Sensitivity Analysis in Nonrandomized Longitudinal Mediation Analysis

Mediation analysis relies on an untestable assumption of the no omitted confounders, which posits that an omitted variable that confounds the relationships between the antecedent, mediator, and outcome variables cannot exist. One common model in alcohol addiction studies is a nonrandomized latent growth curve mediation model (LGCMM), where the antecedent variable is not randomized, the two covarying mediators are latent intercept and slope modeling longitudinal effect of the repeated measures mediator, and an outcome variable that measures alcohol use. An important gap in the literature is lack of sensitivity analysis techniques to assess the effect of the violation of the no omitted confounder assumption in a nonrandomized LGCMM. We extend a sensitivity analysis technique, termed correlated augmented mediation sensitivity analysis (CAMSA), to a nonrandomized LGCMM. We address several unresolved issues in conducting CAMSA for the nonrandomized LGCMM and present: (a) analytical results showing how confounder correlations model a confounding bias, (b) algorithms to address admissible values for confounder correlations, (c) accessible R code within an SEM framework to conduct our proposed sensitivity analysis, and (d) an empirical example. We conclude that conducting sensitivity analysis to ascertain robustness of the mediation analysis is critical.

Top Management Supports and Informationization Performance: A Moderated Mediation Effect

Senior managers can influence the cognition and behavior of other members of the enterprise by formulating informatization strategies and initiating informatization reforms, thereby affecting the success or failure of enterprise informatization. This paper establishes a model of the influence mechanism of the level of executive support on the performance of enterprise informatization. Taking enterprises in Guangdong Province, China as the survey object, through a three-stage questionnaire survey, 419 valid questionnaires were obtained. This paper shows that: executive support has a positive impact on team entrepreneurial passion. Executive support is the antecedent variable of enterprise informatization reform, and informatization reform plays an intermediary role between the executive support variables and informatization performance variables. Organizational communication plays a moderating role between informatization reform and informatization performance. This will improve the guiding theories in the field of organizational behavior and provide new ideas for the construction of the mechanism model of informatization performance.

Top Management Supports and Informationization Performance: A Moderated Mediation Effect

Senior managers can influence the cognition and behavior of other members of the enterprise by formulating informatization strategies and initiating informatization reforms, thereby affecting the success or failure of enterprise informatization. This paper establishes a model of the influence mechanism of the level of executive support on the performance of enterprise informatization. Taking enterprises in Guangdong Province, China as the survey object, through a three-stage questionnaire survey, 419 valid questionnaires were obtained. This paper shows that: executive support has a positive impact on team entrepreneurial passion. Executive support is the antecedent variable of enterprise informatization reform, and informatization reform plays an intermediary role between the executive support variables and informatization performance variables. Organizational communication plays a moderating role between informatization reform and informatization performance. This will improve the guiding theories in the field of organizational behavior and provide new ideas for the construction of the mechanism model of informatization performance.

CONTENT QUALITY, RELIGIOUS CONSCIOUSNESS, AND BRAND AWARENESS: THE EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE ON ISLAMIC SHARIA PRODUCT

Technological development pushes the significant role of content in marketing communication. This research aims to seek the effect of content quality on Islamic sharia products’ brand awareness. It is attractive as consumers of Islamic sharia products have more unique characteristics than consumers as usual. For instance, the consumers of Islamic sharia products restrict themselves from consuming a product that is not proper to their religious consciousness. Therefore, this work attempts to introduce the other antecedent variable of spiritual consciousness beyond content quality to reveal how brand awareness appears in Islamic sharia products. So, by employing the covariance-based structural equation model, this study examines the data from 1,429 members of the Islamic community in Indonesia. The result shows that content quality has no significant effect on brand awareness. Instead, the variable of religious consciousness has a positively considerable impact on predicting the level of brand awareness in Islamic sharia product consumption. Indeed, it is decent with the proposed hypothesis of this research. This result shed light on the kind of practice and theoretical implications, such as the empirical test of reconceptualization of the S-O-R model in consumer behavior, implementation of marketing strategy, and development marketing theory on Islamic sharia products. It also gives insight into the development of consumer behavior theory. Further research should extend and focus on consumer purchasing decisions.

Does Product Semantics Matter in Stimulating Impulse Buying Behavior for Internet Products?

Design-driven innovation has become the source of the third-dimensional innovation driving force behind technology and outside the market, aiming to explore breakthrough innovation in product semantics for Internet products. This research tries to define the concept of product semantics and construct a consumer purchase decision model for Internet products with product semantic perception as the antecedent variable. In addition, how product semantics could stimulate consumers' expected regret and impulse purchase for Internet products is explained. The research finds that product semantic perception significantly affects consumers' expected inaction regret, which promotes their impulse purchase intention for Internet products; and expected inaction regret partially mediates between product semantic perception and impulse purchase intention. Self-control ability of consumers negatively moderates the relationship between their expected inaction regret and impulsive purchase intention for Internet products. Thus, the “non-use function” design of product semantics can effectively meet and lead the spiritual and cultural needs in hedonistic Internet shopping for consumers.

Entrepreneurial Passion Psychology- Based Influencing Factors of New Venture Performance

Small and medium-sized enterprises have been the driving force of social economy. As the social formation and the rise of many emerging economies, the domestic economic environment changes dramatically, which makes small and medium-sized enterprises face severe challenges. In the face of the fierce competition environment, how to improve the performance of entrepreneurship and gain competitive advantage is a very important topic in the practical management of entrepreneurs. This exploration is carried out with the entrepreneurial passion and risk taking as the antecedent variable, entrepreneurial performance as the outcome variable, and then work engagement as the mediator. With the entrepreneurs of small and medium-sized enterprises as the research object, questionnaire method is used to carry out empirical research. The empirical analysis results show that entrepreneurial passion has a significant positive impact on work engagement; risk taking has a significant positive impact on work engagement; work engagement has a significant positive impact on entrepreneurship performance; in addition, work participation plays a mediating role in the process of entrepreneurial passion and risk taking. The results provide academic and practical implications for entrepreneurs.

ACADEMIC RETENTION, RESEARCH CAPACITY, AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES

There is a shift of interest towards the current pace of development in Africa especially with regard to science and technology. The rate at which advancements are being recorded in this and other sectors has not been encouraging, as evident from official records. Scholars and researchers in various disciplines have correlated development to education and identified close associations between the level of performance of any citizenry or manpower, and the quality of its education. Accordingly, the quality of life and experience on the African continent has, to an appreciable extent, been characterised as the output variable and the quality of education including that of the teachers, as the input variable. The antecedent variable, too, which in this context is the totality of experience that informs educational directions in Africa, is arguably a product of the input variable. Consequently, the tertiary educational level especially the university system, unlike both the primary and the secondary, may be more strongly associated with the quality of performance. This may be explained through the dominant thinking that the tertiary system is primarily concerned with the production of manpower for various sectors. While there is evidence of research into this question, there is insufficient evidence of research into the interplay of the academic retention system and research capacity development orientation in African universities. This paper is an attempt to investigate that hitherto underrepresented dimension. The study employs a combination of the historical method and analytic philosophy. Its significance lies in its potential to expose, with evidence, the association between the dominant academic retention system and research capacity development orientation in African universities, as well as the implication of such an association for sustainable development in Africa. The study ultimately offers an ameliorative proposal for revitalizing an outcome-oriented research capacity development system in African universities.

TRUST AND JOB INVOLVEMENT AS DETERMINANT OF KNOWLEDGE SHARING BEHAVIOR

Knowledge sharing has become an important part of organizations in increasing their competitiveness. However, the antecedent variable for the practice of knowledge sharing behavior is still very limited. This study aims to examine the influence of trust among organizational members and job involvement on the intensity of knowledge sharing behavior. The study involved 250 lecturers from various universities in the city of Malang, Indonesia. The research data were collected through a questionnaire and processed using SEM Partial Least Square. The results showed that trust among organizational members influenced job involvement and knowledge sharing practices. Furthermore, job involvement is proven to be a variable that mediates the effect of trust on knowledge sharing behavior.

The Determinants of Meat Import Performance in ASEAN Countries

Research aims: The objective of this research is to analyze the effect of Gross Domestic Product, exchange rate, and distance on the meat import performance of ASEAN countries both partially and simultaneously.Design/Methodology/Approach: Purposive sampling method was adopted to determine the research sample. The data used were the annual secondary data of ASEAN countries in the period of 2012-2018, collected from trademap.org, World Bank, and macmap.org. Multiple Linear Regression was employed to analyze the data.Research findings: The regression analysis results showed that GDP and exchange rate did not affect meat import performance. Meanwhile, distance had a partially significant negative effect on meat import. However, GDP, exchange rate, and distance had a significant effect on meat imports simultaneously.Theoretical contribution: Previous researchers have used economic distance in their study to see its impact on imports. Nevertheless, there has not been much research done using geographical distance as an antecedent variable. The distant market has to incur large-fixed costs, which can only be supported if the export value is large. The negative impact of distance on imported meat must be taken seriously. AANZFTA supposedly gives a contribution to the member countries thoroughly to export goods and services. It is to increase per capita income so that it can be used to improve the transportation system.Implication policy: ASEAN officials are suggested to encourage the member countries to provide better transportation facilities to eliminate geographical distance barriers and further support SMEs and other business actors' engagement. Due to the limitation of this research, it is suggested that further research should consider using other commodities to measure the import performance.