Users’ perception on difference richness level of corporate social responsibility disclosure: Trust and attitude perspectives

The main purpose of this study is to examine the influence of trust and attitude on organizational image at different levels of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) information richness. In this study, trust is divided into three categories; trusting belief, trusting intention and emotional trust. On the other hand, attitude is divided into two categories, namely attitude towards website and attitude towards information. This study used mixed methodology; experimental and survey. 241 students from a public university in Malaysia were selected as respondents that represented the consumers in this study. The respondents were divided into two groups based on the level of richness; rich presentation and lean presentation of CSR information on the website. Path least square multiple regressions were used to analyze data. The results revealed that trusting belief and emotional trust are the antecedents in determining organizational image. The impacts of media richness on trust factors are mixed. The rich CSR information presentation has a significant influence on trusting belief and lean presentation has a strong influence on emotional trust. The result also showed that the attitude towards website and information are the determinant factors for organizational image. Further analysis disclosed that attitude towards website has a significant effect on organizational image in both levels of richness. Attitude towards information has a significant effect on organization image only in the lean presentation of CSR disclosure. The outcome of this study provides additional insights to business managers on potential investments in CSR communication in the scope of website disclosure.. For academicians, this study extends the visual disclosure literature that potentially manipulates users’ perception of the organizatio

Tradern: a collaborative model for improving small business participation in electronic commerce in sub-Saharan Africa.

The inception of the Internet has brought with it Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce) practices which have greatly transformed the ways firms conduct businesses globally. Internet-based E-Commerce, particularly business-to-business (B2B) holds the key for small businesses to compete on a level playing field with their big business counterparts. Unfortunately, however, there is considerable evidence to show that small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries, particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), have not been reaping the benefits of this new commerce opportunity as their counterparts in North America and Europe. This chasm has given rise to another form of Digital Divide. This research has identified the major factors responsible for this state of affairs as the low level of participation by the SMEs in the SSA region in this global E-Commerce trade. SSA region has been identified as a region with the lowest level of economic, technological and Internet development in the world. There are 49 Countries in this region inhabited by over 633 million people representing about 10% of the world's population. They are characterised by a low income, low-levels of human resource development, as well as severe structural, social, political and economic weaknesses. All these have combined to make the region the poorest region in the world. It has been established that SMEs form the bedrock of every economy. There is also considerable evidence to suggest that the introduction of new technologies into organisations of all kinds and sizes has a major impact on the structure and functioning of the organizations. Furthermore, it has been established that B2B E-Commerce is contributing more to the global economy than all other forms of E-Commerce transactions. Equipping SMEs in developing countries, particularly those in SSA, by with emerging B2B technologies could help improve their growth potential which will invariably place them in a better position to contribute to the region's economic advancement. Existing models have failed in attracting large numbers of SMEs in the region, partly due to the prohibitive costs of these technologies which make them unaffordable by the poor SMEs. This research has identified that the issues of Trust as well as the problems associated with Fraud and Security also play a part in making E-Commerce unattractive to a lot of SMEs in SSA. Current theoretical frameworks have been extended by developing a new taxonomy showing the various components of E-Business where the distinctions between E-Commerce, E-Government, Tele-Medicine and E-Learning are clearly identified. This thesis seeks to find solutions to the identified problems by finding ways of attracting more SMEs in SSA to participate in the global E-Commerce endeavour. This is with a view to enabling them to leverage and maximise their E-Commerce potential, which in turn would help them exploit today's global E-Commerce opportunities. This will ultimately help them in contributing to the economic growth of the region. As a way of making E-Commerce attractive, affordable and profitable, an architectural model has been designed which, it is believed, would make the deployment and implementation of B2B E-Commerce more achievable for the poor SMEs in SSA. This model, known as Tradern Model, combines the trado-cultural and modern methods of conducting business. This combination would help SMEs deploying the technology to conduct their businesses using both methods without compromising their growth. Over and above everything else there is the benefit of a level-playing field which the SMEs in developing economies, like Africa, and particularly Sub-Saharan Africa, can capitalise on to leapfrog, improve and sustain their economic development and global e-business participation as a step towards bridging the digital divide

An Empirical Investigation Of Information Technology Mediated Customer Services In China

Information technology mediated customer service is a reality of the 21st century. More and more companies have moved their customer services from in store and in person to online through computer or mobile devices. Using 208 respondents collected from two Chinese universities, this paper investigates customer preference over two service delivery model (either in store or online) on five type of purchasing (retail, eating-out, banking, travel and entertainment) and their perception difference in customer service quality between those two delivery model. Results show that a majority of Chinese students prefer in store and in person for eating out. For ordering tickets for travel and entertainment, they prefer computer/mobile device. For retail purchasing and banking, less than half of the students prefer in person services. In general, the results show that ordering through computer/mobile devices has become more popular in China and has received higher rating for most of customer service quality except security compared to ordering in store. In addition, it is found that there exist a gender difference in purchasing preference and perception in service delivery quality in China

Bioeconomy: Shaping the Transition to a Sustainable, Biobased Economy

Sustainability; Biomass Management; Resource Management; Agriculture; Macroeconomic

Assuming Data Integrity and Empirical Evidence to The Contrary

Background: Not all respondents to surveys apply their minds or understand the posed questions, and as such provide answers which lack coherence, and this threatens the integrity of the research. Casual inspection and limited research of the 10-item Big Five Inventory (BFI-10), included in the dataset of the World Values Survey (WVS), suggested that random responses may be common. Objective: To specify the percentage of cases in the BRI-10 which include incoherent or contradictory responses and to test the extent to which the removal of these cases will improve the quality of the dataset. Method: The WVS data on the BFI-10, measuring the Big Five Personality (B5P), in South Africa (N=3 531), was used. Incoherent or contradictory responses were removed. Then the cases from the cleaned-up dataset were analysed for their theoretical validity. Results: Only 1 612 (45.7%) cases were identified as not including incoherent or contradictory responses. The cleaned-up data did not mirror the B5P- structure, as was envisaged. The test for common method bias was negative. Conclusion: In most cases the responses were incoherent. Cleaning up the data did not improve the psychometric properties of the BFI-10. This raises concerns about the quality of the WVS data, the BFI-10, and the universality of B5P-theory. Given these results, it would be unwise to use the BFI-10 in South Africa. Researchers are alerted to do a proper assessment of the psychometric properties of instruments before they use it, particularly in a cross-cultural setting

Leading Towards Voice and Innovation: The Role of Psychological Contract

Background: Empirical evidence generally suggests that psychological contract breach (PCB) leads to negative outcomes. However, some literature argues that, occasionally, PCB leads to positive outcomes. Aim: To empirically determine when these positive outcomes occur, focusing on the role of psychological contract (PC) and leadership style (LS), and outcomes such as employ voice (EV) and innovative work behaviour (IWB). Method: A cross-sectional survey design was adopted, using reputable questionnaires on PC, PCB, EV, IWB, and leadership styles. Correlation analyses were used to test direct links within the model, while regression analyses were used to test for the moderation effects. Results: Data with acceptable psychometric properties were collected from 11 organisations (N=620). The results revealed that PCB does not lead to substantial changes in IWB. PCB correlated positively with prohibitive EV, but did not influence promotive EV, which was a significant driver of IWB. Leadership styles were weak predictors of EV and IWB, and LS only partially moderated the PCB-EV relationship. Conclusion: PCB did not lead to positive outcomes. Neither did LS influencing the relationships between PCB and EV or IWB. Further, LS only partially influenced the relationships between variables, and not in a manner which positively influence IWB

Brand Response to Consumer Backlash in Social Media: A Typology

The use of social media by consumers to admonish firms for their conduct has become increasingly common. Such backlash can take many forms and often occurs rapidly, spreads widely and is highly visible. The potential damage to brands can be severe if these situations are not dealt with effectively. To date, the issue has been examined relatively superficially in a range of disciplines without specific regard to the management of consumer-brand relationships in online environments. Our research examines the nature of company reactions to social media backlash and conceptualises a typology that categorises reputational damage and effective response. We present four typical reactionary scenarios and conclude that insufficient research exists in this domain proportionate to the level of consumer-brand social media discourse to the peril of practitioners operating via these channel