Ronald Kuntze, Chen (Ken) Wu, Barbara Ross Wooldridge and Yun-Oh Whang
The purpose of this paper is to develop and test through an experiment, an innovative online video teaching module that significantly improves financial literacy in college of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop and test through an experiment, an innovative online video teaching module that significantly improves financial literacy in college of business students. Specific business major financial literacy levels are also tested.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 244 college of business students were given a financial literacy test. Half of the students were exposed to the “treatment” (watched a video module), while other half were not. The videos comprised 67 min of micro-lectures that students could download, free of charge, at their own convenience. The researchers analyzed the impact of a previous personal finance course on students’ financial literacy levels and tested across four business majors.
Findings
The video intervention was the most successful at increasing financial literacy, surprisingly more so than having taken a past personal finance course. Interaction effects were not significant. Four college majors were tested with a shorter, improved financial literacy measure – finding, to our surprise that non-quantitative business majors (particularly marketing students) are not less financially literate than other majors. Supporting past research, the authors found that female and African-American college students performed significantly lower on the test.
Originality/value
The research adds value to the literature by developing and testing a modern, novel teaching innovation to improve financial literacy in young adults. Using an experimental setting, the authors showed that the innovation was more effective than the commonly proscribed personal finance course. This is one of the few studies to measure financial literacy levels for specific college of business majors.
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Mark S. Rosenbaum, Amy L. Ostrom and Ronald Kuntze
Previous research has explored the impact of customer participation in organizational‐sponsored loyalty programs on customer loyalty; however, the findings are mixed. Other…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous research has explored the impact of customer participation in organizational‐sponsored loyalty programs on customer loyalty; however, the findings are mixed. Other research, outside the loyalty program literature, reveals that customers who socially interact with other customers, via participation in brand communities, often exhibit an intense loyalty to the sponsoring brands. Proposes to investigate the following questions: “Can loyalty programs be differentiated based on whether or not members perceive a sense of community?”; and “Does a perception of a sense of community impact member loyalty to sponsoring organizations?”
Design/methodology/approach
Q‐technique factor analysis is utilized analyzing statements from loyalty program participants. Principal component factor and cluster analyses confirm a two‐tiered classification schema distinguishing loyalty programs based on perceptions of communal benefits. Differences between the two factors are explored. A survey developed from the Q‐sort analysis was then administered to 153 loyalty program participants, providing evidence that consumers are more loyal to communal programs.
Findings
Loyalty programs can be distinguished based on the sense of community which members perceive. Furthermore, consumers are more loyal to communal programs than to programs that simply use financial incentives. Communal programs elicit stronger emotional connections and participants are significantly less predisposed to competitor switching.
Originality/value
This study integrates the theory of sense of community into the marketing literature, also offering researchers a nine‐item, unidimensional scale to measure the construct within the context of loyalty programs. Confusion in the literature regarding the efficacy of loyalty programs is diminished by showing a positive relationship between loyalty and a member's perceptions of community.
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Mike Zundel, Anders La Cour and Ghita Dragsdahl Lauritzen
George Spencer Brown is best known for his book Laws of Form, which elaborates a primary algebra of distinctions and forms capable of dealing with self-referential equations…
Abstract
George Spencer Brown is best known for his book Laws of Form, which elaborates a primary algebra of distinctions and forms capable of dealing with self-referential equations reflective of paradoxes in logic. The book has received little attention in mathematics, but it has greatly influenced cybernetics, communications, and ecological theories. But Spencer Brown also published poetry and stories, often under different names, and he practiced as a psychotherapist. Our chapter elaborates the utility of Laws of Form relating to organizational paradox before considering Spencer Brown’s other works in relation to his mathematics. Invoking philosophy, psychoanalysis and art, we suggest that these indicate a further distinction that sets all forms against the “nothing”: a wholeness or unity from out of which all distinctions, all words, meaning and life – but also all silence, nonsense and death – emerge in paradoxical opposition. Reading Spencer Brown not through the prism of mathematics, but as an evocative invitation to engage with the fissures that animate art and human life, highlights the paradoxical interplay of organization and violence; and how tragedy, suffering, sympathy and love should be more prominent in organizational research.
Abby Griffin and Rachel Worthington
Social psychology has focused on an individual’s reaction to emergencies and witnessing a crime, which has developed theories of bystander intervention and bystander apathy. The…
Abstract
Purpose
Social psychology has focused on an individual’s reaction to emergencies and witnessing a crime, which has developed theories of bystander intervention and bystander apathy. The purpose of this study is to explore why people choose to intervene when they are a bystander to intimate partner violence (IPV) and the psychological processes that underpin this. Decision-making was explored drawing on literature from the whistleblowing field.
Design/methodology/approach
Through a mixed methods epistemology, this study explored factors that explained intervening behaviour concerning IPV. In total, 212 participants who had known someone who was a victim of IPV were recruited from the general population.
Findings
A logistic regression model indicated that conscientiousness and fairness were found to predict intervening behaviour. Being a child witness was found to predict non-intervening behaviour. Qualitative analysis revealed three types of bystander apathy: those who lacked capability as they were children; those who were indifferent and did not see it as their place to intervene; and those who wanted to intervene but did not as they were frightened of exacerbating the situation.
Practical implications
IPV has significant physical and psychological effects on victims. However, the choice to intervene is complex, and bystander intervention in this study was also associated in some cases with not only a continuation of the IPV behaviour towards the victim but also aggression and physical violence towards the bystander (whistleblower retaliation). Based on the findings of this study, recommendations are made for how to support bystanders and victims of IPV.
Originality/value
This study involved participants with real-life experience of being a bystander to IPV. The mixed methodology provided an insight into the psychological processes, which underpin bystander experiences of IPV and maps onto the literature in relation to whistleblowing.
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Andrew D. Chambers and Marjan Odar
The purpose of this paper is to explore how internal auditing may recover from being one of the corporate governance gatekeepers that failed to prevent the global financial…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how internal auditing may recover from being one of the corporate governance gatekeepers that failed to prevent the global financial crisis.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws on the theory of professions and provides a brief analysis of internal auditing history, ending with an appraisal of contemporary status.
Findings
Internal auditing has not been “fit for purpose” and can be enhanced. Low expectations of internal audit are currently addressed by enhanced guidelines from a number of parties. Internal audit needs to move firmly into the corporate governance space – to audit corporate governance more effectively and to provide more dependable assurance to boards.
Practical implications
The global Institute of Internal Auditors can use recent enhanced internal auditing guidelines as a springboard to regain their lead. Internal audit needs to cut the umbilical cord that ties it to management. The accepted “dual reporting” of internal audit is flawed.
Social implications
Society cedes professional status to an occupational group when it is in society’s best interests to do so. An attribute of a profession is its accent on serving the public interest. It is unsatisfactory that, five years after the global financial crisis broke, the international Standards for internal auditing still do not articulate the correct professional conduct on making external disclosures in the public interest when internal auditors are aware of serious wrongdoing not satisfactorily addressed internally.
Originality/value
This paper comprises a conceptual analysis to challenge the internal audit profession.
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Arpita Agnihotri and Saurabh Bhattacharya
The purpose of this study is to explore how institutional trust, frugality and materialism motivate consumers’ unethical behavior.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore how institutional trust, frugality and materialism motivate consumers’ unethical behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted the study in two phases – qualitative and quantitative. In the qualitative phase through a content analysis of semi-structured interviews, a list of unethical activities was obtained. In the quantitative phase, a questionnaire was developed, which had questions related to the unethical activities. Data collection for the quantitative phase was achieved through mall intercept surveys. The collected data were subjected to exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and multivariate regression analysis.
Findings
Poor institutional environment, frugal attitude and materialistic values motivate consumers from an emerging economy to indulge in unethical acts some of which were not explored before such as booking a cab but not boarding or stealing electricity.
Originality/value
Research evidence on unethical consumer behavior is lacking from emerging markets. Furthermore, extant studies have used mainly national culture models to explore unethical behavior, and finally, the role of institutional trust and frugality has not been explored in previous studies. The present study tries to fill these gaps by considering these elements as the cornerstone of this study.