Business Commons^™

The Evolution Of The Internet And Social Media: A Literature Review, Charles Alves De Castro, Isobel O'Reilly Dr, Aiden Carthy

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This article reviews and analyses factors impacting the evolution of the internet, the web, and social media channels, charting historic trends and highlight recent technological developments. The review comprised a deep search using electronic journal databases. Articles were chosen according to specific criteria with a group of 34 papers and books selected for complete reading and deep analysis. The 34 elements were analysed and processed using NVIVO 12 Pro, enabling the creation of dimensions and categories, codes and nodes, identifying the most frequent words, cluster analysis of the terms, and creating a word cloud based on each word's frequency. The …

Social Media Influencers (Smis) In Context: A Literature Review, Charles Alves De Castro, Isobel O'Reilly Dr, Aiden Carthy

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This review focused on three main areas, "Social Media Influencers (SMIs) in Context, The Impact of SMIs on Adolescents, and Consumer Behaviour in a Digital Era – Generation Z in Perspective". This article aims to further the overall understanding of SMIs and outlines the impact of SMIs on adolescents‘ lives. Thus, the main objective of this literature review is to raise awareness within the marketing field about the influence of social media influencers on adolescents and how brands promote their products and content through social media influencers. The review comprised a regular search using electronic journal databases and secondary data …

Profiling Food Festivals By Type, Name And Descriptive Content: A Population Level Study, Muhammet Kesgin, Rajendran S. Murthy, Rick Lagiewski

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Purpose: This research aims to classify and describe food festivals and examine the patterns in food festival naming and festival descriptions in online media. Design: This research represents the first population-level empirical examination of food festivals in the United States using a purpose-built dataset (N=2626). Methodology includes text mining to examine food festival communications. Findings: Food festival size varies across local and regional spheres within the country. Food festivals employ geographical (place-, destination-based) associations in their names. Food festivals’ descriptions and online communications showcase a welcoming environment predominantly emphasizing family-oriented and live entertainment experiences. Food festivals across the country show …

Dark Side Of Black Friday: The Major Drawbacks With This Shopping Bonanza, Sarah Schiffling, Nikolaos Valantasis Kanellos

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Black Friday is upon us again. It’s one of the biggest shopping events of the year, although there are mixed signals about how successful it is likely to be in 2021. One recent study found that only a third of consumers plan to take part. The financial strain of COVID-19 is still evident, and inflation running at its highest level in a decade.

All the same, consumer confidence has been rising. According to GlobalData, shoppers are set to spend nearly £9.2 billion in the four days from Black Friday to Cyber Monday. This would still be a big increase …

Real-Time Bidding Campaigns Optimization Using User Profile Settings, Luis Miralles-Pechuán, Muhammad Atif Qureshi, Brian Mac Namee

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Real-time bidding is nowadays one of the most promising systems in the online advertising ecosystem. In this study, the performance of RTB campaigns is improved by optimising the parameters of the users' profiles and the publishers' websites. Most studies concerning optimising RTB campaigns are focused on the bidding strategy, i.e., estimating the best value for each bid. However, this research focuses on optimising RTB campaigns by finding out configurations that maximise both the number of impressions and the average profitability of the visits. An online campaign configuration generally consists of a set of parameters along with their values such as …

An Employment-Weighted Municipal Stock Index, Chris Brune, James Files, Phil Rice

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State and local officials are often tasked with policy decisions that are influenced by projections of future economic conditions. However, properly assessing and predicting local economic performance is challenging. Common macroeconomic indicators can be helpful, but additional tools are needed. Stock indices have traditionally been used in the investment community to evaluate performance. While a recent surge in fundamental indexing has led to a debate over performance measurement, other uses of fundamental indices have been largely ignored. We introduce an employment-weighted stock index as a supplement to traditional forecasting measures for policymakers at the state and local levels

Shifting The Eu Taxonomy From Theory To Practice: A Review Of The Literature Highlighting Potential Academic Contributions To Its Adoption, Implementation, And Impact, Dylan Kirby, Sandra Thompson, Cormac H. Macmahon

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The EU Taxonomy seeks to identify those sustainable economic activities, thereby supporting climate change mitigation and adaptation. Recent legislation underpinning the EU Taxonomy, such as the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) and the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), highlight the urgency for academic contributions that might shed light on its operationalisation. At this embryonic stage in the Taxonomy’s lifecycle, there is potential for the academic community to contribute to understanding its implications. Hence, we undertake a thematic analysis of predominantly, but not exclusively, professional literature to prioritise potential empirical research or conceptualisations that might offer insights for finance and accounting professionals, …

Towards An Integrated Case Method In Management Education - Developing An Ecosystem-Based Research And Learning Journey For Flipped Classrooms, Jan-Philipp Buechler Prof Dr, Gregor Brüggelambert Prof Dr, Jan-Phillip Büchler Prfo Dr, Helen De.Haan-Cao Dr, Asta Savaneviciene Prof

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In the field of management science and business administration, the case method is gaining ground in research as well as in teaching. Case studies support on the one hand exploratory re-search and on the other hand problem-based teaching. However, we find that case research and case teaching remain unchained in management study programs and propose to close this gap. We identify an untapped potential of boosting the case method by integrating case-based re-search and teaching into a discovery and learning journey of applied science. We suggest em-bedding the ‘Integrated Case Method’ (ICM) in the ecosystem of universities to the end …

How Do Communities Use Effectuation To Increase Locality Development Within Existing Levels Of Government Support?, Norah R. Cussen

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This study explored how local communities can increase their ‘self-help’ capacity and achieve locality development from a grassroots level, and from an Effectuation perspective. This study explored the micro factors that enable transformational activity and explored the effectiveness and relativeness of government policy in reducing barriers to locality development. Locality development in rural Ireland was then viewed through an Effectual Lens to develop a mechanism to cultivate transformational activity in rural communities. The findings identified three major themes across the four case studies: (1) locality development is achieved through integrated transformational activity (community, CDO and government level); (2) there are …

Teenagers’ Moral Advertising Literacy In An Influencer Marketing Context, Emma Sweeney, Margaret-Anne Lawlor, Mairead Brady

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Teenagers are avid consumers of social media and also constitute attractive target audiences for influencer marketing (IM). Teenagers can perceive strong, parasocial relationships with influencers, frequently regarding them as being akin to a peer or a friend. Furthermore, influencer endorsements are observed to carry greater credibility and authenticity than traditional forms of advertising. This therefore raises questions about young consumers’ discernment of, and critical evaluation of the overall appropriateness when influencers act as conduits of commercial messages on behalf of brands. This paper reports on a qualitative study of 29 teenagers aged 15–17 years. The aim was to explore the …

The Impact Of Environmental Turbulence On The Strategic Decision-Making Process In Irish Quantity Surveying (Qs) Professional Service Firms (Psfs), Roisin Murphy Dr, Oluwasegun Seriki

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Construction firms operate within a business environment characterized by uncertainty and a lack of predictability, increasing the complexity of strategic decision-making. Construction contractor firms’ strategic response to environmental turbulence is appropriately documented but evidence regarding Construction Professional Service Firms (CPSF’S) remains scarce. CPSF’s are characteristically different from contractor organizations due to the intangibility of services and high knowledge intensity. The purpose of the study is to ascertain the impact of environmental turbulence on strategic decision-making process characteristics in CPSF’s, specifically Irish Quantity Surveying (QS) practices. Using a mixed-methods research strategy, data collected over two dissimilar stages on the economic cycle …

Making Memories: A Consumer-Based Model Of Authenticity Applied To Living History Sites, Muhammet Kesgin, Babak Taheri, Rajendran S. Murthy, Juilee Decker, Martin Joseph Gannon

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Purpose: Underpinned by the consumer-based model of authenticity (CBA), this study investigated whether leisure involvement, object-based and existential authenticity, host sincerity, and engagement stimulate positive memorable visitor experiences in a distinctive commercial hospitality setting: a living history site. Methodology: Quantitative data were gathered from living history site visitors (n=1004), with partial least squares structural equation modelling used to test the hypothesized relationships. Findings: The results confirm the inclusion of the hypothesized relationships between leisure involvement, sincerity, and authenticity, relative to engagement and subsequent memorability. The findings suggest that engagement can be a predictor of positive memorable experience, contingent on CBA …

Overview Of Hybrid Financial Instruments And Investment Leverage Enablers For Cultural Heritage Adaptive Reuse, Tracy Pickerill

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Cultural heritage adaptive reuse investment strategies involve long-term, sometimes perpetual, investment horizons, which necessitate the integration of sustainable funding mechanisms. In order to achieve participatory circular human prosperity, the sustainable finance movement must re-evaluate investment leverage approaches including value creation models, the design of hybrid financial instruments, analytical decision-making frameworks,collaborative social enterprise structures, impact performance metrics and evolving mindsets.

In the context of this overview of financial and non-financial instruments, cultural heritage adaptive reuse activities include:

• Adaptive reuse of cultural built heritage structures

• Energy retrofit of cultural built heritage structures

• Protection and management of natural eco-systems;

• …

Investment Leverage For Adaptive Reuse Of Cultural Heritage, Tracy Pickerill

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This article tracks the design of a panoptic toolkit of complementary financial (grant and endowment, tax, debt and equity) and non-financial (regulation, real estate, risk mitigation and performance, capacity building, impact metric and digital network) instruments, designed to leverage capital investment and engender collaborative partnerships, to encourage investment capital to flow to cultural heritage adaptive reuse activities.

From Overt Threat To Invisible Presence: Discursive Shifts In Representations Of Gender In Menstrual Product Advertising, Valerie Gannon, Olivia Freeman, Rachel Campbell

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The menstrual product brand ‘Always’ and its #LikeAGirl campaign has made headlines for being at the forefront of a menstrual liberation, championing female empowerment and gender equality. This paper utilises a visual discourse analysis approach (Rose, 2016) to explore the discursive shifts in ‘Always’ advertisements over the past four decades. Specifically, the question as to how the construction of menstruation has changed over time in the advertising discourse of the ‘Always’ brand is addressed. Three dominant discourses of menstruation are identified: overt threat, uncontrollable and invisible. These discourses function as strong claims to truth as they reach the everyday life …

Responding To Stigmatization: How To Resist And Overcome The Stigma Of Unemployment, Paul Donnelly, Lucia Garcia-Lorenzo, Lucia Sell-Trujillo

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Organization research on stigma has mostly focused on the stigmatized, limiting the scope for exploring what is possible and lacking recognition of the structural conditions and unequal power relations that create and sustain stigma. Consequently, it overlooks how actors can organize to resist and potentially overcome stigmatization altogether. Addressing this question empirically, we studied the long-term unemployed in Spain using a longitudinal qualitative research design. We develop a typology of responses to stigmatization – getting stuck, getting by, getting out, getting back at and getting organized – that advances our understanding of stigma in several ways. First, our typology captures …

Decolonial Feminist Theory: Embracing The Gendered Colonial Difference In Management And Organisation Studies, Jennifer Manning

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Feminist theories in management and organization studies, each with their own ontological and epistemological assumptions, offer critical perspectives of the status quo to challenge our idea of progress in the discipline, yet there is limited engagement with ideas, theories, or practices from the lived experiences of Global South women. Decolonial feminism engages with debates pertaining to coloniality/ modernity and indigenous identity and gender in Latin America, while providing a space for the voices and lived experiences of marginalized, non‐Western(ised) women. Positioned in the context of Guatemalan Maya women and deploying critical insights from decolonial feminists, I unpack how the discourse …

Breaking Down Silos Through Authentic Assessment: A Live Case Analysis, Olivia Freeman, Rosie Hand, Aileen Kennedy

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One of the aims of Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) is to create graduates who problem solve as socially responsible global citizens. We wanted to provide an opportunity for our students to address relevant, marketing and consumption challenges in new and innovative ways, and to develop analytical competences and professional skills and comportment in a real-life context. This paper describes the design, implementation and outcome of an inter-disciplinary and cross-programme 'authentic assessment' method which we have termed a 'live case analysis'. The assessment comprised fieldwork, wider industry engagement, formative assessment components and a summative presentation. The method is discussed against …

A Study Of Consumer Behaviour Towards Food Waste In Ireland: Attitudes, Quantities And Global Warning Potentials, Angela Flanagan, Anushree Priyadarshini

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This study aimed to investigate consumer behaviour towards food waste in Ireland by analysing their attitudes and quantities of food waste generated. Global warming potential of the food waste generated weekly is then assessed. A total of 2115 participants from all over the Republic of Ireland contributed to the survey (of which 2062 were included in this research). Using factor and cluster analysis, two clusters of consumers were formed based on their attitudes towards food waste, and it was found that 62.56% of the sample were ‘uncaring’ consumers and 37.44% were ‘caring’ consumers. The uncaring consumers consisted of more young …

Management Development In Small And Medium Sized Firms In The Republic Of Ireland: An Investigation Of Contingency Factors And Management Development Activities, Deirdre Mcquillan, Thomas Garavan, Wael Rashwan, Lorraine Sweeney, Ciara Nolan, Osa Godwin Osaghae

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Purpose The development of managerial skills is an important priority for small and medium sized firm globally yet we have few insights about the predictors and types of management development (MD) activities in SMEs. To date studies of MD have not sufficiently differentiated between small and medium sized firms. In this paper we investigate the impact of three sets of predictors (contextual, technology and innovation activities, behavioural and skill) on six dimensions of MD (formal internal development, formal internal with an external expert, formal external development, one-to-one MD activities, budget for MD and experiential focused MD).

Design/methodology/approach Survey of 360 …

Digital Health’S Impact On Integrated Care, Carer Empowerment And Patient-Centeredness For Persons Living With Dementia, Nicole Gross, Vivienne Byers, Susi Geiger

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E-health or digital health technologies endeavour to connect key stakeholders and thereby lay the foundation for better integrated as well as potentially more patient-centered care. However, despite the promise of empowerment, efficiency and value, digital health has yet to become part of the daily lives of the people who care for persons living with dementia

International Entrepreneurship From Emerging To Developed Markets: An Institutional Perspective, Nuraddeen Nuhu, Martin Owens, Deirdre Mcquillan

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Purpose The authors explore how home and host market institutions impact emerging market (EM) international entrepreneurship (IE) into developed markets.

Design/methodology/approach Based on four case studies of Nigerian entrepreneurs expanding into the USA, this qualitative research adopts an institutional perspective to the study of EM IE.

Findings The findings show home and host formal and informal institutions simultaneously enable and constrain the IE process. Weak home institutions shape the international opportunity recognition decision but seriously impede international opportunity development and exploitation activities in the developed market. EM entrepreneurs benefit from highly functioning regulation in the developed market whilst also experiencing …

Analytics Capability In Marketing Education: A Practice-Informed Model, Justina Setkute, Simone Kurtzke Dr.

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As marketing continues to be transformed by technology and the explosion of big data, academic research has identified a significant need for analytics skills in marketing education. However, it is unclear whether current curriculum approaches to marketing analytics equip students with the skills employers need and prepare them effectively for data-driven marketing roles. This study identifies the knowledge and skills marketing graduates require for analytics practice to bridge the theory-practice gap and increase students’ employability. Our research reveals that a blend of knowledge, soft and technical skills is needed, and that the ability to communicate insights from data to stakeholders …

Do You Want Some Sauce On That? Factors Influencing Dietary Habits Among The Irish Construction Workforce, Aileen Kennedy, Colm O'Gorman, Kenneth Lee

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This paper presents an explanatory logic and an empirical illustration of how Stones’s strong structuration theory, specifically the methodological brackets of agent’s conduct and agent’s context analysis can be applied within case study research. The value of strong structuration theory, and the methodological bracketing tool, is its proximity to empirical research and the provision of robust guidelines which enable researchers to resolve the methodological challenges of combining structure and agency within research designs. We demonstrate the application of methodological bracketing as a tool for analysing structure and agency interactions within management research. The contribution of the paper is its explication …

Dark Money Darker? Irs Shutters Collection Of Donor Data, Philip Hackney

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The IRS ended a long-time practice of requiring most nonprofits to disclose substantial donor names and addresses on the nonprofit annual tax return. It is largely seen as a battle over campaign finance rather than tax enforcement. Two of the nonprofits involved, social welfare organizations and business leagues, are referred to as “dark money” organizations because they allow individuals to influence elections while maintaining donor anonymity. Many in the campaign finance community are concerned that this change means wealthy donors can avoid campaign finance laws and have no reason to fear being discovered. In this Article, I focus on whether …

Certain Effects Of Random Taxes, James R. Hines Jr., Michael J. Keen

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This paper explores the implications of tax rate randomness, identifying circumstances in which revenue-neutral rate variability increases profitability, economic activity, and the efficiency of resource allocation. Furthermore, with heterogeneous taxpayers, tax rate variability is shown to perform an efficiency-enhancing screening function, imposing heavier expected tax burdens on less responsive taxpayers. And while efficient tax randomness enables governments to reduce average costs of taxation, it necessarily increases the marginal cost of taxation over some ranges of expected revenue, so may reduce efficient levels of government spending.

Financing Early Stage Cleantech Firms, Sean O'Reilly, Ciarán Mac An Bhaird, Damien Cassells

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T HE report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [47] highlighted the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strive for decarbonization in order to restrict global warming. The Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change, has a vision of accelerating technology development and transfer [92] in order to reduce harmful carbon emissions. The development of new and innovative disruptive technologies to ameliorate and reverse the harmful effects of carbon emissions is emphasized by governments and international agencies [6], [53], [59], [102]. Large incumbent firms are well resourced to conduct this research and development (R&D), although …

The Rules Of The Game: Discursive Norms And Limits In The Field Of Online Art Magazines, Tommie Soro, Tim Stott, Brendan K. O'Rourke

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This article employs methods of discourse analysis and corpus linguistics within a Bourdieusian theoretical framework to examine the discursive norms and limits regulating the construction of reputation by online contemporary art magazines. Moving between quantitative and qualitative analysis of the websites of online contemporary art magazines, the article identifies salient patterns surrounding the use of modifiers and links these patterns to the normative principles of the artworld. Its findings suggest that positive evaluation is a norm but that the use of explicitly evaluative modifiers is prohibited, that artists are predominantly classified according to nationality and that these classifications can construct …

Technology And The (Re)Construction Of Law, Christian Sundquist

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Innovative advancements in technology and artificial intelligence have created a unique opportunity to re-envision both legal education and the practice of law. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the technological disruption of both legal education and practice, as remote work, “Zoom” client meetings, virtual teaching, and online dispute resolution have become increasingly normalized. This essay explores how technological innovations in the coronavirus era are facilitating radical changes to our traditional adversarial system, the practice of law, and the very meaning of “legal knowledge.” It concludes with suggestions on how to reform legal education to better prepare our students for the emerging …

A Practice Perspective On Knowledge, Learning And Innovation – Insights From An Eu Network Of Small Food Producers, Clare Rigg, Paul Coughlan, Denise O'Leary, David Coughlan

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Drawing on insider research with a three-year EU network created to support innovation in geographically marginalized traditional food companies, this paper makes three contributions to discussions of innovation in small and micro-firms. First, we shift focus away from conceiving of knowledge as a discrete entity, and of knowledge sharing, transfer and exchange as the passing of objects. Applying a practice perspective that conceptualizes innovation as situated in the everyday activities of organizing, learning and working, we extend open innovation ideas and identify three distinct sets of knowledge-creating practices that small and micro-firm actors in this network context engage in as …