Journal of Business and Retail Management Research

        Academics and students across the globe are increasingly using social media (SM) for personal interactions, social connections and educational purposes. The article reviews the awareness and use of SM in teaching by academics and whether they can utilize this platform for effective communication to engage students in learning activities. The overall objective of this research study is to identify how academics can best integrate SM into traditional teaching methods by examining both the advantages and disadvantages of this innovative medium.

        The research study was conducted during 2015 at a New Zealand tertiary educational institution in a business school comprising various departments. A total of 58usable responses were obtained via an E-survey using survey monkey and then analysing the responses. Suggestions are made to educators regarding a viable social digital educational environment using SM. It is concluded that academics are communicating with students in a positive way via the use of SM for educational purposes and that much scope exists to improve the use of SM for educational purposes by academics.

        Cyber-space is a milieu of challenges and opportunities. The proliferation of popular e-portals along with looming ransomware creates the research challenge for this paper. E-based transactions are pervading at all levels of our connected society and needs to be self-sustaining. Given the inherent complexity of e-business models and virtual transaction systems, this paper aims to address the linkage between the product / service offerings in the e-business domain with stages of the product / service life cycle model. The paper addresses the threat gap evoked by vulnerability of cyber security issues such as ransomware, enforcing ‘back to the future’ for reliable pathways for cyber security (Lawerence, et. al. 2017).  The purpose of this conceptually grounded work is to assess the diffusion of innovation at introduction, nascency, growth and maturity stages of the product / service life cycle. Diffusion of innovation product – service life cycle literature informs this research and attempts to analyze the life-cycle stage transition using concepts on centripetal momentum. 

        The Framework Method structures the methodology of this paper, that analyses qualitative data for thematic analysis or qualitative content analysis (Gale, Heath, Cameron, Rashid and Redwood, 2013).  There are a number of findings such as (i) the rate of diffusion of innovation and its effect on sustainability, (ii) impact on entrepreneurship to self-sustaining e-business systems. The outcomes are consistent with the Thailand 4.0 initiative, wherein e-business is transcending to the next level to e-development.  Thailand 4.0 envisions transformation through creativity and innovation (Honorable Prime Minister of Thailand, 2016). This surge driven by the internet, has the potential to change relationships with customers, suppliers and intermediaries. New relationships evolve into entrepreneurship with incubator networks serving as catalysts (Carayannis and Von Zedtwitz, 2005). Novel revenue streams emerge and new business models are created. This happens when strategy blends with e-business, creating an impact that is far more than mere launching of a website.

        E-business trajectory commenced with e-shop, to e-mall, to e-procurement, to e-auction. Current trends are on shared value chains (Hayes and Finnegan, 2005). The dynamics enables entrepreneurship and is transforming the rules of competition. Strategic use of e-business leads to the creation of value-drivers, viz., novelty, lock-in, complementarity, efficiency and excitement. All these parameters are interrelated, and act in unison, though in varied degrees. E-business gives rise to virtual markets where transactions face new challenges. To sustain e-business, value chain analysis should create value in virtual markets. A virtual value chain is a sequence comprising of accessing, organizing, synthesizing and distributing information. E-business thrives on strategic networks as firms, suppliers and customers complement capabilities.

       In the contemporary, Entrepreneurial orientation and Market orientation have become important topics among business academics and practitioners. Since business environment has become more competitive, the need to develop and improve internal resources is now a prerequisite for global survival; entrepreneurial orientation and market orientation are now the crucial falcons that are assisting the firms to achieve such a niche. Despite the importance of MO and EO, researches that link these concepts to SMEs performance are very limited. In this view, through extensive literature view, this study has found a theoretical link that exists between entrepreneurial orientation, market orientation and performance of SMEs and also developed conceptual model for empirical validations. This study serves not only to clarify the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation, market orientation and SMEs performance, it also explains the role which TQM plays as a mediator in this relationship which most studies have neglected. Again, the conceptual model also examines the moderation role of the organizational culture in the relationship between TQM and SMEs performance.

        The review describes the most commonly natural minerals and compounds, which contains zirconium and the structure of zirconium-containing materials consumption in the modern conditions. Substitutes of zirconium products in individual industries are identified. A brief analysis of Russian mineral resources base of zirconium shows the most promising fields and regions with considerable resource potential for the development of zirconium production. An analysis of the volume and structure of world reserves of zirconium identified the major importers and exporters. The analysis of trends in production and consumption of zirconium in Russia and in the world markets showed a high elasticity of zirconium products demand by the price. It is shown that Russia, despite the availability of resources, is dependent on the import of zirconium.

        The article presents the forecast of zirconium production and consumption in the world market, which shows the necessity of Russian zirconium industry development to enter international markets and meet the needs of the country.

        Monica and Manoj, founders of Craftsvilla.com, once had an opportunity to interact with rural artisans and designers, in her road trip to Kutch. While interacting, they realized that the middlemen involved in this unorganized retail business were paid very less for the products. The single reason for this disparity they found was the process of taking the art form to retail stores (middleman involved). Most of the artisans, because of no return from the business, want to disengage their future generations to learn the art.

        The reasons for the extinct includes illiteracy, inability to reach the customers, lack of awareness to understand customer needs and customization, better bargaining power of the middlemen, lack of awareness about the government support programs, lack of mentors to guide them, poverty, and so on. With the passion for Indian culture and the urge to benefit the artisan-producers, they decided to work on an e-commerce business model, craftsvilla.com, a $200million start-up. The idea was to create a platform where the artisans could directly connect with consumers and earn a good livelihood. The present case study on Craftsvilla. Com is built under the context to explore the concept of co-creation in e-commerce industry and the business opportunities for Craftsvilla through co-creation. The data for the case study was collected over a period of 10 months, starting from October 2015 to August 2016.Data collection primarily was through regular interaction with the founders, artisans, employees, and customers of Craftsvilla. Learning from the case will help to identify various methodologies to adopts co-creation opportunities by engaging stakeholders.  

        E-government is increasingly being implemented in all areas of government administration. It is increasing efficiency and transparency and bringing convenience and safety to citizens’ lives, and consequently improving the quality of life. E-government is a transformation of government processes, transactions, and policy making and implementation that are efficiently carried out through information and communication technologies to provide better and efficient services to the citizens while reducing waste and corruption and increasing accountability, transparency, and trust.

      This paper discusses the efforts of Korean government to transforming with transparency, competency, service-oriented government.

        Chrysanthemum flowers are a commodity with a chance to be developed. The colour of chrysanthemum flowers determines its economic value, thus becoming a major factor in choosing which types of flowers to be cultivated. This is a survey research. This research was carried out on market actors in Special Region of Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta (DIY) and Central Java to obtain the preference of chrysanthemum flowers market in supporting Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta (DIY) as the centre of chrysanthemum seeds and cut flowers. Market survey is also used to know the types of chrysanthemum flowers that consumers need. Research results showed that the largest consumer of cut flowers come from office workers that happen to be loyal customers. Yellow and white chrysanthemums are the most commonly selected flowers by consumers as they are believed to create a sense of social energy and hope, as well as being able to stimulate mental activities and are generally attractive.

        This study explores factors affecting debt level among young adults in Malaysia.  Previous studies have linked material values, money management skills, and economic factors to credit card debt and student debt, but this study extends the previous research by investigating various forms of consumers’ debt in an emerging market where vulnerable youths are frequently bombarded with materialistic media messages that trigger their spending behaviour. In particular, variables such as pursuits of materialistic attitudes, money management attributes, and income level are examined in this study to see whether they are predictors of youth debt in Malaysia. A self-administered survey on 629 respondents centered around northern part of Malaysia was conducted based on convenience and judgmental sampling techniques.

        The findings suggest that money management skills and income level significantly influence the debt level of Malaysian young adults. Interestingly, materialism variable is insignificant, implying that young Malaysians represented in this sample do not possess materialistic attitude that lead to indebtness. The findings provide insights to the policy maker and the government to inculcate awareness of basic money management skills to ensure that the younger generation does not fall into the state of excessive debt which could lead to financial insolvency.

         Brand Equity is an important concept in marketing academia and practice. It has long been studied but still there are gaps to be filled. The research aims to explain marketers of how brand extension strategy and brand personality can enhance brand equity. Co-branding and brand personality are the emerging development in market which attract scholars to explore for future implications.

        This research is conducted in the telecom sector of Pakistan. Based on the responses from 619 cellular users, the study explains the relationship between co-branding and brand personality with brand equity. The results are highly significant, co-branding and brand personality have strong relation with brand equity enhancement, and when they are observed together, their impact synergized to increase brand value. Hence, our findings indicate that users of the telecommunication brands do ascribe personality characteristics to the brands they use. The study also gives future directions to research on.

        Optimal investment in working capital is vital to provide liquidity and enhance firm performance. This paper seeks to determine the quadratic relationship between working capital management (WCM) and firm performance. Also, this paper examines the effect of deviation from optimal WCM on firm performance. Therefore, the study uses a sample of 75 non-financial firms listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange from 2007 to 2015. It adopts the cash conversion cycle component of working capital management to evaluate the quadratic assumption using panel regression. The empirical results from the sample of the study indicate that the relationship between working capital management and firm performance is quadratic. This study also found that an optimal level exits at which investments in working capital will yield the maximum return. This study concludes that deviation from the optimal level of investments in WCM (either above or below) affects the performance of firms. The study, therefore, recommends that firms should promote best practices for maintaining optimal working capital investment level to enhance their performance and sustain growth.

        The increased expansion of E-commerce and internet along with the development of technology has changed business operations and functioning. Internet banking is considered an opportunity for banks to have differentiated services provided for their customers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that affect customers’ adoption of internet banking in Egypt in light of technology acceptance model (TAM). The study adopted a quantitative approach through distributing questionnaires in public and private banks’ customers operating in Egypt.

         The results indicated that website characteristics, computer efficacy, and perceived risk had a direct impact on customers’ adoption of internet banking. These variables were considered an extension to TAM when studying internet banking adoption. It is suggested that financial banks give continuous attention to their websites and provide their customers with easy and useful access to internet banking services. Banks should be concerned with inhibitors of internet banking such as perceived risk in order to keep existing customers and attract new ones.

        This paper is the first to investigate the factors that affect customers’ adoption of internet banking in Egypt after banks introduced many of their services over their websites.

        The intricate nature of the African agricultural-food system and the related multi-sectoral value chains capability challenges means that efforts to transform the current landscape to achieve food security in developing countries cannot escape complexity. A burgeoning body of research that uses the innovation systems approach to drive agricultural development in developing countries is emerging. In this article, we argue that social agro-entrepreneurship has the potential to create the possibility space to make smallholder ventures sustainable.

        This can be achieved via collective approach to transformation provided within agricultural innovation platforms. The development of agribusiness capabilities is considered from the complexity science perspective. We draw an analogy from the theoretical framework provided by the Leadership Capabilities Model of Hazy (2006) to explain how strategic institutional entrepreneurship can co-evolve towards fit within innovation platforms by harnessing capabilities simultaneously across sectors and at different levels through adaptive governance. Cross-sector partnerships are important to leverage the transformation of the smallholder sector towards stable ventures.

        The purpose of the present work is carrying out analysis of possibilities to improve the professional competence of personnel by implementing the most effective model of staff development. The urgency of the work is stipulated by the undeniable fact that one of the most important issues in the personnel management system is the development of professional competencies. This is confirmed by the experience of leading companies in advanced countries, whose success is achieved primarily due to the creation of highly effective personnel management mechanisms, which are based on an integrated approach to the use and development of labor potential.

        Research methodology is based on the case-studies method oriented to the study of several models of personnel development of the companies involved in the study to compare their efficiency. This article describes the main theoretical and methodological aspects of people strategy development (staff development strategies) considering peculiarities and specificity of the socio-economic development of Russia. The article summarizes the key problems of people strategy development, which contribute to raising the level of professional competence of staff in the Russian business entities. The following conclusions were drawn based on research matter of the present article:

    -  based on the analysis and empirical comparison of Russian and foreign approaches (case studies of Lundbeck, Nordea Bank, Media Market, and LANIT companies) to the staff development, basic strategic models that can be used to enhance the level of professional competence of employees of the Russian business entities have been structured;

    -  it has been revealed that the most advanced systems of staff development aimed at enhancing the professional competence of the staff do not always have complex structure, at that more advanced staff development systems are adaptive and proactive (i.e. are focused on the development of competencies that will be needed not only in the present but in the future);

    -  main recommendations for improving approaches to staff development of Russian business entities have been proposed considering the best foreign practices (best practices of leading European companies), as well as considering features of socio-economic development of Russia in the current transition period.

        The practical significance of the obtained results consists in the possibility of their use for the development of contemporary practice-oriented solutions related to the improvement of the personnel potential of Russian companies.

        This study assessed the influence of brand awareness, brand association and product quality on brand loyalty and repurchase intention among male consumers of cosmetic brands in South Africa. It is also imperative to note that, despite the theoretical contributions made by many scholars on repurchase intention of various brands, they seem to be a paucity of studies that have investigated the influence of brand awareness, brand association and product quality on brand loyalty and repurchase intention. The study utilized a quantitative research design using a structured questionnaire. In addition, they study made use of a sample of male consumers in Gauteng province of South Africa. Four hypotheses were posited and to empirically test these hypotheses, a sample data set of 150 was used. The findings indicate that brand awarenesshas a positive and significant influence on brand loyalty, brand association has a positive and insignificant influence on brand loyalty, product quality has a positive and significant influence on brand loyalty and brand loyalty exerts a positive and significant influence on purchase intention. The empirical study provided fruitful implications to academicians by making a significant contribution to the brand management literature by systematically exploring the influence of brand awareness, brand association and product quality on brand loyalty and repurchase intention. This study therefore, stand to immensely contribute new knowledge to the existing body of brand management literature in Africa – a context that is often most neglected by some researchers in developing countries.

        Hostess Brands, Inc. served as the largest manufacturer and distributor of baked goods products in the United States for decades.  Throughout numerous mergers and acquisitions, the company’s growth resulted in a series of problems leading to bankruptcy.  The three key problems included high legacy costs, shrinking profits, and significant, long-term debt.  This research is a case study utilizing Gilbert’s Behavioral Engineering Model to evaluate the issues that led to the bankruptcy of Hostess Brands, Inc.

        The aim of the paper is to empirically examine how perceived safety and procedural justice effect satisfaction service recovery of domestic airline passengers in Nigeria. The study uses survey method, quantitative in nature. Using PLS SEM the conceptual model was tested with a sample of 444 passengers obtained through cluster sample. From the result, both perceptions of safety and procedural justice are important to domestic airline passenger satisfaction when evaluating the airline's recovery effort in Nigeria. Empirical evidence showed that satisfaction service recovery is directly influenced by perceived safety and procedural justice.

         The main limitation is that the study uses cross-sectional sample of airline passengers. It also relied on information from prospective domestic airline passengers, while neglecting other type of passengers. The research shows that passengers’ perception of safety, determine their satisfaction with service recovery. It shows that in situations of failure similar to the present, safety perception, procedural justice should be given preference during service recovery.

         The study fortifies the justice theory in service recovery of domestic airline context by including perception of safety. However, through empirical testing the perception of safety, procedural justice variables determine satisfaction with recovery. It suggests that airline industry faced with service failure need to consider the passengers’ perception of safety and procedural justice during recovery.

        The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between corporate social responsibility disclosure and firm performance in publicly-listed firms in Thailand using a stakeholder theory, proposed by R. Edward Freeman (1984). The theory identifies stakeholders in six groups: shareholders, customers, employees, suppliers, the local community and the natural environment. Data were collected based on the content analysis from annual reports published by the 394 companies in the Stock Exchange of Thailand 2014. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify the relationship between CSR and firm performance. The study found that all six group dimensions of CSR disclosure are positively related to return on assets (ROA), particularly disclosure in dimensions such as investors and customers. This study furthers understanding of CSR disclosure and its consequences.

        The Online retailing as a worldwide medium which is rapidly acquiring emphasis as the most advanced purchasing concept.  Online purchasing for various consumers is being recognized as an innovative shopping mode compared to other modes of shopping. Understanding the influence of various service quality attributes on customer e-Satisfaction is very important for online vendors to bring-in suitable service strategies.  If the vendors doing business in the online environment can analyze the factors influencing customer e-Satisfaction in online retailing and the relationship between these factors, then they can formulate influential strategies to retain existing customers for a longer period. This study is conducted to identify the association between the influential attributes and customer e-Satisfaction in the online retailing environment.  The association between the service quality outcome and the perceived value attributes is analyzed in order to understand their influence on customer e-Satisfaction. The outcome of this study suggests that efficient implementation of web atmosphere by giving importance to both hedonic and utilitarian value can influence customer e-Satisfaction very proficiently in online retailing context.

        This study investigates the factors that significantly affect the acceptance e-commerce in Jordan. These factors were Culture factor and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) Characteristics. This study adopted the deductive approach to reach its objectives. It presents a theoretical framework for the construction of hypotheses. The hypotheses were tested to obtain the findings that may be generalized afterwards. 154 students from different universities in Jordan participated in this study. After reviewing several related studies, the Likert five- point scale questionnaire was constructed for gathering the required data, which were then analyzed using the SPSS software.

        This study aims to examine whether an improvement effect appears in communication competence of university students when applying the project-based learning to “Systems Analysis & Design” subject. The study conducted the analysis on the lowest communication competence of job-seeking students among various areas of basic occupation skills while thought to be the most important in the industry.

        The study conducted the analysis on the lowest communication competence of job-seeking students among various areas of basic occupation skills while thought to be the most important in the industry.

        From the study results, the project-based learning was shown to be generally effective in improving the communication competence of the university students. Among the sub-factors of communication competence, especially, the ability of listening, open communication, proactive communication, and understanding others’ perspectives revealed significant results. Through this study, it was identified that the project-based learning is a useful teaching-learning method in improving the basic vocational skills of university students; however, there is a need for new studies to improve some abilities belonging to the sub-areas of communication.

        This paper deals with the problems of industrial products quality in Russia, its control and maintenance. Our analysis of the identified issues is industry-specific: we study how products quality is assured in machine-tool and radio electronics equipment manufacture; some specific features of these processes in defence industry are identified and described. We define the areas where quality management systems can be improved and further developed at machine-tool manufacture plants. We also suggest certain concrete recommendations for developing highly competitive companies that produce radio electronic devices. We propose a system of quality maintenance for defense enterprises.

        Organizational culture has been characterized as the “glue that holds organizations together”. Culture can support linkages between technology adoption and organizational growth; it can be a critical success factor in organization growth strategy and play a crucial role in determining the success or failure of organization. The term ‘job satisfaction’ is quite frequently used for individual attitudes towards the specific aspects of total work situation.  The purpose of the study was to examine the level of Job Satisfaction and Organization Culture in organized retail sector. To examine the relationship between Organizational Culture and Job Satisfaction and to offer suitable suggestions to stake holders for improving the Job Satisfaction and make better Organizational Culture in retail sector. The present study was conducted on 436 employees of organized retail sectors randomly drawn using questionnaire method.  The results obtained indicates that the employees were experiencing moderate level of OCTAPACE culture and also moderate level of job satisfaction and dominant culture components includes Openness and Risk taking, Confrontation, Pro-action, Collaboration and Experimentation. It was further explored and found that there is significant positive correlation exists between organizational culture and job satisfaction.

        USSR, as a whole, has declined substantially, and some types of mineral raw materials became scarce. Among them are titanium-containing raw materials. Therefore, solution of the problem to ensure the long term raw material titanium industry of the country and to strengthen the overall mineral potential - becomes important issue. A comparative analysis of the mineral resource base structure of the USSR and the Russian Federation is carried out. A preliminary assessment of prospects for reconstruction of the mineral and raw material base for titanium consuming industries is presented.