Heejin Kim and Seong-Young Kim
This paper aims to explore the condition under which a multinational company’s organizational headquarters influences its development of a localized overseas product.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the condition under which a multinational company’s organizational headquarters influences its development of a localized overseas product.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on interviews with members at a Japanese multinational company’s headquarters, the authors’ analysis shows two invisible bottlenecks in the headquarters organization: the psychological resistance of the headquarters’ engineers and a lack of communication channels between the headquarters and overseas units.
Findings
The authors’ analysis shows two invisible bottlenecks in the headquarters organization: the psychological resistance of the headquarters’ engineers and a lack of communication channels between the headquarters and overseas units.
Originality/value
The authors’ research provides a rare glimpse into the ways that the conditions of local knowledge and foreign subsidiaries and the organizational conditions of home country headquarters are intertwined with one another during a period of product development.
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Although the use of online authentication systems in banking services is expanding globally, little is known about cultural differences in forming consumers' responses to these…
Abstract
Purpose
Although the use of online authentication systems in banking services is expanding globally, little is known about cultural differences in forming consumers' responses to these services. This paper examines how the usability of an online security service and culture impact consumers' behaviour.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conduct a 2 (usability: high vs low) × 2 (culture: US vs Korea) between-subjects, full factorial design.
Findings
The results indicate a differential influence of the usability of a security system by culture. In particular, US consumers exhibit greater behavioural intention in a high (vs low) usability condition, whereas Korean consumers showed more favourable responses in a low-usability condition. Moreover, perceived effort is confirmed as a crucial mediator that explains the psychological mechanism of the proposed effect.
Practical implications
This research contributes to the literature on online banking where security is an important determinant of success. Especially for managers involved in international banking services, the findings of cultural differences offer insights about the importance of local understanding and differentiation of bank services for specific target markets which can enhance consumers' response towards an online security service.
Originality/value
The current study is one of a very few attempts to examine the role of usability of an online security system in forming consumers' behavioural intention. More importantly, this study integrates the concept of culture to explain how usability influences positive or negative behavioural intention in an international market.
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Doojin Ryu, Karam Kim and Heejin Yang
The behavioral finance literature focuses on the effect of investor sentiment on the fundamental values of individual stocks. This study constructs a firm-level investor sentiment…
Abstract
The behavioral finance literature focuses on the effect of investor sentiment on the fundamental values of individual stocks. This study constructs a firm-level investor sentiment indicator based on transaction and price data for individual firms and shows that credit rating changes affect investor sentiment. We find the following empirical results. First, the response of investor sentiment to upgrades (downgrades) is significantly positive (negative). Second, the greater the magnitude of the downgrade is, the more negative the investor sentiment reaction is, although we do not find a similar result for upgrades. Third, cumulative abnormal returns around the event day are affected by cumulative abnormal sentiment before that day. This result suggests that the market reaction is affected by a combination of credit rating downgrades and investor sentiment.
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Heejin Lim and Michelle Childs
The new focus of brand communication in social media has driven firms to develop the effective visual content strategy. In light of narrative transportation theory, this study…
Abstract
Purpose
The new focus of brand communication in social media has driven firms to develop the effective visual content strategy. In light of narrative transportation theory, this study aims to investigate the impact of a photo’s narrative elements on self-brand connection through viewers’ transportation and emotional responses. Additionally, this study tests the role of telepresence on Instagram in this psychological mechanism.
Design/methodology/approach
Using between-subjects experimental design, two experimental studies test the effect of implied movement (Study 1) and diverse narrative elements such as a character, implied motion for chronology and the relevant background (Study 2).
Findings
Results demonstrate that a single narrative element, i.e. implied motion, does not induce a viewer’s transportation to the presented image. Rather, the viewer’s transportation occurs as a function of complex and diverse narrative elements, such as implied motion and the background as a context.
Practical implications
Findings suggest that the concept of photo narrative should be taken into consideration in a visually-oriented social media environment. To increase self-brand connection, social media communication should be designed with diverse elements to promote viewers’ active simulation and create meaning to the branded photo story.
Originality/value
This study expands the theory of narrative transportation by applying it to a visual form. Additionally, this research investigates the effect of social media communication on self-brand connection; the findings of this study demonstrate that a major goal of social media communication is not to sell products but to strengthen consumer-brand relationships through branded storytelling.
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Leslie Cuevas, Jewon Lyu and Heejin Lim
This study aims to identify key motivation factors for consumers’ social search and examine the role of flow in the process. This study assessed how content quality (i.e. visual…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify key motivation factors for consumers’ social search and examine the role of flow in the process. This study assessed how content quality (i.e. visual aesthetics, textual information and timeliness) and system quality (i.e., intuitiveness and interactivity) influence flow experience. Additionally, this study tested how mental simulation and ease of task mediate this process and examined how the flow experience leads to purchase intention.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey via Amazon MTurk was performed using the general consumer population in the USA. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted to test proposed hypotheses.
Findings
Visual aesthetics, text information, intuitiveness and interactivity were found to increase consumers’ flow experience in social search on Instagram. The timeliness of information was not a significant predictor of flow experience. Additional analyses demonstrated the mediating role of mental simulation and perceived ease of task mediate in flow experience, ultimately leading to increased purchase intention.
Practical implications
The concept of flow should be taken into consideration in a setting of social media marketing. To create holistic consumption experiences, social media strategy should promote seamless information search by increasing both the content (i.e. visual aesthetics and text information) and system (i.e. intuitiveness and interactivity) quality.
Originality/value
This study expands the theory of flow by applying it to the social search process in social media. Mental simulation and perceived ease of task are distinctively recognized as essential factors for flow experience on Instagram.
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This study aims to investigate how new CEOs’ previous experiences in other organizations and other industries create value in acquisitions. Drawing on the upper echelon…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate how new CEOs’ previous experiences in other organizations and other industries create value in acquisitions. Drawing on the upper echelon perspective, this study theorizes that the multiorganizational experience of new CEOs is positively associated with acquisition performance and, in particular, that the multi-industry experience of new CEOs leads to better performance in diversifying acquisitions than in related acquisitions. While new CEOs without multiorganizational experience undergo a cognitive entrenchment in firm-specific experience, new CEOs with multiorganizational experience can lead acquisitions with more flexibility and agility.
Design/methodology/approach
Acquisition and organizational data were drawn from the US manufacturing industries (SIC 20-39) between 2008 and 2010. The event study method was used to test hypotheses. In 346 acquisitions made by 139 firms, acquisition performance was measured according to cumulative abnormal returns.
Findings
Consistent with the hypotheses, the multiorganizational experience of new CEOs was positively associated with acquisition performance and, in particular, the multi-industry experience of new CEOs led to better performance in diversifying acquisitions than in related acquisitions.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the CEO literature and acquisition literature by suggesting that the multiorganizational experience of new CEOs can be a valuable source of competitive advantages, particularly when implementing corporate strategies involving interorganizational integration processes.
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The public health sector in South Korea introduced district health information systems (DHIS) in health centres in the early 1990s. DHIS aimed to help health centres to provide…
Abstract
The public health sector in South Korea introduced district health information systems (DHIS) in health centres in the early 1990s. DHIS aimed to help health centres to provide comprehensive health care services and to achieve effective and efficient management of their works. District health information systems are still being implemented in health centres. Information generated and collected through the systems is to be used by local authorities to plan and manage health services in their areas, and further by the central government to make a health plan and health policy at the national level. However, the adoption and implementation of DHIS by health centres does not meet the initial anticipation. Moreover, reasons for that have not been explored yet. This paper presents the development of DHIS for health centres in Korea, evaluates the project focusing on impacts and problems found in implementing the systems, and provides lessons and recommendations for establishing a nationwide health information network.
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Domenique Jones and Heejin Lim
Addressing stigmatized identity threat cues customers experience, this study aimed to uncover the effects of frontline employees' ethnic and body-size diversity which lead to…
Abstract
Purpose
Addressing stigmatized identity threat cues customers experience, this study aimed to uncover the effects of frontline employees' ethnic and body-size diversity which lead to customer self-objectification and negative store attitude.
Design/methodology/approach
The researchers conducted two studies: Study 1 utilized a one-way ANOVA and a PROCESS mediation model to test the effect of Western beauty-ideal stereotypes on stigmatized identity threat and self-objectification. Study 2 utilized a 2 × 2 experimental design to examine the effects of body-size diversity and ethnic diversity on perceived warmth of sales associates and store attitude.
Findings
Results demonstrate that retail store environments which present Western beauty-ideal stereotypes among sales associates cultivate higher levels of stigmatized identity threat cues with their customers, which leads to self-objectification. Also, our findings demonstrated that a lack of ethnic and body-size diversity (i.e. thin and White) among sales associates decreased the perceived sales associate warmth and in turn lowered store attitude.
Research limitations/implications
Participants of the first study were limited by the White participants. The implications highlight the integral need for retailers to hire sales associates who fall outside the parameters of typical Western beauty standards because today's customers desire inclusive brands who do not discriminate based on ethnicity, body size and other characteristics.
Originality/value
This research utilized social identity theory to uncover the effect of retail sales associate stereotype on customer perception of employees, which has not to our knowledge been previously studied.
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This study examines the impact of private equity fund managers' (GPs') ESG disclosure on fundraising. To this end, a sample of global private equity and venture capital funds that…
Abstract
This study examines the impact of private equity fund managers' (GPs') ESG disclosure on fundraising. To this end, a sample of global private equity and venture capital funds that completed fundraising between 2020 and 2022 is employed. Our findings indicate that an increase in ESG disclosure by GPs is associated with an increase in fundraising. This indicates that GPs' ESG disclosure diminishes information asymmetry and has a favorable impact on fundraising. Conversely, the level of ESG disclosure among limited partners (LPs) has no significant impact on the relationship between GPs' ESG disclosure level and fundraising. The findings of this study have significant implications for private equity stakeholders, including GPs, given the current context of declining investment demand due to rising interest rates, recessionary concerns, poor performance and tighter regulations on private equity management. In this environment, ESG disclosure is becoming increasingly challenging for private equity firms to utilize as a fundraising strategy.
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Teresina Torre and Daria Sarti
This chapter aims to build a systematization of the current theoretical and empirical academic contributions on smart working (SW) in the organization studies domain and to…
Abstract
This chapter aims to build a systematization of the current theoretical and empirical academic contributions on smart working (SW) in the organization studies domain and to examine which are the main paths that researchers are concerning themselves with, with specific attention being paid to the new meaning that the work itself has acquired in the model proposed by SW. Particular consideration is devoted to an analysis of the characteristics of the present debate on this construct and the meaning of SW, identifying two different – and contrasting – approaches: one considers it as a totally new concept; the other is notable for its continuity with previous arrangements such as telework. Further, some relevant concepts, strictly related to that of SW in working environments are considered. In the last part of the chapter, some key points for further research are proposed to create stimuli for discussion in the community of organization studies and HRM scholars and among practitioners, given from the perspective of deepening the change in progress, the relevance for which there is general consensus.