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Article
Publication date: 1 February 2002

Chad Perry, Angele Cavaye and Len Coote

Most research about relationships and networks concentrates on social bonds such as trust and commitment. Little research considers technical bonds and how they interact with…

3358

Abstract

Most research about relationships and networks concentrates on social bonds such as trust and commitment. Little research considers technical bonds and how they interact with social bonds within a relationship. Thus this research investigates how technical bonds of information technology link with social bonds in the relationship between two organisations in a business system, in particular, between a franchisor and franchisees within a franchise system. First, a framework of the structure of a relationship between business alliance partners was synthesised from the business‐to‐business literature. Then Australian franchisors were surveyed about the effects of their investments in information technology upon their franchisor‐franchisee relationship. Structural equation modelling techniques were used to analyse the survey data. The results provided support for the framework, with the franchisor’s increased technical competence from information technology improving the social bonds in a relationship but those bonds being secondary to further technical investment. An implication for managers is that investments in information technology operate through the social bonds within their business.

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Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 17 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

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Article
Publication date: 8 February 2016

Ravi Pappu and Pascale G. Quester

This paper aims to examine how consumers’ perceptions of innovativeness affect an important brand performance metric: consumer brand loyalty. Specifically, the mediating role of…

17089

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine how consumers’ perceptions of innovativeness affect an important brand performance metric: consumer brand loyalty. Specifically, the mediating role of perceived quality in this relationship is explained using signaling theory.

Design/methodology/approach

The conceptual model was tested in two empirical studies for three global consumer electronics brands in two product categories. Data were collected using a mall-intercept approach from consumers at a major shopping precinct in a metropolitan city. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results provide compelling evidence for the proposed mediation relationship. Study 1 shows that perceived quality fully transmits the impact of brand innovativeness on to brand loyalty. Study 2 confirms this mediation relationship.

Practical implications

The results can help product managers in their brand management and promotion of new products.

Originality/value

Emerging research on consumer-level effects of innovativeness provides conflicting advice regarding how consumers’ perceptions of brand innovativeness affect intangible assets such as loyalty toward the brand. The present research reconciles contradictory findings in the literature by uncovering a different route through which consumer perceptions of brand innovativeness affect a key brand performance metric: brand loyalty. Specifically, the present study fills an important knowledge gap in the innovativeness literature and deepens our understanding of the relationship between brand innovativeness and brand loyalty by empirically examining and confirming the role of a hereto overlooked intervening variable, perceived quality.

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European Journal of Marketing, vol. 50 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

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Article
Publication date: 1 April 2005

Lynn M. Martin and Len Tiu Wright

To explore how information communication technologies (ICT) and the internet offer new opportunities for women to develop as entrepreneurs and innovators. To add to the literature…

3933

Abstract

Purpose

To explore how information communication technologies (ICT) and the internet offer new opportunities for women to develop as entrepreneurs and innovators. To add to the literature and provide updated research to raise awareness about female‐run ICT small businesses.

Design/methodology/approach

Uses qualitative research methodology for case studies of female entrepreneurs and thematic grid analysis to form a major part of text analysis. The approach is influenced by the need to examine closely the nature of the enterprises or phenomena under investigation and to ask pertinent questions related to their particular mode of operations.

Findings

Shows the background of small firm development and innovation as well as personal and company characteristics, personal contacts and IT networking in obtaining information and customers. Reflects also the concern of female entrepreneurs from ethnic minorities in gaining financial backing and recognition of themselves as committed and successful entrepreneurs.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation is the small size of the sample (ten firms). There are implications for further work on gender analysis. The sample, though small, has contributed insights into the challenges facing women entrepreneurs in business and questioned the constraints on ethnicity for others. Technology is a great equaliser and the research has added further discussion on the economic contribution of female entrepreneurs.

Practical implications

Shows guidance on qualitative analysis using personal interviews and thematic grid analysis of textual data, as well as presenting findings.

Originality/value

Contributes to the literature due to the scarcity of publications concerning female‐operated ICT small businesses. The paper is useful for researchers wishing to pursue entrepreneurship and gender studies.

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 11 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

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Article
Publication date: 1 November 1924

1. Preservatives should be prohibited in all articles of food and drink offered or exposed for sale whether manufactured in this country or imported, except that—(a) Sulphur…

28

Abstract

1. Preservatives should be prohibited in all articles of food and drink offered or exposed for sale whether manufactured in this country or imported, except that—(a) Sulphur dioxide only should be permitted, (1) in sausages in amounts not exceeding three grains per pound, (2) in jam in amounts not exceeding 0·3 grains per pound, (3) in dried fruit in amounts not exceeding seven grains per pound, (4) in preserved (but not dried) whole fruit or fruit pulp in amounts not exceeding five grains per pound, (5) in beer and cider whether in bottle or in cask in amounts not exceeding five grains per gallon, (6) in alcoholic wines, non‐alcoholic wines, and cordials and fruit juices sweetened and unsweetened in amounts not exceeding three grains per pint; (b) Benzoic acid only should be permitted (1) in coffee extract in amounts not exceeding three grains per pound, (2) in non‐alcoholic wines and cordials and sweetened and unsweetened fruit juices (as an alternative to sulphur dioxide) in amounts not exceeding five grains per pint, (3) in sweetened mineral waters and in brewed ginger beer in amounts not exceeding one grain per pint. The methods of estimating the foregoing preservatives should be prescribed by the Minister of Health.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 26 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

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Article
Publication date: 1 February 1934

OUR pages continue the discussion on book‐display, about which all has not been said by any means. The ingenious librarian will always sharpen his wits upon the attracting of…

48

Abstract

OUR pages continue the discussion on book‐display, about which all has not been said by any means. The ingenious librarian will always sharpen his wits upon the attracting of readers, and the main problem in the matter is merely: what sort of reader is it most desirable to attract? We do not apologise for this reiteration, because it is the fundamental subject now facing librarians. We are not in the least moved by a comment in a contemporary that we are decrying libraries when we assert, and in spite of him we do assert, that fiction issues nearly all over London show a decline. That decline, we repeat, is due to the slight increase in the employment of readers, and to cheap fiction libraries. What the public librarian has to decide is if he shall compete with such libraries or more definitely diverge from them. If a middle course is preferred—as it usually is by Britons—what is that course? Ultimately, is the educated reader to be the standard for whom the library works, or the uneducated? Or, to put it another way, is the librarian in any way responsible for the quality of the books his community reads? Our readers, young and not so young, are invited to help us to answers to these live questions.

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New Library World, vol. 36 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4803

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Article
Publication date: 1 January 1933

THE article which we publish from the pen of Mr. L. Stanley Jast is the first of many which we hope will come from his pen, now that he has release from regular library duties…

63

Abstract

THE article which we publish from the pen of Mr. L. Stanley Jast is the first of many which we hope will come from his pen, now that he has release from regular library duties. Anything that Mr. Jast has to say is said with originality even if the subject is not original; his quality has always been to give an independent and novel twist to almost everything he touches. We think our readers will find this to be so when he touches the important question of “The Library and Leisure.”

Details

New Library World, vol. 35 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4803

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Article
Publication date: 1 September 2006

Guilherme D. Pires, John Stanton and Paulo Rita

Arguing that increasing use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is shifting market power from suppliers to consumers, the ensuing consumer empowerment is presented…

25173

Abstract

Purpose

Arguing that increasing use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is shifting market power from suppliers to consumers, the ensuing consumer empowerment is presented as an unintended consequence of marketing. Marketing implications arising from this consumer empowerment are examined in terms of a process where control and management by suppliers over consumer access and enablement are increasingly difficult.

Design/methodology/approach

Consumer empowerment is examined historically, using quality gap analysis to capture an ongoing power struggle between consumers and suppliers. This draws out the limitations of current marketing and management strategies. The different forms of marketing challenges in this new environment are discussed.

Findings

The role of marketing strategies in fostering controlled consumer empowerment is reflected in the development of information‐based consumer‐centric marketing strategies that seek to enable and control delegation. In designing such strategies, consumers' familiarity with and use of ICT are both strengthened and widened, emphasising the uncontrolled nature of the consumer empowerment process.

Research limitations/implications

The approach is literature‐based, focussing on the ICT enabled process. It does not address the psychology of empowerment. Since, consumer empowerment may imply switching suppliers in search of better value propositions, business cannot afford to ignore it, justifying the need for further research of both elements.

Practical implications

Marketing strategy rests on a control premise and the analysis of the consumer empowerment process implies that current customer‐centric strategies are operating under a false premise. There is a need to regain control over the marketing process, that is, to either manage the technological empowerment of consumers, or to devise new strategies cognisant of the possibility that such technological empowerment cannot be managed. The valuation of consumer loyalty in this environment rises significantly.

Originality/value

An historical perspective to consumer empowerment exposes the tensions between suppliers and consumers arising from ICT usage. A separation of consumer access and enablement from control and management by suppliers is shown to have important marketing strategy design implications.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 40 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

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Article
Publication date: 11 July 2022

Yi-Hsin Lin, Wenqing Han, Chan Joong Kim, Li Jiang and Nini Xia

The purpose of this paper is to verify the mediating role of commitment between market-oriented organizational culture and international market performance, and to discuss the…

594

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to verify the mediating role of commitment between market-oriented organizational culture and international market performance, and to discuss the moderator effect of national institutional environment on this mediating role.

Design/methodology/approach

The research design follows a mixed methodology, combining qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. In the first phase, research hypotheses are proposed based on a literature analysis. In the second phase, sample data are collected through interviews and questionnaires sent to domestic contractors in China and South Korea, and a validity analysis of the results is carried out. Correlation and regression analyses are then performed on the valid data to verify hypotheses to prove the existence and influence of mediating effects. Hayes PROCESS Macro is used on the regression results to test the mediating effect of commitment on international project performance and the moderation effect of institutional environment.

Findings

The results reveal that the commitment between partners has a mediating effect on the relationship between market culture and international project performance; however, no hierarchy culture is revealed. The mediating effect of commitment is regulated by the institutional environment.

Research limitations/implications

Although the reliability and validity of the questionnaire data in this study are in line with research standards, a larger sample size would improve the reliability of the results. Further, the interviewed samples are mainly from China and South Korea; large representative samples from additional countries, such as Japan, should be considered to gain a fuller understanding and more comprehensive results.

Originality/value

By emphasizing the differences between the two institutional environments of developing and developed countries in East Asia, a theoretical and empirical basis is provided. International construction enterprises in other countries can apply the findings to improve their international market performance in different institutional environments. The findings also provide an empirical reference that international construction enterprises in China and South Korea may use to adjust their organizational cultures and commitments to improve market performance.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 30 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

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