scholarly journals The impact of managerial and firm characteristics on barriers in export businesses

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 110-117
Author(s):  
Jayanty Kuppusamy ◽  
◽  
R. N. Anantharaman ◽  

The growth of export in many countries all over the world signifies it as the most important mode of internationalization. However, some exporters face difficulties in managing export due to the barriers they face. It is, therefore, important to identify the factors that might influence export barriers. The study attempts to identify the relationship between demographic factors and export barriers which has not been much researched. Demographic factors are represented by managerial or executives’ characteristics as well as firm characteristics. A cross-sectional survey was conducted where a total of one thousand and four hundred and thirty-nine questionnaires were sent to the exporters. The respondents include executives who were in charge of exporting. Two hundred and twelve responses were found to be usable which formed the basis for the analysis. The response rate was 14.9%. The export barriers include marketing barriers, financial barriers, government barriers, informational barriers, administrative barriers, production barriers, and external barriers. Correlation analysis was used to conduct the analysis and it is found that age of executives, age of firms, size of firms, and export experience of firms have a negative relationship with some of the export barriers. On the other hand, there was no relationship between the employee experience and export barriers. This finding contributes to the limited knowledge on the relationship between demographic characteristics with export barriers. Thus, it provides support for the resource-based view. From a practical perspective, it essential for business to accumulate knowledge, expertise and experience in order to reduce the export barriers.

2020 ◽  
pp. 009862832097989
Author(s):  
Michael T. Geier

Background: Previous research suggests a relationship between teacher behaviors and students’ effort. However, it is not clear what role the students’ expectations (i.e., importance of teacher behaviors) play in this relationship. Objective: Utilizing the teacher behavior checklist, this study sought to investigate whether teacher behaviors mediate the relationship between the importance students set on teacher behaviors and students’ effort. Further, the study explored which specific behaviors influence students’ effort. Method: Cross-sectional survey data were analyzed ( N = 159) using mediation analysis and stepwise multiple linear regression. Results: There was evidence that teacher behaviors mediate the relationship between the importance students set on teacher behaviors and students’ effort. Four of the 28 teacher behaviors had a significant relationship to students’ effort: creative and interesting, enthusiastic about teaching, happy/positive/humorous, and promotes critical thinking. Conclusion: Knowing students’ expectations (i.e., the importance of teacher behaviors) is essential to increasing students’ effort. Teaching Implications: Happy/positive/humorous had a negative relationship with students’ effort, while creative and interesting, enthusiastic about teaching, and promotes critical thinking showed a positive relationship with students’ effort.


2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 367-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chukwuma C. Nwuba ◽  
Uche S. Egwuatu ◽  
Babatunde M. Salawu

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate client influence on mortgage valuation in Nigeria to establish and rank the means of influence clients employ, and the impact of firm characteristics on client influence. Design/methodology/approach – A combination of cross-sectional survey and focus groups research designs was adopted. Questionnaire structured on five-point Likert format was used to collect data from a sample of valuation firms in five Nigerian cities. Descriptive statistics, χ2, and moderated hierarchical linear model were used for data analysis. Findings – Clients’ means of influence on valuation are more of subtle approach than threat or coercion. The most prevalent means are respectively, plea for assistance, promise of continued retainership on banks’ valuer panels, and disclosing the loan amount. Client influence differs across cities; firm characteristics have no influence on client pressure. Practical implications – The research provides basis for valuation bodies to review practice rules and standards and seek for legislation for valuer independence. It can serve as material for teaching and training in professional ethics. Social implications – Biased valuations jeopardises credit risk mitigation process with potential for destabilising banks, finance sector, and consequences for the economy. Originality/value – The study provides empirical evidence of the nature of client influence across several major Nigerian cities. In contrast to existing Nigerian studies that focus on single cities, the study covers several cities. It therefore provides a broad basis for problem-solving and decision-making.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Shi ◽  
Shu-e Zhang ◽  
Lihua Fan ◽  
Tao Sun

After the COVID-19 outbreak, the health status of the general population has suffered a huge threat, and the health system has also encountered great challenges. As critical members of human capital in the health sector, medical students with specialized knowledge and skills have positively fought against the epidemic by providing volunteer services that boosted the resilience of the health system. Although volunteer behavior (VB) is associated with individual internal motivation, there is sparse evidence on this relationship among medical students, especially regarding potential mechanisms. Therefore, this study had two main objectives: (1) to examine the influence of prosocial motivation (PM) of medical students on their VB; and (2) to verify the chain-mediating role of calling and vocation (CV) as well as social responsibility (SR) in the relationship between PM and VB. Study I: a total of 2454 Chinese full-time medical students were invited to complete an online survey. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression analysis. The results demonstrated that PM significantly affected VB in medical students (β = 0.098, P < 0.001); CV as well as SR chain-mediated the relationship between PM and VB (β = 0.084, P < 0.001). PM promoted the formation of SR by positively evoking CV of medical students, further resulting in increased VB. Study II: A 28 person qualitative interview was conducted. Qualitative data are added to reduce the limitations of online questionnaires. At the same time, we can also critically study the VB of Chinese medical students during COVID-19. The results showed that there were various reasons for medical students to volunteer in the process of fighting against COVID-19, and the experience of volunteer service and the impact on their future life were different. Lastly, the current findings suggest that fostering volunteerism among medical students requires the joint effort of the government, non-profit organizations, and medical colleges.


2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 483-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shlomo Y. Tarba ◽  
Mohammad F. Ahammad ◽  
Paulina Junni ◽  
Peter Stokes ◽  
Omri Morag

The aim of the article is to examine the factors influencing the overall acquisition performance of the companies acquiring the high-tech firms. The data were gathered during 2007-2009 via a cross-sectional survey using a questionnaire on a sample of Israeli high-tech firms that were engaged in acquisitions. Given its global leading role in the high-tech sector, Israel constitutes an important site for the study of mergers in this industrial domain. The findings indicate that synergy potential (similarities and complementarities) between high-tech merging firms, effectiveness of post-acquisition integration, and organizational cultural differences positively influence the overall acquisition performance merging high-tech firms. Moreover, our findings suggest that organizational cultural differences moderate the relationship between effectiveness of post-acquisition integration and overall acquisition performance as such that positive effect of effectiveness of post-acquisition integration is higher when organizational differences are higher. Our findings indicate that organizational cultural differences also positively moderate the relationship between autonomy granted and the overall acquisition performance. An important contribution of the present article is the development of a conceptual framework incorporating the direct and moderating effect of organizational cultural differences and autonomy granted on the overall performance of acquisition.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0252778
Author(s):  
Karen E. A. Burns ◽  
Reena Pattani ◽  
Edmund Lorens ◽  
Sharon E. Straus ◽  
Gillian A. Hawker

Physician wellness is vital to career satisfaction, provision of high quality patient care, and the successful education of the next generation of physicians. Despite this, the number of physicians experience symptoms of burnout is rising. To assess the impact of organizational culture on physicians’ professional fulfillment and burnout, we surveyed full-time Department of Medicine members at the University of Toronto. A cross-sectional survey assessed: physician factors (age, gender, minority status, disability, desire to reduce clinical workload); workplace culture (efforts to create a collegial environment, respectful/civil interactions, confidence to address unprofessionalism without reprisal, witnessed and/or personally experienced unprofessionalism); professional fulfillment and burnout using the Stanford Professional Fulfillment Index. We used multivariable linear regression to examine the relationship of measures of workplace culture on professional fulfillment and burnout (scores 0–10), controlling for physician factors. Of 419 respondents (52.0% response rate), we included 400 with complete professional fulfillment and burnout data in analyses (60% ≤ age 50, 45% female). Mean scores for professional fulfillment and burnout were 6.7±1.9 and 2.8±1.9, respectively. Controlling for physician factors, professional fulfillment was associated with satisfaction with efforts to create a collegial environment (adjusted beta 0.45, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.70) and agreement that colleagues were respectful/civil (adjusted beta 0.85, 95% CI 0.53 to 1.17). Lower professional fulfillment was associated with higher burnout scores. Controlling for professional fulfillment and physician factors, lower confidence in taking action to address unprofessionalism (adjusted beta -0.22, 95% CI -0.40 to -0.03) was associated with burnout. Organizational culture and physician factors had an impact on professional fulfillment and burnout. Professional fulfillment partially mediated the relationship between organizational culture and burnout. Strategies that promote inclusion, respect and civility, and safe ways to report workplace unprofessionalism are needed in academic medicine.


BMJ Open ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. e015710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannes Mayerl ◽  
Erwin Stolz ◽  
Franziska Großschädl ◽  
Éva Rásky ◽  
Wolfgang Freidl

ObjectiveThe main objective of this research was to investigate the buffering effects of an individual’s physical, mental and social resources in the relationship between psychosocial job demands and (1) health symptoms, (2) mental strain and (3) the body mass index (BMI), respectively.MethodsWe performed moderated regression analysis to examine data from a large cross-sectional survey of an Austrian employee sample (n=9434).ResultsThe results revealed a robust association between psychosocial job demands and health symptoms as well as mental strain, but only a weak relationship between psychosocial job demands and BMI. Although the personal resources showed a positive effect on health symptoms and mental strain, only weak evidence was found for the hypothesised interaction with psychosocial job demands. Solely the physical fitness of a person was found to mitigate the impact of psychosocial job demands on health symptoms.ConclusionsIn conclusion, personal resources substantially accounted for the prediction of health. However, the interactions between psychosocial job demands and personal resources only slightly contributed to explaining the variation in health.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Songli Mei ◽  
Tongshuang Yuan ◽  
Leilei Liang ◽  
Hui Ren ◽  
Yueyang Hu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: High level of life satisfaction (LS) means an individual’s positive evaluation of life, bringing a happy and upward attitude towards life, which is beneficial to physical and mental health. However, The LS of a particular group such as female workers has not yet been fully explored. The present study aimed to investigate the level of LS among female workers after the resumption of work during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic in Jilin Province, China, and to further explore the potential mediating and moderating roles in the association between family stress and LS. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from July to August in 2020. A self-reported questionnaire including the background information, family stress, anxiety symptoms, and LS was used to collect information in this research. A total of 10,175 female workers completed questionnaires.Results: The results showed the LS score was 20.73±7.08. The family stress was negatively related to LS, and anxiety symptoms could partially mediate the effect of family stress on LS. Additionally, age moderated the relationship between family stress and LS, as well as the relationship between anxiety symptoms and LS.Conclusion: Our results indicated that the LS of female workers has declined due to the impact of the epidemic, and family stress impacted LS via anxiety symptoms. The effect of family stress on LS decreased as age increased. Overall, Interventions and preventions aiming to improve LS should thoroughly consider targeting these aspects and young female workers should be given special attention.


2022 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Peter Yidana

Conflicts as a complex reality are common in higher education settings. Unfortunately, little is known about their impact on perceptions of the quality of higher education. This study assessed the impact of structural and interpersonal conflicts on the perception of quality higher education. To obtain the data, the study used a cross-sectional survey research design. The study sampled 310 academic and administrative staff from three universities in Northern Ghana using a multi-stage sampling technique. The questionnaire was the primary data-gathering tool. The prevalence of conflicts and perception of quality in higher education were assessed using simple frequencies and percentages, while the structural equation modelling technique was used to investigate the complex relationship among structural conflicts, interpersonal conflicts, and perception of higher education quality. The results indicate that most workplace conflicts in higher education are structural in nature, arising from jurisdictional uncertainties, interdependence, and authority relationships. The findings further indicate that structural and interpersonal conflicts have little influence on perceptions of quality higher education. Nevertheless, in terms of direction, structural conflicts have a positive link with the perception of quality higher education, whereas interpersonal conflicts have a negative relationship. It is hereby recommended that a cross-sectional survey on the influence of conflicts on effective teaching and learning in public universities in Ghana should be conducted.


2019 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth C. Nel

Orientation: Workplace bullying has detrimental effects on employee well-being. Emotional intelligence may moderate the relationship between workplace bullying and flourishing.Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the nature of the relationship between workplace bullying and flourishing and to investigate the moderating role of emotional intelligence in the workplace bullying–flourishing relationship.Motivation for the study: There is a paucity of studies exploring the moderating role of personal resources such as emotional intelligence in the relationship between workplace bullying and flourishing.Research approach/design and method: The study used a cross-sectional design, quantitative approach and a convenience sampling method. Employees from a higher education institution (N = 1102) participated in this research. Descriptive, correlation and moderation analysis was used to analyse the data.Main findings: The results showed that there was a significant negative relationship between workplace bullying and flourishing. Emotional intelligence significantly moderated the relationship between workplace bullying and flourishing.Practical/managerial implications: Organisations should develop and/or strengthen the level of emotional intelligence in employees in order to reduce the negative effect of workplace bullying on well-being.Contribution/value-add: The findings of this research contribute to the limited body of research investigating personal resources such as emotional intelligence as a moderator in the bullying-well-being relationship.


2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subramanian Rama Iyer ◽  
Joel T. Harper

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test whether investors take flight to safety when sentiment is low. In other words, do safe firms perform better than risky firms following periods of low sentiment. Design/methodology/approach Using cash flow volatility and the percent of bullish investors as proxies for risk and investor sentiment the paper tests the relationship between sentiment and returns conditional on risk this performance. Second, a cross-sectional analysis is conducted based on individual firm characteristics and sentiment to explain annual returns. Findings The paper finds that there is a negative relationship between investor sentiment and the return of risky companies, which is contrary to prior studies. All told, risky companies perform worse following periods of high investor sentiment. Originality/value This paper presents evidence contrary to extant literature and that there is no concerted flight to safety. Investor sentiment has little influence on safe stocks.


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