Human Systems Management

This study examines the causality effects between quality control assurance certification and corporate performance. The study uses the matching method that Donald B. Rubin first introduced in 1974. By matching the 2006 COI survey and the DIANE database, the available data show that: while quality control assurance certification has given a major boost to French companies’ financial capital productivity, it has no effect on their added value, turnover and the labor productivity.

To assess the impact of cloud computing usage on business performance, this article presents an integrative research model that links, environmental, organizational and technological capability constructs. And to fill a literature gap, the study focuses on post adoption stages, i.e., actual usage and value creation, by surveying403 manufacturing firms in India. The data are analyzed through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, yet structural equation modeling further tests the proposed model. The results show that business, human and technological capital, change management, organizational culture, and regulatory and supplier support are all vital antecedents of cloud computing usage, with firm size moderating actual usage and performance. The unique insights the results provide can help organizations enhance their cloud computing adoption and thereby improve their business performance.

Both in developing and developed countries, creative industries have been recently self-developing rapidly, especially in the fashion sub-sector. Creative-firm owners need creative employees, including creative designers, and marketing and production workers. This article examines employee creativity in daily working activities and owners’ efforts to build their firms’ creativity. Using the case-study approach, the research samples twenty owners of Indonesia’s fashion sub-sectors. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and observations. A major finding is that working in fashion sub-sectors requires knowledge, creative attitude and skills, and professional qualifications, moderated by the working environment, human relationships and motivation, and collegial leadership and management. Creative-firm owners too are trying to encourage employee creativity through training on the job and in other institutions, and by hiring professional experts.

Earlier studies on personal data protection (PDP) have focused on the laws that were passed by the stakeholders or the techniques to mask private data through qualitative analysis and quantitative research or both. There is very little if not there has been no literature written on the impact of personal data protection (PDP) regulations on operational workflow of organizations. This study aims to identify the independent variables of personal data protection (PDP) regulations that impacts operational workflow. The result of the study shows that technology, regulation, types of processes, implementation and company policy impact the operational workflow of organizations in the form of enhanced security, better-quality project deployment, tightly monitored data collection, disclosure and use of data, well-informed employees and solid company policies. These can very well translate to improvement of an organization’s operational workflow.

In this article, we develop a game model and examine two types of tactics for a common supplier in buyer-supplier-buyer relations: (a) to remain as a pure supplier and execute private knowledge exploitation by advantage of its structural hole position, or (b) to enter into the product market, so as to increase its revenue. The results of our study reveal that: (1) it will be more beneficial for focal supplier to stay in upstream if the entry barrier is high, which is determined by entry cost (the capital to spend for purchasing equipment) and invisible obstacles, e.g. the proprietary product knowledge privately owned by incumbent players, and the collaborative defense by partner buyers. (2) Focal supplier could create positive economic performance if it enters the product market successfully by overcoming various entry barriers. (3) Consumer’s welfare could be improved if the focal supplier enters product market.

Online impulse buying (OIB) has drawn increasing scholarly attention across disciplines. The current study aims to examine how motivational factor (Hedonic and utilitarian web browsing), emotional factor (perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use) effect online impulse buying behavior with regard to “Double Eleven” shopping festival. A total of (n = 648) online shoppers were selected for data collection in four cities: Beijing, Tianjin, Nanjing and Shanghai. Interviews were conducted from 60 university students. Structure equation modeling was employed for data analysis. Furthermore, reliability, convergent and discriminant validity analysis was utilized for the results of the structural model. The findings demonstrated that both motivational and emotional factors have a strong and positive influence online impulse buying. Perceived ease of use has less influence on OIB compared to other variables. This study provides a deep insight of e-shoppers toward online impulse behavior in the field of Chinese e-commerce industry that can be generalized to other countries. To the best of our knowledge, this study is first to discover the dynamics of online impulse buying behavior with motivational and emotional predictors with regard to the biggest online shopping festival in China. Implications for scholars and e-tail managers of our study are discussed.