Gang Chen, Luke L. Mao, Nathan David Pifer and James J. Zhang
This study investigated the effectiveness and applicability of China’s innovation-driven policies on encouraging sports firms to invest in research and development (R&D…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigated the effectiveness and applicability of China’s innovation-driven policies on encouraging sports firms to invest in research and development (R&D) activities.
Design/methodology/approach
Through a series of multiple linear regression models, this study examined the direct and interaction effects of innovation-driven polices and firm characteristics on R&D investment for sport firms listed on the New Third Board in China.
Findings
Results showed that financing constraints and certification as a high-tech enterprise were not themselves significant predictors of R&D investment; instead, the number of R&D staff and a firm's total assets were identified as key internal factors predicting the level of a firm's R&D investment. Other effective policy tools for stimulating Chinese sport firms' R&D investments included pre-tax deductions of R&D expenses, government R&D subsidies and income tax relief for high-tech enterprises, although their effects were heterogeneous.
Research limitations/implications
This study observes a new theoretical discovery that when the financing constraints do not limit R&D investment, innovation-driven strategies remain effective tools to stimulate the R&D investment of sports firms.
Practical implications
The findings provided practical guidance for both government–industry policymakers and sport business managers to prioritize the identified areas of significance when promoting R&D.
Originality/value
First, this study focused on sport firms, which constitute a quickly growing industrial sector in China. The findings offered important insights for the government as well as corporate management with regard to promoting new industries and new enterprises. Second, this paper analyzed the effects of three special innovation-driven policies on R&D investment and explored enterprise innovation development in more detail. Third, this paper discussed not only the effects of innovation-driven policies on R&D investment but also the heterogeneity of their effects. The related conclusions could help improve the development, implementation and assessment of innovation-driven policies.
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Yan Wang, James J. Zhang, Nathan David Pifer and Minkil Kim
The purpose of this paper is to examine the key factors that affect the formulation of regional strategies for developing and advancing the sport industry in China.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the key factors that affect the formulation of regional strategies for developing and advancing the sport industry in China.
Design/methodology/approach
Guided by the comparative advantage theory, qualitative and quantitative research procedures were carried out to analyze the variables that were deemed necessary for the development of regional advantages.
Findings
The findings of this study indicated the importance and relevance of understanding these comparative advantage factors when developing regional strategies for sport development in China or other countries with a developing economy.
Research limitations/implications
This study was largely exploratory in nature, meaning that future confirmatory studies are necessary in order to solidify the results and to encompass the wide-ranging diversity of the total sport industry.
Practical implications
The study provided practical implications for other countries to address the needs to discern among varying sectors of the sport industry and prioritize factors that are specific to regions, communities, and local environments in the strategic planning process.
Originality/value
The findings of this study highlighted the importance and relevance of four comparative advantage factors and the varying sectors of the sport industry variables in the region.
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Liangjun Zhou, Jerred Junqi Wang, Xiaoying Chen, Beth Cianfrone and Nathan David Pifer
Since 2014, “sport for all” has been promoted as a new national strategy in China, which injects powerful dynamism and vitality for its development in numerous aspects. However…
Abstract
Purpose
Since 2014, “sport for all” has been promoted as a new national strategy in China, which injects powerful dynamism and vitality for its development in numerous aspects. However, there has been very little feedback on sport service provision in community, and the satisfaction level of community participants is largely unmeasured. To promote physical and mental health of residents and form a stronger foundation of sport culture, more attention should be directed to community sports. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of community-sport service provisions on participants’ satisfaction and, in turn, on their sport participation behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
Community-sport program participants in China (n=576) responded to a survey measuring the proposed concepts.
Findings
Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that community-sport services in the areas of sport facility, grassroots sport organizations and sport activity programs had strong influences on participant satisfaction and, in turn, their desire for participation, which highlighted the demand for high-quality sport service provision by community.
Originality/value
The study contributed to the literature by proposing two clear dimensions (core sport service and peripheral sport service) for the measurement of public sport service provision in community sports. A second theoretical contribution of the study relates to the clarification of the relationship between the two dimensions of community-sport service provision (both core and peripheral services) and community participants’ satisfaction levels.
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Thomas Alexander Baker III, Xindan Liu, Natasha T. Brison and Nathan David Pifer
For this study, the Jordan case provided the context for investigating Chinese trademark law with the purpose of answering how and why Jordan lost the legal rights to the Chinese…
Abstract
Purpose
For this study, the Jordan case provided the context for investigating Chinese trademark law with the purpose of answering how and why Jordan lost the legal rights to the Chinese version of his name in China. The results from that investigation were used to better explain the phenomena of transliteration and trademark squatting in relation to sport brands and athletes. The purpose of this paper is to formulate suggestions for protecting sport brands and athletes from trademark squatting in China.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used traditional legal methodology to investigate the influence of transliteration on trademark squatting in China based on the real-life context provided by the facts in Jordan. First, all reported materials from Chinese courts on the Jordan case were collected and analyzed by the research team, which included an investigator who is fluent in Chinese. Second, the authors conducted a collection, review, and analysis of China’s trademark law, the international trademark law that controls court decisions in China, and the literature on trademark squatting in China. The results from the investigations were used to formulate a description of Jordan that details how the process of transliteration facilitates trademark squatting in China.
Findings
The findings revealed a loophole within the Chinese administration of trademark regulation through which trademark squatters use the process of transliteration to infringe on trademark rights belonging to senior, foreign brands. Furthermore, the findings lead us to suggest that sport brands are particularly vulnerable to this type of trademark squatting in China. In Jordan, Qiaodan Sports exploited the transliteration loophole to obtain trademark ownership of Qiaodan to the detriment of Brand Jordan and, to a lesser extent, Chinese consumers.
Research limitations/implications
This study contributes to the literature by conceptualizing a “transliteration loophole” that facilitates trademark squatting in China. Further, this is the first study to focus on how the concepts of transliteration and trademark squatting influence celebrity athletes and sport brands.
Practical implications
For foreign celebrity athletes and sport brands, the case should alert them of their vulnerability to trademark squatting of transliterations assigned to them by sport broadcasters or sport consumers in China. For instructors of sport law and sport marketing courses, the Jordan case provides teachable lessons on the value of trademark, the process of trademark squatting, and the process of transliteration and its relation to trademark squatting in China.
Social implications
Socially, studies in trademark squatting and Chinese trademark law are needed as China continues to expand its intellectual property regulations. The People’s Republic of China started regulating trademarks in the 1980s and since then, there have been three major modifications. Still, controversies exist in terms of trademark squatting of foreign brands and research is needed to better understand why this happens, and how it can be avoided.
Originality/value
The focus on sport as well as the suggestions offered for sport brands and celebrity athletes makes this study the first of its kind within the literature on trademark squatting in China. The importance and impact of the Jordan case is one that attracts attention and should result in significant impact in the literature and practical impact for the field.
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Heather M. Meyer, Richard Mocarski, Natalie R. Holt, Debra A. Hope and Nathan Woodruff
Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals who choose to begin a gender affirmation journey often find the experience challenging. This can be a highly stigmatized process…
Abstract
Purpose
Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals who choose to begin a gender affirmation journey often find the experience challenging. This can be a highly stigmatized process, and TGD consumers must strategically interact with brands and products to successfully construct authentic identities. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to obtain a better understanding of the TGD individual’s identity transformation within the consumption context.
Design/methodology/approach
Interviews were conducted with 27 TGD individuals about their gender affirmation journeys. The process of in vivo coding and thematic coding were applied for inductive analysis. Through subsequent analysis, parities with concepts from stigma management theory and Alvesson’s (2010) self-identity metaphors were identified.
Findings
The results of this study illustrated seven themes of TGD consumption patterns in relation to the gender affirmation journey. Awakening marks the watershed realization of a TGD identity, a cessation of some consumption habits and an emergence of new ones. Exhibiting is a form of information control and often transpired with new clothing purchases. Shifting one’s name and pronouns on identification documents is a means of covering. Remaking typically involves the procurement of medical services such as hormonal prescriptions and/or surgical procedures. Disclosing to individuals in one’s reference groups is a method of assessing (and maintaining) the wise, the curious and the oblivious. Rebelling against the stereotypes of masculinity and femininity in media portrayals and leisure activities is a technique to express one’s eccentricity and quirkiness. Finally, releasing describes the potentially waning TGD label and a somewhat stabilizing pattern of consumption. A model of TGD consumers is presented, and key assertions are discussed.
Originality
The variety and complexity of consumer purchases associated with gender affirmation journeys were investigated, and it was revealed that many of these consumption choices aided in the TGD individual’s stigma management as well. The key assertions presented here progress the literature on gender affirmation journeys by predicting patterns of consumption.
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Maura Borrego, David B. Knight and Nathan Hyungsok Choe
The purpose of this study is to better understand the nature of graduate training experiences in research groups and to identify factors that may lead to increased student…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to better understand the nature of graduate training experiences in research groups and to identify factors that may lead to increased student retention and success.
Design/methodology/approach
Surveys administered at four US universities resulted in quantitative responses from 130 Master’s and 702 doctoral engineering students participating in graduate research groups. Missing data were imputed, and responses were weighted by gender, discipline, degree program and nationality. Exploratory factor analysis identified four factors describing research group experiences. Regression models were built for two outcomes: satisfaction with research group experience and intention to complete degree. Control variables included gender, discipline, degree program, nationality, year in program and institution.
Findings
Fifty-five per cent of the variance in satisfaction was described by a model including agency, support, international diversity and group climate. Sixty-five per cent of variance in intent to complete was described by a model comprising international diversity, agency and support. Several control variables were significant.
Originality/value
Agency and support in particular were the most influential predictors of both satisfaction and intention, suggesting that future efforts should emphasize stable funding, clear expectations, access to mentors and agency-building experiences to help students take an active role in their own success.