Rosalind Heather Whiting, Paul Hansen and Anindya Sen
The purpose of this paper is to develop a rating and scoring tool for measuring small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) reputation, engagement and goodwill (REG), including internet…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a rating and scoring tool for measuring small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) reputation, engagement and goodwill (REG), including internet presence and following on social media, by an exploratory study undertaken in New Zealand.
Design/methodology/approach
A discrete choice experiment (DCE) applying the PAPRIKA method via an online survey was conducted to determine weights representing the relative importance of six indicators related to SMEs’ REG. Usable responses were received from 159 people involved with SMEs. Cluster analysis to identify participants with similar patterns of weights was performed.
Findings
The six indicators, in decreasing order of importance (mean weights in parentheses), are: “captured” customer opinions about the business (0.28); contact with customer database (0.19); website traffic (0.16); Google Search ranking (0.15); size of customer database, (0.11); and following on social media (0.11). These indicators and weights can be used to rate and score individual SMEs. The cluster analysis indicates that participants’ age has some influence on their weights.
Research limitations/implications
Only 159 usable responses for the DCE.
Practical implications
The indicators and their weights provide a practical and inexpensive tool for measuring SMEs’ REG.
Originality/value
This is the first study to use a DCE to determine weights representing the relative importance of indicators included in a tool for measuring SMEs’ REG. The tool is innovative because it includes readily available indicators of firms’ internet presence and following on social media.
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Keywords
Pallab Kumar Biswas, Helen Roberts and Rosalind Heather Whiting
This paper aims to investigate the impact of female director affiliations to governing families on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures in the context of Bangladeshi…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the impact of female director affiliations to governing families on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures in the context of Bangladeshi firms.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a quantitative empirical research method grounded in Socioemotional Wealth (SEW) theory. Data was sourced from Bangladeshi publicly listed non-financial sector companies’ annual reports and stock exchange trading and publication reports and consists of 2,637 firm-year observations from 1996 to 2011. Pooled multivariate regression models are used to test the association between corporate social and environmental disclosure and female directors, and the family affiliation (or not) of those directors.
Findings
The findings provide strong evidence that female directors who are affiliated to the governing family, founders and other board members reduce CSR disclosure in family firms; unaffiliated female board directors enhance CSR disclosure, and this effect is significant in both family and non-family firms.
Research limitations/implications
Definitions of family firms and affiliated directors may lead to over-generalization in the results.
Originality/value
The study highlights variation in the nature of female board appointments in emerging market family-controlled firms. The findings bring attention to the role of affiliated female director appointments in family ownership structures and speak directly to family business owners, advisors and policy makers about the importance of unaffiliated female directors as catalysts of improved CSR disclosure in family and non-family firms.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the changes in gender‐biased employment practices that it is perceived have occurred in New Zealand accountancy workplaces over the last 30…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the changes in gender‐biased employment practices that it is perceived have occurred in New Zealand accountancy workplaces over the last 30 years, using Oliver's model of deinstitutionalization.
Design/methodology/approach
Sequential interviewing was carried out with 69 experienced chartered accountants and three human resource managers, and at a later date with nine young female accountants.
Findings
Evidence is presented of perceived political, functional and social pressures cumulatively contributing to deinstitutionalization of overt gender‐biased employment practices, with social and legislative changes being the most influential. Deinstitutionalization appears incomplete as some more subtle gender‐biased practices still remain in New Zealand's accountancy workplaces, relating particularly to senior‐level positions.
Research limitations/implications
This study adds to understanding of how professions evolve. The purposeful bias in the sample selection, the small size of two of the interviewee groups, and the diversity in the interviewees' workplaces are recognized limitations.
Practical implications
Identification of further cultural change is required to deinstitutionalize the more subtle gender‐biased practices in accountancy organizations. This could help to avoid a serious deficiency of senior chartered accountants in practice in the future.
Originality/value
This paper represents one of a limited number of empirical applications of the deinstitutionalization model to organizational change and is the first to address the issue of gender‐biased practices in a profession. The use of sequential interviewing of different age groups, in order to identify and corroborate perceptions of organizational change is a novel approach.