Do nepotism and cronyism have payoff boundaries? A cross-country investigation

Over the years, the number of organizations investing in CSR activities has increased considerably. This increase is partially attributable to the intention of the organizations to give back to the society to repair and reduce the loss their intentional or unintentional actions might have caused to the environment. The government’s decision to make it mandatory for businesses to invest a small part of their net profit in social welfare activities has also helped nudge the organizations towards CSR activities. However, the question whether this investment influences customers’ intention to purchase the product in any manner remains an unresolved paradox. Limited researches have been conducted in this area to explore and establish the relationship if any between CSR and consumer purchase intention. This research focuses on the five different factors of CSR comprising of loyalty, morality, awareness, behavior and environment, which are identified from the previous literature. With the help of these factors, the authors researched and established the relationship between them and consumer purchase intention. In this descriptive research, the research questionnaire was distributed to 1500 respondents, using convenient sampling method, out of which 319 responses were finally obtained for the analysis purpose. After testing the reliability and validity of the data, the five hypotheses were tested using SEM (Structural Equation Modeling). It was found that all the five hypotheses were supported and thereby acknowledged the significant influence of CSR related activities performed by companies on the consumer purchase intention. The CSR driven morality is emerging to be the most important dimension that appears to influence the consumer purchase intentions. These finding will help decision-makers to formulate their promotion activities in such a manner that it aligns with the value system of the consumers and increase the overall consumer base.

Small and micro businesses form the largest group of entities offering services to tourists in tourist destinations. A majority of them are family businesses accommodation facilities. The study tests the hypothesis that the family nature of a business offering accommodation services can be a source of real competitive advantage being of significance for a certain group of clients. The advantage can be shaped by creating an image based on the owner’s involvement and hospitality. As the literature research indicated, in the case of the businesses described, it is relatively easy to develop a bond between the facility’s manager and their clients. The deliberations were extended by an empirical study conducted on a group of young people from Poland and Ukraine. Its results have indicated that accommodation services are significant elements of the satisfaction among the clients surveyed, and that in the group surveyed, the key reason for a trip is the intention to “experience and learn” and not comfort. It has also been confirmed that the determinants of accommodation services related to broadly defined hospitality are significant, however, not key in the group analyzed.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the dynamic capabilities of family business as a catalyst for survival and growth in Nigeria. A quantitative technique involving a descriptive survey was adopted for the study. A questionnaire measurement instrument was constructed and deployed on a sample of 410 respondents in the selected family businesses. Copies of the questionnaire measurement instrument were conveniently distributed to employees of the selected family businesses to obtain data for the study. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was used to validate the constructs in the measurement instrument. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to estimate the structural relationship between constructs of family business dynamic capabilities for survival and growth. The results showed that sensing and seizing, learning and reconfiguration and succession planning capabilities of family business have a significant positive effect on survival and growth. Therefore, family business managers should effectively deploy sensing and seizing, learning and reconfiguration and succession planning capabilities to enhance business survival and growth.

Acknowledgments
The authors express gratitude to anonymous reviewers, the journal editor and all the authors whose works were used in this study. The authors are grateful to the management of the family businesses included in the study for their approval for the administration of the questionnaire instrument and to the survey respondents who gave their views on the issues raised in the questionnaire instrument.