Attitude behavior gap, Consumer behavior, Ethics, M00, Z13,

Complexity negatively impacts the process of continually improving performance management systems (PMSs). The extant PMS literature considers complexity to be a result of the external environment rather than a user response to that environment. However, this paper argues that organizations generally face internal complexity when adopting PMSs. Introducing PMSs into an organization can have varied effects in those organizations based on the complexity of an organization's associated members and its interactions. This study aims to understand the emergence of complexities while implementing and using PMSs in organizations. From the complexity theory perspective, four system properties (ontological, teleological, genetic and functional) are used to understand complexity in PMSs. The paper builds on a systematic literature review consisting of 76 papers and analyses them in the light of exploring sources of complexity when implementing and using PMSs. From the outset, complexity is understood to be a result of the conflict between existing organizational practices and mechanisms and the organizational controls associated with PMSs. The key findings abstracted six sources of complexity in this study: role, task and procedural types of complexity associated with the social dimension, and methodological, analytical and technological types of complexity associated with the technical dimension. The study findings contribute to the current discussion regarding why PMSs typically lag and are not responsive and resilient in emerging contexts. While understanding and exploring all organizational controls that moderate a PMS is useful, organizations should construct the necessary capabilities, depending on their context and adapt to the changes associated with PMSs.

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Purpose Although the role of information has been previously studied in the ethical consumer literature, practices related to information searches and interpretation have not been fully examined in relation to ethical consumption. The purpose of this paper is to explore the search and use of information by ethically oriented consumers in order to understand the problems involved in this process, and how ethical consumers address them by adopting a number of practices. Design/methodology/approach Using a qualitative approach and diaries, the paper explores how consumers carry out their informational search and interpretation over an 11-week period. Findings First, insights are provided about the specifics of information search and the contexts, timing and use of information. Second, the information management practices used by participants to navigate the problems they encounter are identified. These practices are discussed in relation to the maximizing vs optimizing approach adopted by the participants. Practical implications New technologies, such as mobile applications and geo-localization, could overcome some of the problems inherent to information searches identified in this study. The use of social networks may also prove particularly interesting for companies and NGOs that target ethically oriented consumers. Originality/value Information search and the use and interpretation of information are part of the efforts undertaken by ethical consumers, but they have not been the focus of past research. This study provides empirical evidence on consumer practices employed to circumvent the problems found in a context of information asymmetries, and the gradual development of consumer skills in relation to ethical information searches and management. It shows how information search and management shapes the practice of ethical consumption.

An important component in evaluating research productivity is the quality of the academic journal. For this reason, the objective of this paper is to analyze the Author Affiliation Index (AAI) in sustainability field journals as a preliminary study to offer some insights into quality rating of journals in this chosen discipline. The AAI of a journal is defined as the percentage of the journal’s articles published by authors affiliated with a base set of high-quality academic universities or institutions. We conducted an evaluation of the top 50 journals in environmental studies indexed in the category Social Science in the Web of Science (WOS) database in 2018 and the top-notch 50 universities worldwide with master or postgraduate programs in the disciplines of management and sustainability studies. The results obtained demonstrate that there is a low AAI score on average in the sustainability field compared with other disciplines and the potential reason for such low scoring is probably caused by the high number of co-authors collaborating in environmental studies related journals. Although there is no agreement reached in terms of journal ratings by AAIs and other citation and survey-based measures, we can confirm certain elite affiliations effect which leading sustainability journals have higher concentrations of authors who are affiliated with elite institutions, however, such elite affiliation effect is on average much lower compared with other disciplines as finance, accounting or transportation, etc.