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Purpose This study aims to examine how highly innovative firms behave differently from their peers to become profitable. The authors investigate this through two distinct groups, one group of firms that have appeared on the Forbes 100 most innovative firms for 5 out of the past 10 years and a carefully curated control group. Design/methodology/approach Using a matched sample of 190 distinct firms, all with 10 years of historical data, the authors conduct a series of regressions and two mediated models. This method enables the examination of several possible differentiators for highly innovative firms, namely, CEO Pay, CEO Pay Ratio, Median Employee Pay and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Findings In all, the authors conducted five separate hypothesis tests, all with statistical significance. Of note, the authors find innovative companies do pay employees more, engage in more CSR acts and are more profitable than peer companies. In a mediated regression model, the authors also find that the median employee pay fully mediates the relationship between firm innovation and corporate financial performance. Research limitations/implications The study first shows that these highly innovative firms do not reach a position to rely merely on their innovation reputation to be profitable or attract eager employees. The authors find no relationship between years on the Forbes 100 list and profitability, median pay or total CSR in the data. Practical implications This research uses commonly available data to explore how innovative firms behave. Rather than being single-mindedly focused on innovation, results indicate that innovative elite firms are more generous (in employee pay) and concerned about non-profit factors (CSR) than their peers. Innovative firms are then able to do all this and remain profitable. An additional implication of this research is that managers should prioritize CSR. CSR is not just a tool for less innovative companies to distinguish themselves or firms with low reputations to rehabilitate themselves. Social implications As a society, we are living through unprecedented times concerning how we treat one another in the world. Often, the argument is made that firms should specialize, optimize and be strategically focused. However, highly innovative firms (often regarded as focused, specialized and optimized) in the sample show that paying people more and carrying out CSR is highly compatible with their success. Originality/value To the best of the researchers’ collective knowledge, this study is the only one of its kind to create and use such a robust data set, obtaining data from four different sources, namely, 10 years of Forbes top 100 innovative companies, SEC filing of the DEF 14 A for each company for two years, the Kinder, Lyndenberg and Domini database for 10 years and Compustat data for 10 years.

Nature-based tourism represents a growing sector within the tourism industry, and these interests could help improve the conditions of economically disadvantaged rural communities. The new digital landscape, including Internet and social media usage, represents a critical strategic opportunity to inform, educate and reach these tourism segments. The present research examines the impact of social media advertising on nature-based tourism within rural communities. In this research, we utilize the COBRA (Consumers’ Online Brand-Related Activities) model (Muntinga et al., 2011) of consumer behavior to assess the impact social media advertising plays in generating Pre-Consumption, Consumption, Creation, Contribution, and Engagement in rural business. The results are significant, finding that incorporating digital strategies within rural firms is beneficial. According to our research, the careful placement of a social media advertisement can statistically increase engagement components by more than 50%. In theory, this can increase tourism and economic activity in these rural, economically disadvantaged areas.

North American Thoroughbred racing is conducted on three types of surfaces&mdash, dirt, turf, and synthetic. The tracks are oval, and races are run counterclockwise. The loading on right and left limbs is expected to differ as a function of turn radius, banking, surface, and gait asymmetry. Hind limbs and forelimbs also have different functions related to propulsion and turning, respectively. This study uses the Equine Injury Database for race starts from 1 January 2009 through 31 December 2014, to compare injury rates across participating North American racetracks. The data are limited to catastrophic injuries in which horses died or were euthanized due to a fracture within 72 h of the start of the race. Overall injury rates were lower on turf and synthetic surfaces and the pattern of limb injuries in left vs. right and fore vs. hind limbs were different. Regardless of surface, forelimbs were more likely to fracture. Dirt surfaces showed higher rates of forelimb injuries compared to other surfaces, hind limbs were more likely to experience a fatal fracture on turf than on dirt. The left fore and right hind limbs were more likely to experience a fatal fracture but only on dirt surfaces.

Purpose Higher education plays a critical role in the health of the US national economy. At the same time, there are increasing concerns regarding the cost of higher education and the effectiveness with which universities are using their money. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to examine changes in higher education productivity over the past 15 years across a sample of more than 500 public universities spanning multiple Carnegie classifications. By utilizing measures generated by a commission of the National Education Council, however, attention is more finely focused on the specific costs and outputs related to instructional activity than previous studies. Design/methodology/approach This research utilizes the recommendations of the National Education Center committee to examine productivity changes in higher education over the past 14 years. To that end, the hypotheses put forth in this research utilize 15 years data of Institutional Primary Education Data, 549 institutions and 3 productivity measures to assess how productivity in higher education has changed between 2002 and 2015. Findings The results of the present research suggest that instructional activity (measured as multifactor productivity) has increased in all Carnegie classifications between 2002 and 2016. Research limitations/implications The present study, organized by Carnegie classification, does not specify the cost of increased instructional productivity. As noted, there are concerns regarding whether at least some of the choices a university might make to increase instructional productivity – such as increased class size and/or an increased use of non-tenure track faculty – could adversely influence the quality of instruction and/or diminish student learning. Further, this research does not examine the relationship between research productivity and increasing instructional productivity. Practical implications The present study does not address the bigger question of whether the increasing costs of higher education are justified, because universities produce much more than student credit hours. While, in an ideal world, these various outputs will complement one another and utilize at least some of the same resources, each has its own unique inputs and associated expenses. Given this, an overall assessment of the value or productivity of a university as a whole is a very difficult thing to determine and is well beyond the scope of a single study. Social implications The present study explicitly focuses on the instructional component of universities and relationship between output and inputs. Ultimately, providing a clearer picture of how instructional productivity in higher education has been increasing over the past 14 years. Originality/value This research is the only research of its kind to the best knowledge of the researchers.

Purpose – This study aims to examine how firm strategy may affect customer satisfaction in relationship to service the characteristics of quality, servicescape and value. Specifically, this research utilizes Porter's depiction cost leaders and differentiation strategy to suggest customers may be satisfied even if they rate value or quality lower than for another similar firm. Design/methodology/approach – This research utilizes survey data gathered from 179 customers of four services representing two industry segments. Analysis of variance is utilized to test four hypotheses proposing firm strategy may affect customer rating of a service characteristic, while customers may still remain loyal with high levels of customer satisfaction. Findings – The results support the assertion that customer expectations of firm strategy may enable firms in the same industry to receive very different ratings on service characteristics such as value, quality and servicescape, while having equally loyal and satisfied customers. Practical implications – The results point to the importance of aligning firm strategy and operational decisions when seeking to maximize customer satisfaction. Decision-makers benefit from understanding how strategy matters in service operational choices. Originality/value – This research connects strategy and operations academic disciplines, highlighting the importance of linking firm competitive strategy with service operation choices to enhance customer satisfaction. The model developed here, supported with empirical results, provides decision-makers with an important tool to help determine the competitive payoff for investment in service dimensions.

Multiple pressures are today propelling the private sector towards greater incorporation of sustainability in firms’ business models and strategies: actions and innovations that demonstrate committed corporate social responsibility (CSR). Achieving success with CSR is often a long-term process, taking years to fully develop, institute and pay off financially. Yet most current research is based on a short time horizon and shows mixed results in linking CSR to profitability and aspects of good governance. In this paper we introduce the concept of CSR longevity, meaning consistent engagement with CSR over an extended timeframe. We examine previously unexplored linkages between CSR longevity and the internal governance factors of executive compensation and taxes paid. Our findings demonstrate a considerable amount of support for the notion that firms committed to socially responsible behavior for an extended period also seem to restrain executive compensation and increase tax contributions, while also exhibiting better financial performance. Implications for research and practice, along with limitations of our study, are discussed.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore whether socially responsible firms recognize the potential conflicts that come with higher levels of executive compensation, and thus limit executive pay relative to what is being paid in other firms. In the process, the relationships between executive compensation and financial performance, and corporate social performance and financial performance are examined to determine whether potential compensation and social performance links are coming at the expense of company financial performance.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical data for this research were obtained from a stratified sample of Fortune 1000 companies pulled from across more than 15 industries. Multiple regression analysis is utilized to test three hypotheses.FindingsIn line with the hypotheses, results indicate that companies identified as good corporate social performers do in fact have lower levels of executive compensation and there is some support found for a positive relationship between social and financial performance.Practical implicationsThe results provide support for the view that firms concerned about social responsibility can put restrictions on executive compensation and still achieve good financial performance, and make a case that executive compensation should in fact be a concern of all socially responsible firms.Originality/valueThere are few studies that examine the direct link between executive compensation and corporate social responsibility. This study addresses this gap in the literature and adds to the discussion as to whether socially responsible firms might seek to better balance compensation across the firm and emphasize that profit, both individual and corporate, must be earned within a system that is fair and balanced for all.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between firm service characteristics and customer satisfaction as moderated by firm competitive strategy. Specifically, this research utilizes Porter's depiction of generic competitive strategy to explain the strength of the relationship between a service's particular servicescape choices and customer satisfaction.Design/methodology/approach – The empirical data for this research were obtained from 1,287 customers of ten service organizations representing three industry segments. Multiple regression analysis is utilized to test three hypotheses that propose firm competitive strategy moderates the strength of the relationship between service characteristics and customer satisfaction.Findings – The results support the assertion that firm competitive strategy has an impact on the strength of the relationship between customer satisfaction and servicescape characteristics. Of note, these findings indicate that the payoff for investment in physi...

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of several factors beyond the professor’s control and their unique impact on Student Teaching Evaluations (STEs). The present research pulls together a substantial amount of data to statistically analyze several academic historical legends about just how vulnerable STEs are to the effects of: class size, course type, professor gender, and course grades. Design/methodology/approach: This research is utilizes over 30,000 individual student evaluations of 255 professors, spanning six semesters, during a three year time period to test six hypotheses. The final sample represents 1057 classes ranging in size between 10 and 190 students. Each hypothesis is statistically analyzed, with either analysis of variance or a Regression model. Findings : This study finds support for 5 out of 6 hypotheses. Specifically, these data suggest STEs are likely to be closest to “5” (using a 1-5 scale with 5 being highest) in small elective classes, and lowest in large required classes taught by females. As well we find support for the notion that higher expected course grades may lead to higher STEs. Practical implications : The practical significance of this research is important. First this research utilized a large data set spanning several years and hundreds of professors and thousands of students and rigorous statistical analysis to assert several important findings. Indeed STEs are impacted significantly by class type, class size, the gender of the professor and the expected course grade. With these findings we suggest a more comprehensive mechanism is in order for evaluation of teaching effectiveness. Social implications: This research could have great social implications if widely read across academic circles. Indeed the tail is wagging the dog; or the student is influencing teaching across America’s universities. It is time to examine teaching effectiveness through a different lens, because using teaching evaluations to determine promotion and tenure, sparse bonus allocation, and teaching awards may be short sighted. Research limitations: While this research is statistically accurate, it is limited by the notion that the data was collected from one large area. As such, care should be taken in generalizing these results to other areas that may have different demographic composition, funding etc. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge this research is the first of its kind to statistically analyze such a large body of data and provide a useful guide to help evaluate professors utilizing what information is available.

Many Chinese companies have built their online presences but few studies examine if the Chinese corporate websites follow the recommended design guidelines. Through a content analysis of 487 websites of the largest Chinese companies, the study analyses 55 content and design elements of the corporate homepages. The results provide a comprehensive evaluation on the homepage content and design characteristics of the largest Chinese companies. In addition, the differences in web design practices between Fortune 500 and Chinese corporate homepages are discussed.

Student teaching evaluations are regular reminders that we may or may not be who we believe we are. Indeed, nothing marks the end of the semester more definably than passing out the student teachin...

Broadly captured within the sustainability perspective, recent reconceptualizations of traditional views regarding corporations have encouraged firms to consider social, environmental, and governan...