Taewon Suh

Trust, commitment and relationships in supply chain management: a path analysis

Purpose – The primary purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between the level of trust and several relevant constructs drawn from transaction cost analysis (such as asset specificity, behavioral uncertainty, and partners opportunism) and social exchange theory (informational sharing).Design/methodology/approach – A comprehensive questionnaire based on various theories on trust and commitment was mailed in 2001 to supply chain practitioners in the Midwest region. A total of 171 valid returns were received out of 1,800 mailings (9.5 percent). A path analysis was used to estimate parameters or relationship between relevant constructs and trust, and trust with the level of commitment.Findings – A firms trust in their supply chain partner is highly associated with both parties’ specific asset investments and social exchange theory. Information sharing has a primary impact on reducing (improving a partners uncertainty behavior which, in turn, would improve the level of trust. Finally, the lev...

Social Institutional Explanations of Global Internet Diffusion: A Cross-Country Analysis

This study attempts to examine empirically how social institutional factors relate to Internet diffusion in 39 countries. Based on nine-year cross-country data, the analytical results show that the rule of law, educational systems, and industrialization significantly influenced the global Internet diffusion, while the economic system did not exert significant impact. Uncertainty avoidance as a national cultural phenomenon significantly inhibited the Internet diffusion. This significant and negative effect is particularly true with less developed countries (LDCs).

The Impact of Mission Fulfillment on the Internal Audience: Psychological Job Outcomes in a Services Setting

The way a firm fulfills its mission statement may play a role in internal marketing and affect important psychological job outcomes of employees. The conceptual model proposed herein argues that mission fulfillment influences key psychological states related to motivation (i.e., employee engagement), social identity (organizational identification), and emotional resources (emotional exhaustion). These psychological states in turn drive affective commitment and turnover intentions, two variables of continued interest to researchers and managers. The authors test this model empirically using data from 3,999 employees of a health care service system. The findings provide support for the hypothesized model rather than an alternative and shed light on an important tool for internal marketing. Besides suggesting avenues for future research, such as refining the concept of employee engagement and uncovering the antecedents of employees’ perceptions of mission fulfillment, this study demonstrates the importance of exploring the psychological processes that comprise the mechanisms by which contextual variables affect key outcomes. For managers, the results imply the importance of aligning an organization’s actions with its stated mission, given that employees are attuned to and affected by such an alignment. Further, managers should actively communicate to employees the organization’s efforts and accomplishments in fulfilling its mission.

Do the magnitude and asymmetry of specific asset investments matter in the supplier-buyer relationship?

Abstract Despite a body of literature on specific asset investments, the extant literature falls short of exploring the magnitude and symmetry of specific asset investments in supplier–buyer relationships. This paper builds on prior research to identify and examine the impact of total and asymmetric specific asset investments on commitment, trust, and conflict in supplier–buyer relationships. Covariance structure analysis is used to analyse survey data. The results show that total SAI are positively related to commitment and trust, while asymmetric SAI are negatively related to trust and positively related to conflict in supplier–buyer relationships. Decision-making uncertainty affects trust, commitment, and conflict more than any other variables. Therefore, firms should work to strengthen their relationships by increasing the magnitude of specific asset investments with the aim of increasing trust and commitment. We also discuss the limitations of this study and suggestions for future research.

The effect of FDI inflows and ICT infrastructure on exporting in ASEAN/AFTA countries

This paper explores the impact of both the increase in foreign direct investment inflows and the increase in information and communication technology infrastructure investments on exporting in ASEAN nations (the trade bloc of which is known as AFTA) compared with two other major trade blocs: CEFTA and LAIA. The analyses are based on data from a cross section of countries (26 emerging markets from three trade blocs) over time (from 1995 to 2000). The results show that the increase of investments in ICT infrastructure yields positive and significant returns in the national exporting level only for the ASEAN/AFTA and CEFTA sample. Interestingly, the impact of the increase of FDI inflows on export is significant only in the CEFTA and LAIA samples. These results are discussed in the light of the different economic experiences of these trade blocs, noting that variations are typically present between individual countries. Overall, reflecting the results from this study, research concerned with the determinants of national exporting level should be conducted independently, along with regional and national characteristics.

Reassessing Firm Size in International Marketing Research

This study investigates the relevance and importance of firm size as a current research variable in international marketing while being cognizant of the reasons behind previous researchers focus on firm size. Utilizing two different databases and analyses, this study integrates existing research on the effects of firm size variables on decisions in international marketing and draws a general conclusion. The main research questions center on whether firm size matters in internationalization decisions and whether firm size is a meaningful proxy for specific firm resources. Our results suggest that the effect of size on internationalization becomes less significant over time and that the effect of firm size on choice of ownership is significantly less than that of other firm-specific variables such as R&D intensity and advertising intensity, suggesting that strategic international marketing decisions are more related to a firms unique assets than to its size.

Learning creativity in the client‐agency relationship

Purpose – This study aims to investigate creativity‐related determinants of learning in the context of business‐to‐business services and client‐agency relationships.Design/methodology/approach – The research model includes client encouragement, agency creativity, campaign creativity, and perceived performance. The study involved conducting a questionnaire survey in 150 publicly‐traded companies in South Korea.Findings – The results show that client learning from agency services is the result of the creative process of the agency and the creativity of the service outcome itself. Client learning from marketing services also varied depending on different performance ratings.Originality/value – The study elucidates client learning as the central process of value co‐creation in the brand value chain. It produces several unique findings and managerial takeaways for building up better co‐creation environments in the context of business‐to‐business services.

Effects of Design Elements in Magazine Advertisements

In this study, unlike previous studies where participants were instructed to pay attention to the advertisements, we set up a more naturalistic situation of reading magazine. Five major design elements (body text, head text, brand logo, product image, and human model image) were investigated and our results showed pictorial elements captured more looking time and fixations than textual elements in general and textual elements received more looking time and fixations per unit size than pictorial elements. Also, a comparative data analysis of two different but very similar advertisements of competing products provided design implications regarding the use of human model image and head text.

When working hard pays off: testing creativity hypotheses

Purpose – This study seeks to suggest and test an important moderator, organizational encouragement, which plays between working hard, and two outcome variables, creativity and performance. This study also aims to test the traditional inferences and conclusions in the creativity literature in order to generalize them into the corporate communications/public relations (PR) setting.Design/methodology/approach – The dataset includes 148 survey returns from Korean practitioners in corporate communications and/or PR. Path analysis and multi‐group analysis are utilized for analyses.Findings – The findings provide evidence that the effect of working hard on performance can significantly be intensified when the practitioner is encouraged to work creatively in the organization. Some of the findings also confirm the general view of the traditional notion from the creativity literature.Research limitations/implications – The results indicate that when an employee is working hard is better related to the performance ...

Antecedents and consequences of extrinsic superstitious beliefs: a cross-cultural investigation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of antecedents and consequences of superstitious beliefs. Design/methodology/approach – From survey data drawn from 206 South Korean and 218 US respondents, structural equation modeling is used to test the posited hypotheses. Findings – To extrinsic superstitious beliefs, both the South Korean and US models support the subjective happiness through self-esteem path and the anthropomorphism path; from these beliefs, both models support the horoscope importance path and the behavioral superstitious beliefs path. Only the US model supports the path from self-esteem to extrinsic superstitious beliefs, and only the South Korean model supports the path from intrinsic religiosity to extrinsic superstitious beliefs. Research limitations/implications – South Korean and US student data may limit generalizability. As effect sizes in this context are established, researchers have a benchmark for future quantitative superstition research. Practical imp...