The mediating role of competitive advantage in the relationship between organisational capabilities and retail performance

This paper investigates the relationships between market, learning and brand orientation with competitive advantage and organisational performance in the context of the UK retail industry. The results indicate that competitive advantage contributes to strategic effectiveness and mediates the relationship between learning and brand orientation and strategic effectiveness. No significant relationship was found in relation to financial performance. Moreover, market orientation was not found to have a significant direct effect on competitive advantage or indirect affect on performance.

External knowledge and performance of offshore IT service providers in India : the mediating role of talent management

The global shortage of IT professionals has been identified as one of the most serious threats against the continued growth of offshore IT service providers (OSPs). As a result, talent management has become a key competitive strategy for OSPs. However, how talent management contributes towards the performance of OSPs remains poorly understood in relation to its interaction with knowledge. To examine this issue, we draw on a sample of 68 OSPs in India to test the effects of talent management and external knowledge on performance. The results confirm that both external knowledge and talent management are positively related to firm performance and that the latter has strong mediating effects on the relationship between external knowledge and firm performance. The results suggest that OSPs should consider talent management as a mechanism through which knowledge resources can be exploited to enhance firm performance. The managerial implications and limitations of the findings are also discussed.

Effects of informal institutions on the performance of microenterprises in the Phillipines : the mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation

The study investigates the effects of informal institutions and entrepreneurial orientation on the performance of microenterprises at the subnational level within a developing country context. Using structural equation modeling based on a large-scale survey of 735 microenterprises in the Philippines, it is found that informal institutional factors and entrepreneurial orientation are associated with firm performance. However, further analysis reveals a strong mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation on the informal institutions-firm performance relationships. This finding is novel and adds to our understanding of the mechanism through which informal institutions affect firm performance, particularly for microenterprises in developing countries.

Educational inequalities in women's depressive symptoms : the mediating role of perceived neighbourhood characteristics

Socio-economically disadvantaged (e.g., less educated) women are at a greater risk of depression compared to less disadvantaged women. However, little is known regarding the factors that may explain socioeconomic inequalities in risk of depression. This study aimed to investigate the contribution of perceived neighbourhood factors in mediating the relationship between education and women’s risk of depression. Cross-sectional data were provided by 4,065 women (aged 18–45). Women self-reported their education level, depressive symptoms (CES-D 10), as well as four neighbourhood factors (i.e., interpersonal trust, social cohesion, neighbourhood safety, and aesthetics). Single and multiple mediating analyses were conducted. Clustering by neighbourhood of residence was adjusted by using a robust estimator of variance. Multiple mediating analyses revealed that interpersonal trust was the only neighbourhood characteristic found to partly explain the educational inequalities in women’s depressive symptoms. Social cohesion, neighbourhood aesthetics and safety were not found to mediate this relationship. Acknowledging the cross-sectional nature of this study, findings suggest that strategies to promote interpersonal trust within socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhoods may help to reduce the educational inequalities in risk of depression amongst women. Further longitudinal and intervention studies are needed to confirm these findings.

An examination of the mediating role of salt knowledge and beliefs on the relationship between socio-demographic factors and discretionary salt use: a cross-sectional study

Background Discretionary salt use varies according to socio-demographic factors. However, it is unknown whether salt knowledge and beliefs mediate this relationship. This study examined the direct and indirect effect of socio-demographic factors on salt knowledge and discretionary salt use in a sample of 530 Australian adults.

Methods An internet based cross-sectional survey was used to collect data for this study. Participants completed an online questionnaire which assessed their salt knowledge, beliefs and salt use behaviour. Mplus was used to conduct structural equation modelling to estimate direct and indirect effects.

Results The mean age of the participants was 49.2 years, and about a third had tertiary education. Discretionary salt use was inversely related to age (r=-0.11; p<0.05), and declarative salt knowledge (knowledge of factual information) scores (r = -0.17; p<0.01), but was positively correlated with misconceptions about salt (r = 0.09; p<0.05) and beliefs about the taste of salt (r = 0.51; p<0.001). Structural equation modelling showed age, education and gender were indirectly associated with the use of discretionary salt through three mediating pathways; declarative salt knowledge, misconceptions about salt and salt taste beliefs.

Conclusions Inequalities observed between socio-demographic groups in their use of discretionary salt use can potentially be reduced through targeted salt knowledge and awareness campaigns.

The mediating role of work climate perceptions in the relationship between personality and performance

Although past research has demonstrated a link between personality and job performance, potential enabling factors of this relationship have yet to be explored comprehensively. We hypothesized that perceptions of work climate, specifically relationship dimensions—cohesion, supervisor support, and job involvement—might be the mechanism through which the relationship between personality and job performance can be explained. Two hundred and thirty Australian employees completed an online survey measuring personality, relationship dimensions of work climate (job involvement, coworker cohesion, and supervisor support) and job performance. Results revealed that the relationship dimensions of work climate fully mediated the relationship between agreeableness and job performance, and extraversion and job performance, while the relationship between neuroticism and job performance was partially mediated by relationship dimensions of work climate. Supervisor support primarily accounted for this mediated effect for the neuroticism–job performance relationship, whereas for extraversion only job involvement explained significant unique variance. Our findings suggest that the relationship of agreeableness, extraversion, and neuroticism with job performance is indirect, and perceptions of the work environment itself play a role in this relationship. This implies that organizations should consider the work environment, in addition to personality during selection procedures. Future research should examine whether different levels of work environment dimensions, foster greater job performance in employees.

Effects of formal institutions on the performance of the tourism sector in the Philippines: the mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation

Although formal institutions and entrepreneurial orientation have both been found to contribute separately and positively to firm performance, the interplay between the two factors has not received much attention. This study draws from institutional theory and the entrepreneurship literature to argue that entrepreneurial orientation (EO) provides the mechanism through which the formal institutional environment influences the performance of firms in the tourism sector. Using structural equation modelling and data from a large-scale survey of firms in the tourism sector in the Philippines, it is shown that elements of the institutional environment, by themselves, only have limited influence on tourism firms' performance. EO is shown to partially enhance the effects of the institutional environment on firm performance. The strong mediating effect of entrepreneurial orientation on the relationship between the institutional environment and firm performance is a novel finding and highlights the important role of the government in ensuring that the formal institutional environment promotes entrepreneurship which, in turn, enhances the performance of the tourism sector.

Adolescent television viewing and unhealthy snack food consumption: the mediating role of home availability of unhealthy snack foods

Objective
To examine whether home availability of energy-dense snack foods mediates the association between television (TV) viewing and energy-dense snack consumption among adolescents.
Design
Cross-sectional.
Setting
Secondary schools in Victoria, Australia.
Subjects
Adolescents (n 2984) from Years 7 and 9 of secondary school completed a web-based survey, between September 2004 and July 2005, assessing their energy-dense snack food consumption, school-day and weekend-day TV viewing and home availability of energy-dense snack foods.
Results
School-day and weekend-day TV viewing were positively associated with energy-dense snack consumption among adolescent boys (β = 0·003, P < 0·001) and girls (β = 0·03, P < 0·001). Furthermore, TV viewing (school day and weekend day) were positively associated with home availability of energy-dense snack foods among adolescent boys and girls and home availability of energy-dense snack foods was positively associated with energy-dense snack food consumption among boys (β = 0·26, P < 0·001) and girls (β = 0·28, P < 0·001). Home availability partly mediated the association between TV viewing and energy-dense snack consumption.
Conclusions
The results of the present study suggest that TV viewing has a significant role to play in adolescent unhealthy eating behaviours. Future research should assess the efficacy of methods to reduce adolescent energy-dense snack food consumption by targeting parents to reduce home availability of energy-dense foods and by reducing TV viewing behaviours of adolescents.

Examining the relationship between workplace support and life satisfaction: the mediating role of job satisfaction

This paper examines the influence of perceived organizational support and perceived supervisor support on employee life satisfaction. Structural equation modelling on data from 393 nurses from two Chinese hospitals revealed that job satisfaction fully mediated the relationship between perceived organizational support and life satisfaction. In contrast, perceived supervisor support had a direct influence on life satisfaction rather than a mediated influence through job satisfaction. Our findings highlight the importance of separating the locus of support constructs when examining the impact of support on job and life satisfaction, given that perceived support has different effects depending upon the transmitter of that support. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

The mediating role of innovation in strategic international marketing

© 2014 by IGI Global. All rights reserved. The purpose of this chapter is to empirically examine the mediating role of innovation in strategic international marketing. The theoretical model consists of four variables: firm commitment, innovation, promotion strategy, and firm performance. It is conceptualized that firm commitment influences innovation that mediates the promotion variable, which in turn affects firm performance. A mail-out survey to Australian firms involved in international marketing gathered 315 useable responses. The whole theoretical model was tested using the structural equation modelling, partial disaggregation method. The findings confirm significant relationships among the variables in the theoretical model. All major fit indices from structural equation modelling analysis show satisfactory results for both the measurement model and the structural model. The findings shed light on the deployment of resources and capabilities such as human and financial resources, innovation, and promotion strategy to enhance firm performance. The major contributions of this chapter are the establishment of the mediating role of innovation on promotion strategy and the variables from the resources and capabilities perspective affecting firm performance.

Mentoring functions and turnover intention: the mediating role of perceived organizational support

Despite an increasing number of studies investigating the effects of mentoring on employee work outcomes, limited attention has been placed on the relationship between mentoring functions and turnover intentions. In this study, we examined the relationship between mentoring functions and turnover intentions, and the mediating role of perceived organizational support (POS) on this relationship. Using data collected from 176 employees in three Chinese banks, we found that POS partially mediated the relationship between mentoring functions and employees' turnover intentions.

Revisiting the mediating role of trust in transformational leadership effects: Do different types of trust make a difference?

This study examines the mediating effects of cognitive and affective trust on the relationship between follower perceptions of transformational leadership behavior and their work outcomes. Using data obtained from 318 supervisor-subordinate dyads from a manufacturing organization located in mainland China, structural equation modeling results revealed that affective trust fully mediated the relationships between transformational leadership and the work outcomes of followers, including their affective organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), and job performance. In contrast, cognitive trust negatively mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and follower job performance, and had insignificant effects on their affective organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behaviors. These findings highlight the importance of affective trust as a mechanism which translates transformational leadership into positive work outcomes for the organization. © 2012 Elsevier Inc.