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1 – 10 of 13Guangming Xiang, Zheng He, Tianli Feng and Zhenzhen Feng
This paper aims to explore how firms enter or exit B Corp certification faced with the tension between local and B Corp institutions, providing a better understanding of the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how firms enter or exit B Corp certification faced with the tension between local and B Corp institutions, providing a better understanding of the unique impact of institutional complexity on B Corps' decision-making.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper applies multi-case analysis to 20 Chinese firms in various stages of B Corp certification, including eight certified B Corps, six decertified firms and six candidates. The qualitative data was used to code separately for two research questions.
Findings
The study findings reveal that: (1) Participants who can obtain expected social and economic benefits by innovating their operational mode to efficiently deal with this tension attempt to continuously pursue B Corp certification. A self-renewal model was developed to show how firms hybridize the two institutional logics; (2) Participants who find it hard to mitigate this tension tend to compromise with the local institution and conform less with the B Corp institution due to high opportunity and accounting costs, low short-term benefits and collective culture.
Originality/value
By highlighting the different responses of firms to institutional complexity, this study contributes to B Corp research, social identity theory and institutional complexity, providing practical implications for B Lab strategies in China.
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This paper aims to comment upon the governance systems of state‐owned enterprises in Shanghai and to consider the adequacy or otherwise of those governance structures.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to comment upon the governance systems of state‐owned enterprises in Shanghai and to consider the adequacy or otherwise of those governance structures.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents a study of existing governance arrangements and structures and considers areas for possible reform.
Findings
A sound corporate governance system is of great significance not only to the healthy development of enterprises but also for the enterprises to survive when they face the economic crisis. With the continuous spread of the world economic crisis, how to improve the corporate governance of state‐owned enterprises in Shanghai so that they can pass the financial crisis period safely has become one urgent and critical issue.
Originality/value
The study presents detail and reform areas for further reflection.
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One of the standard practices of Communist Parties around the world is to employ art, including music, as a channel to spread political ideologies. This study aims to scrutinize…
Abstract
Purpose
One of the standard practices of Communist Parties around the world is to employ art, including music, as a channel to spread political ideologies. This study aims to scrutinize the reception of Beethoven's music, particularly from a political viewpoint, by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the People's Republic of China (PRC) during the early years of its rule, i.e. from 1949–1959. The ambiguity of Beethoven's own political outlook may have provided an opportunity for the CCP to choose the composer and his music in support of its aims.
Design/methodology/approach
To understand why and how the CCP could exploit Beethoven and his music to support its political ideologies, a series of Chinese writings on Beethoven between 1949 and 1959 have been studied. Those literatures not only helped the composer gain reputation and popularity in the PRC, but also provided a platform for the CCP to manipulate such candidate and his music. Finally, the reception of the performances of the Ninth Symphony in 1959 in the PRC is singled out for close examination.
Findings
During the first ten years of the establishment of the PRC, the quantity and quality of the articles on Beethoven expanded considerably. These writings continued to reflect the reception of Beethoven and his music with the addition of political nuances that could be interpreted in the CCP's favour.
Originality/value
This paper seeks to examine the PRC's artistic policies, with a particular emphasis on the reception of Beethoven and western classical music.
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Sten Söderman and Harald Dolles
The aim of this research was to identify and describe driving forces of importance in sponsorship during the seven years preceding a mega-sporting event like the Olympic Games…
Abstract
The aim of this research was to identify and describe driving forces of importance in sponsorship during the seven years preceding a mega-sporting event like the Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing. This was done through the development of a conceptual 'meansobjectives model' linking sponsorship to brand equity factors and to objectives. The proposed model enables matching with real data consisting of 200 randomly chosen advertisements, articles and press releases from Chinese newspapers and the internet, revealing six types of means-objectives in sponsorship.
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Alan Cheung, Xin Guo, Xiaorui Wang and Zhuang Miao
The purpose of this paper is to examine the key factors affecting Mainland Chinese students pursuing a Master of Education degree in Hong Kong on their study abroad decision and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the key factors affecting Mainland Chinese students pursuing a Master of Education degree in Hong Kong on their study abroad decision and return intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
The current study employed a mixed-methods approach to investigate factors that affect Mainland Chinese students pursuing MEd degrees in Hong Kong. Participants were first invited to fill out a questionnaire. After collecting and analyzing the survey data, in-depth interviews with a selected group of students were carried out by the research team to obtain useful qualitative data to triangulate the survey findings. A purposeful and convenience sampling method, carried out through the personal network of the research team, was used to recruit MEd Mainland Chinese students in Hong Kong to participate in the current study.
Findings
The findings provided compelling evidence that Hong Kong was an attractive study destination to this particular group of MEd Chinese students. The findings also indicated that academic factors were more important than social, cultural and economic factors when it came to choosing their study destination. In contrast to previous studies, participants expressed a much stronger desire to return home upon graduation. The three most influential predictors of their decision to return were the lack of a Hong Kong teaching certificate (r=+0.36), the opportunity to contribute to their hometown (r=+0.31) and the inclination to be closer to family and friends (r=+0.20).
Originality/value
While a number of studies have been carried out to study why Mainland Chinese students chose Hong Kong as their study destination to pursue their teacher training degree, none of these studies focused exclusively on fee-paying MEd Chinese students. Hong Kong is facing keen competition from both traditional host countries and emerging host countries to recruit students from Mainland China. It is therefore crucial to understand the needs of these Mainland Chinese students in a competitive, globalized, tertiary education market, as the satisfaction of students, in the form of positive discussion among alumni, promotes a university’s reputation and sustains its advantage in attracting students.
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Chen Liang, Peter K.C. Lee, Minghao Zhu, Andy C.L. Yeung, T.C.E. Cheng and Honggeng Zhou
This study aims to theoretically hypothesize and empirically examine the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on firms' innovation performance as well as the contingency…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to theoretically hypothesize and empirically examine the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on firms' innovation performance as well as the contingency conditions of this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
This study collects and combines secondary longitudinal data from multiple sources to test for a direct impact of EPU on firms' innovation performance. It further examines the moderating effects of firms' operational and marketing capabilities. A series of robustness checks are performed to ensure the consistency of the findings.
Findings
In contrast to the common belief that EPU reduces the innovativeness of firms, the authors find an inverted-U relationship between EPU and innovation performance, indicating that a moderate level of EPU actually promotes innovation. Further analysis suggests that firms' operational and marketing capabilities make the inverted-U relationship steeper, further enhancing firms' innovation performance at a moderate level of EPU.
Originality/value
This study adds to the emerging literature that investigates the operational implications of EPU, which enhances our understanding of the potential bright side of EPU and broadens the scope of operational risk management.
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Yong Wang, Meijun Meng, Yang Li, Qingjie Zhou, Bofeng Cai, Shuo Chen and Dandan Yang
This research aims to explore how consumers' local brand choices differ between air-polluted days and clean days, and why the difference occurs.
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to explore how consumers' local brand choices differ between air-polluted days and clean days, and why the difference occurs.
Design/methodology/approach
Two studies were conducted. Study 1 used the longitudinal consumption data of various yogurt brands and daily air quality indexes in 2014 and 2015. Study 2 conducted three rounds of surveys on a clean day, a general air-polluted day and a seriously air-polluted day.
Findings
The findings indicate that consumers show less tendency of attribution and compensatory consumption during air-polluted days, which in turn decrease their willingness to choose local brands.
Practical implications
Implications are provided for future research and marketing practice, especially for local companies that rely heavily on local consumers, and retailers in heavy air-polluted areas.
Originality/value
This paper is the first to illustrate the influence of air pollution on consumers' local brand choices, and it extends current understanding on air pollution and consumer choices by discovering psychological process underneath to explain the effect.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the type and quality of sexuality education received by college students in Hangzhou, China. Their attitudes towards sex and sexuality were…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the type and quality of sexuality education received by college students in Hangzhou, China. Their attitudes towards sex and sexuality were also explored. To set the broader context the regulations and laws governing the provision of sexuality education in China have also been examined.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional survey of 132 college students was conducted in Hangzhou, China in 2013. The aim was to explore their experience of and attitudes towards their sexuality education.
Findings
Most respondents lacked formal sexuality education. Neither schools nor parents were reported to be the major providers of sexuality education. The students reported that their main sources of knowledge and information relating to sex were their fellow schoolmates and the internet. Participants reported insufficient or inaccurate sexual knowledge as a key factor in their participation in unprotected sex. Attitudes towards premarital sex and cohabitation, and homosexual relationships were reported to be more open and tolerant than those of the older generation.
Originality/value
The data from this study suggest that reluctance amongst parents and schools to provide formal and comprehensive sexuality education has resulted in unsatisfactory sexuality education in Hangzhou. The lack of sexuality education among college students may have had an influence on their unsafe sexual behaviours which is potentially damaging to both their physical and psychological health. Implications for improving the quality of sexuality education for young people in China are discussed.
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Sten Söderman and Harald Dolles
The purpose of this paper is to describe and explain the advertising behavior seen as an activation strategy performed by Olympic sponsors in an emerging market context. It…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe and explain the advertising behavior seen as an activation strategy performed by Olympic sponsors in an emerging market context. It provides insights into the strategic goals related to sponsorship.
Design/methodology/approach
The longitudinal approach taken opens the possibility to explore the dynamics of the strategies of Chinese as well as foreign firms in China. Theories on how sponsorship works cannot assist in explaining outcomes of sponsor-linked marketing, and since the actors involved rarely divulge their genuine intentions or their reciprocal contractual arrangements with the sponsored property, a new methodology has to be developed. A means-objective framework of sponsoring consists of six factors, which were applied to analyze 739 advertisements, articles and press releases collected from Chinese newspapers and Chinese official web pages covering a period of eight years (2001-2008) prior to the Olympic Games in Beijing. Based on a qualitative content analysis and nine means-objectives combinations in sponsorship patterns the authors discovered four dominant advertising strategies.
Findings
Lead-time is a key concept when analyzing sponsor advertising strategies. The authors conclude from the longitudinal data that the time gap between signing the contract and the dates of the event influences the strategy of the sponsoring corporations. The authors also observe that the advertising content changes over time and the sponsors craft different “advertising strategies” in different periods. Within this context the authors categorized two different advertising strategies. The sponsors are assumed to conduct a “Short Advertising Strategy” different from the “Long Advertising Strategy.” Both are examples of activation strategies.
Originality/value
Advertising strategies and activation seems to be dependent on the lead-time to the Olympic Games and the level of internationalization of the sponsoring firm.
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