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The purpose of this study is to examine compulsive buying and its interrelationships with careful spending, loan dependence and financial trouble. This study also aims to investigate the moderating role of gender.

A questionnaire-based survey was conducted. Two hundred and seven responses were collected using purposive sampling technique. Partial least square–structural equation modelling was performed to analyze the proposed hypotheses.

The salient findings are (1) careful spending negatively influences compulsive buying, (2) compulsive buying positively influences loan dependence and financial trouble, (3) loan dependence positively influences financial trouble, (4) the relationships between careful spending and compulsive buying, and between loan dependence and financial trouble differ between male and female consumers, (5) there is a sequential mediation effect between careful spending and financial trouble and (6) there are gender differences between careful spending and compulsive buying and between loan dependence and financial trouble.

This study empirically validates the role of short-term money attitude, conceptualized as careful spending in compulsive buying context and how it attenuates the consequences of compulsive buying.

This study explains the serial mechanism in which careful spending can be used to counteract financial trouble of youngsters, and further looks into the differences of relationships in term of gender through multi-group analysis.

An instructor could link the case to lean production principles and Kurt Lewin’s change management model, key reading materials on these theories are, namely,  Lewin, K (1947) Frontiers in group dynamics: concept, method and reality in social science; equilibrium and social change. Human Relations 1(1): 5–41  Stewart, J. (2012). The Toyota Kaizen continuum: a practical guide to implementing lean. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. Wickramasinghe, V. and Wickramasinghe, G. L. D. (2020). Effects of human resource management practices, lean production practices and lean duration on performance. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 31(11), 1467–1512.

This case was developed from both primary and secondary sources. The primary source included three face to face meetings with Mr CK in University Putra Malaysia (two meetings) and WSAE factory (Rawang, Malaysia – one meeting), respectively. Interviewed three workers at Rawang factory. The secondary source was taken from the company website and company reports.

Dr Wan, the Chief Executive Officer of WSA Engineering Sdn Bhd (WSAE) accepted the invitation from Small Medium Industries Development Corporation to participate in a Malaysian-Japanese Industry Cooperation program that focused on Lean Production System (LPS). Dr Wan was worried about Malaysia’s culture incompatible with Japanese-originated LPS. The case shares how the organization and behavioral change took place, for LPS buy-in. Successes and challenges WSAE faced in the 10-year journey of implementing LPS were elaborated.

This case was written for use in an operations management course, on the topic of lean production. It can also be used as a training material targeting the operation managers of a manufacturing company aiming to implement lean production or any change management process.

After attempting the case, users are able to: analyse issues and problems faced by a call centre in Malaysia. Determine the root causes of the problems faced by call centre employees and generate alternative solutions to solve the problems faced by the company and to ensure the sustainability of the business.

This case was about the challenges faced by Daniel, the General Manager of an integrated security protection system company, Secure First (SF). Despite investing in the latest security technologies, conducting a major overhaul of the procedures, introducing an enhanced digital system at the call centre and providing training to the call agents, it was on the verge of losing its important long-term client due to its substandard performance. The client experienced major losses due to break-ins. After a thorough investigation, the problem surfaced in their call centre. Most of the staff were not familiar with the newly adopted system. The circumstances worsened when many of the call centre’s senior employees were tendering their resignations. The case discusses the aspect of employee satisfaction, staff performance that led to the turnover issue amongst employees in a call centre. The case explores what short-term and long-term strategies could Daniel suggest to change the call centre’s course to retain SF’s key account in times of desperation.

This case has a moderate level of difficulty and may be used in undergraduate students.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human resource management.

The corporate atmosphere in recent times speaks volumes about the crises of confidence and credibility brewing among professionals due to the rising incidences of unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB). The study developed a model to demonstrate the underlying mechanisms through which unethical organizational culture (UOC) influences UPB through the mediating roles of idealism and relativism.

Using a cross-sectional approach, data were collected through questionnaires that were distributed to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in the Plateau state in Nigeria. A total of 269 responses were obtained and analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique via Smart-PLS software.

The results revealed that the relationship between UOC and UPB was significant. The indirect predictive role of UOC on UPB was established via relativism but not through idealism. The results indicate that the preponderance of UPB among SMEs is a product of UOC which breeds a relativist ideology that ultimately promotes UPB. Finally, implications and suggestions for further research are discussed.

This study contributes to UPB in two unique ways. First, the authors bring to the fore the critical role of UOC in the debate on UPB which has been under-explored. Second, the study also established the mediating role of relativism in the relationship between UOC and UPB.

In this digitalization age, smart technologies are on the cusp of changing all business sector including retailing. Today’s consumers desire to shop in a smart store where the physical products on display are connected to the internet world. This study aims to propose a model for investigating Generation Z (Gen-Z) consumers’ expectations towards the smart retail technology (SRT) in the Malaysian context through the application of the stimulus-organism-response framework.

By using a purposive sampling technique, a self-administered questionnaire was conducted. A total of 220 usable responses were collected from Gen-Z consumers who had experience in using SRT. The data were analysed using partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

This study underscores the role of perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment and perceived value on Gen-Z consumers’ attitude and word-of-mouth (WOM). Expectations on usefulness, enjoyment and value provide some ideas on Gen-Z consumers’ value who put a high emphasis on functional value, fun value and value for money when adopting the SRT. On the other hand, the result also demonstrates the mediating role of consumers’ attitude in connecting perceived value and perceived enjoyment on WOM towards SRT.

The findings of this study provide beneficial insights for a retailer who desire to pursue a smart-related acquisition strategy. Retailers are recommended to embrace on the following three key features: innovative solution (high usefulness), reliable benefits (high perceived value) and fun experience (high enjoyment) to provide Gen-Z consumers with compelling experiences. Additionally, retailers are suggested to acknowledge the importance of managing consumers’ attitude in driving positive WOM evaluations.

This paper responds to Ting et al.’s (2018) call in uncovering values and lifestyles of generation in details. In Malaysia, retailers ought to incorporate of the high level of usefulness, value and enjoyment when designing their SRT to constitute the Gen-Z consumers’ expectations. Moreover, similar to Ting’s conclusion, this cohort members are very much into technologies and they tend to embrace SRT in their lifestyles.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance (CFP), as the findings on the relationship have been inconsistent and have led to calls to further examine this relationship. However, instead of investigating the connection between CSR and CFP, academics have stated that a contingency viewpoint must be used for uncovering the context and conditions which catalyse the relationship between both constructs.

This study acquired the CSR data from 100 companies listed in Fortune’s most admired US companies between 2007 and 2016. These data were used to investigate the CSR–CFP link with the help of the dynamic panel data system, which is the generalised method of moments (GMM) estimator.

The results indicate that CSR and CFP have a neutral relationship which characterises the effect between CFP and CSR. However, this study found that financial slack positively affected the CSR–CFP relationship, implying that companies will only benefit from CSR activities if they have excess financial resources.

This study offers a very distinctive perspective regarding the CSR–CFP link according to the financial slack perspective.

With the diffusion of innovation theory (DOI) and theory of planned behaviour (TPB) as the guiding theoretical perspectives, this research aims to identify the factors motivating user attitudes and in-app purchase intentions (IAPIs). The moderating impact of user inertia towards TPB constructs was also explored.

A total of 500 responses were received via an online survey fielded from July to October 2021. The data were then analysed using partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

The results indicated that attitudes towards travel app shopping were predominantly determined by perceived relative advantages, compatibility and complexity. Findings also suggested that IAPIs are positively influenced by attitudes, communicability and perceived behavioural control and are moderated by user inertia.

A holistic framework integrating theoretical foundations from two disciplines (information systems and psychology) was designed to explain factors motivating user intentions to purchase travel products and services from apps. This research found a missing link in previous studies by showing the indirect role of attitudes that bridges the DOI and TPB and the importance of inertia as a key boundary condition.

智能手机上的旅游应用程序购物：了解影响旅游应用程序内购买意愿的成功因素

摘要

本研究以创新扩散理论 (DOI) 和计划行为理论 (TPB) 作为指导性的理论视角, 确定了激发用户态度和旅游应用程序内购买意愿的因素。还探讨了用户惯性对 TPB 结构的调节影响。

在 2021 年 7 月至 2021 年 10 月进行了在线调查, 共收到 500 份回复。然后使用偏最小二乘结构方程建模对数据进行分析。

结果表明, 对使用旅游应用程序购物的态度主要由感受到的相对优势、兼容性和复杂性决定的。研究结果还表明, 旅游应用程序内购买意愿受到态度、可传播性和感知行为控制的积极影响, 并受到用户惯性的调节。

一个整合了来自两个学科（信息系统和心理学）的理论基础的整体框架旨在解释激发用户从应用程序购买旅游产品和服务的意愿因素。这项研究通过展示态度在DOI 和 TPB之间的间接作用以及惯性作为重要的边界条件, 发现了先前研究中缺失的环节。

Compras de aplicaciones de viajes en los móviles: Comprendiendo los factores de éxito que influyen en las intenciones de compra de las aplicaciones de viaje

Resumen

Con la teoría de la difusión de la innovación (DOI) y la teoría del comportamiento planificado (TPB) como perspectivas teóricas de análisis, esta investigación identifica los factores que motivan las actitudes de los usuarios y las intenciones de compra dentro de las aplicaciones. También se exploró el impacto moderador de la inercia del usuario hacia las construcciones TPB.

Se recibieron un total de 500 respuestas a través de una encuesta en línea realizada entre julio y octubre de 2021. Los datos se analizaron utilizando el modelo de ecuaciones estructurales de mínimos cuadrados parciales.

Los resultados indicaron que las actitudes hacia la compra de aplicaciones de viajes estaban determinadas predominantemente por las ventajas relativas percibidas, la compatibilidad y la complejidad. Mientras, los hallazgos también sugirieron que las intenciones de compra en la aplicación están influenciadas positivamente por las actitudes, la comunicabilidad y el control del comportamiento percibido, y son moderadas por la inercia del usuario.

Se diseñó un marco holístico que integra los fundamentos teóricos de dos disciplinas (sistemas de información y psicología) para explicar los factores que motivan las intenciones de los usuarios a la hora de comprar en las aplicaciones móviles productos y servicios turísticos. Esta investigación encontró un gap en estudios previos al mostrar el papel indirecto de las actitudes que unen a la teoría de la difusión de la innovación (DOI) y la teoría del comportamiento planificado (TPB), y la importancia de la inercia como una condición límite clave.

Building upon the cognition-affect-behavior (CAB) model and script theory, this research aims to enrich the existing literature on historic town tourism consumption by offering empirical evidence of how the cognitive and affective images of historic towns contributes to tourists' memorable tourism experiences (MTE) and revisit intention, while identifying the cognitive image dimensions that are relevant for evaluating historic towns.

An on-site survey was conducted with 486 local tourists who visited the historic towns in Chengdu. partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was utilized to assess both the measurement and structural models.

(1) Cognitive image emerged as a significant predictor of affective image; (2) Both cognitive image and affective image had a positive influence on MTE, in which cognitive image played a more dominant role in shaping MTE; (3) MTE was found to strongly predict revisit intention among tourists; (4) MTE and affective image mediated the relationship between cognitive image and revisit intention.

This research highlights the value of incorporating cognitive and affective constructs in predicting MTE, and the proposed integrated framework of the CAB model and script theory exhibits superior predictive power in understanding tourists' revisit intention.

This research provides empirical insights about how historic towns improve their marketing strategies as short day-trip destinations.

This research provides a novel insight on the applicability of an integrated model combining the CAB model and script theory in explaining the revisit behavior of local tourists within the context of historic towns.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of social commerce (s-commerce) cues (i.e. trust, compatibility, reliability and responsiveness) on repurchase intention in apparel s-commerce along with the mediating effect of customer engagement and the moderating effect of s-commerce navigation.

Using the purposive sampling technique, face-to-face survey was administered to Gen-Y social media users in Malaysia. Subsequently, 384 respondents were sampled. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling was used to perform the analyses.

S-commerce cues have a positive effect on customer engagement, which in turn leads to repurchase intention of apparel among Gen-Y. Particularly, customer engagement also mediates the relationship between s-commerce cues and repurchase intention. S-commerce navigation is found to moderate the effect of engagement on repurchase intention.

The findings are derived from the perception of Gen-Y in Malaysia and do not represent the entire population. Future research could investigate the same phenomena across generations and consider heterogeneity issues to provide more insights.

Apparel s-commerce retailers are suggested to engage with customers more in the e-retail environment to build a lasting relationship. Contextual factors such as ease of navigation should be observed to enhance the desired response of diverse customers today.

This study adds to the growing body of knowledge on relationship marketing by assessing the impact of customer engagement and navigation on the relationships between s-commerce cues and repurchase intention in the contemporary setting.

International assignments are an effective tool to develop employees' cultural competencies, yet expatriate failure rates remain high. This paper aims to examine salient stakeholders' (i.e. organisations, host country nationals (HCNs) and spouses) support as antecedents of expatriates' work adjustment and task performance. It also explores work adjustment as a mediator between support and task performance.

Adopting the quantitative approach, survey data were collected from 112 expatriates who were married and based in organisations in Malaysia. Partial least squares-structural equation modelling was employed to analyse the data.

The findings validate the direct influences of perceived organisational support (POS) on work adjustment, HCN support on work adjustment, and spousal support on task performance. The indirect effect of HCN support on task performance through work adjustment was also established. When expatriates' work adjustment improves as a result of receiving HCN support, their task performance is enhanced.

This study evidences that expatriate-hiring firms should provide suitable support for expatriates when they work overseas. Local employees and spouses should likewise be tasked to help expatriates maximise their full potential in achieving successful performance in their assignments.

The contribution of this study is the exploration of the relationships between support, work adjustment and task performance among expatriates. It also adds to the limited knowledge on the role of specific stakeholders in the expatriate context.