Milad Dehghani, Atefeh Mashatan and Ryan William Kennedy
Understanding a technology’s patent landscape, including patent strategies, helps organizations position themselves regarding their innovation and provides insight about a…
Abstract
Purpose
Understanding a technology’s patent landscape, including patent strategies, helps organizations position themselves regarding their innovation and provides insight about a technology’s future direction. This study aims to provide an overview of the blockchain technology patenting trends and outlines an exploratory framework of patenting strategies for blockchain.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 3,234 registered patents are analyzed to determine the geographical distribution and identify key actors patenting around the globe. In addition, an empirical study consisting of multiple case studies in the form of ten in-depth interviews with owners/managers of organizations based in North America was conducted to understand organizations’ strategies for patenting the blockchain technology.
Findings
Several novel insights regarding the strategies are used for blockchain technology patenting. For example, the existence of strong anti-patent sentiment which results in a lack of patenting by start-up organizations or has led to a form of open source patenting strategy. Larger organizations appear to be patenting defensively, and small to medium organizations are primarily patenting to defend their competitive advantage.
Practical implications
Start-up organizations harboring anti-patent sentiment should consider the open-source patenting strategy to ensure that the collaborative innovation network can continue. They should also consider collaborating with other actors within the network to have a competitive position in the market.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to conduct an empirical study with organizations currently using the blockchain technology to understand patenting strategies used for blockchain.
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Eric Kennedy and Francisco Guzmán
This paper aims to examine the impact that brand transgressions, and the effect of an apology or lack thereof, have on consumers’ intentions to co-create with a brand, perceived…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the impact that brand transgressions, and the effect of an apology or lack thereof, have on consumers’ intentions to co-create with a brand, perceived brand equity and brand love, and compares these effects on brands that are viewed positively versus brands that are viewed negatively.
Design/methodology/approach
Two studies were deployed. In the first study, a 2 × 2 between subjects factorial design using fictitious brands is used to test the hypotheses. The second study seeks to replicate the findings of the first study by using a brand connected to a real retailer.
Findings
Regardless of a brand issuing an apology or not, co-creation, higher perceived brand equity and increased levels of brand love, are more likely to occur when a consumer views a brand as being positive versus negative. However, the results vary when the consumer has a prior level of knowledge and a stronger relationship with a brand.
Research limitations/implications
This paper focuses on consumers between the ages of 18 and 29 years. While the findings of Study 1 are mostly replicated in Study 2, a more generalizable sample could create additional insights into the impact of brand transgressions and issuing or not an apology.
Originality/value
The findings of this paper add to the current literature on co-creation, brand equity, brand love and theory of reasoned action, in terms of the impact of an apology, or lack thereof, on brand transgressions and consequent consumer responses.
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Sexual crime in the Irish Free State was more than an issue of law, it carried ideological importance in a nation that legitimised itself as a beacon of Celtic Catholicism whilst…
Abstract
Sexual crime in the Irish Free State was more than an issue of law, it carried ideological importance in a nation that legitimised itself as a beacon of Celtic Catholicism whilst struggling to maintain credibility in a contested post-colonial landscape. The nation’s police force, An Garda Síochána, had a central role in preserving the nation’s reputation for piety. This chapter explores the views of two of An Garda Síochána’s most senior officers regarding female sexuality and sexual crime; features that were to influence the level of protection and justice Ireland’s women and children were afforded under law.
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Holger Joerg Schmidt, Nicholas Ind, Francisco Guzmán and Eric Kennedy
This paper aims to shed light on the emerging position of companies taking stances on sociopolitical issues and the impact this has on consumers.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to shed light on the emerging position of companies taking stances on sociopolitical issues and the impact this has on consumers.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses focus groups, interviews and consumer experiments in various countries, to provide insights as to why brands are taking sociopolitical stances.
Findings
Consumers expect brands to take a stance on sociopolitical issues. However, to be credible, a stance needs to be rooted in a long-term commitment that aligns with the brand’s strategy and values. Perceived authenticity is key.
Research limitations/implications
Future studies should aim at broader generalizability and should address various industries.
Practical implications
Differentiating a brand through a sociopolitical stance requires a strategic approach. Brand managers need to identify which issues they should support, how to engage with them and the risks and opportunities involved.
Originality/value
While the impact of brands adopting a sociopolitical stance has been discussed in the mainstream media, there has been a lack of empirical evidence to support the arguments. The results of the four studies discussed in the paper provide insights and demonstrate the brand-related opportunities and risks of taking a sociopolitical stance.
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Ryan Musselman and William J. Becker
This paper utilizes generativity to explore the relationship between mentoring support and organizational identification, turnover intention and reciprocated mentoring in protégés.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper utilizes generativity to explore the relationship between mentoring support and organizational identification, turnover intention and reciprocated mentoring in protégés.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper used a cross-sectional design with surveys administered to 351 working adults in the USA to test the hypotheses on the relationship between mentoring and turnover intention through organizational identification with first-stage moderation of generativity.
Findings
Employees who were high in generativity, mentoring support was positively associated with organizational identification and negatively associated with turnover intentions. Generativity was also positively related to reciprocated mentoring through the choice to mentor others, the number of mentees and the mentoring support provided.
Practical implications
The authors' results suggest organizations receive the greatest benefits when providing mentoring support to generative employees.
Originality/value
This study applies generativity to the context of mentoring by exploring the impact of mentoring support on identification with the organization, turnover intentions and willingness to mentor others by comparing the conditional effects of high generativity versus low generativity.
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The study of markets encompasses a number of disciplines – including anthropology, economics, history, and sociology – and a larger number of theoretical frameworks (see Plattner…
Abstract
The study of markets encompasses a number of disciplines – including anthropology, economics, history, and sociology – and a larger number of theoretical frameworks (see Plattner, 1989; Reddy, 1984; Smelser & Swedberg, 1994). Despite this disciplinary and theoretical diversity, scholarship on markets tends toward either realist or constructionist accounts (Dobbin, 1994; Dowd & Dobbin, forthcoming).1 Realist accounts treat markets as extant arenas that mostly (or should) conform to a singular ideal-type. Realists thus take the existence of markets as given and examine factors that supposedly shape all markets in a similar fashion. When explaining market outcomes, they tout such factors as competition, demand, and technology; moreover, they can treat the impact of these factors as little influenced by context. Constructionist accounts treat markets as emergent arenas that result in a remarkable variety of types. They problematize the existence of markets and examine how contextual factors contribute to this variety. When explaining market outcomes, some show that social relations and/or cultural assumptions found in a particular setting can qualify the impact of competition (Uzzi, 1997), demand (Peiss, 1998), and technology (Fischer, 1992). Constructionists thus stress the contingent, rather than universal, processes that shape markets.
In the US minimum wages were initially enacted by individual states, beginning with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1912. These laws were modeled on legislation enacted over…
Abstract
In the US minimum wages were initially enacted by individual states, beginning with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1912. These laws were modeled on legislation enacted over the previous two decades in Australia, New Zealand, and England (Fisher, 1926, chap. 8; Hammond, 1915, 1913; Hobson, 1915; Hart, 1994, chaps. 2 & 3; Morris, 1986). From 1912 to 1923, the legislatures of 16 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia passed minimum wage legislation, although not all of them were operational by the end of this period (Brandeis, 1935, p. 501; Clark, 1921; Millis & Montgomery, 1938, chap. 6; Morris, 1930, chap. 1).