved from Vietnam to Australia, two countries of great cultural distance. Without cultural adaptation support, most skilled migrants had to experience career setbacks before recognising and devising strategies to overcome these hurdles. This study emphasises the need for specialised human resource management (HRM) interventions and strategies that account for the cultural dimensions influencing employment outcomes for this international mobile workforce. Additionally, it calls for future research to expand beyond the examination of skilled migrants’ human and social capital and incorporate various contextual factors in investigating the employment journey of skilled migrants.
-
Uncovering the Impact of Digital Technologies on Strategising: Evidence from a Systematic Literature ReviewAdopting digital technologies in different organisations has become a trend over the last decade, yet our understanding of the impact of digital technologies on strategising is fragmented and unclear. To address this gap, this paper reviews existing research on the intersection between digital transformation and strategic management. Specifically, the aim is to explore how the digital context changes strategising. Based on a systematic review of empirical evidence from 163 journal articles, we showcased the manifestation of strategising in the digital age in terms of strategic practitioners, practices and praxis. Consolidating these findings, a typology of strategies in the digital age is developed and discussed, showing the interplay among changes in Strategy-as-Practice parameters. This framework contributes to providing clarity in strategic scenarios of digital transformation and identifies various strategic directions and actions. Overall, we argue that although digital transformation has created additional strategic options, it has yet to change the underlying assumptions of strategising in firms.
-
The impact of energy diversification on firm performance: The moderating role of corporate social responsibilityThis paper examines the impact of diverse consumption of energy sources on firm performance, focusing on the moderating role of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The paper uses 45,579 firm-level panel data samples across 56 developing and developed economies from 2002 to 2021. It is observed that the impact of energy diversification in improving firms' performance (measured by the return on assets, return on equity, sales growth, and Tobin's Q) is more potent in firms with higher CSR engagement. The moderating effect of CSR is also more pronounced among firms in high energy-consuming industries than in low energy-consuming ones. Finally, the moderating role of CSR activities is more substantial for firms in countries with individualistic and long-term-oriented cultures.
-
The entrepreneurial university: strategies, processes, and competing goalsThe configuration of the entrepreneurial university remains poorly understood given the complexity of the university as an organisation with multiple missions and multiple ‘products and services’, delivered by multiple and sometimes competing sub-organisations with different cultures and norms, in response to different outside pressures and demands. The outcomes of the entrepreneurial university reflect the plurality of goals, including research, teaching, knowledge commercialisation, and civic and community empowerment, but they are rarely considered within the same conceptual and empirical framework. Hence, the aim of this paper is to explore how multiple and sometimes competing strategies and associated arrangements, resources and capabilities within the entrepreneurial university affect the delivery of economic and social benefits to the external world across teaching, research, knowledge commercialisation, and civic and community empowerment missions. To achieve this aim, we elaborate the entrepreneurial university ecosystem concept so that we can systematically capture the cross-influences of the entrepreneurial university elements in their entirety rather than focussing on selected ecosystem elements and their effects in relation to one particular university mission. Our analysis is based on a novel institution-level database on university strategies, goals, policies, and support mechanisms, providing annual data for all higher education institutions in the UK over the period 2017–2020, complemented with annual administrative data on staff, finances, graduate outcomes, and infrastructure, as well as contextual data on the wider regional entrepreneurship ecosystem. Using a Seemingly Unrelated Estimation approach, we contribute with novel fundings explicitly identifying synergies and tensions between different elements of the entrepreneurial university ecosystem that affect the delivery of its outcomes.
-
Developing sustainable capacity for urban assemblies: Case study of a World Bank project in GhanaDonor partners have been supporting developing economies in capacity development through donor-funded projects to enable them to achieve sustainable development. To understand the effectiveness of such projects, this paper adopted a mixed-methods approach to study a capacity development project funded by the World Bank and implemented in 46 metropolitan and municipal assemblies in Ghana. The study employed the European Centre for Development Policy Management's core capabilities model (5Cs) to examine the World Bank project. The study recommends that, to ensure sustainability, capacity development projects should be embedded in Ghana's development programmes. We also propose an alternative model for the implementation of capacity development projects to achieve sustainable development.
-
Gender, culture and stakeholder management strategies in AfricaThe chapter reviews existing literature to provide insights into the impact of gender and culture on women entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa. It discusses how gender and culture influence business growth, resilience, and stakeholder management. The chapter further establishes that business growth in women-led entrepreneurial ventures is relative and may not be measured by conventional outcomes. We also found that educated women in Africa, with adequate social capital, are taking up entrepreneurship. But the socio-cultural and economic context within which they operate continues to challenge their enterprises. This review recommends further empirical studies on women’s entrepreneurship and the role of ‘charismatism’ as a religious affiliation. It also recommends studies into how societal stereotypes and expectations have evolved and how this enables or impedes women entrepreneurs.
-
Hybrid entrepreneurship in just transitions: Dealing with dilemmas facing ‘the other’The aim of the paper is to investigate the role of hybrid entrepreneurship in developing justice and diversity responses to sustainability transitions that are complicated by contexts of ambiguous socio-technological shifts and manifested in material and ethical dilemmas for ‘the other’, i.e., those deemed different. Based on analysis of two original case studies featuring the other—the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation indigenous community in Canada and the Karachi Down Syndrome Program in Pakistan—we identify the conditions for engaging minority communities in strong collaborative and participatory cross-stakeholder processes to deal with dilemmas posed by sustainability transitions. We centre on issues of social inclusion and social equity. We illuminate how hybrid entrepreneurship practices enable, structure and manage collective learning within and outside hybrid ventures to facilitate equitable transitions. Finally, we propose how to co-create actions that amplify marginalized voices to influence institutions.
-
Do oil market shocks affect financial distress? Evidence from firm-level global dataThis study investigates the impact of three oil price shocks on financial distress of global firms using a dataset of 8130 firms across 48 countries from 2002 to 2022. It also analyses the role of energy diversification in the relationship between oil shocks and firm distress. The findings reveal that aggregate demand and specific demand shocks increase firm distress risk, while supply shocks reduce it. Furthermore, the results suggest that energy diversification mitigates the impact of specific demand shocks on firm distress. The study also implements several robustness checks, and the results remain consistent. Potential policy implications are also discussed.