Search results

The purpose of this paper is to fill a current gap in the literature, through the development of theory concerned with changes that occur over time to the functions and importance of the brand name element of a branded entity.

An initial theoretical conceptualisation was developed from the existing literature. Study participants whose behaviour was found not to conform to this initial conceptualisation were included in subsequent research to obtain greater understanding. The study method used was a series of interviews, with the obtained qualitative data analysed using template analysis. This resulted in the development of a revised theoretical conceptualisation.

Various functions of the brand name element, identified as connotation, denotation, linking and branded entity constancy, are ongoing important providers of brand equity to some consumers for established branded entities. This challenges a position obtained from existing literature that the brand name element of an established branded entity becomes of minimal importance over time.

Value-generating functions of the brand name element that persist over time were identified, leading to the development of a theoretical conceptualisation of the change in the importance of brand name equity over time.

The concept of time is intrinsically linked to the conceptualization and empirical investigation of organizational processes such as customer relationship management (CRM). The purpose of this paper is to offer conceptual and methodological insights enabling the incorporation of temporal factors in the study of CRM.

A framework toward the integration of time into the study of CRM is proposed and discussed.

This framework, which consists of philosophical, conceptual, methodological and substantive domains, suggests that the locus of time is inherent in the conceptualization and empirical investigation of marketing phenomena.

CRM practitioners can emphasize crucial events of the firm‐customer relationship, which are likely to be associated with stronger rapport with customers.

The paper promotes more explicit thinking about the temporal dimension in relationship marketing. Second, it advances understanding of the CRM process, since buyer‐seller relationships are dynamic phenomena that embrace the concept of time.

The aging workforce is becoming an increasingly important topic in today’s labor market. However, most scientific research and organizational policies focus on chronological age as the main determinant of successful aging. Based on life span developmental theories – primarily socioemotional selectivity theory and motivational theory of life span development – the purpose of this paper is to test the added value of using subjective age – in terms of remaining opportunities and remaining time – over and above chronological age in their associations with motivation at work and motivation to work.

Workers from five different divisions throughout the Netherlands (n=186) from a taxi company participated in the survey study.

The results from the regression analyses and structural equation modeling analyses support the hypotheses: when subjective age was included in the models, chronological age was virtually unrelated to workers’ intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and motivation to continue to work for one’s organization. Moreover, subjective age was strongly related to work motivation. Specifically, workers who perceived many remaining opportunities were more intrinsically and extrinsically motivated, and those who perceived a lot of remaining time were more motivated across the board.

The findings indicate that subjective age is an important concept to include in studies focussing on successful aging, thereby contributing to life span developmental theories. Further implications for research and practice are discussed.

This paper presents a conceptual analysis of time within a business‐to‐business financial services context. No study has attempted to do this in the financial services sector. We discuss the methodological debate, literature on temporality and multi‐disciplinary conceptualisations of time. Time as it operates in business relationships is also considered. We analyse effect and problems of the present, past and future in business relationships, and evaluate how these critical temporal junctures affect exchange, relationship development, and the internal and external effectiveness of companies. The paper concludes with a discussion of the resolution of the conflicts which arise out of different temporal perceptions and needs, an examination of those conflicts, and managerial applications for effective management of the alignment of time between interacting organisations.

How does the interaction between time and knowledge affect the evolution of organizations? Past research in organizational evolution has mostly investigated time and knowledge as two separate variables. In contrast, theoretical perspectives integrating these variables are still seemingly scant. The authors believe that filling this literature gap needs attention. Thus, this study aims to contribute by developing a conceptual framework.

This is a conceptual study. The framework is centred on the concept of “co-evolutionary time”, which the authors explain through a business example from the tourism industry. Supported by a narrative-based style, from a methodological point of view the framework is featured by the attempt to synthesize specific, extant literature into new theoretical development.

As its main theoretical contribution, the co-evolutionary time suggests how firms can adapt in a way that, from an evolutionary perspective, proves fitting both in terms of contents and methods, thus opening possibilities for new long-term social construction and reconstruction. As its main practical contribution, co-evolutionary time can constitute not only a temporary source of organizational success and competitive advantage but also an agent of enduring change and long-term business survival.

As its main novelty, the framework is developed through merging two literature streams. In particular, the authors first consider the literature about time, with a focus on its objective and subjective dimensions. The authors then consider the literature about organizational evolution, with a focus on the co-evolutionary nature of the firm/environment relationship.

Research on polychronicity generally treats time use preference, context, and time tangibility as isomorphic variables that can be represented on a single continuum. An alternative model of temporality that treats these variables as independent dimensions is presented. This model is tested in a sample of 258 middle and senior level executives representing more than 200 organizations and 25 countries. Correlations among the variables and confirmatory factor analyses provide support for the multidimensional view of polychronicity. Further classification provided evidence that all eight possible configurations of the three variables can and do exist. The most frequent “type” reflected a polyphasic time use preference, low context, and high time tangible profile. This profile fits the description of Type A behavior pattern adding support for the multidimensional view.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a new model for depicting organizational processes: the episodic spiral model (ESM).

On the basis of a strong process view as the orienting paradigm, the authors demonstrate the need for the ESM by discussing the shortcomings of two specific spiral types in the organizational literature – the knowledge creation spiral and the efficacy spiral.

A review of each spiral type through the lens of nonlinear assumptions reveals the treatment to date of organizational spirals as uni-directional and insufficient for understanding organizations. The authors propose that managers must undertake a paradigm shift in order to gain a greater awareness of both the environment in which they operate, as well as their process actions. To facilitate this shift, the ESM depicts choice points, chosen and rejected trajectories, and upward and downward environmental drafts, as well as a multi-dimensional environment, as a way of re-conceptualizing approaches to space, time, and change in organization studies.

The authors propose that the model provides a way for scholars to enhance the study of organizations by understanding that organizations exist in a more dynamic environment than previously studied; recognizing that the organization has a wider range of choices available, and acknowledging the long-lasting ramifications of both choices made and choices discarded; and obtaining a more comprehensive look at the way the organization moves through space and time at any given moment. Taken together, the authors hope that these contributions allow organizational scholars a new approach to theorizing, exploring, and writing about the organizations they study.

As information systems (IS) phenomena continue to emerge and evolve in our ever-changing economic and social contexts, researchers need to increase their focus on time in order to enrich our theories. The purpose of this paper is to present broad suggestions for IS researchers about how they can direct some of their research efforts to consider, conceptualize and incorporate time into research endeavors and how they might be mindful about considering and specifying time-related scope conditions of their research efforts.

The authors synthesize empirical studies and discuss three distinct yet related frameworks of time and the benefits they can provide. The authors choose two research streams that reflect dynamic economic and social contexts – namely, enterprise systems and social networks – to illustrate how time and frameworks of time can be leveraged in our theory development and research design.

The authors demonstrate that limited research in IS has incorporated a rich conceptualization and/or discussion of time. The authors build on this gap to highlight guidelines that researchers can adopt to enrich their view of time.

Given the dynamic nature of IS phenomena and the increased availability of longitudinal data, the authors’ suggestions aim to urge and guide IS researchers about ways in which they can incorporate time into their theory and study designs.

As the workforce is aging and becoming increasingly age diverse, successful aging at work has been proclaimed to be a desirable process and outcome, as well as a responsibility of both workers and their organizations. In this chapter, we first review, compare, and critique theoretical frameworks of successful aging developed in the gerontology and lifespan developmental literatures, including activity, disengagement, and continuity theories; Rowe and Kahn’s model; the resource approach; the model of selective optimization with compensation; the model of assimilative and accommodative coping; the motivational theory of lifespan development; socioemotional selectivity theory; and the strength and vulnerability integration model. Subsequently, we review and critically compare three conceptualizations of successful aging at work developed in the organizational literature. We conclude the chapter by outlining implications for future research on successful aging at work.

The ultimate purpose of this paper it to encourage international business scholars and managers to pay more attention to global social time when performing research and developing business strategy.

Strategic reference point (SRP) theory is used as a foundation to assist in visualizing the meaning of social time in a global context. From this grounding point, the authors make specific suggestions about the importance of the topic despite it being largely overlooked in international research dating back to Hofstede.

Time utility takes on a significantly different meaning when both a marketing manager's context and market are global. The conceptualization of time by different cultures can yield significantly different meanings based upon a culture's SRP(s) as to how social time is measured. Cultural differences necessitate having this flexible orientation towards social time to effectively develop and implement global marketing strategies. This research addresses the importance of breaking‐down the concept of social time into its fundamental dimensions and developing strategic implementation steps using the dimensions of time as competitive tools in the global marketing arena.

A six‐step process is developed to assist marketing researchers and managers in developing social time sensitive marketing strategies. Researchers and managers must be aware of the differences in social time perspectives and should analyze the situation to ascertain differences in the dimensions of each cross cultural group. An effort must be made to combine these varying social time perspectives into a consolidated social time foundation for the marketing team in the host country. Differences in social time must be taken into consideration when developing/executing strategies in other countries that have different social time perspectives.

Breaking new ground in international business, this paper sets the ground work for the future study of up to 12 different streams of research important to the understanding of (global) time in international business. Managerial tools are included in the discussion to assist in international marketing practice.