Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the relational dynamics, namely trust, personalisation, communication, conflict handling and empathy, and relationship quality in the banking industry of two culturally dissimilar nations -Malaysia and New Zealand. Design/methodology/approach -Bank customers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Dunedin, New Zealand were surveyed using a questionnaire. Bank intercept technique was used in administering the instrument. A total of 358 customers (comprising 150 from Malaysia and 208 from New Zealand) provided the data for the study. Multiple regression analysis was used to estimate the hypothesized relationships. Findings -The results of the study show that the five relational dynamics explain 84 percent and 76 percent of variations in relationship quality in Malaysia and New Zealand respectively. Communication, trust, and empathy are significantly related with relationship quality in both countries, whereas personalisation has a significant impact on relationship quality in New Zealand but not in Malaysia. The results also reveal that conflict handling is significantly and marginally associated with relationship quality in New Zealand and Malaysia respectively. Research limitations/implications -Although the study was conducted on the banking industry, the outcome may be relevant to other service sectors. Further, understanding relational dynamics in different cultures is important, as the study has shown; thus integrating culture in the relationship marketing/management models would advance the understanding of culture roles in consumers' perceptions of and influences on relationship quality. Originality/value -The paper assesses and compares the impact of relational dynamics on relationship quality among bank customers from two different cultures. By comparing opposite cultures this study is an advance over past single country studies, and enhances the prospect of generalizing the findings.
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating role of structural autonomy in the relationship between innovation strategy and performance of international technology services ventures (ITVs). Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 200 ITVs serving markets outside their country of origin. Instrumentation followed standard procedure by adapting validated and parsimonious items from existing literature. Factor and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were applied to examine the hypothesised relationships. Findings – The results indicate a significant relationship between innovation strategy (namely service products innovation, process innovation and administrative innovation) and performance of ITVs. Structural autonomy moderates the relationship between process innovation, administrative innovation and performance. There is no moderating effect of autonomy in the association of service products innovation and performance. Research limitations/implications – The study corroborates the argument that service firms have more to gain by granting autonomy. In the context of ITVs, such gains are directly linked to performance through enhanced innovation in service products, processes and administration. It adds to the growing suggestions and rebuttals in the literature of a trade-off between innovation and communication; and between exploration of new knowledge and exploitation of existing knowledge in organisations when there is autonomy. Practical implications – Management can increase innovation and performance by granting greater autonomy to employees. Managers who are concerned that autonomy’s capacity to increase innovation capability may come at the expense of intra-organisational communication can be assured that intra-organisation communications can exist in the face of autonomy, and there is no real trade-off after all. Similarly, there is no basis for any concern for potential trade-off between exploration of new knowledge and exploitation of existing knowledge in organisations. Originality/value – Research suggests that autonomy of subsidiaries, units, groups or individuals encourages innovation, and that innovation strategy can enhance organisational performance. However, there is a counter-argument that same autonomy potentially hinders exploitation and performance of innovations. The study sheds more light on these anecdotal views based on data from ITVs.
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how mindless/mindful classroom practices affect the quality of learning and overall experiences of children in an early childhood educational setting.Design/methodology/approachThe method used in the study is auto‐ethnography. This qualitative research is based on self‐reflexivity in ethnographic research and intrinsic case study. The study draws substantially from the theory of mindfulness/mindlessness.FindingsQuality can be marred through mindlessness. The same can be improved through mindfulness, child centric and friendly practices, recognising the needs of each individual child, and enhancing their learning experiences, as against merely fulfilling curriculum obligations. It is suggested that when mindful approaches are applied to classroom practices, the needs of young learners can be better met, thereby improving the experiences of learners, and eventually the curriculum quality.Research limitations/implicationsThe scope of the study is limited to early childhood education in one location; more studies in other cultural settings are suggested.Practical implicationsThe paper concludes that mindful classroom practices are effective strategies for improving the quality and overall performance of students and teachers, whereas mindless approaches will achieve the exact opposite.Originality/valueThrough auto‐ethnography, the paper adds value to existing approaches to understanding quality and how mindfulness/mindlessness can affect education quality.
Purpose – This paper aims to highlight the role of mindfulness in the development of indigenous knowledge (IK), indigenous innovations and entrepreneurship or new entry. Design/methodology/approach – Through an extensive analysis of extant mindfulness and indigenous entrepreneurship literatures, the paper argues for the facilitating role of individual mindfulness in IK, indigenous innovations and entrepreneurship and generates several propositions as a result. Findings – The paper argues that mindfulness encourages the appreciation of other forms of knowledge and practices distinct from the more prevalent Western forms, and by so doing, promotes indigenous innovation and indigenous entrepreneurship (or indigenous new entry or new business venture). Research limitations/implications – It is reasoned that indigenous communities around the world have rich experiences and accumulated knowledge that have enabled them develop explanations of their environments and economic development and sustainability, and by recognizing and valuing such knowledge and experiences, mindfulness facilitates innovations and entrepreneurship. Social implications – The facilitating role of IK in developing indigenous innovations and indigenous entrepreneurship is clearly evident, at least in indigenous societies; however, researchers are yet to recognise and explore this dynamics as deserved. Mindfulness not only opens up the mindset of researchers to further explore this phenomenon but also helps society to recognise the contributions and value of IK. Originality/value – This work is a pioneer in the effort to integrate mindfulness concept into the indigenous entrepreneurship research. By using mindfulness lens to view the relationship between IK, indigenous innovations and entrepreneurship, the study locates mindfulness as both antecedent to and moderator of these relationships.
The study evaluates the positive effect of long-term oriented marketing relationship on ethical conduct from the perspective of the service provider (i.e., the agent-firm), by integrating the relevant literature from relationship marketing, ethics, and long-term orientation domains. The paper proposes that service providers that build relationship quality with their clients will display increased ethical conduct toward them. Specifically, the study examines the positive influence of the dimensions of relationship quality (that are relevant to the offshoring services context) that the service provider firm's employees undertake and their impact on ethical conduct. Overall, the results indicate that the commitment-only full mediation model of relationship marketing variables on ethical conduct is a better representation than both direct-effects model and other competing mediating models examined in this study. Fundamentally, it means that customer service officers should incorporate long-term orientation and commitment in their principal-agent relationships that will provide the impetus for undertaking ethical behavior. The article concludes with a discussion and implications of the findings.
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