Sense of Community: A Missing Link to Understand Users’ Performance in Firm-hosted Online Communities

We extended the current research stream about online communities by introducing sense of community as a new construct tounderstand the motivations of online collective and relational actions and highlight users’ loyal promotion to both the onlinecommunity and the host firm. In addition, through the lens of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), membershipperformance was presented as a form of users’ voluntary participation, voluntary cooperation, and firm-hosted loyalty,indicating users’ total contribution to the online community and the host firm. We then examined the relationships betweenmembership performance and its potential drivers. The research model was empirically tested using self-reported data from247 users of four firm-hosted online communities. Overall, we found that sense of community, trust in the host firm, andcommunity loyalty have either full or partial effects on membership performance

Does the merger improve the operating performance of the company? Evidence from the beverage industry in India [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]

Background There is fierce market competition both locally and globally. Every organisation seeks to maintain itself and, more crucially, to develop quickly through inorganic means. The expansion of a company through mergers and acquisitions is an inorganic process. Organic growth takes a very long period and is time-bound, but inorganic growth through mergers may be achieved quickly. This research aimed to determine whether the operating results of Indian beverage firms have improved after the merger or not. Methods In order to assess merger-related advantages to the acquiring firms, this study used the operating performance technique, which contrasts the pre-merger and post-merger performance of corporations using accounting data. Secondary data were used to carry out this study. The operating performance was assessed on six operating parameters (ratios) i.e. Operating Profit Margin, Gross and Net Profit Margin, Debt-Equity, Return on Net Worth and Capital Employed. The comparison was done for three years pre and post-merger period of these operating ratios. Results The findings demonstrate that mergers do not seek to increase owner wealth. This finding shows that rather than just becoming larger and achieving covert goals, managers should pay more attention to post-merger integration challenges in order to produce merger-induced synergies. Conclusion This study shows that the M&As have not had a good effect on a company’s operating performance, especially for the chosen beverage companies in India. Since financial measures cannot fully account for the influence of mergers on business performance, future research may create other metrics for merger-related gains. Research that provides profound insights into the causes and trends of post-merger business performance through the different types of mergers and industries would also be beneficial

The State of the Region: Hampton Roads 2019

[From the introductory material] This is Old Dominion University’s 20th annual State of the Region Report. While it represents the work of many people connected in various ways to the university, the report does not constitute an official viewpoint of Old Dominion, its president, John R. Broderick, the Board of Visitors, the Strome College of Business or the generous donors who support the activities of the Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy. While the enthusiasm we have for our work remains high, it has been dampened by the recent passing of George Dragas, the individual most responsible for perceiving the region\u27s need for the report and procuring the financial support to sustain it. George was a very successful businessman, who simultaneously exhibited marvelous foresight and a keen sense of civic duty. Without George and his family, there would be no State of the Region Report and no Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy. We and the Hampton Roads community are indebted to him

Product Failure and Warranty Purchase: Their Effects on Target-Specific Emotions and Attitude Toward the Brand

This paper investigates the consumer affective responses to product failure as a result of making a decision to buy or not buy a warranty at the time of product purchase. Specifically, we present hypotheses about differences in consumers' emotional reactions to products failure, and consequently their attitude toward the brand, depending upon whether they have purchased product warranties. The hypotheses are derived by arguing that different types of counterfactual thinking and attributions are invoked under conditions of product failure or no product failure, and the purchase of a warranty or no warranty purchase by the consumer. Theoretical and managerial implications are briefly discussed