Managerial Responses Research Articles

Innovation Amidst Turmoil: A SenseMaker Study of Managerial Responses to the COVID‑19 Crisis in Germany

Innovation Amidst Turmoil: A SenseMaker Study of Managerial Responses to the COVID‑19 Crisis in Germany

Managerial Response to Online Positive Reviews: Helpful or Harmful?

Managerial responses to negative reviews could be easily understood as a brand-safeguarding strategy by firms because negative reviews can damage a company’s reputation. However, it is unclear if managers should respond to positive reviews and if so, if such action helps or hurts the firm. We develop a theoretical framework to explicate the mechanisms underlying the effects of managerial responses to positive reviews on user reviewing behaviors in online platforms. We classify positive reviews into four types: one-sided affective reviews, two-sided affective reviews, one-sided instrumental reviews, and two-sided instrumental reviews. We classify managerial responses as tailored and template responses. Using natural language processing and deep learning algorithms, we extract information presented in the texts in the reviews and responses. We theorize and test which kinds of managerial responses to positive reviews are helpful and which of them are harmful. Overall, we find that a tailored response is more appropriate when responding to two-sided instrumental positive reviews and one-sided affective positive reviews, whereas template responses work for one-sided instrumental positive reviews and two-sided affective positive reviews. Not responding would be an effective strategy for mixed positive reviews.

Risk management behaviour in digital factories: the influence of technology and task uncertainty on managerial risk responses

PurposeThis study aims to advance a behavioural approach towards understanding how managerial perception impacts the enactment of responses to risk management during the implementation of digital technologies in industrial operations and supply chains. The purpose is to investigate the influence of (digital) technology and task uncertainty on the risk perception of managers and how this impacts risk responses adopted by managers.Design/methodology/approachFollowing an exploratory theory elaboration approach, the authors collected more than 80 h of interview material from 53 expert interviews. These interviews were conducted with representatives of 46 German companies that have adopted digital technologies for different industrial applications within manufacturing, assembly and logistics processes.FindingsThe findings provide nuanced insights on how individual and combined sources of uncertainty (technology and task uncertainty) impact the perception of decision makers and the resulting managerial responses adopted. The authors uncover the important role played by the interaction between digital technology and human being in the context of industrial operations. The exploratory study shows that the joint collaboration between humans and technologies has negative implications for managerial risk responses regardless of positive or negative perception, and therefore, requires significant attention in future studies.Research limitations/implicationsThe empirical base for this study is limited to German companies (mainly small and medium size). Moreover, German culture can be characterised by a high uncertainty avoidance and this may also limit the generalizability of the findings.Practical implicationsManagers should critically revise their perception of different types of digital technologies and be aware of the impact of human-machine interaction. Thereby, they should investigate more systematic approaches of risk identification and assessment.Originality/valueThis paper focuses on the managerial risk responses in the context of digitalisation projects with practical insights of 53 expert interviews.

Leader Member Exchange and Creative Idea Endorsement: The Role of Supportive and Challenging Voice

This study seeks to investigate why speaking out is not viewed positively in certain instances, but, at times, doing so results in both management support for the pitched proposals and improved interpersonal correlations for individuals doing so. Data was collected from two sources: employees and their supervisors of a telecommunication services organization in Indonesia. The data collected from 367 subordinates and 98 supervisors was then analyzed for simple regression and mediation with Mplus. We found that managerial response to employees’ creativity depends on the type of voice exhibited by the employees (challenging vs. supportive). We found that for employees who show their concerns with a challenging form of voice, managers are less likely to establish quality relationships (LMX) and endorse their ideas. However, when managers find employees engaged in supportive forms of voice, they will likely establish quality relationships (LMX) with them and endorse their ideas. Further, LMX mediated these relationships, but in different ways—that is, a challenging voice may be detrimental to the development of quality relationships, but managers may endorse those creative ideas; however, a supportive voice may be helpful in developing quality relationships, but it may not help in the endorsement of their creative ideas. This study contributes to the research on voice behavior by highlighting the significance of managers' assessments of reasons attributed to employees' voices.

Cultural similarity and guest-host interaction for virtual tourism

Online experience program is a novel virtual tourism product in which guests can experience interesting activities online. However, the mechanism behind guest-host interactions for online experience remains unexplored. From the perspective of cultural similarity, this study tries to discover how guests review differently to native hosts and foreign hosts, as well as how hosts reply differently to native guests and foreign guests. Based on the data collected from Airbnb, we conduct empirical analyses from the perspectives of guests and hosts separately. Our results show that guests tend to pay more efforts when they write online reviews for native hosts, whereas hosts prefer to pay more efforts to foreign guests while making managerial responses. Our work not only sheds light on the user behavioral patterns for virtual tourism products but also provides multiple practical implications for the platforms, businesses, and guests in the sharing economy.

Expressive illocutionary acts and politeness in managerial responses to online hotel reviews

This paper explores expressive illocutionary acts in responses to hotel guests' reviews posted on Tripadvisor and aims to compare their occurrences and realizations in 320 managerial responses in English from English and Serbian hotels, with manifestations of linguistic politeness a focus of analysis. Drawing largely on Leech's (2014) framework, it has attempted to determine whether the acts which tend to come in the form of formulaic, routinized expressions occurring in the responses written by hotel representatives with different backgrounds exhibit some differences as a reflection of culture-specific politeness values. The analysis has revealed considerable similarity between the two data sets in the lexico-grammatical realization of expressives and the use of resources for politeness. However, some noteworthy points of dissimilarity have emerged which correlate closely with the differences in cultural value preferences of the two countries in Hofstede et al.'s (2010) dimensions of power distance and of individualism.

Exploring online consumer review-management response dynamics: A heuristic-systematic perspective

Although the effects of managerial responses (MRs) on subsequent customer reviews (CRs) has been explored, we lack a comprehensive theoretical framework to explain the interdependent relationships between previous and subsequent CRs—specifically the dynamic influences of MRs on future CRs. We draw on emotional contagion and regulation theories to develop a heuristic systematic model to explain CR-MR dynamics in online settings. We propose six systematic processing and three heuristic processing routes to delineate the determination and persuasion effects between previous and subsequent consumers' CRs. The systematic routes describe how current customers' compliments, complaints, and emotions influence their current rating scores. The heuristic processing routes describe how previous customers' rating scores and emotions influence current customers' rating scores and emotions. We suggest MR strategies to regulate these effects. The presence and length of MRs defines the numeric heuristic route while the positive-emotion heuristic route is conceptualized through expressions of thanks, sincerity, interaction, and complimenting customers. Expressions of apology, explanation, empathy, and remedy inform the negative-emotion heuristic route. We collect text from customers' reviews and managers' responses from the TripAdvisor website using text-mining techniques and analyze our hypotheses using Pooled Ordinary Least Squares (pooled OLS) and Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) modeling. Our findings not only enrich the theoretical underpinnings of the CR/MR literature, but also provide managerial guidance on how customers' emotional contagion and rating behaviors might be regulated.

How business pivots during war: Lessons from Ukrainian companies’ responses to crisis

This article explores how large companies in Ukraine have been responding to the crisis caused by the war. We find that the core theories of managerial reaction to crisis—the threat-rigidity and contingency theories—aptly describe companies’ responses to the war, with the first theory explaining companies’ initial reactions, and the latter theory explaining the subsequent behaviors of companies as the war continued. The most surprising findings here were the value of the pandemic as an experience in dealing with war, and the way in which, when war becomes the new normal, managers seek to take advantage of opportunities to build resilience and redundancy. The shift in perception and attitude this entails exemplifies the adaptability companies display in the face of such difficult situations as a full-fledged war. Our research yields four suggestions for managerial responses to crises: (1) view every crisis as a learning opportunity in preparation for future crises, (2) use business continuity plans as a means of reducing initial threat-rigidity reactions, (3) prioritize crucial over nonrelevant corrective actions, and (4) recognize that crisis-generated discontinuities may last longer than expected, thereby requiring long-term plans that respond both to emerging threats and to novel opportunities.

Predicting Consumer Service Price Evolution during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Optimized Machine Learning Approach

This research analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer service pricing within the European Union, focusing on the Transportation, Accommodation, and Food Service sectors. Our study employs various machine learning models, including multilayer perceptron, XGBoost, CatBoost, and random forest, along with genetic algorithms for comprehensive hyperparameter tuning and price evolution forecasting. We incorporate coronavirus cases and deaths as factors to enhance prediction accuracy. The dataset comprises monthly reports of COVID-19 cases and deaths, alongside managerial survey responses regarding company estimations. Applying genetic algorithms for hyperparameter optimization across all models results in significant enhancements, yielding optimized models that exhibit RMSE score reductions ranging from 3.35% to 5.67%. Additionally, the study demonstrates that XGBoost yields more accurate predictions, achieving an RMSE score of 17.07.

Cybersecurity research from a management perspective: A systematic literature review and future research agenda

Firms continue to face increasing threats of financial and reputational damage from cybersecurity events. Despite increasing scholarly attention, our 25-year review of studies published in leading academic business journals demonstrates that extant research has generally examined antecedents (e.g., technological defenses), with more limited research focusing on managerial responses to or long-term performance outcomes from these events. Accordingly, we chronicle the current state of knowledge of these threats from a management (rather than from an information systems) perspective. We then highlight important future research opportunities for management scholars interested in developing or testing theory related to critical cybersecurity issues.

Moral repair versus punishment: influences on managerial responses

Purpose The current management literature suggests that when employees engage in wrongdoing, managers typically respond with punishment. The emerging moral repair literature suggests an alternative to punishment: a reparative response that focuses on repairing harm and restoring damaged relationships. However, little is currently known about restorative managerial responses, including why managers respond to employee wrongdoing in a reparative versus punitive manner. The purpose of this paper is to examine a variety of cognitive and emotional influences on this managerial decision. Design/methodology/approach This study used a scenario-based survey methodology. The authors gathered data from 894 managers in sales and financial services contexts to test a set of hypotheses regarding individual-level influences on managers’ punitive versus restorative responses. Findings This study found that managers’ restorative justice orientation, retributive justice orientation, social considerations (e.g. when employees are relatively interdependent versus independent), instrumental considerations (e.g. when the offender is highly valuable to the organization) and feelings of anger influenced their reparative versus punitive responses. Research limitations/implications Data are cross-sectional, so causality inferences should be approached with caution. Another potential limitation is common method bias due to single-source and single-wave data. Practical implications The findings of this study show that managers often opt for a restorative response to workplace transgressions, and this study surfaces a variety of reasons why managers choose a restorative response instead of a punitive response. Social implications This study focuses on social order and expectations within the workplace. This is important to victims, offenders, observers, managers and other stakeholders. This study seeks to emphasize the importance of social factors, a shared social identity, social bonds and other relationships within this manuscript. This is an important component of organizational-focused restorative justice research. Originality/value This is the first study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to explicitly test individual-level influences on managers’ reparative versus punitive responses to employee wrongdoing.

Trust in managerial response offsets negative review

Negative reviews are related to one of the most important challenges to hotels that must figure out. Despite the negative reviews affect serverely to hotel revenue, it lacks in examining the managerial response of how treats those negative review fairly well and restore the trust of the negative reviewers as well as potential visitors. This research examines the distinguished roles between ability and other factors, focusing on the integrated perspectives of signaling theory and trusting belief. We found the ability is the most powerful signal to rebuild the trust of potential tourists with the impression that the hotel successfully solves the problem through experimental studies.

Do managerial communications improve customer satisfaction and eWOM? The moderating effect of response authenticity

As customer reviews are becoming increasingly valued in the hotel industry, hotel managers are actively responding to customer reviews, and many researchers are investigating the effects of managerial responses. Previous studies, however, have mainly focused on open communication that takes place on social platforms or online travel agency (OTA) websites. Considerations about interaction contexts and specific response styles are also lacking. These limitations raise research questions, such as whether private interactions between managers and customers would be effective, whether the effect would differ between dissatisfied and satisfied customers, and what role the authenticity of managerial responses would play in these interactions. To address these questions, we investigated the effect of private managerial interactions. The effect of a managerial apology on customers’ future satisfaction, the effect of a managerial “thank you” on customers’ future electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), and the moderating effect of response style (i.e., personalization and length) were examined. We analyzed data from a customer satisfaction survey in which customers leave feedback after their stay and hotel managers respond to each customer personally via email. Our results reveal that a private managerial apology increases customers’ future satisfaction only when it is long or personalized. A private managerial “thank you” positively affects customers’ eWOM in the next period. This research provides empirical evidence for the effect of private managerial interactions, extending the existing discussions on the effect of managerial responses to the private digital communication context. This research contributes to the research areas of managerial response, service recovery, and digital communications.

Managerial Response to Voice: A Systematic Review and Agenda for Future Research

Managerial Response to Voice: A Systematic Review and Agenda for Future Research

To respond or not to respond? The reviewer- and review content-related influencers on managerial response decision towards customer reviews

Over the last decade, managerial response has gained increasing attention in the hospitality industry as an important strategy to manage online reviews and hotel-to-consumer communication. To help hotels navigate this terrain, this study investigates the influencers related to reviewers and review content that affect a company’s managerial decision on whether to respond or not respond to a specific review. The results indicate that companies are more likely to respond to experienced reviewers’ negative reviews (i.e., 1-star, 2-star, and 3-star reviews) than to their positive reviews (i.e., 4-star and 5-star reviews). They are also more likely to respond to negative (positive) reviews associated with fixed (changeable) product attributes. Additionally, companies are more likely to respond to negative and positive reviews covering more topics in the review’s content than to the reviews covering fewer topics. This study makes important theoretical and practical contributions to the research on the management of online reviews.

Seize the favorable impression: how hosts should manage positive online reviews

PurposePositive reviews can enrich the favorable impression of peer-to-peer accommodation products, and seizing this impression is vital for hosts. This study aims to focus on hosts’ response strategies to positive reviews and their effects.Design/methodology/approachThis study categorizes hosts’ response strategies to positive reviews into cordial and tailoring responses. This study empirically analyzes the influence of these response strategies on subsequent review volumes using 1,283 valid listings and zero-inflation negative binomial regression models.FindingsWhile hosts use cordial responses more, tailoring responses are more likely to drive subsequent reviews. In addition, when the host chooses entirely shared accommodation or sets a high price, the facilitating effect of the two response strategies on subsequent reviews weakens.Research limitations/implicationsThis study enriches the knowledge system on managerial responses by proposing two specific response strategies to positive reviews that can be adopted by peer-to-peer accommodation hosts and by finding the promoting impact of these strategies on subsequent review volumes.Practical implicationsThis study recommends that peer-to-peer accommodation hosts adopt cordial and tailoring responses to encourage subsequent consumer reviewing behavior.Originality/valueAs an early attempt to explore hosts’ responses to positive reviews and their impacts on subsequent review volumes, this study provides valuable insights into further research on positive review response strategies in the digital space.

Reconceptualizing the organizational environment: a fluid dynamics perspective for turbulence

PurposeTo reconceptualize the organizational environment in a comprehensive manner, it is important to specify not just the velocity but also other aspects of turbulent environments. Concurrently, the purpose of this paper is to also propose that organizational adaptability and, particularly, the speed of adaptations are critical to moderate the impact of turbulence in the environment on organizational performance.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses a conceptual methodology to fully specify turbulent environments and commensurate managerial response appropriate for such environments. Based on a perspective borrowed from the field of fluid dynamics used to specify the phenomenon of turbulence, the authors develop a conceptual model with research propositions. Four dimensions that describe turbulence in fluid flow when applied metaphorically offer a comprehensive view of the organizational environment.FindingsAn extreme, unanticipated, sudden onslaught resulting in a prolonged disrupted environment such as during the recent coronavirus crisis is best characterized as having caused turbulent environmental conditions. Management theories have addressed disruptions as high-velocity environments in the context of rapid changes in information technology. With a broadened conceptualization of the organizational environment to better capture extreme disruptions, the authors provide a comprehensive model appropriate for turbulent environmental conditions and offer research directions for scholarly pursuit.Originality/valueThis paper provides a new perspective from the physical sciences to better conceptualize organizational environments during extreme disruptions such as in turbulent environmental conditions.

Managerial responses to online communication: The role of mimicry in affecting third-party observers’ purchase intentions

In interpersonal communication, humans tend to mimic one another verbally and non-verbally, producing beneficial outcomes for the mimicker. The growth in online communication has moved many manager-customer interactions from in-person to a virtual environment visible to others. Thus, we investigate whether and how managers’ conscious mimicking of wording from consumers’ online reviews affects the purchase intentions of third-party readers of the exchange. We propose that mimicking is a signal of the firm’s attentiveness that increases trust, resulting in increased purchase intentions. A series of experimental studies support this hypothesis under varying conditions, such as whether the valence of the customer’s communication is positive or negative, or the frequency of the use of mimicry varies. An examination of field data finds that the use of mimicry increases the ratings of subsequent reviews. Thus, we provide managers with a straightforward tool that can increase consumer trust, purchase intentions, and subsequent review ratings.

The Relationship between Distance and Risk Perception in Multi-Tier Supply Chain: The Psychological Typhoon Eye Effect

Previous research has shown that an individual’s proximity to the epicenter can influence their perception and response to risk. However, this aspect has been largely overlooked in the supply chain risk literature. This paper aims to fill this gap by investigating the impact of distance on the perception and response to supply chain disruption risk. An online survey was conducted with 1055 managers working within the supply chain of ZTE, a Chinese multinational company providing integrated communications and information solutions. The survey aimed to examine how their distance from the disruption epicenter (i.e., ZTE) affected their risk perception and subsequent managerial responses. The findings indicate that those closer to the epicenter perceive a lower risk of disruption compared to those farther away, resulting in a reduced likelihood of taking management action. This phenomenon is referred to as the “psychological typhoon eye” (PTE) effect in supply chain disruption risk. Further analysis revealed that risk information quality mediated the relationship between distance and risk perception, while an individual’s job position level moderated the relationship between risk information quality and disruption risk perception. To mitigate the PTE effect in the multi-tier supply chain, the focal firm must prioritize high-quality information synchronization, extending beyond single-company initiatives.

Personalized managerial response and negative inconsistent review helpfulness: The mediating effect of perceived response helpfulness

Understanding the effect of managerial response on online review management has attracted the attention of scholars in recent years. However, the effect of personalized managerial response on the negative inconsistent review is a lack of evidence. This study investigates how personalized managerial responses influence negative review helpfulness according to the various levels of review inconsistency and the underlying mechanism behind the effect. We adopted a secondary data analysis based on the TripAdvisor dataset and used an online experiment study to investigate the impact mechanism. Findings reveal that the personalized managerial response positively influences review helpfulness, review inconsistency (negative rating with positive textual sentiment) moderates the effect of personalized managerial response on review helpfulness, and perceived response helpfulness mediates the above relationships. More specifically, personalized managerial response to negative inconsistent reviews has a pronounced effect on consumers’ perception of response helpfulness and their evaluation of review helpfulness. This study improves the current understanding of managerial responses, and provides practical guidance for hoteliers, consumers, and travel websites.