Signaling and social influence: the impact of corporate volunteer programs

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-196
Author(s):  
Yinyin Cao ◽  
Frits K. Pil ◽  
Benn Lawson
Keyword(s):  
Social Influence ◽  
Hierarchical Linear Modeling ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Linear Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Employee Reactions ◽  
Volunteer Experiences ◽  
Volunteer Programs ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThis study aims to provide insight on how work–life initiatives impact employees. Using corporate volunteer programs as an example, the authors examine the role of coworker social influence in shaping the reactions of both employee participants and non-participants of the program. The paper further identifies several factors that may moderate these relationships.Design/methodology/approachThe authors surveyed employees before and after the implementation of a new corporate work–life initiative. 99 employees provided data pre and post. OLS regression and hierarchical linear modeling were used to test hypothesized relationships.FindingsEven in the context of low participation, work–life initiatives engendered positive organization-related perceptions among employees. These positive outcomes were due in part to coworkers' sharing of their volunteer experiences and were most prominent for employees in positions that afforded flexibility, and employees who reported close ties with coworkers.Practical implicationsThe study deepens our understanding of employee reactions to work–life programs and underlines the importance of these programs even when employee participation is low. The role of coworker influence as a determinant of employee reactions suggests there may be value in purposefully fostering participants' sharing of volunteer experiences in the workplace.Originality/valueThis study takes a unique approach to examining the role of coworker influence in shaping employee reactions to corporate initiatives.

scholarly journals Rhythmic Features of Movement Synchrony for Bonding Individuals in Dyadic Interaction

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken Fujiwara ◽  
Masanori Kimura ◽  
Ikuo Daibo
Keyword(s):  
Hierarchical Linear Modeling ◽  
Dyadic Interaction ◽  
Wavelet Coherence ◽  
Linear Modeling ◽  
Theoretical Contribution ◽  
Bonding Effect ◽  
Slow Tempo ◽  
Movement Synchrony ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This study examined ways in which rhythmic features of movement contribute to bonding between individuals. Though previous studies have described synchrony as a form of social glue, this research extends those findings to consider the impact of fast versus slow tempo on movement synchrony. This two-part experiment examined dyadic interactions as they occurred between same-sex strangers (Study 1) and friends (Study 2). Participants were video-recorded as they engaged in 5- or 6-min chats, and synchrony was evaluated using wavelet transform via calculations of cross-wavelet coherence. Study 1 employed regression commonality analysis and hierarchical linear modeling and found that among various frequency bands, rapport between individuals was positively associated with synchrony under 0.025 Hz (i.e., slower than once every 40 s) and 0.5–1.5 Hz (i.e., once every 0.67–2 s). On the contrary, Study 2 determined that synchrony of 0.5–1.5 Hz was not impactful among friend dyads and only predictive of the motivation to cultivate a friendly relationship during interactions with strangers. These results indicate the existence of a distinctive rhythm for bonding individuals, and the role of pre-existing friendship as a moderator of the bonding effect of synchrony. However, the role of relative phase (i.e., timing of movement; same versus opposite timing) remains unclear, as the ratio of in- and anti-phase patterning had no significant influence on perceived rapport and motivation to develop relationships. On the basis of the research results, a theoretical contribution is proposed to the study of interpersonal coordination.

Innovation affecting growth aspirations of early stage entrepreneurs: culture and economic freedom matter

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehrzad Saeedikiya ◽  
Jizhen Li ◽  
Shayegheh Ashourizadeh ◽  
Serdar Temiz
Keyword(s):  
Hierarchical Linear Modeling ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Economic Freedom ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Linear Modeling ◽  
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Entrepreneurial Growth ◽  
Positive Effect

Purpose Earlier research confirms the positive effect of innovation in shaping growth ambitions of entrepreneurs. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether the effect of innovation on growth ambitions of entrepreneurs is contingent on the role of institutions, namely, culture and economic freedom. In other words, the authors’ objective is to provide an institutionally contingent understanding of the role of innovation in shaping growth ambitions of early-stage entrepreneurs. Design/methodology/approach The authors applied hierarchical linear modeling technique on the data of 100,566 early-stage entrepreneurs in 109 countries that participated in annual surveys of Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. Findings The authors find that the effect of innovation on shaping growth ambitions of early stage entrepreneurs is contingent on the role of culture such that, in secular cultures, innovation benefits growth ambitions more than traditional cultures. Further, the authors found that the effect of innovation on growth expectations is dependent on the level of economic freedom in the country in which the firms operate so that in the countries with higher level of economic freedom, early-stage entrepreneurs expect more growth out of their innovation as compared to their counterparts in the depressed economies. Originality/value The results contribute to our understanding of entrepreneurial growth aspirations as a result of the interplay of entrepreneur–firm–environment nexus.

Drivers of intention to use Murabaha financing: religiosity as moderator

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Naqeeb Ullah Atal ◽  
Mohammad Iranmanesh ◽  
Fathyah Hashim ◽  
Behzad Foroughi
Keyword(s):  
Social Influence ◽  
Reasoned Action ◽  
Intention To Use ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Moderating Role ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Religious Obligation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of Muslims’ attitude and intention towards Murabaha financing by considering religiosity as a moderator. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected through a survey of 373 Muslims in Afghanistan and were analysed using the partial least squares technique. Findings The results showed that social influence and religious obligation have a positive effect on attitude towards Murabaha financing. Furthermore, social influence and attitude have a positive effect on the intention to use Murabaha financing. Religiosity moderates negatively the impact of social influence on attitude towards Murabaha financing. Practical implications Managers and marketers of Islamic banks may benefit from the findings of this study, which provide insight into the factors that should be considered to promote Murabaha financing. Originality/value The findings contribute to the literature on Islamic financing products by demonstrating the drivers of attitude towards and intention to use Murabaha financing. The study also extends the literature by testing the moderating role of religiosity. Furthermore, the study extends the theory of reasoned action in the context of Islamic financing by introducing religious obligation as a potential driver of attitude and religiosity as a moderator.

scholarly journals Anticipated embarrassment due to social presence withholds consumers from purchasing products that feature a lucky charm

2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 1612-1630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Di Wang ◽  
Harmen Oppewal ◽  
Dominic Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Social Influence ◽  
Impression Management ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Purchase Decisions ◽  
Product Selection ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Superstitious Beliefs

Purpose Several studies have shown that superstitious beliefs, such as beliefs in “lucky” product attributes, influence consumer purchase behaviour. Still, little is known about how social influence, in particular mere social presence, impacts consumer superstition-related purchase decisions. Drawing on impression management theory, this paper aims to investigate the effect of social presence on consumer purchase decisions of products featuring lucky charms including the role of anticipated embarrassment as a mediator of the social presence effect. Design/methodology/approach In three studies, participants select products that feature or do not feature a lucky charm. They make these selections under varying conditions of social presence, as induced by the shopping setting in the scenario or through the use of confederates or fellow participants observing them make a real product selection. Participants are students from Australia and China. Findings The studies show that social presence makes consumers less likely to select products that feature a lucky charm. This suppressing effect is mediated by the consumers’ anticipated embarrassment. Research limitations/implications The study investigates the effect of social presence but does not investigate different parameters of social presence such as the number of people present and their familiarity. The study investigates effects for purchase settings but does not include effects of usage and neither does it look into differences across product types or lucky charm types. Practical implications Marketers should be careful to not make lucky charms too publicly salient. Online settings are more suitable than mortar-and-brick settings for selling products featuring a lucky charm. Originality/value The present research is the first to investigate consumer purchase behaviour for a product featuring a lucky charm. It is also the first to investigate the impact of social influence on superstition-based decision-making.

Converting service encounters into cross-selling opportunities

2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 491-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ting Yu ◽  
Paul Patterson ◽  
Ko de Ruyter
Keyword(s):  
Goal Orientation ◽  
Hierarchical Linear Modeling ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Linear Modeling ◽  
Research Issues ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Joint Influence ◽  
The Impact ◽  
A Performance

Purpose – This paper aims to examine how the motivation and ability of individual employees to sell influences their units’ capability to align their service delivery with sales in a way that satisfies customers. It also addresses the potential influence of employees’ confidence in their supervisor’s ability to sell, such that they predict a joint influence of personal and proxy agency. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses hierarchical linear modeling to address the research issues. Findings – Employees’ learning orientation has a positive influence on service-sales ambidexterity, but the impact of a performance-avoidance goal orientation is negative, and a performance-prove orientation has no influence. Proxy efficacy enhances the positive impact of learning orientations due to the manager’s ability to lead by example, facilitate knowledge sharing and provide advice. However, it attenuates the impact of self-efficacy on service-sales ambidexterity, because skilled supervisors tend to take over and eliminate opportunities for employees to build their own skills. It also confirms the positive influence of service-sales ambidexterity on branch performance. Originality/value – To examine the emerging service-sales ambidexterity issues raised in frontline service units, this study adopts a motivation and capability paradigm. It is among the first studies to address service-sales ambidexterity issues by considering both individual and branch contextual factors.

Can leader “humility” spark employee “proactivity”? The mediating role of psychological empowerment

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 326-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanhong Chen ◽  
Baowei Liu ◽  
Li Zhang ◽  
Shanshan Qian
Keyword(s):  
Hierarchical Linear Modeling ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Psychological Empowerment ◽  
Leader Behavior ◽  
Proactive Behavior ◽  
Linear Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Leadership Research ◽  
Humble Leadership

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of humble leadership on employee proactive behavior. The authors propose that such effect is mediated by psychological empowerment, and identification with leader moderates the intervening role of psychological empowerment in the humble leadership-employee proactive behavior relationship. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 286 subordinate-supervisor dyads from 4 industries in Northern China. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses were applied to test the research model. Findings Humble leadership has a significantly positive effect on employee proactive behavior, and this effect is mediated by psychological empowerment. Furthermore, the identification with leader moderates the mediated relationships between humble leadership and employee proactive behavior via psychological empowerment. Research limitations/implications One limitation is that the data were collected cross-sectionally. Further research could conduct longitudinal research to retest the hypotheses. The present research has a number of implications. First, the authors extend humble leadership research. Second, the authors also contribute to humble leadership literature by addressing the lack of attention paid to the explanatory mechanism linking humble leader behavior to follower outcomes. Third, the authors provide a new insight into the boundary condition of humble leadership. Practical implications Managers should demonstrate more humble behaviors in their leading process to influence employees’ psychological empowerment and proactive behavior. In addition, managers should provide employees with sincere care in relation to work and life issues to produce employees’ identification with leader. Social implications Humility is a modifiable trait that individuals can increase dramatically by practice. Humble behavior is more accessible and easier to cultivate, contrary to the stable trait of humility. Besides, our results confirmed the individuals with the virtue of humility are most likely to succeed. Thus, humble behaviors should be highly advocated and encouraged in our society. Originality/value This research extends humble leadership research by constructing and verifying the theoretical model of humble leader behavior and employee proactive behavior and by demonstrating the value of humble leader behavior in a non-Western context, and identifies the different roles of psychological empowerment and identification with leader on employee proactive behavior.

The influence of customer characteristics on frontline employees’ customer need knowledge

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 220-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Björn A. Hüttel ◽  
Zelal Ates ◽  
Jan Hendrik Schumann ◽  
Marion Büttgen ◽  
Stephanie Haager ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Hierarchical Linear Modeling ◽  
Banking Sector ◽  
Employee Training ◽  
Frontline Employees ◽  
Linear Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Customer Interaction ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Customer Need

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the influence of individual customer characteristics on frontline employees’ (FLEs) customer need knowledge (CNK), a construct that objectively measures FLEs’ ability to accurately identify a given customer’s hierarchy of needs.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses hierarchical data involving the customer and bank advisor levels in the banking sector of three European countries. The matched sample consisted of 1,166 customers and 332 employees. To account for the nested structure of the data, the study used hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) using HLM software.FindingsThe results show that customers’ financial experience and risk aversion positively influence CNK and customer-perceived responsibility for the service outcome negatively impacts CNK. The results further show the impact of individual customer cultural values on CNK, which can be influenced by customer-oriented employee training. Cross-level interaction effects indicate that training measures can reverse negative influences of customers’ high power distance and uncertainty avoidance on CNK, whereas for customers characterized by high long-term orientations, training measures can backfire.Originality/valueThis study contributes to research on the antecedents of FLEs’ CNK by examining the currently overlooked influence of individual customer characteristics that are pertinent to the employee–customer interaction process. The study reveals customer characteristics as a new area of antecedents influencing FLEs’ accurate perceptions of customer needs.

Using hierarchical linear modeling to test the effect of overall strategic fit on firm performance in different industry

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 637-657 ◽  
Author(s):  
Van Thac Dang ◽  
Chin-Shien Lin
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Hierarchical Linear Modeling ◽  
Theoretical Aspect ◽  
Financial Industry ◽  
Linear Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Empirical Results ◽  
Strategic Fit ◽  
Moderating Role

Purpose This study aims at investigating the effect of an overall fit among strategy, environmental factors and organizational resources on firm performance, and the moderating role of industry on this relationship. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses hierarchical linear modeling to analyze the nested data structure from the financial and electronics companies in Taiwan’s stock market from 2011 to 2012. Findings The empirical results indicate that overall strategic fit is positively related to firm performance, and this relationship varies across financial industry and electronics industry. Originality/value This study provides important implications for both academic researchers and practitioners. From a theoretical aspect, this study integrates two research streams of strategic fit (external fit and internal fit) into an overall model of strategic fit, and has explored the moderating role of industry on the relationship between strategic fit and firm performance. In addition, this study has also used hierarchical linear modeling method to test the hypotheses, which has not been used in the previous strategic fit literature. From a practical aspect, the empirical results have derived implications for managers as to understand the effects of overall strategic fit on performance in different industry, which may be helpful for making decisions in specific industry context.

Masking the bullwhip effect in retail: the influence of data aggregation

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (8) ◽  
pp. 814-830 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yao 'Henry' Jin ◽  
Brent D. Williams ◽  
Matthew A. Waller ◽  
Adriana Rossiter Hofer
Keyword(s):  
Hierarchical Linear Modeling ◽  
Data Aggregation ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Bullwhip Effect ◽  
Masking Effect ◽  
Linear Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Product Categories ◽  
Demand Variability ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The accurate measurement of demand variability amplification across different nodes in the supply chain, or “bullwhip effect,” is critical for firms to achieve more efficient inventory, production, and ordering planning processes. Building on recent analytical research that suggests that data aggregation tends to mask the bullwhip effect in the retail industry, the purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate whether different patterns of data aggregation influence its measurement. Design/methodology/approach – Utilizing weekly, product-level order and sales data from three product categories of a consumer packaged goods manufacturer, the study uses hierarchical linear modeling to empirically test the effects of data aggregation on different measures of bullwhip. Findings – The authors findings lend strong support to the masking effect of aggregating sales and order data along product-location and temporal dimensions, as well as the dampening effect of seasonality on the measurement of the bullwhip effect. Research limitations/implications – These findings indicate that inconsistencies found in the literature may be due to measurement aggregation and statistical techniques, both of which should be applied with care by academics and practitioners in order to preserve the fidelity of their analyses. Originality/value – Using product-weekly level data that cover both seasonal and non-seasonal demand, this study is the first, to the author’s knowledge, to systematically aggregate data up to category and monthly levels to empirically examine the impact of data aggregation and seasonality on bullwhip measurement.

scholarly journals When innovation requirements empower individual innovation: the role of job complexity

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 608-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mieke Audenaert ◽  
Alex Vanderstraeten ◽  
Dirk Buyens
Keyword(s):  
Intrinsic Motivation ◽  
Hierarchical Linear Modeling ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Job Complexity ◽  
Linear Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Time Lagged ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
Job Context

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the field’s understanding of how to raise individual innovation. Specifically, the authors aim to contribute to an understanding of the interplay of job characteristics and intrinsic motivation for individual innovation. Design/methodology/approach The study uses time-lagged survey data of a public service organization in Belgium. The analyses are based on more than 80 jobs and more than 1,000 employees. Hierarchical linear modeling was adopted to test cross-level hypotheses. Findings Innovation requirements influence individual innovation efforts by psychologically empowering employees, but the extent to which psychological empowerment translates into individual innovation depends on job complexity. Originality/value A more nuanced understanding is developed of when innovation requirements empower individual innovation, by acknowledging the role of job complexity in this relationship. The current findings contribute to a multilevel integrative understanding of the interplay of the job context and intrinsic motivation.

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