March 2015 (World Journal of Management)

March 2015 (World Journal of Management)

Total Articles - 16

Pages 1 – 9

Author: Richard E Hicks, Ali Sabanci and Mark Bahr

Workplace stress is common across occupations and across nations. However, there has been limited research examining the similarities and differences across cultures, and none that seem to have used a direct comparison across one professional area using the same extensive and validated questionnaire. One such questionnaire is the Occupational Stress Inventory-Revised (OSI-R: Osipow 1998) which assesses three main dimensions related to stress: “occupational roles” (stressors), “personal strain” (experienced stress), and “personal resources” (coping resources).  The current study examined a cross-national application of the OSI-R among Australian and Turkish teachers to identify whether patterns of latent structure of the OSI-R were similar (and therefore whether the questionnaire would be useful in wider research and professional application).  Structural equation modeling and fit indices results generally confirmed the three-dimensional model posited by Osipow and also suggested that the occupational role stress dimension could be subdivided: the similar latent factor results obtained across cultures for the teacher samples suggesting the stability of the OSI-R in this cross-cultural workplace setting. The general implications for research and practice are discussed.

Pages 10 – 23

Author: Yuan-Cheng Tsai and Yi-Lun Chi

Internal market orientation, equivalent to market orientation that is known to precede the effective implementation of marketing strategies, may increase the effectiveness of market-oriented company’s response to market conditions because it allows the company’s management to better align market objectives with internal capabilities, and it can help enterprise to build managerial capabilities. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of Internal market orientation on the application of internal performance, market orientation and external performance. We also verify the mediate effect of market orientation and internal performance on the relationship between Internal market orientation and external performance. The theoretical model is tested with the linear structured equation which is consistent with partial least squares (PLS) path modeling assumptions. Data were collected from 142 dyads effective questionnaires. The research findings contribute to marketing theory by providing empirical evidence to support assumption that internal marketing has an impact on marketing success and offers an explanation by which this influence operates. Finally, according to the conceptual framework and research findings, this study is presented with implications for managers and recommendations for future research.

Pages 24 – 33

Author: Peter Yannopoulos

The purpose of this research is to explore how students enrolled in business programs perceive the importance of defensive marketing strategies before competitors enter their market. The study involves running principal component analysis to summarize the responses into broad categories, and then use ANOVA analysis to examine how different demographic and other variables impact participant perceptions about the importance of the defensive strategies. A major finding of the study is that the mental models and perceptions of graduate business students when they react to entry of competitors are not universal but differ depending on student gender, nationality, and level of studies.

Pages 34 – 47

Author: Nattavud Pimpa, Timothy Moore, Sheree Gregory and Brigitte Tenni

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can create value among stakeholders in both private and public sectors. In the international mining business, CSR concept plays an important role in enhancing relationships among various mining stakeholders. This paper reports on motivations and strategies of CSR by mining companies in Thailand. It argues that the CSR‟s value creation process in Thailand is complex and culturally bound. To understand motivation and types of CSR activities in the mining industry, the researchers used secondary data sources from two mining MNCs. Results show that, similar to CSR in many countries, CSR activities by mining MNCs in Thailand seem to focus on participatory actions, communitarian approach and the promotion of engagement among various stakeholders. The top CSR priorities by mining MNCs in this study include social development and economic promotions.

Pages 48 – 57

Author: Sarangapani Nivarthi, Ali Quazi, M Abu Saleh and Tony Tucker

Businesses and governments are considered instrumental in driving economic growth of nations. The conduct of these actors in context is largely influenced by the regulations governing the action rather than moral duty towards autonomous individuals. Ethical CSR initiatives directed towards society lack the strength to penetrate the social fabric of unethical practices and compliance due to lack of institutional and government legitimacy and support. These issues are astute to successful CSR agendas by businesses and the governments and thus draw researchers’ attention towards strengthening the CSR agendas by proposing an ombudsman system. This study specifically examines the drivers of CSR ombudsman system through the theoretical constructs and postulates the outcomes on the social fabric and the nation for the economic development of the society. Based on the theoretical underpinning, the paper presents and explores a conceptual framework setting the stage for furthering research in this area.

Pages 58 – 74

Author: Sajeenan Ruangkrit and Pusanisa Thechatakerng

Tepsadej Sub-direct, Doisaket in Chiang Mai is the new natural attractions that can be developed as a tourist attraction. This natural resource has been conserved by community for more than 100 years and areas are mostly agricultural areas. Moreover, most of community entrepreneurs sell their own productive and products that can be found in the area. This research, then aims to discover entrepreneurs’ characteristics. Questionnaire was used as a tool to collect data through 113 entrepreneurs for this exploratory research. Mean shows that most of entrepreneurs were married women, with more than 50 years of age, as well as they were single own businesses. Furthermore, the analysis explains that most of entrepreneurs are engrossment, commitment, responsible in their jobs and highly risk takers. In addition, they were opportunism, have had their own goals set, seek for information, were well planned, follow up their jobs, control and evaluate their job, and were incredibly self-confident, However, the study demonstrated that they lack of persuasion and network which need to be improved to create their efficiencies in running businesses.

Pages 75 – 89

Author: Linda Dalton, Brian D‟Netto and Ramudu Bhanugopan

Past research has not provided a comprehensive model to manage diversity. This research paper seeks to build a comprehensive Diversity Management Competencies Model (DMCM) which identifies the competencies required to manage cultural diversity effectively in the workforce in Australia. Given the increasing levels of multiculturalism in Australian society, managers within any industry now need significantly more competencies to manage diversity effectively. The DMCM will help organizations and managers to identify and build these competencies.

Pages 90 – 98

Author: Asheem Shrestha and Igor Martek

China is currently experiencing a rising demand for water, combined with limited funding availability for water project procurement. Consequently, local Chinese governments have sought procurement solutions by experimenting with public private partnerships (PPPs). However, the legal risk in PPPs, particularly in the water sector, remains high. Legal risk refers to risk arising from the legal and regulatory systems surrounding PPPs. Past research have identified legal risk in PPP projects in China as critical, however the stages at which they are significant have not been studied. This paper examines the legal risk associated with PPPs in the water sector in China and measures the degree of risk across three key stages; 1) Procurement, 2) Construction and 3) Operation. The interrelationship between legal risk at these three stages is also investigated. The significance of the risk was measured by determining the probability and severity of the risk. Correlation analysis was used to investigate the relationship between legal risks across the three stages. Our findings are that legal risk is present at all three stages, at close to moderate levels, with risk significance greatest at the operational stage. Moreover, while no correlation was identified for legal risk at the operational stage with those of earlier stages, it was found that legal issues arising during the procurement stage significantly exacerbated any further legal issues that emerged during the construction stage of water projects. The findings from this study will be significant in providing practitioners with the information to manage this risk at different stages of PPP projects.

Pages 99 – 116

Author: Olga V. Missioura

This article outlines the details of an empirical study into the perceptions of Small to Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) directors regarding the concept of leadership and the interpretation of the concepts of conceptual models in the light of qualitative analysis. The study is based on a pre-test conducted with five scientists and testing conducted with eighteen SME directors by way of in-depth interviews. This study supports the external validity of the conceptual model applied, based on The Theory of Reasoned Action and is an exploratory study, consisting of qualitative, in-depth interviews.In accordance with their opinions, the scientists‟ concepts of leadership formed the independent determinants for the Internal Control (IC), according to the Committee of Sponsoring Organisations of the Treadway Commission ‘COSO’ Internal Control – Integrated Framework ‘ICIF’ (1992), on the basis of behavioural and normative beliefs. However, the SME directors recognised the direct causal relationship between their concepts of leadership and IC activities (behaviour). The results of the testing of the external validity of the conceptual model primarily indicated that in selecting the determinants for effective and efficient changes in behaviour, the SME directors specifically chose to utilise two concepts of leadership (i.e. characteristics of a businessperson), namely leadership style and commitment, as determinants of the decision-making process. The scientists primarily chose the combination of leadership style and communication. The choice of IC components by the SME directors differed from that of the scientists.

Pages 117 – 135

Author: Sarwat Afzal, Ghazala Paras and Suman Gangwani

The massive explosion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has accelerated the rapid expansion of mobile phone services which has resulted in extensive use of short message service (SMS) throughout the world. SMS has become a vital part of users’ daily life causing the decrease in voice service revenue since it has facilitated broader form of communications. With limited research in Pakistan pertaining to what are the factors that determine consumers’ intention to use SMS, this study attempts to identify these factors and the extent to which they have influenced consumers’ intention to use SMS. It was hypothesized in this study that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment and perceived cost will have significant positive impact over intention to use SMS. All the hypotheses were supported except the hypothesis for perceived cost. A mail survey was conducted in different universities through self-administered structured questionnaire and the data was collected from 329 graduates and undergraduates of those universities applying the convenience sampling procedure. Data was tested against the research model using Pearson correlation and multiple regression approaches. The findings of this study provide an imminent perspective to mobile service providers to work on newly emerging non voice services and also to develop new SMS marketing strategies.

Pages 136 – 152

Author: Khalid A. Alanzi

The purpose of this study was to perform an empirical investigation of the influence of select factors on the academic performance of students studying cost accounting. This study attempts to fill some of the gaps in the existing local and regional accounting education literature and to provide comparative evidence for the harmonization of international accounting education. A stepwise regression model using a sample of 156 students who were enrolled in four sections of a Cost Accounting course at the College of Business Studies in Kuwait during the 2012/2013 academic year was used to test the study's hypotheses. The results indicated that the influences of the selected factors are diverse in their effects on students' performance. The college major GPA had the most significant influence on students' performance, followed by lecture attendance and, finally, college experience. Students' gender, age, nationality, score on secondary school examinations, branch of study in secondary school, prerequisite grade, and overall GPA in college showed no significant influences on students' performance. The study concludes by considering the implications of these findings on the administration of the College of Business Studies and similar institutions, as well as for instructors, and suggests avenues for future research.

Pages 153 – 170

Author: Mansour E. Abou-Gamila, Ghalya Abdulla and Refaat Abdel-Razek

Knowledge is considered a prime asset for organizations, especially in the public sector organizations which are considered knowledge intensive organizations. Forensic science directorates (FSD) are part of the public sector whose primary mission is to detect and prevent crimes. Consequently, Knowledge Management (KM) is crucial in a fast paced environment such as forensic science. The absence of effective KM strategy can widen the gap between individual and organizational knowledge. Therefore it is necessary to employ KM practices at FSD to preserve the institutional memory. This paper aims to evaluate the level of Knowledge Management Capabilities (KMC) in FSD at the Ministry of Interior in Bahrain. KMC was divided into two categories: KM Infrastructure Capabilities (KMIC) and KM Process Capabilities (KMPC). A questionnaire was adopted to conduct this research. The research sample involved 114 employees from FSD. The results showed that the overall perceived existence level of KMIC at FSD is 64%. The individual KMIC dimensions with their average levels of implementation were: organizational culture 66.48%, technology 64.12% and organizational structure 59.59 %. The levels of collaboration and trust between employees were considered strong while the levels of learning and centralization were considered weak. The overall perceived level of KMPC at FSD is 66%. The average levels of implementation of processes were: knowledge protection 69.46%, knowledge application 65.61%, knowledge acquisition 64.99% and knowledge conversion 62.94 %. The results revealed that the strengths of KMPC in FSD were: the encouragement of the transfer of knowledge between employees and the availability of effective processes to protect knowledge from theft and inappropriate use from outside the directorate. On the other hand, the weakness was presented in the lack of financial and non-financial incentives for sharing knowledge. The results also revealed that there is a positive correlation between KMIC and KMPC. The study recommends providing effective training programs, increase employees’ involvement in the decision making process and designing a proper reward system to encourage sharing of knowledge among employees.

Pages 171 – 182

Author: Julian Becker, Michael Grigutsch and Peter Nyhuis

Meeting the objective of providing a high service level while at the same time keeping inventory levels to a minimum represents a great challenge to companies, particularly those operating in volatile markets. This article proposes a dynamic approach towards a future-oriented method of inventory control. The dynamic flow of safety stock can be determined on the basis of forecast data and the quality thereof together with supplier reliability. This will enable companies to manage their stock in a manner which is both future-oriented and transparent while being geared to serving their requirements.

Pages 183 – 192

Author: Tal Ben-Zvi, Paul Rohmeyer and Donald N. Lombardi

This study examines how strategic positioning in industry may predict a firm’s performance. Through simulation, we reveal that certain business positioning strategies correlate with eventual centrality and profit while other strategies correlate with isolation and poor performance. The paper also presents a novel classification method for centrality trajectories in industry, one that may be employed more generally as a predictor of industry change over time.

Pages 193 – 200

Author: Taek-Seon Roh, Sangmee Bak and Chung-ki Min

It is believed that the inscription of World Heritage by UNESCO increases tourism demand, leading to economic growth. This study examines 1) whether there is a relation between the WHL and the leisure tourism, and 2) whether there is any difference of the relationship depending on the type of heritage. Using panel data of 78 countries, we test the proposition with linear and non-linear econometric models. Overall, both tangible and intangible heritage have significant positive effects on tourism demand, while the contribution of intangible heritage is greater than the one of tangible heritage.

Pages 201 – 222

Author: Hieu Dinh Ha and Rajendra Mulye

The literature has identified many important drivers of climate change mitigation policy support behaviour (PS), such as perceived policy effectiveness (PE) and perceived adverse impacts of climate change (PI). However, it rarely explains the mechanism by which PE drives PS. Even though the literature warns against the over-use of PI in climate change communication, which is commonly known as the “fear appeal” approach, an explaining theoretical framework is seldom provided. Moreover, the literature also often neglects the extent to which the fundamental characteristics of mitigation initiatives affect policy preferences. This limitation derives from inadequate examination of the nature of the policies, as was as the deeper factorial structures of the behaviour’s determinants. Synchronising the social dilemma literature with major theories in the field such as the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the Risk Perception theory, the Extended Parallel Process Model, and the Risk Perception Attitude framework, this paper proposes an analytical framework that helps explain the variation in PS across the policies’ characteristics. The framework also suggests a mediating mechanism through which PE drives PS, and a moderating perspective, which may help theoretically verify the “fear appeal” caution. This paper also suggests that in addition to effectiveness, perceived policy feasibility should be included as an important aspect of individuals’ policy evaluation to explain PS. Discussions and further research suggestions are also offered.

Total Articles- 16

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