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1 – 10 of over 2000
Article
Publication date: 27 September 2022

Ana-Maria Parente-Laverde, Laura Rojas-DeFrancisco and Izaias Martins

Reputation transfer between countries and companies, and its impact on the internationalization process of organizations is an emerging topic in the international business and…

Abstract

Purpose

Reputation transfer between countries and companies, and its impact on the internationalization process of organizations is an emerging topic in the international business and marketing field. Using the resource-based view (RBV) and institutional theory as a theoretical framework, this study aims to describe the relationship between Colombia's reputation and its companies' perception from the perspective of the food and software industries.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative, exploratory and descriptive study is based on data collected through the application of 24 interviews with experts and Colombian and global company's leaders. An analysis of the concepts, categories and relationships was conducted, followed by thick descriptions.

Findings

There is reputation transfer between countries and organizations in the following cases: (1) during initial stages of the internationalization process, (2) within companies and industries that share values with the country of origin perceptions and (3) when the country of origin institutional context leverages the reputation transfer between companies and countries.

Research limitations/implications

It contributes to the field by helping to the conceptualization of the process and adding important elements to the transfer process, such as actors and values, especially in country repositioning cases.

Practical implications

The study provides inputs to policymakers for the creation of the country brand and the management of country image, and to businesses in their corporate image and reputation strategies.

Originality/value

The uniqueness of this paper is based on the analysis of reputation transfer in an emerging country that is repositioning its image and reputation.

Details

International Journal of Emerging Markets, vol. 19 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-8809

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 October 2023

Yanbo Yao, Tian-Yu Han and Jian-Wu Bi

Online employee reviews have a substantial impact on employee recruitment, retention and the overall perception of a company’s image, making them a crucial element of its online…

Abstract

Purpose

Online employee reviews have a substantial impact on employee recruitment, retention and the overall perception of a company’s image, making them a crucial element of its online reputation. Consequently, these reviews play a vital role in shaping the company’s competitiveness in the talent market. This study aims to investigate the role of employee loyalty in online reputation in the tourism and hospitality sector.

Design/methodology/approach

This study collected online reviews posted by 334,428 employees across 173 companies in the tourism and hospitality sector. Then, this study proposed a method for measuring employee loyalty toward the company through text comments. Furthermore, the role of employee loyalty in online reputation through regression models was analyzed.

Findings

Employee loyalty is positively associated with the closed-form evaluations, and the length and readability of open-ended comments is directly and positively associated with review helpfulness and is indirectly associated with review helpfulness through employee online reviews. Employees’ perception of job instability has a significant moderating effect on the above relationships.

Research limitations/implications

This study contributes to the literature on loyalty in the tourism and hospitality industry, online reputation and employee risk perception. These findings offer a more profound understanding of the extra-role behaviors demonstrated by loyal employees, provide a theoretical foundation for the formation of a company’s online reputation and contribute to helping the tourism and service industry better address risk events. These conclusions provide valuable insights for companies in the fields of human resource management and online reputation management.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to reveal the impact of employee loyalty on the company’s online reputation and provides important theoretical and practical implications for management.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 36 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 30 January 2024

Sarah Marschlich and Laura Bernet

Corporations are confronted with growing demands to take a stand on socio-political issues, i.e. corporate social advocacy (CSA), which affects their reputation in the public…

1280

Abstract

Purpose

Corporations are confronted with growing demands to take a stand on socio-political issues, i.e. corporate social advocacy (CSA), which affects their reputation in the public. Companies use different CSA message strategies, including calling the public to support and act on the issue they advocate. Using reactance theory, the authors investigate the impact of CSA messages with a call to action on corporate reputation in the case of a company's gender equality initiative.

Design/methodology/approach

A one-factorial (CSA message with or without a call to action) between-subjects experiment was conducted by surveying 172 individuals living in Switzerland. The CSA messages were created in the context of gender equality.

Findings

The authors' study indicates that CSA messages with a call to action compared to those without overall harmed corporate reputation due to individuals' reactance, which is higher for CSA messages with a call to action, negatively affecting corporate reputation. The impact of the CSA message strategy with a call to action on corporate reputation remains significant after controlling for issue alignment and political leaning.

Originality/value

Communicating about socio-political issues, especially taking a stand, is a significant challenge for corporations in an increasingly polarized society and has often led to backlash, boycotts and damage to corporate reputation. This study shows that the possible adverse effects of advocating for socio-political issues can be related to reactance. It emphasizes that companies advocating for contested issues must be more cautious about the message strategy than the issue itself.

Details

Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. 29 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-3289

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 May 2024

Elsa Dessaigne

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the ontological assumptions regarding the concept of agency and sociality within business networks in the Industrial Marketing and…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the ontological assumptions regarding the concept of agency and sociality within business networks in the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing Group (IMP) research by refining these assumptions with a relational sociological (RS) perspective. This paper reinforces the robustness of the actors-resources-activities (ARA) model with an in-depth investigation of the actor dimension, where local interactions between interdependent individuals play a central role in building common futures within business networks through organisational reflexivity.

Design/methodology/approach

This conceptual paper investigates the social ontology of research. It challenges the implicit assumptions of IMP research regarding agency and sociality within business networks with a problematisation strategy (Sandberg and Alvesson, 2011). Combining IMP views on agency with the RS perspective, it sets this combined framework as an alternative for the analysis of sustainability and ethics within business networks.

Findings

Combining IMP research and an RS perspective allows us to extend the knowledge of sociality within business networks, highlighting the centrality of meaning sharing in the process of network change. By focusing on symbolic interaction processes, an RS perspective contributes to a deeper theoretical understanding of the relationship between local communication and business network patterns. Combined with an IMP perspective on agency, it provides researchers with an alternative conceptual framework for examining sustainability by considering ethics and leadership dialectically.

Research limitations/implications

RS is still an emerging stream within sociology, characterised by diverse views. Not all relational sociologists, as scientists, feel obliged to engage with sustainability research. Thus, the paper is a two-sided invitation to IMP researchers and relational sociologists to delve into the adaptation processes in business networks in highly uncertain environments.

Practical implications

RS focusing on the centrality of communication in local interactions, business network researchers can show that organisational leaders are not the ones with a charismatic vision isolated from any natural and social environment; rather, they are the people with “the capacity to assist the group to continue acting ethically, creatively and courageously in the unknown” (Stacey,2013).

Social implications

Adopting an RS perspective on agency in business networks can help managers and researchers determine how business networks can be managed in a more sustainable way. Combined with a dialectical and processual understanding of ethics, the IMP-RS perspective emphasises day-to-day local communication practices within and between organisations that challenges microeconomic views on nature, strategy, ethics and leadership. This paper thus places the social at the centre of sustainability approaches.

Originality/value

From an RS perspective, business networks are analysed as patterns of interactions between many organisations and individuals. The value of this conceptual paper is in showing that change within business networks is negotiated through local interactions and symbolic communication between individuals. Thus, it suggests the need to combine the individual and the organisational levels to analyse agency within business networks and to examine the adaptation of business networks to sustainability.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 March 2024

Kristin B. Munksgaard, Morten H. Abrahamsen and Kirsten Frandsen

This study aims to investigate how companies’ understanding of the business network influences the creation of value in business-to-business relationships. The authors do this by…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate how companies’ understanding of the business network influences the creation of value in business-to-business relationships. The authors do this by analysing dimensions in actors’ “network pictures” and illustrating how value perception and network understanding influence actors’ mutual effort to create value. Approaching relationship value from the point of actors’ cognitive understanding of their business network has so far been largely overlooked in relationship value research.

Design/methodology/approach

This study applies a qualitative case study methodology whereby dyadic data from a well-established business-to-business relationship is collected from 18 company representatives through personal interviews and group interviews supplemented by participant observations and company data.

Findings

The findings contribute with new insight into how companies’ understanding of their surrounding network influence (facilitates or limits) relationship value creation. The authors find that companies continuously reflect on changes in their networks and the related changes in partners’ value perceptions. Through value articulations, companies seek to explicitly express their value perception. Value reflections and value articulations create a dynamic process formed not only by the individual actor but also through their relationship and engagement in their network environment. This requires companies to develop their networking capabilities.

Research limitations/implications

This paper presents findings, insights and contributions limited to a case study of a particular business relationship within an industrial setting. Although the findings and contributions are valid and in line with the criteria for rigorous qualitative research, the authors advocate and call for additional studies that investigate relationships value creation and address the interplay between actors’ network understanding and their actions and behaviour. One way to approach this would be to test the four propositions derived and presented as part of the present study.

Practical implications

The findings imply that management needs to be aware not only of the value created and delivered to a specific partner but also of how the partner’s understanding of the wider network will influence the value delivering and capturing process.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the growing literature on relationship value creation by outlining a dynamic process where relationship partners reflect upon and articulate value. Such activities are influenced by the partners’ network understanding and form the basis of the mutual relationship value creation effort. The findings also contribute to the network pictures literature by emphasizing insights into the formation of value perceptions through actors’ understanding of their surrounding networks.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 58 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 May 2024

Ana María Lejárraga-García, Esther Ortiz-Martínez and Salvador Marín-Hernández

This study aims to test whether the perceptions of graduates of accounting-related degrees on the implications of companies’ commitment to sustainable development strategies can…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to test whether the perceptions of graduates of accounting-related degrees on the implications of companies’ commitment to sustainable development strategies can be influenced by certain factors associated with their previous training and characteristics.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on measuring and analyzing the assessment carried out by a sample of students graduating in degrees that include accounting subjects for five consecutive years, from 2016–2017 to 2020–2021, both inclusive. Nonparametric statistical tests are used to determine the type of association between the factors that characterize the graduates and their degree of agreement with the training they received and its relationship with their role in implementing corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability strategies in the company.

Findings

The study’s significant findings reveal that the respondents’ perception of the training they received and their opinion of certain benefits provided by sustainable development and CSR strategies in organizations are positively related. This insight is crucial, as it suggests that the training graduates receive plays a pivotal role in shaping their understanding and support for sustainability. The respondents’ opinions do not vary depending on their personal and/or work characteristics, except in the type of contract, as significant differences are observed between the self-employed and temporary or nonworking workers and between those with a permanent contract and those who are linked to the company with a temporary contract.

Originality/value

In a field where most studies focus on employee–employer relationships and human resource management policies, this research stands out. It delves deeper, not just into employees’ perception of sustainability but also into the causes of this perception. It explores what factors may be influencing employees’ opinions on sustainability, and importantly, it extends this analysis to graduates who will be in charge of these issues. This work covers a significant gap in the research, incorporating the study of variables such as personal characteristics and work-related aspects of employees and the training received in accounting matters.

Details

Social Responsibility Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-1117

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 May 2024

Flávio Cunha, Jose Dinis-Carvalho and Rui M. Sousa

This study aims to identify the perception of people in a Portuguese company regarding the main barriers to the effectiveness of the existing performance measurement system (PMS…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to identify the perception of people in a Portuguese company regarding the main barriers to the effectiveness of the existing performance measurement system (PMS) and whether those perceptions are dependent of people’s hierarchical levels, education levels, work shifts, gender and department.

Design/methodology/approach

Primary data was collected through structured interviews (adapted to three levels of interviewees in the company hierarchy) and Likert scale questionnaires. Descriptive statistical analysis of the collected data was performed as well as a chi-square test.

Findings

The results provide an insight on the perception of barriers to the PMS effectiveness in the company. After performing interviews and questionnaires it was possible to identify that the main perceived barriers were: poor communication system and issues on target definition, lack of trained resources, employee involvement, indicators understanding and use for improvement.

Practical implications

This study is the starting point to develop actions aiming to eliminate, or at least mitigate, the impact of the barriers on the PMS effectiveness.

Originality/value

PMSs play an essential role in an organization, so it is essential to identify what hinders its effectiveness. This study opens the discussion by diagnosing the company’s perception of the barriers to PMS effectiveness.

Details

International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-4166

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 January 2024

Rafael Barreiros Porto, Gordon Robert Foxall, Ricardo Limongi and Débora Luiza Barbosa

Consumer perception of corporate brand equity has primarily focused on product brand dimensions, neglecting considerations at the firm analysis level. Assessing corporate brands…

Abstract

Purpose

Consumer perception of corporate brand equity has primarily focused on product brand dimensions, neglecting considerations at the firm analysis level. Assessing corporate brands requires different criteria relevant to the competitiveness of companies, such as their prominence, management and meeting society’s demands. In this sense, this study aims to develop and validate a scale of corporate brand equity founded on consumer perceptions, transcending industry boundaries and comparing its relationship with companies' market share.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used an integrative approach to clarify the construct’s domain, building on previous measures. They took several steps to select appropriate items, refine the measure, validate it through reliability tests and convergent and discriminant analyses, test the validity of the second-order formative structure of corporate brand equity and assess associations between first-order factors, the second-order factor and market share.

Findings

The model identifies three first-order dimensions of corporate brands (presence, outstanding management and responsible) that shape the second-order factor (corporate brand equity). They are directly related, but not proportionally, to market share, contributing to the general and joint assessment of the company’s competitive performance considering the consumer.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first attempt to develop a comprehensive measurement model of corporate brand equity that considers the firm level of analysis, combines metrics from previous research on corporate brand evaluation criteria and includes consumer perceptions of the company’s competitiveness, unifying branding theory with the theory of the marketing firm.

Details

Journal of Modelling in Management, vol. 19 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5664

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 March 2023

Anxia Wan, Qianqian Huang, Ehsan Elahi and Benhong Peng

The study focuses on drug safety regulation capture, reveals the inner mechanism and evolutionary characteristics of drug safety regulation capture and provides suggestions for…

Abstract

Purpose

The study focuses on drug safety regulation capture, reveals the inner mechanism and evolutionary characteristics of drug safety regulation capture and provides suggestions for effective regulation by pharmacovigilance.

Design/methodology/approach

The article introduces prospect theory into the game strategy analysis of drug safety events, constructs a benefit perception matrix based on psychological perception and analyzes the risk selection strategies and constraints on stable outcomes for both drug companies and drug regulatory authorities. Moreover, simulation was used to analyze the choice of results of different parameters on the game strategy.

Findings

The results found that the system does not have a stable equilibrium strategy under the role of cognitive psychology. The risk transfer coefficient, penalty cost, risk loss, regulatory benefit, regulatory success probability and risk discount coefficient directly acted in the direction of system evolution toward the system stable strategy. There is a critical effect on the behavioral strategies of drug manufacturers and drug supervisors, which exceeds a certain intensity before the behavioral strategies in repeated games tend to stabilize.

Originality/value

In this article, the authors constructed the perceived benefit matrix through the prospect value function to analyze the behavioral evolution game strategies of drug companies and FDA in the regulatory process, and to evaluate the evolution law of each factor.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 53 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 May 2024

Ekaterina Nazarenko and Mahmoud Ibraheam Saleh

The purpose of this study is to develop an integrated conceptual framework to better understand the psychological pathways connecting consumer perceptions to purchasing intentions…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to develop an integrated conceptual framework to better understand the psychological pathways connecting consumer perceptions to purchasing intentions for premium sustainable products.

Design/methodology/approach

The study develops a conceptual model that theorizes relationships between consumer perceptions of a firm’s innovation, competitive advantage, sustainable practices and stakeholder orientation. It proposes that stakeholder orientation mediates the effects of these perceptions on consumers’ willingness to purchase premium sustainable products. Additionally, lifestyle is hypothesized as a moderator. The model advances knowledge through eight testable propositions.

Findings

The conceptual framework specifies indirect, mediated and moderated relationships that have not been fully captured by past literature. It theorizes that perceptions of a firm’s innovation, competitive advantage from sustainable practices and stakeholder orientation indirectly influence purchase willingness through the mediating role of stakeholder orientation. Lifestyle is proposed to moderate these relationships.

Originality/value

This conceptual model offers insights for cultivating consumer perceptions that strengthen a firm’s stakeholder image and endorsement of premium sustainable products. Its validated theoretical lens and propositions can provide strategic guidance for addressing the challenges of higher price points for sustainable products through capturing psychological drivers of values-based decision-making. Future empirical assessment is recommended to validate the specified relationships in the model.

Details

Social Responsibility Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-1117

Keywords

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