Spotlight on new research publications in August
07/31/2020
Photo: Bjarke Maccarthy
Are you a journalist, researcher or simply interested in academic articles on business and culture?
Sign up for this newsletter to receive a monthly update on the latest research publications at CBS.
The following is a rough list. If you need more information, please contact the researcher.
The academic articles have been peer-reviewed, which means they have been judged by other researchers within the same area.
THE FOLLOWING IS THIS MONTH’S PEER-REVIEWED RESEARCH – ENJOY YOUR READING:
Find the abstracts under each heading..
Financial Constraints Influence How Consumers Evaluate Approach-Framed versus Avoidance-Framed Messages
Abstract: Many people experience financial constraints in their lives that affect their well-being and behaviors. This raises the question of whether individuals’ financial constraints will affect their responses to positive approach-framed (versus negative avoidance-framed) messages in ads. We examined the effects of consumers’ financial constraints on their responses to ads that had positive approach-framed (versus negative avoidance-framed) messages. We hypothesized that consumers with financial constraints would have more positive responses to an ad that had a positive approach-framed (versus a negative avoidance-framed) message and that the depth of information processing would mediate their responses to an ad that had a positive approach-framed message. Across six studies, including field and online experiments, these findings supported the predictions. The findings advance the literature on both message framing in ads and financial constraints, and they generate actionable guidelines for marketing practice and public policy.
Abstract: Many people experience financial constraints in their lives that affect their well-being and behaviors. This raises the question of whether individuals’ financial constraints will affect their responses to positive approach-framed (versus negative avoidance-framed) messages in ads. We examined the effects of consumers’ financial constraints on their responses to ads that had positive approach-framed (versus negative avoidance-framed) messages. We hypothesized that consumers with financial constraints would have more positive responses to an ad that had a positive approach-framed (versus a negative avoidance-framed) message and that the depth of information processing would mediate their responses to an ad that had a positive approach-framed message. Across six studies, including field and online experiments, these findings supported the predictions. The findings advance the literature on both message framing in ads and financial constraints, and they generate actionable guidelines for marketing practice and public policy.
Journal: Journal of Advertising
Published: June 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Gülen Sarial Abi
A Review of Formal and Informal Regulations in the Nordic Influencer Industry
Abstract: This article provides a systematic review of laws, guidelines, and best practices related to the Nordic influencer industry as of the year 2020. We highlight some nuanced differences or shortfalls across Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, and give some policy recommendations to national governments and industry in order to maintain a professional Nordic standard. The article identifies a degree of social, cultural, and economic coherence in the Nordic context that allows for the Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish influencer industries to be viewed as a collaborative entity. It then reviews the status of income and tax procedures, and the regulation of commercial disclosures for influencers in the Nordic region. It is hoped that this research contributes to strengthening the integrity and rigour of the Nordic influencer industry to serve as a model for other regional networks of influencers.
Abstract: This article provides a systematic review of laws, guidelines, and best practices related to the Nordic influencer industry as of the year 2020. We highlight some nuanced differences or shortfalls across Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, and give some policy recommendations to national governments and industry in order to maintain a professional Nordic standard. The article identifies a degree of social, cultural, and economic coherence in the Nordic context that allows for the Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish influencer industries to be viewed as a collaborative entity. It then reviews the status of income and tax procedures, and the regulation of commercial disclosures for influencers in the Nordic region. It is hoped that this research contributes to strengthening the integrity and rigour of the Nordic influencer industry to serve as a model for other regional networks of influencers.
Journal: Nordic Journal of Media Studies.
Published: June 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Kjeld Hansen
Identifying Production Units with Outstanding Performance
Abstract: In many applications of data envelopment analysis, there are situations in which a central body manages a large set of similar units delivering some services. In such multi-unit organizations, the central management desires a mechanism by which the local management of each unit is incentivized to perform towards the improvement of the performance of the organization as a whole. In a recent paper, Afsharian et al. (2017) have proposed a system of incentives under these circumstances. In their approach, – which relies on the original concept of super-efficiency – units with outstanding performance are identified and incentivized by some reward compatible with the level of their impact on the overall performance of the organization. We discuss why the conventional super-efficiency approach may not be optimal in such situations. We revisit the definition of the collective impact and propose a new method, which can identify – in a controlled manner – a subset of k outstanding DMUs among n existing units in the system. The proposed approach is illustrated using data from a German retail bank.
Abstract: In many applications of data envelopment analysis, there are situations in which a central body manages a large set of similar units delivering some services. In such multi-unit organizations, the central management desires a mechanism by which the local management of each unit is incentivized to perform towards the improvement of the performance of the organization as a whole. In a recent paper, Afsharian et al. (2017) have proposed a system of incentives under these circumstances. In their approach, – which relies on the original concept of super-efficiency – units with outstanding performance are identified and incentivized by some reward compatible with the level of their impact on the overall performance of the organization. We discuss why the conventional super-efficiency approach may not be optimal in such situations. We revisit the definition of the collective impact and propose a new method, which can identify – in a controlled manner – a subset of k outstanding DMUs among n existing units in the system. The proposed approach is illustrated using data from a German retail bank.
Journal: European Journal of Operational Research
Published: May 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Peter Bogetoft
Losing Face from Engagement: An Overlooked Risk in the Implementation of Participatory Organisational Health and Safety Initiatives in the Construction Industry
Abstract: Participatory designs are regarded as a positive way to develop and execute organisational health and safety interventions in the construction industry. While most studies focus on effect measures, little is known about process-related factors shaping the outcomes of interventions. In this article, the authors suggest that success in implementing organisational interventions is tied to microsocial mechanisms that affect whether engagement and creativity materialise into improvements. In this regard, interaction within intervention activities has been overlooked as relevant data sources. To exemplify how these may be useful, video-recorded interactions between participants in an intervention workshop setting are analysed. The framework focuses on threats to the participants’ face (i.e. their public self-image), the participants “facework”, and on how social action is oriented to deontic, epistemic and emotional domains of order. The analysis shows how threats to the participants’ faces arise in interaction, diverting the focus of discussions away from the aim of the workshops; developing initiatives to improve employees’ health and safety. The analysis highlights that participatory interventions may be ineffective if potential face threats are not mitigated and managed actively. We suggest that the manager-facilitator-employee communicational design should be an area of increased focus.
Abstract: Participatory designs are regarded as a positive way to develop and execute organisational health and safety interventions in the construction industry. While most studies focus on effect measures, little is known about process-related factors shaping the outcomes of interventions. In this article, the authors suggest that success in implementing organisational interventions is tied to microsocial mechanisms that affect whether engagement and creativity materialise into improvements. In this regard, interaction within intervention activities has been overlooked as relevant data sources. To exemplify how these may be useful, video-recorded interactions between participants in an intervention workshop setting are analysed. The framework focuses on threats to the participants’ face (i.e. their public self-image), the participants “facework”, and on how social action is oriented to deontic, epistemic and emotional domains of order. The analysis shows how threats to the participants’ faces arise in interaction, diverting the focus of discussions away from the aim of the workshops; developing initiatives to improve employees’ health and safety. The analysis highlights that participatory interventions may be ineffective if potential face threats are not mitigated and managed actively. We suggest that the manager-facilitator-employee communicational design should be an area of increased focus.
Journal: Construction Management and Economics
Published: May 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Christian Dyrlund Wåhlin-Jacobsen
When One Size Does Not Fit All: Using Ex Post Subjective Ratings to Provide Parity in Risk-adjusted Compensation.
Abstract: Firms typically use a ‘one-size-fits-all’ (OSFA) compensation contract that specifies a common formulaic relation between performance and compensation (i.e., a performance bonus) for non-executive managers in similar jobs. However, a contract that is appropriate on average, may be suboptimal for individual managers if heterogeneity in the operating environment creates varying compensation risk. We use field data from a retail firm that introduced an OSFA bonus compensation plan for its store managers. The common bonus formula is based on a weighted sum of objective measures of performance and a subjective rating made by supervisors. The firm intended the supervisors’ discretionary subjective rating to evaluate performance on dimensions that are difficult to measure (e.g., store appearance). We test and find that supervisors give uniformly higher subjective ratings to managers whose objective measure of sales performance is measured with greater noise, and to managers who face higher performance target difficulty, the latter assessed both prior to (ex ante) and subsequent to (ex post) the evaluation period. These results obtain after controlling for manager ability and performance, and for alternative mechanisms to mitigate differences in compensation risk (e.g., salary changes, sales target changes, and bonus adjustments). The evidence suggests that supervisors use discretion in subjective ratings to provide manager-specific risk premiums for non-executive managers who are subject to an OSFA contract.
Abstract: Firms typically use a ‘one-size-fits-all’ (OSFA) compensation contract that specifies a common formulaic relation between performance and compensation (i.e., a performance bonus) for non-executive managers in similar jobs. However, a contract that is appropriate on average, may be suboptimal for individual managers if heterogeneity in the operating environment creates varying compensation risk. We use field data from a retail firm that introduced an OSFA bonus compensation plan for its store managers. The common bonus formula is based on a weighted sum of objective measures of performance and a subjective rating made by supervisors. The firm intended the supervisors’ discretionary subjective rating to evaluate performance on dimensions that are difficult to measure (e.g., store appearance). We test and find that supervisors give uniformly higher subjective ratings to managers whose objective measure of sales performance is measured with greater noise, and to managers who face higher performance target difficulty, the latter assessed both prior to (ex ante) and subsequent to (ex post) the evaluation period. These results obtain after controlling for manager ability and performance, and for alternative mechanisms to mitigate differences in compensation risk (e.g., salary changes, sales target changes, and bonus adjustments). The evidence suggests that supervisors use discretion in subjective ratings to provide manager-specific risk premiums for non-executive managers who are subject to an OSFA contract.
Journal: Management Accounting Research
Published: June 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Henri C. Dekker
Dynamic Quantile Stochastic Frontier Models
Abstract: This paper introduces the concept of dynamic quantile regression to the context of stochastic frontier models. We develop a Dynamic Quantile Stochastic Frontier (DQSF) in a Bayesian framework to take into account possible shifts of production (i.e. outputs) over time. Not only does the model provide inefficiency measures by various quantiles but also controls for endogeneity and treats the quantile as a parameter and derives its marginal posterior distribution. The model also adopts a more general process for the time-varying parameters of the DQSF, where heterogeneity and dynamics are conveniently modeled using a panel vector autoregressive model. We test the model on a sample of US hotels.
Abstract: This paper introduces the concept of dynamic quantile regression to the context of stochastic frontier models. We develop a Dynamic Quantile Stochastic Frontier (DQSF) in a Bayesian framework to take into account possible shifts of production (i.e. outputs) over time. Not only does the model provide inefficiency measures by various quantiles but also controls for endogeneity and treats the quantile as a parameter and derives its marginal posterior distribution. The model also adopts a more general process for the time-varying parameters of the DQSF, where heterogeneity and dynamics are conveniently modeled using a panel vector autoregressive model. We test the model on a sample of US hotels.
Journal: International Journal of Hospitality Management
Published: 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Florian Kock
Variability in Pension Products: A Comparison Study Between the Netherlands and Denmark
Abstract: The Danish and the Dutch pension systems are often referred to as "among the best in the world". We compare pension systems and pension products in Denmark and The Netherlands. We focus on the shifts that have taken place in both countries, from pension products with relatively low levels of risk for the participant to pension products with more risk but also higher expected return. We end by drawing lessons that are relevant for discussions in many countries.
Abstract: The Danish and the Dutch pension systems are often referred to as "among the best in the world". We compare pension systems and pension products in Denmark and The Netherlands. We focus on the shifts that have taken place in both countries, from pension products with relatively low levels of risk for the participant to pension products with more risk but also higher expected return. We end by drawing lessons that are relevant for discussions in many countries.
Journal: Annals of Actuarial Science
Published: May 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Malene Kallestrup-Lamb, Jesper Rangvid
Scandinavian Social-democracy and the Economics of Reformism (1890-1940)
Abstract: It is boilerplate knowledge that postwar social democracy abandoned Marxism and embraced cross-class alliances before governing as the most economically progressive arm of political liberalism. Yet this is a particularly continental European story. In Scandinavia, transformation had unfurled decades earlier and without much agony. Moreover, in the particular context of Northern Europe, the parliamentary alliance between social-democratic parties and parties representing rural interests established a political hegemony that lasted almost half a century and transformed many of market-society relations there. The German- Scandinavian comparison highlights the limited political value of theoretical sophistication in the history of the reformist Left, challenges the conventional view that social-democracy needed Keynesian macroeconomics to govern the capitalist economy with a clear class agenda and downplays the threat of the Soviets' authoritarian communism as a domestic political lever. Instead, the article shows that during the 1920s and the 1930s the Scandinavian social-democrats developed indigenous macroeconomic programs that they deployed to win and defend their political power before Keynes' ideas had been translated into political practice elsewhere. As for the threat of Soviet communism, the case of the (initially) Comintern-affiliated Norwegian social democrats shows that this threat worked not to scare capitalists into giving in to the demands of the office-seeking Left, as the conventional wisdom asserts, but to convince this Left and particularly their labor union base that organized labor interests and Leninist democratic centralism were mutually exclusive political phenomena.
Abstract: It is boilerplate knowledge that postwar social democracy abandoned Marxism and embraced cross-class alliances before governing as the most economically progressive arm of political liberalism. Yet this is a particularly continental European story. In Scandinavia, transformation had unfurled decades earlier and without much agony. Moreover, in the particular context of Northern Europe, the parliamentary alliance between social-democratic parties and parties representing rural interests established a political hegemony that lasted almost half a century and transformed many of market-society relations there. The German- Scandinavian comparison highlights the limited political value of theoretical sophistication in the history of the reformist Left, challenges the conventional view that social-democracy needed Keynesian macroeconomics to govern the capitalist economy with a clear class agenda and downplays the threat of the Soviets' authoritarian communism as a domestic political lever. Instead, the article shows that during the 1920s and the 1930s the Scandinavian social-democrats developed indigenous macroeconomic programs that they deployed to win and defend their political power before Keynes' ideas had been translated into political practice elsewhere. As for the threat of Soviet communism, the case of the (initially) Comintern-affiliated Norwegian social democrats shows that this threat worked not to scare capitalists into giving in to the demands of the office-seeking Left, as the conventional wisdom asserts, but to convince this Left and particularly their labor union base that organized labor interests and Leninist democratic centralism were mutually exclusive political phenomena.
Journal: Revista Transilvania
Published: 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Cornel Ban
Auto-affection and the Curvature of Spacetime: Derrida Reading Heidegger Reading Kant
Abstract: This paper has a twofold objective. First, it engages with the interrelation of time, space, and matter in Kant, Heidegger, and Derrida and questions whether and how this interrelation effects the possibility of self-relation. In Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics Heidegger suggests that the very structure of subjectivity is constituted by what he calls the ‘pure self-affection’ of time and thus the possibility of self-relation is intimately bound up with the temporalizing of time. In his 1964–65 seminar, Heidegger: The Question of Being and History, Derrida translates this pure affection of time into the more generic term ‘auto-affection,’ which will remain a pivotal reference point for his deconstruction of the metaphysical privileging of time as presence. Derrida shows how the (im)possibility of auto-affection is bound up not only with time but also with space, or rather with the ‘spacing of time’ that he also refers to as ‘the trace.’ Second, the paper moves across the frontiers of philosophy and physics posing anew the question concerning the interrelations of temporality, spatiality, and materiality. With reference to what in general relativity is called ‘the curvature of spacetime,’ the efficacy of materiality in the movement of auto-affection is called into question.
Abstract: This paper has a twofold objective. First, it engages with the interrelation of time, space, and matter in Kant, Heidegger, and Derrida and questions whether and how this interrelation effects the possibility of self-relation. In Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics Heidegger suggests that the very structure of subjectivity is constituted by what he calls the ‘pure self-affection’ of time and thus the possibility of self-relation is intimately bound up with the temporalizing of time. In his 1964–65 seminar, Heidegger: The Question of Being and History, Derrida translates this pure affection of time into the more generic term ‘auto-affection,’ which will remain a pivotal reference point for his deconstruction of the metaphysical privileging of time as presence. Derrida shows how the (im)possibility of auto-affection is bound up not only with time but also with space, or rather with the ‘spacing of time’ that he also refers to as ‘the trace.’ Second, the paper moves across the frontiers of philosophy and physics posing anew the question concerning the interrelations of temporality, spatiality, and materiality. With reference to what in general relativity is called ‘the curvature of spacetime,’ the efficacy of materiality in the movement of auto-affection is called into question.
Journal: International Journal of Philosophical Studies
Published: May 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Cathrine Bjørnholt Michaelsen
Situationally Orchestrated Pedagogy: Teacher Reflections on Positioning as Expert, Facilitator, and Caregiver
Abstract: Based on qualitative data generated during a faculty development program for teachers of first-year students at a Danish business school, we explore teachers’ reflections about tactically mobilizing different positions in teaching situations. We propose that positioning theory offers a promising tool for understanding teachers’ assumptions about their professional identities and, when used in faculty development programs, can strengthen teachers’ awareness that they can situationally orchestrate pedagogy by purposefully shifting between different positions. Over time, this awareness may help to develop teachers’ situational wisdom. We introduce the concept of “pedagogical positioner” to capture this meta-positioning skill. We further identify three positions that teachers can adopt when teaching first-year students: the content expert, the learning facilitator, and the supportive caregiver. Based on positioning theory, we conceptualize the discursive positions, storylines, and rights and duties that emerge in teachers’ accounts of these shifts. Finally, we discuss the advantages and limitations of reflexive and interactive positioning in teaching, and suggest how awareness about different positions might be fostered through faculty development programs.
Abstract: Based on qualitative data generated during a faculty development program for teachers of first-year students at a Danish business school, we explore teachers’ reflections about tactically mobilizing different positions in teaching situations. We propose that positioning theory offers a promising tool for understanding teachers’ assumptions about their professional identities and, when used in faculty development programs, can strengthen teachers’ awareness that they can situationally orchestrate pedagogy by purposefully shifting between different positions. Over time, this awareness may help to develop teachers’ situational wisdom. We introduce the concept of “pedagogical positioner” to capture this meta-positioning skill. We further identify three positions that teachers can adopt when teaching first-year students: the content expert, the learning facilitator, and the supportive caregiver. Based on positioning theory, we conceptualize the discursive positions, storylines, and rights and duties that emerge in teachers’ accounts of these shifts. Finally, we discuss the advantages and limitations of reflexive and interactive positioning in teaching, and suggest how awareness about different positions might be fostered through faculty development programs.
Journal: Management Learning
Published: June 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Maribel Blasco, Annemette Kjærgaard, Thyra Uth Thomsen
International HRM Insights for Navigating the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Future Research and Practice
Abstract: We show the relevance of extant international business (IB) research, and more specifically work on international human resources management (IHRM), to address COVID-19 pandemic challenges. Decision-makers in multinational enterprises have undertaken various types of actions to alleviate the impacts of the pandemic. In most cases these actions relate in some way to managing distance and to rethinking boundaries, whether at the macro- or firm-levels. Managing distance and rethinking boundaries have been the primary focus of much IB research since the IB field was established as a legitimate area of academic inquiry. The pandemic has led to increased cross-border distance problems (e.g., as the result of travel bans and reduced international mobility), and often also to new intra-firm distancing challenges imposed upon previously co-located employees. Prior IHRM research has highlighted the difficulties presented by distance, in terms of employee selection, training, support, health and safety, as well as leadership and virtual collaboration. Much of this thinking is applicable to solve pandemic-related distance challenges. The present, extreme cases of requisite physical distancing need not imply equivalent increases in psychological distance, and also offer firms some insight into the unanticipated benefits of a virtual workforce – a type of workforce that, quite possibly, will influence the 'new normal' of the post-COVID world. Extant IHRM research does offer actionable insight for today, but outstanding knowledge gaps remain. Looking ahead, we offer three domains for future IHRM research: managing under uncertainty, facilitating international and even global work, and redefining organizational performance.
Abstract: We show the relevance of extant international business (IB) research, and more specifically work on international human resources management (IHRM), to address COVID-19 pandemic challenges. Decision-makers in multinational enterprises have undertaken various types of actions to alleviate the impacts of the pandemic. In most cases these actions relate in some way to managing distance and to rethinking boundaries, whether at the macro- or firm-levels. Managing distance and rethinking boundaries have been the primary focus of much IB research since the IB field was established as a legitimate area of academic inquiry. The pandemic has led to increased cross-border distance problems (e.g., as the result of travel bans and reduced international mobility), and often also to new intra-firm distancing challenges imposed upon previously co-located employees. Prior IHRM research has highlighted the difficulties presented by distance, in terms of employee selection, training, support, health and safety, as well as leadership and virtual collaboration. Much of this thinking is applicable to solve pandemic-related distance challenges. The present, extreme cases of requisite physical distancing need not imply equivalent increases in psychological distance, and also offer firms some insight into the unanticipated benefits of a virtual workforce – a type of workforce that, quite possibly, will influence the 'new normal' of the post-COVID world. Extant IHRM research does offer actionable insight for today, but outstanding knowledge gaps remain. Looking ahead, we offer three domains for future IHRM research: managing under uncertainty, facilitating international and even global work, and redefining organizational performance.
Journal: Journal of International Business Studies
Published: 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Dana Minbaeva
Integrating the Delphi Survey into Scenario Planning for China's Renewable Energy Development Strategy towards 2030
Abstract: Although scenario planning and the Delphi survey are widely used in long-term strategy planning, their combinations have not received enough attention, especially in the improvement of efficacy in scenario planning. The crucial step of scenario planning is the effective identification of the uncertain and most influential drivers and key factors. This paper integrates the Delphi survey into scenario planning. It proposes a four-step analytical procedure of Delphi survey-based scenario planning: identifying the key ingredients from Delphi results, establishing the causal relationships among key ingredients, scenario development, and scenario description. The integrated method has been adopted in the planning practice for the renewable energy development strategy towards 2030 in China. Based on the three uncertain and most influential drivers, “technology development,” “ecological awareness,” and “national energy pricing,” most possibly influencing the renewable energy development towards 2030 in China, a novel three-dimensional scenario analytical framework composed of eight future scenarios is constructed. Considering the possibility in China's practice, five scenarios are selected as possible development scenarios of China's renewable energy towards 2030. This paper develops possible policy choices for each selected scenario.
Abstract: Although scenario planning and the Delphi survey are widely used in long-term strategy planning, their combinations have not received enough attention, especially in the improvement of efficacy in scenario planning. The crucial step of scenario planning is the effective identification of the uncertain and most influential drivers and key factors. This paper integrates the Delphi survey into scenario planning. It proposes a four-step analytical procedure of Delphi survey-based scenario planning: identifying the key ingredients from Delphi results, establishing the causal relationships among key ingredients, scenario development, and scenario description. The integrated method has been adopted in the planning practice for the renewable energy development strategy towards 2030 in China. Based on the three uncertain and most influential drivers, “technology development,” “ecological awareness,” and “national energy pricing,” most possibly influencing the renewable energy development towards 2030 in China, a novel three-dimensional scenario analytical framework composed of eight future scenarios is constructed. Considering the possibility in China's practice, five scenarios are selected as possible development scenarios of China's renewable energy towards 2030. This paper develops possible policy choices for each selected scenario.
Journal: Technological Forecasting and Social Change
Published: 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Tara Qian Sun
Professional Misconduct in International Taxation
Abstract: This paper explores the space for professional misconduct in international taxation through the exploitation of unique expertise and legal distinctions. In a complex international tax environment, where multiple logics from overlapping social and legal systems meet, there is unique scope for misconduct by professional experts as adjudged by social control agents, such as the state, professional bodies or popular media. These are not trivial judgments. The implications of perceived misconduct are potentially significant – fostering new regulations and enforcement actions, changing social norms, and damaging trust in the profession. Given this, there is a need to systematise our understanding of misconduct in international taxation, including its evaluation and social settings. We emphasise the particular ambiguities that characterise international taxation and discuss how tax professionals may strategically and, as a matter of everyday practice, come to be perceived as engaging in misconduct. We argue that it is helpful to understand misconduct through the analysis of key professional boundaries and we provide case vignettes of important contemporary judgments of professional misconduct in international tax systems.
Abstract: This paper explores the space for professional misconduct in international taxation through the exploitation of unique expertise and legal distinctions. In a complex international tax environment, where multiple logics from overlapping social and legal systems meet, there is unique scope for misconduct by professional experts as adjudged by social control agents, such as the state, professional bodies or popular media. These are not trivial judgments. The implications of perceived misconduct are potentially significant – fostering new regulations and enforcement actions, changing social norms, and damaging trust in the profession. Given this, there is a need to systematise our understanding of misconduct in international taxation, including its evaluation and social settings. We emphasise the particular ambiguities that characterise international taxation and discuss how tax professionals may strategically and, as a matter of everyday practice, come to be perceived as engaging in misconduct. We argue that it is helpful to understand misconduct through the analysis of key professional boundaries and we provide case vignettes of important contemporary judgments of professional misconduct in international tax systems.
Journal: Journal of Tax Administration
Published: 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Rasmus Corlin Christensen, Leonard Seabrooke
Elite Professionals in Transnational Tax Governance
Abstract: Since the global financial crisis, international corporate taxation has risen to the top of the global political agenda, as political leaders have called for collective action to shore up corporate tax systems. However, high-level political initiative alone does not create new international corporate tax rules. Rather, these transnational governance processes are centrally driven by elite tax professionals competing for prestige and influence. In this article, I investigate this competition in the case of one crucial post-crisis reform – the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project. I argue that hierarchies of prestige and influence for elite professionals in transnational tax governance are based on strategic combinations of career resources in issue-specific ‘linked ecologies'. In particular, I detail the expertise and network positioning of elite professionals, and discuss how these resources were mobilized in competitions for professional authority, which in turn shaped the transnational policy process. Evidence is drawn from qualitative interviews and career analysis.
Abstract: Since the global financial crisis, international corporate taxation has risen to the top of the global political agenda, as political leaders have called for collective action to shore up corporate tax systems. However, high-level political initiative alone does not create new international corporate tax rules. Rather, these transnational governance processes are centrally driven by elite tax professionals competing for prestige and influence. In this article, I investigate this competition in the case of one crucial post-crisis reform – the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project. I argue that hierarchies of prestige and influence for elite professionals in transnational tax governance are based on strategic combinations of career resources in issue-specific ‘linked ecologies'. In particular, I detail the expertise and network positioning of elite professionals, and discuss how these resources were mobilized in competitions for professional authority, which in turn shaped the transnational policy process. Evidence is drawn from qualitative interviews and career analysis.
Journal: Global Networks
Published: April 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Rasmus Corlin Christensen
Ordinary User Experiences at Work: A Study of Greenhouse Growers
Abstract: We investigate professional greenhouse growers’ user experience (UX) when using climate-management systems in their daily work. We build on the literature on UX, in particular UX at work, and extend it to ordinary UX at work. In a 10-day diary study, we collected data with a general UX instrument (AttrakDiff), a domain-specific instrument, and interviews. We find that AttrakDiff is valid at work; its three-factor structure of pragmatic quality (PQ), hedonic identification quality, and hedonic stimulation quality is recognizable in the growers’ responses. In this article, UX at work is understood as interactions among technology, tasks, structure, and actors. Our data support the recent proposal for the ordinariness of UX at work. We find that during continued use, UX at work is middle-of-the-scale, remains largely constant over time, and varies little across use situations. For example, the largest slope of the four AttrakDiff constructs when regressed over the 10 days was as small as 0.04. The findings contrast existing assumptions and findings in UX research, which is mainly about extraordinary and positive experiences. In this way, the present study contributes to UX research by calling attention to the mundane, unremarkable, and ordinary UXs at work.
Abstract: We investigate professional greenhouse growers’ user experience (UX) when using climate-management systems in their daily work. We build on the literature on UX, in particular UX at work, and extend it to ordinary UX at work. In a 10-day diary study, we collected data with a general UX instrument (AttrakDiff), a domain-specific instrument, and interviews. We find that AttrakDiff is valid at work; its three-factor structure of pragmatic quality (PQ), hedonic identification quality, and hedonic stimulation quality is recognizable in the growers’ responses. In this article, UX at work is understood as interactions among technology, tasks, structure, and actors. Our data support the recent proposal for the ordinariness of UX at work. We find that during continued use, UX at work is middle-of-the-scale, remains largely constant over time, and varies little across use situations. For example, the largest slope of the four AttrakDiff constructs when regressed over the 10 days was as small as 0.04. The findings contrast existing assumptions and findings in UX research, which is mainly about extraordinary and positive experiences. In this way, the present study contributes to UX research by calling attention to the mundane, unremarkable, and ordinary UXs at work.
Journal: ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction
Published: 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Torkil Clemmensen
The Role of Port Development Companies in Transitioning the Port Business Ecosystem: The Case of Port of Amsterdam's Circular Activities
Abstract: There is a gradual but clear transition towards a circular economy (CE) that will potentially have significant impacts on ports, both in their function as transport nodes and as locations for logistics and manufacturing activities. A rough appraisal of new investments in circular manufacturing activities in ports in Europe drawn from organizational reports and official webpages illustrates the (slow) development of circular activities in ports. This paper is to our knowledge the first paper which deals with the implications of CE for the business model of the port development company. We assess if and how the circularity transition affects the role and business model of port authorities as developers of port clusters. We outline a framework for analyzing the consequences of CE on the business model of the port authority. We then apply this framework to get a detailed understanding of the emerging CE ecosystem in the Port of Amsterdam, which is clearly a frontrunner in the transition, and the role of the government-owned Port of Amsterdam port development company (PoA) in developing this ecosystem. In Amsterdam, a CE 'business ecosystem' has emerged and continues to evolve with three types of synergies between the companies in this ecosystem: logistics infrastructure and services synergies, input-output synergies and industrial ecology synergies. We find that the spatial scale of the CE value chains in the port varies between segments and that they are generally less international than 'linear' value chains. The development of CE activities occupies a central place in PoA's strategy, and PoA assumes new and active roles in advancing the circular business ecosystem, most notably through developing industrial ecology synergies and nurturing and attracting new, innovative CE companies. Finally, the circularity transition leads to changes in PoA's business model, with an increasing focus on new services that create synergies, and a decreasing importance of the share of port dues in the total revenue mix.
Abstract: There is a gradual but clear transition towards a circular economy (CE) that will potentially have significant impacts on ports, both in their function as transport nodes and as locations for logistics and manufacturing activities. A rough appraisal of new investments in circular manufacturing activities in ports in Europe drawn from organizational reports and official webpages illustrates the (slow) development of circular activities in ports. This paper is to our knowledge the first paper which deals with the implications of CE for the business model of the port development company. We assess if and how the circularity transition affects the role and business model of port authorities as developers of port clusters. We outline a framework for analyzing the consequences of CE on the business model of the port authority. We then apply this framework to get a detailed understanding of the emerging CE ecosystem in the Port of Amsterdam, which is clearly a frontrunner in the transition, and the role of the government-owned Port of Amsterdam port development company (PoA) in developing this ecosystem. In Amsterdam, a CE 'business ecosystem' has emerged and continues to evolve with three types of synergies between the companies in this ecosystem: logistics infrastructure and services synergies, input-output synergies and industrial ecology synergies. We find that the spatial scale of the CE value chains in the port varies between segments and that they are generally less international than 'linear' value chains. The development of CE activities occupies a central place in PoA's strategy, and PoA assumes new and active roles in advancing the circular business ecosystem, most notably through developing industrial ecology synergies and nurturing and attracting new, innovative CE companies. Finally, the circularity transition leads to changes in PoA's business model, with an increasing focus on new services that create synergies, and a decreasing importance of the share of port dues in the total revenue mix.
Journal: Sustainability
Published: June 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Peter W. de Langen, Henrik Sornn-Friese
The Supply Chain Economy: A New Industry Categorization for Understanding Innovation in Services.
Abstract: An active debate has centered on the importance of manufacturing for driving innovation in the U.S. economy. This paper offers an alternative framework that focuses on the role of suppliers of goods and services (the “supply chain economy”) in national performance. We identify three conceptual attributes of suppliers that make them important for innovation: they produce specialized inputs; have more downstream linkages with other industries; and benefit especially from co-locating with their customers, creating externalities. Using the 2002 Benchmark Input-Output Accounts, we estimate a new industry categorization that separates supply chain (SC) industries (i.e., those that sell primarily to businesses or government) from business-to-consumer (B2C) industries (i.e., those that sell primarily to consumers). We find that the supply chain economy is a distinct and large segment of the economy that includes primarily service providers. The SC industries, especially traded services, have higher average wages than B2C industries. The supply chain economy also has higher innovative activity as captured by the concentration of the vast majority of STEM jobs (primarily in traded services) and patents (in manufacturing). Finally, we find that employment in the economy has evolved from manufacturing into two distinct types of services (1998–2015): SC Traded Services (with the highest STEM intensity and wages) versus B2C Main Street (with the lowest STEM intensity and wages).
Abstract: An active debate has centered on the importance of manufacturing for driving innovation in the U.S. economy. This paper offers an alternative framework that focuses on the role of suppliers of goods and services (the “supply chain economy”) in national performance. We identify three conceptual attributes of suppliers that make them important for innovation: they produce specialized inputs; have more downstream linkages with other industries; and benefit especially from co-locating with their customers, creating externalities. Using the 2002 Benchmark Input-Output Accounts, we estimate a new industry categorization that separates supply chain (SC) industries (i.e., those that sell primarily to businesses or government) from business-to-consumer (B2C) industries (i.e., those that sell primarily to consumers). We find that the supply chain economy is a distinct and large segment of the economy that includes primarily service providers. The SC industries, especially traded services, have higher average wages than B2C industries. The supply chain economy also has higher innovative activity as captured by the concentration of the vast majority of STEM jobs (primarily in traded services) and patents (in manufacturing). Finally, we find that employment in the economy has evolved from manufacturing into two distinct types of services (1998–2015): SC Traded Services (with the highest STEM intensity and wages) versus B2C Main Street (with the lowest STEM intensity and wages).
Journal: Research Policy
Published: 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Mercedes Delgado
Elite-public Interaction on Twitter: EU Issue Expansion in the Campaign
Abstract: Why do some issues receive more interest from the public, while others do not? This paper develops a theoretical and empirical approach that explains the degree to which issues expand from the elite to the public. We examine how candidates in the 2014 European Parliament elections talked about EU issues, in comparison to other political issues. We rely on data collected from Twitter and use a combination of human coding and machine learning to analyse what facilitates interactions from the public. We find that most political actors did not try to engage with the public about EU issues, and lack of engagement results in less interactions from the general public. Our findings contribute to understanding why EU issues still play a secondary role in European politics, but at the same time highlight what low-cost communicational tools might be useful to overcome this expansion deficit.
Abstract: Why do some issues receive more interest from the public, while others do not? This paper develops a theoretical and empirical approach that explains the degree to which issues expand from the elite to the public. We examine how candidates in the 2014 European Parliament elections talked about EU issues, in comparison to other political issues. We rely on data collected from Twitter and use a combination of human coding and machine learning to analyse what facilitates interactions from the public. We find that most political actors did not try to engage with the public about EU issues, and lack of engagement results in less interactions from the general public. Our findings contribute to understanding why EU issues still play a secondary role in European politics, but at the same time highlight what low-cost communicational tools might be useful to overcome this expansion deficit.
Journal: European Journal of Political Research
Published: May 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Zoltán Fazekas
Narcissism in Political Participation
Abstract: Much attention has focused on the social, institutional, and mobilization factors that influence political participation, with a renewed interest in psychological motivations. One trait that has a deep theoretical connection to participation, but remains underexplored, is narcissism. Relying on three studies in the United States and Denmark, two nationally representative, we find that those scoring higher in narcissism, as measured by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory–40 (NPI-40), participate more in politics, including contacting politicians, signing petitions, joining demonstrations, donating money, and voting in midterm elections. Both agentic and antagonistic components of narcissism were positively and negatively related to different types of political participation when exploring the subfactors independently. Superiority and Authority/Leadership were positively related to participation, while Self Sufficiency was negatively related to participation. In addition, the combined Entitlement/Exploitativeness factor was negatively related to turnout, but only in midterm elections. Overall, the findings support a view of participation that arises in part from instrumental motivations.
Abstract: Much attention has focused on the social, institutional, and mobilization factors that influence political participation, with a renewed interest in psychological motivations. One trait that has a deep theoretical connection to participation, but remains underexplored, is narcissism. Relying on three studies in the United States and Denmark, two nationally representative, we find that those scoring higher in narcissism, as measured by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory–40 (NPI-40), participate more in politics, including contacting politicians, signing petitions, joining demonstrations, donating money, and voting in midterm elections. Both agentic and antagonistic components of narcissism were positively and negatively related to different types of political participation when exploring the subfactors independently. Superiority and Authority/Leadership were positively related to participation, while Self Sufficiency was negatively related to participation. In addition, the combined Entitlement/Exploitativeness factor was negatively related to turnout, but only in midterm elections. Overall, the findings support a view of participation that arises in part from instrumental motivations.
Journal: Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
Published: 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Zoltán Fazekas
Co-creating Sustainable Urban Metabolism Towards Healthier Cities
Abstract: In this article, we initially present and discuss the existing concepts covering sustainable and healthy cities, and urban metabolism infrastructure. The urban metabolism infrastructure distributes a wide range of key resources to citizens through various modes of transportation. Although the technical infrastructure and people in cities tend to be perceived as separate systems, they need to be acknowledged as co-dependent. Thus, co-creating urban metabolism and its infrastructure should be an integral part of developing a healthy city. We use mobility and transportation examples from the Cities-4-People project as a case to discuss the role of citizens and local stakeholders in co-creating solutions to improve their cities’ mobility through the urban metabolism and sustainability lens. Furthermore, we discuss the project process outcomes, leading to a set of guidelines towards achieving healthier cities.
Abstract: In this article, we initially present and discuss the existing concepts covering sustainable and healthy cities, and urban metabolism infrastructure. The urban metabolism infrastructure distributes a wide range of key resources to citizens through various modes of transportation. Although the technical infrastructure and people in cities tend to be perceived as separate systems, they need to be acknowledged as co-dependent. Thus, co-creating urban metabolism and its infrastructure should be an integral part of developing a healthy city. We use mobility and transportation examples from the Cities-4-People project as a case to discuss the role of citizens and local stakeholders in co-creating solutions to improve their cities’ mobility through the urban metabolism and sustainability lens. Furthermore, we discuss the project process outcomes, leading to a set of guidelines towards achieving healthier cities.
Journal: Urban Transformations
Published: June 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Isabel Fróes
Thirty Years of the International Journal of Logistics Management: A Retrospective Analysis
Abstract: Purpose: International Journal of Logistics Management (IJLM) celebrated 30 years of its publication in 2019. This study provides a retrospective overview of the IJLM articles between 1990 and 2019. Design/methodology/approach: The authors applied bibliometrics to study and present a retrospective summary of the publication trends, citations, pattern of authorship, productivity, popularity depicting influence, and the impact of the IJLM, its contributors, their affiliations, and discusses the conceptual layout of IJLM's prolific themes. Findings: With 23 yearly articles, IJLM contributed 689 specialized research papers on Supply Chain Management (SCM) by 2019. Authorship grew by 42 new contributors adding up to 1,256 unique IJLM authors by 2019. Each of its lead contributors associated with 1.55 other authors to contribute an article in the journal among which 93% are cited at least once. Survey-based research dominated in last 30 years. The h-index of the journal is 73 while its g-index suggests that 133 IJLM articles were cited at least 17,689 times in Scopus. IJLM authors affiliated to the Cranfield University and the US contributed the highest count of articles. Bibliographic coupling analysis groups IJLM articles into eight bibliographic clusters while network analysis exposes the thematic layout of IJLM articles. Research limitations/implications: The literature selection is confined to the Scopus database starting from 1990, a year before the inception of the IJLM, thereby limiting its scope. Originality/value: This study is the first retrospective bibliometric analysis of the IJLM, which is useful for aspiring contributors.
Abstract: Purpose: International Journal of Logistics Management (IJLM) celebrated 30 years of its publication in 2019. This study provides a retrospective overview of the IJLM articles between 1990 and 2019. Design/methodology/approach: The authors applied bibliometrics to study and present a retrospective summary of the publication trends, citations, pattern of authorship, productivity, popularity depicting influence, and the impact of the IJLM, its contributors, their affiliations, and discusses the conceptual layout of IJLM's prolific themes. Findings: With 23 yearly articles, IJLM contributed 689 specialized research papers on Supply Chain Management (SCM) by 2019. Authorship grew by 42 new contributors adding up to 1,256 unique IJLM authors by 2019. Each of its lead contributors associated with 1.55 other authors to contribute an article in the journal among which 93% are cited at least once. Survey-based research dominated in last 30 years. The h-index of the journal is 73 while its g-index suggests that 133 IJLM articles were cited at least 17,689 times in Scopus. IJLM authors affiliated to the Cranfield University and the US contributed the highest count of articles. Bibliographic coupling analysis groups IJLM articles into eight bibliographic clusters while network analysis exposes the thematic layout of IJLM articles. Research limitations/implications: The literature selection is confined to the Scopus database starting from 1990, a year before the inception of the IJLM, thereby limiting its scope. Originality/value: This study is the first retrospective bibliometric analysis of the IJLM, which is useful for aspiring contributors.
Journal: International Journal of Logistics Management
Published: June 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Britta Gammelgaard
Global Diffusion of P3 Policy: Learning Perspectives for Social Infrastructure.
Abstract: No matter how widely they may be defined, new social infrastructure projects can learn much from previous public–private partnership (P3) policies as well as from current global experience. What can be learned, though, and how? This article adopts a theoretical policy learning perspective and investigates what public works researchers and policymakers might get out of focusing on policy learning in more detail. Three perspectives are presented as follows: the technical approach, the professional/coalitional approach, and the experimental approach. International case illustrations are presented to illustrate P3 policy learning over space and time.
Abstract: No matter how widely they may be defined, new social infrastructure projects can learn much from previous public–private partnership (P3) policies as well as from current global experience. What can be learned, though, and how? This article adopts a theoretical policy learning perspective and investigates what public works researchers and policymakers might get out of focusing on policy learning in more detail. Three perspectives are presented as follows: the technical approach, the professional/coalitional approach, and the experimental approach. International case illustrations are presented to illustrate P3 policy learning over space and time.
Journal: Public Works Management & Policy
Published: July 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Carsten Greve
The Dynamics of Entry Mode Choice in Challenging Business Environments: An Exploratory Study of Medium Sized Exporters' Entry into Africa
Abstract: This article studies the entry modes adopted by medium-sized enterprises (MEs) seeking market access to challenging business environments in Africa. Based on a review of the extant literature on entry mode choice and organisational learning in internationalisation, we develop a dynamic model for analysing entry mode choice of exporting MEs. Via a longitudinal study of 14 Danish MEs' attempted entry into the Kenyan market, we found that gaining better knowledge of own resources in relation to the Kenyan business environment did not make the MEs adjust their entry mode. The only behavioural adjustments in lieu of better knowledge were that several MEs, rather than changing their preferred entry mode, decided to abandon entry altogether. We ascribe this lack of adaptation of entry mode strategy to organisational inertia. In conclusion, we argue that our findings have important implications for the theory of organisational learning in internationalisation.
Abstract: This article studies the entry modes adopted by medium-sized enterprises (MEs) seeking market access to challenging business environments in Africa. Based on a review of the extant literature on entry mode choice and organisational learning in internationalisation, we develop a dynamic model for analysing entry mode choice of exporting MEs. Via a longitudinal study of 14 Danish MEs' attempted entry into the Kenyan market, we found that gaining better knowledge of own resources in relation to the Kenyan business environment did not make the MEs adjust their entry mode. The only behavioural adjustments in lieu of better knowledge were that several MEs, rather than changing their preferred entry mode, decided to abandon entry altogether. We ascribe this lack of adaptation of entry mode strategy to organisational inertia. In conclusion, we argue that our findings have important implications for the theory of organisational learning in internationalisation.
Journal: International Journal of Export Marketing
Published: 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Michael W. Hansen
Media Framing of Copenhagen Tourism: A New Approach to Public Opinion about Tourists.
Abstract: This study provides the first analysis of how relationships between tourist-related frames appear in the media. Media framing plays an important role in the public perception of tourism issues. Focusing on the Lonely Planet appointment of Copenhagen as the top city to visit in 2019, this study examines how Danish newspapers framed Copenhagen tourism from 2017 to 2019. Through a new quantitative approach to content analysis that includes optimal scaling and path analysis, we investigate 225 newspaper stories and find several relationships between frame contents and frame implications. The findings suggest that particular frames trigger demands for specific actions (e.g., restricting tourism) and therefore are highly relevant for tourism managers and policymakers aiming to develop, position, and communicate tourism-related issues.
Abstract: This study provides the first analysis of how relationships between tourist-related frames appear in the media. Media framing plays an important role in the public perception of tourism issues. Focusing on the Lonely Planet appointment of Copenhagen as the top city to visit in 2019, this study examines how Danish newspapers framed Copenhagen tourism from 2017 to 2019. Through a new quantitative approach to content analysis that includes optimal scaling and path analysis, we investigate 225 newspaper stories and find several relationships between frame contents and frame implications. The findings suggest that particular frames trigger demands for specific actions (e.g., restricting tourism) and therefore are highly relevant for tourism managers and policymakers aiming to develop, position, and communicate tourism-related issues.
Journal: Annals of Tourism Research
Published: 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Torben Hansen
Public Perceptions of Good Data Management: Findings from a UK-based Survey
Abstract: Low levels of public trust in data practices have led to growing calls for changes to data-driven systems, and in the EU, the General Data Protection Regulation provides a legal motivation for such changes. Data management is a vital component of data-driven systems, but what constitutes ‘good’ data management is not straightforward. Academic attention is turning to the question of what ‘good data’ might look like more generally, but public views are absent from these debates. This paper addresses this gap, reporting on a survey of the public on their views of data management approaches, undertaken by the authors and administered in the UK, where departure from the EU makes future data legislation uncertain. The survey found that respondents dislike the current approach in which commercial organizations control their personal data and prefer approaches that give them control over their data, that include oversight from regulatory bodies or that enable them to opt out of data gathering. Variations of data trusts – that is, structures that provide independent stewardship of data – were also preferable to the current approach, but not as widely preferred as control, oversight and opt out options. These features therefore constitute ‘good data management’ for survey respondents. These findings align only in part with principles of good data identified by policy experts and researchers. Our findings nuance understandings of good data as a concept and of good data management as a practice and point to where further research and policy action are needed.
Abstract: Low levels of public trust in data practices have led to growing calls for changes to data-driven systems, and in the EU, the General Data Protection Regulation provides a legal motivation for such changes. Data management is a vital component of data-driven systems, but what constitutes ‘good’ data management is not straightforward. Academic attention is turning to the question of what ‘good data’ might look like more generally, but public views are absent from these debates. This paper addresses this gap, reporting on a survey of the public on their views of data management approaches, undertaken by the authors and administered in the UK, where departure from the EU makes future data legislation uncertain. The survey found that respondents dislike the current approach in which commercial organizations control their personal data and prefer approaches that give them control over their data, that include oversight from regulatory bodies or that enable them to opt out of data gathering. Variations of data trusts – that is, structures that provide independent stewardship of data – were also preferable to the current approach, but not as widely preferred as control, oversight and opt out options. These features therefore constitute ‘good data management’ for survey respondents. These findings align only in part with principles of good data identified by policy experts and researchers. Our findings nuance understandings of good data as a concept and of good data management as a practice and point to where further research and policy action are needed.
Journal: Big Data & Society
Published: 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Robin Steedman
Services in International Business Studies: A Replication and Extension of Merchant and Gaur (2008)
Abstract: International trade in services is a dominant feature of the global economy but it has not received a corresponding level of attention in international business research. In this study, we review the status of research on the internationalisation of services and service firms in the international business domain in order to derive questions for future research. We replicate and extend Merchant and Gaur’s (Management International Review 48, p. 379–396, 2008) review of research on the internationalisation of non-manufacturing firms for the following 10 years (2009–2018) for five leading international business journals. In addition to providing a qualitative content analysis of the literature, we extend the study to all research published by 2018 to identify research gaps and emerging research themes. Overall, we find that while research on service internationalisation has increased, the field remains fragmented and lacks theoretical and conceptual development applicable to the internationalisation of services. This creates opportunities for future research.
Abstract: International trade in services is a dominant feature of the global economy but it has not received a corresponding level of attention in international business research. In this study, we review the status of research on the internationalisation of services and service firms in the international business domain in order to derive questions for future research. We replicate and extend Merchant and Gaur’s (Management International Review 48, p. 379–396, 2008) review of research on the internationalisation of non-manufacturing firms for the following 10 years (2009–2018) for five leading international business journals. In addition to providing a qualitative content analysis of the literature, we extend the study to all research published by 2018 to identify research gaps and emerging research themes. Overall, we find that while research on service internationalisation has increased, the field remains fragmented and lacks theoretical and conceptual development applicable to the internationalisation of services. This creates opportunities for future research.
Journal: Management International Review
Published: June 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Peter D. Ørberg Jensen
Normal
0
21
false
false
false
DA
X-NONE
X-NONE
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0cm;
mso-para-margin-right:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0cm;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}
Re-examining Strategic Flexibility: A Meta-analysis of its Antecedents, Consequences and Contingencies
Abstract: Strategic flexibility (SF) is a concept that has evolved from strategy through other disciplines, including management, marketing, innovation, entrepreneurship and operations. However, despite attempts to consolidate the domain of SF, there remain theoretical and empirical tensions underlying its antecedents, the consequences and contingencies. Based on 106 independent samples reported in 98 different studies (n = 26,940 firms), we provide a meta‐analytical examination of these tensions. We highlight and resolve several disagreements regarding the enablers, inhibitors and triggers of SF, and we reveal an adjusted mean performance effect of 0.24. We further find that the measurement of SF, as well as some, but not all, dimensions of the environment, moderate the performance effect. Finally, an explorative analysis reveals that innovation outcomes and market outcomes mediate the positive relationship between SF and financial outcomes, in addition to a negative direct effect. These insights provide a comprehensive and coherent understanding of the nomological network of SF and a stronger basis for further theorizing and conducting empirical research. Moreover, our findings help firms to refine their strategy by implementing the right enablers that drive SF and to understand how and when their investment in SF pays off.
Journal: British Journal of Management
Published: June 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Robert E. Morgan
Multidimensional Welfare Comparisons of EU Member States Before, During, and After the Financial Crisis: A Dominance Approach
Abstract: How did the financial crisis affect population welfare in EU member states in key dimensions such as income, health, and education? We seek to answer this question by way of welfare comparisons between countries and within countries over time, using EU-SILC data. Our study is novel in using a multidimensional first order dominance comparison approach on the basis of multi-level ordinal data. We find that the countries most often dominated are southern and eastern European member states, and the dominant countries are mostly northern and western European member states. However, for most country comparisons, there is no dominance relationship. Moreover, only a few member states have experienced a temporal dominance improvement in welfare, while no member states have experienced a temporal dominance deterioration during the financial crisis.
Abstract: How did the financial crisis affect population welfare in EU member states in key dimensions such as income, health, and education? We seek to answer this question by way of welfare comparisons between countries and within countries over time, using EU-SILC data. Our study is novel in using a multidimensional first order dominance comparison approach on the basis of multi-level ordinal data. We find that the countries most often dominated are southern and eastern European member states, and the dominant countries are mostly northern and western European member states. However, for most country comparisons, there is no dominance relationship. Moreover, only a few member states have experienced a temporal dominance improvement in welfare, while no member states have experienced a temporal dominance deterioration during the financial crisis.
Journal: Social Choice and Welfare
Published: June 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Lars Peter Østerdal
The COVID-19 Crisis as an Opportunity for Escaping the Unsustainable Global Tourism Path
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has halted mobility globally on an unprecedented scale, causing the neoliberal market mechanisms of global tourism to be severely disrupted. In turn, this situation is leading to the decline of certain mainstream business formats and, simultaneously, the emergence of others. Based on a review of recent crisis recovery processes, the tourism sector is likely to rebound from this sudden market shock, primarily because of various forms of government interventions. Nevertheless, although policymakers seek to strengthen the resilience of post-pandemic tourism, their subsidies and other initiatives serve to maintain a fundamentally flawed market logic. The crisis has, therefore, brought us to a fork in the road – giving us the perfect opportunity to select a new direction and move forward by adopting a more sustainable path. Specifically, COVID-19 offers public, private, and academic actors a unique opportunity to design and consolidate the transition towards a greener and more balanced tourism. Tourism scholars, for example, can take a leading role in this by redesigning their curriculum to prepare future industry leaders for a more responsible travel and tourism experience.
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has halted mobility globally on an unprecedented scale, causing the neoliberal market mechanisms of global tourism to be severely disrupted. In turn, this situation is leading to the decline of certain mainstream business formats and, simultaneously, the emergence of others. Based on a review of recent crisis recovery processes, the tourism sector is likely to rebound from this sudden market shock, primarily because of various forms of government interventions. Nevertheless, although policymakers seek to strengthen the resilience of post-pandemic tourism, their subsidies and other initiatives serve to maintain a fundamentally flawed market logic. The crisis has, therefore, brought us to a fork in the road – giving us the perfect opportunity to select a new direction and move forward by adopting a more sustainable path. Specifically, COVID-19 offers public, private, and academic actors a unique opportunity to design and consolidate the transition towards a greener and more balanced tourism. Tourism scholars, for example, can take a leading role in this by redesigning their curriculum to prepare future industry leaders for a more responsible travel and tourism experience.
Journal: Tourism Geographies
Published: May 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Szilvia Gyimothy
Four Tactics for Implementing a Balanced Digital Platform Strategy
Abstract: Digital platforms, such as Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, face two major challenges in maintaining their competitive positions. First, the ever-increasing variety of thirdparty apps risks fragmenting a platform and requires the platform owner to use controls to maintain platform unity. Second, a too-open approach may invite competitors to exploit a platform. A balanced digital platform strategy requires a platform owner to deploy four tactics—leverage, control, exploit, and defense—to make the necessary trade-offs between variety and unity, and open and closed.
Abstract: Digital platforms, such as Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, face two major challenges in maintaining their competitive positions. First, the ever-increasing variety of thirdparty apps risks fragmenting a platform and requires the platform owner to use controls to maintain platform unity. Second, a too-open approach may invite competitors to exploit a platform. A balanced digital platform strategy requires a platform owner to deploy four tactics—leverage, control, exploit, and defense—to make the necessary trade-offs between variety and unity, and open and closed.
Journal: MIS Quarterly Executive
Published: June 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Ben Eaton
The Role of Decision Makers’ Use of Visualizations in Project Portfolio Decision Making
Abstract: Visualizations are increasingly used to display data for project portfolio decision making. Such decisions support the delivery of organizational strategy and aim to enhance the overall outcome from project investments. While some studies show that visualizations help data interpretation, others suggest they might bias decisions. To better understand whether and how visualizations affect project portfolio decisions, we develop and test a conceptual model that emphasizes the role of the decision maker in interpreting and using visual data. Using a dual-informant sample of 138 firms, we show a positive relationship between decision makers’ use of visualizations and project portfolio success that is mediated by decision-making success. We draw upon theories of cognitive fit and cognitive load to explain how the relationship between the use of visualizations and decision-making success is influenced by both the decision maker's tendency to use heuristics and their familiarity with visualizations.
Abstract: Visualizations are increasingly used to display data for project portfolio decision making. Such decisions support the delivery of organizational strategy and aim to enhance the overall outcome from project investments. While some studies show that visualizations help data interpretation, others suggest they might bias decisions. To better understand whether and how visualizations affect project portfolio decisions, we develop and test a conceptual model that emphasizes the role of the decision maker in interpreting and using visual data. Using a dual-informant sample of 138 firms, we show a positive relationship between decision makers’ use of visualizations and project portfolio success that is mediated by decision-making success. We draw upon theories of cognitive fit and cognitive load to explain how the relationship between the use of visualizations and decision-making success is influenced by both the decision maker's tendency to use heuristics and their familiarity with visualizations.
Journal: International Journal of Project Management
Published: July 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Joana Geraldi
Social Innovation Ignored: Framing Nonprofit Activities in European News Media
Abstract: News reporting typically has a dual function: it mirrors what is going on in real life, but it also shapes how actors behave. Previous studies suggest that media presence, by way of shaping public and policy perceptions, influence how well nonprofits are able to raise funds and mobilize human resources. Yet, we are lacking insights into how the third sector is actually framed in the media, in particular with regard to innovation, which increasingly complements the more traditional functions of advocacy and service provision. To find out, we performed a longitudinal content analysis and an in-depth framing analysis on national and regional newspapers from nine European countries. The analyses demonstrate that third sector activities, especially those related to social innovation, are largely ignored. We find no systematic evidence that crises increase news attention to nonprofit activities. The third sector is becoming more newsworthy when it co-engages with government and business actors, but can benefit only little from this “positive glow”. We suggest how research on these matters can be taken forward, with a specific focus on the agenda-setting theory of mass media, the strategic management of nonprofit organizations, and collaboration in the context of social innovation.
Abstract: News reporting typically has a dual function: it mirrors what is going on in real life, but it also shapes how actors behave. Previous studies suggest that media presence, by way of shaping public and policy perceptions, influence how well nonprofits are able to raise funds and mobilize human resources. Yet, we are lacking insights into how the third sector is actually framed in the media, in particular with regard to innovation, which increasingly complements the more traditional functions of advocacy and service provision. To find out, we performed a longitudinal content analysis and an in-depth framing analysis on national and regional newspapers from nine European countries. The analyses demonstrate that third sector activities, especially those related to social innovation, are largely ignored. We find no systematic evidence that crises increase news attention to nonprofit activities. The third sector is becoming more newsworthy when it co-engages with government and business actors, but can benefit only little from this “positive glow”. We suggest how research on these matters can be taken forward, with a specific focus on the agenda-setting theory of mass media, the strategic management of nonprofit organizations, and collaboration in the context of social innovation.
Journal: Voluntas
Published: April 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Anker Brink Lund
Quantum Approach to Organizational Paradox: A Copenhagen Perspective
Abstract: Original paper: Tobias Hahn and Eric Knight, The ontology of organizational paradox: A quantum approach. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2018.0408
This paper comments on Tobias Hahn’s and Eric Knight’s quantum approach to the ontology of organizational paradox. By addressing the problems of their application of quantum physics to organizational paradox research, we aim to move the mainstream thinking on organizational paradox beyond the dominant ‘both/and’ thinking toward a ‘neither/nor’ thinking that is the essence of the Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum theory. We posit, embracing the ‘neither/nor’ thinking, just like the shift from the ‘either/or’ thinking to the ‘both/and’ thinking, affords management scholars a much broader cognitive space in which resolving paradox may not be, as the mainstream organizational paradox scholars currently think, impossible. In our alternative quantum approach to organizational paradox, any paradox or paradoxical tension is caused by the asymmetry between one’s capacity and expectation (ACE), and the principle of paradox resolution is then the reduction of the asymmetry by either increasing one’s capacities or decreasing one’s expectations or doing both simultaneously
Abstract: Original paper: Tobias Hahn and Eric Knight, The ontology of organizational paradox: A quantum approach. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2018.0408
This paper comments on Tobias Hahn’s and Eric Knight’s quantum approach to the ontology of organizational paradox. By addressing the problems of their application of quantum physics to organizational paradox research, we aim to move the mainstream thinking on organizational paradox beyond the dominant ‘both/and’ thinking toward a ‘neither/nor’ thinking that is the essence of the Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum theory. We posit, embracing the ‘neither/nor’ thinking, just like the shift from the ‘either/or’ thinking to the ‘both/and’ thinking, affords management scholars a much broader cognitive space in which resolving paradox may not be, as the mainstream organizational paradox scholars currently think, impossible. In our alternative quantum approach to organizational paradox, any paradox or paradoxical tension is caused by the asymmetry between one’s capacity and expectation (ACE), and the principle of paradox resolution is then the reduction of the asymmetry by either increasing one’s capacities or decreasing one’s expectations or doing both simultaneously
Journal: Academy of Management Review
Published: May 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Xin Li
Solving Paradox by Reducing Expectation
Abstract: Original paper: Marco Berti and Ace Simpson, The Dark Side of Organizational Paradoxes: The Dynamics of Disempowerment, https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2017.0208 This paper critiques Berti and Simpson's argument that since pragmatic paradoxes are created by power differentials the solution to such paradoxes has to be to redress these power asymmetries. We discuss why their prescription is often impractical and argue that, even in the face of paradoxes created by huge power asymmetries, there is always a solution to paradox to be found in reducing one's expectations. We use the example of how Google dealt with Chinese government's demand for Internet censorship to illustrate our argument.
Abstract: Original paper: Marco Berti and Ace Simpson, The Dark Side of Organizational Paradoxes: The Dynamics of Disempowerment, https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2017.0208 This paper critiques Berti and Simpson's argument that since pragmatic paradoxes are created by power differentials the solution to such paradoxes has to be to redress these power asymmetries. We discuss why their prescription is often impractical and argue that, even in the face of paradoxes created by huge power asymmetries, there is always a solution to paradox to be found in reducing one's expectations. We use the example of how Google dealt with Chinese government's demand for Internet censorship to illustrate our argument.
Journal: Academy of Management Review
Published: May 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Xin Li
Enhancing Healthcare Professional and Caregiving Staff Informedness with Data Analytics for Chronic Disease Management
Abstract: An important area in healthcare to which data analytics can be applied is chronic disease management. The chronic care model is mostly patient-centric, so patients have been considered as the end users of data analytics. The information needs of healthcare providers have been overlooked. Drawing upon the theory of informedness and the transtheoretical model of health behavior change, we use a multicase study approach to investigate the information needs of different caregiving stakeholders in the spectrum of chronic diseases, and how data analytics can be designed to meet the varying needs of professionals and staff to support their informedness.
Abstract: An important area in healthcare to which data analytics can be applied is chronic disease management. The chronic care model is mostly patient-centric, so patients have been considered as the end users of data analytics. The information needs of healthcare providers have been overlooked. Drawing upon the theory of informedness and the transtheoretical model of health behavior change, we use a multicase study approach to investigate the information needs of different caregiving stakeholders in the spectrum of chronic diseases, and how data analytics can be designed to meet the varying needs of professionals and staff to support their informedness.
Journal: Information and Management
Published: May 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Robert J. Kauffman
Inventing Culinary Heritage through Strategic Historical Ambiguity
Abstract: Studies have shown how organisations create and use historical narratives to ‘outpast’ competing narratives, in attempts to claim authenticity through antiquity. We extend this work by exploring how organisations deliberately use historical narratives located in a vaguely defined past as a tool to craft legitimate historical narratives of a common cultural heritage. We theorise a link between strategic ambiguity and historical narratives by explaining how organisational actors construct a vaguely defined past and how historical narratives help these actors invent a cultural heritage. Conducting an in-depth case study of a culinary movement based in Istanbul, Turkey, we identify three forms of ambiguity that enable the construction of a common cultural heritage. These forms include ambiguity of origin, ambiguity of artefacts and ambiguity of ownership, and enable actors to concretise and perform a vaguely defined past in the present. Our study advances understanding of organisational uses of the past and suggests the term ‘strategic historical ambiguity’ to capture how ambiguity is deliberately used as a tool to craft legitimate historical narratives of a common cultural heritage.
Abstract: Studies have shown how organisations create and use historical narratives to ‘outpast’ competing narratives, in attempts to claim authenticity through antiquity. We extend this work by exploring how organisations deliberately use historical narratives located in a vaguely defined past as a tool to craft legitimate historical narratives of a common cultural heritage. We theorise a link between strategic ambiguity and historical narratives by explaining how organisational actors construct a vaguely defined past and how historical narratives help these actors invent a cultural heritage. Conducting an in-depth case study of a culinary movement based in Istanbul, Turkey, we identify three forms of ambiguity that enable the construction of a common cultural heritage. These forms include ambiguity of origin, ambiguity of artefacts and ambiguity of ownership, and enable actors to concretise and perform a vaguely defined past in the present. Our study advances understanding of organisational uses of the past and suggests the term ‘strategic historical ambiguity’ to capture how ambiguity is deliberately used as a tool to craft legitimate historical narratives of a common cultural heritage.
Journal: Organization Studies
Published: 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Sophie Marie Cappelen, Jesper Strandgaard Pedersen
Priorities When Selecting Business Partners for Service Innovation: The Contingency Role of Product Innovation.
Abstract: Firms increasingly engage in business-to-business cooperation to develop relevant innovations. Scholars have shown that firms can improve service innovation either by cooperating with suppliers or by cooperating with competitors. However, there is a dearth of research examining the relative importance of cooperating with suppliers and competitors to improve service innovation, and how this relative importance depends on embracing product innovation. Based on a cross-industry sample of 16,062 Spanish firms, this article addresses these research gaps, finding that firms can benefit from cooperating with both suppliers and competitors to boost service innovation, without prioritizing either. However, this article also shows that, if firms embrace product innovation, they should prioritize cooperating with competitors to boost service innovation.
Abstract: Firms increasingly engage in business-to-business cooperation to develop relevant innovations. Scholars have shown that firms can improve service innovation either by cooperating with suppliers or by cooperating with competitors. However, there is a dearth of research examining the relative importance of cooperating with suppliers and competitors to improve service innovation, and how this relative importance depends on embracing product innovation. Based on a cross-industry sample of 16,062 Spanish firms, this article addresses these research gaps, finding that firms can benefit from cooperating with both suppliers and competitors to boost service innovation, without prioritizing either. However, this article also shows that, if firms embrace product innovation, they should prioritize cooperating with competitors to boost service innovation.
Journal: Industrial Marketing Management
Published: 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Stefan Markovic, Marin Jovanovic, Marija Sarafinovska
Does Piracy Lead to Product Abandonment or Stimulate New Product Development? Evidence from Mobile Platform‐Based Developer Firms
Abstract: Research Summary: With the growth of digital platforms, understanding the role of property rights on those platforms has become increasingly important. Digital piracy, the unauthorized copying and distribution of digital products, is therefore an important strategic issue, both because of lost revenues and because it is thought to decrease innovation. Yet, while the latter effect is often argued, empirical evidence is limited. We study whether piracy affects innovation and whether it leads firms to shift to different types of innovations. By studying a large piracy event in a mobile app marketplace, we find that piracy leads to a decrease in the release of incremental innovations, such as bug fixes, but does not decrease more substantial revisions. Additionally, it is associated with subsequent new product development.
Managerial Abstract: For many platform companies, a critical issue is understanding how piracy and imitation should be regulated, motivated in part by a common narrative that piracy will eliminate innovation on these platforms. The present paper suggests that these effects are slightly more nuanced. We find that piracy does lead to a decline in incremental innovations, such as bug fixes or appearance tweaks, but no discernible decline in more major innovations, such as feature updates or entirely new versions. This implies that piracy can shape the type of innovation, potentially leading to products that are less polished and refined but not affecting the overall level of innovation.
Abstract: Research Summary: With the growth of digital platforms, understanding the role of property rights on those platforms has become increasingly important. Digital piracy, the unauthorized copying and distribution of digital products, is therefore an important strategic issue, both because of lost revenues and because it is thought to decrease innovation. Yet, while the latter effect is often argued, empirical evidence is limited. We study whether piracy affects innovation and whether it leads firms to shift to different types of innovations. By studying a large piracy event in a mobile app marketplace, we find that piracy leads to a decrease in the release of incremental innovations, such as bug fixes, but does not decrease more substantial revisions. Additionally, it is associated with subsequent new product development.
Managerial Abstract: For many platform companies, a critical issue is understanding how piracy and imitation should be regulated, motivated in part by a common narrative that piracy will eliminate innovation on these platforms. The present paper suggests that these effects are slightly more nuanced. We find that piracy does lead to a decline in incremental innovations, such as bug fixes or appearance tweaks, but no discernible decline in more major innovations, such as feature updates or entirely new versions. This implies that piracy can shape the type of innovation, potentially leading to products that are less polished and refined but not affecting the overall level of innovation.
Journal: Strategic Management Journal
Published: 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Lars Bo Jeppesen
Identifying the Appropriate Governance Model for Green Port Management: Applying Analytic Network Process and Best-worst Methods to Ports in the Indian Ocean Rim
Abstract: This study investigates the appropriate port governance model for implementation of green port management (GPM) practices. Relying on social systems engineering principles, we propose a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework considering four port governance models and five major GPM practice indicators. We validate the MCDM framework using survey data collected from top management executives of three ports in the Indian Ocean Rim — Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Tanzania. We compare the Analytic Network Process (ANP) method with more recently developed Best-Worst Method (BWM) in analysis of the MCDM problem of finding the right port governance model for GPM. We collect data using the ANP and BWM survey in January 2019 and August 2019, respectively, from the same respondents. While participating in the study in January 2019, the respondents did not know that they would respond to the same MCDM problem using a different model, which corresponds to a repeated measures experimental design. In both analyses, we find that increasing privatization in port governance would enhance the implementation of GPM practices. Our study furthermore suggests that BWM is a reliable MCDM method with greater applicability than ANP, as it requires significantly lower number of judgement comparisons.
Abstract: This study investigates the appropriate port governance model for implementation of green port management (GPM) practices. Relying on social systems engineering principles, we propose a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework considering four port governance models and five major GPM practice indicators. We validate the MCDM framework using survey data collected from top management executives of three ports in the Indian Ocean Rim — Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Tanzania. We compare the Analytic Network Process (ANP) method with more recently developed Best-Worst Method (BWM) in analysis of the MCDM problem of finding the right port governance model for GPM. We collect data using the ANP and BWM survey in January 2019 and August 2019, respectively, from the same respondents. While participating in the study in January 2019, the respondents did not know that they would respond to the same MCDM problem using a different model, which corresponds to a repeated measures experimental design. In both analyses, we find that increasing privatization in port governance would enhance the implementation of GPM practices. Our study furthermore suggests that BWM is a reliable MCDM method with greater applicability than ANP, as it requires significantly lower number of judgement comparisons.
Journal: Journal of Cleaner Production
Published: 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Henrik Sornn-Friese
I Am What I Pledge: The Importance of Value Alignment for Mobilizing Backers in Reward-Based Crowdfunding
Abstract: Crowdfunding has emerged as an important alternative financing tool for entrepreneurs. Extant research on the antecedents of crowdfunding success have produced divergent results. By applying the cross-disciplinary lens of strategic linguistic framing, that is, framing campaign messages in a way that is salient and that resonates with the values of the audience, we experimentally examine the role of value framing for a successful campaign outcome. Our results indicate that altruistically framed campaigns have a higher chance for funding compared to campaigns that emphasize egoistic or environmental motives, but even more importantly, that message framing needs to be aligned with the personal values of the backers. As such, our study highlights important similarities between resource mobilization in social movements and in crowdfunding.
Abstract: Crowdfunding has emerged as an important alternative financing tool for entrepreneurs. Extant research on the antecedents of crowdfunding success have produced divergent results. By applying the cross-disciplinary lens of strategic linguistic framing, that is, framing campaign messages in a way that is salient and that resonates with the values of the audience, we experimentally examine the role of value framing for a successful campaign outcome. Our results indicate that altruistically framed campaigns have a higher chance for funding compared to campaigns that emphasize egoistic or environmental motives, but even more importantly, that message framing needs to be aligned with the personal values of the backers. As such, our study highlights important similarities between resource mobilization in social movements and in crowdfunding.
Journal: Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice
Published: July 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Kristian Roed Nielsen
Dewey’s Broad Account of Habit and its Relevance for Change Management: A Conceptual Clarification with Pragmatic Illustrations
Abstract: The narrow view of habits predominant within behavioural approaches to change management conceptualizes them as passive transition points between stimuli and responses. John Dewey’s broad view of habit, by contrast, conceptualizes habits as the very basis for how individuals interact with their environments, one another, and themselves. We highlight the renewed relevance of Dewey’s conceptualization of habit by clarifying it as (1) a function between individuals and environments; (2) a custom produced within social settings; (3) a process intertwined with inquiries and impulses. We illustrate each of these characteristics through the example of a French factory, within which we claim that the narrow view prevails, and a Danish IT company, within which we claim the presence of a broader view. We proceed to discuss consequences of the broad view to change management research. MAD statement This paper Make a Difference (MAD) by pointing to the relevance of looking at habit in understanding the microdynamics of change. Rather than understanding habit in a narrow sense as automatic behaviour triggers by environmental clues, the paper presents a broad conceptions of habit that understands habit as a social and materially disposition that both make change recipients resist and receptive towards change. This conception of habit is based on the work of the pragmatist philosophy and psychology of John Dewey, applied to two empirical cases and discussed in light of change management literature.
Abstract: The narrow view of habits predominant within behavioural approaches to change management conceptualizes them as passive transition points between stimuli and responses. John Dewey’s broad view of habit, by contrast, conceptualizes habits as the very basis for how individuals interact with their environments, one another, and themselves. We highlight the renewed relevance of Dewey’s conceptualization of habit by clarifying it as (1) a function between individuals and environments; (2) a custom produced within social settings; (3) a process intertwined with inquiries and impulses. We illustrate each of these characteristics through the example of a French factory, within which we claim that the narrow view prevails, and a Danish IT company, within which we claim the presence of a broader view. We proceed to discuss consequences of the broad view to change management research. MAD statement This paper Make a Difference (MAD) by pointing to the relevance of looking at habit in understanding the microdynamics of change. Rather than understanding habit in a narrow sense as automatic behaviour triggers by environmental clues, the paper presents a broad conceptions of habit that understands habit as a social and materially disposition that both make change recipients resist and receptive towards change. This conception of habit is based on the work of the pragmatist philosophy and psychology of John Dewey, applied to two empirical cases and discussed in light of change management literature.
Journal: Journal of Change Management
Published: April 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Michael Pedersen
The Psychology of Consumer Ethnocentrism and Cosmopolitanism: A Five-country Study of Values, Moral Foundations, Gender Identities and Consumer Orientations
Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which personal values, moral foundations and gender-role identities affect, in sequence, consumers' constructions of their ethnocentric and cosmopolitan orientations. Achieving a better understanding of the psychological makeup of consumer ethnocentrism and cosmopolitanism should help managers better design international market segmentation and brand positioning strategies. Design/methodology/approach: The study's conceptual framework is anchored in attitude and values theories, and focuses on the social categorizations that consumers make and how these contribute to the formation of their ethnocentric and cosmopolitan orientations. Drawing data from consumers living in five European countries, we test our theoretical conjectures through structural equation modeling approaches, including multigroup analysis at the country level, as well as the identification and scrutiny of potential pan-European consumer segments. Findings: Findings show that personal values, moral foundations and gender-role identities do exert direct and indirect (partially mediated) effects on the formation of consumers' ethnocentric and cosmopolitan orientations. These provide numerous insights for managers in terms of how they can segment domestic and international markets, as well as how to position products and communicate brand strategies. Research limitations/implications: The study focused on consumers' personal and role identities and offers implications based on data gathered from a sample of five European countries. Future work should broaden this perspective by including other identity facets, such as religious and ethnic identities, as well as product-category and brand-specific outcomes, in order to help develop a more comprehensive picture of the psychology underpinning consumers' identity-related orientations, and their effects on consumer behavior. Future research should also study these issues in a broader geographical context, by including national markets that have culturally diverse populations as well as places with dissimilar cultural and economic profiles. Originality/value: The study shows that individuals' personal values, moral foundations and gender roles have a strong effect on the formation of consumer ethnocentrism and consumer cosmopolitanism orientations. Consideration of how these antecedent constructs operate in concert to shape consumers' in- versus out-group orientations has been overlooked in the international marketing literature. Beyond the ramifications for theory, the study offers numerous substantive managerial implications in terms of how consumers are likely to respond to local and global/foreign products/brands based on these orientations.
Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which personal values, moral foundations and gender-role identities affect, in sequence, consumers' constructions of their ethnocentric and cosmopolitan orientations. Achieving a better understanding of the psychological makeup of consumer ethnocentrism and cosmopolitanism should help managers better design international market segmentation and brand positioning strategies. Design/methodology/approach: The study's conceptual framework is anchored in attitude and values theories, and focuses on the social categorizations that consumers make and how these contribute to the formation of their ethnocentric and cosmopolitan orientations. Drawing data from consumers living in five European countries, we test our theoretical conjectures through structural equation modeling approaches, including multigroup analysis at the country level, as well as the identification and scrutiny of potential pan-European consumer segments. Findings: Findings show that personal values, moral foundations and gender-role identities do exert direct and indirect (partially mediated) effects on the formation of consumers' ethnocentric and cosmopolitan orientations. These provide numerous insights for managers in terms of how they can segment domestic and international markets, as well as how to position products and communicate brand strategies. Research limitations/implications: The study focused on consumers' personal and role identities and offers implications based on data gathered from a sample of five European countries. Future work should broaden this perspective by including other identity facets, such as religious and ethnic identities, as well as product-category and brand-specific outcomes, in order to help develop a more comprehensive picture of the psychology underpinning consumers' identity-related orientations, and their effects on consumer behavior. Future research should also study these issues in a broader geographical context, by including national markets that have culturally diverse populations as well as places with dissimilar cultural and economic profiles. Originality/value: The study shows that individuals' personal values, moral foundations and gender roles have a strong effect on the formation of consumer ethnocentrism and consumer cosmopolitanism orientations. Consideration of how these antecedent constructs operate in concert to shape consumers' in- versus out-group orientations has been overlooked in the international marketing literature. Beyond the ramifications for theory, the study offers numerous substantive managerial implications in terms of how consumers are likely to respond to local and global/foreign products/brands based on these orientations.
Journal: International Marketing Review
Published: June 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Alexander Josiassen, Sylvia Von Wallpach
Foreign Bank Lending in the U.S. During Three U.S. Recessions.
Abstract: We study whether foreign banks engaged in countercyclical lending in the United States during the 1990–1991, 2001, and 2007–2009 recessions. Aggregate lending by foreign banks increased in the 1990–91 recession and by domestic banks in the 2001 recession. Controlling for local GDP and unemployment, we show countercyclical lending by foreign branches in the 1990 recession and by foreign subsidiaries in the 2001 recession. In the 2008 recession, foreign branches and subsidiaries exhibited neither countercyclical nor procyclical lending. We conclude that foreign banks like domestic banks respond to local economic conditions; the foreign ownership is not a factor.
Abstract: We study whether foreign banks engaged in countercyclical lending in the United States during the 1990–1991, 2001, and 2007–2009 recessions. Aggregate lending by foreign banks increased in the 1990–91 recession and by domestic banks in the 2001 recession. Controlling for local GDP and unemployment, we show countercyclical lending by foreign branches in the 1990 recession and by foreign subsidiaries in the 2001 recession. In the 2008 recession, foreign branches and subsidiaries exhibited neither countercyclical nor procyclical lending. We conclude that foreign banks like domestic banks respond to local economic conditions; the foreign ownership is not a factor.
Journal: Global Finance Journal
Published: May 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Rama Seth
Which Firms Leave Multi‐stakeholder Initiatives? An Analysis of Delistings from the United Nations Global Compact
Abstract: This study analyzes which firms leave multi‐stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) for corporate social responsibility. Based on an analysis of all active and delisted business participants from the United Nations Global Compact between 2000 and 2015 (n = 15,853), we find that small and medium‐sized enterprises are more likely to leave than larger and publicly traded firms; that early adopters are less likely to leave than late adopters; and that the presence of a local network in a country reduces the likelihood of leaving. Based on these findings, we discuss theoretical implications related to MSIs' output legitimacy, the nature of organizational platforms supporting norm entrepreneurs within MSIs, and the occurrence of legitimacy spillover effects in local networks.
Abstract: This study analyzes which firms leave multi‐stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) for corporate social responsibility. Based on an analysis of all active and delisted business participants from the United Nations Global Compact between 2000 and 2015 (n = 15,853), we find that small and medium‐sized enterprises are more likely to leave than larger and publicly traded firms; that early adopters are less likely to leave than late adopters; and that the presence of a local network in a country reduces the likelihood of leaving. Based on these findings, we discuss theoretical implications related to MSIs' output legitimacy, the nature of organizational platforms supporting norm entrepreneurs within MSIs, and the occurrence of legitimacy spillover effects in local networks.
Journal: Regulation & Governance
Published: May 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Andreas Rasche, Wencke Gwozdz, Jeremy Moon
Does Early Childbearing Matter? New Approach Using Danish Register Data
Abstract: It is widely expected that career interruptions related to childbearing affect mothers’ wages directly through changes in the formation of human capital. Research proposes that this effect is exceptionally strong for early childbearing women who are about to start their working careers. This study investigates whether the poor long-term labor market outcomes experienced by women who first gave birth before turning 25 reflect previously existing disadvantages or are a consequence of the timing of childbearing. The purpose is also to observe whether a new combination of the best identification practices from earlier studies serves as an improved estimation method. This is done by applying a within-family estimator while treating miscarriages as an exogenous variation, thereby addressing family and individual heterogeneity, which might have biased earlier results based on either of the two identification strategies alone. The results show that early childbearing has no long-term effects on women's earnings.
Abstract: It is widely expected that career interruptions related to childbearing affect mothers’ wages directly through changes in the formation of human capital. Research proposes that this effect is exceptionally strong for early childbearing women who are about to start their working careers. This study investigates whether the poor long-term labor market outcomes experienced by women who first gave birth before turning 25 reflect previously existing disadvantages or are a consequence of the timing of childbearing. The purpose is also to observe whether a new combination of the best identification practices from earlier studies serves as an improved estimation method. This is done by applying a within-family estimator while treating miscarriages as an exogenous variation, thereby addressing family and individual heterogeneity, which might have biased earlier results based on either of the two identification strategies alone. The results show that early childbearing has no long-term effects on women's earnings.
Journal: Labour Economics
Published: 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Philip Rosenbaum
Blockchain, Digital Transformation and the Law: What Can We Learn from the Recent Deals?
Abstract: Recent years have seen a surge in the use of blockchain technologies, not least because of the increased use of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin which rely on it. While some of the generated interest can be dismissed as hype, there is little doubt that blockchain is a technology with the potential to revolutionise certain areas of law. A careful reader following the trends would have noticed that Maersk, the Danish business conglomerate, was involved with no less than three deals revolving, in one way or another, around blockchain technology Such news should intrigue the reader since adoption of experimental methods or newest IT technologies does not normally characterise the inert maritime and transport industries. We will in this short piece give an overview of the relevance of blockchain and briefly look at three different deals which Maersk concluded around the technology. We will then give an outline of potential legal problems which these and similar deals might bring. Our preliminary conclusion is that blockchain technology - in some instances at least - has the potential to disrupt the role law traditionally plays in negotiating and executing international contracts.
Abstract: Recent years have seen a surge in the use of blockchain technologies, not least because of the increased use of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin which rely on it. While some of the generated interest can be dismissed as hype, there is little doubt that blockchain is a technology with the potential to revolutionise certain areas of law. A careful reader following the trends would have noticed that Maersk, the Danish business conglomerate, was involved with no less than three deals revolving, in one way or another, around blockchain technology Such news should intrigue the reader since adoption of experimental methods or newest IT technologies does not normally characterise the inert maritime and transport industries. We will in this short piece give an overview of the relevance of blockchain and briefly look at three different deals which Maersk concluded around the technology. We will then give an outline of potential legal problems which these and similar deals might bring. Our preliminary conclusion is that blockchain technology - in some instances at least - has the potential to disrupt the role law traditionally plays in negotiating and executing international contracts.
Journal: University of San Francisco Maritime Law Journal
Published: 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Andrej Savin
Impact of the MLI and the BEPS Action Plan on the Tax Treaty Network
Abstract: Danish governments have by turns consistently supported the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project (the BEPS Project) and actively tried to push forward the antitax avoidance agenda.2 In line with these efforts, the Danish parliament adopted a bill on 20 December 2019 that implemented most parts of the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (the ATAD),3 which aims at implementing (some of) the BEPS Actions across the EU in a coordinated manner.4 Moreover, on 28 March 2019, the Danish parliament adopted a bill ratifying the MLI.5
Abstract: Danish governments have by turns consistently supported the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project (the BEPS Project) and actively tried to push forward the antitax avoidance agenda.2 In line with these efforts, the Danish parliament adopted a bill on 20 December 2019 that implemented most parts of the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (the ATAD),3 which aims at implementing (some of) the BEPS Actions across the EU in a coordinated manner.4 Moreover, on 28 March 2019, the Danish parliament adopted a bill ratifying the MLI.5
Journal: Cahiers de Droit Fiscal International
Published: 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Peter Koerver Schmidt
Revolving Doors in International Financial Governance
Abstract: ‘Revolving doors’ is a well-suspected phenomenon of skills and knowledge transfer between the private and public sectors. It is thought to be especially notable among elites in transnational policy networks, where mobility can accrue status. In this article, we investigate revolving doors in the area of international financial governance. We target policymakers linked to the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) and the International Monetary Fund's Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP). We test for revolving doors by examining the career histories of those working with the BCBS on the development of the Basel II accord, and staff on policy teams for financial systems monitoring via FSAP missions. Using sequence analysis, we trace career histories between 1971 and 2011 to observe the extent of revolving doors. Revolving doors are observed in club-like elite policy communities but are less prevalent in policy teams in intergovernmental organizations. We find that revolving doors are important in establishing intellectual capture in how an issue is treated within transnational policy networks.
Abstract: ‘Revolving doors’ is a well-suspected phenomenon of skills and knowledge transfer between the private and public sectors. It is thought to be especially notable among elites in transnational policy networks, where mobility can accrue status. In this article, we investigate revolving doors in the area of international financial governance. We target policymakers linked to the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) and the International Monetary Fund's Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP). We test for revolving doors by examining the career histories of those working with the BCBS on the development of the Basel II accord, and staff on policy teams for financial systems monitoring via FSAP missions. Using sequence analysis, we trace career histories between 1971 and 2011 to observe the extent of revolving doors. Revolving doors are observed in club-like elite policy communities but are less prevalent in policy teams in intergovernmental organizations. We find that revolving doors are important in establishing intellectual capture in how an issue is treated within transnational policy networks.
Journal: Global Networks
Published: April 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Leonard Seabrooke, Eleni Tsingou
The Emotional Organization and the Problem of Authenticity: The Romantic, the Pedagogic, the Therapeutic and the Ludic as Liminal Media of Transition.
Abstract: Max Weber excluded the phenomenon of emotions from the idea of rational bureaucracy. Modern European organizational theories are on the other hand almost obsessed by emotions and especially affect. Emotion re-entered organizational theory around the limited topic of ‘emotional labour', but today, passion is generally praised as a driver in successful organizations. An important element here is the demand upon passionate employees to install the organization as their significant other. To the extent that they rely on this new concept of themselves and their employees, organizations become dependent upon the authenticity of the ‘self-enrolment' expected of each employee. In the discursive field of organization, we therefore see a number of new communicative media, which centre upon emotion and upon helping the organization to attribute authenticity and inauthenticity to employees. This paper also makes the case that these media are liminal in nature and extend beyond the use of discursive symbolism in a Sisyphean effort to reach the authentic emotional ‘heart' of each employee.
Abstract: Max Weber excluded the phenomenon of emotions from the idea of rational bureaucracy. Modern European organizational theories are on the other hand almost obsessed by emotions and especially affect. Emotion re-entered organizational theory around the limited topic of ‘emotional labour', but today, passion is generally praised as a driver in successful organizations. An important element here is the demand upon passionate employees to install the organization as their significant other. To the extent that they rely on this new concept of themselves and their employees, organizations become dependent upon the authenticity of the ‘self-enrolment' expected of each employee. In the discursive field of organization, we therefore see a number of new communicative media, which centre upon emotion and upon helping the organization to attribute authenticity and inauthenticity to employees. This paper also makes the case that these media are liminal in nature and extend beyond the use of discursive symbolism in a Sisyphean effort to reach the authentic emotional ‘heart' of each employee.
Journal: Systems Research and Behavioral Science
Published: May 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Niels Åkerstrøm Andersen
Rising Between-workplace Inequalities in High-income Countries
Abstract: It is well documented that earnings inequalities have risen in many high-income countries. Less clear are the linkages between rising income inequality and workplace dynamics, how within- and between-workplace inequality varies across countries, and to what extent these inequalities are moderated by national labor market institutions. In order to describe changes in the initial between- and within-firm market income distribution we analyze administrative records for 2,000,000,000+ job years nested within 50,000,000+ workplace years for 14 high-income countries in North America, Scandinavia, Continental and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia. We find that countries vary a great deal in their levels and trends in earnings inequality but that the between-workplace share of wage inequality is growing in almost all countries examined and is in no country declining. We also find that earnings inequalities and the share of between-workplace inequalities are lower and grew less strongly in countries with stronger institutional employment protections and rose faster when these labor market protections weakened. Our findings suggest that firm-level restructuring and increasing wage inequalities between workplaces are more central contributors to rising income inequality than previously recognized.
Abstract: It is well documented that earnings inequalities have risen in many high-income countries. Less clear are the linkages between rising income inequality and workplace dynamics, how within- and between-workplace inequality varies across countries, and to what extent these inequalities are moderated by national labor market institutions. In order to describe changes in the initial between- and within-firm market income distribution we analyze administrative records for 2,000,000,000+ job years nested within 50,000,000+ workplace years for 14 high-income countries in North America, Scandinavia, Continental and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia. We find that countries vary a great deal in their levels and trends in earnings inequality but that the between-workplace share of wage inequality is growing in almost all countries examined and is in no country declining. We also find that earnings inequalities and the share of between-workplace inequalities are lower and grew less strongly in countries with stronger institutional employment protections and rose faster when these labor market protections weakened. Our findings suggest that firm-level restructuring and increasing wage inequalities between workplaces are more central contributors to rising income inequality than previously recognized.
Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Published: April 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Lasse Folke Henriksen
Fuzzy Self-Tuning Differential Evolution for Optimal Product Line Design
Abstract: Designing a successful product line is a critical decision for a firm to stay competitive. By offering a line of products, the manufacturer can maximize profits or market share through satisfying more consumers than a single product would. The optimal Product Line Design (PLD) problem is classified as NP-hard. This paper proposes a Fuzzy Self-Tuning Differential Evolution (FSTDE) for PLD, which exploits Fuzzy Logic to automatically calculate the parameters independently for each solution during the optimization, thus resulting to a settings-free version of DE. The proposed method is compared to the most successful mutation strategies of the algorithm as well as previous approaches to the PLD problem, like Genetic Algorithm and Simulated Annealing, using both actual and artificial data of consumer preferences. The comparison results demonstrate that FSTDE is an attractive alternative approach to the PLD problem.
Abstract: Designing a successful product line is a critical decision for a firm to stay competitive. By offering a line of products, the manufacturer can maximize profits or market share through satisfying more consumers than a single product would. The optimal Product Line Design (PLD) problem is classified as NP-hard. This paper proposes a Fuzzy Self-Tuning Differential Evolution (FSTDE) for PLD, which exploits Fuzzy Logic to automatically calculate the parameters independently for each solution during the optimization, thus resulting to a settings-free version of DE. The proposed method is compared to the most successful mutation strategies of the algorithm as well as previous approaches to the PLD problem, like Genetic Algorithm and Simulated Annealing, using both actual and artificial data of consumer preferences. The comparison results demonstrate that FSTDE is an attractive alternative approach to the PLD problem.
Journal: European Journal of Operational Research
Published: May 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Efthymios Altsitsiadis
A ‘Stranger’ in the Making of Strategy: A Process Perspective of Project Portfolio Management in a Pharmaceutical Firm
Abstract: Scholars assume that the strategic direction of project portfolios is designed within organisations. Our study challenges this assumption. Taking a process perspective, we explored the long-term influence of an external partner, a university researcher, on the development of a project portfolio in a large pharmaceutical firm. By following five contracts that connected the researcher to the firm, we observed how the researcher initiated and managed projects in the portfolio, thereby keeping his influence and relevance alive. Yet, despite his long-term influence, the researcher was perceived as a ‘stranger’ with an ambiguous, and at times surprising, role. We advance our theoretical understanding of the link between portfolios and their contexts by extending the concept of project lineage to inter-organisational lineages and showing their nonlinear and social character. We also suggest related contracts, ‘contractual paths,’ as novel and useful for exploring the link between portfolios and their contexts.
Abstract: Scholars assume that the strategic direction of project portfolios is designed within organisations. Our study challenges this assumption. Taking a process perspective, we explored the long-term influence of an external partner, a university researcher, on the development of a project portfolio in a large pharmaceutical firm. By following five contracts that connected the researcher to the firm, we observed how the researcher initiated and managed projects in the portfolio, thereby keeping his influence and relevance alive. Yet, despite his long-term influence, the researcher was perceived as a ‘stranger’ with an ambiguous, and at times surprising, role. We advance our theoretical understanding of the link between portfolios and their contexts by extending the concept of project lineage to inter-organisational lineages and showing their nonlinear and social character. We also suggest related contracts, ‘contractual paths,’ as novel and useful for exploring the link between portfolios and their contexts.
Journal: International Journal of Project Management
Published: June 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Jane Bjørn Vedel, Joana Geraldi
I Assure You, We Have the Strictest Alien Act Possible! The Emergence of the Concept of Risky Immigrants in Denmark
Abstract: Pending
Abstract: Pending
Journal: Qui Parle
Published: 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Kaspar Villadsen
Unravelling the Relationship Between Response Time and User Experience in Mobile Applications
Abstract: Purpose: This study examines the impact of response time on user experience for mobile applications and considers the moderating influence of gender and network environment on this relationship. Design/methodology/approach: An experiment was conducted with 50 young adults to evaluate their user experience of a mobile application that simulates variations in network environment and response time. User experience was evaluated based on the three constituent dimensions of tolerance, acceptance, and satisfaction. Findings: Analytical results demonstrate that response time not only adversely affects user experience of mobile applications, but that this effect is not homogeneous across the three dimensions of tolerance, acceptance and satisfaction. The findings also illustrate that gender moderates the effect of response time on user experience, however, the negative influence is more salient for males than females, which is opposite to our hypothesis. The joint moderating influence of gender and network environment turned out to be partly significant. Practical implications: By illuminating users' tolerance, acceptance, and satisfaction with varied response times, findings from this study can inform the design of mobile applications such that desired levels of user experience can be assured with minimum resources. Originality/value: Although response time has been hailed as a key determinant of user experience for desktop applications, there is a paucity of studies that have investigated the impact of response time on user experience for mobile applications. Furthermore, prior research on response time neglects the multi-dimensional nature of user experience. This study bridges the above mentioned knowledge gaps by delineating user experience into its constituent dimensions and clarifying the effects of response time on each of these dimensions.
Abstract: Purpose: This study examines the impact of response time on user experience for mobile applications and considers the moderating influence of gender and network environment on this relationship. Design/methodology/approach: An experiment was conducted with 50 young adults to evaluate their user experience of a mobile application that simulates variations in network environment and response time. User experience was evaluated based on the three constituent dimensions of tolerance, acceptance, and satisfaction. Findings: Analytical results demonstrate that response time not only adversely affects user experience of mobile applications, but that this effect is not homogeneous across the three dimensions of tolerance, acceptance and satisfaction. The findings also illustrate that gender moderates the effect of response time on user experience, however, the negative influence is more salient for males than females, which is opposite to our hypothesis. The joint moderating influence of gender and network environment turned out to be partly significant. Practical implications: By illuminating users' tolerance, acceptance, and satisfaction with varied response times, findings from this study can inform the design of mobile applications such that desired levels of user experience can be assured with minimum resources. Originality/value: Although response time has been hailed as a key determinant of user experience for desktop applications, there is a paucity of studies that have investigated the impact of response time on user experience for mobile applications. Furthermore, prior research on response time neglects the multi-dimensional nature of user experience. This study bridges the above mentioned knowledge gaps by delineating user experience into its constituent dimensions and clarifying the effects of response time on each of these dimensions.
Journal: Internet Research
Published: May 2020
Read more
Contact CBS researcher: Chee Wee Tan
The page was last edited by: Sekretariat for Ledelse og Kommunikation // 07/31/2020