Archives of Business Research

Foundations of a Relativity Marketing Theory

Wael Kortam, Abdelhameed Abbas — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

This research aims to open the way to review of the philosophical postulates and ideological pathways that govern the contributions in marketing theory, to reflect the scientific marketing truth. We do not mean by this to trace the history of marketing thought, but rather, a re-investigation of the logic of its existence and being. It is an attempt to re-explore and depart from the axioms that ruled marketing thought. Marketing theory emerged from being a scientific theory that can be true or false, to be an "ideology” defended by its supporters. From this point; this research set the foundation for developing a new general marketing theory based on the relativity concept, has the ability and adaptation to exceed the boundaries of “product, technology, time, place, context and customer”, acquires its being and existence from the verification of the current philosophy of marketing science, and considering the marketing experience

Relevance of Entrepreneurial Orientation and its Effect on the Performance of Smes in Asaba, Delta State

Marcus EKURE, EDWARD OGBONNIA ELEJE — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The study investigated the relevance of entrepreneurial orientation on the performance of Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Delta State. Other specific objectives are to determine the relationship between proactiveness and SMEs performance; to assess the connection between competitive aggressiveness and SMEs performance; to ascertain the connection between risk-taking and SMEs performance. A cross sectional research design was adopted for the study. A structured questionnaire was developed to elicit data from respondents for the study. This study specifically focused on relationship between proactiveness, competitive aggressiveness, innovativeness and the relationship between risk-taking and SMEs performance. All the staff of selected SMEs were sampled. The analytical technique used for hypotheses testing was the chi-square, using Stata version 13. Findings revealed that, all variables used in this study had a significant and positive relationship with performance of SMEs. Thus, the study concludes that entrepreneurial orientation has a significant relationship with performance of Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs). This study therefore recommends amongst others that more intensive entrepreneurial training and practice be done by students in tertiary institutions as there seems to be no job waiting for graduates among the teeming youths we have in Nigeria today.

Compelling Stories and Storytelling: An Time-Honored Approach from Civilization's Historical Roots: Practical Frameworks, Tips, and Examples for Entrepreneurs and New Ventures

John M. York — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Stories and storytelling date back to humankind's earliest times. Stories have served as a primary avenue for sharing knowledge, history, culture, and information across civilizations. They present an essential mechanism for promoting new ideas and persuading points of view. Successful TED talks highlight how critical stories are in opening a presentation, engaging the audience, and taking participants on the storyteller's journey. Such an approach is essential not only for business executives but also for entrepreneurs and new ventures to engage stakeholders such as customers, partners, and investors.

This discussion delves into understanding the value and structure of compelling stories and storytelling related to the business, institutional, and entrepreneurial settings. It highlights the importance of the story as an opening and using other setup approaches such as SCQR (situation, complication, question, and recommendation). This article provides insights into Freytag's three-act play structure and the role of the hero or heroine (hero(ine)) along with the Minto pyramid structure for making compelling arguments. It offers practical tips for applying storytelling techniques to help stories and storytelling resonate. Throughout this piece offers relevant examples to illustrate the why, how, and what. The discussion closes by connecting storytelling to organizational learning concepts. These include Crossan's 4Is "feed-forward" and Roger's diffusion of innovation theory, both of which embrace the importance of shared language and symbols that stories offer to allow for ideas, knowledge, and innovation to transcend and embed within an institution, ecosystem, or a broader universe of participants and stakeholders.

Does the environment matter, a closer look at the environmental approach by small businesses in Africa developing countries.

Bobo Chazireni — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Environmental Social Responsibility (ESR) is a notion, where business integrates environmental concerns in their operations and the interaction with stakeholders, without compromising profit. To this day, ESR studies are limited to areas of ethics, society and employees while literature is blunt on its impact on societies, consumer behaviour and governments. SMEs in developing countries are not spared their approach to ESR as a sustainability strategy. SMEs’ approach seems to digress from leverage on loyalty which emanates from their nearness to communities who in turn are potential customers. This paper takes a closer look at SMEs’ approach to ESR driven by SME business owners’ perception towards ESR. The paper will take account of SMEs’ behavioural response towards ESR and establish whether they regard ESR a strategic sustainability approach with long-term positive bottom-line benefits.

Results were attained through assessing perceptions of SMEs towards ESR; assessing impact practice of ESR by SMEs; exploring factors that undermining practise of ESR by SMEs. A mixed approach was adopted where data was obtained using face to face interviews. Results showed that the majority of SME business owners had a negative approach towards the practice of ESR. SMEs believe ESR was mainly for large corporations since their operations were hideously affecting the environment. As new knowledge, recommendations from this paper will be shared with Chambers of Commerce in Africa developing countries. Some of the recommendations were that the chambers of commerce, local authorities must proactively support SMEs to practise ESR through awareness workshops, train and share the ESR strategy alignment with business strategy.

THE EFFECT OF FINANCIAL DISTRESS, COMPANY SIZE, AND PREVIOUS YEAR’S AUDIT OPINION ON GOING CONCERN AUDIT OPINION OF TEXTILE AND GARMENT SUB SECTOR COMPANIES

Dyah Mieta setyawati — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

ABSTRACT

Going concern audit opinion is an audit opinion that given by the auditors when they have doubts about the company's ability to sustain its business. The purpose of this study is to determine the influence of financial distress, company size, and the previous year’s audit opinion on going concern audit opinion. The data used is secondary data of textile and garment sub-sector companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The sampling method used was purposive sampling method. The samples used were 15 companies in the textile and garment sub-sector with the 2016-2019 research period. The analysis technique used was the modified Altman method and logistic regression analysis with the help of SPSS version 26. The results of the analysis show that financial distress and the previous year's audit opinion have an effect on going-concern audit opinion. Meanwhile, company size has no effect on going concern audit opinion. And the overall results show that financial distress, company size, and previous year's affect on going concern audit opinion.

Does the Linder hypothesis hold? Recent Japanese case

Yutaka Kurihara — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The theory of comparative advantage has for a long time played one of the most important roles among the theories of international economics. The theory says that a country has to specialize in producing and exporting goods and services that the country can produce at lower opportunity cost than other goods and services. Achieving this, both countries can benefit. The Linder hypothesis focuses on internal demand in a country. It states that the pattern of export goods is determined by internal demand structure. This study empirically analyzes this Linder hypothesis for the recent case of Japan. The Gravity model can be used to obtain theory-consistent estimates of the Linder hypothesis. This model can estimate bilateral international trade on the basis of cross-section data. The results show that the Linder effect has been holding well. Also, FTA (Free Trade Agreement) has been having positive impacts on international trade.

PROFITABILITY PROFITABILITY, FIRM SIZE, CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY DISCLOSURE, AND FIRM VALUE

La Ode Anto La Ode Anto — Sat, 25 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

This study aims to determine the effect of profitability and firm size on firm value through the disclosure of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR Disclosure). The sample in this study was 105 objects of observation obtained using purposive sampling technique from manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The analytical method used is descriptive analysis and path analysis. The results show that profitability has a negative and significant effect on CSR disclosure but is positive and significant on firm value, while firm size has a positive and significant effect on CSR disclosure but is positive and not significant on firm value, while CSR disclosure has a positive and significant effect on firm value and able to mediate the effect of profitability and firm size on firm value.

Should Working From Home be the Norm in Nigeria After Covid_19?

Olufemi Aladejebi — Sat, 25 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

As part of the response to Covid 19, working from home (WFH) was enforced by governments of more than 150 countries in order to curtail the transmission of the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic had brought new business ideas, making organizations change how they conduct their business. This study aims to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of working from home in the scientific literature, using questionnaires, how employees feel about WFH in the aspects of family values, increase of performance, isolation and disrupts work-life balance, how workers cope with WFH. Data was collected from the primary source by using a structured questionnaire completed through google form. The target respondents were employers and employees both from the private sector of the economy . Data was gathered from 504 respondents. SPSS and Excel were used to analyse the data. The majority of the respondents were employees (76.98%), while 23.02% were employers. An inquiry was also made about the marital status of the respondents, and the majority (71.83%) were married while 28.17% were single. The study showed that respondents were still able to connect with their teammates despite working from home, frequently communicate with leaders, and have clarity on working from home policies. It can also be seen that the majority of the respondents enjoyed working from home, although they still look forward to returning to the office. Findings on working from home on family values show that this work style positively influences availability at the home front. Findings on the effect on work performance show average agreement on the positive impact of working from home. Agreement on the negative impact of working from home on office/social interaction and work-life balance was also seen to be on average. It can be inferred from this study that working from home is a work style that employees would prefer to continue post-COVID-19.

Negative Effect of Current Account Surplus on Long-term Growth; Focused on the Cases of Japan, S. Korea and China

Yongshik Choe, Seong-yop You — Sat, 25 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

It is a teaching of current economics that the surplus of current account in international payment contributes to the increase of income. But it has got a negative effect on the long-term growth in the reality, which is easily proved by some instances. First, the Japanese growth rate has been very low despite its current account maintaining a huge surplus. Second, it is another instance that South Korea has suffered from its low growth rate even if its government has enforced the policy to defend its exchange rate from declining while its current account surplus has become large since 1998. Next, the growth rate of China has decreased from the time when its foreign reserve has begun to reduce despite its huge surplus of current account. This paper clarifies the reason why their growths are stagnant despite their huge surpluses in current account. If this paper changes the policies of above countries, it would resolve their economic difficulties and settle the imbalance of the world economy. And this paper would contribute to the evolution of economics.

Asia’s Chemical Distribution Market: The final Frontier for Mergers and Acquisitions!

Tay Kin Bee — Sat, 25 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The chemical distribution business had undergone huge transformational changes globally, through mergers and acquisitions, by both strategic buyers and private equity firms. The industry consolidation process in Europe and North America which started many years ago is now being shifted to Asia. There is very little research being done on Asia’s chemical distribution market size and the major chemical distributors. Asia’s chemical industry enjoyed tremendously high growth in the past years, and coupled with the highly fragmented chemical marketplace, it offers huge scope for consolidation. The lack of information and clarity in Asia’s chemical distribution sector has somewhat impeded the pace of the consolidation process. A clearer knowledge of the chemical distribution market size, and the key players in the market, itself would help potential investors enormously in their decision making to expedite the mergers and acquisitions process.

The research findings can serve as a compass for potential investors to navigate through Asia when searching out for potential targets and would offer investors a much-needed informational tool to know where to look to invest in. Literature review on existing publications, chemical industry trade publications, and chemical distribution associations will provide the background information for this research.