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Aims to describe systematically the characteristics of weblogs (blogs) – frequently modified web pages in which dated entries are listed in reverse chronological sequence and which are the latest genre of internet communication to attain widespread popularity.

This paper presents the results of a quantitative content analysis of 203 randomly selected blogs, comparing the empirically observable features of the corpus with popular claims about the nature of blogs, and finding them to differ in a number of respects.

Notably, blog authors, journalists and scholars alike exaggerate the extent to which blogs are interlinked, interactive, and oriented towards external events, and underestimate the importance of blogs as individualistic, intimate forms of self‐expression.

Based on the profile generated by the empirical analysis, considers the likely antecedents of the blog genre, situates it with respect to the dominant forms of digital communication on the internet today, and suggests possible developments of the use of blogs over time in response to changes in user behavior, technology, and the broader ecology of internet genres.

To introduce the special issue on “Genres of digital documents.” While there are many definitions of genre, most include consideration of the intended communicative purpose, form and sometimes expected content of a document. Most also include the notion of social acceptance, that a document is of a particular genre to the extent that it is recognized as such within a given discourse community.

The article reviews the notion of document genre and its applicability to studies of digital documents and introduces the four articles in the special issue.

Genre can be studied based on intrinsic genre attributes or on the extrinsic function that genre fulfills in human activities. Studies on intrinsic attributes include classifications of genres as clusters of attributes, though these classifications can be problematic because documents can be used in flexible ways. Also, new information technologies have enabled the appearance of novel genres. Studies on extrinsic function include ways to use genre for education or information accesses, as well as the use of genre as a lens for understanding communications in organizations. The four articles in the special issue illustrate these approaches.

The paper provides a framework that organizes the range of research about genres of digital documents that should be helpful to those reading this research or planning their own studies.

This study examines the factors that influence a private institution student’s plan to sit for the CPA exam soon after the undergraduate program versus after a master’s program or never. The author examines the CPA exam factors: exam, cost, support, and career, noted by Coe (2016), and extend CPA exam literature through the examination of exam fees and review course material costs, rather than the composite CPA exam cost. From a survey of 63 accounting seniors, the author finds having 150 credit hours does not increase the likelihood of a plan to sit for the CPA exam soon after the undergraduate program. This result is different from studies that showed 150 credit hours is a barrier to taking the CPA exam. Consistent with studies that used the composite CPA exam cost, the author finds that perception of review course material as expensive negatively affects the likelihood of sitting for the CPA exam soon after the undergraduate program. The perception of exam fees as expensive positively affects the likelihood of sitting for the CPA exam soon after the undergraduate program. This result differs from studies that used the composite CPA exam cost.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of the substantial and growing body of emerging market (EM) research. Through assessing the literature an organizing framework is formed to support a nuanced basis for future research and management decisions in EMs.

Following guidelines of seminal authors, the authors conduct a systematic review involving both leading field-specific and top-tier international business journals.

The empirical context of the literature is outlined showing dominance of studies involving China and India. Seminal contributions are identified based on cross-references in the EM field and citations in international business literature in general. The definitional elements of the most dominant definitions are compiled into an organizing framework.

Researchers need to acknowledge the distinct contextual setting of specific regions and countries labeled as EMs. This entails considerations into the capacity of current frameworks to lend insights not just on EM contexts but the particular EM context in focus.

The findings suggest a more nuanced approach to managing activities in EM contexts. The proposed framework encloses the EM category on its distinct dimensions. Each provides a unique basis for managerial decision-making on specified EM activities.

This paper provides the first systematic review of the ever-growing body of EM research literature to map and assess the existing intellectual territory. Through this, the authors contribute to the development of the existing body of knowledge and form a solid basis for future research.

This paper investigates the inhibitors and enablers of supply chain integration (SCI) across multiple tiers in the supply chains of manufacturing-based small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malawi.

Following a qualitative approach, data were collected through face-to-face interviews across three supply chains, each consisting of a focal manufacturer, a major supplier and a retailer.

The research identified interpersonal relationships, supplier cost transparency and joint supply chain management (SCM) investments as key enablers of SCI. Concerning the inhibitors of SCI, the study found that a lack of external integration inhibited internal integration by acting as a source of disruption to intra-firm processes and relationships. Further, the research found weaker links between manufacturer–-retailer dyads than in manufacturer–supplier dyads, which constrained the ability to achieve multi-tier supplier–manufacture–retailer integration. The study also revealed that resource and infrastructural deficiencies, a culture of fear and intimidation within and between firms, corruption in sourcing transactions and a lack of inter-firm trust inhibited SCI.

The paper extends earlier evidence that internal integration is a prerequisite for external integration demonstrating that a basic level of external integration is necessary to prevent disruptions to internal integration.

This study is one of the few to go beyond the focal firm perspective and explore the inhibitors and enablers of SCI across multiple supply chain positions, and provides new evidence on the role of external integration in achieving internal integration.

What are the factors that encourage or discourage a successful university experience and how is this subjectively understood by Black (African, Caribbean and Asian) students? How might university cultures and subcultures better enhance the development of Black students and staff, particularly Black women in the UK? This will be considered by imagining what a more inclusive academy might look like, in the light of associated theorizing. There is, as part of the above, an interrogation of what being a university is and might be. There can be emptiness in policy statements, as well as avoidance, on the one hand; on the other, moments of courage, and struggle, to remind us of what a university can be; a place where difficult issues are addressed, in reflexive, intellectual yet also humane ways. A critical race theory framework is used to theorize and examine the way race and racism implicitly and explicitly impact on social structures, practices and discourse, and asserts itself within the corridors of higher education. It paints a picture of what the more inclusive university might be like, alongside an understanding of how difficult it is for humans to engage with the complexity, of race, stereotyping and discrimination.

We contribute to the literature on institutional and organizational change by integrating two related areas of study: the theory and methods of analysis informed by the research on institutional logics and historical-event sequencing. Institutional logics provide the theory to understand how the content of culture influences organizational change; historical-event sequencing reveals the underlying patterns of cultural transformation. We apply this dual perspective to the cases of institutional stability and change in organizational governance in three industries: accounting, architecture, and higher-education publishing. Research on governance has focused on changes in organizational design between markets, hierarchies, and networks. Missing from this research is an understanding of how institutions at the wider societal level motivate organizations to adopt one of these governance forms over another. We examine how the governance of firms in these industries has been influenced by the institutional logics of the professions, the market, the state, and the corporation by focusing on three mechanisms – institutional entrepreneurs, structural overlap, and historical-event sequencing. Overall, our findings reveal how accounting was influenced by state regulation producing a punctuated equilibrium model, architecture by professional duality producing a cyclical model, and publishing by market rationalization producing an evolutionary model of institutional change in organizational governance.

Research on relational maintenance of long-distance or cross-residential romantic relationships is limited. Moreover, relatively little is known about relational maintenance among non-marital intimate partners in later life, many of whom prefer to live-apart-together (LAT) rather than cohabit. This research paper examines how older adults from the United States maintain their romantic relationships across residences. The authors conducted a grounded theory study drawing on interviews collected from 22 older adults in LAT relationships. The data revealed that older LAT partners engage in a process of safeguarding autonomy to maintain their partnerships and relationship satisfaction. Two broad strategies were identified: upholding separateness and reshaping expectations. While safeguarding autonomy was paramount, participants also emphasized the importance of having a flexible mindset about the physical copresence of their relationships. The findings have implications for practice, suggesting that creating an interdependent couple-identity may undermine, or at least have little bearing on, the relationship stability of older LAT couples. Future research is needed to determine how LAT experiences among racially/ethnically or socioeconomically diverse samples might differ.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between economic growth, foreign direct investment (FDI) and corruption.

Data for 42 developing countries and 28 developed countries is analyzed using panel dynamic ordinary least squares.

FDI has a significant influence on economic growth in both the short run and the long run for developing and developed countries. In the cases of the developing economies, lower levels of corruption enhance the impact that FDI has on economic growth.

The study links corruption to the impact of FDI on economic growth.