A Model of Competitive Impression Management: Edison versus Westinghouse in the War of the Currents

Benjamin M. Cole, David Chandler
Administrative Science Quarterly,
Organizational impression management theory traditionally explains how firms manage threats from specific events or from campaigns orchestrated by non-competitors, such as activists or regulators, but has not attempted to explain the complex dynamics of impression management campaigns orchestrated by a firm’s competitor. To address this oversight, we analyze one of the bitterest rivalries in corporate historythe war of the currents between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse, which ended in the triumph of Westinghouse’s alternating current over Edison’s direct current for electric power transmission. We define competitive impression management as activity by a firm or its employees that is intended to alter the perceptions of a competing firm or its offerings in the eyes of a common audience. By combining historical case study and grounded theory methods, our findings reveal that the war of the

When is it Good to be Bad? Contrasting Effects of Multiple Reputations for Bad Behavior on Media Coverage of Serious Organizational Errors

David Chandler, Francisco Polidoro Jr., Wei Yang
Academy of Management Journal,
We have long known that organizational reputation is consequential. While highlighting the effects of a reputation for ‘good’ behavior, however, prior work has largely overlooked the possibility that a reputation for ‘bad’ behavior is qualitatively distinct. In addition, we know that organizational reputation is multidimensional. Although this is conceptually intriguing only if different types of reputation produce different effects, concurrent tests of such differences are rare. In response, we study the effects of multiple reputations for bad behavior on media coverage of a serious error by the firm. Due to the need for the news to be ‘new,’ we predict the media is more likely to cover errors that supplement a firm’s general ‘character reputation,’ but will likely ignore errors that are redundant given a firm’s specific ‘capability reputation.’ We test this theory in the context of 113 major oil spills in the U.S., from 1985 to 2016. Results

Addressing Construct Intensity in Entrepreneurship: Log-Transformed Guttman Scaling with Need for Achievement as Exemplar

Francisco J. Conejo, Clifford E. Young, Ben Wooliscroft, Madhavan Parthasarathy
Entrepreneurship Research Journal,
Unlike physical science, entrepreneurship lacks measurement units through which to quantify constructs properly. This study explores the viability of logarithmically transformed Guttman scaling (GS). Need for Achievement (nAch), a quintessential entrepreneurial feature, illustrates the technique’s application. A valid and reliable 10-item Guttman nAch scale is developed, its unidimensionality psychometrically confirmed. Compliant with measurement theory, the scale offers concatenatable units that quantify nAch intensity. GS is a viable complement to psychometric methods, a useful addition to entrepreneurship’s methodological repertoire. Researchers are encouraged to expand their view of entrepreneurial constructs. Also approaching them from an intensity perspective offers fertile ground for future inquiry.

Using similarity measures for medical event sequences to predict mortality in trauma patients

Joel Fredrickson, Michael Mannino, Omar Alqahtani, Farnoush Banaei-Kashani
Decision Support Systems,Vol. 116, Pages: 35-47.
We extend a similarity measure for medical event sequences (MESs) and evaluate its classification performance for retrospective mortality prediction of trauma patient outcomes. Retrospective mortality prediction is a benchmarking task used by trauma care governance bodies to assist with policy decisions. We extend the similarity measure, the Optimal Temporal Common Subsequence for MESs (OTCS-MES), by generalizing the event-matching component with a plug-in weighting element. The extended OTCS-MES uses an event prevalence weight developed in our previous study and an event severity weight developed for this study. In the empirical evaluation of classification performance, we provide a more complete evaluation than previous studies. We compare the predictive performance of the Trauma Mortality Prediction Model (TMPM), an accepted regression approach for mortality prediction in trauma data

Crisis Management: Resilience and Change

Sarah Kovoor-Misra
SAGE Publications,
Modern organizational crises are complex, diverse, and frequent. Ineffective crisis management can result in catastrophic loss. Crisis Management: Resilience and Change introduces students to best practices for preventing, containing, and learning from crises in our global, media-driven society. While covering the strengths of existing works on crisis management, such as systems, leadership, communication, and stakeholder perspective, this innovative new text goes beyond to include global, ethical, change, and emotional aspects of crisis communication. Using her proven transformative crisis management framework, Sarah Kovoor-Misra illustrates how organizations of all sizes can be adaptable, proactive, resilient, and ethical in the face of calamity.

Revisiting the Brand Luxury Index: new empirical evidence and future directions

Francisco J Conejo, Lawrence F Cunningham, Clifford E Young
Journal of Brand Management,Pages: 1-15.
Studies increasingly question the robustness of luxury marketing’s most prominent scale, Vigneron and Johnson’s (J Brand Manag 11 (6): 484-506, 2004) Brand Luxury Index (BLI). However, these studies’ isolated and occasionally obscure nature has kept this issue outside marketing’s mainstream. Given the contextual/methodological differences between these studies, calls to evaluate the BLI further, and the importance of ascertaining this instrument’s robustness, this research is the first to systematically address the issue and provide more conclusive evidence of BLI performance. This paper comprises four studies with US students, Chinese students, US consumers, and pooled data. Results consistently indicate that the BLI is factorially unstable. On average, only 30% of its items operate adequately. The present results confirm growing BLI concerns. We conclude that luxury brand dimensionality remains

Disentangling and assessing uncertainties in multiperiod corporate default risk predictions

Miao Yuan, Cheng Yong Tang, Yili Hong, Jian Yang
Annals of Applied Statistics,Vol. 12, Issue 4, Pages: 2587-2617.
Measuring the corporate default risk is broadly important in economics and finance. Quantitative methods have been developed to predictively assess future corporate default probabilities. However, as a more difficult yet crucial problem, evaluating the uncertainties associated with the default predictions remains little explored. In this paper, we attempt to fill this blank by developing a procedure for quantifying the level of associated uncertainties upon carefully disentangling multiple contributing sources. Our framework effectively incorporates broad information from historical default data, corporates’ financial records, and macroeconomic conditions by (a) characterizing the default mechanism, and (b) capturing the future dynamics of various features contributing to the default mechanism. Our procedure overcomes the major challenges in this large scale statistical inference problem and makes it practically feasible by

Better stories for social media branding

Francisco J Conejo
Journal of Digital & Social Media Marketing,Vol. 6, Issue 3, Pages: 228-240.
As frequently touted in books, articles and presentations, storytelling plays a vital role in social media branding. However, perusal of what is done in the field reveals that social media storytelling remains lacking. This paper revisits literary theory, without getting too technical, to briefly address some storytelling fundamentals. It covers key elements such as themes, settings, characters and plots. It also discusses ancillary considerations such as story openings and endings, length, temporal linearity, episodes, sub-plots, rhythm and syncopation, tension, authenticity and transmedia distribution. In doing so, the paper provides broad guidelines as to how practitioners might improve their social media storytelling, and thereby, their branding.

Risks of Addressing vs. Ignoring Our Biggest Societal Problems: When and How Moon Shots Make Sense

Sim B Sitkin, C Chet Miller, Kelly E See
The Routledge Companion to Risk, Crisis and Emergency Management (Book Chapter),Pages: 511-515.
Recent press reports as well as casual observations suggest we have serious societal problems, with most of them being addressed insuciently, or even being ignored. From the almost apocalyptic problems of war and famine in the South Sudan, to the disruption of Rocky Mountain ecosystems in North America and the uncontrolled population growth in many parts of the world, large-scale problems and their associated risks are threatening human societies. In recognition of these problems, the United Nations recently has set new goals in several critical areas related to sustainability, including:

Third-party certifications as an organizational performance liability

Vinit M Desai
Journal of Management,Vol. 44, Issue 8, Pages: 3096-3123.
Third-party accreditations and certifications can provide legitimacy or signal trustworthiness about an organization and its products or services, and with very little exception, the vast majority of research on these labels focuses on their benefits. Yet the value of becoming accredited may change dramatically over time. Little research, if any, has examined the processes through which this occurs. Here, I develop theory about three mechanisms that could each tarnish the value of accreditation and reduce its performance impact. First, “quality patching” occurs when organizations are penalized if they seek accreditation shortly after problems occur, as observers believe such pursuits reflect superficial impression-management efforts. Second, “legitimacy dilution” occurs when the value of third-party accreditations becomes diluted as third parties certify more and more businesses. Finally, “stigma transfer” occurs when a

Audit partner identification and characteristics: Evidence from US Form AP filings

Jenna J Burke, Rani Hoitash, Udi Hoitash
Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory,
This paper investigates the overall impact of and the information made available by the recent audit partner disclosure requirement in the U.S. After a contentious comment period, the PCAOB released Rule 3211, which requires registered public accounting firms to disclose the name of the audit partner for every audit report it issues. In the first year of adoption, we find a significant increase in audit quality and audit fees and a significant decrease in audit delay. Furthermore, we collect information on partner gender, busyness, education, and social connections to explore whether these newly observable characteristics are associated with audit outcomes. We find that several of these characteristics are associated with variations in audit fees and audit delay, but no evidence of an association with audit quality. Overall, our findings suggest that the disclosure of partner name in Form AP enhances the audit information

The employer-branding journey: its relationship with cross-cultural branding, brand reputation, and brand repair

Brooke Z Graham, Wayne F Cascio
Management Research,Vol. 16, Issue 4, Pages: 363-379.
Purpose One purpose of this paper is to emphasize the relationship between employees as brand ambassadors and the concept of an employer brand. Another is to consider cross-cultural employer branding in the context of global talent management. The authors also clarify the connection between organizational image, organizational identity and organizational reputation, and address how positive and negative brand reputation can affect an organization. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a literature review of findings with respect to topics such as competitive strategy and constructs from the literature on employer branding to identify some key research questions to address. They then consider cross-cultural employer branding and brand repair in the context of talent management, along with more key questions to address in each area. Findings A positive employer brand – with its strong

The Role of Service Recovery in Online Privacy Violation

Bidyut B Hazarika, James Gerlach, Lawrence Cunningham
International Journal of E-Business Research (IJEBR),Vol. 14, Issue 4, Pages: 1-27.
In this study, the authors address the question of whether firms may successfully pursue service recovery strategies after severe online privacy violations. The study treats online privacy violations as a service failure and uses justice theory to measure repurchasing intention after consumer complaints in three different scenarios. The three scenarios differ in the sense that the accountability and the outcome of the service failure are different. The results indicate that despite the different instances of online privacy violation in each scenario, the service recovery efforts consistently created satisfaction with service recovery, significantly increased consumer trust, decreased perceived risk and increased repurchase intentions. The study finds that that both distributive and procedural justice plays an important role in online service recovery while interactional justice did not have any impact. Finally, even in cases of severe

Bridging past and present entrepreneurial marketing research: A co-citation and bibliographic coupling analysis

Fabian Most, Francisco J Conejo, Lawrence F Cunningham
Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship,Vol. 20, Issue 2, Pages: 229-251.
Purpose Literature in entrepreneurial marketing (EM) continues to grow in volume and diversity. This paper aims to examine the topical structure of EM’s literature toward guiding research in the field. Design/methodology/approach A four-phase bibliometric research design is implemented, encompassing co-citation and bibliographic-coupling analyses, network analysis, factor analysis and correspondence analysis. Findings In total, 14 EM literature clusters, comprising 7 topical meta-clusters, are mapped and discussed: the 7 clusters are resources and capabilities, entrepreneurial orientation (EO), measurement, EO/marketing orientation (MO) integration, MO, international entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship. Originality/value These topical streams confirm, refine and extend prior bibliometric studies. A more comprehensive, extensive and reliable picture of EM’s literature is provided, the result of using

Conditional co-skewness and safe-haven currencies: A regime switching approach

Kalok Chan, Jian Yang, Yinggang Zhou
Journal of Empirical Finance,Vol. 48, Pages: 58-80.
We examine hedging benefits of safe-haven currencies in terms of currency co-skewness with the global stock market (covariance between currency return and global equity volatility) derived from a Markov regime switching model. Of the major currencies, the US dollar, the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc have positive currency co-skewness, providing a hedge against global stock volatility. Moreover, lower excess returns and associated lower interest rates on these currencies are partially attributable to their positive co-skewness because currency co-skewnesses are significantly priced with the expected negative risk premia. The co-skewness pricing effect remains robust even after allowance for time-varying or downside beta, volatility and skewness.

Knowledge sharing in a health infomediary: role of self-concept, emotional empowerment, and self-esteem

Sumate Permwonguswa, Jiban Khuntia, Dobin Yim, Dawn Gregg, Abhishek Kathuria
Health Systems,Vol. 7, Issue 3, Pages: 181-194.
Health infomediary systems are emerging as important knowledge sharing platforms that help patients manage their own health outside of traditional health care delivery models. Patients participate in health infomediaries to learn from other patients’ experiences and knowledge. Knowledge sharing is an important aspect of the success of a health infomediary. Factors related to self-concept have been widely studied in the domains of psychiatry and psychology, in settings such as mental health and behavioural well-being, but remain unexplored in the digital health context. In particular, it is not known how self-concept influences knowledge sharing behaviours in health infomediaries. This study posits that self-efficacy, social identity, and self-stigma drive knowledge sharing in an infomediary through emotional empowerment and appearance-contingent self-esteem. We use the health belief model as a foundation to

The role of online freelance stock analysts in correcting overly pessimistic market sentiment

Myungsun Kim, Robert Kim, Onook Oh, H Raghav Rao
Managerial Finance,Vol. 44, Issue 8, Pages: 954-971.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of online freelance stock analysts in correcting mispricing of hard-to-value firms during sentiment-driven market periods. Design/methodology/approach The sample covers 23,758 Seeking Alpha articles obtained for the period between January 2005 and September 2011. The authors use OLS regressions to test the stock market reaction around Seeking Alpha analysts’ reports. The information in online analysts’ reports is measured by the tone of stock articles posted in SeekingAlpha.com (SA). Findings The analysis reveals that the degree of negative tone of their stock articles is related to three-day stock returns around the article posting dates. It further reveals that the relation between these returns and prevailing market sentiment depends on firm-specific susceptibility to the market sentiment. The three-day stock returns are higher during low market

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Organizational Rankings: A Multidisciplinary Review of the Literature and Directions for Future Research

Violina P. Rindova, Luis L. Martins, Santosh B. Srinivas, David Chandler
Journal of Management,Vol. 44, Issue 6, Pages: 2175-2208.
A review of the literature on organizational rankings across management, sociology, education, and law reveals three perspectives on these complex evaluationsrankings are seen as a form of information intermediation, as comparative orderings, or as a means for surveillance and control. The information intermediation perspective views rankings as information products that address information asymmetries between the ranked organizations and their stakeholders; the comparative orderings perspective views them as representations of organizational status and reputation; and the surveillance and control perspective emphasizes their disciplining power that subjects ranked organizations to political and economic interests. For each perspective, we identify core contributions as well as additional questions that extend the current body of research. We also identify a new perspectiverankings entrepreneurship

Auditor-provided lobbying service and audit quality

Brian Burnett, Hui Chen, Katherine Gunny
Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance,Vol. 33, Issue 3, Pages: 402-434.
Regulators and the public have expressed concerns about accounting firms lobbying politicians and regulators on behalf of their own audit clients because it could pose an advocacy threat to auditor independence. In this study, we examine whether these lobbying activities by accounting firms are associated with their clients’ audit quality. As required disclosures of lobbying activities under the Lobbying Disclosure Act are very limited, we construct a proxy to capture auditor lobbying on behalf of audit clients. Using our proxy for lobbying, we find that perceived audit quality (measured using earnings response coefficients) is negatively related to lobbying. However, we fail to find that actual audit quality is lower for these clients (measured as the propensity to restate earnings, propensity to issue a going-concern opinion, and discretionary accruals). Our findings suggest that investors perceive auditors’ lobbying for

University of Colorado Denver Business School