Is it All About Money? – Affective Commitment and the Difference Between Family and Non‐family Sellers in Buyouts

In this paper we investigate private equity firm perceptions of sellers’ affective deal commitment in buyout transactions. Using a sample of 174 buyouts, we test trust, goal congruence and private equity reputation as potential antecedents of perceived deal commitment. We also examine whether and how different types of sellers, family versus non‐family firms, moderate sources of perceived affective deal commitment. In sum, we find evidence that non‐financial factors play a role in buyouts, particularly for family firm sellers.     

Voluntary Work‐related Technology Use during Non‐work Time: A Narrative Synthesis of Empirical Research and Research Agenda

The Internet and mobilization of information and communication technologies (ICTs) have made non‐manual work increasingly portable and remotely accessible. As a result, a considerable number of employees use their ICTs to engage in work‐related tasks during designated non‐work time, even without contractual obligation. However, existing research on such voluntary work‐related ICT use remains fragmented and spread across disciplines. The authors conducted a narrative review of 56 studies to identify themes in existing research, synthesize the evidence base and identify gaps in understanding. They identify five themes: (1) Social‐normative organizational context, (2) Job‐related characteristics and work processes, (3) Person characteristics, (4) Designated non‐work time and well‐being, and (5) Empowerment/Enslavement Paradox. A conceptual model of voluntary ICT use is developed by integrating the identified themes with existing organizational research, outlining the relationships between the identified themes and voluntary ICT use. The discussion emphasizes the need for more conceptual clarity on voluntary ICT use and related constructs, and for the integration of different disciplines and methodological approaches to advance knowledge in the field. The authors further identify person‐centred research as a critical future avenue to explore different ICT user types. Additionally, more research into the mechanisms and moderating influences regarding voluntary ICT use and its outcomes is considered advisable to advance knowledge on the Empowerment/Enslavement Paradox and its potential resolution. The paper concludes with preliminary implications to inform practice, addressing the need for employers to provide control over voluntary ICT use and employees enacting this control.     

Behavioural Outcomes of Psychological Contract Breach in a Non‐Western Culture: The Moderating Role of Equity Sensitivity*

This study tests the effects of psychological contract breach on several employee outcomes: workplace deviant behaviours directed at the organization (WD‐O) and its organizational members (WD‐I), in‐role performance, and organizational citizenship behaviours directed at the organization (OCB‐O) and its co‐workers (OCB‐I). It also examines the moderating effects of equity sensitivity in the relationship between breach and these outcomes. Data were collected from 162 sales executives and their direct supervisors. We found that breach was related to all behavioural outcomes. Equity sensitivity and breach also interacted in predicting OCB‐I, OCB‐O and WD‐I. The negative relationships between breach and OCB‐O and OCB‐I were stronger for employees with an outcome‐focused approach to organizational relationships than for those with an input‐focused approach. In addition, breach had stronger positive effects on WD‐I especially for those individuals who are output‐oriented compared to those who are input‐focused.     

Adoption of e‐Processes by Service Firms: An Empirical Study of Antecedents

This paper investigates empirically antecedents of the adoption of web‐based processes (e‐processes) by service providers. We examine whether rational efficiency (expressed by expected performance benefits and access to new markets), the bandwagon effect (expressed by external pressure), and barriers (both internal and customer related) influence Internet use for transactions (e‐transactions) and/or to extend the relationships between service providers and their customers (e‐CRM). The findings, based on a sample of 338 service firms, show that rational efficiency and the bandwagon effect drive both types of e‐processes. Conversely, only internal barriers have a negative impact on adoption of e‐processes, while barriers related to customers do not have a significant impact. These findings have important academic and managerial implications, given the limited evidence regarding the implementation of e‐processes in services.     

OPTIMAL MONETARY POLICY AND FINANCIAL STABILITY IN A NON‐RICARDIAN ECONOMY

I present a model with discontinuous asset‐market participation (DAMP), where all agents are non‐Ricardian, and where heterogeneity among market participants implies financial‐wealth effects on aggregate consumption. The implied welfare criterion shows that financial stability arises as an additional and independent target, besides inflation and output stability. Evaluation of optimal policy under discretion and commitment reveals that price stability may no longer be optimal, even absent inefficient supply shocks: some fluctuations in output and inflation may be optimal as long as they reduce financial instability. Ignoring the heterogeneity among market participants may lead monetary policy to induce substantially higher welfare losses.     

How to govern business services exchanges: Contractual and relational issues

With firms concentrating on core competencies, more emphasis has been placed on outsourcing and dealing with external sourcing agents. This has led to a stronger academic focus on buyer–seller exchanges and the corresponding mechanisms for governing these exchanges. This paper gives an overview of previous research investigating the exchange governance phenomenon based on transaction cost theory or co‐operative interorganizational relationships. The results reveal that few research studies have investigated the overall picture of exchange governance, including both contractual and relational governance and taking into account antecedents as well as performance outcomes of the governance mechanisms involved. Moreover, despite the service‐dominant logic shift, limited attention is given to specific service characteristics and their impact on exchange governance. This paper attempts to meld economic and social related antecedents into a model with regard to exchange governance in business services settings. Contractual and relational governance issues and their impact on performance outcomes are also considered. The resulting model indicates that to govern business services exchanges efficiently, more emphasis should be placed on behavioral uncertainty, human and process asset specificity and contractual governance. The paper concludes by discussing several directions for future research.     

A Path to Successful IT Outsourcing: Interaction Between Service‐Level Agreements and Commitment

Although service‐level agreements (SLAs) are important for IT outsourcing management, appropriate mechanisms for constructing effective SLAs are still poorly understood, leading to inadequate or overcomplicated contracts that are ineffective. This study examines the associations among three distinct sets of SLA characteristics and outsourcing success, as well as the role of commitment in these relationships. Analyzing survey data based on a model theorizing the alignment of SLA characteristics with intended outsourcing objectives, we find that different types of benefits attained through IT outsourcing arrangements are associated with the use of specific contractual dimensions. We also find that commitment, in general, moderates the impact of SLAs on outsourcing success, although the nature of the moderation varies with the different benefits IT outsourcing engagement is intended to achieve. Interestingly, in certain cases—change characteristics for achieving technology benefits, in particular—commitment can be a barrier to the effective use of SLAs in achieving intended outsourcing benefits. As such, our study extends the literature on IT outsourcing, contracting and commitment, as well as provides a general guideline for practitioners to structure effective SLAs and to properly use commitment for managing IT outsourcing engagements to successfully achieve intended benefits.     

Quality‐Speed Competition in Customer‐Intensive Services with Boundedly Rational Customers

We consider a system in which two competing servers provide customer‐intensive services and the service reward is affected by the length of service time. The customers are boundedly rational and choose their service providers according to a logit model. We demonstrate that the service provider revenue function is unimodal in the service rate, its decision variable, and show that the service rate competition has a unique and stable equilibrium. We then study the price decision under three scenarios with the price determined by a revenue‐maximizing firm, a welfare‐maximizing social planner, or two servers in competition. We find that the socially optimal price, subject to the requirement that the customer actual utility must be non‐negative, is always lower than the competition equilibrium price which, in turn, is lower than the revenue‐maximizing monopoly price. However, if the customer actual utility is allowed to be negative in social optimization, the socially optimal price can be higher than the other two prices in a large market.     

Impact of Customer Traffic and Service Process Outsourcing Levels on e‐Retailer Operational Performance

Many service firms deliver services via a mix of internally developed and delivered (i.e., insourced) and externally developed and delivered (i.e., outsourced) service processes. Service process outsourcing is especially common in e‐retailing. Portions of e‐retail customer ordering processes and delivery processes can be digitized and contracted to third‐party vendors. Via outsourcing, service systems change from dyadic to triadic. Prior research examines consumer perceptions of dyadic (consumer to e‐retailer) outcomes, but little research considers service co‐delivery with outsourcing partners (i.e., triadic systems). Literature also does not focus on joint associations of service process outsourcing and customer traffic with e‐retailer operations. We analyze several years of data on North American e‐retailers. We first examine factors associated with e‐retailer outsourcing levels, for front‐end and back‐end service processes. We observe customer traffic is positively associated with future outsourcing. We then examine how outsourcing moderates associations between contemporaneous customer traffic and e‐retailer operational performance, as measured by numbers of processed orders, website response times, and customer satisfaction. Results suggest outsourcing levels are associated with operational outcomes, yet surprisingly, high outsourcing and high traffic jointly may not benefit e‐retailers.     

Modeling the Effects of a Service Guarantee on Perceived Service Quality Using Alternating Conditional Expectations (ACE)*

This paper addresses the dearth of empirical research on the relationship between service guarantee and perceived service quality (PSQ). In particular, we examine the moderating effects of a service guarantee on PSQ. While a recent study provided empirical evidence that service quality is affected by service guarantee and employee variables such as employee motivation/vision and learning through service failure, the nature and form of the relationships between these variables remain unclear. Knowledge of these relationships can assist service managers to allocate resources more judiciously, avoid pitfalls, and establish more realistic expectations. Data was obtained from employees and customers of a multinational hotel chain that has implemented a service guarantee program in 89 of its hotels in America and Canada. As the employee variables could affect performance in a non‐linear fashion, we relaxed the assumption of model linearity by using the Alternating Conditional Expectations (ACE) algorithm to arrive at a better‐fitting, non‐linear regression model for PSQ. Our findings indicate the existence of significant non‐linear relationships between PSQ and its determinant variables. The ACE model also revealed that service guarantee interacts with the employee variables to affect PSQ in a non‐linear fashion. The non‐linear relationships present new insights into the management of service guarantees and PSQ. Explanations and managerial implications of our results are presented and discussed.     

Equity Ownership in Cross‐border Mergers and Acquisitions by British Firms: An Analysis of Real Options and Transaction Cost Factors

The authors investigate the factors influencing the share of equity ownership sought in cross‐border mergers and acquisitions (CBM&As). Drawing on real options theory and transaction cost economics (TCE), they address and hypothesize key factors linked to commitment under exogenous uncertainty and the separation of desired and non‐desired assets’ influence on share of equity sought by acquiring firms in CBM&As. Empirical analysis based on 1872 CBM&As undertaken by British firms in both developed and emerging economies shows that British MNEs are more likely to pursue a partial acquisition in a target foreign firm when those foreign firms are from culturally distant countries. Further, findings support the view that the high cost of separating desired assets from non‐desired assets motivates firms to make a partial acquisition rather than acquire the target completely. This is one of the first studies to use real options theory to address the cost of commitment under exogenous uncertainty, as well as TCE logic to address the separation of desired and non‐desired assets in the target firm while analysing equity ownership sought in CBM&As. Empirically, this paper contributes by examining CBM&As by British firms in both developed and emerging markets.     

Self‐Service Operations at Retail Stores: The Role of Inter‐Customer Interactions

Inter‐customer interactions are important to the operation of self‐services in retail settings. More specifically, when self‐service terminals are used as part of customers’ checkout processes in retail operations without the explicit involvement of retailers as the direct service providers, inter‐customer interactions become a significant managerial issue. In this article, we examine the impact of inter‐customer interactions at retail self‐service terminals on customers’ service quality perceptions and repeat purchase intentions at retail stores. We conduct a scenario‐based experimental design (N = 674) using a 2 × 2 factorial design in which inter‐customer interactions are divided into “positive” vs. “negative” and occur during the “waiting” or during the actual “transaction” stages of self‐services at a retail store. We use attribution theory to develop the hypotheses. The results demonstrate that, through their interactions, fellow customers can exert influences on a focal customer's quality perceptions and repeat purchasing intentions toward a retail store. Furthermore, these influences were impacted by how customers attribute blame or assign responsibility toward the retail store. Service operations managers should leverage these interactions by designing into self‐service settings the capacities and interfaces that are best suited for customers’ co‐production of their self‐service experiences.     

The Impact of Corporate Reputation on Firm Risk: A Panel Data Analysis of Spanish Quoted Firms

Researchers have traditionally addressed the influence of corporate reputation on firm performance, but have not considered the influence of corporate reputation on firm risk. This research develops hypotheses regarding the opposing influence of corporate reputation on a firm's systematic risk, unsystematic risk and total risk, as well as the moderation effect of firm size and industry concentration. Using a panel data method, these relationships are analysed, controlling for the effects of endogeneity, for a sample of Spanish quoted firms in the period 2001–2007. Specifically, two complementary analyses are performed. The first distinguishes firms included and not included in the MERCO index of the most reputable firms. The second analyses the impact of corporate reputation for the sub‐sample of most reputable firms. Being reputable reduces a firm's unsystematic risk and total risk, but increases systematic risk. In addition, firm size weakens these influences of corporate reputation on firm risk. However, among the most reputable firms, differences in reputation score have a lower effect on risk. Specifically, the corporate reputation level only influences firm unsystematic risk. It seems that what matters is not the degree of corporate reputation, but whether being or not being reputable is the question in terms of risk.     

A Systematic Literature Review on Recent Lean Research: State‐of‐the‐art and Future Directions

Lean management (LM) has attracted the interest of scientists and practitioners since 1990, when Womack et al. (Womack, J.P., Jones, D.T. and Roos, D. (1990). The Machine that Changed the World. New York, NY: Rawson Associates) popularized the Japanese manufacturing approach aimed at eliminating waste to improve operational performance and customer satisfaction. Over the years, the lean concept has evolved becoming a managerial paradigm applicable to different sectors and processes with impressive results. This heterogeneity of implementations and settings makes the recent LM literature diverse and fragmented, and an extensive analysis of the latest contributions on this field is lacking. To address this gap, the authors propose a systematic literature review (SLR) of 240 articles published in 25 peer‐reviewed academic journals from January 2003 to December 2015. The purpose is to analyse the recent trends in this area and to provide a framework that organizes lean researched issues into mature, intermediate and nascent, based on their position in the research life cycle. Starting from the gaps that the SLR highlights, the authors suggest conducting lean research in the following directions: (a) grounding lean studies on existing managerial theories; (b) addressing service settings such as banking/finance, public sector and education; (c) exploring the role of national culture through cross‐country comparisons; (d) defining and conceptualizing ‘lean‐x’ processes; (e) understanding the relationships between lean and safety/environmental issues, and (f) unveiling the effects on social outcomes. Finally, the proposed framework helps scholars find issues not sufficiently explored that require theory‐building research (to move from nascent to intermediate) or theory‐testing research (to move from intermediate to mature).     

Leader–member exchange and organizational dehumanization: The role of supervisor’s organizational embodiment

This research examined the negative relationship between leader–member exchange (LMX) and organizational dehumanization (i.e., employees’ perceptions that their organization treats them like tools), and specifically the consequences of this LMX–dehumanization relationship on employees’ emotional exhaustion, affective commitment, and voice behaviors. Further, given that supervisors act as representatives of the organization, we argued that these relationships would be stronger for employees identifying their supervisor with the organization (i.e., high supervisor’s organizational embodiment). Across two samples, results showed that high-quality LMX was negatively associated with organizational dehumanization. Further, organizational dehumanization was found to mediate the relationships between LMX and outcomes (i.e., emotional exhaustion, affective commitment, and voice behaviors). Finally, the mediation model was moderated by supervisor’s organizational embodiment. More specifically, the negative effects of LMX on organizational dehumanization and its subsequent outcomes were stronger when leaders were perceived as sharing many characteristics with their organization. This research expands the recent and scarce knowledge on the determinants, boundary conditions and outcomes of organizational dehumanization. Our findings suggest that interpersonal relationships at work and, in particular, very common supervisor-related perceptions should be considered when examining organizational dehumanization.     

The development of strategic management in the non‐profit context: Intellectual capital in social service non‐profit organizations

Very little systematic research has examined the applicability of strategic management concepts including SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis, industrial organization, resource‐based view and core competency, knowledge‐based view, Balanced Scorecard and intellectual capital (IC) through the lens of strategic management development in the non‐profit context. This paper aims to examine the above concepts in the light of the unique non‐profit environment and determine which one is most applicable to social service non‐profit organizations (SSNPOs) in the knowledge economy. Based on a review of the development of strategic management with a focus on the above concepts within the non‐profit context, this paper argues that the IC concept is more effective compared with the other concepts in the social service non‐profit sector. The paper is considered as a starting point and serves as a milestone in applying IC as a strategic management conceptual framework in the social service non‐profit sector. It helps to build a nascent body of literature suggesting that IC can be used as a competent strategic management conceptual framework in the social service non‐profit sector. A better understanding of the strategic management development in the non‐profit context also helps non‐profit leaders to appreciate that IC is the most appropriate strategic management concept in SSNPOs. The increased awareness of the IC concept in SSNPOs, as a result of this paper, will probably generate further research from both academic scholars and non‐profit practitioners.     

Survivors and Victims,a Meta‐analytical Review of Fairness and Organizational Commitment after Downsizing

There is a lack of consistent evidence that downsizing leads to improved financial performance. Lowered commitment after painful downsizing periods is identified as an important reason why downsizing does not show the intended long‐term effects. This paper provides a meta‐analytical overview of the impact of fairness on organizational commitment for survivors and victims after a downsizing operation. Among 37 samples (11,256 persons), a positive relationship was found between fairness and affective organizational commitment (ρ=0.40) for both survivors and victims. Three moderators of the fairness–commitment relationship were identified: (1) for survivors, procedural justice matters more than distributive justice; (2) the impact of fairness is stronger in countries with an individualistic (versus collectivistic) culture; (3) fairness matters more when mass layoff is initiated for profit maximization (versus economic necessity).     

Pricing and Logistics Decisions for a Private‐Sector Provider in the Cash Supply Chain

We study a problem faced by a secure‐logistics provider (SLP) of maximizing profit by jointly pricing the services of fit‐sorting and transporting cash along with the design of the supporting logistics network, in a market consisting of a population of Depository Institutions (DIs). The need to jointly price the services assumes significance because they are partial substitutes of one another. Our study finds that the influence of the logistics network on prices is especially strong when there are non‐linearities in the cost of provisioning the logistics services. Furthermore, the impact of logistics decisions on different types of pricing schemes (e.g., volume discount, bundled pricing) is different, both in its structure and extent. In present times, when the market for the fit‐sorting service is relatively immature, our findings have major implications to the way an SLP's business is managed.     

Inter‐Organizational Fit,Relationship Management Capability,and Collaborative Performance within a Humanitarian Setting

Donors and governments are increasingly calling for more collaborative relationships between humanitarian organizations (HOs), to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of humanitarian operations by exchanging information, knowledge, and resources. This study examines the relative efficacy of partners' characteristics (i.e., compatibility and resource complementarity) and partners' relationship management capability on collaborative relationships, incorporating mutual trust and reciprocal commitment as two mediator constructs. We use Partial Least Squares to examine the proposed hypotheses using a sample of 191 respondents. Data are collected through a web‐survey of international humanitarian non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) in countries across Africa, Asia, and South America. The results reveal that (i) resource complementarity and relationship management capability are significant factors influencing collaborative performance through their effects on partners' mutual trust and reciprocal commitment, and that (ii) partners' compatibility (i.e., missions, values, and operational methods) does not significantly drive success or failure of collaboration between international NGOs. These results suggest that given the present diversity of HOs' characteristics, the success of collaboration is associated with the partners' level of understanding of each other's objectives, operations, and values, and to the extent to which organizations efficiently communicate and coordinate their joint activities. The managerial implications of the findings are also discussed.