Offer Research Propositions Research Articles

The Application of the Principles of Responsible AI on Social Media Marketing for Digital Health

Social media enables medical professionals and authorities to share, disseminate, monitor, and manage health-related information digitally through online communities such as Twitter and Facebook. Simultaneously, artificial intelligence (AI) powered social media offers digital capabilities for organizations to select, screen, detect and predict problems with possible solutions through digital health data. Both the patients and healthcare professionals have benefited from such improvements. However, arising ethical concerns related to the use of AI raised by stakeholders need scrutiny which could help organizations obtain trust, minimize privacy invasion, and eventually facilitate the responsible success of AI-enabled social media operations. This paper examines the impact of responsible AI on businesses using insights from analysis of 25 in-depth interviews of health care professionals. The exploratory analysis conducted revealed that abiding by the responsible AI principles can allow healthcare businesses to better take advantage of the improved effectiveness of their social media marketing initiatives with their users. The analysis is further used to offer research propositions and conclusions, and the contributions and limitations of the study have been discussed.

Assessments of fit and usability of work-life supports in the context of diversity and perceptions of fairness

ABSTRACT There is a robust literature that examines outcomes associated with work-life supports. Scholars have considered the ‘fit’ between employee needs and the supports available while others have examined the ‘usability’—or the potential consequences of using—work-life supports. In this article, we suggest that ‘fit’ and ‘usability’ could be related to both employees’ own demographic, social, and cultural identities, as well as perceptions of fairness at the workplace. While scholars have focused on organizational justice and workplace fairness for quite some time, the context of diversity—in its many forms—has rarely been included in this conversation or has simply been added as a series of controls in statistical analyses without regard to diversity’s various forms. In response, we review the work-life literature to consider the broad context of diversity as well as various domains of workplace fairness. We then present a conceptual framework that aims to guide future work-life research on the fit and usability of work-life supports in the context of diversity and perceptions of fairness. We also offer research propositions to stimulate future scholarship and present findings from an exploratory study to illustrate the importance of considering the context of diversity in studies on workplace fairness.

Supply chain – marketing integration

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss China’s New Silk Road initiative as an opportunity for European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to export to Chinese market. It offers research propositions on redefining the business process of European SMEs and Chinese importers in light of the initiative. Design/methodology/approach SMEs’ export barriers, particularly in SCM and marketing, are identified through literature review. Then they are discussed in accordance with the measures that New Silk Road proposed. Findings Logistic infrastructure development under the New Silk Road significantly lowers the supply chain barrier. Marketing remains a challenge for European SMEs to export to China. This paper argues that the European SMEs and the Chinese importers should create closer collaboration, expand their relationship beyond SCM, and integrate their marketing efforts for mutual benefits. Research limitations/implications Several future research areas are proposed in this paper. The authors invite researchers and practitioners to deepen the discussion with empirical evidence. Practical implications The New Silk Road has already become a high stake project for many countries involved. Many measures are yet to be defined and the stakeholders, including industries and businesses, should have an influence on their definition. This paper provides the authors’ viewpoints on how businesses should act in this initiative. Originality/value Despite being an important topic of the world’s economy in the recent years, the New Silk Road initiative has rarely been studied in management research, possibly due to lack of evidence. As its development significantly sped up since 2017, it is high time that the research community starts to contribute to the knowledge building in this project. This paper is among the firsts to call for and to propose avenues for future research efforts.

Technological change, information processing and supply chain integration

PurposeTechnologies change quickly in the automotive industry. This can provide opportunities to firms from emerging economies who try to enter the world stage of automotive production, provided they can react to this more nimbly than established competitors. How technological change affects the supply chain coordination of incumbents from developed economies and new entrants from emerging economies should strongly determine the speed of competitive reaction. By using the example of automotive transmission development, the purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual model for the analysis and offer research propositions.Design/methodology/approachThe authors build a conceptual model based on information processing theory and offer research propositions based on case study evidence of four automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and five suppliers.FindingsThe authors find symptoms of two larger trends: increasing specialization and technological linkages and a need to increase external supply chain integration beyond traditional structures. Comparing the effects on Japanese and German incumbents, the authors find that increasing external supply chain linkages proves to be harder for Japanese OEMs. Tight links and routines in the Japanese supply chain networks may harm OEM efficiency under the new technological conditions, e.g. the lack of complete part specifications and high demands for customization. Looking at effects on emerging market firms, Chinese OEMs use quasi-open modular production settings in transmission development and lean strongly on inputs from specialized foreign tier-one suppliers. Speed advantages must be weighed against long-term disadvantages of dependence and insufficient R&D investments.Research limitations/implicationsThe study explores how technological change affects inter-firm development processes. The authors propose a framework and hypotheses based on information processing theory and link the findings to the discussion on the impact of national institutional context on supply chain coordination.Practical implicationsOEMs wanting to adapt complex existing internal structures to the changing demands for information processing should focus first on improving internal capacities by improving the amount and richness of information flow. Implementing new standards for simultaneous and standardized software development across the supply chain is a key point for this. A second step should be to boost the internal capacity to process higher richness of information, i.e. to understand the meta-knowledge necessary to integrate across technological areas in the development of electronic control units (ECUs).Originality/valueThe authors draw on original interview data in developed and emerging markets and information processing theory to explore the complexity of inter-firm coordination in automotive supply chains.

Disaster Resilience Through Public–Private Short‐Term Collaboration

While contingency planning may provide a perspective for anticipating critical incidents, supply chain managers must develop competencies to address the long‐term disruptions that stem from both natural and man‐made disasters. The broad‐reaching nature of disasters brings public and private entities together and often requires collaboration to revitalize disrupted supply chains. Leveraging supply chain governance logic through the dual lenses of resource management and competing values, a research framework is introduced to address the nature of public–private short‐term collaboration and its influence on supply chain resilience. The largely unstudied concept of short‐term collaboration is at the heart of a model focusing on the alignment and adjustment of potentially disparate organizational values (public/private) to establish collective responsiveness while facilitating the fulfillment of mutual goals for a single event and/or discrete repeat events. We offer research propositions pertaining to the model and conclude with a discussion of managerial implications and the dire need for future research.

Survivors of Organizational Change: A Resource Perspective

The failure rate of organizational change and studies regarding personal turmoil resulting from organizational change indicate that even employees survive layoff, merger, or any forms of changes, they still develop symptoms of distress, cynicism, and work withdrawal. In this paper, we propose a conceptual model based on the conservation of resources theory to examine the effect of organizational change on survivors’ organizational identification and well-being. Moreover, we suggest that organizational change may not be as harmful for employees who possess positive attitude toward the process. We offer research propositions and discuss implications for future organizational change research.

Engulfed in the abyss: The emergence of abusive supervision as an escalating process of supervisor–subordinate interaction

I present a dyadic process model to explain the emergence of abusive supervision as an escalating process of supervisor–subordinate interaction. Based on a social exchange framework, the model draws on organizational justice and previous abusive supervision research, as well as insights from behavioral ethics literature. I argue that the emergence of abusive supervision originates from initial subordinate perceptions of supervisor injustice. When reconciliation does not occur, subordinate perceptions of supervisor injustice and supervisor perceptions of inadequate subordinate (response) behavior may accumulate and thereby increasingly reinforce one another in an escalating spiral. It is proposed that perceptions of power asymmetry inhibit reconciliation attempts (e.g. remedial voice) systematically. Eventually, the tipping point of intentional supervisor hostility is reached and crossed. I offer research propositions and discuss implications for future abusive supervision research.

Emerging market multinationals' location choice

PurposeLocation choice made by emerging market multinationals (EMMs) constitutes an important yet somewhat neglected topic in business research. The purpose of this paper is to develop a research framework that elucidates the role of EMM‐specific resources and internationalization motivations on the location choice of EMMs.Design/methodology/approachThe literature pertaining to firm‐specific resources and internationalization motivations as determinants of location choice is reviewed. This leads to the development of a research framework that takes into account various combinations of resources and motivations in explaining the location choice of EMMs. The paper offers research propositions by linking resources, motivations, and the appropriate choice of locations.FindingsThe paper illustrates that location choices of EMMs are determined by the interplay of various resources (relationship‐based, home experiences‐based, and country created assets‐based) and internationalization motivations (market‐seeking, asset‐seeking, and resource‐seeking).Originality/valueThe paper investigates the simultaneous influence of two important determinants: firm‐specific resources and internationalization motivations on the location choices of EMMs. Prior literature has extolled the importance of these factors in international business but not in the context of the location choices of EMMs. Thus, this paper fills an important void in business scholarship.

It Takes Two – Abusive Supervision as an escalating process of supervisor-subordinate interaction

In this article I present a dyadic process model to explain the emergence of abusive supervision as an escalating process of supervisor-subordinate interaction. Based on a social exchange framework, the model draws on organizational justice and previous abusive supervision research as well as insights from behavioral ethics literature. I argue that the emergence of abusive supervision originates from initial subordinate perceptions of supervisor injustice. When reconciliation does not occur, subordinate perceptions of supervisor injustice and supervisor perceptions of inadequate subordinate (response) behavior may accumulate and thereby increasingly reinforce each other in an escalating spiral. Perceptions of power asymmetry are proposed to systematically inhibit reconciliation attempts (e.g., remedial voice). Eventually, the tipping point of intentional supervisor hostility is reached and crossed. I offer research propositions along the discussion of the model.

Antecedents of Business Performance in Small Tourism Firms: A Conceptual Framework and Research Propositions

Despite growing attention, entrepreneurship research remains understudied in the field of tourism management. A review of the literature shows that there is a lack of coverage devoted to the tourism entrepreneur and their innovative behaviors as antecedents of business performance in small tourism firms. This is surprising considering that literature advocates innovation and/or creativity as key components of entrepreneurship. Thus, this paper develops a conceptual model which focuses on entrepreneurship and innovation as antecedents of business performance and offers research propositions. It is argued that a tourism entrepreneur’s entrepreneurial self-efficacy and innovative behaviors plays a role in enhancing the business performance of their firm.

How strategic considerations influence decision making on e-HRM applications

Although numerous studies indicate that the added value of human resource management is strongest when HRM decisions are linked to the organizational strategy, practical knowledge about how strategic considerations influence decision-making processes relating to e-HRM is limited. Therefore, the purpose of this study is (1) to examine in three case studies how strategic considerations influence the decision-making process around the introduction of e-HRM applications, (2) to present propositions for further research, and (3) to offer recommendations on how to better include strategic considerations in the decision-making process. Three in-depth case studies of companies' e-HRM implementation were performed using a model on e-HRM strategy formulation (Marler, 2009). The case studies reveal that when specific business drivers are absent from the decision-making process, the main role of e-HRM becomes to provide an infrastructure with a focus on preventing dissatisfaction. In order for e-HRM to be used in a more strategic way, business and HRM should be aligned.Based on the findings, we offer research propositions for academics studying this emerging field of the interconnections between strategy, human resource management and IT systems. In addition, we offer recommendations for HR practitioners on how to optimize the match between business and HRM.

Conceptualising the influence of lead users and opinion leaders on accelerating the rate of innovation diffusion

There are a number of research studies that theoretically and empirically investigated the influence of lead users on the innovation process. It is argued that this lead-user innovation approach helps the firm to reduce the risk of failure associated with introducing new products to the market. However, there are only limited research studies that comprehensively evaluated the influence of lead users' innovations on the rate of diffusion. This paper presents a diffusion model that synthesises concepts from key research traditions. The purposes of this paper are: 1) to introduce an integrative model of innovation diffusion that evaluates lead users' influence on accelerating rate of diffusion through highlighting the link with opinion leadership as well as innovation attributes; 2) to offer research propositions that would provide directions for future research and represent implications for innovation management practice. The conceptual contribution of this research study is in the proposed integrative model that links lead user-ness, opinion leadership and innovation diffusion attributes. The proposed model posits that both lead user-ness and opinion leadership affect innovation attributes, which subsequently affect the rate of diffusion of innovation.

Global sales training: In search of antecedent, mediating, and consequence variables

This study proposes a framework that identifies and explains the relationships of input, mediating, and output variables for global sales training programs. Input or antecedent variables include high-quality: determination of sales training needs, objective setting, designing/implementing the training program, and evaluating training outcomes. The mediating variable culture is measured by a latent indicator: managers' perceived importance/perceived adequacy. The output or consequence variable is the quantitative improvement a firm measures in sales force performance that results from global sales training in the form of increases in sales revenue, profitability, decreased customer complaints, and/or reduced selling expenses. This framework is an initial attempt to synthesize existing knowledge about how to conduct effective sales training programs in cross-cultural settings. The article also offers research propositions that can be tested to advance our understanding of global sales training, discusses managerial implications, identifies limitations encountered by global sales training practitioners, and suggests future study opportunities for researchers.

The role of personality in new product development team performance

The paper centers on the optimal team member personal style for new product development success. Although the role of personality in team performance is not well understood, research suggests that personality plays a critical role in the effective performance of teams. Personality variables should be especially important for new product development (NPD) teams which typically include highly coordinated activities among multidisciplinary members. The five-factor model provides a consistent structure for understanding how personality relates to different kinds of behavior and is used as a framework for reviewing literature related to team performance. The same model is then used to form a set of research propositions that can serve to guide future research on the role of personality in NPD teams. Because the literature suggests that the role of personality is dependent upon the type of task involved, we differentiate our research propositions for two specific types of new product development: incremental innovation and radical innovation. We offer research propositions for the average level of each of the five-factor model variables and performance in the two types of teams. Finally, we suggest a set of research propositions for the effect of heterogeneity of personality on performance in radical and incremental innovation teams.

Sustaining the International Competitive Advantage of Asian Firms: A Conceptual Framework and Research Propositions

The sudden loss of export markets by many Asian firms during the Asian financial crisis (AFC) has raised important questions on how firms in the region can regain and sustain their competitive advantage in international markets. This paper develops a conceptual model which focuses on certain key elements of a firm's internal resources as critical sources of competitive advantage and offers research propositions. It is argued that Asian firms can enhance their international competitive advantage by leveraging their internal resources within an external environment generally conducive to growth.

Tit for Tat? The Spiraling Effect of Incivility in the Workplace

In this article we introduce the concept of workplace incivility and explain how incivility can potentially spiral into increasingly intense aggressive behaviors. To gain an understanding of the mechanisms that underlie an “incivility spiral,” we examine what happens at key points: the starting and tipping points. Furthermore, we describe several factors that can facilitate the occurrence and escalation of an incivility spiral and the secondary spirals that can result. We offer research propositions and discuss implications of workplace incivility for researchers and practitioners.

Exchange Rate Pass-Through and International Pricing Strategy: A Conceptual Framework and Research Propositions

The extent to which exchange rate fluctuations affect international prices is called “exchange rate pass-through.” This paper develops a conceptual model in explaining how exchange rate fluctuations are channeled into international pricing strategy, and offers research propositions. Our model posits that the extent of exchange rate pass-through in international pricing is affected by the firm's pricing orientation, performance orientation, distribution policy, and brand equity, as well as by exchange rate uncertainty and competitive symmetry.

Cross‐cultural sales negotiations

States that the involvement of a sales organisation in international business requires sales interactions that transcend national boundaries. Understanding the complexities of cross‐cultural sales negotiations is most important and is a difficult task for sales managers. States that despite the importance and complex nature of cross‐cultural negotiations, the literature is normative and largely disjointed. By using the negotiation process as an analytical framework, this study examines the relevant literature, offers research propositions and indicates additional areas necessitating further research.