Ho-Seok Kim, Minseong Kim and Dongwoo Koo
Although the positive impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives on personal and organizational outcomes has been studied in the fields of human resource…
Abstract
Purpose
Although the positive impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives on personal and organizational outcomes has been studied in the fields of human resource management and the hospitality industry, scholars in these fields still consider CSR as a promising area with potential. Drawing upon the dual concern and the attribution theories, this study aims to identify three stages of formations from teamwork with colleagues and personal benefits to organizational benefits from social responsibilities of hospitality companies via an integrated research model.
Design/methodology/approach
With the data collected from 324 frontline employees in hospitality enterprises in South Korea, this study empirically investigated the interrelationship to predict frontline employees’ job performance.
Findings
The empirical results from structural equation modeling indicated that perceived management support for CSR and perceived colleague support for CSR had significant influence on empathetic concern for colleague and anticipated positive affect, separately. Also, empathetic concern significantly affected psychological well-being and job satisfaction, while an anticipated positive affect significantly influenced job satisfaction. Finally, psychological well-being and job satisfaction had a significant impact on job performance.
Practical implications
This study provides several managerial implications for maximizing the effectiveness of hospitality companies’ CSR practices, enhancing frontline employees’ psychological well-being, job satisfaction and job performance.
Originality/value
Based on the empirical findings, this study provided meaningful theoretical and managerial implications to maximize the effectiveness of CSR initiatives and maximize frontline employees’ job performance in the hospitality industry.
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Sang Ho Kim and Yohan An
This paper aims to investigate the impact of the separation between control and cash flow rights (control-ownership disparity) on the earnings management practices of Chinese…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the impact of the separation between control and cash flow rights (control-ownership disparity) on the earnings management practices of Chinese firms. The notable features of Chinese firms are those of concentrated ownership and the severe disparity that exists between the control and cash flow rights of controlling shareholders.
Design/methodology/approach
This study measures the level of Chinese firms’ earnings management by adopting two different methods of measurement: accrual-based earnings management (AEM) and real activity earnings management (REM). The authors also consider the possible trade-off effects between these two types of measurements. The data set in this study encompasses over 2,000 Chinese firms, using data from 2003 to 2015.
Findings
The results indicate that controlling shareholders are more likely to engage in AEM as their cash flow rights are more concentrated, while they are less likely to use REM as the disparity of control-cash flow rights increases. Further, this inverse relationship between REM and control-cash flow rights disparity becomes more pronounced in the case of a low cash flow rights group. As REM generally causes distortions in firms’ operations, it is possible that the controlling shareholders are more likely to constrain the use of REM as the disparity is perceived to grow. This result may indicate a reduced agency problem between controlling and minority shareholders due to the developing and/or existing ownership dispersions, which are mainly driven by recent reforms applied to Chinese capital markets. However, we do not entirely exclude the possibility of other types of expropriations by the controlling shareholders. It appears that the controlling shareholders are still able to exert a significant level of control, even following a substantial ownership dispersion, and they may seek alternative expropriation methods, including but not limited to intercorporate loan or related party transactions as the disparity of control-cash flow rights increases.
Originality/value
Although the Chinese economy is experiencing a series of reforms to infuse market forces into capital markets, little has been known about the effects of ownership-control disparity in Chinese firms. Our findings highlight the importance of the country specific context in this vein of research.
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China is currently developing and promoting an industrial cluster policy at the government level. By enacting the ‘Opinion on promoting industrial cluster development’, China is…
Abstract
China is currently developing and promoting an industrial cluster policy at the government level. By enacting the ‘Opinion on promoting industrial cluster development’, China is supporting the development of industrial clusters. Building an industrial cluster is done by using a single factor but requires many additional factors like regional characteristics, competitiveness factors are also diversified. To evaluate the competitiveness of the Chinese automobile industry cluster, a competitiveness element index should be developed and a competitiveness evaluation method is needed to evaluate the importance of each element. To accomplish this objective, this research applied the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and focused on the importance of the competitiveness elements.
This research investigated the character is tics regarding cases of clusters and also analyzed the competitiveness of the Changchun automobile cluster located in northeastern China. The purpose of this research is to help Korean enterprises who enter China in the hopes that Korea will emerge as a top automobile production country.
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Sang Ho Kim and Yohan An
This paper aims to examine the effects of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on accounting conservatism in Korean firms. An increase in EPU could widen information asymmetry…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the effects of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on accounting conservatism in Korean firms. An increase in EPU could widen information asymmetry between insiders and outsiders, to the detriment of a firm’s investment decisions, stock price and cost of capital. This paper hypothesizes that Korean firms are likely to decrease accounting conservatism during high EPU due to inefficient institutional structure and weak corporate governance, together with the vulnerability of the Korean economy to exogenous shocks.
Design/methodology/approach
This study measures a firm’s level of conservatism using three accrual-based models proposed by Ball and Shivakumar (2006): 1) the cash flow model (CF model), 2) the Dechow and Dichev model (DD model) and 3) the Jones model. As a robustness test, this paper uses C-score model as an alternative measure of accounting conservatism. The data set used in this study is a total of 23,109 firm-year observations during the sample period from 2000 to 2018.
Findings
The test results show that an increase in EPU adversely affects Korean firms’ accounting conservatism, and that this adverse impact is more pronounced in financially distressed and non-manufacturing firms. This study’s findings highlight the importance of institutional structure during a period of high EPU, which can create incentives for either improving or deteriorating reporting quality.
Originality/value
This study adds new evidence to extant literature on the effects of EPU on managers’ choice of accounting policies and demonstrates that managers in emerging markets may have different incentives to cope with country-specific EPU fluctuations.
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Yong-Ki Lee, Soon-Ho Kim, Min-Seong Kim and Ho-Seok Kim
Seeking to build a deeper understanding of a higher level of hospitality in terms of employee task performance, this study aimed to explore different person–environment (P–E) fit…
Abstract
Purpose
Seeking to build a deeper understanding of a higher level of hospitality in terms of employee task performance, this study aimed to explore different person–environment (P–E) fit types and the corresponding effects on hotel employees’ emotions and task performance, evaluated by both the employees themselves and their supervisors.
Design/methodology/approach
Frequency analysis, reliability analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis and structural equation modeling method.
Findings
The results indicated that person–organization fit was associated with emotions toward the organization, the team and the job. However, this study did not provide empirical support for hypotheses that person-team fit affected emotions. Person–job fit was also associated with positive emotions toward the organization and the job, unlike with the team. Organization emotion had positive effects on both task performances, whereas no effect was reported between team emotion and task performances.
Practical implications
The study suggests that hotels’ human resource administrators may want to focus on developing and strengthening P–E fit and emotional responses.
Originality/value
This research illustrates the impact of three types of P–E fit on self-rated and supervisor-rated performance and examines the significant mediating role of three types of emotion.
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Sungha Jang, Jinsoo Kim, Reo Song and Ho Kim
Actual product-harm crises pose significant challenges to firms, but so can defaming product-harm crises, which are defined as crises caused by false or malicious rumors made by…
Abstract
Purpose
Actual product-harm crises pose significant challenges to firms, but so can defaming product-harm crises, which are defined as crises caused by false or malicious rumors made by consumers or competing firms. Unlike typical product-harm crises, in defaming product-harm crises, the truth often emerges only after substantial damage has been done to the victim firm. Thus, crisis management strategies in these two cases may be different. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a defaming product-harm crisis that involved two competing firms, this paper examines how the firms changed their advertising strategies and how the changes affected consumers’ online search behavior regarding the two firms.
Findings
The analyses show that after the crisis, the offending firm sensitively reacted to its own and the victim firm’s advertising levels, but the victim firm did not react to the offending firm’s advertising as it had previously. The effectiveness of advertising on consumers’ online search weakened for both firms after the crisis.
Originality/value
The paper provides a new insight about marketing strategies and their effectiveness in the product-harm crisis literature.
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Min-Seop Sim, Sung-Ho Kim, Yul-Seong Kim and Young-Joon Seo
Competition among seaports is rapidly increasing due to various factors such as the global recession, resurgence of COVID-19, tight environmental regulations of IMO, sharp rise in…
Abstract
Purpose
Competition among seaports is rapidly increasing due to various factors such as the global recession, resurgence of COVID-19, tight environmental regulations of IMO, sharp rise in ocean freight charges, increasing global uncertainties and growth in ship sizes. It is essential to have precise knowledge of shipping companies' port selection factors to secure the competitive advantage of seaports. This study aims to empirically analyze recent changes in the importance of port selection factors.
Design/methodology/approach
By employing a longitudinal study, this study conducted the t-test analysis. The first survey was conducted from January 2005 to April 2005. Then, the second survey was conducted in May 2021.
Findings
First, the importance of port facilities (berth length and the number of berths, shed and terminal areas, possession of adequate equipment and maximum berth size) increased significantly. Second, while ship and cargo safety were the critical port service factors in previous studies, speed, flexibility and reliability for handling cargo and berthing schedule were found to be crucial in this study. Third, the importance of ship arrival/departure frequency, route diversity and ship arrival/departure information systems increased when shipping companies selected the port.
Originality/value
This study has academic significance in that it reveals the changing importance of port selection factors in the 2020s and has taken the form of a longitudinal study on the importance of port selection factors from 2005 to 2021, moving beyond the cross-sectional approach. This study can provide valuable insights into and implications for port policymakers and managers when developing and formulating port policies and strategies.
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Seonjeong (Ally) Lee and Soon-Ho Kim
This study aims to investigate the role of restaurant employees’ intrinsic motivations that influenced their knowledge-sharing behaviors and knowledge application behaviors, based…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the role of restaurant employees’ intrinsic motivations that influenced their knowledge-sharing behaviors and knowledge application behaviors, based on need theory and prior knowledge management research.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional, self-administered survey was used to collect data from employees who work in the food and beverage sections of hotels, coffee shops or restaurants.
Findings
Results from this study supported the role of employees’ intrinsic motivations to share knowledge with other employees and apply their knowledge to actions. Moreover, results identified employees’ knowledge application behaviors that influenced their innovative behaviors.
Originality/value
This paper investigated the role of restaurant employees’ intrinsic motivations on their knowledge management and innovative behaviors.
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Yong-Ki Lee, Paresha N. Sinha, Soon-Ho Kim, Eric Melvin Swanson, Jae-Jang Yang and Eun-Jung Kim
Hotels conducting international business are acknowledging the importance of an expatriate general manager (GM), to increase the effectiveness of their knowledge management system…
Abstract
Purpose
Hotels conducting international business are acknowledging the importance of an expatriate general manager (GM), to increase the effectiveness of their knowledge management system through the sharing of knowledge between expatriates and local employees. In the aspect of comparative leadership studies, this study attempts to compare and analyze the effects of knowledge sharing (KS) efforts, which are competencies of expatriate GMs and local GMs, on employee trust, organizational KS and employee loyalty.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from employees of 7 hotels managed by expatriate GMs among 16 franchising luxury (5-star) hotels, and from employees of 6 hotels operated by local GMs among 9 local luxury hotels located in Korea. Structural equation modeling method using SmartPLS 3.3.3 was used to analyze the data.
Findings
Expatriate GM’s two-way KS influences affective trust but does not influence cognitive trust. Affective trust influences cognitive and organizational KS but does not influence employee loyalty. Cognitive trust does not influence organizational KS but influences employee loyalty. Finally, organizational KS significantly affects employee loyalty. In addition, in the analysis comparing the estimates between expatriate and local GM group, significant differences in groups were found for the impact of GM’s two-way KS on cognitive trust, for the impact of affective trust on organizational KS, for the impact of affective trust on employee loyalty and for the impact of cognitive trust on organizational KS.
Practical implications
This study shows that knowledge management designs need to consider different effects of expatriate GMs’ and local GMs’ capabilities on employee attitudes and behavior considering cultural impacts. Expatriate GMs will greatly benefit their effort for KS by assuring employees that they are attentive to their needs, interests and problems.
Originality/value
This study not only contributes to the existing social capital theory but also provides managerial implications for human resources management in the hospitality field through a comparative study of KS efforts of expatriate and local GMs.
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This paper aims to examine whether a film’s search volume causes its ticket sales in different stages of its lifecycle.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine whether a film’s search volume causes its ticket sales in different stages of its lifecycle.
Design/methodology/approach
This study tests the causality between searches and sales by using an instrumental variable approach. This study exploits the ideas that consumers’ perception of a product’s consumption risk is correlated with their search efforts and consumers use multiple information sources to infer a product’s consumption risk. As an instrument for a focal film’s search volume, this paper uses review disagreement for past movies related to the focal film. This paper incorporates the ideas in a model of weekly online search volume and revenues and apply it to a movie data set.
Findings
Films’ search volume influences their revenues only until the opening week. A 10% increase in opening-week search volume generates a 7.4% increase in opening-week revenue, while the same increase in pre-launch search volume generates a 4.1% increase. Although searches are not an influencer of sales from the second week on, the random forest models and cross-validation studies find that weekly search volume is a strong predictor of weekly revenues in this period.
Research limitations/implications
Testing the findings in other product categories is important for generalizing the findings.
Practical implications
This study suggests different usage values for online searches, depending on a film’s lifecycle stages. Furthermore, given that review disagreement has a positive influence on opening-week revenue through searches, managers should encourage diverse opinions about their films until the opening week to increase sales through searches.
Originality/value
Regarding the role of online search, previous studies have maintained the perspective that online search is a predictor of sales. This is the first study that finds causality between searches and sales for films.