Environmental awareness and changing attitudes toward "green consumption" are becoming evident in emerging countries' markets. Using an extended theory of planned behavior, this paper aims to examine emerging countries' business students' intentions to purchase green vehicles. Stratified random sampling was used to select study participants, and data were collected through face-to-face interviews. Results revealed that environmental knowledge and awareness have a significant influence on business students' favorable attitudes toward green vehicles. Further, a significant association between attitudes toward green vehicles, perceived behavioral controls, and intentions to purchase green vehicles was observed. Findings serve to inform managers and policy makers who are formulating strategies for maximizing value creation in an era of increasingly environmentally aware consumers in emerging markets. Ultimately, this policy will help to promote green technology initiatives, and encourage higher rates of adoption of eco-friendly vehicles in emerging countries.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze HRM practices in Iran in view of underlying cultural, political and economic factors.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is organized in three major parts. The first part deals with HRM concept and Iranian social context. The second part presents methodology and data analysis. The third part discusses results and illustrates HRM practices in Iranian organizations. The study involves in‐depth interviews with four Iranian managers and data collected from 82 respondents through Likert‐type questionnaires (n=82, rate of response=44 per cent).FindingsThe findings in the paper shed light on the main HRM functions in the Iranian public sector. Staffing is marked by pervasiveness of networking, entitlement, compliance with Islamic/revolutionary criteria and high job security. Compensation is described by features such as fixed pay, ascription/seniority‐based reward, and hierarchical pay structure. Training and development programs are found to be unplanned and spontaneous. Finally, the paper shows that the appraisal function receives little attention and tends to be based on subjective and behavioral criteria.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper shows that the study is limited in terms of HRM functions, sector and sample size. Further research may make comparison between large/state‐owned and small/private organizations.Practical implicationsThe findings in the paper might be valuable for MNEs, NGOs, international negotiators, expatriate managers, investors and those who are concerned with this part of the world.Originality/valueThe paper presents a convenient approach in assessing HRM variations. The combination of qualitative and quantitative data provides a thick description of HRM enriched by secondary data and previous research. Given some commonalities between Iran and other developing countries, the findings might be of potential interest in comparative studies dealing with management transferability.

Over the last decades organizational studies have witnessed an increasing interest in culture. Despite this trend, cultural studies seem to lag behind other fields of management science. While some shortcomings encountered in cultural management research may be categorized solely as methodological issues, others have their origins in conceptual and theoretical foundations on which research hinges. The methodology of cultural research has commonly been discussed (e.g.

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the characteristics of intellectual capital (IC) in Mexican small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Due to the shift from traditional factors of production to knowledge-based economy, an understanding of the role of IC has become crucial for SMEs to develop a competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach – This study takes an in depth look at the three components of IC: human, organizational, and external capital. In order to do so, a quantitative study on 445 SMEs was conducted based on data collected through an online survey. A structural equation model is proposed that is a fit with the reality of Mexican SMEs. Regional differences are highlighted by means of multigroup analysis. Findings – The results suggest that the features of human and organizational capital are consistent with previous studies on SMEs in emerging economies. However, external capital shows some distinctive characteristics unique to Mexican context. Practical implications – Implications for managers and policymakers are discussed, whereby an adaptation of programs and policies are required to fit the Mexican context at the national and regional levels. Originality/value – To the best of the authors knowledge, this is the first study that observes the components of IC in Mexican SMEs.