Empirical investigation regarding ethical decision making: a stakeholder cross-impact analysis (SCIA)

Purpose The purpose of this research was to study senior and middle-level executive perspectives on ethical decision-making exploring stakeholder cross-impact analysis (SCIA). Given the complexities of business today, stakeholder identification, prioritisation and complexities of reciprocal stakeholder influences have become very important. Various philosophical approaches raised questions than responses to these problems. There was a clear need to find ways through which the worldview of agents could be assimilated and understood. Design/methodology/approach This study used the original hypothetical short case and brought in middle and senior executive reflections of Indian fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) managers. Reflections of ten senior and 178 middle-level Indian FMCG managers were presented, exploring ethical dilemmas using short hypothetical case. These reflections have been analysed using the SCIA framework. The paired t-test was performed to compare the reflections of senior and middle-level executives. Findings The study results indicated that differences emerged regarding stakeholder identification, prioritisation and reciprocal stakeholder influences between Indian middle and senior FMCG executives. Hence, this study paved a reflective space for SCIA. The findings were in line with the tenets of agents’ dilemmas depicted in agency theory. Research limitations/implications This study made contribution to theory by integrating the perspective of ethical dilemma confronted by organisational decision-making units (DMUs) with respect to stakeholder influence and prioritisation. Specifically, theoretical contribution was made towards SCIA. Practical implications This study would help middle and senior executives to better understand the needs and complexities of stakeholder identification, prioritisation and complexities of reciprocal stakeholder influences. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this was one of the first studies from an emerging market context country like India that applied SCIA in the FMCG sector. Organisational DMUs while facing ethical dilemma undertook stakeholder influence vis-a-vis stakeholder prioritisation.

How does liability of origin influence cross-border acquisition completion? Evidence from Chinese firms

Purpose The environment of international business (IB) and the capabilities of emerging market multinational enterprises (EMNEs) as well as their home countries have changed significantly, leading to some new features of liability of origin (LOR). This paper aims to extend the LOR literature by particularly focusing on the LOR of Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs) and by taking into account the heterogeneity among industries and across individual MNEs. Design/methodology/approach Based on the stereotype content model and organizational legitimacy perspective, this study explores how LOR influences Chinese MNEs’ cross-border acquisition completions. Several hypotheses were tested by using a binary logistic regression model with panel data techniques based on data of 780 Chinese MNEs’ acquisition deals between 2008 and 2018. Findings The results of this study show that when the competence dimension of China’s LOR is perceived as high in the host country, Chinese MNEs are less likely to complete cross-border acquisitions. Moreover, deals are less likely to be completed when the warmth dimension of China’s LOR is perceived to be low. Global experience and the foreign-listed status of individual Chinese MNEs can alter the relationship between the LOR and deal completions. Originality/value This study advances and enriches the LOR research. It shows that a high level of competence in the home country has led to LOR for Chinese MNEs rather than the low level of competence proposed by existing LOR studies; and the LOR for Chinese MNEs is also determined by the perceived low level of warmth in the home country resulting from the geopolitical conflicts between two countries. In addition, the LOR suffered by EMNEs could vary based on certain industry- and firm-level characteristics. The findings of this study provide important practical implications for emerging economy governments and for firms intending to go abroad.

The Impact of Communicating Sustainability and Ethical Behaviour of the Cosmetic Producers: Evidence from Thailand

Purpose—This study aims to demonstrate the antecedent factors of consumers’ cosmetics purchasing behaviour in the emerging market of Thailand from the perspective of sustainability. Specifically, the study aims to quantitatively analyse the impact of three hypothesised antecedents of consumer behaviour: product quality, communicating sustainability, and ethical business behaviour. Methodology—A quantitative methodology is applied in the study, which collects survey data from Thailand. This study focuses on two cosmetic brands in Thailand, a domestic brand and an international brand. The total 800-sample dataset was analysed using Structural Equation Modelling to validate a conceptual model with measurements of three antecedent factors: quality, ethical behaviour, and communication sustainability. Findings—It is found that ‘ethical behaviour of the producers had a non-significant impact for all samples and the ‘domestic brand’, whereas communicating sustainability had a significant impact in all sample cases. The proposed measurement scales present a practical and pioneering tool for assessing consumer responses and behaviour towards cosmetic brands. The set of scales will also help cosmetics marketers to appraise their strategic planning and monitor their progress toward creating and identifying consumer loyalty to cosmetics brands via producers’ ethical behaviour and CSR messaging. Originality—The global market and inter-stakeholder communications have greatly changed the way people perceive, behave towards, and react to business suppliers. The understanding of consumer brand loyalty in the cosmetics industry and the business strategies focused on the impact of communicating sustainability with ethical behaviour remain limited, especially in the context of the emerging market. This research contributes to filling this gap with empirical analyses.

Modelling factors of social media usage by B2B salespersons: an emerging market study

Purpose The purpose of this study is to extend and contribute to the evolving phenomenon of social media usage by business-to-business (B2B) salespersons. It draws on the interactional psychology model and extended technology acceptance model to explore the said phenomenon. Design/methodology/approach A survey-based quantitative study was carried out. Responses were gathered through a self-administered and structured questionnaire, from 218 B2B salespersons who were pooled in using purposive and snowball sampling. The final data set was subjected to partial least squares-based structural equation modelling using WarpPLS 7.0. Findings This study found that individual factors, namely, salesperson’s social media competence and sales capabilities; organizational factors, namely, organizational commitment and organizational competence; and social factors, namely, image, result demonstrability and subjective norms, contribute positively and significantly towards social media usage by B2B salespeople. The study also found that the impact of individual factors on intention to use social media was partially mediated by its perceived usefulness, while in the case of organizational and social factors, the impact was fully mediated by its perceived ease of use. Research limitations/implications This study provides a valuable addition to the existing literature on sales and social media; however, the contextualization cannot be ignored. Practical implications This study enables firms to understand various factors affecting salespeople’ perception of social media and to make them appreciate its usage in improving sales performance and customer satisfaction. Originality/value It is the first study that models the factors of salespeople’s usage of social media in their job at three levels, namely, individual, organizational and social, and establishes the link between B2B salespersons’ perceived usefulness of social media, sales capabilities, social media competence and intention to use social media.

Are born global firms really a “new breed” of exporters? Empirical evidence from an emerging market

This study investigates and compares born global (BG) firms and non-BG firms in Malaysia. We employed the multigroup analysis technique with structural equation models to test six hypotheses to determine the differences and similarities between two proposed models of BG and non-BG firms across a wide range of industries. The study reveals differences between the antecedents of marketing capabilities for BGs versus non-BGs, indicating that the performance enabling mechanisms differ between the groups. More precisely, the ability of BG firms to convert digital and entrepreneurial orientations into marketing capabilities is found to be a distinguishing characteristic of these firms. Moreover, non-BGs utilize government support to build marketing capabilities and obtain superior performance in the international market. This result suggests that governmental export promotion initiatives in Malaysia should be adjusted to increase relevance for BGs. The findings indicate that marketing capabilities play an essential role in the international market performance of both BGs and non-BGs. An important implication is that managerial focus and actions need to be adjusted depending on the type of firm. The two types of firms are not equal; if they are managed similarly, misjudgment will arise.

Solving Paradox by Increasing Technological Capacity: A Critique of the Concept of Business Model Innovation at TikTok

ABSTRACT This paper comments on Yulun Ma and Yue Hu's (2021) recent article ‘Business Model Innovation and Experimentation in Transforming Economies: ByteDance and TikTok’. It argues that TikTok's international success is not due to so-called business model innovation; instead, it is because ByteDance has overcome three major hurdles facing emerging market firms pursuing internationalization. It also posits that the case of TikTok offers inspiration for theorizing paradox, namely, individuals and organizations can solve paradoxical tensions by increasing capacity through the use of advanced technologies.