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In today’s competitive environment, the growth and survival of family firms depend significantly on the extent to which they can build, extend, or reconfigure organisational capabilities in response to changing environments. Family members’ belief in their unified efforts to organise and execute courses of action can be instrumental in addressing business and marketing challenges and goals. This study aims to conceptualise a novel Family Business Efficacy (FBE) construct that is posited as a distinct form of efficacy at the collective level in family firms. The research employs a qualitative inductive design to investigate FBE of family businesses in Saudi Arabia and the UK. The findings identify eight dimensions of FBE that reflect family members’ beliefs regarding collective abilities to produce desired marketing outcomes for the family business. This paper contributes a conceptualisation of FBE as the basis for scale measurement and further empirical assessment of FBE on firm marketing performance.

Purpose This paper aims to develop an integrative framework based on a convergence of embodiment, ecological and phenomenological theoretical perspectives to explain the multiple processes involved in the consumers’ mining, processing and application of brand-related sensory data through a sensory brand experience (SBE). Design/methodology/approach This research adopts a qualitative method by using face-to-face in-depth interviews (retail managers and customers) and focus group interviews (actual customers) with 34 respondents to investigate SBEs in the context of Chinese shopping malls. Findings Results show that the brand data mined through multisensory cues (visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile and taste) in a brand setting are processed internally as SBEs (involving sensory impressions, fun, interesting, extraordinary, comforting, caring, innovative, pleasant, appealing and convenient), which influence key variables in customer–brand relationships including customer satisfaction, brand attachment and customer lovemarks. Originality/value This study has implications for current theory on experiential marketing, branding, consumer–brand relationships, consumer psychology and customer experience management.

Social media brands may experience a lack of competitiveness and attraction due to the silent negative increase of customers' need for uniqueness (NFU). This is the result of a tension between the theory of brand congruence, that most brands endeavor to establish with their customers, and the theory of consumers' NFU, that many consumers aim to fulfill, that has not been previously examined. Whilst the theory of brand congruence states that consumers have a favorable attitude towards brands that greatly match their self-concept (brand similarity), the theory of uniqueness, when brand similarity is shared with others, generates avoidance of similarities with others, leading to a reduction in engagement and satisfaction. Social media platforms including Facebook are at risk from customers' NFU which significantly reduces users' satisfaction, hence reducing the attractiveness and usage of Facebook. To examine this, the paper identifies the paradox of similarity in relation to both theories and examines the relationship between consumers' socialization within Social Network Sites (SNSs), brand similarity, consumers' need for uniqueness, and consumers' satisfaction with the SNS. The conceptual model was tested using data from 341 consumers in the US. The findings show that whilst satisfaction with the SNS is enhanced by brand similarity and friend liking, it is undermined by customers' need for uniqueness. Implications for online brand communities and SNSs (Facebook) are discussed and guidance for future research is provided.

Although previous studies have examined the impact of job insecurity, there remains a need to understand specific issues related to job insecurity that results from government workforce localization policies. This study addresses this gap by examining employees' work-related outcomes: employee engagement, job burnout, and intentions to quit, recognizing the interplay of employees' identification with an organization and perceived corporate reputation in the context of Saudi Arabia's localization policies. The study uses social identification theory to explain how employees' perception of corporate reputation and their identification with a company shape their work attitudes in the presence of job-insecurity. Partial least square - path modeling (PLS-PM) and PROCESS tool is used to test hypotheses from data collected from 135 expatriate migrant employees working in different organizations in Saudi Arabia. Findings show that job insecurity has a significant effect of reducing the engagement of immigrant employees and leads to increased employee burnout and intentions to quit jobs. The results of moderation analysis show that favorable corporate reputation reduces the negative impact of job insecurity on employee's burnout and intentions to quit, whereas high level of identification with company may also reduce employee burnout, even during job insecurity. Although immigrant employees do not seek to leave a reputable organization due to localization policies, they still experience stress, become disengaged, and so are less productive. As a result, businesses should leverage their reputation towards governmental policies of localization, by advocating expatriate employees' contributions towards organizations and economy.

There is wide consensus that the brand experience literature (BEL) suffers from a deficit in conceptual works. This study argues that, for brand experience research to overcome its conceptual insipidity, it must reexamine the core of its intellectual structure to rediscover what ‘an experience provided by brands’ truly implies. The purpose of this paper is to reconceptualize and present a future research framework for research into the concept of brand experience, by identifying both the core and peripheral sources of knowledge of the concept and its association with brand meaning. Through a bibliometric process covering 136 articles published between 2002 and 2018, resulting in a database of 2,698 citations, this brand experience conceptual paper fills a critical research gap by providing the first full-scale bibliometric study to date of the BEL, using a combination of high citation and co-citation metrics. Based on this conceptual reorientation, a matrix for future development is presented, enabling the reader to visualize the scope and breadth of potential brand experience research horizons in areas relating to customer experience, consumer-brand relationship, online brand experience and sensory brand experience. The four approaches listed in the matrix – firm-based, social constructionist, virtuality and embodiment – provide a roadmap for future brand experience research undertakings to explore the rich potential of experience evoked by brands.

This study examined gender’s effects on attitudes and tendencies to share online ads containing comedic violence. The results show that males enjoyed comedic violence more than females, when the perpetrator of the comedic violence was male, regardless of the victim’s sex; and, when the perpetrator and victim were both female. When the perpetrator and victim were of different sexes, the impact of attitudes towards comedic violence on sharing the ad varied by gender. However, when the victim and perpetrator were of the same sex, there was no significant gender difference in the effects of attitudes toward sharing the ad.

This study asserts that conceptualising sensory brand experience (SBE) as an independent construct is critical to expanding our understanding of experiences provided by brands. To achieve this goal, a rigorous examination of its foundational knowledge structure underpinning the construct is urgently required. Using co-citation analysis examining 151 SBE-related articles with 4,038 citations over more than two decades (1994–2019), six knowledge fields deemed to have constitutive influence on SBE literature have been identified - atmospherics, product evaluation, sensory marketing, service marketing, experiential marketing and brand experience. Combining the results of a hierarchical cluster analysis and a metric multidimensional scaling analysis, the authors located three fundamental premises: (1) brand settings are arbiters of brand meaning; (2) the intrinsic processing of SBE involves the entrainment of exteroceptive and interoceptive processes; and (3) SBE outcomes are non-representational. At the end of the paper, these findings are organised into an integrative framework, highlighting research concerns and research gaps at the antecedent, processing and outcome stages. In doing so, this paper contributes to the conceptual development of SBE by constructing a doctrinal schema for future research undertakings.

In this chapter, we propose a conceptual framework for sensory brand experience. We will start with a review of the seven knowledge fields deemed to have constitutive influences on the development of sensory brand experience literature, followed by two bibliometric methods which cover 151 sensory-related articles and 4,038 citations between 1994 and 2019.

Grounded in social identity and attribution theories, this study focuses on the effect of architecture and its components on reputation. The relationships conceptualised were evaluated using data collected from a survey of 489 online and offline UK retail consumers and employees. To accommodate the equifinality and complexity of these relationships, this study employs fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis, predictive validity and fit validity check

Based on the overarching research purpose of this paper centered around building a new CX conceptual framework, the research objectives are: (1) to identify the main knowledge structure of customer experience; (2) to understand how the knowledge structure of customer experience has changed over time.

Being sustainability‐oriented has become a key strategy for many firms. Equally, innovation culture and innovation outcomes have long been recognized as important contributors to the growth of firms. However, the literature on sustainability and innovation provides limited understanding of the important relationship between sustainability orientation, innovation culture and innovation outcomes. Given that large firms and small firms differ in building and employing their strategic assets, firm size matters in understanding the relationship. Through the lens of resource‐based view, we develop a theoretical model embedding the four components and test it using data from a global survey: the 2012 Comparative Performance Assessment Study. Our research contributes to sustainability literature and innovation theory by providing an integrated framework to explicate the mechanism through which the innovation culture of the firm impacts on innovative performance through the sustainability orientation of the firm. The findings advance our understanding of the extent to which sustainable orientation can explain the relationship between innovation culture and innovation outcomes. Our evidence shows that the innovation culture of a firm facilitates the sustainability orientation of the firm and that the converse also applies. The research also contributes to our knowledge of the differences between large and small firms in leveraging their strategic assets in terms of innovation culture and sustainability orientation to facilitate superior innovation outcomes. Although firm size moderates the relationship between innovation culture and innovation outcomes, the research shows that this no longer holds when sustainability orientation is included in the relationship. A strong sustainability orientation can be a competitive advantage for firms in the R&D Management delivery of superior innovation outcomes.

This study uses the attribution and signaling theory perspective to scrutinize the key impacts of the determinants of corporate website favorability. In addition, this paper examines the main influences of satisfaction and attractiveness on corporate image and reputation, observes the role that the demographics of consumers (gender and age) play in such relationships, and proposes a research model along with research tenets. To examine these tenets, the conceptual framework was empirically evaluated through the perceptions of 563 consumers toward the financial setting in Russia (563). This study employs complexity theory, which integrates the principle of equifinality. To examine the data, this research employs fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Additionally, this study makes a managerial contribution to the understanding of marketing and communication managers and website designers regarding the associations among corporate website favorability, its antecedents, and its consequences.

Although research into the business model has received increasing attention, few studies have so far been conducted on business model innovation in an international context. The purpose of the study is to identify different patterns of business model innovation which enables international retailers to rebuild their core business logic in new host countries. On the basis of comparing and contrasting the business model changes of 15 international retailers from various home countries to one single host country (China), our study provides an in-depth understanding of business model innovation in the context of international business. By looking at the firms’ capabilities in rebuilding their core logic in the setting of a host country, we reveal six routes of retail business model innovation. Utilizing the lens of organizational learning theory and internationalization, we identify three patterns of resource deployment by international companies in the process of developing business model innovations. Our study, therefore, provides insights and guidance for multinational companies in general, international retailers in particular, as for how to successfully adapt their business model from home country to host country.

An emerging topic in strategic entrepreneurial research is how institutional influences impact on entrepreneurial internationalization behavior. This paper sets out to undertake a multilevel study regarding the impact of home country IPR on the relationships among entrepreneurial self-efficacy, entrepreneurial opportunity perception, risk tolerance, and the degree of internationalization. Through a combination of the dynamic capability perspective and entrepreneurial bricolage theory, we propose a model that underpins the role of home country institutional influence, in particular, IPR during the internationalization of new ventures. Using a sample of 91 countries, we empirically test the model via multi-level logistic regression analysis controlling micro as well as macro variables such as personal education level, gender, household income, purchasing power per capita, and GDP growth rate. Our findings suggest that higher IPR protection mechanism in the home country will strengthen the positive relationships between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and the degree of internationalization, entrepreneurial risk tolerance and the degree of internationalization. However, although the findings support the positive relationship between entrepreneurial opportunity perception and the degree of internationalization, the moderating effect of IPR protection in the home country is not supported for such relationship. Our study contributes to the literature by extending entrepreneurial bricolage theory and dynamic capability approach into international entrepreneurship research. We advance the understanding of how the protection of intellectual property in home country influences the internationalization efforts into new ventures taking consideration of the personal-level characteristics of entrepreneurs.

International audience; This research investigates the impact of brand perception on brand loyalty and brand purchase intention using the lenses of complexity theory. First, the study conceptualizes and operationalizes perceptional and behavioral components of brand equity. It then examines the dimensions of brand perception, and by assessing the consequences of favorable brand perception, the study enables a better understanding regarding whether a brand marketing approach helps to improve marketing performance. The research was conducted using a mixed methodology, beginning with interviews in order to gain a better understanding of the relationship between the dimensions of brand perception. These were followed by a questionnaire survey, and the resulting data were analyzed through content analysis and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The results indicate that brand awareness, perceived quality, brand association, brand fondness, brand image, and product country image have a strong impact on the management of brand perception. The finding illustrates that it is the combinations of various perceptional elements of brand equity rather than any single factor that have strong impacts on brand loyalty and brand purchasing intention. The results support the importance of brand perception for the fashion industry, which needs to be more interactive in order to increase their customers' brand loyalty and brand purchasing intention.

Although the differences between developed and developing countries have been extensively studied in the context of globalization strategies, few studies have so far been conducted on the relationship between country development status and the possession by countries of a favorable (or unfavorable) product country image (PCI). Moreover, the results of such studies to date have been inconclusive. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating role of country developmental status on PCI coupled with two antecedents of PCI, namely consumer ethnocentrism and cosmopolitanism. The paper also distinguishes between the PCI of the home and foreign country images of respondents. We test a new model that incorporates these constructs with a sample of 2655 younger generation consumers. The results show that country development status moderates some relationships but does not moderate others. These findings have significant implications for international companies from both developed and developing countries when developing global strategy.

The paper addresses the phenomenon of the opportunism that arises from a parent (principal) toward an IJV (agent) and its antecedents. This study integrates Agency Theory and Resource Dependence Theory (RDT) to discover its determinants from the perspectives of principal opportunism. Using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) techniques and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) based on a sample of 185 Chinese-foreign IJVs in China, which are useful to reals the overall story of the principal opportunism. This study finds an IJV depends on parents’ support in both knowledge- and property-based resources has more chances to subject to principal opportunism. The result also indicates that psychic distance has a negative impact on principal opportunism. fsQCA, however, provides further solutions that the specific combinations of these predictors or their negation predicts principle opportunism.

This article examines the innovation and knowledge strategies that allow emerging-market companies to become major international players. By adopting a qualitative approach, this study identifies a significant paradox between the desire of some leading Chinese car companies to expand internationally and the current relationship of such companies with leading global car companies, which significantly inhibits Chinese international expansion. This study unpacks that paradox using innovation theory and the resource-based view, and develops a matrix of strategic options that can assist emerging market multinational companies to expand internationally.

Despite growing interest in emerging Chinese multinational corporations (MNCs), most previous studies have focused on the strategic content and end results of their internationalization strategies. There has been little or no research on the process by which some Chinese companies are beginning to build integrated global strategies. The purpose of this contribution is to identify issues with regard to the benefits, difficulties, the learning process and the adaptation associated with companies arriving much later than their well-established competitors in the context of the global television manufacturing industry. This research adopts a qualitative approach to examine the way that the Chinese company, TCL, has attempted to build a global strategy behind such rivals as Samsung and Panasonic over a period of 10 years. The findings show that a catch-up company may struggle to obtain the benefits of an integrated global strategy and may face greater difficulties than the existing players, particularly in learning to adjust to the company's new strategic direction. However, latecomers experience shorter learning processes than their well-established rivals, facilitated by advances in technology and by a better understanding of the globalization process. The evidence suggests that the development of existing resources, the learning of new skills and innovation by such companies will be important in the game of catch-up.

Adoptive innovation becomes increasingly important in today’s competitive world. However, in the presence of current economic downturn, cautions are voiced against potential risks; these innovative activities can bring to from firm to country level. Our research addresses such concerns. The research is drawn from two key streams of literature: risk management and innovation management. We developed a conceptual framework that consists of three components: risk behaviour, environmental conditions and adoptive innovative (REAI). Applying the REAI framework, we examined the risk management efficacy of adoptive innovation activities of one organisation under a historical perspective. We conclude that although adopters have a high tolerance for managing uncertainty and appetite for risk taking in line with competitors, there are two key elements that deter mine the performance of such behaviour: level of environmental turbulence and the role of senior management. It is the first time research determining the relationship between risk and adoptive innovative behaviour is being undertaken and will also provide direct guidance for managers regarding how to manage risk and uncertainty under different circumstances of their innovative practices.

This paper generates a new perspective on the growing literature in new product development (NPD): firm ownership and the determinants of success and failure of NPD firms operating in a Chinese region which has experienced unprecedented change. Cooper and Kleinschmidt's conceptual framework is utilised. 126 new product projects, from 84 firms were investigated using a structured survey. Results are compared with those from studies in Canada, Korea, Japan and Slovenia. Contrary to other studies' findings, a hostile market environment was found to be facilitative rather than a major de-facilitator. We then further examined NPD activities in three different types of manufacturing firms in Guangdong: state-owned, joint venture/foreign owned and private firms. A comparison with an earlier study conducted in China focusing mainly on state-owned firms is made and the paper concludes by drawing out implications for managers operating in China.

PurposeThe study aims to examine the usefulness of the brand origin concept in shaping the perceptions of Indian consumers.Design/methodology/approachGuided by recent advance in social identity theory and social motivation theory, a dynamic iterative model of brand origin recognition is proposed. Six hypotheses were tested using a sample of 145 consumers from west of India. Using paired t‐test, average consumer preference of brand origin was analysed for different product categories. A factor analysis with varimax rotation for determining band images was also carried out.FindingsThe results demonstrated that most consumers can recognise the brand origin correctly but the power of recognition decreases when the brand has a long history of “localization”. Distinguished trajectories of consumer perceptions of foreign brands and domestics brands were projected, and this allowed one to extend existing country of origin (CO) research to brand of origin research.Practical implicationsThe results implied that brand origin is a useful concept for companies engaging in an emerging market such as India. But the changing nature of the concept requires careful steering and nurturing if companies want to attach a positive value to its brand via brand origin association.Originality/valueResearch into CO effect has been extensive. However, few studies examine empirically the effect of “brand origin” which is more appropriate in emerging market in today's increasingly competitive global environment. This paper is a first to explore the validity of the concept of brand origin in the Indian market.

To investigate whether organisational behaviour can be understood from both the creator's and the adopter's perspectives, we construct and validate a quadratic typology of organisational innovativeness using a sample of 531 companies from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The results suggest distinctive links between the type of innovator and the associated effect on performance.

We propose a fast method to determine the local curvature in two-dimensional (2D) systems with arbitrary shape. The curvature information, combined with elastic constants obtained for a planar system, provides an accurate estimate of the local stability in the framework of continuum elasticity theory. Relative stabilities of graphitic structures including fullerenes, nanotubes, and schwarzites, as well as phosphorene nanotubes, calculated using this approach, agree closely with ab initio density functional calculations. The continuum elasticity approach can be applied to all 2D structures and is particularly attractive in complex systems with known structure, where the quality of parameterized force fields has not been established.

The context of teaching in higher education has changed rapidly in the last decade. The purpose of this paper is to explore what students today really want, what they expect of the lecturers and why they prefer some modules or courses but dislike others. Specifically, the study looks at the learning benefits of lecturing as ‘good education’ context vs. lecturing as ‘entertainment’ context. Overall, thirty seven focus groups were convened within Middlesex University Business School. It was found that students still regarded lecturing as an important means of learning. Learning is regarded as a comprehensive experience rather than single activity. Motivation, however, is the key to success. Students appreciate those lecturers who are not only ‘knowledgeable’ but also ‘skilful’ in teaching, good at getting information across and ‘caring’ in the process of student learning. They enjoy those modules which stimulate deep learning, adopt a pedagogical style and deliver positively on the ten evaluation criteria highlighted in the conceptual framework of this study. Perception of any one particular module can vary if the module is delivered strongly in one single dimension. Most importantly, the perceived learning support is regarded as critical and should be managed as a strategic asset, especially in universities which enjoy large numbers of students but relatively poor facilities.

In this paper, the relationship between product newness and non-linearity of new product development processes has been examined in the context of the UK’s information and communications technology industry. The results showed that new product development and implementation are contingent on the product’s newness. New product development managers should be aware of such differences in order to avoid costly iterations when they are not necessary, and accept them when they are. Such knowledge may encourage managers to consider the scope for deliberately introducing feedback/iteration processes when they lead to more effective new product development. Summary

The quantum theory for stimulated Raman spectroscopy from a moving wave packet using the third-order density matrix and polarization is derived. The theory applies, in particular, to the new technique of femtosecond broadband stimulated Raman spectroscopy (FSRS). In the general case, a femtosecond actinic pump pulse first prepares a moving wave packet on an excited state surface which is then interrogated with a coupled pair of picosecond Raman pump pulse and a femtosecond Raman probe pulse and the Raman gain in the direction of the probe pulse is measured. It is shown that the third-order polarization in the time domain, whose Fourier transform governs the Raman gain, is given simply by the overlap of a first-order wave packet created by the Raman pump on the upper electronic state with a second-order wave packet on the initial electronic state that is created by the coupling of the Raman pump and probe fields acting on the molecule. Calculations are performed on model potentials to illustrate and interpret the FSRS spectra.

General studies on technology and knowledge (T&K) transfer to developing countries have often adopted methods that yield inconsistent results. Traditional quantitative methods, alone, have limitations in their ability to account for complex interaction between variables. This article adopts configurational recipes, using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to supplement the analysis. This research carefully and systematically selects responses from experts and practitioners in the construction industry in Ghana. The results reveal two configurational recipes for high quality of T&K transfer: effective industry institutions, education effectiveness, and less congestion of firms; and joint presence of high government policy incentives, effective industry institutions, and education effectiveness. This study extends significantly the existing literature regarding T&K transfer in developing countries in general and in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in particular.

This study uses an agency theory perspective to examine how the factors that influence principal (IJV parents) and agent (IJV) relationship may affect IJV instability in China. The study proposes a framework that bridges knowledge-based theory (of tacit knowledge) and agency theory (of parental opportunism) by incorporating reactance theory (of autonomy). By comparing the empirical results of fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and multiple regression analysis, using a sample of 203 Chinese-foreign IJVs, the study adds further evidence to growing methodological consideration regarding complexity theory. The results from multiple regressions show that parental opportunism and IJV's autonomy have a positive effect on IJV's instability, and that the interaction of autonomy and tacit knowledge moderates the effect of parental opportunism on IJV instability. However, fsQCA uncovers more causal paths than findings from multiple regression analysis.

While the general principles of the Institutional Perspective have been widely accepted, there has been only limited consideration to the present time of their in-depth application to the strategies of individual firms engaged in international business. The paper argues that companies engaged in such activities will find that there is a significant gap in precisely what aspects of the formal and informal institutional perspectives need to be identified and assessed for international expansion. The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical paradigm that allows organizations not only to compare different countries with regard to their potential for international business expansion from the perspective of Institutional Theory but also drawing on theories of International Business Strategy where relevant. The theoretical framework assumes that such organizations are engaged in analyzing the institutional arrangements and resources of their home and possible host countries. The paper then develops a conceptual framework that identifies five major components, namely people, power, performance, pathways to international expansion, and productivity, the latter being defined in terms of knowledge and innovation. It explores each of these areas in more depth with the aim of adding a more detailed structure to elements of Institutional Theory relevant to international business expansion.

This research applies complexity theory to understand the effect of innovation capability and customer experience on reputation and loyalty. This study investigates the contribution of consumer demographics to such relationships. To this end, this article recognizes effective and intellectual experiences as the key elements of customer experience and proposes a conceptual framework with research propositions. To examine the research propositions, this study employs confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), using a sample of 606 consumers of international retail brands. The findings contribute to the literature on innovation, customer, and brand management. In addition, the results also provide guidelines for managers to create customer value in the retail environment through technical innovation capability (new services, service operations, and technology) and non-technical innovation capability (management, sales, and marketing). Furthermore, this article reflects on the link between the consumer shopping experience and firm reputation and loyalty.