Kerry E. Howell

Communicating in the new interactive marketspace

Purpose – The proliferation of the internet and world wide web (WWW) in recent years has resulted in the creation of new social and marketing spaces, and a new form of interaction and identity formation. This paper aims to investigate this phenomenon.Design/methodology/approach – Whilst cost benefits and profit derivation from the internet and other hypermedia mediated communication environments have been the focus of much research, the majority of these assessments have left many assumptions unarticulated. Questions of how contemporary communication content and interactivity is different from the singular “one‐to‐many” communication models have been avoided in this research. This paper investigates these deficiencies and goes on to suggest how academics and practitioners can realign their thinking in the light of these findings.Findings – Computer mediated marketing environments provide organisations with a medium that can be used to deliver content in a variety of ways to consumers. This capability high...

Knowledge generation and sharing in UK universities: A tale of two cultures?

Abstract As economies become more knowledge intensive it has become evident to most organizations that knowledge is a valuable resource. This is particularly true in academic organizations, which have the generation and dissemination of knowledge as their principal mission. This research assesses whether path-dependency exists in relation to cultural expectations of knowledge generation and sharing in knowledge intensive organizations. This paper adopts a constructivist approach facilitated by focus group discussions which were conducted in two UK universities, one Russell group university and the other a post-1992. Institutional culture and path dependency play a major role in the willingness of institutions to generate and share knowledge. Each institution exemplified a distinct path-dependency that underpinned cultural expectations but in each case internal and external factors were necessitating changes regarding knowledge sharing and generation which affected individual perspectives and organizational structures. The paper concludes by purporting that certain universities display critical junctures and cultural transformation in terms of knowledge generation, dissemination and sharing.

An exploration of consumers' response to online service recovery initiatives

The focus of this paper is on levels of service failure and recovery strategies in relation to UK online fashion retailers. In a changing social, political and economic environment the use of information technology has permeated all forms of organisations: from private to public, local to global, old and new. Parallel with this development, companies have developed and experimented with new means of interacting with customers, and have devised and applied a variety of marketing strategies. The deployment of the internet, along with its subsets, has created a number of new opportunities, as well as a range of uncertainties and burdens, particularly on consumer perceptions of service quality, service failure and recovery. This paper contributes to extant knowledge and offers an understanding of behavioural-related issues, e.g. understanding consumer behaviour in the development of innovative business models in the industry.

Corporate social responsibility: towards a context-specific perspective in developing countries

Purpose - – This paper aims to empirically test, in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, the external perceptions which hold that a firm that has acted in a socially irresponsible manner can have negative consequences, as an organisation’s success and very survival depends, in part, on satisfying normative expectations from its environment. Design/methodology/approach - – A purposive sample of 28 respondents was selected from three communities within the region. In addition, 20 in-depth interviews took place with oil workers, community leaders and elders within the region. These interviews lasted for approximately an hour and were transcribed verbatim. Findings - – Drawing on qualitative research methodology, it is proposed that socially responsible investment could promote and facilitate business and social cohesion between corporations and broader communities that impinge on the company, rather than simply viewing business practice exclusively from an economic or political point of view. Research limitations/implications - – This study has examined a small range of companies from an interpretivist ethnographic position in the Niger Delta region using data collected from interviews and observations. Future research could take a more positivistic position and explore a wider range of companies using a variety of data collection methods. Practical implications - – Understanding corporate social responsibility (CSR) tends to be contextually bound, and should be divorced from the mechanistic Western perspective prevailing in most extant literature. Despite this context-specific notion to CSR relevance, there is still an overwhelming dominance of the understanding of CSR from the Western perspective, so companies should more closely consider local issues when drawing up CSR policy guidelines in a non-Western environment. Originality/value - – Forty-eight individuals in the Niger Delta region have been interviewed, and their opinions on CSR issues have been reported.

A grounded theory analysis of corporate governance in Egyptian banking

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate corporate governance (CG) practices of banking organizations in Egypt and seeks to understand the extent these can be considered socially constructed phenomenon. Design/methodology/approach – Through a qualitative research design underpinned by a combination of phenomenological and social constructivist paradigms the paper undertakes a grounded theory study of CG in a specific context (the Egyptian banking sector). The paper is based on a survey and 58 semi-structured interviews. Findings – CG as a dynamic and context-based phenomenon, which requires a processual mode of analysis rather than the widely accepted static approach. Empirical evidence that concerns whether the adoption of CG is based on achieving legitimacy is provided, which identifies that this is difficult to understand through traditional shareholder-stakeholder theories; economic rationality and efficiency fail to fully explain CG and investigation requires phenomenological constructiv...

Europeanization, European Integration and Financial Services

General Introduction: Linking Levels of Theory and Methodological Approaches PART I: PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS Recognising Civil Constitutions: Hegel and Kant as the Basis of European Integration Theory Re-assessing European Integration Theory Up-loading, Downloading or Crossloading? Conceptualizing Europeanization and European integration Theory PART II: EUROPEANIZATION AND EUROPEAN INTEGRATION: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Identifying the European Union: Empirical and Historical Developments Macro Up-loading and Shared Beliefs: The Single European Act and Economic and Monetary Union Micro Up-loading: Sub-National Interests and Supranational Institutions PART III: EUROPEANIZATION AS SITUATION AND PROCESS: SYNTHESISING THEORY AND METHODOLOGY Identifying Difference and Potential Shared Beliefs: Domestic Issues and Financial Services Regulation Shared Beliefs and Micro and Macro Uploading Macro Up-loading and Supranational Institutions: Formulating the Financial Services Action Plan Europeanization Impacts on Member State Financial Services: Case Studies of the UK, Germany, Poland and Italy General Conclusion References

Understanding technologically-induced customer services in the Nigerian banking sector: the internet as a post-modern phenomenon

Any discussion on technological adoption and use produces a diverse range views from both academics and practitioners. This has prompted some questions on its nature and understanding in developing countries like Nigeria. Assessing modernist and post-modernist perspectives through phenomenological hermeneutics and a capability-based model, this study examines the level of technologically induced customer services in the banking services sector on salient issues in sub-Saharan Africa. Drawing on a specific hermeneutical approach and the origins of modernist and post-modernist perspectives in developing societies, this paper examines this issue from a Nigerian perspective. A contemporary sub-Saharan e-business model is proposed. Results indicate that customer services in technologically-induced environments are increasingly becoming adopted in the context of financial services. As an embryonic mode of transaction, several variables are reported and some of these are hampering the development and adoption of this medium in Nigeria compared to those of developed countries.

Shareholdership, Stakeholdership and the Modern Global Business Environment: A Survey of the Literature

This paper surveys literature relating to the Anglo-American model (shareholder theory) and stakeholder theory of corporate governance in the modern global business environment. Stakeholder theory emerged during the 1970–80s and suggested that corporations should look beyond the shareholder perspective of profit maximisation. Through a survey of the literature we examine why the traditional Anglo-American model of corporate governance had difficulties when dealing with certain unethical business practices of corporate boards. Overall, this study investigates whether an application of deontological and teleological ethical theories may illustrate how boards of directors could manage stakeholder issues and deal with problematic moral dilemmas and ethical decisions.

Devolution and institutional culture: path-dependency and the Welsh assembly

In an attempt to identify and assess institutional culture in the Welsh Assembly (WA), this article analyses agency and path-dependency in relation to Assembly Member (AM) perspectives, devolution policy and historical documentation. As primary agents, AMs were posed a number of questions regarding the initial rationales for an Assembly and whether the new institution reflected the cultural tendencies of its incoming membership. In order to identify and understand relationships between agency and path-dependency, this article identifies a distinction between the WA and individual actors. Distinctions between organisational and individual levels identify how different institutions fit together and illustrate relationships between path-dependency and agency. These relationships allow theoretical and empirical insights into cultural difference between the emerging WA and pre-devolution Welsh political institutions.

Virtue, Virtú, Categorical Imperative and the Civic Constitution: Defining Corporate Governance

As we proceed toward the twenty-first century issues of corporate governance are as important as ever. Unscrupulous business activities, during the late eighties and early nineties, undermined director integrity and emphasised short-termism rather than sustainable economic performance. In an attempt to provide an underpinning for modern corporate governance this article turns toward Western philosophy and draws on the ideas of antiquity, Machiavelli and Kant. The article uses these philosophers to construct a moral framework as a basis for analysing contemporary ideas of corporate governance. It attempts to link the concepts of corporate governance and virtue and investigate how in the pursuit of a ubiquitous idea of good governance philosophers of antiquity were faced with the same difficulties as those of Renaissance and Enlightenment. Indeed, how they were confronted with difficulties very similar to those faced by contemporary society.