Zhuo June Cheng, Yinghua Min, Feng Tian and Sean Xin Xu
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how customer relationship management (CRM) implementation affects internal capital allocation efficiency, the efficiency with which a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how customer relationship management (CRM) implementation affects internal capital allocation efficiency, the efficiency with which a firm allocates its capital across its business segments.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use a statistical regression method to analyze a sample of 801 unique firms in the USA from COMPUSTAT and the Computer Intelligence database. This analysis examines the relation between CRM implementation and internal capital allocation efficiency and identifies the conditions under which firms benefit more from CRM implementation. They also use instrumental variables (IVs) to address endogenous concerns with a two-stage least squares (2SLS) model.
Findings
The authors find that CRM implementation is positively related to internal capital allocation efficiency. The results are robust to the 2SLS analysis with IVs. This positive relation is more pronounced for firms with effective internal control and for those operating in highly competitive markets.
Practical implications
The research implies that that CRM can have a significant cross-functional effect on corporate financing and budgeting. This also suggests that when chief marketing officers plan marketing initiatives and implement CRM, they should communicate to chief financial officers not only the direct effect but also the indirect strategic benefits of such initiatives to a firm.
Originality/value
The authors reveal a previously overlooked aspect of marketing accountability by suggesting marketing’s impact on internal capital markets. They also enrich the body of literature on CRM benefits by showing a cross-functional benefit from marketing to finance (or capital allocation).
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Sean Xin Xu, Xu Yan and Xiaona Zheng
This study seeks to develop a general framework for evaluating communication platforms in e‐commerce, and then apply the framework to investigate what factors have impeded…
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to develop a general framework for evaluating communication platforms in e‐commerce, and then apply the framework to investigate what factors have impeded m‐commerce from taking off in the specific context of China.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper proposes a three‐dimension framework for evaluating a communication platform in e‐commerce, which features reach, richness, and costs of communications as its salient characteristics. Grounded on the framework, a comparative analysis is conducted using data from a survey sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce of China. The analysis, from the user's perspective, compares facilitators and inhibitors for using communication platforms in two different contexts, the mobile communication platform in m‐commerce vs the fixed communication platform in the “classical” e‐commerce.
Findings
The study finds that, compared with e‐commerce over the fixed communication platform, the m‐commerce in China enjoys relatively great communication reach but suffers from relatively low communication richness. In the mean time, costs of communications do not seem to be a major barrier for m‐commerce growth.
Originality/value
The three‐dimension framework can serve as an underlying model not only to evaluate currently available communication platforms for e‐commerce, but also to address economic calculus of benefits and costs of emerging communication platforms.
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Abstract
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Rocky Chung-Ngam Cheng, Xiaohua Men, J.J. Po-An Hsieh, Zhuo June Cheng, Xiaocong Cui, Tiange Wang and Sheng-Hsun Hsu
In the era of the digital economy, organizations are under much pressure to justify their information technology (IT) spending on digital transformation. Some organizations have…
Abstract
Purpose
In the era of the digital economy, organizations are under much pressure to justify their information technology (IT) spending on digital transformation. Some organizations have thus implemented IT chargeback, an IT governance (ITG) mechanism, to clarify and allocate IT costs among various business units. While practitioners have stressed the importance of IT chargeback, there has been little theoretical effort that investigates its strategic effects and boundary conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
Synthesizing the ITG literature and the resource-based view (RBV), the authors develop a research model to examine if IT chargeback affects IT–business strategic alignment and, in turn, organizational performance and how human IT resources strengthen the impacts of IT chargeback. The authors designed a survey to collect data from 103 firms and tested the model using partial least squares (PLS).
Findings
The authors found that IT chargeback promoted strategic alignment and then organizational performance only for firms with business-competent chief information officers (CIOs), rather than IT-competent business executives.
Originality/value
This study enriches the ITG literature by exploring the strategic value of an IT cost governance mechanism (i.e. IT chargeback). This study further proposes and validates a measure of IT chargeback. Drawing on the RBV, this study quantitatively investigates the strategic impacts and boundary contingencies of IT chargeback. This study also advances the CIO literature by identifying the strategic leading role, instead of the traditional supporting role, of CIOs in modern organizations.
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Satyajit Barik and Tanaya Nayak
This paper aims to do a comprehensive analysis of the existing literature on workplace spirituality to address the intellectual framework of workplace spirituality and the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to do a comprehensive analysis of the existing literature on workplace spirituality to address the intellectual framework of workplace spirituality and the framework's future direction.
Design/methodology/approach
A multistep screening procedure was used to obtain data from the Scopus database, which included 648 papers ranging from 1998 to 2023. The bibliometric analysis is conducted by using VOSviewer and Biblioshiny.
Findings
The bibliometric analysis showcases that workplace spirituality is a multidimensional concept primarily studied in the organizational behavior domain. The most important research themes were organizational culture and spirituality. In addition, this paper advances workplace spirituality literature by identifying the keywords, prominent authors, journals and conceptual structure.
Research limitations/implications
The study summarizes the existing knowledge on workplace spirituality using bibliometric analysis, classifies thematic areas, identifies research gaps and suggests future avenues of research.
Originality/value
The review paper conducts a bibliometric analysis of the emerging area of workplace spirituality over time. These results can also serve as a guide for future research in the subject of workplace spirituality.
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Lai Jiang, Xiaobo Peng and Daniel Walczyk
This paper aims to summarize the up-to-date research performed on combinations of various biofibers and resin systems used in different three-dimensional (3D) printing…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to summarize the up-to-date research performed on combinations of various biofibers and resin systems used in different three-dimensional (3D) printing technologies, including powder-based, material extrusion, solid-sheet and liquid-based systems. Detailed information about each process, including materials used and process design, are described, with the resultant products’ mechanical properties compared with those of 3D-printed parts produced from pure resin or different material combinations. In most processes introduced in this paper, biofibers are beneficial in improving the mechanical properties of 3D-printed parts and the biodegradability of the parts made using these green materials is also greatly improved. However, research on 3D printing of biofiber-reinforced composites is still far from complete, and there are still many further studies and research areas that could be explored in the future.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper starts with an overview of the current scenario of the composite manufacturing industry and then the problems of advanced composite materials are pointed out, followed by an introduction of biocomposites. The main body of the paper covers literature reviews of recently emerged 3D printing technologies that were applied to biofiber-reinforced composite materials. This part is classified into subsections based on the form of the starting materials used in the 3D printing process. A comprehensive conclusion is drawn at the end of the paper summarizing the findings by the authors.
Findings
Most of the biofiber-reinforced 3D-printed products exhibited improved mechanical properties than products printed using pure resin, indicating that biofibers are good replacements for synthetic ones. However, synthetic fibers are far from being completely replaced by biofibers due to several of their disadvantages including higher moisture absorbance, lower thermal stability and mechanical properties. Many studies are being performed to solve these problems, yet there are still some 3D printing technologies in which research concerning biofiber-reinforced composite parts is quite limited. This paper unveils potential research directions that would further develop 3D printing in a sustainable manner.
Originality/value
This paper is a summary of attempts to use biofibers as reinforcements together with different resin systems as the starting material for 3D printing processes, and most of the currently available 3D printing techniques are included herein. All of these attempts are solutions to some principal problems with current 3D printing processes such as the limit in the variety of materials and the poor mechanical performance of 3D printed parts. Various types of biofibers are involved in these studies. This paper unveils potential research directions that would further widen the use of biofibers in 3D printing in a sustainable manner.