Steven A. Stewart, Gary J. Castrogiovanni and Bryant Ashley Hudson
Professional service entrepreneurs (PSEs) paradoxically practice their profession in highly institutionalized contexts that require intense socialization, while also enacting…
Abstract
Purpose
Professional service entrepreneurs (PSEs) paradoxically practice their profession in highly institutionalized contexts that require intense socialization, while also enacting another role as an entrepreneur. Activities consistent with entrepreneurship may be unnecessary for – and possibly contradictory with – activities consistent with professional roles. The purpose of this paper is to address the question of how two highly important role identities (professional and entrepreneurial) relate to entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in professional firms.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a survey methodology, the authors measure entrepreneurial and professional role identity importance, and PSE’s perceptions of firm-level EO, using a sample of 138 medical practitioners who own and operate their own small-to medium-sized professional practices. In this paper, the authors examine the associations of the importance of these identities, and the relative importance of one to another, with EO.
Findings
The authors find that a PSE’s entrepreneurial role identity importance is positively related to the EO dimensions of risk taking and innovativeness, while professional role identity importance is negatively related to risk taking. Additionally, the authors find that the degree of relative importance (centrality) of an entrepreneurial role identity to a professional role identity is related positively to the EO dimensions of risk taking, innovativeness, and proactiveness.
Research limitations/implications
This is a cross-sectional study. As such, the authors examine associations rather than a process. The sample is limited to professional medical practitioners in the USA who own and operate their own practices.
Originality/value
This paper helps to better understand why some professional firms are more entrepreneurial than others. The findings suggest that, even in the conservative context of professional services, the PSEs entrepreneurial role centrality is consistent with the EO of the firm’s strategies.
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The relationship between individuals and institutions is a core feature of the microfoundations of institutional theory. This chapter analyzes the role of conceptual metaphors, a…
Abstract
The relationship between individuals and institutions is a core feature of the microfoundations of institutional theory. This chapter analyzes the role of conceptual metaphors, a standard ingredient of theory building, in shaping how we theorize this relationship. Using illustrations from the emergent literature on emotions in institutional theory, the author shows the significance of conceptual metaphors for theory building and argues for selecting conceptual metaphors that help craft a dynamic, recursive relationship between individuals and institutions, respecting core premises of institutional theory and offering new creative insights into this relationship.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the effectiveness of brand communication activities on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram among major Indonesian brands by assessing the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the effectiveness of brand communication activities on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram among major Indonesian brands by assessing the message appeals, orientation, and consumer responses.
Design/methodology/approach
A content analysis of 10,752 social media posts was conducted from the official Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts of 43 leading brands in Indonesia during a six-month period between July and December 2016. The data collected from each individual social media post generated by those brands were coded and analysed in terms of their message appeal, orientation, and responses.
Findings
Interactive brand posts were responded more frequently than informative message content. Twitter was more effective for informative appeal, Facebook worked better for interactive entertainment posts, and Instagram was more suitable for interactive content combining informative–entertainment appeals. Interactive brand post with mixed appeals received the most responses in Facebook and Instagram, while self-oriented message with informative appeal obtained the least.
Research limitations/implications
The findings expand the marketing literature about new media for marketing communication and suggest marketing practitioners the importance of different creative brand communication strategies to enhance social media marketing effectiveness when using multiple platforms.
Originality/value
This is among the first studies to compare the effectiveness of creative message strategy on multiple social media platforms as well as to present insightful findings on social media marketing practices in Indonesia.
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SEPTEMBER this year will be unique in the history of the librarian in England in that for the first time in nearly sixty years the annual conference of the Library Association has…
Abstract
SEPTEMBER this year will be unique in the history of the librarian in England in that for the first time in nearly sixty years the annual conference of the Library Association has already become a memory only. There are those who profess to believe that the conference should be restored to the autumn months. It may be suggested on the other hand that the attendance at Margate lent no assistance to that point of view; indeed, the Margate conference was one of the most pleasant, one of the most successful, of which we have record. Nevertheless, if it can be proved that any large body of librarians was unable to be present owing to the change of month, it appears to us that the matter should be considered sympathetically. Although no one holds any longer the view that one week's attendance at a conference will teach more than many months' study in hermit‐like seclusion—the words and sentiments are those of James Duff Brown—because to‐day there is much more intimate communication between librarians than there was when that sentiment was expressed, there is enormous value, and the adjective is not an exaggeration, in one large meeting of librarians in body in the year. It is an event to which every young librarian looks forward as the privilege to be his when he reaches a high enough position in the service; attendance is a privilege that no librarian anywhere would forego. And this, in spite of the fact that there is usually a grumble because the day is so full of meetings that there is very little chance of such recreation as a seaside, or indeed any other, place visited, usually provides for the delegates.
Matthew MacDonald and Carole Howorth
Insights into the roots of social enterprise from before the term was adopted are provided by examining histories of charitable service and comparing current understandings of…
Abstract
Purpose
Insights into the roots of social enterprise from before the term was adopted are provided by examining histories of charitable service and comparing current understandings of social enterprise. Social enterprise models of welfare provision are evidenced from the seventeenth century onwards. Persistent themes are identified that provide insights for current practice and understanding.
Design/methodology/approach
This historiography examines interpretations from 1905 to the present day of examples of welfare provision between two watershed points: 1600, just prior to the Poor Laws and 1908, when the Old Age Pensions Act shifted emphasis in public sector provision.
Findings
Activities that would nowadays be termed social enterprise are evidenced in histories of charitable philanthropy covering each century since 1600. Prevailing attitudes uncritically demarcated deserving and undeserving poor. Histories contributed to a heroic narrative of social entrepreneurs, describing activities dependent on well-networked, politically active individuals that rarely continued beyond their involvement. The political environment was recognised to influence the types of organisations, governance and resourcing.
Research limitations/implications
The historiography takes examples from three centuries between 1600 and1908 but is not comprehensive. Recurrent themes are identified for further research.
Originality/value
Social enterprise is a twenty-first-century label but not a new phenomenon. Identification of prevailing themes provides insights for the understanding of social enterprises in the twenty-first century.
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Hyojung Park and Yangzhi Jiang
The purpose of this study is to examine what individual motives (e.g., self-expression or rewards) and brand communication aspects (such as content) influence consumers' brand…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine what individual motives (e.g., self-expression or rewards) and brand communication aspects (such as content) influence consumers' brand engagement behaviors, and how these behaviors are linked to their intentions in favor of a brand.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted an online survey with a quota sample of 629 adults in the United States. Participants were recruited through a Qualtrics online panel.
Findings
Data indicate that the motivations of entertainment and remuneration are positively associated with consuming and contributing to brand content on social media. In addition, the motive of obtaining information prompts people to consume brand content (e.g., reading a brand's posts or watching videos), while the motivation for self-expression leads to contributing activities (e.g., conversing on a brand's account and uploading videos). After controlling for these motivations, brand communication strategy (such as content and tone) appears to influence consumers' brand-related activities on social media, which subsequently results in consumer intentions in favor of the brand.
Originality/value
Consumer engagement in social media has become the primary focus of corporate communication. This work is one of few studies that have explored how consumer motivation and brand communication come together to generate consumer engagement on social media. The overall findings shed light on how corporate communications can generate consumer engagement on social media and how companies reap benefits from it.
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Alicia B. Wodika and Wendi K. Middleton
This study identified the attitudes and behaviors of college students regarding their advocacy for climate change adaptation and mitigation. Specifically, perceptions of climate…
Abstract
Purpose
This study identified the attitudes and behaviors of college students regarding their advocacy for climate change adaptation and mitigation. Specifically, perceptions of climate change were assessed and advocacy activities were identified for climate change and/or other topics.
Design/methodology/approach
Using convenience sampling, students (n = 440) from three universities in the Midwest, the USA, completed surveys assessing their level of agreement with activities related to civic engagement, climate change and policy. Semantic differential scales focused on “learning about climate change,” “advocating for climate change mitigation” and “advocating for climate change adaptation.” Three open-ended questions were used to identify student experiences with civic engagement and/or service-learning, as well as topics in which they advocate and how they advocate.
Findings
Regarding advocacy in general, over 50% of the sample did not advocate for any topic, with 24.5% of students stating they advocated for the environment/climate change. Students who identified as female, democratic and 1st or 2nd year in school were more likely to be engaged with environmental advocacy. Regarding civic engagement, seniors were more actively engaged with their communities and also more likely to vote in local, state and national elections.
Research limitations/implications
Time of data collection was a potential limitation with schools conducting data collection at different time periods. Students who identified more progressive politically were also more likely to participate in the study.
Originality/value
While research exists regarding student civic engagement levels, this research project identified ways in which students engaged in advocacy, identifying potential links with civic engagement and enhanced participation in climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies.