Management Research News

Christian Bach; Jing Zhang; Salvatore Belardo

2009 Management Research News

doi: 10.1108/01409170911006867

Purpose – The paper aims to demonstrate the usefulness of the intellectual bandwidth model (IB model) and expand its basic foundation to the bioscience industry. Design/methodology/approach – A case study of a real work example from the bioscience industry is presented. Findings – The study discusses an end‐user information system and reveals that the information assimilation dimension can be meaningfully extended, adding automated utilization and implementation. Research limitations/implications – The vertical research approach does not provide certainty that the case is truly representative. Practical implications – Practical implications of the study include having a useful management tool to plan solutions for complex business problems and investment decisions. Originality/value – The extension of the IB model is useful to practitioners and organizations seeking to manage scientific networks in knowledge‐intensive and complex collaborative environments.

Elliot Bendoly

2009 Management Research News

doi: 10.1108/01409170911006876

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to inform the general management community on the qualitative and visualization capabilities available to them through Excel. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides a basic overview and illustration of a subset set of qualitative capabilities, along with some brief tutorials and tips on how to make use of these capabilities. Discussions are aimed at novices and those with experience in Excel alike. A reference for more in‐depth discussions and guidance is provided. Practical implications – Access to novel and powerful capabilities that have traditionally been under‐utilized in Excel are within grasp of any management research or practitioner, provided they know where to find some basic guidance and are intrepid enough to test it out. The wave of new, tech‐savvy management users is likely to have a pivotal impact on the way technology‐assisted decision making is thought of in the future. Originality/value – The opportunity to open the eyes of a wider audience to the convenience and power of Excel as a development, decision support, research and teaching tool is of critical value. This work suggests that such awareness may be instrumental in changing the climate of organizational technology perspectives across a wide range of fields of practice.

Nik Maheran Nik Muhammad; Muhamad Jantan; Fauziah Md. Taib

2009 Management Research News

doi: 10.1108/01409170911006885

Purpose – Previous studies on scanning behavior have focused mainly on decisions relating to the choice of corporate strategies, leaving strategic investment decisions largely understudied. This paper aims to bridge the gap not just by examining strategic investment decisions but also by investigating the role of information processing capacity in enhancing the relationship between the extent of scanning behavior and the quality of the investment decision. Design/methodology/approach – Cross‐sectional data are collected through a survey and analyzed by means of factor analysis and hierarchical regression analysis. Findings – Quality of decision is positively and significantly related to the extent of economic and competition information and the formality of method used to scan competition information. However, the extent of scanning for technology is contingent upon information processing capacity in order to affect the quality of the investment decision. Similarly, the method of scanning for economy, technology and competition information would depend on the information processing capacity to bring about a quality decision. Research limitations/implications – Use of convenience sampling may restrict the generalizability of the findings. Practical implications – As more economy and competition data are scanned, this would improve the quality of decision making, but for technology scanning the data have to be processed further before they can bring about changes in decision quality. For technology‐related matters, firms should be investing in the information processing capacity to produce quality decisions. Originality/value – This study uses the decision as its unit of analysis to avoid having to average out the effects of making good and bad decisions often associated with a decision maker.

Christopher J. Robertson; Nicholas Athanassiou

2009 Management Research News

doi: 10.1108/01409170911006894

Purpose – The aim of the paper is to examine the scope, level and content of business ethics research in three leading international business (IB) journals: Journal of International Business Studies ( JIBS ), Journal of World Business ( JWB ) and Management International Review ( MIR ). A subsequent examination of comparable themes published in the Journal of Business Ethics ( JBE ) is performed to establish commonalities and gaps on the topic of IB ethics between the leading IB journals and the leading business ethics journal. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 42 articles are identified in JIBS , JWB and MIR that are deemed IB ethics research, and 62 articles in JBE over the same timeframe. A content analysis of these articles is conducted. Findings – The main thematic clusters in the three IB journals are ethical judgment analyses, violation of laws and regulations, national moral environments, and corporate governance. Codes of ethics are an underlying issue across many of these themes but this is not explicitly studied. Articles published in JBE show a wider range of themes than those published in the three IB journals. Research limitations/implications – A broader selection of business ethics journals and of leading management journals that do not focus exclusively on IB could have produced additional important themes. Even so, there is an opportunity for IB ethics research to get into as yet unexamined important themes. Practical implications – The ethical themes identified can help managers in their efforts to deliver focused and clustered ethical training. Originality/value – This study establishes the themes that have been of interest to the authors and editors of academic articles in leading IB journals. What appears in such journals directly influences the research, teaching, and ultimately practice of IB. Such a perspective has not been studied in the past.

David H. Sinason; Sally A. Webber; Alex Nikitkov

2009 Management Research News

doi: 10.1108/01409170911006902

Purpose – The need for reliable information for decision makers is a fundamental principle underlying the demand for audit and assurance services. Yet, individuals and companies often do not understand the value that users place on independent third‐party assurance. This paper aims to address this issue. Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses the market for baseball cards to provide an empirical analysis of the value users associate with third‐party assurance services. Paired observations for baseball cards are identified on eBay; one with a third‐party assurance regarding its quality and one with only the seller's statement. Findings – Comparative analysis indicates that bidders are willing to pay significantly more for the items when third‐party assurance was provided. Originality/value – These findings indicate that third‐party assurance is valued by consumers, and where information asymmetry exists between buyer and seller, sellers should consider the use of third‐party assurance to increase sale price.

Fataneh Taghaboni‐Dutta; Amy J.C. Trappey; Charles V. Trappey; Hsin‐Ying Wu

2009 Management Research News

doi: 10.1108/01409170911006911

Purpose – This paper aims to study the development of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology through an analysis of patents filed with and issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office. A close analysis of these clusters reveals the patent development strategies of two competing factions of RFID technology developers. This paper provides an analysis of the patents along with insights into the contents of the patents held by these two groups. Design/methodology/approach – The analysis is based on Intermec Technologies and the RFID Patent Pool, the two major players in this domain. The comparison of Intermec Technologies and RFID Patent Pool is conducted using meta‐data analysis and patent content clustering. The methodology and approach includes data pre‐processing, key phrase extraction using term frequency‐inverse document frequency, ontology construction, key phrase correlation measurement, patent technology clustering and patent document clustering. Clusters are derived using the K‐means approach and a prototype Legal Knowledge Management Platform. Findings – The findings support a strong link between intellectual property and competitive advantage – specifically Intermec Technologies, which have not joined the RFID Patent Pool. The patent search results show that Intermec Technologies hold basic RFID patents in the early stages of technology development, which has placed the company in a dominant position. Research limitations/implications – The features of each cluster clearly depict the niches and specialties of companies and provide a historical framework of RFID technology development. Practical implications – The RFID patent analysis shows that if a company holds crucial patents in the early stages of a developing technology which relate to the fundamental key aspects of the technology, then the company will be more likely to maintain a leading and dominant position in that industry segment (i.e. RFID in this study). Originality/value – This research uses patent content cluster analysis to explain the rationale behind an alliance strategy decision.

Alex Wang

2009 Management Research News

doi: 10.1108/01409170911006920

Purpose – This paper aims to test the relations among consumers' attitudes toward disclosures in credit card issuers' print ads, attitudes toward credit card issuers' CSR practices, and attitudes toward credit card issuers in general, with a survey study. Design/methodology/approach – A survey study with a convenient sampling consisting of college students is used to test the relations among consumers' attitudes toward disclosures in credit card issuers' print ads, attitudes toward credit card issuers' CSR practices, and attitudes toward credit card issuers in general. Findings – The results suggest that students' positive attitudes toward disclosures positively enhance their attitudes toward credit card issuers and credit card issuers' CSR practices. More importantly, students' attitudes toward credit card issuers' CSR practices mediate their attitudes toward disclosures on enhancing their attitudes toward credit card issuers. Research limitations/implications – Disclosures are increasingly common in advertisements for a range of products, including banking, cigarettes, over‐the‐counter drugs, and diet products. Thus, the study's results can also be applicable for corporations that advertise financial and health‐related product or services. Despite the inherent limitations of this study (e.g. context‐specific, convenience sample, and limited product types) that have to be confirmed in future research, future research should examine the relationship between various practices of disclosures and different aspects of CSR practices. Practical implications – Based on this study's results, credit card issuers should improve their practices of disclosures and communicate their disclosures better to college students. Since a positive relationship between consumer responses and CSR practices is evident, projecting good CSR practices can also enhance credit card issuers' corporate images. Originality/value – The paper primarily studies the impact of advertising disclosures and CSR practices on corporate image from college students' perspective. The research adds value to the existing literature on CSR, which is important to both academic researchers and practitioners.