Purpose The purpose of this paper is to apply the goals and processes of reverse logistics related to disposal and renewal to an industry example, in this case, the tufted carpet manufacturing industry. With an industry-wide coalition, the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE), the carpet industry offers lessons for other industries on how to create new products from waste, how to develop systems to process this waste, how to encourage the development of infrastructure for reprocessing and how to remove barriers to recovery. A major part of the US floor covering cluster is headquartered around Dalton, Georgia. The industry has formed a coalition to divert manufactured carpet from landfills and find other uses for used carpet. This industry-wide coalition, known as the Carpet America Recovery Effort, offers many lessons for other industries on creating new products from waste, developing systems to process this waste, encouraging the development of infrastructure for reprocessing and removing barriers to recovery.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the relative and the incremental value relevance of book value and earnings in the Australian market in the context of the 2008-2009 global financial crisis (GFC) and the non-crisis period (NCP). Design/methodology/approach – Least square regressions are used to examine the research questions. Changes in the coefficient estimates and the relative explanatory power (adjusted R2) of book value (BV) and earnings between the GFC and the NCP are examined. Findings – The findings suggest that both BV and earnings are value relevant in the Australian market surrounding the GFC. There were structural breaks in the association of BV and earnings with firms’ market value. The value relevance of earnings has increased and that of BV has decreased during the GFC compared to the NCP. During the study period, the explanatory power of earnings was greater than that of the BV. Research limitations/implications – The single country context examined limits the generalisabil...

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to assess differences between the adjustment of expatriates in Germany and France. Most research has focused on the individual in relation to expatriate adjustment. The general conditions of the host country, however, could represent an important contextual factor that needs to be explored further. Design/methodology/approach – Based on an empirical study of 130 expatriate managers on foreign assignments in France (61) and Germany (69), the authors take a comparative perspective and examine differences for sociocultural and psychological adjustment as well as time to proficiency in both countries. Findings – The authors found that expatriates assigned to France show higher degrees of work adjustment and general adjustment than those in Germany. This was unexpected as Germany is generally described as a more transparent, open and welcoming country. Results may thus challenge stereotypical conceptions of national differences and indicate that globalization processes ar...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between personality traits, risk-taking attitude and investment decisions among potential private investors in a post-Soviet transition country, i.e. Kazakhstan. The study provides valuable insights to investment experts and policymakers to understand investors’ behavior in post-Soviet transition countries. Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative research method is used to measure personality traits, risk-taking behavior and investment decisions of the respondents. A survey was conducted among the students and teachers of a business school in Kazakhstan. Based on literature review, two multiple regression models were development and tested in this study. Software packages SPSS and EViews were used to analyze the data. Findings – The findings revealed that personality traits have some impact on an individual’s risk-tolerance behavior, which, in turn, influences investment decisions about stock, securities and bonds. The results of ...

Purpose – This paper aims to examine consumers’ attitudes toward marketing practices and consumer rights in Jordan, based on an empirical investigation of university students. The study refers to John Kennedy’s bill of four consumer rights: the Right to Safety, the Right to be Informed, the Right to Choose and the Right to be Heard. Design/methodology/approach – This paper depends on a convenience sample of 381 students, using a drop-off method, with a structured, self-administered questionnaire to measure consumer attitudes regarding the four basic consumer rights, as listed above, utilizing a five-point Likert scale measure. Findings – The overall findings show that the current consumers’ attitudes toward marketing practices related to protection of consumer rights is not highly favorable, indicating that more work will be needed for improvement, with more attention to consumers’ Right to be Heard. The study urged marketers and public policymakers in Jordan to reconsider the way consumer rights were bei...

Purpose – This study aims to explore advertising strategies by US corporations selling consumer services overseas. Attention is extended to determining the type of standardized advertising (pattern vs prototype) that US headquarters tend to use in international campaigns, identifying major obstacles that impede advertising standardization and examining linkages between the use of creative approaches (standardized vs localized) and firms ' length of business and sales volume. Design/methodology/approach – Using a descriptive approach and rigorous sample, the authors surveyed international advertising managers of US firms selling consumer services. A 57 per cent response rate provided the basis for testing two research questions and two hypotheses. Findings – US firm headquarters tend to lean more toward the use of prototype standardization than pattern standardization. The major impediments of standardized campaigns are perceived to be cultural differences, alternatives in consumer lifestyles, language div...

Purpose – This paper aims to review the rise of the resource-based theory (RBT) in light of the perennial tension between rationalism and behaviorism. The authors appraise the RBT’s strengths and its potential fault-line, the erodibility of resources. Design/methodology/approach – A nontraditional melding of the review and conceptual development methodological modes sheds light on the limitations and future prospects of the three main strands within the RBT, with a special emphasis on its rapidly developing dynamic capabilities (DC) strand. Findings – The paper proposes a framework for modeling the transformation of resources into usable highly specific assets. Research limitations/implications – The ascent of the DC strand will itself have to be revisited some day. Practical implications – The findings imply that the decline of resources should not be left to chance, but be regulated according to one’s strategic intent. Originality/value – Driven by a constructive perspective aimed at integrating theoret...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss how personal values and internal motivation interact to influence entrepreneurial orientations. Personal values and internal motivation are among personal characteristics that have an impact on entrepreneurial orientation. However, these two personal variables are studied in isolation; therefore, how these two interact to influence entrepreneurial orientation is not yet fully understood. Design/methodology/approach – This study comprised a sample of Malay-owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs) located in the Klang Valley in Malaysia. A cross-sectional research design was used to examine the relationships between personal values, self-efficacy motivation and entrepreneurial orientation among small-scale Malay SMEs. To focus on SMEs, lists were sought from the Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA). Malay was chosen for this study because Malaysia has a majority of the Malay population compared to other races. Data were gathered based on mailed and personally admini...

Purpose – This study aims to investigate the relationship between ethical leadership and the employee’s perception of job insecurity in the Egyptian public sector. It also investigates the mediating effect of work locus of control on the hypothesized relationship. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a questionnaire that consists of measures adopted from existing and tested scales. The hypothesized model has been tested using multiple regression analysis. Findings – The findings reveal that the character of ethical leadership significantly reduces the employee’s perception of threats to job features and the powerlessness to counteract threats. However, the empowerment dimension of ethical leadership has adverse effects in the employee’s perception of powerlessness. Practical implications – The adverse effects of the empowerment behavior dimension of ethical leadership may be attributed to East–West differences in the conceptualization of empowerment. The Arab style of management promotes the Islam...

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to propose a unified model to connect the three subcomponents of the country of origin (COO) with price, quality and consumer perceptions of or intentions regarding a product. COO refers to the country with which a manufacturer’s product or brand is associated. COO can be broken down into three subcomponents: the country of design, the country of assembly and the country of parts. Design/methodology/approach – This study reviews the COO research that has been conducted in recent decades. These studies have primarily examined the correlation of COO’s broken-down components with marketing factors (such as price, quality and brand equity or loyalty) and consumer purchase behavior. These correlations are portrayed in a single model. This theory-building model is drawn using a philosophical conceptualization approach. Findings – This study concludes that, as a result of globalization and advancement in technology, consumers are more aware of and have more access to produc...