Business Horizons最新文献

In 2011, Business Horizons published the social media honeycomb article to help managers and scholars understand what was, then, a new form of media, along with its various platforms and how to engage with and learn to use it. Today, we face similar challenges and opportunities with the metaverse as we try to discover how to attract, enable, serve, and capture value from users in the virtual world. In this article, we introduce the concept of a metaverse realm (i.e., a specific type of metaverse space and community) and present the metaverse honeycomb model to explain the functionalities and affordances for different metaverse realms. We present two applications of the honeycomb model to show how shifting attention to immersive functionalities can characterize various metaverse realms. To conclude, we outline how the model could be used to strategically evaluate metaverse realms in terms of their external fit (i.e., the who-what-how of realms), internal fit (i.e., the trade-offs and synergies of realm functionalities), and life cycles (i.e., roadmapping and directing realm evolution).

Fake reviews have become a pervasive problem in the realm of online commerce, affecting businesses and consumers alike. These fraudulent reviews can cause significant damage to the credibility of companies and negatively impact consumer welfare. While various platforms, such as Yelp and Amazon, have implemented measures to combat fake reviews, these efforts have been largely ineffective and, at times, even exacerbated the problem. As a result, on November 8, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it is soliciting input for possible regulations around ways to fight fake reviews. The growing sophistication of Artificial Intelligence—particularly generative AI technologies like ChatGPT—worsens the problem by enabling the production of human-like fake reviews at an unprecedented scale. This lends new urgency to the fake review problem, so it is imperative to examine the pros and cons of extant approaches and propose alternative approaches that are better equipped to tackle the issue. In this article, we introduce a novel approach using digital identity verification, which involves verifying a user’s identity via various forms of digital information that represent the individual and have not been applied to online reviews. We highlight the limitations of extant techniques and outline ways in which digital identity verification may be a promising solution to the problem of fake reviews. Potential benefits and challenges, as well as the effectiveness of our proposed approach in addressing the issue of fake reviews, are discussed.

Recordings of virtual meetings have become a common part of virtual and hybrid workplace environments. Meeting recordings offer potential benefits (e.g., speedy transcript production, expedited information sharing, searchable information, inclusion of visual and tonal expressions) and drawbacks (e.g., difficulty discussing sensitive issues, employee privacy, limited off-the-record capabilities, and employee concerns over sharing recordings). Given this variance, policies for virtual meetings are a necessity. Managers can successfully implement a policy by cocreating policy preferences with employees in open-ended and nonjudgmental conversations that openly discuss potential benefits, drawbacks, and employee concerns. Topics such as when to record, when not to record, how to gain consent, and who will have administrative and sharing rights should be covered. Areas of less urgency that may yet be part of these discussions include accessibility concerns, the use or rejection of software features, where and for how long meeting recordings should be stored, and such emerging issues as the use of virtual reality and AI tools. Managers should deliver policy preferences to a group of representatives from Human Resources, Information Technology, and the executive team to compose the policy, request a legal review, and to introduce and implement it in the organization.

This article explores how large companies in Ukraine have been responding to the crisis caused by the war. We find that the core theories of managerial reaction to crisis—the threat-rigidity and contingency theories—aptly describe companies’ responses to the war, with the first theory explaining companies’ initial reactions, and the latter theory explaining the subsequent behaviors of companies as the war continued. The most surprising findings here were the value of the pandemic as an experience in dealing with war, and the way in which, when war becomes the new normal, managers seek to take advantage of opportunities to build resilience and redundancy. The shift in perception and attitude this entails exemplifies the adaptability companies display in the face of such difficult situations as a full-fledged war. Our research yields four suggestions for managerial responses to crises: (1) view every crisis as a learning opportunity in preparation for future crises, (2) use business continuity plans as a means of reducing initial threat-rigidity reactions, (3) prioritize crucial over nonrelevant corrective actions, and (4) recognize that crisis-generated discontinuities may last longer than expected, thereby requiring long-term plans that respond both to emerging threats and to novel opportunities.

As applied fields, management, industrial-organizational psychology, and related disciplines seek to make their knowledge relevant to business practitioners. But the current dissemination model is inefficient, leading some to conclude that the gap between academics and practitioners poses one of the most pressing problems in management today. Using insights derived from the life and work of Timothy Baldwin, we offer four takeaways designed to foster collaboration between theoreticians and practitioners: (1) shrink the mission, (2) do not internalize the enemy, (3) find your champions, and (4) use the science of persuasion. These strategies are crucial to closing the gap and thus uniting the efforts of researchers and practitioners so as to ensure the practical relevance of research and to strengthen the organizational value proposition.

The mass mechanization of farming, coupled with the push to go away for college, has led to rural communities losing many of their most educated and talented workers. This trend, referred to as brain drain, has resulted in rural communities suffering significant population declines and an array of social problems. But one set of rural communities has greatly deviated from this trend: Amish communities. Through an inductive field study of Amish communities and entrepreneurs, we reveal how the Amish have curbed mass exodus and promoted community preservation, resulting in the retention of roughly 90% of their community members and fostering a variety of entrepreneurial opportunities. Specifically, we discover that through a creation perspective toward work, a collectivist focus, and an emphasis on vocational practices, the Amish offer a nuanced approach to community cultivation, thereby reducing brain drain.

Many businesses engage genuinely in corporate social responsibility (CSR). But others engage in CSR-washing: using social concerns for financial gain and the distortion of internal practices to project the image of CSR to stakeholders. Unfair CSR-washing happens when a company is accused of being a CSR-washer despite having made significant and genuine efforts to address social or environmental issues. CSR-washing harms firms’ reputations, resulting in the loss of consumer and stakeholder trust and even in potential lawsuits, depending on the type and severity of the behavior. We offer four interconnected, evidence-based recommendations to minimize a business’s unfair perception as a CSR-washer: (1) integrate CSR into core activities rather than peripheral activities, (2) adopt a bottom-up approach to CSR, (3) develop an integrative performance-management/CSR system, and (4) develop an effective CSR communication strategy. We also offer specific implementation guidelines for each recommendation. Implementing these evidence-based practices will help organizations plan, execute, and monitor their CSR initiatives while remaining authentic and minimizing the chance of being labeled as CSR-washers.

Organizations face increasing demand for employees to develop their skills, and managers play an important role in supporting employees’ learning and development. In contrast to the large body of research evidence on formal training, the emerging findings on informal learning have yet to provide managers with the necessary guidance to support employees’ informal learning activities. Adopting a coaching analogy, we integrate these two research streams to introduce a model with which managers can simultaneously support employees’ formal and informal learning. We elaborate on three critical dimensions of support, including direct assistance, guidance, and emotional support. We then present specific steps managers can adopt along each of these dimensions to better engage in employees’ needs assessment, enhance their motivation to learn, and facilitate learning. Finally, we explain how managers can use a strategic learning plan for each employee and create synergy across formal and informal learning support, resulting in a positive learning climate.