The perceived trade-off between corporate social and economic responsibility:: A cross-national study

We study cross-nationally whether managers view corporate social and economic responsibility as compatible, or incompatible. The conceptual framework builds on different theories that support alternative views of corporate responsibility compatibility. A set of hypotheses relates differences in cultural values, corporate governance systems, and managerial education to corporate responsibility compatibility. A corporate responsibility scale is developed and its cross-national invariance is tested. Data analysis, controlling for gender and work experience, shows that in countries with large power distance, with less strict corporate governance, and more integrated business education, social responsibility is perceived as relatively incompatible with economic responsibility, whereas in countries with smaller power distance, with stricter corporate governance, and more functional business education, social and economic responsibility are perceived as more compatible

The Dynamics and Evolution of the Service Marketing Literature: 1993-2003

This article analyzes service research published in marketing journals between 1993 and 2003. Two levels of analysis of the dynamics and evolution of the service marketing literature are distinguished: first, the dynamics of specific themes of the service marketing literature, and second, the structural evolution of these themes. Through a content analysis, we study the dynamics of individual themes in the service marketing literature as well as the relationships between these themes. Multiple correspondence analysis provides maps of themes and of the most frequent contributors, and a framework to track the structural dynamics and structural evolution of this literature over time. An evaluation of past predictions about the dynamics and evolution of service research is also provided with a discussion of its future

The antecedents of response strategies in strategic alliances

Purpose : Strategic alliances involve uncertainty, interdependence, and vulnerability, which often create adverse situations. This paper seeks to understand how alliance managers respond to these adverse situations by examining the influence of four exchange variables on response strategies. Design/methodology/approach : A scenario-based experiment provides empirical support for a typology consisting of seven conceptually and empirically distinct response strategies: exit, opportunism, aggressive voice, creative voice, considerate voice, patience, and neglect. Findings : The results indicate that economic satisfaction, social satisfaction, alliance-specific investments, and the availability of attractive alternatives differentially and interactively affect response strategies. Research limitations/implications : The study offers two main contributions to alliance literature. First, the seven response strategies accurately represent reactions that alliance managers use to deal with adverse situations. Second, the study findings validate and extend previous alliance research by highlighting that a comprehensive response strategy typology is necessary to disentangle the effects of the four exchange conditions on response strategy use, which fosters theory development and managers’ ability to manage their alliances effectively. Originality/value : The study contributes to the process perspective on strategic alliances by highlighting the various response strategies that alliance managers use to deal with adverse situations and their antecedents

Management Students’ Attitudes Toward Business Ethics:: A Comparison Between France and Romania

This study focuses on the differences in the perception of business ethics across two groups of management students from France and Romania (n = 220). Data was collected via the ATBEQ to measure preferences for three business philosophies: Machiavellianism, Social Darwinism, and Moral Objectivism. The results show that Romanian students present more favorable attitudes toward Machiavellianism than French students; whereas, French students valued Social Darwinism and Moral Objectivism more highly. For Machiavellianism and Moral Objectivism the results are consistent with the literature and our hypotheses. However, contrary to our expectations, we find that Social Darwinism is more important in France than Romania. The results indicate that religious practice does not influence preferences for the three business philosophies. In terms of gender differences, women have less favorable attitudes toward Machiavellianism and more favorable attitudes toward Moral Objectivism than men

A Model of Response Strategies in Strategic Alliances :: A PLS Analysis of a Circumplex Structure

The few studies investigating partners’ response behavior in strategic alliances often fail to provide empirical support for a large proportion of the relationships they hypothesized. This discrepancy between theory and empirical findings could be attributed to a misconceptualization of response strategies as independent from each other. Indeed, response strategies could be better conceptualized as a circumplex structure rather than as discrete responses. Whereas the circumplex structure of response strategies has been empirically established, it has not yet been taken into account when detecting the effects of potential antecedents on response strategies. A model that accounts for the circumplex structure thus should exhibit superior explanatory power by reducing Type II error. PLS pathmodeling is particularly suited to substantiate the superiority of such a model, however PLS path modeling as implemented in extant software is not equipped to estimate circumplex structures. Therefore, the objective of the present study is twofold. First, we extend PLS path modeling so that it can handle circumplex structures. Second, building on a circumplex structure of response strategies, we develop and test a model of alliance partners’ response strategies and key antecedents. The results of a survey of alliance managers corroborate our expectations and demonstrate that non-significant antecedents become significant when accounting for the circumplex structure. This study thus advances PLS path modeling and contributes to a better understanding of managers’ complex decision-making processes in strategic alliances

The Structure and Evolution of the Strategic Management Field: A Content Analysis of Twenty-six Years of Strategic Management Research

This paper analyses 26 years of strategic management research published in Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Administrative Science Quarterly and Strategic Management Journal. Through a content analysis, it studies the relationships between the subfields of strategic management. A multiple correspondence analysis provides a map of keywords and authors, and a framework to track this literature over the 26-year period. A discussion of future pathways in the strategic management literature is also provided

The Impact of Resource-Strategy Correspondence on Marketing Performance-Financial Performance Tradeoffs:

We suggest that the relationships between strategy and financial performance and between strategy and marketing performance depend on the resource bundle and strategy of a firm. The better the correspondence between strategy and resource bundle, the better the performance. We empirically test and find support for this explanation. By building empirically calibrated models of the marketing and financial performance, we are able to show that, indeed, the optimum strategies for the two are not the same and more importantly that the difference varies depending on the resource bundle of a firm

Measuring cultural intelligence: a new test of the CQ scale

Despite an increasing number of publications on cultural intelligence (CQ), the operationalization and conceptualization of this construct demand further attention. In this replication study among 308 experienced overseas Chinese respondents, a two-dimensional structure seems to better represent the data than the original four-dimensional CQ scale. The results of the analysis identify two new dimensions: internalized cultural knowledge and effective cultural flexibility, both of which exhibit satisfactory levels of reliability and validity. A series of regression analyses also provide assessments of the nomological validity of the new CQ dimensions in relation to their antecedents and consequences

Gérer les responsabilités sociales des entreprises envers leurs parties prenantes

Différents groupes de parties prenantes attendent des entreprises qu’elles jouent un rôle plus important dans la résolution des problèmes sociaux et environnementaux actuels. Gérer leurs responsabilités et leurs relations avec les groupes de parties prenantes est de plus en plus important pour les entreprises. Cependant, les études existantes ne donnent que des réponses limitées quant à la façon dont ces entreprises peuvent gérer leurs relations avec leurs parties prenantes. «Quelles pratiques responsables devraient être adoptées par les entreprises et estce que ces pratiques permettent d’améliorer leur performance sociale?» et «Y a-t-il des cultures organisationnelles permettant aux entreprises de mettre en place des pratiques responsables avec plus de succès?» sont des questions qui restent encore en suspend. Afin de répondre à ces questions, nous avons développé une enquête et recueilli des données auprès de 244 entreprises basées en Suisse

Resource Configurations, Generic Strategies, and Firm Performance: Exploring the Parallels Between Resource-Based and Competitive Strategy Theories in a New Industry

Purpose – This paper, anchored in the resource-based view of the firm, attempts to develop linkages between firm-level resources, Porter’s competitive strategy space and firm performance and explores them in the context of a new industry – the marketing technology industry. Design/methodology/approach – In the marketing technology industry the authors classify resource configurations (generalists, specialists, innovators) which group firms with distinctive competences on similar resource dimensions. They then map these firm-level resource configurations onto their respective optimal strategies in the industry’s competitive strategy space. Findings – The major findings are: some firms that are close together in strategy space vary in performance; some firms that are close together in strategy space belong to quite different resource configurations; firms that belong to the same resource configuration (i.e. are close together in resource space and distant from others) vary in performance; given the origin (i.e. resource configuration) of a new entrant there exists an optimal strategy that can be theoretically defined; and corresponding to each resource configuration there seems to exist a unique optimal region in strategy space. Originality/value – It is one of few attempts to empirically explore the parallels between firm level resource-based and industry level competitive strategies