Purpose: This study seeks to discover how a firm’s size and its use of both market and non-market strategies (MS and NMS) impact firm performance in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach: We used the Prolific platform to gather survey data from 247 executives and managers across the country representing a variety of firm sizes and industries. Cronbach’s alpha, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and structural equation modelling via partial least squares (PLS-SEM) were then employed to test constructs and hypotheses. Configuration theory and social exchange theory (SET) are the conceptual foundations for this study. Findings/results: Firm size is a driver of the market strategy of differentiation, but not cost leadership. Larger firms are also more likely to pursue both political and social NMS. Differentiation and social NMS positively impact firm performance, but cost leadership and political NMS do not. Practical implications: Managers should emphasise differentiating their products and services rather than being a low-cost provider. When considering various non-market strategies, they should emphasise social NMS. Although large firms are more likely than small firms to pursue political NMS, they do not appear to accrue any benefit. Originality/value: This study fills gaps in the strategy-performance literature by directly linking firm size to strategic choices and by analysing the effects of different types of MS and NMS on firm performance. As such, it is valuable to both academics and practitioners. This study also advances our understanding of MS and NMS in South Africa.

Objective: The objective of the article is to investigate the relationship between strategy and control in national-level corporate governance (CG) codes impact firm-level financial and strategic performance. Research Design & Methods: We build on existing CG literature to offer a conceptual matrix showing the evolution of CG codes as they balance strategy and control. We relate the emphasis on strategy versus control at the national level to the firm level for both strategic outcomes as well as more traditional financial measures. Using Compustat data from 12 700 unique firms across 31 countries for the period 1990-2016, we estimate the impact of CG codes on various financial performance measures with multivariate regression and logistics (logit) models. Findings: We find that there is a positive and significant relationship between higher emphasis on strategy in CG codes and return on assets (ROA). We also find a positive and significant relationship between the former and the probability of paying dividends, investing in research and development (R&D), and spending on capital expenditures (CAPEX). Implications & Recommendations: Stronger legal institutions associate with a higher emphasis on strategy in CG codes. We suggest that policymakers should refine their CG Codes to focus more on strategy where feasible given our findings. We also recommend strengthening legal institutions, such as rule of law, as this will accelerate the evolution of CG codes from monitoring to strategy. Contribution & Value Added: Our findings indicate that policymakers should refine their CG codes to emphasize where feasible. In addition, institutions would accelerate the evolution of CG codes.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the main insights current literature offers regarding initial coin offerings (ICOs) and the avenues for future research. Design/methodology/approach The approach consists of a systematic literature review of 130 papers from the SCOPUS database published in English between January 2018 and December 2020, with supplemental semantic analysis of the abstracts to obtain key themes and concepts. Findings Regulation and the determinants of ICO success are the main themes for current research and represent fruitful areas of continued scholarship. The research agenda in ICOs is just beginning and several topics and questions merit future inquiry: the behaviour of issuers and investors, the importance of human capital, the role of intermediaries and infomediaries and the use of signalling. Originality/value To the knowledge, this is one of the first systematic studies of current literature in ICOs. It provides a roadmap for future work on a phenomenon that will only grow in significance.

ABSTRACT The lucrative and rapid expansion of the wellness tourism sector in Europe and Asia has led to intense competition among wellness tourism destinations. This study investigates the business in five major nations: China, Japan, Russia, Germany, and Italy, which together accounts for 77% of global revenue pre-pandemic from the thalassotherapy spas and resort industry. We analysed TripAdvisor’s 3116 tourists’ review responses representing five-star thalassotherapy facilities. The primary drivers of an excellent service include hotel room facilities and thalasso-treatments with seawater. We identify a semantic clustering linked to thalassotherapy spa attractiveness and determine attributes that are pertinent to satisfaction of wellness-seeking tourists. The current study contributes to the sparse literature on wellness tourism specifically relating to thalassotherapy spas and the level of satisfaction associated with the service. The study suggests practical advice to address the negative effects of customer dissatisfaction on services that can overshadow the positive effects of satisfaction. Highlights The study identifies thalassotherapy spa attractiveness based on the semantic clustering The data is based on tourists’ reviews that include some type of therapy Thalassotherapy spas in this study represent two-thirds of the world revenue This study identifies the key factors of satisfaction and dissatisfaction in thalassotherapy GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Thermal and mineral spa treatments are an important therapeutic tool backed by centuries of experience and numerous scientific studies showing its effectiveness. The research consisted of content analysis of 1,254 customer reviews posted online from 2015 to 2019. Qualitative analysis identified five key themes: thermal (spa), staff, room, location, and pool. On a theoretical level, this research's results help to fill research gaps in the literature by separating attributes linked to satisfaction from those related to dissatisfaction. This study is different as we focus on the factors affecting tourism satisfaction and dissatisfaction in thermal and mineral spas using sentiment analysis.

This study builds on the existing law and finance literature by analyzing the impact of legal systems on both the level and the sourcing of working capital. We find that stronger rule of law results in lower levels of working capital, less sourcing from retained earnings, and more sourcing from banks. Firms in common-law regimes have lower levels of working capital and finance it from banks, while firms from civil-law environments rely on retained earnings and other financial institutions for sourcing. The impact of legal origin on both the level and the sourcing of working capital is mixed.

This chapter seeks to develop a cognitive risk management framework for real estate investment trusts (REITs) entrepreneurs and executives. It provides a brief overview of the cognitive and behavioural landscape and the notion of cognitive risk, attention is then turned to how to effectively manage cognitive risk in an enterprise setting. The chapter shows that REITs share common characteristics with other business enterprises and that knowledge related to business in general has applicability to REITs. It focuses on knowledge of cognition and decision-making in general business to develop a set of reasonable considerations for REIT leadership to apply in managing cognitive risk. Human cognition and its limits became a fruitful area of inquiry among US behavioural scientists in the post-war era. Recognizing the existence of cognitive risk is a necessary step, but not sufficient guidance, for managing REITs. In order to make decision-making effective, a holistic approach is essential for guarding against cognitive risk.

The legal environment and rule of law are important for business, but existing studies often treat rule of law holistically. This article examines the role of courts, specifically the speed of court decisions, the enforcement of edicts, and the impartiality of decision-making as perceived by firms of various sizes, and the impact this has on firm investments in real property. The article analyzes a panel of 6,300 firms from 27 countries in the period from 2002 to 2009 to find that (i) firm size affects perceptions positively, while (ii) paying bribes affects perceptions negatively. At the same time, (iii) a firm's connections to the government have no apparent impact. More importantly, while all three components have a positive correlation with the amount firms invest in land and machinery, the speed of courts has the greatest significance and the highest marginal effect. Firms perceiving courts to be quick invest nearly four times as much as the average real property investment. This finding suggests that policymakers should focus on reducing backlogs in the court system, perhaps by encouraging more arbitration or staffing more clerks.

Medical tourism continues to grow as the Internet helps individuals make appropriate choices and informed decisions. This study investigated two areas of medical tourism: cosmetic and dental procedures. The post-procedural experiences of 603 respondents who were medical tourists originating from different countries between 2008 and 2016 were analyzed using Leximancer software. The findings indicate commonalities in the identification of significant attributes of medical services received by respondents and their evaluations of cost, treatment effectiveness, and the time spent collecting healthcare information, as well as the recommendations they plan to make to friends and family. Further analyses showed that people who have undergone cosmetic surgery and dentistry use the same narratives to represent their medical experiences, although gender is an influential factor in how individuals evaluate different attributes of treatments.

•We test convergence regarding customer experiences in the hospitality realm.•We examine 1,776 Airbnb web reviews across the US, Portugal, and India.•Using thematic analysis, we find support for convergence of consumer experiences.•Our contribution is this analysis and finding of consumer convergence.

China has emerged as an economic power due, in part, to government policies that opened China to the world and created a modern consumer culture. One of these policies is the advancement of English-language education, including private providers, which has spawned the English Fever phenomenon. We use the unique context of the private English-language education industry in China to illustrate the concept of compound (institutional) voids and their relationship to unproductive entrepreneurship. Our contribution is in untangling some of the complexities related to institutional relationships, and in describing how compound voids increase the likelihood of rent-seeking behavior.

Objective: The objective of this article is to explore the impact of a regulatory constraint: the ease of paying taxes, on the likelihood of technology licensing and the subsequent impact on the sales of firms acquiring such licences across 30 countries. Research Design & Methods: In a comparative, longitudinal study design we apply random effects panel logit, and random-effects GLS regression models. The World Bank Enterprise Surveys panel data for Central Europe for 2008 to 2013 is the source data for the analysis. Surveys of firms from 30 countries in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia constitute the panel. Findings: Increasing regulatory burden in the form of tax compliance reduces the likelihood of technology licensing. Technology licensing has only modest effects on sales. Foreign ownership of firms increases both the likelihood of technology licensing and revenues. Implications & Recommendations: All manner of political entities, from towns to entire nations, revise their tax policies to woo investment. Our current analysis of the marginal effects suggests that the impact of these improvements is underwhelming. Attracting foreign ownership is recommended to increase technology licensing, sales and competitiveness. Contribution & Value Added: While tax holidays are a common device to woo investment, the interaction of tax regimes with technology licensing, specifically the regulatory burden of preparing and paying taxes, is scarcely studied. It is a gap we strive to fill in this manuscript.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which dynamic pricing is utilized in North American professional sports. While industries such as airlines and travel services have employed dynamic pricing for decades, professional sports is only now starting to adopt it. Design/methodology/approach The authors survey and interview high ranking executives and managers in North American sports organizations. A total of 72 managers and executives from the four major North American professional sports leagues as well as other sport properties were surveyed. Descriptive statistics and a basic regression provide insight into perceptions v. actual practice among sports organizations. Findings While most sports organizations perceive high usage of dynamic pricing within their organization, current procedures lag. Nearly 70 percent of respondents believe that their organizations frequently or always apply business analytics to dynamic pricing, but only 30 percent update their prices daily. Fully 50 percent of organizations do not automate decision-making processes, which is a hallmark of dynamic pricing. The perception of constant use of analytics in dynamic pricing intensifies as job title increases. Originality/value As one of the initial surveys looking at the usage of dynamic pricing in North American professional sports, this study provides a glimpse into both the perception and the reality. It suggests that there is still ample room for improvement.

It is well known that professional sports teams have made extensive use of analytics to improve their on-field performance. However, it is not as apparent that these same organizations use analytics to improve performance on the “business” side. The North American professional sports industry is unique in that the teams operate as legal monopolies/duopolies, with very few cities having more than one major-league team in a particular sport. Thus, our intent is to explore the adoption and assessment of business analytics in professional sports organizations. An empirical analysis is conducted concerning management’s perception of the effects of business analytics as well as the actual change in financial performance since the adoption of analytics by the organizations.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose policy suggestions for the financing of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Asia-Pacific region. Recent literature suggests that lack of capital is the most severe constraint for SME survival and growth. Enabling policymakers to assist SMEs in their search for financing will boost economic growth. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology includes both quantitative and qualitative components. Current World Bank data on the strength of various financial institutions in the countries of interest is analyzed to discover areas of improvement. Additionally, 32 experts from East and South Asia were interviewed several times to determine areas of concern in financing SMEs. Their responses and the evidence from the World Bank data form the basis of the policy prescriptions in the paper. Findings – Financing is a critical constraint for SMEs for several reasons. Many SME owners do not manage working capital effectively, information asymmetry between banks and SMEs retards the loan application and approval process, and underdeveloped equity markets deny SMEs future growth opportunities. Policymakers can ameliorate conditions by serving as facilitators and communicators; governments should not provide financing directly if possible. Practical implications – It is hoped and expected that the policy prescriptions offered herein will enhance the growth and survival prospects of SMES, thereby creating more employment, innovation, and economic growth. Originality/value – The main contribution of this work is its scope. While the financing of SMEs is a familiar topic, the review of issues and policies in East and South Asia, and their distillation into practical advice for officialdom, is what makes this manuscript unique.

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to investigate how national-level characteristics such as country wealth, a floating exchange rate and European Union (EU) membership influence firm-level perceptions of competition and firm-level innovation. Greater understanding of these relationships can promote more effective policymaking as well as add to the existing academic conversation regarding national factors and firm competitiveness. Design/methodology/approach – The authors’ data consist of a panel of 27 countries in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia from 2002 to 2009 with a total of nearly 27,000 firms from the World Bank Enterprise Survey. The authors utilize a multinomial logistic regression to estimate firm-level perceptions of both domestic and foreign competition upon decisions to introduce new products and manage new product costs. The authors then estimate the probability of innovation (introduction of a new product/service, obtaining international quality certification) using a logistic regression. The marginal effects of the key explanatory variables for country wealth, floating exchange rate and EU membership are calculated. Findings – While EU membership heightens perceptions of competition, firms in the EU are less likely to introduce new products or services. On the other hand, a firm in an EU member country is more likely to obtain international quality certification than one that is not. Both country wealth and a floating exchange correlate with enhanced perceptions of competition and innovation as expected. Originality/value – The first finding regarding heightened perceptions of competition yet lower likelihood of introduction of new products/services among EU firms is surprising. Beyond adding to the empirical store of knowledge regarding the relationship of national factors to firm competitiveness, it suggests that more needs to be done with regard to innovation policy. The authors offer a general recommendation to employ more public–private partnerships for innovation among small and medium enterprises, as this has been effective in other parts of the world.