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Showing papers in "Euromed Journal of Business in 2012"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, an extended technology acceptance model (TAM) with concepts from the innovation diffusion theory (IDT) and customers' perceived risk is presented, aiming to examine the factors affecting Greek customers' intentions to adopt internet banking services.
Abstract: Purpose – This paper presents an extended technology acceptance model (TAM) with concepts from the innovation diffusion theory (IDT) and customers’ perceived risk, aiming to examine the factors affecting Greek customers’ intentions to adopt internet banking services. Furthermore, several individual differences are examined, with respect to their impact on the formation of customers’ attitude about the pros and cons of the new technology.Design/methodology/approach – Based on an empirical study including off‐line banking customers that are familiar with the internet, the authors validate a causal model linking the constructs of the proposed service's compatibility, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived security and privacy risk, customers’ demographics and IT competences, with customers’ intentions to adopt internet banking services in the future. Partial least squares procedure was used to analyze 212 cases collected from residential customers via personal interviews using a properly desi...

153 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors demonstrate that global mindset is a crucial cognitive driver of the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) internationalization process and establish the link between global mindset and export performance outcomes.
Abstract: Purpose – Global mindset has gained the respectable attention of international business scholars. Global mindset is a multidisciplinary concept comprised of cognitive and cultural dimensions which both influence the international behavior and decision making of the firm. The key purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that global mindset is a crucial cognitive driver of the small and medium‐sized enterprise (SME) internationalization process. In order to do so, it aims to establish the link between global mindset and export performance outcomes.Design/methodology/approach – Using a literature review, the conceptual model was developed. Data were obtained through survey questionnaire and analyzed using partial least squares (PLS) path modeling on the sample of 121 exporting SMEs in Croatia.Findings – Findings of this study suggest that global mindset is positively, directly and significantly related to the export performance. Furthermore, the link between global mindset and export performance was assessed ...

34 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the outcomes and processes of performance appraisal through the concept of organizational justice, and explore the outcomes, procedures and implementation of appraisal in contemporary organizations, drawing on a range of theoretical frameworks from both philosophy and social science.
Abstract: Purpose – In a changing economic climate, characterised by pressures to improve productivity and reduce costs, performance management has a more central role in helping to ensure competitive advantage. Appraisals have become an almost universal feature of modern organizations and it is essential that they are perceived as fair if they are to bring about commitment to discretionary effort, which is increasingly a key feature in gaining competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to examine the outcomes and processes of performance appraisal through the concept of organizational justice.Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses the concept of organizational justice to explore the outcomes, procedures and implementation of appraisal in contemporary organizations. It draws on a range of theoretical frameworks from both philosophy and social science, examines current practices and experiences and looks at future trends. Empirical research includes a ten‐year longitudinal study of practising manager...

33 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors search for the factors that influence the profitability of Greek commercial and cooperative banks by examining other variables that have never been used before and examine bank performance before and during the economic crisis in Greece.
Abstract: Purpose – This paper aims to search for the factors that influence the profitability of Greek commercial and cooperative banks by examining other variables that have never been used before. It also seeks to examine bank performance before and during the economic crisis in Greece. The survey is based on previous similar research.Design/methodology/approach – A multiple regression analysis has been used for the determination of the factors which influence the profitability of the Greek banking sector as well as the multicriteria method PROMETHEE for the examination of the Greek banking sector performance before (2007) and during the economic recession (2008‐2009).Findings – The paper finds that: type of bank plays an important role in profitability; the indicator ROA is associated only with well‐capitalized banks with sufficient liquidity and cost efficiency; and cooperative banks in general at the beginning of the crisis were less influenced by the economic crisis than commercial banks.Originality/value – ...

29 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined country of origin (COO), price and brand effects on Lebanese consumers' attitudes towards US products and brands while evaluating a low-involvement product like chocolate.
Abstract: Purpose – This study aims to examine country of origin (COO), price and brand effects on Lebanese consumers’ attitudes towards US products and brands while evaluating a low‐involvement product like chocolate.Design/methodology/approach – The research comprised formulation of a detailed questionnaire that was served to 488 administered at various shopping malls across Lebanon. Statistical analyses of data employed included Pearson correlation and analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests.Findings – The data supported both the hypotheses that respectively predicted that brand price was more important than COO in the evaluation of low‐involvement products. The data did not support the hypothesis that predicted a preference by Lebanese consumers for “Made in Lebanon” products, based on a similar observed preference for domestic products in developed nations.Research limitations/implications – The external validity of the findings are limited since an over‐exaggerated weight is provided for the “made in” label while ...

26 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the main characteristics, buying habits, motivations, influences, and overall satisfaction of Portuguese online consumers of wine, as well as assess whether this market segment can be considered a niche.
Abstract: Purpose – This purpose of this paper is to investigate the main characteristics, buying habits, motivations, influences, and overall satisfaction of Portuguese online consumers of wine, as well as to assess whether this market segment can be considered a nicheDesign/methodology/approach – A survey was conducted in a Portuguese online wine shop during the last three months of 2009 The questionnaire included questions about the consumers’ socio‐demographic characteristics, motivations, buying habits and factors influencing online buying behaviour The questionnaires were delivered by e‐mail to regular and new customers when a transaction was processed online Of the 82 questionnaires received, 74 were sufficiently complete to be used in the studyFindings – The online wine market can be considered a niche in Portugal As the authors’ empirical work shows, this segment is mainly composed of young, male, well‐educated, high‐income consumers who buy wine online from home often less than once a month They ar

22 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a critical number of questionnaires have been distributed to the spin-offs to examine whether firms born within the science and technology parks have developed a functional organizational culture, one that provides a solid foundation for organizational effectiveness and business excellence.
Abstract: Purpose – This paper seeks to contribute to an understanding of the organizational culture of the spin‐off knowledge‐based enterprises, which operate within the science and technology parks in Greece. In this context, a critical number of questionnaires have been distributed to the spin‐offs to examine whether firms born within the parks have developed a functional organizational culture, one that provides a solid foundation for organizational effectiveness and business excellence.Design/methodology/approach – The Organizational Culture Assessment Questionnaire (OCAQ) was developed by Sashkin to help people identify and understand the nature of the culture in their own organization, as a first step in identifying problems and defining the sort of culture they want (and the sort of culture that will help deal with organizational problems). The data for the present study were obtained by the OCAQ mailed to a sample of 33 spin‐off companies that operate within the aforementioned science and technological par...

20 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine how furniture retailing firms in Greece monitor competition and its effects on the formation of their strategies with respect to competitive intelligence (CI) setting, and find that the pricing of the products is the principal information that the managers are interested in.
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how furniture retailing firms in Greece monitor competition and its effects on the formation of their strategies with respect to competitive intelligence (CI) setting.Design/methodology/approach – The study is exploratory in nature and data were collected by carrying out semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with 15 senior managers in an area of strategic marketing importance in Greece, representing a reasonable percentage of the firms in the sector.Findings – Greek furniture retailing firms monitor competition with the help of traditional and effective marketing tools. Also, the pricing of the products is the principal information that the managers are interested in. Finally, the respondents believe in the importance of monitoring the competition and ideally they would apply it to their company.Research limitations/implications – This research is an exploratory study of a small sample of managers from the major companies in a national setting. Recommendatio...

20 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify the epistemological and ontological paradigms on which these approaches are couched in a British historical socio-cultural context and show that many of them are underpinned by an empirical, pragmatic and ultimately modernistic, positivistic predilection.
Abstract: Purpose – Competencies have come to play a central role in a wide range of settings in UK public and private sector contexts. This phenomenon is usually analysed but rarely recontextualised. The purpose of this paper is to identify the epistemological and ontological paradigms on which these approaches are couched in a British historical socio‐cultural context.Design/methodology/approach – To put into light what this alternative perspective on competencies could add to reflection and practice, this paper realizes an in‐depth two‐year ethnographic study (employing participant‐observer methods) of a consultancy delivered training programme for customer service competency based vocational qualification in a water utilities company based in the north of England.Findings – Based on a wide literature review on competencies, the first main result of this paper is to show that many of competencies approaches are underpinned by an empirical, pragmatic and ultimately modernistic, positivistic predilection. In an at...

18 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors measured the relationship between organizational climate (OCL) with organizational commitment meta-analytically and the moderators influencing them and found that the unfavourable OCL (Case 2) (k=40, n=66,318) is correlated negatively with organizational commitments with confidence interval range varying from −0.552 to −0.521.
Abstract: Purpose – This paper seeks to measure the relationship between organizational climate (OCL) with organizational commitment meta‐analytically and the moderators influencing them.Design/methodology/approach – A meta‐analytic research method was used in this research to determine the strength of relationship, fail safe n and presence of heterogeneity in study.Findings – The unfavourable OCL (Case 2) (k=40, n=66,318) is correlated negatively with organizational commitment with confidence interval range varying from −0.552 to −0.562. The favourable OCL (Case 1) (k=89, n=53.865) is correlated positively with confidence interval range varying from 0.509 to 0.521. This research reviewed 106 valid studies after screening from 256 studies. Ten moderators were utilized to see the degree of change in relationship. Case 1 had four moderators namely gender, tenure, age, educational background, while for Case 2, there were two major moderators namely tenure and age.Research limitations/implications – The conclusions of ...

17 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, an integrated conceptual framework showing how corporate brand equity is generated is proposed, which is based upon a review and integration of the corporate branding, consumer psychology and strategy literatures.
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrated conceptual framework showing how corporate brand equity is generated. It builds upon a number of previous studies which have focused upon specific aspects of brand equity and integrates these within a more comprehensive model.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based upon a review and integration of the corporate branding, consumer psychology and strategy literatures.Findings – The result is the construction of a number of sub‐models and an overall proposed framework which integrates internal and external determinants of consumer‐based corporate brand equity and combines these within a comprehensive framework. The model encompasses internal, company‐determined, variables, a Stimulus‐Organism‐Response model, the stakeholder cognitive perception process, a number of mediating variables such as corporate performance, industry sector and internationality, and the resulting impact upon corporate reputation and brand equity.Research limitati...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identified employee attitudes toward organizational change in the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility in the Gaza Strip and factors affecting these attitudes and concluded that employee attitudes towards organizational change were positive but weak, which could elicit some supportive behaviors.
Abstract: Purpose – This paper aims to identify employee attitudes toward organizational change in the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility in the Gaza Strip and factors affecting these attitudes.Design/methodology/approach – The study used descriptive and analytical methods to investigate the phenomena. The study population includes all the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility employees. The population number was 128. A semi‐comprehensive survey was used. A close‐ended questionnaire was considered as a main tool for data gathering from the field.Findings – The study concluded that employee attitudes toward organizational change were positive but weak, which could elicit some supportive behaviors. Employees hold ambivalent cognitions; they believe that change benefits all employees and would increase work efficiency, but they do not see themselves or their departments as contributors to this improvement. In addition, they hold moderate positive emotions of happiness, excitement, relief, and hope. Moreover, employee...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify key success criteria for e-business and consider emergent models which integrate the most value-add characteristics in response to the requirements of both consumers and business organisations.
Abstract: Purpose – This paper sets out to identify key success criteria for e‐business and consider emergent models which integrate the most value‐adding characteristics in response to the requirements of both consumers and business organisations.Design/methodology/approach – In assessing differing models of B2C/C2C, the paper uses an adapted evaluation framework which brings together key factors identified from the literature. A Likert scale exercise undertaken enables the authors to subsequently rank models.Findings – Analysis of the results from the differing models identifies 14 primary success factors from which the paper develops a modified ontology of e‐business. This is attributed to the evolving role of internet communities and social networking; the impact of “mobbing” and demand aggregation on rate of growth; and the effects of the “long tail” in differentiating markets into high‐diversity short‐run products.Research limitations/implications – It is recognised that the scoring exercise is based on a lim...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify, compare and contrast different perspectives of Serbian residents and diaspora regarding Serbia brand identity, and demonstrate that certain differences and similarities exist in the Serbia brand image perceptions between Serbian residents this paper.
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify, compare and contrast different perspectives of Serbian residents and diaspora regarding Serbia brand identity.Design/methodology/approach – Attitudinal statements for research design of study were collected within a period of 12 months from national media (TV and newspapers) and ten focus groups. Multiple surveying techniques consisting of on‐the‐filed and on‐line surveys were applied. In total, 900 responses were collected and results were analyzed using principal component; also 740 examinees with Serbian citizenship and permanent residence in Serbia participated in the survey and 160 examinees from diaspora.Findings – Findings demonstrated that certain differences and similarities exist in the Serbia brand image perceptions between Serbian residents and diaspora. The first difference is reflected in the number of brand identity elements identified by each of the two examined groups. Diaspora identified four brand identity elements which are marked as ...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a successful fashion brand in the UK is struggling to grow its retail business through franchise in the Middle East while the opportunity is vast, the retail brand has been struggling for it has not stayed “relevant”.
Abstract: Purpose – A retail brand is an asset of value to the stakeholders Nurturing it enhances quality and stability of earnings Franchising it across emerging countries provides an opportunity for growth The challenge, however, is to ensure that the brand stays “connected” with the local markets and “relevant” during changing times Current research is highly inadequate in guiding the retail brands to stay vibrant when traveling to emerging markets This research aims to look at how a successful fashion brand in the UK is struggling to grow its retail business through franchise in the Middle East While the opportunity is vast, the retail brand has been struggling for it has not stayed “relevant” The paper seeks to present a framework for monitoring its performance so the retail brand can “stay alive”Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative research was done to understand the profile of the walk‐in customers, their shopping behavior, spending motives, and lifestyles Quantitative research was done to asce

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors investigated the role of the need for cognition (NFC) in purchasing store brands and found that NFC was positively associated with the inclination to purchase store brands, even after controlling for demographic variables.
Abstract: Purpose – Store branding has gained much attention from branding researchers, including studies of market segmentation. However, the psychological profile of the store brand consumer is still obscure. The present study investigated the role of “need for cognition” (NFC) in purchasing store brands.Design/methodology/approach – Participants were 400 students from eight colleges in Israel. The participants represented four cultural groups of different mother tongues: Amharic, Arabic, Hebrew and Russian. All participants reported demographics, NFC, inclination to purchase store brands and the perceived importance of extrinsic brand dimensions (e.g. packaging, country of origin and manufacturer identity).Findings – NFC was positively associated with the inclination to purchase store brands, even after controlling for demographic variables. NFC was negatively associated with the importance attributed to extrinsic brand dimensions.Practical implications – Retailers should aim store brands towards consumers with ...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the status quo of environmental management in the Austrian road freight transport sector is examined and the influence of attitudes and firm size is evaluated using a multi-step empirical approach.
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the status quo of environmental management in the Austrian road freight transport sector Different environmental practices are analyzed and the influence of attitudes and firm size is evaluatedDesign/methodology/approach – A multi‐step empirical approach was performed Based on a theoretical approach and a desktop survey on company web sites, several semi‐structured expert interviews were performed Subsequently, an online‐survey was conducted and then analyzed by statistical methodsFindings – It was found that although companies in the road freight transport sector are aware of the importance of sustainable issues, actual performance needs to be improved The authors found significant differences, particularly between smaller and larger firmsResearch limitations/implications – Due to its nature as a research survey, the findings might be subject to some limitations such as sampling errors, non‐response effects and social desirability biasPractical im