JOURNAL OF BUSINESS AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

JOURNAL OF BUSINESS AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

Volume 28, Number 2

ISSN 1946-8113

Fall 2016

A Conceptual Framework for the Dynamics of Call Service Center Offshoring ..................................................................... Ryoji Ito and Kenneth C. Gehrt

Exploring Operational Resilience in the Context of Military Aviation: Finding the Right Mode at the Right Time

.................................................... Pettit, Simpson, Hancock, Clark, Haydel and Pierce

Methodological Considerations in Cross-Cultural Research: A Discussion of the Translation Issue ...................................................................... Mahesh N. Rajan and Bobbi Makani

An Analysis of Thai Listed Hotels: Financial and Operational Performance .............................................Slisa Bhamornsathit and Punthumadee Katawandee

EPA Risk Aversion Upon an Innovative En- Product Adoption ..................................................................................Tom Suraphol Apaiwongse

Value Co-Creation in Retailing in the U.S. and Japan: A Cross-Cultural Comparison .......................................................................... Merz, Merz, Gehrt and Takahashi

TThe Consistency and Validity of Online User Ratings of Movie and DVD Quality .................................................................Baugher, Ramos and Eisner

Corporate Fraud and Employee Theft: Impacts and Costs on Business ........................................................ Stephanie Peters and Balasundram Maniam

How GEEK CHIC Can Lead the Way to Better Marketing Models: The Call to Research Fashion Adoption

................................................................ Elizabeth F. Purinton

Protected Classes, Credit Histories and Criminal Background Checks: A New Twist to OldFashioned Disparate Impact Cases?

................................................................ Roy W. Copeland and Mel Schnake

A REFEREED PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF BUSINESS AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

JOURNAL OF BUSINESS AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

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____________________ISSN 1946-8113_______________________

Editor-in-Chief Wali I. Mondal National University Assistant Editor: Shafi Karim, University of California, Riverside

Editorial Board

Karen Blotnicky

Gerald Calvasina

Mount Saint Vincent University

University of Southern Utah

Pani Chakrapani University of Redlands

Shamsul Chowdhury Roosevelt University

Steve Dunphy Indiana University Northeast

Lisa Flynn SUNY, Oneonta

Sharon Heilmann Wright State University

Ellis B. Heath Valdosta State University

Sheldon Smith Utah Valley University

Saiful Huq University of New Brunswick

William J. Kehoe University of Virginia

Douglas McCabe Georgetown University

Maureen Nixon South University Virginia Beach

Bala Maniam Sam Houston State University

Darshan Sachdeva California State University long Beach

Thomas Vogel Canisius College

Jake Zhu California State University San

Bernardino

Linda Whitten Skyline College

The Journal of Business and Behavioral Sciences is a publication of the American Society of Business and Behavioral Sciences (ASBBS). Papers published in the Journal went through a blind-refereed review process prior to acceptance for publication. The editors wish to thank anonymous referees for their contributions.

The national annual meeting of ASBBS is held in Las Vegas in February/March of each year and the international meeting is held in June of each year. Visit for information regarding ASBBS.

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JOURNAL OF BUSINESS AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES ISSN 1946-8113

Volume 28, Number 2 Fall 2016

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A Conceptual Framework for the Dynamics of Call Service Center Offshoring Ryoji Ito and Kenneth C. Gehrt...................................3

Exploring Operational Resilience in the Context of Military Aviation: Finding the Right Mode at the Right Time

Pettit, Simpson, Hancock, Clark, Haydel and Pierce.......................24

Methodological Considerations in Cross-Cultural Research: A Discussion of the Translation Issue

Mahesh N. Rajan and Bobbi Makani....................................37

An Analysis of Thai Listed Hotels: Financial and Operational Performance Slisa Bhamornsathit and Punthumadee Katawandee....................55

EPA Risk Aversion Upon an Innovative En- Product Adoption Tom Suraphol Apaiwongse.................................70

Value Co-Creation in Retailing in the U.S. and Japan: A Cross-Cultural Comparison Merz, Merz, Gehrt and Takahashi....................81

The Consistency and Validity of Online User Ratings of Movie and DVD Quality Baugher, Ramos and Eisner....................................94

Corporate Fraud and Employee Theft: Impacts and Costs on Business Stephanie Peters and Balasundram Maniam...........................104

How GEEK CHIC Can Lead the Way to Better Marketing Models: The Call to Research Fashion Adoption

Elizabeth F. Purinton......................................118

Protected Classes, Credit Histories and Criminal Background Checks: A New Twist to Old-Fashioned Disparate Impact Cases?

Roy W. Copeland and Mel Schnake...................129

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Journal of Business and Behavioral Sciences Vol 28, No 2; Fall 2016

A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE DYNAMICS OF CALL SERVICE CENTER

OFFSHORING

Ryoji Ito Niigata University Kenneth C. Gehrt San Jos? State University

ABSTRACT: This paper develops a simple but comprehensive conceptual framework to explain the variation in offshoring outcomes. The focus is on the offshoring of call service centers (CSC). Specifically, based on the prototype theory, service-dominant logic, and the problem-solving perspective, this paper aims to consider why some firms can evaluate offshoring outcomes in early stages but others have a difficult time evaluating outcomes even much later. After developing conceptual framework, the paper suggests several future directions of CSC offshoring research including the considerations of the impact of cultural factors, brand, and the need for empirical investigation.

Keywords: Offshoring, Call service center, Prototype theory, Service-dominant logic, Problem-solving perspective

INTRODUCTION

Increasingly, firms have decided to implement call service center (CSC) offshoring. Studies suggest that the primary purposes of CSC offshoring are cost reduction, service improvement, access to skilled people, and establishment of a foothold in a foreign market (Lewin and Peeters, 2006; Manning, Massini, and Lewin, 2008). This has led to consideration of offshoring as a strategic decision to improve service level or reduction of costs associated with sales, marketing, and customer care activities (Robinson, Kalakota, and Sharma, 2005; Sharma, Iyer, and Raajpoot, 2009; Thelen and Shapiro, 2012; Roza, Van den Bosch, and Volberda, 2011). There are variations in the manner in which companies benefit from CSC offshoring. Those who have benefited are likely to maintain their current offshoring and to perhaps launch new offshore endeavors. Those who have not benefited may try to change their offshoring provider, offshore in another location where cultural or geographic distance is closer to their home country (known as "nearshoring"), or withdraw to their home country (known as "inshoring" or "backshoring") (Benito, Dovgan, Petersen, and Welch, 2013; Kinkel, 2014; Tate, 2014). Some firms can evaluate offshoring outcomes in early stages but others have a difficult time evaluating outcomes even much later.

This paper develops a simple but comprehensive conceptual framework to explain the variation in outcomes. Prior studies have identified three factors

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Ito and Gehrt

that affect the success or failure of offshoring (Ito and Gehrt, 2014; Lampel and Bhalla, 2011; Roza, Van den Bosch, and Volberda, 2011; Schmeisser, 2013). These include offshore processes (i.e., back office operation, front office operation, more advanced work, etc.), offshore providers (i.e., subsidiary, joint venture, outsourcing, etc.), and offshore locations. While most prior studies have developed frameworks to understand performance implication of offshoring as a static strategy, there is little research on the dynamic process of identifying the optimal offshoring strategy (e.g., Benito, Dovgan, Petersen, and Welch, 2013; Ito and Gehrt, 2014; Jensen and Pedersen, 2011; Murray, Kotabe, and Westjohn, 2009). This paper develops a conceptual framework to capture the dynamic aspect of offshoring strategy, especially in the context of CSC offshoring.

Youngdahl and Ramaswamy (2008) categorized the services that are the target of offshore outsourcing into two dimensions; the degree of knowledge embedding (solution/transaction) and degree of customer contact (back office/front office). "Knowledge embedding" refers to the degree of routinization in service delivery system. "Customer contact" refers to the degree of presence of the customer in a service delivery system. This is not the physical presence of the customer inside the service delivery system, but instead signifies customer involvement via information communication technology (ICT). The focus of this paper is on front office services. In services of this type, customers directly interact with offshore agents.

CSC offshoring involves four types of stakeholders that are related to each other (see Figure 1) including the offshoring firm, CSC service provider, offshore CSC agents, and consumers (e.g., Jeong, Bekmamedova, and Kurnia, 2012). The offshoring firm is the organization that provides products or services to consumers. This offshoring firm searches for a CSC service provider that can provide CSC services to customers on its behalf. The CSC service provider is an organization that is located in the offshore location and provides the CSC services. The CSC service provider has internal employees who are CSC agents. The agents are the actual providers of the CSC services and directly interact with the offshoring firm's consumers. Finally, consumers are the customers of a given offshoring firm. Consumers generally interact with agents via the telephone. Agents work to resolve the consumers' issues, respond to inquiries from consumers, and encourage consumers to purchase products and services.

Consumers contacting the agents do not know ahead of time the agents with whom they will interact and are sometimes unexpectedly drawn into offshoring (Roggeveen, Bharadwaj, and Hoyer, 2007). Consumers must, therefore, engage in service interactions with foreign agents whether they would like to or not. Consumers only realize that they are being made to participate in offshoring when they receive some kind of clue. Meanwhile, there is a trend of offshoring firms attempting to conceal the fact that they are offshoring their CSC (Honeycutt, Magnini, and Thelen, 2012; Thelen and Shapiro, 2012; Thelen, Yoo, and Magnini, 2011).

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