Browsing by Author "Xavier, Jesrina Ann"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Disentangling Organizational Challenges and Change in a Pandemic through Design Thinking
(Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2021) Xavier, Jesrina Ann; Jambulingam, Manimekalai
The advent of design thinking as a tool for innovation and problem solving has led to its adoption in a range of organizations, especially during this Covid19 pandemic. While proponents of design thinking continue to focus on the principles and practices of their method, little is known on the how its method can be used to disentangle and manage organizational challenges due to the effects of the Covid19 pandemic. This paper provides a unique viewpoint into the process taken by one small and medium enterprise (SME) in Malaysia, in embracing organizational change to sustain and expand its business during a pandemic. It is pertinent to note that single cases can enable the creation of more complicated theories than multiple cases, because single-case researchers can fit their theory exactly to the many details of a particular case. Thus, a single case study may bring an important contribution to theory development if the particulars of the case are seen as opportunities to make further adjustments in an already crystallized understanding of reality.Design thinking, by virtue of being oriented toward solving complex problems was implemented in this SME through its five steps; empathy, define, ideate, prototype and test. Firstly, this paper identifies and defines the challenges faced by this SME, through empathy. Secondly, ideation was carried out through the divergent and convergent process. Soon after, a prototype with is presented. Finally, testing is done with a change management plan. This paper introduces a conceptual framework mapping the design thinking process with Lewin's three stages of change model with design thinking for problem solving in SMEs. Lewin's change model comprises of three stages, known as; unfreezing, changing and refreezing. The conceptual framework will present the consolidation of; (1) design thinking's step on empathy and define with Lewin's change model of unfreezing, (2) design thinking's step on ideate and prototype with Lewin's change model of changing, and (3) design thinking's step on testing with Lewin's change model of refreezing. The novelty of this paper is the detailed theoretical contribution towards Lewin's change model and the practical contribution of the application of design thinking in solving problems, especially during a pandemic. Since this paper is using a single casestudy, it does not lead to a statistical generalization. However, the findings of this single case study can be seen as a preliminary step in the process of building a general theory, containing propositions supposedly applicable to a population of similar cases.
Innovation Process through Generational Change of Women Entrepreneurs in Family Business: A Conceptual Framework
(Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2021) Abdullah, Arliza; Xavier, Jesrina Ann; Feranita, Feranita
Women have always played an integral part in family business and yet for decades their work has mostly been unrecognized and their presence almost invisible. In the past decade, however, things are starting to look brighter for women in family businesses as the role of women in family business in increasingly acknowledged. This has led to the growth of studies in women entrepreneur's role in family business. Extant studies although growing, still has a long way to go especially in gendered research in innovation and family business. Innovation is especially crucial in the current challenging business landscape particularly due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Family businesses are pushed to innovate to be able to survive and grow. Entrepreneurship has been acknowledged by scholars to be a gendered field of study. Women have different cognitive frames, different management and leadership style and different accessibility to resources than men, which influences the way they make strategic entrepreneurial decisions such as those in the innovation process. This paper aims to delve into how being women entrepreneurs in family businesses influence their entrepreneurial abilities and impact their decision making particularly in innovation. As one of the objectives of a family business is to be able to pass the business to the next generation, this paper will also explore the effects of generational change on the innovation process within these businesses. The paper will explore how women entrepreneurs' competencies, entrepreneurial skills and goals would affect their decision making during the innovation process. This study will also explore how this phenomenon changes as the business is passed on to the next generation. This paper contributes to the overlapping of two areas: family business innovation and women entrepreneurship through generational change. A framework is developed to explain the influence of the family business in shaping women entrepreneurs and how this in turn will impact their decision making in the innovation process of the family business. The framework can provide useful insights into the innovation process and outcome of family business managed by women entrepreneurs, through the phenomenon of generational change. This paper also outlines an agenda for future researchers, in the field of family business and women entrepreneurship.
The Power of Stars: Celebrity Athlete Product Endorsement in Social Media
(Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2021) Jiang, Nan; Wei, Khong Kok; Ling, Gan Jen; Shasha, Teng; Xavier, Jesrina Ann
Nowadays, star athletes are global brand personalities. The increased popularity of the professional sport has contributed to elevating exceptional athletes to international star status. At the same time, social commerce represents a new stream in e-commerce, in which social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, and Weibo are utilized in advertising and marketing initiatives. With almost mythical status, professional athletes have become rising symbols of athletic excellence in sport game and competition and play socially interactive roles through their likeable and trustworthy persona, then positively endorse products or brands and further influence consumers' product involvement. In contrast with the traditional promotion practice in TV, magazine, and broadcast channels, social media endorsement has grown exponentially across various industries. The happening of the recent Olympic Games Tokyo 2021 has raised substantial attention of sports aficionados and fans, which could further boost product immersion in both sports and non-sport-related products or services. Currently, most studies of celebrity endorsement emphasize film, music, or TV show stars' influence via traditional media channels but overlook athletes from both team and individual endorsement through social media platforms. Even particular research has investigated the global well-known or highest-paid athletes product endorsement in Western social media applications (e.g., Twitter, FB, Instagram). There is limited explicit research on Chinese celebrity athlete endorsement in China's local social media (e.g., Weibo). Hence, this empirical study aims to assess the impacts of athlete performance and brand social value on product involvement, with celebrity athlete endorsement mediating effect. A quantitative survey was conducted with 399 Chinese participants and analyzed via structural equation modeling through a two-step analysis approach. The results demonstrate that there are significant impacts of athlete performance and brand social value on product involvement. Celebrity endorsement partially mediates the effects of athlete performance and brand social value towards product involvement. This study extends the understanding of celebrity athlete product endorsement and insights the strategic implication for social media-based marketing initiatives and endeavors.