Looks at the shift in emphasis in Australia, from a historical perspective and examines the growing fears in the community that citizens may become disenfranchised as a result…
Abstract
Looks at the shift in emphasis in Australia, from a historical perspective and examines the growing fears in the community that citizens may become disenfranchised as a result. Argues that a slavish adherence to efficiency through technological advance risks undervaluing the complementarity of information in the community. Concludes that focusing on efficiency and quantification moves away from noting the constitutional and democratic scope of telecommunications.
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Reviews past and present research into the role of information as a public good and states that progress in thinking has not kept pace with events that led the New York Times to…
Abstract
Reviews past and present research into the role of information as a public good and states that progress in thinking has not kept pace with events that led the New York Times to label the 1980s as “when information accelerated”. Argues that a new perspective on the role of information in the changing extent and pattern of economic growth might be achieved by combining several elements from recent analytical efforts including information as a factor of production, a taxonomy of information, and a broader conceptualization of infrastructure so that it includes institutions and has a focus on competence, both individual and in the learning organization. Warns of a resurgence of Luddism, fuelled by unemployment, in the form of an anti‐change stance which questions whether so much growing inequality is needed to achieve the magical productivity said to give everyone bigger incomes and a better life.
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This paper attempts to recast the entrepreneur by synthesizing ideas from personal construct psychology and systems-based evolutionary economics. It retains an Austrian…
Abstract
This paper attempts to recast the entrepreneur by synthesizing ideas from personal construct psychology and systems-based evolutionary economics. It retains an Austrian subjectivist emphasis but focuses on rapid product innovation rather than arbitrage. Profit opportunities are mental constructs that link products and revenue streams. Entrepreneurs develop new products by forming novel connections between existing product elements and diverse technologies, mindful of the connections between these products and the complex structures of consumer lifestyles. These linkages are often formed in the context of large multi-product firms, as well as being the basis of new enterprises, so entrepreneurship overlaps with strategic management.
Juan Gabriel Brida, Oana Madalina Driha, Ana B. Ramón-Rodríguez and Raffaele Scuderi
This paper aims provides an empirical analysis of the development of the internationalisation process in the Spanish hotel industry, which has experienced major changes during the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims provides an empirical analysis of the development of the internationalisation process in the Spanish hotel industry, which has experienced major changes during the past decade. The degree of internationalisation between 2000 and 2010 is used as a proxy variable with the aim of mapping the development of international strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
A longitudinal dataset measuring the internationalisation of Spanish hotel chains is used. Cluster analysis identifies the different behaviour of groups of firms during the analysed period.
Findings
Two different clusters are detected, which can be attributed to different internationalisation strategies over time. Small and medium (SME) hotel companies seem to follow a different path of development than more established multinational companies. Over time, the entire group tends to be more compact, whereas the distance between the clusters is shown to diverge in final years. The groups’ composition suggests that business-networking relationships can be a strategy of particular importance for SMEs pursuing international expansion.
Practical implications
This paper develops a better understanding of the changes of the internationalisation patterns of Spanish hotel chains. Findings could address managers in strategic decisions about how to improve competitive position. In particular, they recommend accounting for size, international experience and business network relationships when expanded abroad.
Originality/value
This paper introduces a new approach based on studying clusters of Spanish hotels according to their internationalisation strategies over the time. Further analysis revealed the role of business network on internationalisation patterns.
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Grace J. Ambrose, Juan (Gloria) Meng and Paul J. Ambrose
This study aims to address the following questions: What is enduring about consumer behavior on social media given that digital and social media (DSM) technologies change rapidly…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to address the following questions: What is enduring about consumer behavior on social media given that digital and social media (DSM) technologies change rapidly? Why do millennials use social media to the extent they do? The authors’ review revealed that a prevailing theoretical approach that may help answer these questions is inadequate. The technology acceptance model (TAM) from information systems was grafted into marketing to explain consumer technology adoption. TAM predicts Facebook adoption effectively, as demonstrated in the authors’ first study, but does not go beyond that in explaining the why’s behind its use. In a second study, the authors used the means-end approach (MEC) complementarily to unearth the why’s of millennials’ use of Facebook.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used a mixed-methods design combining the structural modeling of TAM with the probing one-on-one interviews and laddering of MEC.
Findings
The authors found that the laddering process both widened and deepened TAM’s scope. It not only confirmed the importance of the TAM attributes, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, but it also revealed others, in determining adoption. It was also able to dig deeper from these to uncover a mesh of fundamental values that millennials used Facebook to satisfy, such as belongingness, pleasure, social acceptance and inner harmony, in their quest for inner and relational contentment. The authors also found negative aspects that kept consumers away, such as its lack of privacy and the overwhelming nature of unwanted video in its feed, tying these back to important values.
Research limitations/implications
The authors build on prior exploratory work relating to DSM use and uncover psychological drivers of consumer behavior on social media, by blending TAM in a consumer context, and the MEC approach. The TAM-MEC framework used here offers a technology-independent template for other DSM research, by focusing on how and why consumers use media socially.
Practical implications
Managerially, the authors discuss the building of sustainable marketing strategy on enduring consumer values rather than on transient attributes or technologies. The authors also discuss potential areas of vulnerability for Facebook, such as its increasing use of video and live content, which creates negative consumer sentiment and which may drive consumers to competitors.
Originality/value
By blending the quantitative TAM and the qualitative MEC, something that has not been done before in marketing, this research provides trustworthy answers to the research questions. In so doing, this study also contributes some cohesion to the fragmented DSM research field, as called for recently in prominent journals, by anchoring DSM study in well-established theories in marketing.
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Manuel Trenz, Alexander Frey and Daniel Veit
The purpose of this paper is to develop a categorization of sharing practices from a structured interdisciplinary literature review on the Sharing Economy. Instead of striving for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a categorization of sharing practices from a structured interdisciplinary literature review on the Sharing Economy. Instead of striving for a new definition, the authors distinguish nine types of sharing practices and provide an overview of prior investigations on sharing practices across three levels of analysis and 15 research areas. The structured analysis is translated into opportunities for future research on the Sharing Economy.
Design/methodology/approach
The study follows a structured literature review approach to uncover practices related to the Sharing Economy and similar phenomena. The authors analyze 210 articles from a broad number of disciplines, and develop a categorizing framework for Sharing Economy practices.
Findings
The paper identifies nine different types of sharing practices and provides a structured way for analyzing, comparing and positioning research on the Sharing Economy and related phenomena.
Research limitations/implications
The categorization of sharing practices and the embedded interdisciplinary overview of studies on the Sharing Economy help to explain potentially contradictory research results and uncovers opportunities for future research in the topic area.
Originality/value
Given the variety of disciplines dealing with the Sharing Economy and the plenitude of definitions and related concepts, the categorization and research overview provides a consolidated view of the knowledge in the topic area and an effective tool for identifying paths for future research.
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Adesegun Oyedele and Penny Simpson
This study aims to test Lamberton and Rose’s (2012) commercial sharing utility model of access-based consumption use in three different contexts: car-sharing, room-sharing and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to test Lamberton and Rose’s (2012) commercial sharing utility model of access-based consumption use in three different contexts: car-sharing, room-sharing and household goods purchases. More importantly, this research extends the model by examining the effects of emerging adulthood as a life-stage on perceived value of social applications that facilitate and promote transaction utility, called shareaids.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire designed to evaluate the effects of emerging adulthood and sharing utilities on intention to use sharing services was developed and administered to 345 respondents at a Midwestern US university. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling.
Findings
Results indicate that flexibility utility had the strongest direct impact on intention to use sharing consumption while also having indirect effects in all contexts examined. The emerging adulthood life-stage was found to affect transaction utility and shareaids as predicted, and shareaids positively influenced consumers’ perception of the social utility value of access-based consumption.
Research limitations/implications
The generalizability of this study is limited by its use of a student sample. Also, the study suffers from inherent limitations linked to self-reported survey research.
Practical implications
Sharing services that have a strong social component could use shareaids to gain a competitive advantage. Examples of shareaid application include split bills for multiple payments to split fares among friends and social media transaction tools. Shareaid applications can enhance consumers’ perception of social value and the overall shareability value of the sharing service.
Originality/value
This is the first known study to test the effects of emerging adulthood as a life-stage on perceived value of social applications that facilitate and promote transaction utility, called shareaids.
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Philipp C. Mosmann and Jennifer Klutt
The rise of the sharing economy has brought with it a huge variety of new organizational forms and innovative business models. An integral part of these forms and models is the…
Abstract
The rise of the sharing economy has brought with it a huge variety of new organizational forms and innovative business models. An integral part of these forms and models is the communities and members of sharing-economy organizations, since they significantly contribute to value creation for these organizations. Relying on community member contributions, though, is a challenge for these organizations because fluid community boundaries and voluntary membership makes it difficult to coordinate their activities. This chapter investigates the under-researched question of how sharing-economy organizations govern the actions of their community members. Following an abductive approach that included site visits, participant observations, and 67 interviews, we develop a framework that illustrates four different types of governance: pure market, pure clan, market-hierarchy hybrid, and clan-hierarchy hybrid. The framework explains differences among these types depending on the main activity (providing resources or producing jointly) and the primary aim of the community (business orientation or social orientation). This study thus contributes to research on both governance in general and to sharing-economy organizations in particular by capturing the variety and diversity of community forms, governance practices, and business-model configurations.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the measurement and monitoring of social responsibility within the management control system (MCS) of an organisation that subscribes…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the measurement and monitoring of social responsibility within the management control system (MCS) of an organisation that subscribes to a stakeholder and social responsibility approach and to propose a framework that provides for the integration of the MCS with social accounting and social responsibility aspects.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a case study of a small privately owned New Zealand manufacturing business that subscribes to social responsibility and stakeholder principles.
Findings
Overall, the paper finds that the MCS of the case organisation did not measure or monitor social responsibility. Building on the case findings and the literature examined, a framework is proposed that provides for the integration of the MCS with social responsibility. A significant finding is that both formal measurement and informal control are key aspects in developing a MCS that incorporates social responsibility considerations.
Research limitations/implications
The findings relate to a single manufacturing organisation based in New Zealand. Future research could examine different settings (i.e. country, organisation type, etc.) and investigate application of the proposed framework in relation to particular performance measures and controls that organisations may possibly adopt.
Practical implications
Organisations following a stakeholder and social responsibility approach should also consider the design of their MCS.
Originality/value
This paper helps to fill a gap in the literature concerning knowledge about the design and operation of MCSs in relation to stakeholder and social responsibility issues. Few studies in this area have been based on a case study approach. The paper further contributes to the literature by proposing a framework that provides for the integration of the MCS with social responsibility aspects.