Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the antecedents of consumers’ purchase intention toward local dairy products. In doing so, this article delves into the relationships between perceived quality, perceived price, customer satisfaction, brand image, and customer purchase intention in the context of developing countries.

Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) framework, the research model was tested using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique with a questionnaire applied to 731 respondents from Saudi Arabia.

Findings: The results showed that perceived quality, consumer satisfaction, and brand image have a positive impact on purchase intention, whereas perceived price could not explain purchase intention. Moreover, consumer satisfaction and brand image appeared to significantly mediate the relationships in the research model.

Research limitations/implications: This article studies a specific country and local dairy consumption. One should be careful when generalizing the results to other food and country contexts.

Originality/value: This study investigates consumer purchase intention specifically toward local dairy products, which was a matter underexplored in the literature as opposed to studies on a variety of other local products. Moreover, the article contributes to an extension of the SOR framework onto the body of literature regarding local products.

Purpose: Many empirical and review studies have been performed in the management and organization literature from the structural social capital perspective. Since these studies focus on different topics periodically, we aimed to make a bibliometric analysis of the structural social capital literature that allows a regular, systematic, and quantitative evaluation of published articles in management and organization science to identify the underlying structure in this research area and to identify the main research themes of the scholarship.

Methodology: The bibliographic matching technique was used for checking international databases to explore the main concepts and themes of the management and organization literature and to identify main themes in the research area. Therefore, this article offers a bibliometric analysis of the literature that allows for a regular, systematic, and quantitative evaluation of published articles to identify their underlying structure and to identify the main research themes in the scholarship. Research data were analyzed using the text mining method, which is a sub-branch of the data mining method and one of the most critical ways to analyze and process unstructured data.

Findings: Structural social capital studies were examined in management and organization science databases in three periods forming four years. Although there are no completely different emerging themes, we noticed periodic differences and change in priority rankings. Moreover, we found that the subjects repeat every period with few new concepts.

Implications: This research shows the main themes in the management and organization literature, where structural social capital elements are examined together, and covers all areas of management, organization and business science. Considering the main topics of the three periods of this research, there are similarities, namely the words that rank among the top in each period are “innovation,” “entrepreneurship,” “knowledge management,” “performance,” “leadership,” “technology,” and “human resources” and these themes are the most prominent.

Originality/Value: This research presents an overview of all past studies that focus on the structural social capital present in social interactions. Since structural social capital influences management and organization literature, it is considered a valuable study and a guide for future research.

Purpose: The main purpose of the work is to present the results of the customer retention level in the automotive sector based on the proposed measurement indicators: “serviced and sold” (SESO) and “sold and serviced” (SOSE).

Design/methodology/approach: The study investigates the dealership of passenger cars belonging to one of the European automotive concerns. The following research methods were used in the article: systematic literature review, participant observation, and data mining.

Findings: As a result of the implementation of empirical proceedings, we proposed a theoretical model in terms of data flow in sales and aftersales service processes, thus enabling the design of SOSE and SESO retention indicators and their empirical verification in the examined organization.

Research limitations/implications: The presented indicators can be widely used in the analysis of retention of aftersales service clients. However, the presented research results cannot be applied to other organizations that provide similar results due to the non-probabilistically selected company.

Practical implications: The proposed indicators can be used by other organizations in different industries in assessing the level of retention in manufacturer-user and seller-user relations.

Originality/value: The study provides tools that allow for retention analysis from both the customer and product viewpoint. The concept has a universal value for enterprises that conduct sales and aftersales services under one structure.

Purpose: This study identifies and analyzes the factors that impact the financial performance of companies after a merger and acquisition transaction.
Methodology: As many as 130 Polish market observations were analyzed with an OLS regression model to verify the research hypotheses.
Results: The results reveal that the company’s size, performance before the transaction, and its international nature translated into improvement of post-transaction financial performance. Moreover, industry diversification transactions and CEO changes in acquiring a company had a negative impact on the company’s financial performance after the transaction.
Originality: This investigation is the first study devoted to the Polish market in the research field of M&A determinants with the use of such a large sample.

Purpose: Gratitude is an interdisciplinary concept frequently explored in positive psychology, which recognizes gratitude as one of the seven transcendent character forces that promote well-being and life satisfaction. The purpose of the conducted research was to develop the concept of gratitude toward the organization and prepare a tool to study this phenomenon.

Methods: The study was cross-sectional. Participants were 802 employees from various organizations.

Results: The Gratitude Toward the Organization Scale has a good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α was 0.91). Factor analysis confirmed the two-factor structure of this tool. The dimensions of gratitude toward the organization are distinguished as: (1) gratitude as a commitment to reciprocity and (2) gratitude as a moral norm. The construct validity of this measure was confirmed. Gratitude toward the organization correlated positively with job satisfaction, affective commitment to the organization, organizational justice, and perceived organizational and supervisor support, while being negatively correlated with intent to leave the organization.

Conclusions: The obtained results confirm very good psychometric properties of the Gratitude Toward the Organization Scale as a valid and reliable measure for studying the gratitude of employees, which can be successfully used by researchers in Poland.

Purpose: To compare two transformational leadership instruments, Bass’s Full Range Leadership Model and its instrument Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire with the Transformational Leadership Scale proposed by Rafferty and Griffin (2004), using empirical evidence from a single sample.

Methodology: The sample includes participants from different levels of the Estonian Defence Forces’ military hierarchy (N = 2570). The structures of the Transformational Leadership Scale and Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire were examined with exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, while other methods were used to compare the two instruments.

Findings: The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire is statistically significantly better at predicting outcome variables like satisfaction with leader, effectiveness, and extra effort; however, the Transformational Leadership Scale did predict outcome variables at a sufficient level.

Research & Practical Limitations/Implications: The current research contributes to the validation of the Transformational Leadership Scale proposed by Rafferty and Griffin (2004). The results indicated that the Transformational Leadership Scale is a valuable research tool to study transformational leadership; however, some subscales require further development. Moreover, we may conclude that there is a difference between subsamples – e.g. between commanders and conscripts – that describe outcome variables using the Transformational Leadership Scale as a transformational leadership instrument.

Originality/value: There is very limited research that compares different transformational leadership instruments.

Purpose: The paper explores the online dialog of firms and consumers through corporate websites and social networks. The objective is to investigate the state of this dialog, its mechanisms, and outcomes in four export-oriented manufacturing companies that represent a wide spectrum of industries, including FMCG and durable goods, low-priced and expensive products, purchased with high and low involvement.

Methodology: A multiple-case study was used as the research method, with data sourced from in-depth interviews, observations, and published documents.

Findings: The findings show all managers agree that dialog with consumers is useful, they allocate resources to support it, but its intensity is underwhelming. Dialog effects were reported as positive but only as anecdotal evidence without validation in reliable data, which underscores measuring difficulties. It seems that dialog is the easiest to implement in and brings the most substantial benefits for high-involvement products but, even there, the feedback from consumers is not effectively used for developing product innovations. The major obstacle that restricts rich dialog is not technology but the intensity, speed, and quality of personal contact between employees and consumers.

Originality: The empirical material presented here offers original insights that foster a better understanding of online dialog between consumers and manufacturing companies.

Purpose: The willingness of consumers to engage in co-creation activities is affected by multiple factors, including intrinsic motivation, firm-level factors, and expected outcomes of the participation in co-creation process. However, the final decision of customer engagement in co-creation is determined by the level of brand attachment and love experienced by customers, product category, and the type of needs satisfied with the object of co-creation. The current research proposes a holistic view of the abovementioned factors and variables by exploring their relationships and mutual influence.

Methodology: This study analyzes the results of qualitative research on the dynamics between positive client attitude toward a brand and the willingness to engage in co-creation activities.

Results/Findings: The study reveals that the willingness to engage in co-creation activities is strongly related to the level of brand attachment except for when people conduct such activities to experience the process itself. The level of customer satisfaction from participation in co-creation processes influences their future sense of brand love and attachment. Moreover, the way and strength of customer engagement in co-creative projects are affected by the product category. The authors especially stress the importance of a strategic approach toward designing and implementing co-creation projects and the key role of appropriate communication with participants.

Purpose: This paper investigates the relationship between the internal governance structure and fnancial performance of Polish companies. Ensuring diversity of corporate boards has been on the agenda of various regulators on a national and international level as it is generally expected corporate boards that are more diverse will be more competent and more effective monitoring managerial actions, and therefore positively impact company performance.

Methodology: This paper uses a sample of companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and examines the two main compositional features of company supervisory boards (independence and experience) and their practices by companies. We also investigate the effect of diversity on company performance. As our empirical methodology, we use linear regression analysis.

Findings: Our fndings support the proposal that diversity matters, especially in terms of the presence of experienced members on supervisory boards, and that such diversity positively affects fnancial results. In addition to the main fnding, the results of the study indicate also the importance of the ownership structure. Family frms and companies with a higher level of gearing are more likely to perform less effectively.

Originality: To date, research on the association between supervisory board diversity and fnancial performance in either the Polish or Central and Eastern European capital markets has been limited. The paper also points to the importance of having experienced members on a company’s supervisory board. Independent members on supervisory boards do not seem to have a similar association.

Purpose: The article discusses selected methodological issues of natural and social sciences with particular consideration of behavioural economics to highlight the signifcance of experimental research.

Design approach: The order of the issues covered is as follows: (a) science as a product of a research community, (b) basic cognitive activities in science, (c) a short description of social sciences, (d) a discussion on the methods applied in behavioural economics.

Findings: The article offers a description of research procedure, its objectives and the methods applied therein; it has been stressed that testing theories and hypotheses involves exposing them to falsifcation; it has been emphasised that research conducted within the framework of social sciences is more diffcult than in the case of natural sciences because of the large number of independent variables and the possible interaction between the researcher and research participants.

Practical implications: The content presented in the article highlights the value of scientifc fndings as opposed to common-sense knowledge adopted with the disregard of the principles of proper methodology.

Value: The authors believe that the emergence of behavioural economics was an attempt to overcome certain defciencies in the methodology of classical economics by means of experimental research.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to summarize studies aiming to defne matters related to the quality of explanations found in corporate governance statements published by listed companies. Another important aspect of the conducted analysis is the identifcation of various dimensions of explanation quality.

Methodology: The character of the conducted research is that of an overview of literature devoted to the subject. Apart from scientifc articles, it covers European Union regulations, regulations characteristic of countries selected for the analysis (member states of the European Union), and applied solutions aimed at guaranteeing the desired quality of explanations for deviation included in corporate governance statements that are in the centre of attention.

Findings: The conducted analysis organizes the current knowledge concerning actions aimed at improving the quality of explanations for deviation from principles of corporate governance. Without a doubt, the primary pillar consists of the level of information and its quality, as found in explanations for shareholders. It is this quality that determines if the shareholder understands the processes occurring in the realm of corporate governance in the company.

Research limitations: The conducted analysis should be treated as an introduction to related research issues. It should be stressed that research into explanations provided by companies is still in the process of development, and the number of publications devoted to this topic is still modest.

Practical implications: The study fts in the research into the phenomena of the “comply or explain” mechanism as applied in practice, which according of many researchers, continues to be poorly investigated. In terms of the directions for further research, there are promising topics including e.g. identifcation of factors that may translate into the quality of such statements (e.g. ownership structure, identity of shareholders), the role that should be played by institutions involved in developing CG codes (i.e. their successive versions), and the involvement of the board of directors/ supervisory board in the evaluation process.

Originality: The present paper identifes the key factors perceived as determining the quality of corporate governance statements. In addition to that, it outlines new avenues for further investigation.

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to examine shareholders’ reaction to the decision of the supervisory board to appoint a CEO in companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Methodology: An event study and the mean-adjusted model were applied. The abnormal returns were measured as the CAAR in the entire (-60, + 60) window and selected sub-windows.

Findings: The obtained values of abnormal returns indicate the shareholder’s negative reaction. Throughout the observation window, they oscillate slightly below zero, and in the window (0, +20) they are negative at -1.566%. Irrespective of the observation window, negative abnormal returns were obtained for over half of the observation (52–57%). Therefore, preliminary results indicate the predominance of the information effect over the real one. The decrease in market value as a result of the event may result from an increase in investors’ uncertainty as to the effects of changes in strategy and skills of the new CEO.

Originality: The research is a unique one. To date, no one has carried out research into shareholders’ reaction to a CEO appointment in either the Polish or Central and Eastern European capital markets. They primarily bring the value of cognition of shareholders’ behaviour in the analysed event, which is reflected in share prices. They extend the literature on the signalization instruments, i.e. the activities that boards can undertake due to the new information transmitted to the capital market participants and stakeholders. The market reaction to a CEO appointment will without a doubt interest investors; the institutions responsible for supervision (which in the case of Poland is the Financial Oversight Commission) and the legislator in charge of regulations that prevent insider trading while promoting corporate disclosure transparency.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to identify what are the cause-effect patterns of how company actions influence value drivers in Polish frms.

Method: The method used in the study consists of (1) the generation of informant reports (stories) about what actions performed in their frms influenced the value drivers and (2) the identifcation of the repeating (replicating) patterns of such influence.

Results: The study identifes fve actions that reduce the unproductive time of participants of business processes and three actions influencing new product introductions or modifcations.

Managerial implications: Managers should (1) use standardization and automation, delegation of secondary activities, and trainings in teamwork to reduce unproductive time, more quickly fulfll contracts (with current products), and influence four fnancial value drivers. Moreover, they should (2) gather knowledge about the alternative ways of thinking about particular problems and (3) use personal participation of knowledge possessor’s teams in clients’ problem-solving places.

Limitations and future research: The author identifes fve limitations of the performed study and formulates relevant suggestions for future research.

Originality/value: The study contributes to management theory by (1) clarifying conceptual relations between the actions of frms (causes) and value drivers (effects) and (2) analyzing the manager reports about the real business value-creation processes.

Purpose: This study empirically investigated the factors that affect customer retention in the airline industry in North Cyprus. These factors were service quality attributes, perceived safety, customer satisfaction, loyalty reward program, relationship commitment and customer loyalty. The study also investigated four different groups for purposes of travel (business, education, vacation and family visit) in the empirical model.

Methodology: A descriptive approach was chosen to conduct this research. A quanhip between customer retention and the related study factors; however, not all of these relations are significant. The results also showed that the different purposes of travel had different influences on the variables regarding the positive and significant relations between them. Some independent variables had a negative effect on the dependent variables.

Conclusions: This research was limited to one group and place: the students of Eastern Mediterranean University in North Cyprus.

Originality: This study connected the retention, loyalty, satisfaction and service quality factors as attributes. In addition, this research was the frst to include other independent factors affecting satisfaction and loyalty in a comparison between four different groups regarding the purpose of travel in the airline industry.

Purpose: This study was of a theoretical character and aimed at presenting various descriptions of the interactions between all possible pairs of four well-known negotiating styles dependent on personality traits.

Methodology: This study was based on analysis of the interactions as well as authors’ experiences from their observations and analyses on human behaviors during numerous negotiations and role-play exercises arranged at the courses for practitioners. The stress was put on analyzing the interactions occurring between people representing both different and the same negotiating styles.

Findings: The attempt at describing such interactions was successful and promising for farther research. The concept constitutes a useful tool for analyzing human behavioral aspects of different types of business negotiations, within the process of their planning, conduct and evaluation. Nevertheless, the concept will be a subject of subsequent authors’ research, focusing on its improvement mainly by searching more precise features of negotiating styles and interactions between them.

Practical implications: The concept can be applied to analyze many real negotiation situations as well as within the experiment to be arranged by the authors to examine those interactions within the hundreds of pairs of negotiators solving particular case studies. Thus the description of such interactions can be treated as a specific hypothesis.

Originality: In general, the suggestion for solving complex, difficult and essential issues of negotiating styles was presented but was rarely investigated in the literature on negotiations. In particular, an original concept of describing the interactions between those styles was suggested.

Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to present leadership limitations that infl uence leadership effectiveness and examine if it is possible to overcome these limitations.

Methodology: The study presents the results of literature analyses and the fi ndings of the recent research studies on leadership. It also refers to literature items that might be helpful in analyzing the leadership limitations.

Conclusions: The study indicates that some leadership behaviors that fall into a particular category are useful in understanding and refl ecting on their limitations, while other leaders’ actions enable them to overcome those limitations or use them to support leadership effectiveness.

Research limitations: This is a theoretical and conceptual study. It formulates propositions to further empirical research studies.

Originality: The study analyzes a number of behaviors from different leadership theories. These behaviors fall into four meta-categories: situational, transformational, authentic and boundary spanning. The study also provides information about leadership styles that are useful in understanding and overcoming leadership limitations.

Purpose: Interest in older consumers as the subject of marketing strategy is growing in Western countries (Gunter, 1998). However, in Poland, this group is still neglected by marketers and perceived in stereotypical way, and its marketing potential is underestimated. The main goal of this research was to provide understanding of the contemporary older Polish population and especially older Polish consumers, including their values, needs,
attitudes, opinions and behaviors.

Methodology: In order to investigate the Polish “grey market,” we conducted survey research (CAPI) based on a representative quota – a random nationwide sample of n=1500 participants above 55 years old. Additionally, we also conducted qualitative research – 18 individual in-depth interviews (IDIs) at homes of consumers (ethnographic interviews).

Findings: Based on the factor and cluster analysis (Weinstein, 1994) from the quantitative survey, 5 segments of older Polish consumers were selected: Fulfi lled Optimists (14% of population), Bored with Life (17%), Passive Materialists (22%), Family-oriented Non-Paterialists (22%), and Excluded Traditionalists (25%). Segments differed in values, lifestyles, attitudes toward life, family, work and general life satisfaction. As a consequence of those psychological differences, segments differed in consumer behaviour, preferences and perception of marketing communication (advertising).

Originality: Our analysis shows that key areas, which determine particular consumer behaviour in each segment are – contrary to common belief – not demographic characteristics, but mainly psychological aspects (such as attitude to life, optimism, attitude to money, open-mindedness and general curiosity).

Purpose: Recently, magic has been given increasing attention by psychologists for what it can reveal about how the human cognitive system works. This paper examines whether these same cognitive processes are at play in another arena, specifi cally, the presentation of fi nancial accounting information.

Approach: The authors reviewed the fi ndings of cognitive scientists from their studies of magicians and applied these to the activities of professional accountants.

Findings: Specific cognitive processes which magicians and accountants take advantage of, explicitly for one and implicitly for the other, are the same: good continuation, habituation, and attentional capture.

Value: Further research regarding such interactions between accounting and cognition has potential for enhancing our understanding of both. Certainly at this particular point in accounting history, as standard setters seem to be moving ever closer to implementing some version of a principles-based accounting regime versus our current rules-based accounting regime, it is worthwhile to contemplate the conscious and subconscious effects of cognitive processes on how individuals perceive financial information.