Raquel Castaño, María Eugenia Perez and Claudia Quintanilla
The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework on the experience of cross‐border shopping. This experience is constructed on narratives, rituals, and intergenerational…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework on the experience of cross‐border shopping. This experience is constructed on narratives, rituals, and intergenerational transfers that move beyond the simple description of experienced events to provide explanatory frameworks of family identity construction.
Design/methodology/approach
Nine in‐depth interviews are conducted with three generations of North Mexican women from three families who shop frequently across the border.
Findings
The findings highlight different processes associated with the experience of cross‐border shopping. First, each family works throughout the years to construct its own identity using the tales of their shared experiences. Second, an intergenerational transfer of knowledge going from grandmothers to mothers to granddaughters in each family occurs as result of the experiences lived together. Third, common knowledge is developed both by Mexican consumers and North American retailers that translates into particular commercial practices. Finally, all our contributors are immersed in a national culture, the North Mexican, sharing and transmitting values like thriftiness, malinchismo, and the relevance of family ties. These values affect their shopping patterns, generating important consequences for both the Mexican and North American economies.
Originality/value
The authors' intent is to contribute to the understanding of the process of family identity construction through consumption. This consumption occurs in a particular context; cross‐border shopping. The experience is singular in the sense that families spend considerable amount of time together while traveling and establishing their shopping routines. This work depicts the shopping rituals passed down from generation‐to‐generation and the derived construction of meaning within the family.
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Domingo Martinez-Martinez, Javier Andrades, Manuel Larrán, María José Muriel and María Paula Lechuga Sancho
This paper addresses the link between earnings management (EM) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Abstract
Purpose
This paper addresses the link between earnings management (EM) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 317 Spanish SMEs to perform: (1) bivariate analysis between EM, CSR and some firm-factors (i.e. size, sector, sector life cycle stage, corporate age, family ownership, profitability and financial risk); and (2) multiple regression analysis for a better understanding of EM behavior and test the influence of sector life cycle stage variable.
Findings
Results emphasize the relevance of the sector life cycle stage as an explanatory factor. Firms operating in sectors that are growing or declining in terms of sales are more proactive to EM than those with consolidated sales levels. Stratified regression analysis also confirms that the stage of the industry life cycle influences the EM-CSR relationship. Only for SMEs with stable sales in maturity sectors, lower interest in EM can be significantly explained by higher CSR performance. Firms with regular sales levels show a more outstanding socially responsible commitment and are less pressured to legitimize their operational decisions and therefore show lower levels of EM involvement.
Originality/value
This paper makes a twofold contribution. On the one hand, it examines the relationship between EM and CSR, focusing on SMEs' context, in which EM study could be considered incipient. On the other hand, the controversial empirical evidence on the significance and sign of EM and social responsibility link could be explained by the stage of the life cycle of the sector in which each company operates.
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Summarizes previous research on the links between share prices, accounting earnings and fundamentals (i.e. financial variables); identifies value‐relevant fundamentals used by…
Abstract
Summarizes previous research on the links between share prices, accounting earnings and fundamentals (i.e. financial variables); identifies value‐relevant fundamentals used by analysts and assesses their usefulness by using principal components analysis on 1992‐1996 data for 50 French industrial firms. Finds three important factors (profitability ratios, returns/leverage and working capital/financial balance) which can be used in conjunction with two macroeconomic variables (inflation and change in real gross national product) to explain return variability.
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Oscar Villarón-Peramato, Isabel-María García-Sánchez and Jennifer Martínez-Ferrero
This paper aims to analyse the use of level of debt as an external control mechanism against an entrenchment strategy based on corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyse the use of level of debt as an external control mechanism against an entrenchment strategy based on corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use a database of 1,916 international companies for the years 2002 to 2010.
Findings
The evidence obtained confirms in a context of asymmetric information, bounded rationality and divergent interests, the use of debt as a control mechanism of managers’ discretionary comportment. In other words, CSR practices can be used by managers as an entrenchment strategy and self-defence with the aim of decreasing the possibility of being identified by those shareholders and stakeholders whose interests have been damaged. In this context, the market demands higher debt levels to solve agency frictions, playing an active role in monitoring the management. Moreover, the demand of higher debt as a control mechanism that minimises the expropriation risk by managers through CSR is lower in contexts of greater investor protection.
Originality/value
The findings reveal that CSR engagement can be explained by the hypothesis of being a strategy of entrenchment and self-defence. Overall, this study differs from previous literature in this field by taking an alternative approach to CSR practices, in contrast to the conventional wisdom of the benefits of CSR practices. The authors contribute by empirically testing the theoretical model proposed by Cespa and Cestone (2007) who suggest the discretionary use of CSR from an agency perspective. They also give empirical relief showing the use of CSR as an entrenchment strategy. Moreover, they demonstrate that the capital market of debt decreases in a context with a greater degree of investor protection, likewise under CSR promoted as an entrenchment tool, the demand for debt as a disciplinary mechanism is less necessary to control managers. In addition, the study is enriched by the database analysis.
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Isabel Ruiz-Mora, Ileana Zeler and Andrea Oliveira
Research on the role of women in Public Relations (PR) has seen a notable increase in recent years (Topić et al., 2019), yet exploratory studies on the subject remain limited…
Abstract
Research on the role of women in Public Relations (PR) has seen a notable increase in recent years (Topić et al., 2019), yet exploratory studies on the subject remain limited, particularly concerning the role of women in the academic sphere of PR in Spain. Guided by the imperative to reflect on the role of PR professionals operating within the Spanish academic landscape, this chapter aims to identify and reflect on the role of women in PR academia in Spain to discover the extent to which women are leading the communication faculties where PR is taught; to identify the presence of women in the departments where communication studies take place and to determine women's leadership in national research activity. This study follows a combined approach with two dimensions, exploratory and interpretative, combining quantitative and qualitative techniques. The interpretative approach is developed using a focus group with women currently working in PR education and leading projects and institutions in the Spanish academia. Through this research, we discover the struggles and opportunities they face and identify possible solutions and ideas to improve the situation of women in academia and, specifically, in PR.
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Adriana I. Martinez Calvit and Donna Y. Ford
The purpose of this paper is to present insights from the implementation of a dialogic social studies curriculum and its potential to support diverse learners. Policymakers and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present insights from the implementation of a dialogic social studies curriculum and its potential to support diverse learners. Policymakers and educators must attend to the learning needs of diverse/minoritized (Note: In this paper, the authors use minoritized and diverse interchangeably) students who have been marginalized in public education. A critical goal is to close racial, ethnic and socioeconomic achievement gaps by increasing, for example, students’ engagement with curriculum and instruction. In this paper, the authors bridge research on dialogic instruction and culturally relevant and responsive education with the goal of informing curricular design and instructional practice.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual paper discusses the utility of dialogic instruction in improving learning outcomes for minoritized student populations. While some researchers have examined the positive effects of dialogic instruction on underperforming students (e.g. Murphy et al., 2009; Pillinger and Vardy, 2022), few scholars have examined dialogic instruction through a culturally relevant and responsive lens. The authors argue that the application of this critical lens may improve learning outcomes for diverse learners who have been marginalized in public education systems.
Findings
The authors present illustrative vignettes and insights from a pilot study of a novel social studies curriculum. This curriculum applies a social justice lens by guiding students in the exploration of complex social issues that affect them. Given the diversity of their collaborating teachers’ classrooms (55% are racially minoritized students), the authors applied principles of culturally relevant and responsive education (e.g. Ford, 2010; Gay, 2000; Ladson-Billings, 1995) when designing and piloting the curriculum. Prior personal and professional experiences by the first author point to the potential of dialogic instruction to meaningfully support minoritized students’ learning.
Originality/value
This paper builds on two bodies of literature – dialogic instruction and culturally relevant and responsive education – to identify how an innovative social studies curriculum may improve learning for diverse student populations. It calls for the advancement of a research agenda that applies a culturally relevant and responsive lens to inform instructional practice. The authors begin this discussion with two vignettes.
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Domingo Martínez-Martínez, Jesús Herrera Madueño, Manuel Larrán Jorge and María Paula Lechuga Sancho
The purpose of this paper is to analyse empirically the corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategic effects on the competitive performance of small- and medium-sized…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse empirically the corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategic effects on the competitive performance of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by performing a multiple mediator analysis.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical research was conducted in Spanish SMEs. A questionnaire was distributed among managers of these companies. Thus, with a final sample of 481 cases and using consistent partial least squares structural equation modelling, direct and mediating effects were tested. In particular, relationships among corporate social performance (CSP) (exogenous variable), competitive performance (endogenous variable), relational marketing (mediating variable) and innovative capacity (mediating variable) were hypothesized. Moreover, a further analysis about the superior returns offered by socially responsible practices related to core business stakeholders was conducted.
Findings
The results highlight a significant and positive effect that CSP has on competitive performance. Additionally, both mediating positive effects were supported and the firm size was checked as a relevant control variable which, as proxy for resources availability, affects all constructs used with the exception of relational marketing. Managers interested in a strategic approach to social responsibility should be aware that the investment in activities related to employees and customers leads to higher competitiveness.
Research limitations/implications
The study was limited to SME in Spain. Moreover, information related to competitive performance was gathered from managers’ own perceptions, considering the performance of their direct competitors as a reference level.
Originality/value
To the authors knowledge, no research studies were found that empirically examined the business case in SMEs and employed a CSR approach based on stakeholders’ perspective. Therefore, the main contribution of this research is to show how socially responsible management of SMEs leads to higher competitive performance both direct and indirectly, using two strategic variables suggested in literature on large corporations. Despite their resources limitations, this kind of organizations is in a favourable position to engage with different stakeholders and benefit from their relationships, especially with employees and customers.
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Inocencia María Martínez‐León and Jose A. Martínez‐García
The aim of this paper is to determine what type of organizational structure provides appropriate conditions for the development of organizational learning.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to determine what type of organizational structure provides appropriate conditions for the development of organizational learning.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach is a research model, which is based on research within the field, using a formative conceptualization for organizational learning.
Findings
The framework makes clear that organizational learning varies according to the kind of structure (organic and mechanistic). The study of the different design variables (specialization, formalization, autonomy, centralization and indoctrination) allows us to deepen our understanding of different organizational learning implications.
Practical implications
Organic structural profile helps favour organizational learning and greater knowledge creation rather than mechanics profile. The critical variables that facilitate learning are centralization and indoctrination.
Originality/value
The article responds to the need to provide empirical evidence about the influence of organizational structure on organizational learning, advancing in the measure of this emergent field of management research, using this formative conceptualization.
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I. Martinez, M.A. Gil and R. Perez
The problem of estimating the information conveyed about a random variable by another one in a population on the basis of a sample drawn at random and with replacement from it was…
Abstract
The problem of estimating the information conveyed about a random variable by another one in a population on the basis of a sample drawn at random and with replacement from it was exhaustively analysed previously. From a theoretical viewpoint, this analysis showed the advantages of the quadratic mutual information against Shannon's mutual information in relation to such a problem. This theoretical conclusion is confirmed from an empirical viewpoint by comparing the population values and estimates for both information measures on the basis of samples obtained from a normal bivariate distribution by a Monte Carlo simulation.
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Duangporn Puttawong and Anusorn Kunanusorn
This study has two objectives:(1) to examine impacts of environmental activity, relational marketing, and corporate green image on firm’s competitive performance; and (2) to…
Abstract
This study has two objectives:(1) to examine impacts of environmental activity, relational marketing, and corporate green image on firm’s competitive performance; and (2) to determine whether relational marketing and corporate green image mediate relationships between environmental activity and firm’s competitive performance. They were data from 375 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of the food processing industry in Bangkok, Thailand. This study also investigates the relationships between environmental activity, green corporate image, relational marketing, and influences of these factors on firm’s competitive performance. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze data. Results reveal significant and positive relationships between environmental activity, green corporate image, relational marketing, and firm’s competitive performance. Moreover, environmental activity, an antecedent variable, indirectly affects a firm’s competitive performance mediated by green corporate image and relational marketing. Therefore, green corporate image and relational marketing can act as mediators between environmental activity and firm’s competitive performance. Findings suggested that firms should focus on improving green corporate image and relational marketing with an appropriate environmental activity strategy to enhance the firm’s competitive performance. Moreover, this study’s result is related to the economics of the environment in terms of cost and benefit. It provides firm’s decision on environmental activity.