Andrew J. Czaplewski

Workplace spirituality and employee work attitudes

One important question in the field of workplace spirituality concerns the relationship of this construct with employee work attitudes. This study attempts to make a rigorous empirical examination of the relationship between workplace spirituality and five prevalent employee job attitudinal variables. It assesses the validity and reliability of the measures used and discusses the results of the analysis, which indicate that each of the three dimensions of spirituality used has a significant relationship with two or more of the five job attitude variables examined. While acknowledging that spirituality at work is an abstract concept, this study attempts to provide some of the first empirical support that there is a positive association between spirituality at work and employee job outcomes. The paper concludes with a number of implications and research directions for both academics and business managers, including the need to investigate the comprehensive impact of spirituality at work on individuals and organizations.

How e-communities extend the concept of exchange in marketing: An application of the motivation, opportunity, ability (MOA) theory

Customer-to-customer (C2C) know-how exchanges occur in a variety of contexts, including virtual environments of Internet mediated communities. Exchange of know-how that takes place among the customers of an organizations offering has the potential to create customer value and result in positive outcomes for organizations. This study proposes a model that examines key factors that drive C2C exchanges as well as the outcomes of these exchanges. The model shows how C2C exchanges create value for the marketing organization – that is, value over and above the value that the customer receives directly through exchanges with the organization. C2C exchanges are also proposed to enhance loyalty intentions. Viewing C2C know-how exchange as an information source to the customer, the model adapts and applies the motivation, opportunity, and ability (MOA) theory to explain levels of C2C know-how exchange.

Technical opinion Leveraging first-mover advantages in internet-based consumer services

On e Of the mOst enduring strate gic m an agem en t cOncepts is first-mover advantage. The face validity of first mover advantage is highly compelling with a great deal of anecdotal evidence often cited in the popular business press. The means by which first mover success is established are enormously intuitive: high levels of brand identification by being the first in the minds of consumers, the fact that inertia creates a dislike for change as long as consumer needs/wants are being met, and the creation of an emotional bond with consumers by being first to satisfy desires. The vividness of heavily publicized stories of pioneering success can mislead one into thinking there is success by simply being among the first to market. But the fact is that first mover advantages are never a guarantee of durable success. In fact, industries with a fast pace of market evolution and technological evolution find first mover advantages are highly vulnerable and tenuous. Moore’s Law is propelling incredibly fast changes in all of the technologies used in internetbased consumer services. The pace of market evolution in internet-based consumer service is also fast, propelled by the whole concept of Web 2.0 as well as the relative ease of market entry and consumer openness to new, innovative, and even radical ideas. Therefore, attention must shift toward understanding how first-mover advantages can be leveraged as the market and technology evolves. Figure 1 graphically outlines the stages of market evolution mapped onto the product/market life cycle. Once a firm is first to enter a new market they are immediately under review by potential rivals. In attractive markets other firms will soon enter. As rapid market growth occurs, new entrants emerge as a gold rush takes place. Market chaos ensues as rivals seek to create differentiation and grab market share. The next stage is market shake-out, where many firms drop out due to a myriad of reasons, most notably an inability to keep up with competitors, to effectively differentiate or create a meaningful value proposition, to manage cash flow and corporate retrenchments. As the market reaches maturity, the market leaders typically emerge. Though first mover advantages offer no guarantee of durable success, firms can leverage first mover success into market leadership. Figure 2 provides a typology of tactics for firms to leverage their first mover advantages as their markets evolve. We consider three illustrative internet-based consumer service markets and how first movers in these industries leveraged their pioneering advantages into market leadership.

Adaptive Strategies of Tobacco Firms Subsequent to the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement: An Examination of Emergent Tobacco Promotional Mix Efforts:

This article uses the promotional mix framework to examine tobacco promotional efforts in five distinct categories: advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, personal selling, and public relations. We specifically explore how tobacco companies are adapting their promotional efforts in each category subsequent to the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) among the five largest tobacco companies and 46 states. We utilize primarily marketing popular press literature and a comparison between 1998 and 1999 tobacco promotional expenditures to provide a comprehensive picture of emergent tobacco promotional efforts in response to the new restrictions. Numerous adaptations within each category are examined. In particular, substantial new expenditures in the areas of trade-oriented sales promotions, direct marketing, and public relations activities are revealed. Specific tactics being used in each of the five promotional mix categories are discussed.

An Exploratory Study of the America's Family Program: Using a New Leadership Paradigm to Break the Cycle of Failure

Abstract Millions of U.S. employees work in the service-sector at relatively low wages with little or no benefits or advancement opportunities. Due to high turnover rates, business organizations often limit spending on human resource (HR) practices for these workers. In turn, these employees become less committed to the organization, thereby reinforcing this “cycle of failure.” In this manuscript we present a preliminary study of a new approach, involving a partnership effort among government, non-profits, and business, to break this cycle of failure. This new approach is based on the principles of the new governance model of public administration. Both interview and organizational data are collected to assess the impact of this program on both employees and the organization. Implications for research in business and public administration are discussed, including insights from the emerging spirituality leadership literature into the underlying motivation for developing this type of program.

A theoretical and empirical exploration of identification with virtual product communities

This paper examines, both theoretically and empirically, the impact of a participants identification with a virtual community. This extends previous research in marketing that has examined identification in membership and customer-company scenarios to the virtual communities. Antecedents to identification that are examined include the length and extent of contact with the community, as well as the degree to which the community fulfils the members expectations. Outcomes include the participants intentions towards the specific product the community was formed around as well as the brand of the product. Findings show that length of contact, extent of contact, and satisfaction with the virtual product community significantly impact on the participants level of identification. Moreover, identification was found to impact positively on intentions towards the product, but this does not carry over to the brand. Theoretical and managerial implications are considered.

How Entrepreneurs Think: Why Effectuation and Effectual Logic May be the Key to Successful Enterprise Entrepreneurship

Recent research into effectuation and effectual logic show that entrepreneurs think and make decisions dramatically different than typical enterprise managers. One of the major issues in applying entrepreneurship and innovation to corporations is likely the misunderstanding and failed application of these core concepts to management practices. Thus, those studying intrapreneurship and innovation would find great value from this papers discussion of effectuation and effectual logic as it explains its major differences between entrepreneurs and typical enterprise manager views as they pertain to: Goal setting, risk taking, resource selection and gathering, dealing with setbacks, building networks, and management control. To dive deeper into these valuable concepts, effectuation and its core principles were applied to the product development process and systems development process. This includes applying them to: Screening of ideas, business analysis, development, product validation, and the market launches...