Kim Stephens and Richard L. Baskerville
Physical social cues can influence the buyer and seller in business-to-business (B2B) marketing. The current behavioural model does not account for the role of implicit bias. The…
Abstract
Purpose
Physical social cues can influence the buyer and seller in business-to-business (B2B) marketing. The current behavioural model does not account for the role of implicit bias. The purpose of this paper is to present that relationship and introduce a process model to weaken implicit bias through training with the employment of transformational conversation.
Design/methodology/approach
With social cues as the predecessor to inferences, there is the potential for implicit bias to derail relationship building in a B2B context. The author’s qualitative field study offers guidance for businesses to make informed decisions about implicit bias training.
Findings
The study findings show that an interactive workshop following a process model with the addition of transformational conversation can weaken implicit bias.
Research limitations/implications
The research was conducted with a small cohort of information technology professionals. More research should be done specifically with sellers and buyers in various industries over a longer period of time with periodic follow-up on sales performance and relationship building.
Practical implications
Minority groups had a combined buying power of $3.9tn in 2018. For sellers to succeed, they have to be able to modulate the implicit biases that interfere with good sales relationships.
Originality/value
This paper introduces implicit bias as a moderator into the conceptual framework of the behavioural response to social cues in the B2B context and offers a model of implicit bias training using a process model with transformational conversation.
Details
Keywords
Stephen K. Kim and Pushpinder Gill
This study aims to study research on franchise chain performance that has focused on franchisors’ efforts to align their interests with those of franchisees to address partner…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to study research on franchise chain performance that has focused on franchisors’ efforts to align their interests with those of franchisees to address partner uncertainty. In contrast, the question of what a franchisor should do to address another type of uncertainty and task uncertainty remains understudied. The authors suggest a franchisor’s coordination as a key means of alleviating task uncertainty and ongoing support and plural form as two mechanisms of coordination. The authors also posit that aligned interests between the franchisor and the franchisee improve, whereas one-sided interest impedes, chain performance. Furthermore, providing greater ongoing support or deploying plural form amplifies the positive effect of aligned interests on chain performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors relied on secondary data to test the hypotheses. The authors collected data for analysis from Bond’s franchisee guide and Nation’s Restaurant News restaurant database. They also tested the framework by analyzing 17-year, panel data of 71 restaurant chains operating in the USA and Canada using system generalized method of moments.
Findings
Results show that aligning interests does improve chain performance, but that the positive effect is amplified when aligned interests are matched with a chain’s provision of ongoing support or use of plural form.
Originality/value
The authors explicate why it is not enough to address the misaligned interests or lack of coordination alone; a chain manager needs to address both of these problems together. In addition, the authors explicate how two franchisee coordination mechanisms – ongoing support and plural form – help a chain augment the beneficial effect of aligning interests on chain performance. Without solving the twin problems of misaligned interests and coordination simultaneously, a chain is unlikely to achieve its full performance potential.
Details
Keywords
Pushpinder Gill, Stephen K. Kim and Preetinder Kaur
This study aims to examine the performance outcomes of a store’s ownership concentration within a multi-unit franchise (MUF) network, emphasizing the nuanced effects under varying…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the performance outcomes of a store’s ownership concentration within a multi-unit franchise (MUF) network, emphasizing the nuanced effects under varying competitive conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
This study conducted a comprehensive analysis of all stores within the McDonald’s chain over an eight-year span. The research methodology incorporated a review of over 11 million customer evaluations to discern patterns in customer satisfaction and sales growth in relation to the store’s ownership concentration.
Findings
Stores with a pronounced ownership concentration showcased enhanced outcomes in both customer satisfaction and sales growth. However, the magnitude of these effects was moderated by the nature of competitive conditions, specifically focal market competition, non-focal market competition and legal safeguards.
Research limitations/implications
The study’s concentration on McDonald’s stores introduces a specificity that might limit the universal applicability of the findings to all franchise models or sectors. Additionally, the emphasis on the store level of analysis potentially overlooks broader systemic factors.
Practical implications
For managers and franchise owners, understanding the nuanced roles of ownership concentration can provide strategic insights. Recognizing how different competitive conditions can moderate the effects of ownership concentration can help in making informed decisions about power dynamics and competitive positioning.
Social implications
A store’s ownership concentration can have broader societal ramifications, potentially shaping consumer perceptions, community engagement and overall market health. As an owner’s stores concentrate spatially, they can contribute to a healthier market ecosystem, benefitting consumers and communities alike.
Originality/value
While the vertical power between the franchisor and franchisee owners have been studied, this study extends the discourse to power between MUF owners. This study provides novel insights by showing customer centric and firm centric performance outcomes of ownership concentration.
Details
Keywords
Courtney D. Boman, Erika J. Schneider and Heather Akin
This study aims to explore how source type can influence organizational assets proposed by source credibility theory (SCT) when paired with matched situational crisis…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore how source type can influence organizational assets proposed by source credibility theory (SCT) when paired with matched situational crisis communication theory (SCCT) strategies for accidental, preventable, and victim crises. Crisis communication delivered online provides an invaluable outlet for organizations to disperse information to stakeholders quickly. It has been shown that receivers of this information have motivational assumptions about sources having their own agenda for producing content. Thus, it is important to explore how sources tasked with delivering crisis responses can influence perceptions of the sincerity and credibility of the message.
Design/methodology/approach
The researchers conducted a 3 (crisis response: matched accidental, matched preventable, matched victim) × 3 (source type: organization, CEO, The New York Times) online between-subjects experimental design (N = 623).
Findings
By identifying how the source disseminating crisis responses influences message perceptions, findings from this study recognize how the crisis response is situated in a greater context. Since perceived sincerity and credibility were found to influence message acceptance and reputation, making intentional decisions that acknowledge both within a crisis communication strategy may benefit both future practice and research applications.
Originality/value
The current study advances understandings afforded by SCCT, along with SCT, by experimentally testing the influence of these variables within crisis responses on outcomes such as account acceptance and organizational reputation.
Details
Keywords
Edward Shih-Tse Wang and Fang-Tzu Hu
For Internet celebrities, self-disclosure (SD) is a crucial step in building relationships with their followers who perceive this communication as para-social interaction (PSI)…
Abstract
Purpose
For Internet celebrities, self-disclosure (SD) is a crucial step in building relationships with their followers who perceive this communication as para-social interaction (PSI), which facilitates socialization among followers. Normative commitment (NC) is critical for creating bonds among community members that are strengthened through socialization. However, research on the predictive relationships among SD, PSI and NC has been insufficient. This paper aims to investigate the effects of two facets of Internet celebrity SDs (i.e. private life and opinion) and two facets of PSI (i.e. companionship and following) on NC. The mediating role of PSI on the effects of SD on NC was also analyzed.
Design/methodology/approach
People who follow at least one Internet celebrity on a social networking site were recruited to participate in this study, and 494 valid questionnaires were collected for examination. The collected data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM).
Findings
The results revealed that both private-life and opinion SDs have positive effects on companionship and following PSI, which consequently influence NC. A mediation test revealed that companionship and following PSI mediate the effects of private-life and opinion SD on NC. This study's findings also revealed that NC is influenced more by following PSI than it is by companionship PSI. Furthermore, opinion SD was determined to be the more influential factor in following PSI, whereas private-life SD was the more influential factor in companionship PSI.
Originality/value
This paper is useful for understanding the influence mechanism of the SD of Internet celebrities on PSI and NC.
Details
Keywords
Stephen Kim, Namwoon Kim, Jae H. Pae and Leslie Yip
This study aims to examine the strategic implications and managerial outcomes of the concurrent use of cooperation and competition in vertical channel relationships.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the strategic implications and managerial outcomes of the concurrent use of cooperation and competition in vertical channel relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employs a structured questionnaire to gather data regarding vertical channel relationships in China.
Findings
Whereas the academic literature has emphasized cooperation between channel members because of the interdependence between them, in reality, retailers may accept competition as just another part of doing business with suppliers.
Research limitations/implications
The outcome variables used may not be comprehensive. In particular, the authors choose the flexibility of channel resources to stand for private benefits and joint benefits to represent common benefits, and though these variables certainly represent the intended benefits of the ambidextrous strategy, it remains to be seen whether other benefits may emerge for the exchange parties in vertical relationships.
Practical implications
Using an ambidextrous strategy does not damage relationship quality, though it certainly does not enhance it. This view is based on the notion that an ambidextrous strategy at least does not harm either common or private benefits. Therefore, exchange parties using the ambidextrous strategy should not experience a relationship that is worse than that which results when they use cooperation or competition alone. The results of the current study indicate that this view reflects reality more accurately.
Originality/value
The value of the current study centers on the application of a conceptual framework regarding ambidextrous strategy to vertical channel relationships in a developing economy.
Details
Keywords
Changho Oh and Stephen Keysuk Kim
The study reported here examines the effects of power on two major outcome variables — commitment and communication — at three different levels of analysis: the individual firm, a…
Abstract
The study reported here examines the effects of power on two major outcome variables — commitment and communication — at three different levels of analysis: the individual firm, a cross level, and a dyad level. The hypotheses were tested through dyadic data on advertising agencies and their client firms in South Korea. Results highlight the constructive nature of power in agency-client relationships. The authors also found that: (a) the power of a client firm has a significant effect on commitment and communication; (b) client firms expect a high level of communication with agencies regardless of level of power, and (c) total commitment and total communication at the dyad level do not change much as relative power of a firm increases.
Stefania Romenti, Grazia Murtarelli and Chiara Valentini
The aim of this paper is to develop and test a theoretical framework, grounded in managerial and organisational theories of dialogue, through which organisations can take…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to develop and test a theoretical framework, grounded in managerial and organisational theories of dialogue, through which organisations can take decisions in relation to the most appropriate crisis response strategies for handling social media stakeholders.
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical framework is developed through a conceptual analysis of literature on dialogue, social media and crisis communication. The theoretical framework is then tested in eight different international organisations experiencing a crisis. For each case, different web contents, such as organisations' status updates/posts, links, videos published on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, were analysed using a rhetorical research approach.
Findings
The analysed organisations apply different online dialogue strategies according to crisis types and in combination with specific crisis response strategies. Most of the organisations investigated carry on those dialogue strategies suitable to develop consensus (concertative), guide conversations on specific topics or issues (framing), find solutions to the crisis collectively (transformative). Concertative strategies were often associated with informative crisis response strategies, framing strategies with denial and justification crisis response strategies and transformative strategies with corrective actions.
Research limitations/implications
By using a dialogic perspective in setting up online conversations with their external stakeholders, the paper proposes a theoretical model to explain companies' decisions in carrying on online dialogues during critical situations and thus contribute to the body of knowledge on online crisis communications.
Practical implications
The proposed model can support crisis communicators to manage dialogue's aims and dimensions differently by taking into account both contextual and situational conditions.
Originality/value
By integrating management studies on dialogue into crisis communication and social media literature, the authors intend to offer an alternative thinking of organisations' decision-making in relation to crisis response strategies and social media stakeholders.
Details
Keywords
Alexei Koveshnikov, Heidi Wechtler, Miriam Moeller and Cecile Dejoux
Using social influence theory, this study examines the relationship between self-initiated expatriates' (SIE) political skill, as a measure of their social effectiveness, and…
Abstract
Purpose
Using social influence theory, this study examines the relationship between self-initiated expatriates' (SIE) political skill, as a measure of their social effectiveness, and cross-cultural adjustment (CCA). It also tests whether the host employer's psychological contract (PC) fulfillment mediates this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Partial least square structural equation modeling (covariance-based SEM) technique is employed to analyze a sample of 209 SIEs.
Findings
The study finds SIEs' political skill positively and significantly associated with SIEs' work-related adjustment. The relationship with interactional adjustment is only marginally significant. It also finds that SIEs' PC fulfillment mediates the relationship between SIEs' political skill and work-related adjustment. The mediation is marginally significant for the relationship between SIEs' political skill and general living adjustment.
Originality/value
The study adds to the literature on expatriates' skills and CCA by theorizing and testing the hitherto unexplored role of SIEs' political skill in their work and non-work CCA. It also theorizes and examines the host employer's PC fulfillment as a mediating mechanism, through which SIEs' political skill facilitates their CCA. Finally, it advances the literature on political skill by testing the construct's application in the cross-cultural and non-work domain.