TRUST IN CROSS-CULTURAL B2B FINANCIAL SERVICE RELATIONSHIPS: THE ROLE OF SHARED VALUES

This is the accepted version of the following article: Houjeir, R. & Brennan, R. J, 'Trust in cross-cultural b2b financial service relationships: The role of shared values', Journal of Financial Services Marketing, June 2016, Vol 21(2): 90-102 The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/fsm.2016.4Trust in business-to-business supplier–customer relationships in financial services is an area of considerable research interest. The bulk of prior empirical research in this field has concentrated on trust in business relationships within a Western cultural context. However, shared values are acknowledged to be an important antecedent to trust. The premise of this study is that in circumstances where there are substantial cultural differences between parties to a supplier–customer relationship, these differences will be reflected in shared values, which will in turn be reflected in differences in the nature of trust. A qualitative study was conducted among business bankers and their corporate clients in the context of the United Arab Emirates. In all 170 respondents were interviewed; of these, 160 were paired respondents, that is, where a client and banker from the same business relationship were interviewed (yielding 80 interview dyads). Substantial differences with respect to trust were found between relationships that involved only Emiratis, those that involved Emiratis and non-Emiratis, and those that involved only non-Emiratis. For Emiratis mutual trust is substantially based on family and clan ties and exhibits strongly affective characteristics. For non-Emiratis trust is largely based on business considerations, and exhibits strongly cognitive characteristics.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Continues renal replacement therapy (CRRT) with disposable hemoperfusion cartridge: A promising option for severe COVID-19

Cytokine release syndrome is prevalent in severe cases of COVID-19. In this syndrome, an uncontrolled response of immune system occurs. Extracorporeal blood purification has been proven to effectively remove the released inflammatory cytokines. Here, we reported a successful case to represent our experience of extracorporeal blood purification in a patient with severe COVID-19. © 2020 The Author

In search of tools for the use of Country-Image (CI) in the brand

Existing country image (CI) literature tends to focus on consumer behaviour. In contrast, this paper approaches CI from the point of view of the firm. In doing so, it seeks to identify the means by which international companies associate a brand with a specific country of origin in order to build brand values. In particular, it looks at the use of CI cues in brand strategies. The paper is based on exploratory research comprising a case study of two contrasting companies from the cosmetics industry, Natura, a domestic company, and the French-owned L’Occitane, both of which draw on images of Brazil to build their brands. Specific elements of CI used in branding are identified, and the extent to which the use of these differs depending on the origin of the owning company is explored. The cases suggest that CI can be exploited in different contexts. Through analysis of the elements used by both companies to build strong brands associated with the Brazilian CI—Natura Cosméticos and L’Occitane au Brésil—six tools are identified that can be combined by firms to deliver brand values, derived from any country, through the use of CI

A Study on Global Orientation in New Product Development among Small and Medium-Sized Firms

While many small and middle-sized enterprises are entering into emerging markets to satisfy diverse consumer needs, limited attention has been given to global orientation in new product development among these small and middle-sized enterprises in emerging markets. In order to find the antecedents and consequences of this managerial value, we have developed and tested a model of global orientation in new product development among small and middle-sized enterprises. Specifically, we hypothesize that customer orientation and long-term focus have a positive influence on the global orientation among small and middle-sized enterprises, which in turn has a positive effect on performance. Data collected from 482 firms supports the model. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.This Research is Supported by Sanhak Foundation Research Grant in 2011

Subject - specific - frequency - band for motor imagery EEG signal recognition based on common spatial spectral pattern

Over the last decade, processing of biomedical signals using machine learning algorithms has gained widespread attention. Amongst these, one of the most important signals is electroencephalography (EEG) signal that is used to monitor the brain activities. Brain-computer-interface (BCI) has also become a hot topic of research where EEG signals are usually acquired using non-invasive sensors. In this work, we propose a scheme based on common spatial spectral pattern (CSSP) and optimization of temporal filters for improved motor imagery (MI) EEG signal recognition. CSSP is proposed as it improves the spatial resolution while the temporal filter is optimized for each subject as the frequency band which contains most significant information varies amongst different subjects. The proposed scheme is evaluated using two publicly available datasets: BCI competition III dataset IVa and BCI competition IV dataset 1. The proposed scheme obtained promising results and outperformed other state-of-the-art methods. The findings of this work will be beneficial for developing improved BCI systems

Global advertising strategy

The significant body of published work in global advertising literature focuses on the standardization and localization of the advertising campaign from a marketing strategy perspective without much concern regarding consumers’ response. In this research, this gap is addressed by gauging consumer perceptions of localized and standardized advertisements in Hong Kong. Consumers generally prefer locally produced to foreign‐sourced commercials, irrespective of brand origin; and they exhibit more favorable attitudes toward foreign‐sourced, standardized commercials in situations involving greater brand familiarity and when execution style is transformational. Therefore, well‐known brands with transformational appeals are more likely to succeed when transferred to Hong Kong, while localized advertising messages will be more effective when brand familiarity is low.</jats:p