The impacts of market orientation and corporate social responsibility on firm performance:evidence from China

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the joint effects of market orientation (MO) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) on firm performance. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected via a questionnaire survey of star-rated hotels in China and a total of 143 valid responses were received. The hypotheses were tested by employing structural equation modelling with a maximum likelihood estimation option. Findings – It was found that although both MO and CSR could enhance performance, once the effects of CSR are accounted for, the direct effects of MO on performance diminish considerably to almost non-existent. Although this result may be due to the fact that the research is conducted in China, a country where CSR might be crucially important to performance given the country's socialist legacy, it nonetheless provides strong evidence that MO's impact on organizational performance is mediated by CSR. Research limitations/implications – The main limitations include the use of cross-sectional data, the subjective measurement of performance and the uniqueness of the research setting (China). The findings provide an additional important insight into the processes by which a market oriented culture is transformed into superior organizational performance. Originality/value – This paper is one of the first to examine the joint effects of MO and CSR on business performance. The empirical evidence from China adds to the existing literature on the respective importance of MO and CSR.

The cost of sin:the effect of social norms on audit pricing

In this paper we provide evidence for the effects of social norms on audit pricing by studying companies belonging to the alcohol, firearms, gambling, military, nuclear power, and tobacco industries,which are often described as “sin” companies. We hypothesize that the disparities between “sin” firms operations and prevailing social norms create an adverse context which heightens the client's business risk assessment by auditors and is, thereby, reflected in the pricing decisions for audit and consulting services. Having controlled for the impact of variables relating to client attributes, auditor attributes and engagement attributes, we demonstrate that audit firms charge significantly higher audit and consulting fees to companies that deviate from prevailing social norms. Additionally,we show that audit pricing levels within the “sin” group depend both on prevailing political views and on the level of “vice” exhibited by “sin” companies.

Shared action spaces:a basis function framework for social re-calibration of sensorimotor representations supporting joint action

The article explores the possibilities of formalizing and explaining the mechanisms that support spatial and social perspective alignment sustained over the duration of a social interaction. The basic proposed principle is that in social contexts the mechanisms for sensorimotor transformations and multisensory integration (learn to) incorporate information relative to the other actor(s), similar to the "re-calibration" of visual receptive fields in response to repeated tool use. This process aligns or merges the co-actors' spatial representations and creates a "Shared Action Space" (SAS) supporting key computations of social interactions and joint actions; for example, the remapping between the coordinate systems and frames of reference of the co-actors, including perspective taking, the sensorimotor transformations required for lifting jointly an object, and the predictions of the sensory effects of such joint action. The social re-calibration is proposed to be based on common basis function maps (BFMs) and could constitute an optimal solution to sensorimotor transformation and multisensory integration in joint action or more in general social interaction contexts. However, certain situations such as discrepant postural and viewpoint alignment and associated differences in perspectives between the co-actors could constrain the process quite differently. We discuss how alignment is achieved in the first place, and how it is maintained over time, providing a taxonomy of various forms and mechanisms of space alignment and overlap based, for instance, on automaticity vs. control of the transformations between the two agents. Finally, we discuss the link between low-level mechanisms for the sharing of space and high-level mechanisms for the sharing of cognitive representations. © 2013 Pezzulo, Iodice, Ferraina and Kessler.

Incorporating social role theory into topic models for social media content analysis

In this paper, we explore the idea of social role theory (SRT) and propose a novel regularized topic model which incorporates SRT into the generative process of social media content. We assume that a user can play multiple social roles, and each social role serves to fulfil different duties and is associated with a role-driven distribution over latent topics. In particular, we focus on social roles corresponding to the most common social activities on social networks. Our model is instantiated on microblogs, i.e., Twitter and community question-answering (cQA), i.e., Yahoo! Answers, where social roles on Twitter include "originators" and "propagators", and roles on cQA are "askers" and "answerers". Both explicit and implicit interactions between users are taken into account and modeled as regularization factors. To evaluate the performance of our proposed method, we have conducted extensive experiments on two Twitter datasets and two cQA datasets. Furthermore, we also consider multi-role modeling for scientific papers where an author's research expertise area is considered as a social role. A novel application of detecting users' research interests through topical keyword labeling based on the results of our multi-role model has been presented. The evaluation results have shown the feasibility and effectiveness of our model.

Learning in friendship groups:developing students’ conceptual understanding through social interaction

The role that student friendship groups play in learning was investigated here. Employing a critical realist design, two focus groups on undergraduates were conducted to explore their experience of studying. Data from the "case-by-case" analysis suggested student-to-student friendships produced social contexts which facilitated conceptual understanding through discussion, explanation, and application to "real life" contemporary issues. However, the students did not conceive this as a learning experience or suggest the function of their friendships involved learning. These data therefore challenge the perspective that student groups in higher education are formed and regulated for the primary function of learning. Given these findings, further research is needed to assess the role student friendships play in developing disciplinary conceptual understanding.

Social and individual influences on eating in preadolescents:the role of friends’ eating behaviours and individual anxiety and depression

Background: Friends are important role models for the formation of social norms and behaviour comparisons, particularly in children. This study examined the similarities between pre-adolescent children’s own eating behaviours with the eating behaviours of those in their friendship group. It also evaluated whether symptoms of anxiety and depression were related to eating behaviours in this age group. Methods: Three hundred and forty three children (mean age 8.75 years) completed questionnaires designed to measure dietary restraint, emotional eating and external eating, as well as general and social anxiety, and symptoms of depression. Children also provided details about their friendship groups. Results: Pre-adolescents’ dietary restraint was positively predicted by the dietary restraint of members of their friendship groups, and their individual levels of anxiety and depression. The levels of general anxiety exhibited by pre-adolescents predicted emotional and external eating behaviours. Younger children were significantly more likely to report higher levels of emotional and external eating than older children, and boys were more likely to report more external eating behaviours than girls. Conclusions: These results suggest that greater dieting behaviours in pre-adolescents are related to their friends’ reports of greater dieting behaviours. In contrast, greater levels of eating governed by emotions, and eating in response to external hunger cues, are related to greater symptoms of anxiety in pre-adolescent children. Such findings underline the importance of friends’ social influences on dieting behaviours in this age group and highlight the value of targeting healthy eating and eating disorder prevention interventions at pre-adolescents.

Encouraging majority support for immigrant access to health services:multiple categorization and social identity complexity as antecedents of health equality

Health disparities between groups remain even after accounting for established causes such as structural and economic factors. The present research tested, for the first time, whether multiple social categorization processes can explain enhanced support for immigrant health (measured by respondents’ behavioral intention to support immigrants’ vaccination against A H1N1 disease by cutting regional public funds). Moreover, the mediating role of individualization and the moderating role of social identity complexity were tested. Findings showed that multiple versus single categorization of immigrants lead to support their right to health and confirmed the moderated mediation hypothesis. The potential in developing this sort of social cognitive intervention to address health disparities is discussed.

Speaking and pronunciation

We take as our starting point the notion of spoken language in use, drawing on insights from discourse analysis which makes it clear that language is used to negotiate and achieve meaning in social contexts and so cannot be divorced from those contexts. This perspective tasks us beyond a purely psycholinguistic model of speech where underlying mental processes are highlighted (e.g. Levelt, 1989). The perspective also takes us beyond the focus on the sentence, which has traditionally been the unit of analysis in much grammatical analysis and language teaching.

Social capital and tacit knowledge sharing in organisational projects in Malaysian ICT companies

An increasing number of organisational researchers have turned to social capital theory in an attempt to better understand the impetus for knowledge sharing at the individual and organisational level. This thesis extends that research by investigating the impact of social capital on knowledge sharing at the group-level in the organisational project context. The objective of the thesis is to investigate the importance of social capital in fostering tacit knowledge sharing among the team members of a project. The analytical focus is on the Nahapiet and Ghoshal framework of social capital but also includes elements of other scholars' work. In brief, social capital is defined as an asset that is embedded in the network of relationships possessed by an individual or social unit. It is argued that the main dimensions of social capital that are of relevance to knowledge sharing are structural, cognitive, and relational because these, among other things, foster the exchange and combination of knowledge and resources among the team members. Empirically, the study is based on the grounded theory method. Data were collected from five projects in large, medium, and small ICT companies in Malaysia. Underpinned by the constant comparative method, data were derived from 55 interviews, and observations. The data were analysed using open, axial, and selective coding. The analysis also involved counting frequency occurrence from the coding generated by grounded theory to find the important items and categories under social capital dimensions and knowledge sharing, and for further explaining sub-groups within the data. The analysis shows that the most important dimension for tacit knowledge sharing is structural capital. Most importantly, the findings also suggest that structural capital is a prerequisite of cognitive capital and relational capital at the group-level in an organisational project. It also found that in a project context, relational capital is hard to realise because it requires time and frequent interactions among the team members. The findings from quantitative analysis show that frequent meetings and interactions, relationship, positions, shared visions, shared objectives, and collaboration are among the factors that foster the sharing of tacit knowledge among the team members. In conclusion, the present study adds to the existing literature on social capital in two main ways. Firstly, it distinguishes the dimensions of social capital and identifies that structural capital is the most important dimension in social capital and it is a prerequisite of cognitive and relational capital in a project context. Secondly, it identifies the causal sequence in the dimension of social capital suggesting avenues for further theoretical and empirical work in this emerging area of inquiry.

A cybernetic methodology to study and design human activities

This thesis offers a methodology to study and design effective communication mechanisms in human activities. The methodology is focused in the management of complexity. It is argued that complexity is not something objective that can be worked out analytically, but something subjective that depends on the viewpoint. Also it is argued that while certain social contexts may inhibit, others may enhance the viewpoint's capabilities to deal with complexity. Certain organisation structures are more likely than others to allow individuals to release their potentials. Thus, the relevance of studying and designing effective organisations. The first part of the thesis offers a `cybernetic methodology' for problem solving in human activities, the second offers a `method' to study and design organisations. The cybernetics methodology discussed in this work is rooted in second order cybernetics, or the cybernetics of the observing systems (Von Foester 1979, Maturana and Varela 1980). Its main tenet is that the known properties of the real world reside in the individual and not in the world itself. This view, which puts emphasis in a, by nature, one sided and unilateral appreciation of reality, triggers the need for dialogue and conversations to construct it. The `method' to study and design organisations, it based on Beer's Viable System Model (Beer 1979, 1981, 1985). This model permits us to assess how successful is an organisation in coping with its environmental complexity, and, moreover, permits us to establish how to make more effective the responses to this complexity. These features of the model are of great significance in a world where complexity is perceived to be growing at an unthinkable pace. But, `seeing' these features of the model assumes an effective appreciation of organisational complexity; hence the need for the methodological discussions offered by the first part of the thesis.

How habits, social ties, and economic switching barriers affect customer loyalty in contractual service settings

While existing literature acknowledges positive effects of satisfaction and economic switching barriers for building customer loyalty, studies analyzing interactions of these antecedents reveal mixed findings. Prior research does not consider, as antecedents of switching barriers, either habits or social ties that result from shared service-usage within a family or community. This paper contributes to the literature, first, by replicating the effects of satisfaction, economic switching barriers, and their interaction with customer loyalty and word-of-mouth of subscribers to a contractual service. Second, the study empirically tests the role of social ties as a social switching barrier. Third, the study introduces and tests the effects of habits as a precursor of economic and social switching barriers. Results reveal significant positive effects of satisfaction, economic switching barriers, and social ties on customer loyalty and word-of-mouth. Additionally, economic switching barriers and social ties interact significantly with satisfaction and habits act as a precursor of economic switching barriers and social ties.

Living with uncertainty in the age of runtime models

Uncertainty can be defined as the difference between information that is represented in an executing system and the information that is both measurable and available about the system at a certain point in its life-time. A software system can be exposed to multiple sources of uncertainty produced by, for example, ambiguous requirements and unpredictable execution environments. A runtime model is a dynamic knowledge base that abstracts useful information about the system, its operational context and the extent to which the system meets its stakeholders' needs. A software system can successfully operate in multiple dynamic contexts by using runtime models that augment information available at design-time with information monitored at runtime. This chapter explores the role of runtime models as a means to cope with uncertainty. To this end, we introduce a well-suited terminology about models, runtime models and uncertainty and present a state-of-the-art summary on model-based techniques for addressing uncertainty both at development- and runtime. Using a case study about robot systems we discuss how current techniques and the MAPE-K loop can be used together to tackle uncertainty. Furthermore, we propose possible extensions of the MAPE-K loop architecture with runtime models to further handle uncertainty at runtime. The chapter concludes by identifying key challenges, and enabling technologies for using runtime models to address uncertainty, and also identifies closely related research communities that can foster ideas for resolving the challenges raised. © 2014 Springer International Publishing.

Originator or propagator? Incorporating social role theory into topic models for twitter content analysis

A large number of studies have been devoted to modeling the contents and interactions between users on Twitter. In this paper, we propose a method inspired from Social Role Theory (SRT), which assumes that a user behaves differently in different roles in the generation process of Twitter content. We consider the two most distinctive social roles on Twitter: originator and propagator, who respectively posts original messages and retweets or forwards the messages from others. In addition, we also consider role-specific social interactions, especially implicit interactions between users who share some common interests. All the above elements are integrated into a novel regularized topic model. We evaluate the proposed method on real Twitter data. The results show that our method is more effective than the existing ones which do not distinguish social roles. Copyright 2013 ACM.

Design and designing:a critical introduction

Design and Designing provides a broad and critical understanding of what is essentially a practical subject. Designing today is less a craft and more a part of the knowledge economy. It's all about knowing how to acquire knowledge and how to apply it creatively. Design and Designing covers the design process, modelling and drawing, working with clients, production and consumption, sustainability, professional practice and design futures. Chapters are written by expert teachers and practitioners from around the globe, each presenting an accessible and engaging overview of their field of design. Every chapter is highly illustrated with a combination of images and information boxes, which extend or highlight key material. Each section concludes with a design project, a hands-on activity for the reader. Design and Designing covers the full spectrum of design types, from graphic communication to product design, from fashion to games design, setting every type in its aesthetic, ethical and social contexts. With this essential book, readers will learn from today's best practice and best thinking in design, they will develop a critical sense, and become the designers of tomorrow.