Maria Bernabo, Ivan Garcia‐Bassets, Laura Gaines, Christian Knauer, Alfred Lewis, Liem Nguyen and Leila Zolfaghari
The development and proliferation of cellular/wireless technology has changed the competitive environment of traditional cooper based telephony. The complexity in the competitive…
Abstract
Purpose
The development and proliferation of cellular/wireless technology has changed the competitive environment of traditional cooper based telephony. The complexity in the competitive environment coupled with advances in technology and innovation is requiring management to rethink strategy formulation and implementation. Convergence is discussed in the context of discontinuous competitive environment and possible management responses to changes.
Design/methodology/approach
The findings of this paper are based on the analysis of the communications industry, a comprehensive review of trends in innovation and technology, strategic diagnosis and implication for management.
Findings
The rate of change in innovation is leading to the creation of new industries and the disintegration of the industry classifications due to convergence of multiple needs previously served by different industry groupings. As such, firms have to upgrade their environmental scanning systems to detect competitive forces beyond the industrial competitive boundaries.
Practical implications
The paper provides a comprehensive review of convergence and disruptive technologies
Originality/value
The paper highlights the breakdown of barriers in terms of industry classification. Customer's needs could be served by firms in hitherto distinct industry groupings.
Maria Bernabo, Ivan Garcia‐Bassets, Laura Gaines, Christian Knauer, Alfred Lewis, Liem Nguyen and Leila Zolfaghari
The purpose of this paper is to examine the history and development of the automobile industry Furthermore the paper discusses convergence in the context of discontinuous…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the history and development of the automobile industry Furthermore the paper discusses convergence in the context of discontinuous competitive environment and possible management responses to changes.
Design/methodology/approach
The findings of this paper are based on the analysis of the auto industry and the changes triggered by advances in related industries and socio‐economic forces.
Findings
The rate of change in innovation is leading to the creation of new industries and the disintegration of the industry classifications due to convergence of multiple needs previously served by different industry groupings. As such, firms have to upgrade their environmental scanning systems to detect competitive forces beyond the industrial competitive boundaries.
Practical implications
The paper provides a comprehensive review of convergence and disruptive technologies and the resulting implications for the automobile industry.
Originality/value
The paper highlights the breakdown of barriers in terms of industry classification. Customer's needs could be served by other firms in hitherto distinct industry groupings.
Details
Keywords
Maria Bernabo, Ivan Garcia‐Bassets, Laura Gaines, Christian Knauer, Alfred Lewis, Liem Nguyen and Leila Zolfaghari
It is widely acknowledged that the pace of change due to complexity in the competitive environment coupled with advances in technology and innovation is forcing management to…
Abstract
Purpose
It is widely acknowledged that the pace of change due to complexity in the competitive environment coupled with advances in technology and innovation is forcing management to rethink strategy formulation and implementation. The purpose of this paper is to discuss convergence in the context of discontinuous competitive environment and possible management responses to changes.
Design/methodology/approach
The findings of this paper are based on the analysis of developments in the biotechnology environment. The disruption to pharmaceutical industry is examined from the context of need served.
Findings
The rate of change in innovation is leading to the creation of new industries and the disintegration of the industry classifications due to convergence of multiple needs previously served by different industry groupings. As such, firms have to upgrade their environmental scanning systems to detect competitive forces beyond the traditional industrial competitive boundaries.
Practical implications
The paper provides a comprehensive review of convergence and disruptive technologies
Originality/value
The paper highlights the breakdown of barriers in terms of industry classification. Customer's needs could be served by firms in hitherto distinct industry groupings.
Details
Keywords
This paper provides an overview of the empirical findings on how relative performance information (RPI) affects employee behavior. Additionally, the review identifies future…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper provides an overview of the empirical findings on how relative performance information (RPI) affects employee behavior. Additionally, the review identifies future research opportunities based on a systematic analysis of the literature that incorporates findings across several disciplines and provides replicable, extensive coverage.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper addresses a research gap via synthesis, drawing on the empirical literature identified and analyzed systematically. A conceptual framework is developed to integrate the studies.
Findings
The effect of RPI on performance through enhanced effort is positive; moreover, publicity and performance-dependent compensation strengthen the effect. However, RPI has also been found to increase sabotage among employees, and it can lead to less honest reporting. Future research could examine critical mediators and moderators of the RPI-performance relationship and thus complement the findings. Additionally, the effects of group-based RPI remain underrepresented. Future work could help to assess in greater detail how RPI interacts with culture and norms and whether RPI is due to personal expectations. There is also room for further research regarding the effects of RPI on cooperation, its consequences for learning, how it affects budgeting decisions and its implications for risk taking.
Originality/value
This paper presents the first literature review in the field of RPI. It provides synthesized knowledge about whether RPI is beneficial or detrimental to organizational performance.
Details
Keywords
John Kalimilo Malagila, Ganga Bhavani and Christian Tabi Amponsah
The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceived association between audit rotation (AR) and audit quality (AQ) using respondents from a sample of audit firms operating in a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceived association between audit rotation (AR) and audit quality (AQ) using respondents from a sample of audit firms operating in a developing economy, the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The paper addresses the following research question: How do UAE auditors perceive the association between various forms of AR and AQ?
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected perception data from a sample of UAE auditors using a questionnaire, and applied several non-parametric statistical techniques to analyze the data, and to answer five exploratory research questions on the perceived association between various forms of AR and AQ.
Findings
The findings suggest that the UAE auditors in our sample did not perceive the association between individual types of AR and AQ as significantly different, and that AR in general is essential for AQ improvement and enhances trust in the audit process. Similarly, we find more support for the perception that medium audit tenure is associated with a lower impairment effect on auditor independence. Furthermore, we find no significant differences in perception based on gender, but younger/less experienced professionals and professionals in self-employed practices and small audit firms (compared to other demographics) significantly perceived AR enforceability and AT length to be associated with AQ. Our findings help to enrich our understanding of the perceived AR-AQ association in a relatively new context and less researched audit area in a developing economy.
Originality/value
Although lively debates on the question of AR and AQ within the accounting, finance, investment professions and in the financial media continue, there has been relatively limited knowledge and a dearth of empirical studies on this question in most developing economies. Being the first attempt in the country – the UAE, this study contributes towards addressing this gap in empirical knowledge by exploring the perceived association between various forms of AR and AQ in a developing economy.
Details
Keywords
Christian Rainer Briem and Andreas Wald
The purpose of this paper is to examine companies’ reasons for voluntarily obtaining third-party integrated reporting (IR) assurance and the role of external auditors in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine companies’ reasons for voluntarily obtaining third-party integrated reporting (IR) assurance and the role of external auditors in the assurance process.
Design/methodology/approach
By conducting 25 in-depth semi-structured interviews, a wide range of significant actors in the assurance process of integrated reports are addressed. In addition, archive materials are considered. The authors apply institutional theory, agency theory, and the diffusion of innovations theory to analyze IR assurance.
Findings
Companies follow coercive pressures by their stakeholders when obtaining external assurance. They intend to appreciate their non-financial indicators and increase their credibility and reliability. Auditors play an important role as change agents for the implementation of IR assurance by, e.g., supporting the correct interpretation of the International Integrated Reporting Council standards and by promoting IR.
Research limitations/implications
First, 25 in-depth interviews can only give a first insight about the stated questions. Second, this paper only considers auditors and company representatives from Germany. Third, investors were not questioned about their attitude toward IR assurance.
Practical implications
The results may serve as a basis for the implementation of IR assurance.
Originality/value
This study combines the relatively unexplored research field of IR with three established theories. Hereby, it exposes companies’ motivation for obtaining external assurance and auditors’ role on the assurance process.
Details
Keywords
The winter 1991 issue of Reference Services Review featured an annotated bibliography of literature on Christopher Columbus from 1970 to 1989. That literature covered such topics…
Abstract
The winter 1991 issue of Reference Services Review featured an annotated bibliography of literature on Christopher Columbus from 1970 to 1989. That literature covered such topics as Columbus' ancestry, heraldry, and the locations of both his American landfall and burial site. This annotated checklist focuses mainly on Columbus' legacy, on works that offer a dissenting point of view from most previous writings about Columbus (and on works that react to the dissenters), on material written by Native American and other non‐European authors, and on materials published by small and noncommercial presses.
Callum S. Boyd, Elaine L. Ritch, Christopher A. Dodd and Julie McColl
to examine consumers' perceptions of retail brand representations of gender-oriented and/or sexuality-oriented identities. The authors explore the value of developing more…
Abstract
Purpose
to examine consumers' perceptions of retail brand representations of gender-oriented and/or sexuality-oriented identities. The authors explore the value of developing more progressive, inclusive brand values to support more effective retail brand communications and imagery.
Design/methodology/approach
Photo elicitation, utilising LGBTQIA+/sexuo-gendered imagery from retail brand marketing communications, facilitated discussion within focus groups representing various genders, age generations and sexualities.
Findings
Younger generations indicate a preference for fluid gender and sexuality and endorse retail brands that represent this progressive understanding. Gender and age moderate preferences for representative imagery, with older males more resistant to sexuo-gendered messages and females of all ages more accepting.
Research limitations/implications
The research is limited in generalisability, geography and demographics. The focussed approach did, however, enable collection of rich, insightful data to underpin evaluations of communicative brand values.
Practical implications
The inclusion of diverse and fluid sexuo-gendered identities within the brand values of retailers would enable effective targeting of consumers across a range of more traditional cohorts.
Social implications
The evolving ideology towards inclusiveness, identified within the generational cohorts, demonstrates social change through progressive acceptance of more fluid gendered and sexual identities.
Originality/value
The research adopts a novel approach to examining diverse, sexuo-gendered imagery within gendered and generational cohorts, offering qualitative examples of a progressive social ideology.
Details
Keywords
Loha Hashimy, Geetika Jain and Emili Grifell-Tatjé
Large attention surrounds identifying the meaningful blockchain business model on financial services, while a little focus about non-financial organizations and solutions in terms…
Abstract
Purpose
Large attention surrounds identifying the meaningful blockchain business model on financial services, while a little focus about non-financial organizations and solutions in terms of how the blockchain business model can affect the organization and bring more value. To address the complex structure of businesses that have public goods, it is important to develop sustainable blockchain-based business models.
Design/methodology/approach
This study offers the first qualitative research that uses an integrated technological, environmental and organizational (TOE) framework with technology acceptance theory (TAM) to study the adoption of blockchain technology by Spanish firms.
Findings
The results of the paper discuss how that competitive pressure, competence, top management support and relative advantage have a positive impact on intention to adopt blockchain technology while complexity affects the intention to adopt the technology negatively. Contrary to many adoption studies, the findings show that intention to adopt negatively impacts adoption and outline the effect of blockchain on business model elements on the macroeconomic level.
Originality/value
The key contribution of this study lies in providing a comprehensive understanding of the environmental, technological and organizational factors that impact the intention to adopt blockchain that eventually affects adoption.
Details
Keywords
Kieran Taylor-Neu, Abu S. Rahaman, Gregory D. Saxton and Dean Neu
This study aims to examine whether senior Enron executive emails celebrated, or at least left a space for, corporate irresponsibility. Engaging with prior organizational-focused…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine whether senior Enron executive emails celebrated, or at least left a space for, corporate irresponsibility. Engaging with prior organizational-focused research, we investigate how corporate emails sent by senior executives help constitute Enron by communicating to employees senior management’s stance about important topics and social characters.
Design/methodology/approach
The study analyzes the 527,356 sentences contained in 144,228 emails sent by Enron senior executives and other employees in the three-year period (1999–2001) before the company’s collapse. Sentences are used as the base-level speech unit because we are interested in identifying the tone and emotions expressed about specific topics and stakeholders. Tone is measured using Loughran and McDonald’s (2016) financial dictionary approach, and emotion is measured using Mohammad and Turney’s (2013) NRC word-emotion lexicon. Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regressions are used to explore the determinants of senior management tone and emotions.
Findings
The analysis illustrates that while both senior executives and other employees utilized email to help accomplish task-related activities, they employed different evaluative tones to talk about key topics and stakeholders. Also important is what is left unsaid, with a “spiral of silence” emanating from senior management that created a space for corporate irresponsibility.
Originality/value
Combining advanced computerized textual analysis with qualitative techniques, we analyze a unique dataset to explore micro details involved in using email to communicate a tone at the top. The findings illustrate how what is said or not said by senior management contributes to the constitution of an organization.