Browsing by Author "Razmdoost, Kamran"
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Item Open Access Advancing social procurement: an institutional work perspective(Emerald, 2023-11-06) Razmdoost, Kamran; Alinaghian, LeilaPurpose: The adoption of social procurement, the emerging practice of using a firm's spending power to generate social value, requires buying firms to navigate conflicts of institutional logics. Adopting an institutional work perspective, this study aims to investigate how buying firms change their existing procurement institutions to adopt and advance social procurement. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted an in-depth case study of a social procurement initiative in the UK. This case study comprised of 16 buying firms that were actively participating in the social procurement initiative at the time of data collection (2020–2021). The data were largely captured through a set of 41 semi-structured interviews. Findings: Four types of institutional work were observed: reducing institutional conflicts, crossing institutional boundaries, legitimising institutional change and spreading the new institutional logic. These different types of institutional work appeared in a sequential way. Originality/value: This study contributes to various strands of literature investigating the role of procurement in generating value and benefits within societies, adopting an institutional lens to investigate the buying firms' purposeful actions to change procurement institutions. Secondly, this study complements the existing literature investigating the conflicts of institutional logics by illustrating the ways firms address such institutional conflicts when adopting and advancing social procurement. Finally, this work contributes to the recently emerging research on institutional work that examines the creation and establishment of new institutions by considering the existing procurement institutions in the examination of institutional work.Item Open Access The Effect of Knowledge Miscalibration on the Dimensions of Consumer Value(Cranfield University, 2015-03) Razmdoost, Kamran; Dimitriu, Radu; Knox, SimonConsumer value is an important determinant of consumers’ post-use behaviour, for example satisfaction, repeat purchase and word of mouth. The existing research mainly looks at the factors associated with the product and service providers to improve consumer value. Few studies on the role of the consumer in shaping consumer value have found consumer knowledge to be an important element in shaping consumer value. Adopting critical realism, this PhD expands this area of knowledge by investigating knowledge miscalibration (i.e., the inaccuracy in subjective knowledge) as a significant antecedent of consumer value. Most of the time, consumers’ perceptions of what they think they know (i.e., subjective knowledge) has been shown to be different from what they actually know (i.e., objective knowledge). Thus, subjective knowledge is usually inaccurate. This inaccuracy in subjective knowledge relative to objective knowledge is called knowledge miscalibration. Although the effect of knowledge miscalibration on consumers’ purchasing decisions has been investigated in the consumer behaviour literature, its role in the use stage of consumption has received much less attention. The aim of this research is to examine the effect of knowledge miscalibration on product or service use, and more specifically on the value consumers derive from actually using products or services (i.e., value-in-use). In this research a critical realism paradigm is pursued, implying that reality exists in the three domains of the empirical, the actual and the real. The research starts with observing regularity in the empirical domain (i.e., consumer value) followed by imagining the causal power in the actual and the real domains (i.e., knowledge miscalibration), shaping the research question. A retroductive strategy is followed, firstly by proposing the effect of knowledge miscalibration on consumer value and secondly by conceptually and empirically testing this relationship. This research conceptualises that knowledge miscalibration influences consumer value dimensions, described as efficiency, excellence, play and aesthetics. It is suggested that underconfidence (i.e., knowledge miscalibration where subjective knowledge is deflated) and overconfidence (i.e., knowledge miscalibration where subjective knowledge is inflated) influence consumer value dimensions differently as they generate different consequences in use. Therefore, a conceptual model is developed that describes the effect of knowledge miscalibration (i.e., overconfidence and underconfidence) on the dimensions of consumer value. The empirical part of the research is designed by conducting a covariance-based study and an experimental investigation in order to gain both internal and external validity. The covariance-based investigation is conducted in the context of amazon.com online shopping. Knowledge miscalibration and consumer value dimensions are measured in this study. This study supports the negative effect of underconfidence on efficiency, excellence, play and aesthetics and the negative effect of overconfidence on play. The experimental investigation is designed in the context of prezi.com, an online dynamic presentation creation website that enables its users to move between slides, words and images during their presentations. In this study, overconfidence and underconfidence are manipulated and their effects on the dimensions of consumer value are examined. The findings of this study show that underconfidence negatively influences efficiency, excellence and aesthetics, while overconfidence negatively impacts excellence, play and aesthetics. Overall, this PhD concludes that knowledge miscalibration negatively influences the dimensions of consumer value, with the exception of overconfidence impacting efficiency. The contradictory results of the covariance-based study observed in the experimental study can be explained through its inability to account for reciprocal relationships (i.e., where consumer value dimensions also impact knowledge miscalibration) and the existence of a third variable affecting both independent and dependent variables. Furthermore, the context of the experimental study (employing a new consumption task) is proposed to be the main reason for the lack of support for the effect of underconfidence on play.Item Open Access How do network resources affect firms' network-oriented dynamic capabilities?(Elsevier, 2017-12-19) Alinaghian, Leila; Razmdoost, KamranWhile the extant literature investigating the dynamic capabilities that cross the boundaries of firms (i.e., network-oriented dynamic capabilities) has predominantly focused on the identification of their underlying routines or their impact on the firms' performance, the determinants of these routines have largely remained unexplored. Our study seeks to address this issue by investigating how the attributes of network resources (i.e., assets that belong to or are deployed by actors with whom a firm is connected through direct or indirect relationships) influence firms' network-oriented dynamic capabilities. A multiple-case study including 50 network resource sets embedded in 10 business units of five multinational firms spanning pharmaceutical, aircraft power system, and consumer goods' industries is conducted. The findings reveal the effects of eight network resource attributes on the three clusters of network-oriented dynamic capabilities (i.e., sensing, seizing and transforming) as follows: rarity affects the effectiveness of sensing, complementarity affects the effectiveness of seizing, accessibility and usability affect the efficiency of seizing, scalability and appropriability affect the effectiveness of transforming, and finally utility and versatility affect the efficiency of transforming.Item Embargo How do social enterprises manage business relationships? A review of the literature and directions for future research(Elsevier, 2021-08-09) Alinaghian, Leila; Razmdoost, KamranSocial enterprise–business relationships are an emerging unique form of business relationships. Whilst scholars have recently shown a growing interest in investigating the practices that social enterprises adopt to manage their relationships with businesses, the present literature lacks a synthesis of major findings and a reflection on current developments. The purpose of this paper is to critically and systematically review and assess the current status of research on practices through which social enterprise manage business relationships and to provide an organising framework for future scholarship. Adopting a systematic literature review approach, a total of 51 articles were reviewed. The results of our thematic analysis revealed that social enterprises engage in four key practices of initiation, persuasion, conflict resolution, and value creation to manage their relationships with businesses. Our review of literature also sheds light on the determinants and outcomes of these practices and offers avenues for future research.Item Open Access The influence of supply network structure on firm sustainability.(Cranfield University, 2023-03) Qiu, Jilin; Alinaghian, Leila; Razmdoost, KamranFirms are facing increased pressure from various stakeholders to incorporate social and environmental considerations into their strategies and operations. Yet, the successful realisation and achievement of social and environmental objectives extend beyond the boundaries of one single firm. Firms more and more engage in relationships with various upstream and downstream actors across their supply chains to achieve these sustainability goals. Whilst the literature has highlighted the cruciality of the broader supply networks in driving firms’ sustainability, present literatures as a whole lacks both a synthesis of major findings and a reflection of the current development of this area. Adopting a Systematic Literature Review approach, the thesis extends the understanding of the role of network in supply chain sustainability by identifying distinct network attributes that influence the sustainability performance in the supply chain. Specifically, relational and structural network attributes are distinguished and their individual and interactive effects on both environmental and social dimensions of sustainability in supply chains are examined. The study further adds contributions to the current discussion on the cruciality of broader supply networks in driving sustainability by investigating the interfirm connectivity patterns of a real-world and large-scale Automotive supply network. The findings demonstrate a positive relationship between the interconnectedness of supply networks and firms’ sustainability performance. The study also determines the moderating role of firms’ supply network structural properties in the relationship between their sustainability efforts and sustainability performance; the study shows that whereas firms’ in-degree centrality weakens the relationship between their commitment to sustainability and the extent of sustainability performance, out-degree centrality strengthens this association. The thesis further adds to the existing literature examining the role of supply network structural properties by investigating the structural properties of firms’ neighbours. Particularly, the study distinguishes between two neighbours’ structural properties: neighbours’ interconnectedness and neighbours’ centrality. Moreover, the study determines the moderating effect of firms’ bridging in sustainability controversies. In addition to the sustainability outcome, the study examines firms’ sustainability controversies as an alternative indicator of sustainability performance capturing the importance and significance of the sustainability outcomes through market sensitivities (i.e. market reactions to sustainability conflicts).Item Open Access Multiplex value cocreation in unique service exchanges(Journal of Business Research, 2018-11-29) Razmdoost, Kamran; Alinaghian, Leila; Smyth, Hedley J.While the temporal nature of value cocreation (i.e., the interdependencies between/among past, present, and future value cocreation) is acknowledged in the literature, the processes and mechanisms through which these interdependencies are deliberately managed (i.e., multiplex value cocreation) are not examined. Our study aims to unravel the “black box” of multiplex value cocreation by investigating the processes and mechanisms through which actors manage the temporal nature of value cocreation in unique service exchanges. The research design is a multiple case study comprising four firms engaged in the definition, design, and delivery of mega-infrastructure projects. Our results showed that multiplex value cocreation involves two core processes of institutional work and resource reconfiguration that are reciprocally interrelated, driven by actor motives and conflicts and facilitated by interaction mechanisms. We further propose that emerged institutions and existing previous similar service exchanges may eliminate the need for multiplex value cocreation in routine service exchanges.Item Open Access The relationship between consumer calibration and consumer value : a systematic review(Cranfield University, 2011-08) Razmdoost, Kamran; Dimitriu, Radu; Knox, SimonConsumers’ perceptions of their resources in consumption tasks (that is, their abilities and endowments to perform consumption tasks) are many times not accurate. This misjudgement of resources negatively influences their performance in consuming or using products and services. Further, this carries on to influence consumers’ perceived value of products or services. In order to represent this phenomenon, consumer calibration is defined as the agreement between the subjective and objective assessment of consumer resources required in a consumption task. Therefore, it is crucial to discover the role of consumer calibration in the consumption experience. This paper proposes that consumer calibration occurs at two levels: of the task and of the self. Consumer task calibration refers to the extent of error in the task-required resource appraisal, whereas consumer self-calibration is the degree of accuracy in one’s self-perception of abilities. This systematic literature review is conducted to explore the relationships between consumer self and task calibration, on the one hand, and consumer value, on the other hand. After screening 2297 studies, based on their relevance and quality, forty texts in three main academic domains of Marketing, Psychology and Information Systems are selected for analysis and synthesis. The results reveal that subjective and objective assessments of consumer resources and task-required resources influence consumer value through their impact on functional performance and emotional consequences. The findings also suggest that, although a relationship between consumer task and self-calibration exists, their relationship with consumer value and their emotional consequences need further scrutiny. Consequently, a model for the effect of consumer calibration on consumer value is developed, based on the relationships established in the literature reviewed and the interpretation of the findings in the studies reviewed.Item Open Access The role of network structural properties in supply chain sustainability: a systematic literature review and agenda for future research(Emerald, 2020-10-26) Alinaghian, Leila; Qiu, Jilin; Razmdoost, KamranPurpose The purpose of this paper is to systematically review and assess the current status of research on supply chain sustainability from a network structural perspective and provide an organising framework for future scholarship in this area. Design/methodology/approach By adopting an evidence-based approach, this study conducts a systematic review of 73 articles from 18 peer-reviewed journals published between 2000 and 2020. Findings Adopting a social network analysis approach, the review identifies specific node-level (i.e. degree centrality, closeness centrality and betweenness centrality) and network-level (i.e. network density, network sub-groups and network diversity) structural properties that play a role in supply chain sustainability. The results reveal that structural properties determine the extent of perception of sustainability risks, the diffusion of sustainability targets, introduction of sustainable innovations, development of sustainability capabilities, adoption of sustainability initiatives and the monitoring of sustainability performance throughout the supply chain. Originality/value By distinguishing between supply network and sustainable supply network types, this study extends the existing understandings of the role of network connectivity patterns in supply chain sustainability through synthesising and evaluating the extant literature. This study further clarifies the role of these network structural properties in supply chain sustainability by describing their impact on a set of sustainable supply chain management practices through which firms achieve sustainability goals across their supply chains. KeywordsItem Open Access Service ecosystem boundary and boundary work(Elsevier, 2022-11-29) Razmdoost, Kamran; Alinaghian, Leila; Chandler, Jennifer D.; Mele, CristinaWe aim to explain service ecosystem change at the intersection of focal service ecosystems through the concepts of boundary and boundary work. We define a service ecosystem boundary as a set of symbolic or social boundaries that enable the functioning of an ecosystem by identifying and authorizing actors and recognizing, legitimizing, and protecting resources. We further introduce boundary work and conceptualize the three types through which it manifests in service ecosystems: competitive, collaborative, and configurational. We further illustrate this typology by applying these types of boundary work in an analysis of the evolution of the music service ecosystem. Our paper has implications for the definition of actors and resources in service ecosystems in addition to the processes that include or exclude these actors and resources. Furthermore, our conceptualization contributes to the literature by providing a lens for investigating boundary changes in service ecosystems and explaining their fluidity or stability.