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1 – 9 of 9Vincent Dutot and François Bergeron
The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a framework of small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) strategic orientation (SO) and its impact on social media performance…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a framework of small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) strategic orientation (SO) and its impact on social media performance. Moreover, it introduces a new concept, social media orientation (SMO) (composed of sales and business development (SBD) and visibility) to add in the model.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative approach was used and, based on a study of 257 SMEs, analyses were performed. A smartPLS analysis was judged appropriate regarding the sample size.
Findings
Results show that entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and customer orientation have a positive influence on SBD which in turn has a positive influence on social media performance. Visibility is positively influenced by EO and has an indirect effect on social media performance. Social media performance is therefore directly influenced by SBD and indirectly by visibility.
Research limitations/implications
The authors complete previous research that called for the introduction of different SO on a same study and go further as the author highlight the role of EO on visibility (and not only on business or performance). A second contribution lies in the conceptualization of SMO (defined here with SBD and visibility) and third in the measurement of social media performance through growth and attention.
Practical implications
SMEs first need to develop their visibility, and then link it to SBD.
Originality/value
This research is one of the first to explore SMEs’ SO on social media and proposes a new concept defined as SMO. It gives SMEs future direction on how to perform on these platforms.
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Vincent Dutot, Francois Bergeron and Andrea Calabrò
With the increasing digitalization processes taking place in different industries, the success of family small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) appears to be more under threat…
Abstract
Purpose
With the increasing digitalization processes taking place in different industries, the success of family small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) appears to be more under threat than for any other types of organizations, especially when information technologies (ITs) are not adequately used and managed. To grow and increase the chances of survival, family SMEs need more than ever IT. Stemming from agency theory, the aim of this article is to understand whether family harmony impacts the performance of family SMEs and to what extent IT mediates this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
The research follows a quantitative approach, based on a sample of 182 family SMEs. Structured equation modeling, through SmartPLS, was employed to validate the research model.
Findings
This study’s main findings suggest that family harmony positively impacts firm performance and that IT governance and strategy mediate positively this relationship.
Research limitations/implications
First, the relatively limited number of respondents limits the degree of representativeness of all family SMEs. Replicating the research with a larger number of respondents could strengthen the findings. Second, this study is limited to French firms and future research could extend the findings by looking at cross-country comparisons.
Practical implications
Family SMEs are encouraged to link their IT governance with their IT strategy in order to increase their organizational performance. A favorable family harmony will make it easier to choose and implement a richer IT strategy and put in place an adequate IT governance function.
Originality/value
This research offers an enriched knowledge of the roles of family harmony and technological innovation in family SMEs and IT contexts as significant predictors of organizational performance. It contributes to family firm theory through the identification of three determinants of family SMEs' performance.
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Hela Latreche, Mohammed Bellahcene and Vincent Dutot
This paper explores the effect of individual information technology culture archetypes on the perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of e-banking customers.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores the effect of individual information technology culture archetypes on the perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of e-banking customers.
Design/methodology/approach
A multi-stage approach was used. First, a cluster analysis was performed (based on a survey of 360 Algerian bank customers). Second, a multiple regression analysis was assessed to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The cluster analysis reveals five IT cultural groups for e-banking customers: dangerous, dodgers, compliant dodgers, disenchanted and addicted customers. A mapping of these archetypes is then proposed and tested. The multiple regression analysis shows that the dangerous IT culture archetype exhibit the highest level of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness beliefs when the dodgers show the lowest one.
Research limitations/implications
This study is limited in that it adopts a relatively small convenience sampling in Northwest Algeria. Furthermore, enriching the model with other antecedents could be of use. However, it clarifies the issue of whether the same IT culture archetypes can be found in different contexts and show that the IT cultural archetypes list is not exhaustive.
Practical implications
The study contributes to the existing knowledge on e-banking adoption in developing countries and provides Algerian banks with some crucial elements.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the first to investigate the impact of IT culture archetypes on e-banking adoption. It (1) identified five IT culture archetypes, (2) proposed a mapping of these archetypes, (3) reinforces the use of the spinning top model and (4) goes further as it applies it in a new context (developing country) and industry (banking).
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Vincent Dutot, Eva Lacalle Galvez and David W. Versailles
Publics are becoming responsible customers that urge firms to improve society. By using social media, corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions could influence organization’s…
Abstract
Purpose
Publics are becoming responsible customers that urge firms to improve society. By using social media, corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions could influence organization’s commitment and e-reputation. The purpose of this paper is to look at the influence on e-reputation of communication strategies (i.e. corporate ability and CSR) on social media.
Design/methodology/approach
Four international companies (Danone, Renault, Orange and BNP Paribas) were studied and a content analysis was performed: Leximancer for the social media content (between 25 and 50 pages for each company) on a six-month period; and Social Mention for the measurement of e-reputation.
Findings
Results show that there is a link between CSR communication strategies and e-reputation. More precisely, by using a corporate ability strategy (focus on product quality or innovation R & D), a company can increase its e-reputation better than on a common CSR communication strategy.
Research limitations/implications
This study is based on only four companies (from four different industries) and would profit from a larger base for analysis. Second, the content the authors analyzed was generated by the company on their own social media.
Originality/value
This exploratory study is one of the first to look at the influence of CSR communication strategies on e-reputation and tries to see how companies’ action on social media can change the way they are perceived by their customers. It completes the current literature by defining how CSR communications strategies should be declined for in order to influence customers.
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Karim Errajaa, Judith Partouche and Vincent Dutot
The role of nostalgia in consumers’ lives and its application in the design of marketing strategies has been highlighted in prior research. However, the role of nostalgia as well…
Abstract
Purpose
The role of nostalgia in consumers’ lives and its application in the design of marketing strategies has been highlighted in prior research. However, the role of nostalgia as well as the consumers’ nostalgic inclination in the development of new products has not been investigated yet, either for existing products or new ones. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to underline and understand the collaborative process of value co-creation for both actors (companies and consumers) in the development of nostalgic new products.
Design/methodology/approach
A double methodology was used through a netnographic study (which is inspired by ethnography) and semi-directed interviews. Concerning the netnographic approach, the data collection were conducted on both general and specialized social networks, web sites and forums. The semi-directed interviews were conducted among 12 individuals. The verbatim were analyzed through a content thematic analysis. The use of both methodologies helped to underline recurrent and complementary findings.
Findings
The analysis highlights four main results: first, the main criteria for selection and purchase of products and services; second, the perception and dimensions of nostalgia; third, the link between nostalgia and consumption; and finally, the relationship between nostalgic experiences and the co-creation process.
Originality/value
This research is the first to study the value of the co-creation process for the development of nostalgic new products.
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Sylvaine Castellano, Maalaoui Adnane, Imen Safraou and Francesco Schiavone
The purpose of this paper is to examine the strategic use of social media and chat applications of women entrepreneurs to promote their businesses.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the strategic use of social media and chat applications of women entrepreneurs to promote their businesses.
Design/methodology/approach
Because of the nature of the study and dearth of sufficient data in the Middle Eastern society on the women entrepreneurship, this study employed a qualitative research methodology. The research comprised of 20 in-depth interviews with immigrant women entrepreneurs in the United Arab Emirates. They were identified through personal contacts and referrals.
Findings
All the expatriate women interviewed are using social media and chat applications to promote their business. Facebook is used for brand creation and WhatsApp is used as a direct marketing tool to evoke purchase response. Though traditional promotional tools are far from redundant, their role is more supplementary. The increasing trend is a combination of traditional tools and digital tools. Digital tools seem to have an upper hand in their business promotions.
Research limitations/implications
This study is limited to SME sector in one industry and in one country. The qualitative nature of this study could affect the generalizability of the results. A more extensive study is needed and future research should be more diverse including widening the selection of respondents, industries and countries.
Originality/value
This study is a novel attempt to gauge an in-depth understanding of modern communication tools. It looks specifically at the integrative strategies pursued by the immigrant women entrepreneurs using Facebook and WhatsApp.
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Denis Samwel Ringo and Vicent Kadoke Kibambila
This study examines the influence of succession planning and the incumbents’ willingness to step aside on the sustainability of family businesses, a critical but often overlooked…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the influence of succession planning and the incumbents’ willingness to step aside on the sustainability of family businesses, a critical but often overlooked aspect that can determine the long-term viability of these enterprises. The study further explores the moderating effect of the incumbents’ willingness to step aside in the relationship between succession planning and sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employs a cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected through structured questionnaires from 190 successors of family businesses in Tanzania. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate the measurement model, and hypotheses were tested using the PROCESS macro.
Findings
The findings indicate that both succession planning and the incumbents’ willingness to step aside significantly enhance the sustainability of family businesses by ensuring a smooth and structured leadership transition, which minimizes disruptions and safeguards business continuity. Additionally, the incumbents’ willingness to step aside was found to be a significant moderator of the relationship between succession planning and sustainability, meaning that the influence of succession planning on sustainability is much stronger when the incumbents are fully supportive and cooperative during the transition. This implies that without the incumbents’ active participation, even well-designed succession plans may not achieve their full potential.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the limited empirical evidence on the influence of succession planning on the sustainability of family businesses. Additionally, it advances current understanding by identifying the moderating effect of the incumbents’ willingness to step aside on the relationship between succession planning and sustainability, an area not previously explored in the literature. The findings have significant implications for both practitioners and researchers, offering new perspectives on managing generational transitions in family businesses.
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Paolo Esposito, Gianluca Antonucci, Gabriele Palozzi and Justyna Fijałkowska
Artificial intelligence (AI) can help in defining preventive strategies in taking decisions in complex situations. This paper aims to research how workers might deal with…
Abstract
Purpose
Artificial intelligence (AI) can help in defining preventive strategies in taking decisions in complex situations. This paper aims to research how workers might deal with intervening AI tools, with the goal of improving their daily working decisions and movements. We contribute to deepening how workers might deal with intervening AI tools aiming at improving their daily working decisions and movements. We investigate these aspects within a field, which is growing in importance due to environmental sustainability issues, i.e. waste management (WM).
Design/methodology/approach
This manuscript intends to (1) investigate if AI allows better performance in WM by reducing social security costs and by guaranteeing a better continuity of service and (2) examine which structural change is required to operationalize this predictive risk model in the real working context. To achieve these goals, this study developed a qualitative inquiry based on face-to-face interviews with highly qualified experts.
Findings
There is a positive impact of AI schemes in helping to detect critical operating issues. Specifically, AI potentially represents a tool for an alignment of operational behaviours to business strategic goals. Properly elaborated information, obtained through wearable digital infrastructures, allows to take decisions to streamline the work organization, reducing potential loss due to waste of time and/or physical resources.
Research limitations/implications
Being a qualitative study, and the limited extension of data, it is not possible to guarantee its replication and generalizability. Nevertheless, the prestige of the interviewees makes this research an interesting pilot, on such an emerging theme as AI, thus eliciting stimulating insights from a deepening of information coming from respondents’ knowledge, skills and experience for implementing valuable AI schemes able to an align operational behaviours to business strategic goals.
Practical implications
The most critical issue is represented by the “quality” of the feedback provided to employees within the business environment, specifically when there is a transfer of knowledge within the organization.
Originality/value
The study focuses on a less investigated context, the role of AI in internal decision-making, particularly, for what regards the interaction between managers and workers as well as the one among workers. Algorithmically managed workers can be seen as the players of summarized results of complex algorithmic analyses offered through simpleminded interfaces, which they can easily use to take good decisions.
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