An evaluation of lawlike generalizations in relationship marketing: Method and application

The purpose of this dissertation is to evaluate lawlike generalizations in relationship marketing (RM) and their contribution to the scholarly advancement of the marketing discipline. The current lack of such systematic evaluation is of significance not only because the contribution to progress constitutes a general requirement for all research streams in marketing, but also because an evaluation would solve the ongoing discussion about the substance and role of RM. As a requirement for the evaluation, necessary and collectively sufficient criteria for lawlike generalizations have to be identified and operationalized. Because the marketing discipline lacks both a commonly agreed-upon set of criteria for lawlike generalizations and a successful attempt to operationalize previously suggested criteria, this dissertation identifies and categorizes criteria for lawlike generalizations stated or implied by philosophical and non-philosophical authors outside the immediate context of marketing. The identified criteria are categorized in terms of their nature, scope, applicability and function. Subsequently, each group of criteria is examined by identifying its underlying elements and by then subjecting those elements to an analysis in terms of their necessity and sufficiency in serving as elements of a criterion. Thereafter, the necessity and sufficiency of each criterion to assist in the determination of lawlikeness is evaluated. Based on the evaluation, a set of three criteria consisting of empirical testability, generalized conditionality, and counterfactual sustainability is identified that is necessary and collectively sufficient to assist in the analysis of lawlike generalizations in RM research. Fifteen specific rules are derived from the set of criteria and—as part of a content analysis—are applied on all generalizations in all articles published since 1980 in English in the United States, Europe, or Australia, in academic peer-reviewed print marketing journals with acceptance rates of 30 percent or less, that identify themselves as relating to the research stream of RM by explicitly using the terminology ‘relationship marketing’ in title, abstract, keyword, or outlet title or theme. The detailed analysis shows that none of the generalized statements in the RM literature fulfills all three criteria for lawlike generalizations. The vast majority of generalizations fail more than one rule. Consequently, research in RM is not currently contributing to the scholarly advancement of the marketing discipline. Following the analysis, this dissertation demonstrates that with the assistance of the criteria and rules, many of the generalized statements from the RM literature can be improved towards achieving lawlikeness. This improvement application shows that the criteria and rules presented in this dissertation can aid researchers to overcome the lack of general principles development that is not only present in the area of RM, but appears to be symptomatic for the marketing discipline which has largely been unsuccessful in living up to its potential to develop theory

Trust in independent community pharmacies : do employee-related factors matter?

CITATION: Theron, E. & Pelser, A. 2020. Trust in independent community pharmacies: Do employee-related factors matter? Health SA Gesondheid, 25. doi:10.4102/hsag.v25i0.1344The original publication is available at https://hsag.co.za/index.php/hsag/pages/view/journal-informationBACKGROUND: Offering quality healthcare services in South Africa's remote areas remains a challenge. Pharmacies, and independent community pharmacies (ICPs) in particular, can play a vital role in providing access to pharmaceutical products and services in these areas. AIM: Part of the success of ICPs is the role that their employees play in building trusting relationships with pharmacy clients. It is against this background that this article investigates key employee-related factors that contribute towards building affective, calculative and contractual trust when pharmacy clients are serviced. SETTING: Clients of a specific ICP group participated in the study. The selected ICP group, which manages eight pharmacies across the Western Cape Province, has between 8000 and 41 000 active client profiles per pharmacy. METHODS: All 299 respondents who participated in the study were personally interviewed. Statistical analyses were done through Statistica, and structural equation modelling (SEM) with partial least squares (PLS) was used to assess both the measurement and the structural model. RESULTS: Although a number of significant relationships were confirmed, the importance of especially familiarity is highlighted when trust is managed in a pharmacy client-employee relationship. CONCLUSION: Given their geographical location, ICPs are ideally situated to provide access to healthcare services in the more remote areas of South Africa. By focusing on managing trust, ICPs can ensure a more constructive experience to their clients.https://hsag.co.za/index.php/hsag/article/view/1344Publishers versio

The influence of Wasta on employees and organisations in Kuwait: exploring the impact on human resource management, knowledge sharing, innovation and organisational commitment

This thesis examines the influence of wasta on employees and organisations in Kuwait. Wasta is a set of personal networks based on family or connections in which power and influence is used to accomplish things. As wasta evolved, it became deeply rooted in Kuwait. For instance, it became a tool which people use to get recruited in any position, regardless of their qualification. It is considered as a family obligation, a technique for doing business, and a practice which people use to maintain one s status. To date, there has been little research on the influence of wasta within organisations in terms of human resource management (HRM) practices, knowledge sharing, innovation, and organisational commitment in Kuwait. Consequently, the aim of this thesis is to address the research question: does wasta influence human resource management practices, knowledge sharing, innovation, and organisational commitment in Kuwait? A mixed method sequential exploratory research design is utilised to examine the specified research question. The justification behind this approach is that both qualitative and quantitative strategies supplement each other by giving a more in-depth and complete picture of the topic. Based on a total of 343 individual responses, the outcomes identified with wasta in businesses are considerable, as it does not only impact employees performance, but also the entire organisation s performance. The findings revealed that wasta influences HRM practices, knowledge sharing, innovation, and organisational commitment in Kuwait. In addition, the results of this study developed new models that fit within the context of this research and suggests several recommendations that could be developed to reduce the unwanted effects of wasta and improve employees as well as organisations performance. Consequently, this thesis provides a conceptual framework of what wasta is, how it is being executed, and ways in which it impacts employees and organisations in terms of the measured variables. It aims to deliver insight for citizens, employees, local and multi-national organisations, and the government in Kuwait about how the practice of wasta impacts performance, either positively or negatively. This thesis contributes to new knowledge within the field of business in the Middle East and provides a basis on which further research could be carried out. Therefore, this research will support and provide additional value to the minimum research that is available on wasta in Kuwait and worldwide

The Impact of Global Value Chains on the Retention of Staff in Chinese SMEs

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent ninety-nine percent of China’s registered enterprises, yet they remain a much under researched phenomenon. In addition our knowledge of what constitutes human resource management (HRM) in Chinese enterprises is skewed, in that the majority of research is largely positivist and relies on responses from a single respondent, normally a manager. To respond to these lacuna this study is situated in six SMEs, all based in China, all supplying Buyer Driven Value Chains and all employing internal migrant workers. This marginalised group of migrant workers are the secret ingredient behind China’s economic miracle, which has historically relied on a largely passive, socially unequal workforce to underpin the cost effectiveness of the program of export orientated industrialisation (EOI), which has led to it being described as the workshop of the world. The study takes a longitudinal, qualitative, multi-stakeholder approach and utilising an inductive, social constructionist ontology has generated new insights into our knowledge of what constitutes the world of work from the perspective of the participants in it. Institutional and cultural influences are key determinants which impact the industrial relations process and practices, for example the Open Door and One Child policies and the pervasive cultural influence of guanxi, which are all evident in the empirical evidence. This study fills gaps in our knowledge and shows the construct of HRM is well understood in China. All practices are in use with subtle nuances, with the exception of appraisal, as it is culturally challenging, in that it is the opposite of the cultural preference of saving face. The study considers and contributes to the debate around global value chains (GVCs). Empirical evidence from the study clearly shows the asymmetrical patterns of power, in which lead firms keep a tight control on costs and concomitantly push risk further down the chain, which impedes their supplier’s ability to use HRM to aid staff retention

Exploring the concepts and practices of relationship marketing within Taiwanese banks.

Relationship marketing (RM) is a concept developed in the Western literature which came to prominence in the 1980s. Few studies have, however, considered RM is an Eastern context and in particular the connection RM has with guanxi, the personal relationship or connections found in Chinese based cultures. This thesis adopts a broad perspective of RM from Western theories to explore the concepts and practices in Taiwanese banks. Using the existing definitions of RM, a number of RM components have been identified in this research which include the aims of RM (creation, enhancement, and maintenance), the RM mix (interaction, emotional contents, customer lifetime values, and customisation), and the outcomes of RM (long-term relationships, profitable relationship, customer share, and relationship termination). This research used in-depth interviews in order to investigate what Taiwanese banks understand about RM and how they implement RM to build customer relationships. 34 interviews were conducted with senior bank managers from 17 Taiwanese banks. All interviews were taped and transcribed. Template analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings suggest that Taiwanese banks have embraced these components when implementing RM. More importantly, guanxi, which is deeply embedded in Chinese culture, also has an influence on both concepts and practices of relationship marketing. As such, Western marketers, who have an understanding of the role of guanxi, could be more effective in implementing RM in Chinese-based economies. One of the key contributions of this thesis is on the development of the RM A.M.O. (RM's Aims, Mix, and Outcomes) framework which provides an overview of RM and the capability of the components. Also, acquiring market share, developing customer share and retaining relationships instead of relationship termination should be considered as part of relationship marketing practices

THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON GEN-Y EMPLOYEES’ WORK PERFORMANCE IN A TELCO, MALAYSIA

Generation-Y (Gen-Y) is the largest generational cohort in the global workforce, surpassing 50 percent in 2020, making them the most influential group to impact work performance. Highly competitive telecommunication companies continuously look for ways to improve employees' work performance. This research focuses on how social media improves the work performance of Gen-Y employees of a telco in Malaysia through social media use, shared vision, network ties, trust, and knowledge transfer. This research discovered an insignificant relationship between social media use at the workplace and work performance. This is because social media is currently not an official workplace tool, and its usage is limited among Gen-Y employees in the telco. It was also uncovered that using social media to act as a tool to gain trust did not influence work performance, even though the telco's primary official communication tool is email and a mobile app for communication and collaboration purposes. Nevertheless, this research uncovered that shared vision, network ties, and knowledge transfer is significant for the telco's Gen-Y employees to enhance their work performance. In conclusion, the telco's management can leverage social media to improve the work performance of Gen-Y employees by developing a social media strategy to provide a suitable framework with proper guidelines, policies, and procedures.  Article visualizations

Contentious Activities and Party-State Responses in Contemporary China -- Investigating China’s Democratisation during its Modernisation

The macroscopic picture of China today is highly contradictory: on the one hand there is an explicit scenario of modernisation initiated by the government and developing in unexpected depth and rapidity, and on the other hand an implicit but unrecognised scenario of democratisation nurtured by modernisation and actively involving different social forces. Due to the intensifying social problems – and perhaps even social crisis – that accompany the many transformations, such as the restructuring relationship between Party-state, society and individuals and the changing culture and value system, remarkable contentious activities have been launched by a wide range of social actors striving for their rights and interests. Underneath the dynamic character of contentions in China, this research will try to test the normative and ethical presumption that contentious politics promotes both robust civil society and representative government – the substance of democracy. I examine the contentious actions of the three significant social groups - the labourers, intellectuals and religious groups - and the Party-state responses to their politics, which are largely co-optation, toleration and control-repression. I also examine the important dynamic between centre and province with regard to their responses. My methods of documentation, interviewing and internet content analysis have been adopted in order to study these contentions and Party-state responses. The thesis concludes that the relationships between Party-state, society and individuals are restructured in contentions and interactions driven by modernisation. There are mounting democratic pressures and open demands from people with an increasing political consciousness, which challenge authority to different extents all over the country and will lead to China’s democratisation in both bottom-up and top-down directions

Organizational Justice and Trust in Sino-German Workplace Settings

This dissertation consists of three papers dealing with organizational justice and trust in Sino-German workplace settings

Corruption. A review of Contemporary Research

During the last decade corruption has become a topical issue in the international development policy debate. Research on corruption has also expanded rapidly, taking many different directions both within and across disciplines. This report provides an overview of contemporary research on corruption. The academic focus is on economic approaches, but perspectives from political science and social anthropology are also included. The presentation is mostly non-technical, although a few expositions of more analytically demanding matters are included. Relevance for development policy is the underlying guide for the selection of topics that are included in the study. The report should be useful for development practitioners and foreign aid officials, as well as for students and journalists interested in development issues