EuroMed J. of Management (6 papers in press)

Regular Issues

• Board Characteristics and Firm Performance: The Moderating Role of Board Expertise  
  by OZIGI OMOYI OBEITOH, Meshach Auta Bulusson, Ismaila Yusuf 
  Abstract: Corporate governance failure has always been an area of interest to researchers and regulators as most cases of poor performance have always been product of corporate governance failure. This study however shed light on certain corporate governance attributes that hitherto were not addressed by previous studies. The aim of this study is to provide evidence on the moderating role of board expertise in examining board characteristics and firm performance. The study adopts GMM statistical model with 10-year panel data among 40 listed firms in Nigeria. The 10-year period covers 2012 to 2021. The findings of our study reveal significant positive relationship between board size, meeting, young female directors, female financial experts, board expertise and financial performance. The interaction of board expertise as a moderator with board size, independence, young female directors, and female financial experts improves firm performance.
  Keywords: Board expertise; financial expertise of female directors; young female directors; board size; board meeting; financial performance.
  DOI: 10.1504/EMJM.2023.10054058
   
  
• Corporate governance and corporate social performance in Lebanese banking sector  
  by Sibelle S. Freiha 
  Abstract: This paper seeks to answer the question tackling if there is any significant relationship between corporate governance attributes and corporate social performance by clarifying the concept of corporate governance drawing from the agency, the stewardship, and the stakeholder theories. Then, this paper investigates whether corporate social performance is a function of governance by examining the linkage between board composition, structure, diversity, and leadership with social performance. In order to explore such association, a quantitative method is used to analyse the different variables by choosing a sample composed of 32 firms operating in the Lebanese banking sector. The empirical evidence demonstrates that there is a positive relationship between board independence, gender diversity, and social performance. In contrast, a negative association is found between board size, CEO duality and social performance. This research aims to give practical implications and highlights the importance of having independent directors and female directors on board as well as the importance of engaging in corporate social performance.
  Keywords: corporate governance; corporate social performance; CPS; board characteristics; board size; board independence; women directors; CEO duality; Lebanon.
  DOI: 10.1504/EMJM.2023.10051965
   
  
• Celebrity vs. ordinary: an experimental investigation of the effect of celebrity vs. ordinary people endorsement on charity donations in Egypt  
  by Samira Abdelhamid, Abeer A. Mahrous 
  Abstract: The importance of investigating the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement in the non-profit sector is increasingly attracting the attention of academics and practitioners. Therefore, this study examines the effect of celebrity attributes (expertise, trustworthiness, physical attractiveness, respect, and similarity) on donation intention. Specifically, this study conducted a quasi-experimental design to compare three alternatives; using celebrities, using no celebrities (ordinary persons), and using no persons in the ad, on the attitude toward the charitable organisation and the intention to donate. In addition, it examined the moderating effects of attitude toward charities on the relationship between celebrity attributes and donation intention. A two-group, post-test-only, and non-randomised experimental design was used. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 293 respondents via an offline structured questionnaire. To test the hypotheses, partial least square-based structural equation modelling and one-way ANOVA were used. The results indicate that celebrity attributes have a significant positive effect on donation intention, and the audience's general attitudes toward charities are a significant moderator of the influence of celebrity attributes on donation intentions. Insightful implications are provided.
  Keywords: celebrity endorsement; celebrity attributes; donation intention; charity marketing; social advertising; TEARS model; Egypt.
  DOI: 10.1504/EMJM.2023.10053193
   
  
• The impact of organisational justice on workplace outcomes: mediating role of social exchange construct  
  by Sibelle S. Freiha, Mario E. Sassine 
  Abstract: The objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between various organisational justice dimensions and workplace outcomes in a social exchange framework. A panel of data are used from the Lebanese construction sector that aim to test the hypotheses. The results show that distributive, procedural, and interactional justice have positive impact on various attitudinal and behavioural outcomes including affective commitment, organisational trust and organisational citizenship behaviours (OCB). Additionally, it is reasonable to overlook the main antecedents of organisational justice, the psychological contract fulfilment (PCF) and communication satisfaction, that have not been fully explored. In addition, this study broadens the concept of justice by examining the mediating role of perceived organisational support (POS) and the quality of leader-member exchange (LMX) in driving employees toward positive attitudes. Quantitative approach is applied to investigate the effects of organisational justice on workplace outcomes by applying the structural equation model (SEM).
  Keywords: organisational justice; psychological contract fulfilment; communication satisfaction; affective commitment; organisational and supervisory trust; organisational citizenship behaviours; OCB; perceived organisational support; POS; leader-member exchange; LMX.
  DOI: 10.1504/EMJM.2023.10052054
   
  
• State-of-the-art in the search engine optimisation world  
  by Jun-Cheng Chen 
  Abstract: Search engine optimisation (SEO) has become a popular digital marketing technique in recent years but there is a paucity of efforts in the academic world. Due to the lack of research, this study aims at reviewing the previous studies in order to provide the future analysis as a foundation. This paper employs secondary research to collect the existing scholarship and to offer an intelligible overview of SEO and its related state-of-the-art knowledge. This is a review-type paper that gives you the evolution and perspectives of digital marketing, and search engine marketing, including SEO and search engine advertising (SEA), also, the impact of SEO efforts on the performance of websites, business, and brand equity. The results can provide future researchers a clearer path to continue, and practitioners to follow suit for effective SEO decision-making.
  Keywords: search engine marketing; SEM; search engine optimisation; SEO; search engine advertising; SEA; brand equity; website performance; business performance.
  DOI: 10.1504/EMJM.2023.10052565
   
  
• The critical success factors of restaurant franchisors in Lebanon  
  by Lindos Daou, Nathalie Nasr, Marwan Azouri 
  Abstract: This research aims to determine the effect of selected organisational factors on the success of Lebanese restaurant franchisors. It will identify the critical success factors of Lebanese restaurants facilitating their expansion and growth. The research is based on a quantitative study that examines the dependency of franchise success on five specific factors studied in this research (preset and definitive franchisee selection criteria, internationalisation at a shorter length of time, years of experience in the food and beverage (F&B) and/or the franchise business, proportions of company owned outlets versus franchised outlet and short payback period on the return on investment (ROI) of the franchised outlet). Results revealed that success of franchising depends on a variety of factors some of which were already tackled in this research: internationalising at the right time, years of experience in the F&B and/or the franchise business, and proportions of company owned outlets versus franchised outlets.
  Keywords: franchisors; franchise industry; Lebanese restaurants; internationalisation; Lebanon.
  DOI: 10.1504/EMJM.2023.10053015