Business Commons^™

Framing Esports’ Jedi Issues: A Case Study In Media Irresponsibility, David Painter, Brittani Sahm

Faculty Publications

Purpose: This investigation analyzes Asian, European, and North American coverage of esports’ justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) issues as a case study of media organizations’ communications on these topics.

Design/methodology/approach: This quantitative content analysis describes coverage of esports’ race, gender, age, and social class issues to draw inferences about media organizations’ abilities to meet their social responsibilities when reporting on organizational JEDI issues.

Findings: There were significant differences across continents; however, most stories only mentioned gender and age, seldom noting esports’ race or social class issues.

Research limitations/implications: Although all stories analyzed were published in English, the findings extend …

Moving Beyond Traditional Sponsorships: Understanding The Structure And Dynamics Of Minority Equity Sponsorship Agreements, Furkan Amil Gur, Adrien Bouchet, Brian Walkup, Jonathan A. Jesen

Faculty Publications

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to understand the structure and dynamics of minority equity sponsorship agreements and the motivations for organizations to go beyond traditional sponsorships by acquiring minority equity in the sponsored organization.

Design/methodology approach - This paper adopts a qualitative methodology and presents interview data from key actors involved in minority equity sponsorship agreements. Findings - The findings of the paper include major characteristics of minority equity sponsorship agreements including the motivations, dynamics, and resources exchanged by sponsoring firms and clubs in these relationships, based on the experiences of key actors from firms, clubs, and …

A Dichotomy Of Sport Sponsorships: Does The Nature Of Competition Among Sponsors Matter?, Thomas Doellman, Brian Walkup, Adrien Bouchet, Brian Chabowski

Faculty Publications

In this paper, we argue that the firm value implications of sport sponsorships for sponsors may depend on the competitive environment during the bidding process for different types of sponsorships. More specifically, we contend that the bidding environment for professional football (soccer) kit sponsorships represents a form of common value auction, while the bidding environment for corporate logo sponsorships on teams’ shirts does not. As common value auctions are prone to winner’s curse, the firm value implications should be different for kit sponsorship announcements than for shirt sponsorship announcements. Our results suggest that shareholders indeed perceive the value derived from …

Inclusive Growth In Africa: Are Chinese Investment And Local Industry Participation Compatible?, Emmanuel T. Kodzi

Faculty Publications

Purpose - This study set out to explore whether increasing Chinese FDI is associated with rising contributions of local industry in African countries connected to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The existence of cooperative industry linkages between Chinese investments and local businesses is a necessary condition for achieving the mutual benefits asserted by the BRI.

Design/methodology/approach - Under growing FDI, we framed increasing local industry contribution as indicative of existing industry linkages. Using principal component analysis and multiple regression on collated country-level data, we examined relationships between key industry output variables and several independent variables representing Chinese investment and …

How Different Esg Factors Across Cultures Affect Financial Performance, Matej Susec, Marc Sardy

Faculty Publications

This paper examines the financial performance of publicly traded companies based on their ESG factors’ specific commitment across different cultures. Using ESG ratings from HIP Investor Inc. on companies the agency evaluates and cultural dimensions as defined by Geert Hofstede, the average stock return of companies was compared to countries’ main stock indexes. The results show that the majority of the analyzed combinations of ESG factors and cultural dimensions outperformed the main stock indexes between the years 2016 and 2020. Moreover, it seems that for ESG committed companies, culture plays a role in ESG practices as well as financial performance.

From Design To Delivery: Teaching Supply Chain Management To Ib Majors, Emmanuel T. Kodzi

Faculty Publications

Curricular development is critical for preparing students in a coordinated fashion for life after graduation – especially when their roles will involve cross-border business decisions. The design of specific courses in any curriculum must be purposeful in terms of what is taught, how it is taught, and how all the course components fit together. For a supply chain management course targeted at international business (IB) students, one key purpose is to understand how competitiveness is developed across the extended enterprise, rather than within the confines of individual companies. This “winning together” view helps foster capabilities for connectedness and cooperation in …

Sales Order Backlog And Corporate Social Responsibility, Li Sun, Brian Walkup, Kean Wu

Faculty Publications

We examine the impact of sales order backlog, an important leading indicator of firm performance, on corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance (measured as responsible and irresponsible CSR performance). We rely on the stakeholder view and the resource availability view of CSR to develop our hypotheses. Under the stakeholder view, we posit a positive relation between sales order backlog and CSR performance. Under the resource availability view, we posit this relationship to be negative. Our empirical evidence shows a significant positive relation between order backlog and irresponsible CSR performance, suggesting that firms with higher order backlog demonstrate lower overall CSR performance. …

The Case Of The Unidentified Energy Companies, Matthew Crook, Mark Griffiths, Brian Walkup

Faculty Publications

This case provides detailed financial information for 14 firms in the energy sector across different fields. The student is put in the position of a potential job candidate tasked with identifying the field in which a firm’s major operations lie. The student’s objective is to use existing knowledge of the energy sector or financial statements to differentiate between the firms by examining the financial statements and common financial ratios for each of the firms.

Business Volatility And Employee Performance, Wen-Chyuan Chiang, Li Sun, Brian Walkup

Faculty Publications

This study examines the impact of business volatility on employee performance. We posit that employees work harder in a more volatile business environment as prior research links business volatility to increased use of performance-based compensation systems, which may result in better employee performance. Our results suggest that business volatility has a significant and positive impact on employee performance. Furthermore, we find that the relationship between business volatility and employee performance is stronger for larger firms and firms with higher labor intensity.

Live And Let Live: Africa’S Response Options To China’S Bri, Emmanuel T. Kodzi

Faculty Publications

Kodzi offers a timely perspective on the ongoing debate about how China’s BRI might deliver tangible benefits to African partners. The impact of Chinese engagement on local businesses in different regions is explored both broadly, and in a specific African country context. Using the resource dependence theory and the supply chain practice view, the chapter focuses on technology- and knowledge-enhancing industry linkages to conceptualize a pragmatic response by African industry sectors to the competitive pressures associated with Chinese business engagement. By adopting a response view, this chapter proposes credible options for African countries to increase the strategic value of their …

Sustainable Fashion: A Hybrid Model For Social, Economic, And Environmental Responsibility In Haiti, Mary Conway Dato-On, Isabel A. Walker

Faculty Publications

This case explores two Haiti-based organizations, one a non-profit (REBUILD globally) and one a sustainable fashion business (deux mains), that work interdependently to combat poverty through business. The business model addresses complex social, economic, and environmental issues prominent in Haiti and provides actionable solutions consumers can take through their purchases to help alleviate negative outcomes the fashion industry has had in the world. By presenting a ‘successful’ hybrid model for sustainable fashion, the authors offer challenges and opportunity for how the fashion industry can create positive influence in emerging countries while meeting demands presented by the growing consumer …

Capabilities, Human Development, And Design Thinking: A Framework For Gender-Sensitive Entrepreneurship Programs, Tonia Warnecke

Faculty Publications

This paper discusses the ways that capabilities and human development theory can guide the creation of entrepreneurship programs, utilizing a framework of human-centered design thinking. It is well known that a variety of institutional factors shape gender outcomes and gender inequality within entrepreneurship, particularly with regard to necessity versus opportunity entrepreneurship and informal versus formal sector entrepreneurship. Failure to understand the diversity of entrepreneurial activity among women, and the connection (or lack thereof) of such activity to human freedom, leads to biased entrepreneurship programs. This paper links social economic theory and practice by: (1) discussing the ways that capabilities and …

Consumer Brand Relationships Research: A Bibliometric Citation Meta-Analysis, Marc Fetscherin, Daniel Heinrich

Faculty Publications

This study examines how scholarly research on consumer brand relationships has evolved over the last decades by conducting a bibliometric citation meta-analysis. The bibliography was compiled using the ISI Web of Science database. The literature review includes 392 papers by 685 authors in 101 journals. The area of consumer brand relationships research is notably interdisciplinary, with articles mainly published in journals for business and management, but also applied psychology and communication. We show the impact of universities, authors, journals, and key articles and outline possible future research avenues. The study explores seven sub-research streams and visualizes how articles on consumer …

Are The Parents To Blame? Predicting Franchisee Failure, Ilan Alon, Michèle Boulanger, Everlyne Misati, Melih Madanoglu

Faculty Publications

The Small Business Administration (SBA) supports franchising by backing up loans issued by regular lending organizations. However, the SBA does not directly consider firm strategies as part of its lending process. To appreciate how franchisor characteristics influence franchisee failure, we developed a heuristic model using the methodology and power of predictive analytics. We use multi-year data from the World Franchising Council’s surveys on franchisors’ characteristics and from the SBA on franchisee loan defaults. The data cover 271 diverse US franchise chains that are present in both databases. Our model predicts potential defaults of SBA-backed loans issued to American franchisees and …

How Are Brand Names Of Chinese Companies Perceived By Americans?, Marc Fetscherin, Adamantios Diamantopoilos, Allan K.K. Chan, Rachael Abbott

Faculty Publications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to conduct an experimental design of Americans’ preferences for the English version of Chinese brand names by drawing from prior research in psychology, linguistics and marketing. The impact of string length and semantic relevance to English on meaningfulness, memorability and likeability of brand names from Chinese companies was assessed. Design/methodology/approach – A 2 × 2 experimental design was used, whereby brand names are categorized by string length (short vs long) and semantic relevance to English (with vs without). Respondents’ perception of the Chinese language in terms of pronounceability, language familiarity and language …

The Power Of Brand Love, Marc Fetscherin, Ryan Barker, Jeffery Peacock

Faculty Publications

In this article we would like to respond to Romaniuk’s (2013) Viewpoint article "What’s (brand) love got to do with it?" and provide our point of view regarding brand love. While we agree with some of the limitations she points out in Batra et al.’s (2012) article, and acknowledge them, we disagree with her statement that there is ‘no evidence that building brand love leads to higher market share, sales or profitability’ (Romaniuk 2013, p. 185). It is conceivable that there was no evidence when she wrote the article in 2013. However, as this article illustrates, we have since 2013 …

The Medical Tourism Index: Scale Development And Validation, Marc Fetscherin, Renee-Marie Stephano

Faculty Publications

Medical tourism is an estimated $100 billion dollar industry. Despite the increasing number of people, companies and countries involved in medical tourism, we know very little about the key drivers and how countries are perceived as medical tourism destinations. The purpose of this paper is to present the Medical Tourism Index, a new type of country-based performance measure to assess the attractiveness of a country as a medical tourist destination. We followed a rigorous multi-steps scale development procedure by using four empirical studies based on 4995 respondents. The MTI is a multidimensional construct with 4 dimensions (country, tourism, medical costs, …

The Ceo Branding Mix, Marc Fetscherin

Faculty Publications

What do Donald Trump, Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah Winfrey, Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos have in common? They are not only CEOs and living icons of the brands they created but also brands themselves. There are many reasons why CEOs today get more attention than in the past. When the media are looking for a business story they often turn to CEOs or founders. Some companies are larger than countries in terms of number of citizens or employees or in revenue. For example, Walmart has about 2.2 million employees, comparable to the population of Qatar, Namibia, or Slovenia, and its revenues …

The Clash Of Missions: Juxtaposing Competing Pressures In South Africa's Social Enterprises, Emmanuel T. Kodzi

Faculty Publications

Social enterprises seek critical resources to fulfill their mission in a defined domain of action. However, this quest also constitutes a distraction that complicates the operations of any social enterprise. By analyzing the logic of control versus the logic of empowerment for operating scenarios in South Africa, we examine the process trade-offs that enhance or limit social impact. Our findings prioritize efficiency in resolving process trade-offs, since the focus on value creation diminishes the replenishment cycle for value capture. We propose that value chain processes be controlled to the extent that the enterprise acts as a custodian of community empowerment …

International Expansion Through Flexible Replication: Rethinking The Propositions, Emmanuel T. Kodzi

Faculty Publications

The international expansion of businesses today invites the analysis of organizational mechanisms that allow these businesses to thrive in spite of the known challenges of doing business in a foreign culture or market. Specifically, the extent to which firms replicate their existing business models relative to the perceived need for local adaptation is topical. This paper is a commentary on the brilliant work of Anna Jonsson and Nicolai Foss, who outline a model of flexible replication, drawing from a longitudinal study of IKEA, the famous Swedish home furnishing company. Their study concludes with four propositions for further investigation. For the …

Consumer Brand Relationships Landscape, Marc Fetscherin, Daniel Heinrich

Faculty Publications

This article sheds light on the current state of research on consumer brand relationships (CBR) and presents two distinct taxonomies, respectively, theoretical frameworks that help to classify CBR research. First, the 'brand connection matrix' that classifies brand relationships into functional-based (low versus high) and emotional-based (low versus high) connections to brands. This framework leads us with a 2 × 2 matrix consisting of four quadrants, each of which are discussed. Second, the 'brand feeling matrix' classifies consumer's relationships with brands by grouping them into the strengths of relationships (weak versus strong) and the consumers' feeling toward the brand (positive versus …

Impacts Of China’S Foreign Direct Investment In Sub-Saharan Africa, Jian Zhang, Ilan Alon, Yanan Chen

Faculty Publications

This paper examines the impacts of foreign direct investment, as well as China’s FDI on GDP growth of Sub-Saharan African countries from a macroeconomic perspective. By using the data from 44 Sub-Saharan African countries from 2003-2010, our GMM results show that neither China’s FDI nor FDI net inflow in SSA has significant effect on economic growth of SSA countries. The possible explanations about the insignificant results include crowding out effect of China’s FDI on domestic investment, the declining in outward FDI in traditional sectors and rising in service sector which ignored in the current model, and the types of sectors …

Quality Signals And Franchising Growth, Laura Lucia-Palacios, Victoria Bordonaba-Juste, Melih Madanoglu, Ilan Alon

Faculty Publications

The goal of this article is to demonstrate how signaling support services and contractual arrangements that create value for incumbent franchisees can help to create value for the whole network by attracting prospective franchisees.

Teaching International Business Via Social Media Projects, Ilan Alon, Ruwanthi Herath

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the outcomes of an experiential learning technique coupled with social media in an international marketing course. It was conducted among 155 students placed in groups that were assigned to develop a YouTube video for use as a country branding marketing tool. Measured evaluations of the students’ perceptions of the experience reveal that it was both beneficial and positive, and it helped to promote an understanding of the importance of team work and the uses of technology. Factor analysis grouped the perceptions and attitudes regarding the exercise into four categories.The differences in perception …

The Effect Of Product Category On Consumer Brand Relationships, Marc Fetscherin, Michèle Boulanger, Gustavo Q. Souki, Cid Goncalves Filho

Faculty Publications

Purpose - This paper aims to investigate the effect of product category on consumer brand relationships. Design/methodology/approach - Based on a total of 800 consumers, respondents evaluated their relationship with their favorite brand in one of the four product categories studied (soft drink, mobile phone, shoes, cars). EFA, subsequent CFA, SEM and ANOVA were used to assess these relationships and the product category effect. Findings - The authors find that brand love positively influences brand loyalty and both, influence positively WOM and purchase intention. Looking at the directionality of these relationships, the results show no product category differences. However, the …

What Type Of Relationship Do We Have With Loved Brands?, Marc Fetscherin

Faculty Publications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a discussion, testing and comparing two different relationship theories and their underlying scales as applied to brand love. Current brand love studies neglect a detailed discussion and analysis of the appropriate relationship theory and underlying measurement scale to be used. Design/methodology/approach – We use a 2 × 2 experimental design where we compare two relationship theories (interpersonal versus parasocial) across two samples (USA and Japan). Model testing were conducted using exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and multi-group structural equation modeling techniques assessing the type of relationship consumers have with …

Entrepreneurship In Emerging Markets: New Insights And Directions For Future Research, Ilan Alon, Daniel Rottig

Faculty Publications

In recent years, the entrepreneurship and emerging markets research streams have intersected. Emerging markets provide an opportunity to examine entrepreneurship in different contexts and forms. This article discusses the current literature that interconnects both research streams in general, comments on the contributions of the articles published in the special issue on entrepreneurship and emerging markets in particular, and sketches out future avenues for research. These contributions span several theoretical lenses, including institutional theory, internationalization theory, transaction cost economics, and the resource-based view, as well as multiple geographic regions, including China as the largest emerging economy and other countries in East …

The Internationalization Of Chinese Entrepreneurial Firms, Ilan Alon, Orly Yeheskel, Miri Lerner, Wenxian Zhang

Faculty Publications

This article uses the resource-based and internationalization theories to explain the export behavior of Chinese entrepreneurial firms. Based on multi-year data on Chinese firms from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), we show that contextualized resource-based theory can adequately explain some of the variation in export behavior among young Chinese firms. Exports by small Chinese firms are driven by the social and intellectual capital of the entrepreneur and their entrepreneurial proclivity, and the innovativeness/uniqueness of the product/offering.

The Moderating Effects Of Environmental Dynamism On The Relationship Between Dynamic Capabilities Strategy And New Venture Performance In An Emerging Market, Ilan Alon, Hao Jiao, Koo Chun Kwong, Yu Cui

Faculty Publications

Building from resource-based view, this study developed a model of the dynamic capabilities strategy in an emerging market, especially with a particular focus on the new ventures. We generated hypotheses based on this framework, linking them with new venture performance, with the moderation role of environmental dynamism. We tested our hypotheses on a sample of new ventures in the context of China's Yangtze River Delta Region. Empirical results showed that environmental sensing capability and changing and renewal capability had significant impacts on new venture performance. Additionally, environmental sensing capability, and changing and renewal capability both had a stronger impact on …

Chinese Overseas M&A: Overcoming Cultural And Organizational Divides, Francesca Spigarelli, Attilio Mucelli, Ilan Alon

Faculty Publications

This article contributes to the existing knowledge on the difficulties and critical aspects of the post-acquisition phase of an emerging market multinational. To establish the context, a literature review on multinational companies from emerging countries, and specifically on the internationalization initiatives of Chinese companies, is provided, along with a framework to analyze cultural and management-related differences related to mergers and acquisitions (M&As). This review and framework is followed by a case study of a Chinese motorbike M&A in Italy. The case illustrates how Chinese companies use Italy to access Western markets (and strategic logistical services), as well as a wide …