Determinants of effective client entertainment in China: a transaction governance approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 613-632
Author(s):  
Francis Sun

PurposeThis paper aims to take an economic transaction governance approach to explore the determinants for the effectiveness of the social practice of client entertainment in facilitating business relationships in China.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is based on a broader theoretical framework which posits that exchange relationships are regulated through a combination of market, legal and social relational mechanisms and client entertainment plays a governance role by reinforcing social relational governance to regulate the behaviors of economic actors. Upon this framework, this study proposes that the social behavioral features of client entertainment affect the effectiveness of client entertainment in facilitating exchange relationships and that time moderates such effects. These hypotheses were tested on survey data collected from a sample of Chinese sales managers.FindingsEmpirical results indicate that the effectiveness of client entertainment in facilitating exchange relationships is associated with its social behavioral features that could reinforce social relational governance, including intensity (i.e. value and frequency) and format (i.e. intimacy and observability) of entertainment activities, and the time factor plays a moderating role.Practical implicationsThis study can potentially help policymakers to regulate client entertainment, and business practitioners to manage entertainment spending, more effectively and efficiently without causing legal and ethical problems.Originality/valueThis is the first study that takes an economic transaction governance perspective to directly explore how the social practice of client entertainment plays a constructive role in China’s economic life and what factors affect its effectiveness in playing such a role. It offers guidelines for policymakers, business managers and future research to manage and study this practice.

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 408-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martyn Gosling ◽  
James Richard ◽  
Yuri Seo

Purpose The paper contributes to the debate on a general theory of markets. The purpose of this paper is to develop a market practice model based on social practice theories, and explore new ways of describing market boundaries. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual analysis of contemporary marketing directions and market theorizations provides a basis for defining markets and market boundaries in terms of social practices and their performances by market actors. Findings Based on the market performances held in place by institutional practices that define, contextualize and stabilize a market, this paper defines market boundaries by nine specific categories of practices, described here as parameters. Research limitations/implications This is a conceptual paper. Future research using empirical evidence derived from situated investigations should endeavor to refine the model and practices that define market boundaries. Originality/value The paper provides a new conceptualization of markets and market boundaries from the social practice perspective, and advances contemporary market theorizing that puts services at the center of exchange. The paper offers managerial implications by describing alternative means for analyzing markets and developing corresponding competitive strategies. Furthermore, the conception of market boundaries as nine parameters provides insights beyond the geographic and price boundaries typically used to describe market limits and exchange processes when developing policy.


2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Gross ◽  
David Carson ◽  
Rosalind Jones

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose the application of social practice theory for the investigation of entrepreneurial marketing (EM) practices. Design/methodology/approach – A theoretical gap has been found between scholarly efforts to explain the nature of EM practice and the actual marketing practice or marketing doings of small firms. Findings – The paper covers some of the EM literature and perspectives and examining the notion of “practice” in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and entrepreneurship research. Based on an increasing focus on practice in the social theory literature and the contributions of key social theorists, a discussion is framed in terms of how EM practice can be studied through the investigation material and bodily observations and common interpretations. Research limitations/implications – The paper offers a proposal that the observations of practitioners’ actions and activities and the investigation of common interpretations can be conceptualized to explain the nature of EM practice. It also gives avenues for future research. Practical implications – The paper suggests that marketing comprises a wide scope of activities or practices and, in the case of a small firm, is all-pervasive. It also suggests that scholars engage in understanding the collective, distributed, situated, ongoing and tacit nature of EM. Originality/value – The paper provides a fresh conceptual approach about how EM practice can be studied through the investigation material and bodily observations as well as common interpretations.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gema Ramírez-Guerrero ◽  
Javier García-Onetti ◽  
Juan Adolfo Chica-Ruiz ◽  
Manuel Arcíla-Garrido

Purpose This paper attempts to fill the gap that exists in research regarding 20th-century heritage and its social appreciation. The purpose of this paper is to explore different ways of evaluating the heritage value and tourism potential and to propose an innovative model validated in the Zarzuela Hippodrome as an example of cultural asset from 20th century with important economic, social, cultural, aesthetic and architectural aspects. Design/methodology/approach This study opted for an interpretation of heritage from an ecosystem, integrating and global paradigm, understanding the asset as a set of resources that interact with each other, generating a common and enriched tourist experience among all the elements that make it up. From this perspective, it is conceived that by modifying one of the elements, the whole (tourist) ecosystem will be equally influenced. On the other side, it was incorporated non-parametric techniques based on the implementation of surveys for the validation of the tool to the case study of the Zarzuela hippodrome. Findings The results suggest that the hippodrome's internal values have been evaluated very positively, while its external values are low. Through this study, the paper has identified several weaknesses that impede its functioning as a viable “tourist product.” The distance from the city center, the lack of available information and the scarce diffusion and tourism promotion are its main weaknesses. The proposed analysis tool reveals the importance of the active participation of visitors to evaluate cultural assets through the combination of aspects related to the conservation of cultural assets and, in turn, elements that encourage their commodification as tourist products, break down barriers between these two disciplines. Research limitations/implications The management tool proposed in this study can be used to underpin the creation of tourism experiences in cultural or heritage assets by diagnosing the current state of its tourist potential, quantifying its value in relation to the visitors’ perception and making visible those problematic aspects to develop actions to solve them. Although the present study is support for future research, as well as for improving the marketing of heritage in tourist settings, an in-depth analysis of the technical elements of heritage, as well as of its intervention (if applicable), will be necessary for the managers who want to use the tool. Social implications One of the most differentiating characteristics between the construction typology of 20th-century historical buildings is perhaps the scarcity of decorative ornamentation, with exposed concrete being the main surface coating. Many of these constructions have an important cultural and historical relevance, however, the social perception, as regards its consideration as architectural and artistic heritage seems to reflect discordant aspects. This study provides support as a decision-making tool to determine the existing valuation of a building and how to enhance it. Originality/value This study takes steps toward the creation of a model that supports decision-makers and owners of cultural assets through a measurement system that makes it possible to quantify and determine the current state of tourism use through the social evaluation of heritage criteria. It defines which are the elements that favor the resilience of the property or, on the contrary, which are those that undermine its enhancement.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Syed S.M Sadrul Huda ◽  
Afsana Akhtar ◽  
Segufta Dilshad ◽  
Syeeda Raisa Maliha

PurposeThe study aims to gain insights into the management of COVID-19 in Bangladesh to identify the factors that are relevant to managing the pandemic in a developing country.Design/methodology/approachThe study was carried out by pursuing the archival method. The information was collected from credible newspaper reports over the previous months, as well as articles published on the subject of COVID-19.FindingsThe research revealed important and relevant dimensions of the health sector in managing the COVID-19 pandemic. The major factors were doctors, nurses (health service providers), patients, (customers) and society. This is a pioneering paper, which documents the major lessons learned from the management of COVID-19 in Bangladesh concerning three stakeholders of the health-care system, i.e. providers, patients and society. This paper covers the situation regarding the ongoing pandemic from three perspectives – provider, customers and society, and thus, may help to develop future research regarding the development of health-care management models for addressing the pandemic.Research limitations/implicationsThe major limitations of this paper is its over dependence on secondary sources for collecting the information.Practical implicationsThis paper presents the learnings from the pandemic in health-care management in different categories (e.g. social, doctor/nurse, patients), which can help the managers in understanding different dimensions of the health-care sector from different perspectives. The problems as well as the learnings stated in the paper can help the policy makers implement such strategies to ensure better delivery of the medical health-care service during a pandemic.Social implicationsThis paper clearly reveals the social dimensions of the COVID-19 by assessing the social aspects of COVID-19 management. Both social stigma and support are traced out during evaluating the situation. Thus, the social forces will be able to rethink about their role in addressing the social costs of pandemic.Originality/valueThis is a commentary piece.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Richard Philip Lee ◽  
Caroline Coulson ◽  
Kate Hackett

The on-going rise in demand experienced by voluntary and community organisations (VCOs) providing emergency food aid has been described as a sign of a social and public health crisis in the UK (Loopstra, 2018; Lambie-Mumford, 2019), compounded since 2020 by the impact of (and responses to) Covid 19 (Power et al., 2020). In this article we adopted a social practice approach to understanding the work of food bank volunteering. We identify how ‘helping others’, ‘deploying coping strategies’ and ‘creating atmospheres’ are key specific (and connected) forms of shared social practice. Further, these practices are sometimes suffused by faith-based practice. The analysis offers insights into how such spaces of care and encounter (Williams et al., 2016; Cloke et al., 2017) function, considers the implications for these distinctive organisational forms (the growth of which has been subject to justified critique) and suggests avenues for future research.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 348-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Snejina Michailova ◽  
Kate Hutchings

Purpose This paper aims to provide a critical perspective of how the theme of women, and more broadly gender, have been treated in extant international business (IB) literature. It also suggests meaningful and promising avenues in this research space. Design/methodology/approach This paper is not intended to provide a comprehensive literature review; rather, it offers a critical and reflective view on the development of the IB stream of literature in which discussion of women has been largely marginalised. Findings While women and gender have been topics of considerable discussion across a range of disciplines in the social sciences, they have received limited examination in the IB literature despite this discipline being most suitable for such, given its socio-cultural analyses across international borders and organisations. Research limitations/implications Several themes are suggested as fertile future research avenues. These themes identify gaps in existing knowledge but, more importantly, also problematize prevailing views that IB scholars tend to hold about women and gender. The future research themes suggest that the very context of IB signifies the need for systematic gender analysis which might advance current understanding of women specifically and gender, more broadly, in the IB field. Originality/value This paper makes a salient and timely contribution to the IB field in providing an original, erstwhile unexamined critique of the marginal reflection on women and gender within extant IB research.


2019 ◽  
pp. 946-965
Author(s):  
Jill Denner ◽  
Jacob Martinez

This chapter describes how children and youth are using digital media to address inequity in their schools, communities, and in society. The chapter begins with a review of the historical and cultural roots of children making digital media for the social good, and situates the approach in the context of other civic and community-based movements. The next section focuses on the range of ways that children and youth are making digital media, including who is participating, and the social and institutional factors involved. The next sections describe the benefits for the participants and for society, as well as the barriers to broader participation. Two case studies highlight key strategies for engaging marginalized youth in making digital media for the social good, and ways to expand the popularity of this approach. The chapter concludes with suggestions for future research, and the broader implications for education, civic engagement, social practice and policy.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 176-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadège Levallet ◽  
Yolande E. Chan

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the effectiveness of organizational information technology (IT)-based and non-IT-based knowledge transfer mechanisms (KTMs) for the retention of different types of knowledge from mobile experts. It differentiates among four types of knowledge loss (KL), namely, conscious knowledge (i.e. individual explicit knowledge that can be codified); codified knowledge (i.e. explicit knowledge captured at the social level); automatic knowledge (i.e. implicit individual knowledge); and collective knowledge (i.e. implicit knowledge embedded in the organization).Design/methodology/approachA research framework connecting the organizational knowledge retention (KR) cycle to KL is developed and an exploratory analysis is conducted using data from two case studies in the Canadian federal public service. Findings are confirmed using a third government agency.FindingsWithout the right processes in place for organizational knowledge retrieval and reuse, the KR cycle is not complete, leading to KL. The lack of available social KTMs for the conversion of individual to social objectified knowledge leads to KL. KTMs shortcomings increase the risk of automatic and objectified KL.Research limitations/implicationsExploratory results demonstrate that KL does not always equate to lack of KR. Implementing knowledge-specific organizational KTMs is important to encourage the retention of individual knowledge at the social level. Propositions and a framework are developed for future research.Practical implicationsMobile experts hold valuable knowledge at high risk of being lost by organizations. This paper provides managers with a set of guidelines to develop a knowledge-specific strategy focused on KTMs that increase KR and mitigate KL.Originality/valueThis paper challenges the assumption that KL only results from poor retention and studies both retention and loss to identify additional types of unintentional loss that occur when individual knowledge is not converted to social knowledge.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 463-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inna Blam ◽  
Katarína Vitálišová ◽  
Kamila Borseková ◽  
Mariusz Sokolowicz

Purpose The paper aims to analyze actual issues of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices in monofunctional towns in Russia, Slovakia and Poland. The process of social investment restructuring is obviously under way in these countries. However, there can be identified a few examples where the dominant employer with the long tradition (from the soviet period, even longer) has initiated and directly influenced by the social policy the local and regional development. The paper analyzes their development during the past decades, with the special emphasis on social issues. It identifies its strengths and weaknesses and defines future research areas. Design/methodology/approach The first part of the paper defines the CSR with focus on the social sphere and relationships between local dominant employer, local government and community. Refer to the theory, the paper adopts a case study methodology to explore the specifics of CSR with a focus on monotowns, especially the role of local dominant employer and its relationship with local government and community in three selected post-communist nations – Russia, Slovakia and Poland. The research uses also the secondary data (the strategic documents, statistical data) and own observation during the study visits to the selected cities. The authors analyze the town’s development during the past decades, with the special emphasis on the social issues. Findings It is shown that maintenance and development of essential living conditions in many monofunctional towns depends upon the direct participation of large dominating companies. The paper argues that there is a principal difference between the current social policy conducted by these dominant local employers and the policy that was conducted in the past. What is more, most of the engagement of large in the social affairs in monotowns refers to the CSR concept. The paper summarizes the common features and differences in functioning monotowns in selected states, from the perspective of social responsible behaviors of dominant companies, suggests the practical implications and identifies future research areas. Originality/value The paper maps the specific kind of social responsibility interconnected with the issue of local and regional development – monotowns in Russia, Poland and Slovakia – in the countries with common political and social history. It brings in the form of case studies the detailed overview of the selected examples from Russia, Ukraine and Poland dealing with the CSR. Based on the collected data, it summarizes the advantages and disadvantage of these towns and opens the new research areas.


2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 278-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bhavna Pandey ◽  
Prabir Bandyopadhyay ◽  
Sanjeev Kadam ◽  
Manju Singh

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide quantitative analysis of the extant literature on farmer distress resulting from agricultural credit and identify research gaps. Design/methodology/approach The authors have used the citation analysis which is based on the citation graph. For the current study, the authors have used SCOPUS database. Findings The study reveals that the farmer distress is one of the social sustainability issues which have attracted major attentions from academia. Most of the studies in recent years are from South Asian perspectives and the extant literature focusing on some of the important issues like farmer challenges and pesticide poisoning. Most of the studies provide anecdotal evidences. Hence, the empirical research is scant. Originality/value The study is an attempt to provide an in-depth analysis, so that future research directions can be formulated.


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