Kent Byus and William L. Lomerson
While the marketing concept provides the strategic motivation that continues to turn American business towards the marketplace, little attempt has been made to create a metric…
Abstract
While the marketing concept provides the strategic motivation that continues to turn American business towards the marketplace, little attempt has been made to create a metric that is specifically intended to reflect the role and importance of the consumer on improved organizational performance, especially when evaluating intangibles as services and intellectual contribution. Traditionally, productivity measures have been used to evaluate performance improvement that are internally originated and not externally oriented, as suggested by the marketing concept. Therefore, productivity measurement generally fails to measure the customer/consumer originated value developed by service processes and does not account for performance improvement due to other highly intangible factors such as quality or difficult to quantify consumer benefits. Herein, customer/consumer originated value is explored as a basis for organization wide performance measurement that is synchronous with the market driven directive: customer focus. The authors present a theoretical framework that develops and supports the use of value based performance measures.
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Karen L. Middleton and Kent Byus
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of Hispanic ethnicity on the adoption and use of information and communication technology (ICT) tools by small‐ and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of Hispanic ethnicity on the adoption and use of information and communication technology (ICT) tools by small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in a southwestern renewal community (RC).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper investigates the influence of ethnicity on the adoption and use of information and communications technologies in small and medium enterprises using a sample from the RC of a large southwestern metroplex.
Findings
Results point to a continuing digital divide among Hispanic and non‐Hispanic SME owners. Non‐Hispanic SME owners were found to be much more likely to adopt a wider range of ICTs and to use them for both administrative and analytical purposes. Hispanic SME owners not only failed to adopt a full range of ICTs but also they were less likely to use ICTs for long‐term strategic analyses.
Originality/value
The differences presented in this paper suggest that Hispanic SME owners may not be exploiting ICTs in order to achieve optimal operating efficiency and strategic effectiveness. The outcomes are particularly alarming because SMEs in RC areas have been the target of federal efforts to raise business productivity and profitability. The continuing digital divide may be undermining the very polices designed to enhance business operations in these relatively disadvantaged urban areas.
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Rizwan Ali, Yanping Liu, Ramiz Ur Rehman and Muhammad Akram Naseem
This study investigates the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure and financial performance (FP), and ascertains whether ownership structure (OS…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure and financial performance (FP), and ascertains whether ownership structure (OS) moderates the CSR disclosure–FP nexus.
Design/methodology/approach
We distinctly employed the well-established approach of panel data analysis to examine the comprehensive dataset of Shanghai A-share listed firms from 2008 to 2017 with 20,236-full sample and 4,190-disclosed sample firm-year observations. To test the hypotheses, the study used panel regression analysis. The study used CSR disclosure as an explanatory variable and accounting-based performance measures: return on equity (ROE) and earning per share (EPS) as dependent variables. In addition, we used CSR score to determine the extent of disclosure by each firm and employed matched pair sample analysis to check for the robustness of the earlier obtained results.
Findings
The findings indicate significant positive association among CSR disclosure and CSR score with ROE and EPS. Further, the CSR disclosure–FP nexus is more pronounced when the OS moderates it.
Research limitations/implications
The results of this study lack generalizability due to its unique setting. A limitation of this paper is that our sample period only covers 2008–2017. Future studies can extend our research to a more recent period to test whether our findings remain valid in other periods.
Practical implications
Our findings suggest stronger CSR disclosure measures to enhance the image of businesses in the eyes of stakeholders. The study findings are consistent and confirm the theoretical basis (stakeholder theory) that Chinese listed firms can be more beneficial from disclosing CSR related information, and they should put more emphasis on the improvement of CSR disclosure.
Originality/value
This research offers empirical evidence that sheds light on the importance of OS as the moderating effect on the nexus of CSR disclosure–FP measures. In doing so, this study’s findings contribute to the literature significantly, along with the regulators and shareholders.