Split (2)

train · 145k rows

title stringlengths 6 301	keywords listlengths 0 23	messages listlengths 2 2
Unpacking the combined effects of job scope and supervisor support on in-role performance	[ "Supervisor support", "In-role performance", "Job characteristics theory", "Job scope", "Social support theory" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Organizations of various sectors are not giving proper attention toward the importance of social context in highly challenging working environment for employees. The social context in highly challenging work settings plays a vital role in shaping employees' proficiencies and behaviors. Social context at work captures the interpersonal interactions that develop as employees perform their jobs, roles and tasks (Chou, 2015; Grant and Parker, 2009). The relational perspective of work design focuses on how the social aspects of a job combined with job roles and/or tasks advance an employee's understanding of the job and how this understanding can impact organizational outcomes (Grant and Parker, 2009). In this regard, social exchange theory is a very useful approach for integrating relational or social work context variables into JCM. The JCM posits that five core job characteristics make jobs intrinsically motivating and satisfying and encourage the achievement of high performance (Hackman and Oldham, 1980). Despite the popularity and continuous use of JCM in job enrichment literature, the model has received multiple criticisms from other scholars (Grant et al., 2010).\nTheoretical background and hypotheses: The JCM framework of Hackman and Oldham (1975) includes the five job characteristics that influence work-attitudes and behaviors: skills variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback. They also suggested that GNS, a trait associated with internal energy achievement orientation, acts as moderator in the job characteristics/outcomes relationship. Although JCM continues to enjoy strong support among scholars for the proposed direct relationship between core job characteristics and outcomes, there is mixed evidence confirming the moderator effects of GNS or other related variables such as personality (e.g. Xie and Johns, 1995). We will first briefly review the research on the relationship between job characteristics and job performance and then discuss the proposed moderating effects of supervisor support in shaping this relationship.\nMethod: Data collection and sample\nDiscussion: Overall, there were two hypotheses and these hypotheses were confirmed. More specifically, our results pertaining to the hypothesized relations can be summarized as follows; all predictions related to direct relations of job scope with in-role performance, interaction effects of job scope and supervisor's support were confirmed.\nConclusion: This study proposed that the relational context of jobs, particularly in the form of social support by supervisors, can motivate employees to perform their duties more productively. It also highlights how the structure of an employee's work with the manifestation of social support plays a critical role in shaping the employee's relationships with their supervisors. This study highlights that both job design and in-role performance have a strong link with relational contexts that can motivate employees to achieve their stated targets. Thus, this research improves our understanding of how social context at the workplace can make a difference for employees and their organizations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how the relationship between job scope and in-role performance is contingent upon the level of social support (i.e. supervisor support) received in the workplace.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A total of 640 questionnaires were distributed to employees of Pakistani companies, yielding 328 useable responses for analysis. Regression analysis was used to test for both hypotheses.\nFindings: The results support the role of supervisor support as a moderator in the relationship between in-role performance, a dimension of job performance and job scope. The findings show that a higher job scope would facilitate higher job performance from employees who receive high levels of supervisor support.\nPractical implications: The results provide useful insights for managers and consultants, especially HR professionals involved in job design and redesign. Organizations that encourage high levels of social support can help employees improve their job performance as they foster an environment where employees can get direct assistance and advice from their supervisors.\nOriginality/value: This paper makes three key contributions to the literature on job design. First, this inquiry shows that a strong link does exist between job scope and job performance; previous studies have failed to find a strong relationship. Second, it highlights how social context, especially in highly challenging work settings, can shape employees' proficiencies and behaviors. Third, this paper offers a novel perspective in job design research by incorporating a contextual moderator (i.e. supervisor support).\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Family firms, board structure and firm performance: evidence from top Indian firms	[ "India", "Family firms", "Corporate governance", "Firm performance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Family businesses are the most dominant among publically traded firms across the world (Shleifer and Vishny, 1986; Burkart et al., 2003; Anderson and Reeb, 2003; La Porta et al., 1999). In Continental Europe, about 44 per cent of publicly held firms are family-controlled (Faccio and Lang, 2002). In the USA, the equity ownership concentration is modest; among the Fortune 500 firms, around one-third is family firms (Anderson and Reeb, 2003). The concentration of ownership was found to be higher in other developed nations (Faccio and Lang, 2002; Franks and Mayer, 2001; Gorton and Schmid, 1996). Family businesses dominate many developing economies with about two-third of the firms in Asian countries owned by families or individuals (Claessens et al., 2000). In India, around 60 per cent of the listed top 500 firms are family firms (Chakrabarti et al., 2008). These family firms hold large equity stakes and more often than not have family representation on the board of directors. Family equity stake in Indian firms may be divided across individual holdings by promoters and their family members, privately held firms and through cross-holdings from other listed group businesses. The control and influence exerted by family firms may lead to performance difference with the non-family firms (Anderson and Reeb, 2003).\n2. Potential benefits of family firms: Controlling blockholders like family can have potential benefits and competitive advantage. The extent literature on family firms focuses mostly on the agency problem. The problem in widely held firms includes limited ability to select reliable agents, monitor the selected agents and ensure performance (Fama and Jensen, 1983). An effective monitoring can improve firm performance and reduce agency cost (Fama and Jensen, 1983; Jensen and Meckling, 1976). The principle agent conflict associated with widely held firms may be reduced by concentrated blockholders, specifically the family blockholders, as they have a significant economic incentive to monitor the management (Demsetz and Lehn, 1985). Specifically, the substantial intergenerational ownership stake and having a majority of their wealth invested in a single business, the family firms have strong incentive to monitor the management. The lengthy involvement of family members in the business, in some cases spanning generations, permits them to move further along the learning curve. This superior knowledge allows the family members to monitor the managers better (Anderson and Reeb, 2003). Also, this long-term presence of family members in their firm leads to longer investment horizons than other shareholders and may provide an incentive to invest according to market rules (James, 1999). This willingness of family firms to invest in the long-term project leads to greater investment efficiency (Anderson and Reeb, 2003; James, 1999; Stein, 1988). Another advantage of having a long-term presence of family firms is that the external suppliers, dealers, lenders, etc., are more likely to have favorable dealings with the same governing bodies, owing to the long-term dealings and reputation, than with nonfamily firms. This sustained presence of family necessitates having their reputation maintained (Anderson and Reeb, 2003).\n3. Potential costs of family firms: Family firms are also said to be fraught with nepotism, family disputes, capital restrictions, exploitation of minority shareholders and executive entrenchment, all of which adversely affect firm performance (Allen and Panian, 1982; Chandler, 1990; Faccio et al., 2001; Gomez-Mejia et al., 2001; Perez-Gonzalez, 2006; Schulze et al., 2001, 2003). Expropriation of minority shareholders by large shareholders may generate additional agency problem (Faccio et al., 2001). Concentrated shareholders, by virtue of their controlling position in the firm, may extract private benefits at the expense of minority shareholders (Burkart et al., 2003). Capital expenditure can be affected by the families' preference for special dividends (DeAngelo and DeAngelo, 2000). Employee productivity can also be adversely affected by family shareholders acting on their own behalf (Burkart et al., 1997). Family firms are found to show biases toward business ventures of other family members resulting in suboptimal investment (Singell, 1997). Family shareholders tend to forgo profit maximization activities owing to their financial preferences which often conflicts with those of minority shareholders (Anderson and Reeb, 2003).\n4. Research design: data, variables and analysis: 4.1 Sample\n5. Findings and discussions: 5.1 Summary statistics\n6. Conclusion: In this study, we analyze the interaction effect of the family firms and board governance factors on firm performance in a sample of top publically traded Indian firms. We contribute to the growing literature on family firms by providing a multi-year analysis on the influence of board structure on firm performance in a family firm vis-a-vis nonfamily firm in the Indian context. In this study, we endeavor to expand our understanding of corporate governance and to shed light on the impact of the proportion of shareholding, family representative directors and having a professional CEO in large family firms in India. The result of the panel data analysis shows that the interaction variable (family firms x board score) has a statistically significant negative associated with firm performance measured by both Tobin's q and ROE. This is consistent with the results by Garcia-Ramos and Garcia-Olalla (2011) in the European context. Our result suggests that the incremental effect of the board index score, for family firms with respect to nonfamily firms, is having a negative impact on the firm performance.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Given the prevalence of family-run businesses in India, this paper aims to empirically investigate the impact of family firms on the relationship between firm performance and board characteristics. The effectiveness of board characteristics such as independent directors, chairman independence, role duality, non-executive directors, board busyness, board size, board meetings and board attendance are studied in the Indian context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The sample consists of top-listed firms in India for the period 2002 to 2012. Board index was constructed to capture the governance quality of the firm. The authors also study the relationship between board structure and firm performance by segregating the sample based on family management, family ownership and family representative directors. Random effects model was used for the regression analysis in the study.\nFindings: The authors find a negative effect of board structure on firm performance in family firms compared to non-family firms. Contrary to the most Western literature, family management was not found to significantly affect firm performance as compared to that of professionally managed firms. In the subset analysis of family firms, higher proportion of family ownership and family representative directors did not show any significant impact on the firm performance. Having a higher proportion of independent directors, larger board size or an independent chairman does not appear to improve this insignificant relationship between family firms and firm performance. Also, in family firms, no significant difference in performance is noticed before and during recession period.\nOriginality/value: The study uses a self-defined corporate governance index to measure the governance parameters, specifically the board characteristics. The results documented in this study adds to the debate on the generalizability of the findings in Western governance studies in emerging markets like India with unique institutional development background.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Sustainable organisational learning - a lite tool for implementing learning in enterprises	[ "Evaluation", "Organizational learning", "Competence development", "Learning technology", "Learning transfer" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Unstable and dynamic societal and business environments are making it more imperative than ever that organisations have the ability to operate its learning processes in order to optimise competence development, performance and innovation (Brinkerhoff, 2006). Research-based knowledge on the subject has taught us that for enterprises to optimise the implementation of learning in practice, they need to take care of elements related to the learner, the learning situation and the organisational setting where new knowledge and/or competences are to be integrated and used.\nUnderstandings of learning transfer: Today's learning research focuses on how to understand, design and make learning activities, formal as well as informal, an integral part of the existing organisational HRM and management system and practice. A classical theoretical understanding of learning in organisations and workplaces departs from an idea of learning as a matter of designing a learning and practice situation characterised by mutually shared or identical elements. This behavioural - and later developed within a cognitive frame - theory of transfer and sharing of knowledge typically settled in the common elements theory on shared traits between the learning and practice environments or symbolic representations. Later, Baldwin and Ford (1988) advanced a model that has had an immense influence on theoretical and empirical research contributions within the field of learning studies in adult learning studies and human resource. The distinction between three broad dimensions, the learner's characteristics, the design of the learning situation and the work environment settings, has guided research- and practice-oriented contributions within the organisational and workplace learning field for decades.\nA lite tool for creating sustainable organisational learning: The studied and described tool of this paper (named SuperInsight) is an evaluation and development-oriented organisational learning technology devised with the aim of strengthening a sustainable integration and anchoring of new knowledge and/or competences in practice. The evaluation tool is deliberately designed as a lite version of an evaluation tool in order to avoid, as we often experience, bulky and highly bureaucratized (red tape) procedures when it comes to working with measurement and integration of learning activities in a practice setting. The purpose of the lite tool is two-folded. First, the lite tool aims to reinforce enterprises ability to keep track of, on a running basis, the impact of learning activities in practice based on real-time data. Second, the lite tool intends to support an organisational learning process among the participating enterprises based on continuous input and feedback on the quality of the learning process combined with unique and specific insight on where to intervene - if needed - in order to optimise the learning transfer process and result.\nIllustrations from a case study: Analysis of data from a case study in a large Danish enterprise from the telecommunications industry conducting leadership and sales training shows that participants who are in the red category, usually are drowning in operations and do not have the possibility to focus on learning implementation on new knowledge or competences in a work context. A characteristic comment from a participant in the red category is: \"I will start to work with the new knowledge, when my department get more resources\" or \"We are firefighting all the time\". Here, the role of the closest leader or accountable HR staff is to support the participant in prioritising their work tasks to facilitate the actual use of new knowledge or competences - if the organisation truly wants to be serious about their approach to organisational learning. The analysis shows that constraints in employing new knowledge and competences are not related to the actual course/training activity, nor personal characteristics, but to the concrete work processes and tasks.\nHow to strengthen sustainable organisational learning - lessons learned and recommendations for practice: In this paper, we argue for a double effect from using and deploying the described lite evaluation tools that connect more clearly to the real-time learning processes than a classical \"baseline-midline-endline\" effect evaluation offer. We see in our case study a positive effect on the individual level using new knowledge and/or competence in a work context. In addition, we see a positive effect on an organisational level. Enterprises that employ process evaluation tools with pulse measures learn to develop, create, integrate and share new knowledge and competences, thus creating a foundation for organisational learning through new routines and practices. In the following section, we will elaborate on lessons learned from our case study. Further, we will present recommendations for practice.\nConclusion: We have asked how enterprises are to arrange its learning processes in order to optimise the integration and creation of sustainable organisational learning. Based on a learning evaluation tool that makes a processual real-time evaluation of learning implementation of new knowledge and/or competences, we explored from the case study data how this type of tool influences learning processes and results in organisations.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how enterprises are to arrange its learning processes in order to optimise the integration and creation of sustainable organisational learning. The paper describes a lite learning evaluation technology that makes processual real-time evaluation of implementation of new knowledge and competences in practice context.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research is based on a case study that is designed and planned as a mixed method inquiry. The empirical case study is based on data from a large Danish enterprise from the telecommunication industry conducting a leadership and sales training programme. Case study analysis uses data drawn from the implemented pulse survey followed up with qualitative interviews with the course participants.\nFindings: The authors show results on two levels. On the individual level, processual real-time lite learning evaluation tools create transparency and adaptability. On the organisational level, tool shapes the organisational capacity to improve routines and practices for how to work with organisational learning and learning data in general. Instead of treating learning and development as something that happens \"automatically\", organisations now have a tool for informed decisions aimed at creating sustainable organisational learning processes and results.\nOriginality/value: The paper prompts insights that call for enterprises to enhance focus and dialogue on how to work in new and smart ways with learning at a multi-stakeholder level in organisations. The design and deployment of a real-time lite evaluation tool in organisations are key to bolster learning and competence development, so that organisations and societies can become more responsive in responding to the challenges posed by today's knowledge economy.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
E-campaigning versus the Public Official Election Act in South Korea: Causes, consequences and implications of cyber-exile	[ "South Korea", "Politics", "Legislation", "Elections", "Internet", "Social networking sites", "E‐campaign", "Election law", "Cyber‐exile", "YouTube", "Network analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In South Korea, restrictions on political speech surrounding elections are more stringent than in many other countries. The Public Official Election Act (hereinafter POEA, enacted in March 1994 as a result of integration of four different election laws corresponding to different layers of public administration) contains a number of provisions prohibiting campaign activities that would be standard practice in most democratic countries. According to Article 59, for example, official campaigns are allowed only during a period from the day following the closing date of candidate registration to the eve of the election. This amounts to 23 days in the case of presidential elections, and 14 days for elections of legislators and local governors. Even within this brief designated period, campaigns are subject to tight protocols prescribed in Articles 58 (\"Definition of election campaign\"), 60 (\"Persons barred from election campaign\"), 68 (\"Campaign sashes\"), 92 (\"Prohibition of election campaign using motion pictures, etc.\"), 98 (\"Restriction on use of broadcast for election campaign\"), 99 (\"Prohibition of election campaign by internal broadcast, etc.\"), and 100 (\"Prohibition of use of recorders, etc.\"), to name a few.Having a more direct effect on individual voters are Article 90 and Article 93, which ban the display or distribution of election-related paraphernalia in the 180 days prior to an election. Section 1 of Article 93 states that \"no one shall distribute or display advertisements, letters, posters, photographs, documents, drawings, printed materials, audiotapes, videotapes or the like that convey endorsement of or opposition to a candidate or a party\" during the 180 days.The already overarching scope of Article 93(1) has been further stretched since the National Election Commission (NEC) and the Public Prosecutors' Office started to apply it to the online context in 1996. Tracking down the author of an online source and enforcing this provision is practically easy in Korean cyberspace, in that all Korean users are law-bound to verify their real identities (by providing their resident ID numbers) when joining major online services. Thereby, numerous bulletin board entries, blog posts, viewer comments on news sites, and user-generated content on Web 2.0 platforms have resulted in legal ramifications ranging from fines to imprisonment.The 2007 presidential election\nLiterature review: when YouTube meets politics: Given the mainstream popularity of Web 2.0 services in recent years, current literature offers extensive discussion regarding the political implications of the increasing practice of digitally mediated social networking and content sharing. Specific interest has been shown in the question of whether such practice increases voter turnout or other forms of political participation in the traditional sense of the term. Research findings have, however, been mixed so far; while some consider that the use of Facebook and other social networking sites (SNSs) for political purposes is a significant predictor of general political participation (e.g. Vitak et al., 2011), others suggest that reliance on SNSs is not necessarily related to the increase in political participation (e.g. Baumgartner and Morris, 2010; Zhang et al., 2010).This broad discussion itself is inconclusive and is in need of further exploration, but for the purposes of this paper, we decided to focus on the political activity on and through YouTube. This commercially successful video-sharing site often features among SNSs in journalistic and scholarly accounts (boyd and Ellison, 2007), and this fact appropriately captures some, but not all, of its characteristics. It indeed provides a range of social networking features, such as \"Comments\", \"Favorite\", \"Share\" and \"Subscriptions\". However, it also stands apart from other SNSs, due to it being a unique hybrid form of social media and mass media. Despite social networks that underlie or emerge from its use (Lange, 2007b; Rotman and Golbeck, 2011; Sifman, 2011), YouTube originally has a character of \"a media distribution platform, kind of like television\" (Burgess and Green, 2009, p. 3). Burgess and Green (2009, p. 3) argue that \"YouTube's ascendancy has occurred amid a fog of uncertainty and contradiction around what it is actually for.\" It is, so the two authors' argument goes, a new breed of businesses, or an example of what Weinberger (2007) calls \"meta businesses\", where old media heavyweights and amateur content creators form a curious cohabitation (Burgess and Green, 2009, pp. 4-5).Given that its format induces user participation, YouTube along with other Web 2.0 models revitalized the early internet idealism for better democracy (Bruns, 2008; Jenkins, 2006; Weinberger, 2007). As Marwick (2007) also pointed out based on a content analysis of news coverage, YouTube has been portrayed in a rather celebratory tone in the mass media for its democratic (or democratizing) potential. This kind of portrayal has been supported by a handful of anecdotal cases. During the 2006 midterm elections in the USA, a YouTube-publicized gaffe, later called the \"macaca moment\", cost Republican Senator George Allen (Virginia) his re-election bid, despite his huge initial lead in the opinion polls over the Democratic challenger, Jim Webb. This result was attributed to a video clip showing Allen making racially discriminatory remarks, targeting one of Webb's volunteers, during a campaign tour. The incident quickly became a widely publicized issue once the footage was posted on YouTube, which effectively led to Allen's defeat (Sidarth, 2006). Since then, the term \"macaca moment\" has been used to refer to \"high-profile candidate gaffes that are captured on YouTube, receive a cascade of citizen views and contribute to some substantial political impact\" (Karpf, 2010). A further example of such an incident took place in the 2007 Finnish national elections (Carlson and Strandberg, 2008, p. 171).The discussion of the political implications of YouTube intensified around the 2008 US presidential election because that was when Web 2.0 applications started to be incorporated into the mainstream campaign repertoire in the USA. Then-candidate Barack Obama received considerable media attention for his online presence, which outshone that of the rival candidate Hillary Clinton during the primaries and later that of his Republican opponent John McCain. Obama's campaign made heavy use of Facebook and YouTube to engage the attention of younger voters (Young, 2008), securing record campaign contributions mainly through online donations (Cooper, 2008; Carpenter, 2010).The 2008 election is widely considered as having been a pivotal moment in the US campaign history. Carpenter (2010) and Ricke (2010), for example, pointed out that YouTube, particularly its joint projects with PBS (\"Video Your Vote\") and with CNN (\"The CNN/YouTube Debates\"), afforded more room than ever for ordinary voters to participate in the campaign process and consequently served as \"an instrument of 'checks and balances'\" (Carpenter, 2010, 223). Some other scholars focused on how individual candidates made use of YouTube to deliver their messages in this particular election. Church (2010) examined leadership discourse by analyzing YouTube clips, featuring 16 candidates in the race, and suggested that given the emergence of what he termed \"the postmodern constituency\" (Church, 2010, p. 138), as well as the unfiltered nature of the medium (Church, 2010, p. 139), voters' focus shifted from candidates' political experience to their character. Duman and Locher (2008) examined Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton's YouTube campaigns and highlighted how the two presidential hopefuls attempted to create and uphold a conversational allusion through their videos.In regards to YouTube, another growing body of literature is concerned with the patterns of user interaction in this \"viral marketing wonderland\" (Burgess and Green, 2009, p. 3), and the methodological implications of exploring them. Three themes were identified for our research design. First, some studies have focused on what motivates users to share their videos on YouTube in the first place, ranging from perceived usefulness to interpersonal norms (e.g. Yang et al., 2010). Second, from a similar yet more specific perspective, some have established that YouTube is not only a source for information or entertainment for individual purposes, but also a new terrain for social interaction involving acts of \"co-viewing\" (Haridakis and Hanson, 2009), video responses (Adami, 2009), peer comments (Lange, 2007a; Jones and Schieffelin, 2009), and links to Facebook Walls (Robertson et al., 2010). In this sense, Chu (2009) went further to argue that YouTube plays a role as a \"cultural public sphere\".That said, others have taken a cautionary stance regarding YouTube's capacity to function as a public sphere. For example, Hess (2009) suggested there are certain obstacles to public deliberation on YouTube, such as the platform's dismissive and playful atmosphere. Moreover, Carpentier (2009) analyzed 16plus, a YouTube-like online platform provided by the north Belgian public broadcaster VRT, and suggested that the users may not be as appreciative of additional means of participation as expected. Lange (2007a) found that video-based communication on YouTube is no less hostile than faceless text-based communication. Blitvich (2010) added that impolite comments, although sometimes strategically employed, are likely to result in polarization.Chadwick (2009) argued that deliberative processes and \"thick\" citizenship cannot be the sole yardstick for the assessment of the functioning of e-democracy in the Web 2.0 era. However, if YouTube proves to be an unviable site for discussing serious political issues, it is important to ask why that is so. Answers to this question would advance our understanding of its political potential and how to harness it.\nResearch questions: As established in the previous section, YouTube is a uniquely interesting environment for political communication. What merits further attention is how this global platform intersects with local political and cultural dynamics. This is an underexplored line of inquiry, especially in the existing literature, which has been predominantly based on incidents from Western polities. With the aim of contributing to filling this lacuna, we address in the present paper the following three questions.1. What were the salient features of the discussion surrounding the YouTube clip, and how did that discussion develop during the campaign period?2. What were the salient features of the discussion surrounding the Daum clip, and how did that discussion develop during the campaign period?3. To what extent and how did the two discussions differ, and what lessons can be drawn from the differences (if any) in terms of harnessing the political energy of Web 2.0?\nResearch design: Data collection\nResults: Patterns of interactions among users\nDiscussion: Q1. What were the salient features of the discussion surrounding the YouTube clip?\nConclusion and future research: The dialectics between global media and local contexts have indeed been well documented (e.g. Turner, 2005), and the internet has complicated the matter even further. Contrary to the general description of the internet as a supranational network of computers, what we have is, in boyd's (2006) words, \"all sorts of local cultures connected through a global network, resulting in all sorts of ugly tensions.\"What is unique about the case studied in this paper is, however, that users turned to the global space in order to circumvent a local political conflict, not the other way around - hence the neologism \"cyber-exile\". During the 2007 presidential election, Korean voters used YouTube to share election-related information because the laws of their country prohibited them from doing so on domestic websites. YouTube provided them with a higher level of anonymity than Korean sites. This incident of cyber-exile illustrates the tension between internet-mediated grassroots political activity and the authorities' restrictive interpretation and application of existing laws - the POEA in this case - to curtail the activity (see also Lee, 2011).However, the discussion surrounding the YouTube video clip was brought \"back\" to the Korean cyberspace. Korean users are generally known for having a strong preference for local services (Lee, 2009, 312), but more importantly, YouTube could not provide a suitable environment for this particular discussion. Dialogs within YouTube's comment facility, among Koreans as well as non-Korean users, were often off the topic, and in some instances, unexpectedly turned into \"racist flaming\".Zuckerman (2010) analyzed various tools for circumventing the internet censorship worldwide and suggested that circumvention cannot be a long-term solution. His argument is focused largely on technical aspects, but it still leads to important questions of how, and to what extent, we then should go \"beyond\" circumvention.We, the authors of this paper, do not intend to advocate the \"walled garden\" model for online forums, as opposed to the wild of YouTube, nor do we wish to suggest there should be zero government intervention. Our findings indicate that users can circumvent local regulations via the internet and other digital communication technologies (and probably more will do so), but subsequent discussions are likely to become fragmented as a result. Despite the specifics of the case studied, the significance of the present paper lies in the fact that epitomizes the tension between \"old\" laws and \"new\" media. Moreover, our findings clearly demonstrate that an innovative circumvention attempt on the user's part is not enough to harness the potential of online discussion for measured, sustained discourse of the issue at hand.This study has an important limitation. We conducted the analysis on a real-time basis as the event unfolded, and therefore the need to compare YouTube and Daum arose only during the later stages of data collection. As a result, a point-to-point comparison was not feasible, which invites further research.Noteworthy is that on December 29, 2011, the Constitutional Court of South Korea declared the unconstitutionality of the NEC's extended application of Article 93(1) of the POEA to social media, particularly Twitter. With the next presidential election scheduled for December 2012, future research should examine the impact of this court decision on the long-awaited relaxation of restrictions on election-related online communication in the country.\nAcknowledgements: An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Oxford Internet Institute's 2010 conference, and some of the findings (answering different research questions) were published in a Korean-language journal. The authors are grateful to Ae-Jie Bae for her assistance in data collection.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - South Korea imposes more stringent restrictions on political speeches during elections than many other democratic countries. The purpose of this paper is to examine the long-standing conflict between citizens and institutions in the Korean electoral environment and the effects of the internet on this conflict.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper provides a case study of the 2007 presidential election in Korea. During the campaign period, two video clips (one on YouTube and the other on Daum, a major domestic web portal) emerged and implicated the then-leading candidate in a financial scandal. The paper investigates how these video clips were shared and discussed among Korean voters, even though the country's election laws restricted the sharing of such information in cyberspace. The paper employs a combination of network analysis techniques, including hyperlink analysis, interaction network analysis, and semantic network analysis.\nFindings: - YouTube served as a medium for Korean voters to circumvent local electoral regulations, thus implying the neologism \"cyber-exile\". However, unlike Daum, YouTube failed to facilitate discussions on the posted video clip. The discussion through its comment feature was often derailed by irrelevant comments from seemingly uninterested parties. The address of the video clip was shared through personal blogs and online bulletin boards in Korean cyberspace, but these efforts led only to a fragmented sphere.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Any comparison between YouTube and Daum should be made with caution because of inherent differences between the two platforms.\nPractical implications: - The results have important practical implications for those interested in designing e-deliberation environments. For example, they should have a clearer understanding of the composition of users and the undesirable consequences of a fragmented public sphere.\nOriginality/value: - This paper highlights how pre-internet institutions shape its members' political activity on the internet. In addition, the results clearly demonstrate that an innovative effort to circumvent barriers on the part of internet users is not enough to harness the potential of online discussions for a measured and sustained discourse on the issue at hand.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Reframing integration: Information marginalization and information resistance among migrant workers	[ "Intermediaries", "Migrants", "Integration", "Information behaviour" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In this study, I present the findings from a qualitative investigation that explored the other side of the issue of integration of migrants; that is, the views and perceptions of information intermediaries working with migrants in Israel about the integration process. The notion of integration has been the focus of academic debate in recent years and has been defined in different ways (Ager and Strang, 2008; Cheung and Phillimore, 2014; Farach et al., 2015; Gilmartin and Migge, 2015; Harder et al., 2018; Phillimore, 2012). In its broadest sense, integration means the process or transition by which people who are relatively new to a country become part of society (Rudiger and Spencer, 2003). Integration is achieved when \"people, whatever their background, live, work, learn and socialise together, based on shared rights, responsibilities and opportunities\" (Ndofor-Tah et al., 2019) while keeping a measure of their original cultural identity (Threadgold and Court, 2005). Integration is being characterized today as a multidimensional and multidirectional (Harder et al., 2018) process that encompasses \"access to resources and opportunities as well as social mixing\" involving adjustments by everyone in society (Ndofor-Tah et al., 2019).\nTheoretical direction and literature review: Social integration of migrants\nMethodology: Population of the study\nFindings: The content analysis of the interviews revealed three major themes: information marginalization includes data that describe the different factors that keep migrants at the social margins and the ways that this marginalization is reflected in their information seeking of everyday life information; information resistance includes data that describe the ways by which migrants hold off or rebuff accessing and receiving information; overcoming resistance includes data that reveal the ways by which migrants and social mediators try to overcome information resistance and ultimately information marginalization (see Table II).\nInformation marginalization: This theme has two main categories: elements of information marginalization that hinder migrants' social integration, and Ager and Strang's (2008) markers and means: three indicators of integration viewed through the perspective of information marginalization.\nElements of information marginalization: The categories comprised in this theme related to Ager and Strang's (2008) facilitators: language and cultural knowledge and safety and security. Findings from the content analysis showed that participants did not view these elements as facilitators of integration, but rather as factors in the migrants' lives that hinder their integration into Israeli society. This theme is comprised of four subcategories: lack of cultural knowledge, lack of language proficiency, living in an unsafe and insecure environment, and discrimination.\nInformation resistance: The second theme in this study is information resistance. Content analysis of the interviews revealed that migrants resist information as a defensive behavior in response to the unstable and unsafe situation they face in their host country and to their lack of cultural knowledge. This theme includes two subcategories: secrecy and disinformation.\nOvercoming information resistance and marginalization: This theme consists of two categories that describe the efforts of social mediators to find new, relevant ways to communicate with migrants as well as the role that social connections play in overcoming information resistance and marginalization.\nDiscussion: This study presented a new and more nuanced understanding of the process of integration of migrants by re-examining Ager and Strang's (2008) framework from an informational perspective told by the intermediaries who work with these populations. Findings from the content analysis revealed that the process of integration is shaped by the inability of both migrants and the institutions in the host society to close the cultural and social gaps that ultimately result in information marginalization.\nConclusion: Phillimore (2012) wrote, \"Integration implies the development of a sense of belonging in the host community, with some renegotiation of identity by both newcomers and hosts\" (p. 3). Findings from the study showed that it is in this oftentimes failed renegotiation that information marginalization emerges. By allowing intermediaries to articulate their views and opinions, I was able to understand how personal, cultural and social factors impacted the lives of migrants, and distanced them from the sources of information and support they need to feel at home in their new country. Findings showed that for integration to be successful, it should be the result of an effort by both migrants and local institutions/structures to reach a middle ground of understanding and compromise. This study extending Gibson and Martin's (2019) notion of information marginalization to encompass both sides of the equation of marginalization and situating it in the social, economic and contextual conditions that create information poverty.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore a different perspective about the role that information plays in the integration process of migrant workers by exploring the views and opinions of individuals and organizations that work with these communities on a daily basis. The study proposes a new perspective of Ager and Strang's framework of integration by looking at its different elements through the perspective provided by Gibson and Martin's (2019) concept of information marginalization and Dervin's sense-making notion of resistance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Ten intermediaries working with migrants were interviewed using semi-structure interviews. They were analyzed using an integrative approach of deductive and inductive content analysis and rendered categories drawn from the theoretical frameworks and categories that emerged from the data.\nFindings: The content analysis of the data revealed that information marginalization is characterized by the lack of cultural knowledge and lack of language proficiency that impact the migrants abilities to fulfill their everyday needs, experience a safe and stable environment. Information marginalization results in migrants experiencing self-protective behaviors such as secrecy and an inability to trust information sources that are not contextualized by insiders. Findings show that information resistance can be overcome by making information available in relevant formats and distributed through trusted sources.\nSocial implications: The study revises the notion of information marginalization by trying to understand the social and cultural gap that from both sides of the issues of integration.\nOriginality/value: The study presents a different perspective of the role of information in the integration process of migrants by examining the views and opinions of intermediaries working with these populations. Also, the study reframes existing notions of information marginalization and resistance by addressing both sides of the cultural and social gap embodies marginalization.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Narratives of (in)active ageing in poor deprived areas of Liverpool, UK	[ "United Kingdom", "Liverpool", "Elderly people", "Social policy", "Poverty", "Deprivation", "Active ageing", "Narratives" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: I see they've been killing cats again [...] \"Better bring mine in, then.\nBackground to the case study: Demographic change has stimulated reviews of concepts of ageing, with \"active\" ageing emerging as an important focus (WHO, 2002; Walker, 2010; DESA, 2011). Activity in older age may be limited by ageism, poverty in its many guises including ill-health (Howse et al., 2011) and policy and resource constraints which inadequately support older people's welfare (Dean, 2012; Lymbery, 2012). Disparities between poverty and wealth prompt examination of social justice and fairness (Harvey, 1973; Rawls, 2001; Barry, 2005; Dorling, 2011). A minority of older people are wealthy; others rely solely on the state retirement pension; others have occupational pensions and some savings, but these may be eroding relative to living costs (HC, 2009, 2012). Internationally and nationally, the elderly are likely to be among societies' poorest (Price, 2006; Walker, 2009; McKee, 2010; DWP, 2012; DESA, 2011).Phillipson (1998) explores changing ideology and social policy relating to ageing post-1945 with ageing's demands becoming individualised in a postmodern setting and generational interdependence being questioned. The complexities of work-retirement transitions, age discrimination and the changing roles of older people in work and society are meriting critical attention (Phillipson, 2004c, a; Macnicol, 2005). Coleman et al. (1993) illustrate negative calculations of age-related costs and changing elder support social networks, including family. Factors converge: global recession; neo-liberal policies of out-sourcing welfare to the private sector and voluntarism; and post-modern discourses of choice and consumerism (Walker, 2005; Coote, 2009). In different cultural settings, older people may find such socio-political change difficult (Moffatt et al., 2011; Miles, 2009).Concepts of ageing\nThe study areas and people: Most participants were primarily dependent on the state retirement pension. Additionally, ageing in poor neighbourhoods confers multiple disadvantages (Scharf et al., 2003) and the study areas are among the most deprived in England (CLG, 2010b; LCC, 2004-2011). During the study period, 2002-2007, Anfield, Clubmoor, Everton, Speke-Garston[3] and Tuebrook-Stoneycroft were among the poorest wards in Liverpool on measures including household income and income deprivation affecting older people, both pointers to other deprivations. Despite improvement since 2003, significant areas in wards remain within the poorest 1-5 per cent in England (LCC, 2011): most (89 per cent) of Everton is within the poorest 1 per cent.High levels of poverty and deprivation persist in Liverpool, the once \"proud second city of empire\" (Belchem, 2006, p. 9). Table I illustrates the ranking of major cities in England on the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) (LCC, 2011). Between 2007 and 2010, Liverpool remained the most deprived major city in England, in depth (concentration) and geographical extent of deprivation.Liverpool's overall weak IMD ranking suggests that low ranking areas within the city are considerably deprived (Table II). Socio-economic polarity within Liverpool is also evident. Among the study wards and Church, a comparator ward, Everton ranks first (worst) in Liverpool on most measures. Within other study wards, such as Tuebrook-Stoneycroft, there are small areas of relative affluence but deprivation and ill-health are more evident; both have been associated with poverty (Howse et al., 2011). Years of male life expectancy range from Anfield (72.9) to more affluent Church (83.8), with Liverpool at 78.8 years and England, 82.0 years. Worklessness, rates of benefit claim, low incomes and weak educational performance suggest current and potential future deprivations.\nThe research methodology: Between 2002 and 2007, ACL commissioned studies in five deprived wards to inform policy-making. Liverpool PCT, part of the NHS, contributed informants. The work focussed on older people's needs, aspirations and barriers to active ageing.Participants and informants\nActive ageing: participation in social and health activities: There are other factors, but lots of exclusion (from social and health activities) results from low incomes [...] though people may be too proud to admit it [...] income maximisation among older people is not only empowering, it can be a life saver. It means less anxiety and depression and more [...] fresh food, keeping warm, getting out [...] (Key informant).This observation was illustrated by comments such as: \"keep-fit sessions cost a quid!\" (widow aged 60); and \"you've to spend PS25 now on a week's shop to get free delivery!\" (elderly couple). The problem here was not cash flow, but long-standing forced economy. The following sections explore participants' understanding of \"active ageing\", patterns in their health and social activities and the implications of the findings for social policy.Active ageing: meanings\nThe home and active ageing: Satisfaction with \"home\" was important to well-being and active ageing. It could be the springboard to outside engagement, a place from which to contact the outside world through reading, telephones, computers in some cases, and somewhere to welcome family and friends. The home could be the repository of memory, an essential feature of personal security and identity, indeed as one participant commented, \"my home is me\".Home could signify loneliness, however, especially if mobility and health were difficult. It could be insecure within, if coping were problematic, and outside in troubled neighbourhoods. Across the wards, between 12 and 18 per cent of participants said they felt insecure in their homes, mainly through fear of burglary. Visits from family and friends were \"cheaper than going out\" but lack of maintenance, cleaning and adequate heating could constrain the reception of visitors. Home help services enabled many to remain in their homes, but there was fear of elder abuse and reluctance to allow help from strangers.Reaction to sheltered accommodation varied, depending mainly upon the previous home's characteristics, health, and whether a partner was alive. Loss of independence could sadden but for others, security and less \"worry\" compensated. The worries included burglary, \"I can open my window now for fresh air\"; organising budgets and home maintenance. Some older residents felt less lonely and happier. Others were ambivalent, liking the greater security, but disliking being observed, within others' structures of time, place and communal living. Some participants were currently homeless, primarily because of poverty and poor health. Homelessness was commonly preceded by intense difficulty, in relationships, mental and physical health and finance, although housing associations appeared generally more supportive than private landlords.\nConclusions: \"(In)active ageing\" relates first to the contrast between narratives of older person as burden in relation to our observations of the pivotal role of many older people in family survival, working part-time, providing family care, or both. Some participants joked about their \"inactivity\", then gave accounts of selective disengagement, from post-employment \"busy-ness\" and \"day-time television\", to re-engagement in following interests: pigeons, local history and gardening were three examples. The title also recognises the barriers to active ageing, significantly built from lifetime inequity, in families and neighbourhoods.Lie et al. (2009) comment that older people's volunteering cannot substitute for funded, sustained and coherent care systems. In the UK, the Government's Big Society project (2010) has been criticised on a number of grounds: as rhetoric and cover for spending cuts (Corbett and Walker, 2012); contributory to the dismantling of the welfare state (Bone, 2011); and illustrative of short-term-ism (Ware, 2012). The \"Big Society\" is a wholly inadequate response to the needs of the deprived neighbourhoods we have studied. Here, the two major barriers to active ageing are long-term ill-health and disability underpinned by poverty. As Table I has indicated, Liverpool's deprivation is severe and persistent, so measures to effect improvement need to be well-supported and long-term.\nOur minimum agenda for concrete action in the UK would include: * The setting of a national minimum income for active and healthy living (O'Sullivan and Ashton, 2011).* Ensuring that incomes at least met this standard.* Emplementing the Marmot proposals (2010) for a \"fair society\" with reductions in health inequity from the beginning of life to the end.* Restoring the retirement pension - Retail Price Index link.* Establishing a National Care Service to address one of the major needs of older people and their carers.* Establishing a clear and effective focus within government for oversight and development of policy affecting older people.* Ensure that urban and rural areas are \"friendly\" to older people (ILC, 2011), which also means that they would be friendly to all.* Providing core funding for a range of opportunities in neighbourhoods for active participation by older people (Deeming, 2009).Lymbery (2012) points out that, especially in recession, an adequate governmental response to older people's needs is unlikely. We share that view. The conditions in the study areas are evidence of lack of social justice and the position is likely to deteriorate with further cuts in spending. Many informants were angered at the likely prospect of deterioration of already inadequate provisions in the wards, which is a fair response. In disseminating knowledge of Liverpool's situation, we hope to contribute to a growing body of knowledge and challenge about ageing in places characterised by these levels of poverty and deprivation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Ageing populations are national and global phenomena. These older residents are likely to be among the most disadvantaged nationally and in comparison with younger neighbours. The benefits of active ageing are attracting attention from policy makers globally, as it is increasingly recognised that age-friendly cities encourage active ageing. Resources to sustain active ageing are becoming scarce. Older people's health, social activity, needs, aspirations and the barriers to realising them are at the centre of this investigation. The purpose of this paper is to explore inclusion and exclusion within some of England's most deprived areas.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Between 2002-2007, over 600 older Liverpool people, key informants and policy makers in five of Liverpool's poorest electoral wards were consulted via semi-structured questionnaires, key informant interviews and focus groups about their needs and aspirations.\nFindings: - Barriers to active ageing arose primarily from participants' poverty, ill-health and deprivation, poor neighbourhoods, ageism, and insecure, gendered, racialised and sectarian space.\nOriginality/value: - This in-depth investigation into active ageing consulted over 600 older people in some of Liverpool's poorest neighbourhoods. In disseminating knowledge of Liverpool's situation, the paper adds significantly to knowledge around the severe challenges to active ageing in localities characterised by multiple deprivation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Children's perceptions of obesity as explained by the common sense model of illness representation	[ "Qualitative research", "Children (age groups)", "Obesity", "Individual perception" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Childhood obesity is a growing global health concern, with physical, emotional and social consequences frequently persisting into adulthood (Daniels et al., 2005; Must and Strauss, 1999; Doak et al., 2006; Reilly et al., 2003). Wang and Lobstein (2006) report that the obesity epidemic seems particularly prevalent among school age children. Accordingly, the World Health Organisation reports that an estimated 22 million children under five years old are currently obese, and that even developing countries are facing a similar problem. For example, in Thailand, the obesity prevalence rate for children aged five to 12 years old rose from 12.2 percent to 15-16 percent over the course of only two years (WHO, 2008). The rate of childhood obesity also seems to be on the increase, even in developed countries. For example, a WHO survey conducted in the USA revealed that obesity in children aged six to 11 years has more than doubled since the 1960's (WHO, 2008). In Australia, recent figures from the 2004 New South Wales Schools Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey (SPANS, Booth et al., 2006), indicate that 26 percent of boys and 24 percent of girls in the state of New South Wales aged between 5 and 16 years were overweight or obese. This is compared to the year 1985, when 11 percent of all young people aged 7 to 16 were overweight or obese (Booth et al., 2006).Childhood obesity has been shown to be associated with an increase in medical complications such as orthopaedic complications (Dietz, 1998), pulmonary consequences such as sleep apnea, asthma and exercise intolerance (Dietz, 1998; Ebbeling et al., 2002), and cardiovascular consequences, such as hypertension, dyslipedemia, chronic inflammation and blood clotting tendencies (Ebbeling et al., 2002). Children who are obese also face increased risks of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (Daniels et al., 2005) and Type 2 diabetes (Daniels et al., 2005; Ebbeling et al., 2002).In addition to these physical consequences of obesity, children who are obese have also been shown to experience more psychosocial disturbances such as decreased social interaction, depression, impulse control problems and decreased perceived cognitive and athletic ability (Ells et al., 2006). Furthermore, Franklin et al. (2008) report a finding that obese boys and girls appeared to have lowered self concepts, with girls in particular experiencing significantly lower perceived social acceptance than their normal weight counterparts (Franklin et al., 2008). Accordingly, normal weight children's attitudes towards obese children or obese silhouettes have been found to be negative (Bell and Morgan, 2000) and unfavourable (Staffieri, 1967).Research has shown that accurate and developmentally sensitive understandings of chronic illness in children is associated with enhanced satisfaction, an improved emotional state, a better quality of life and, most importantly, better compliance with treatment (Veldtman et al., 2000). For children this understanding is contingent on a number of factors such as developmental levels and illness experience. It is a widely replicated and supported view that children's perceptions of illness vary in both content and depth, particularly as a child's understanding of their illness cognitions appear to be linked to their developmental level (Bibace and Walsh, 1980). Thus, attributions that children make about their own illness may be completely different from that of an adult or parent.For example, in the obesity/overweight literature, it has been found that adults understand a wide number of possible causes for obesity. These include junk food advertising during children's television viewing, genetic and endocrine factors, environmental factors, imbalance between energy taken into the body and energy expended, as well as increased calorie intake through diet and sedentary lifestyles (Saelens and Daniels, 2003). In an Australian study of lay persons' understanding of childhood obesity, Hardus et al. (2003) found that the public had similar sophisticated perceptions of the causes and preventions of obesity. Over half of the adults surveyed endorsed a view that media promotion of unhealthy foods and over consumption of fast food were the main contributors to childhood obesity.Despite this, it appears that the only aspects of children's views of obesity that have been investigated are perceived causes In a rare study examining childhood conceptions of the cause of obesity, Johnson et al. (1994) found that elementary school-aged children (in grades 1, 3 and 5) lacked much factual knowledge and held many misconceptions. For example, although children could identify \"junk\" foods as a cause, their definition of junk food included items like bread, pasta, potatoes, bananas and chicken. Many were confused about how fat, meat, salt and cholesterol led to obesity. In fact some thought that cholesterol was a type of food. Only 7 percent identified lack of exercise as a cause of obesity though many had no idea how exercise kept one from getting fat, or how a sedentary lifestyle could make a person fat. Although 4 percent mentioned calories as a cause of obesity, children did not know what calories were. Other causes of obesity identified were drinking too much milk or water and mother to unborn child transmission (Johnson et al., 1994). Thus, factual knowledge seemed to be limited, with children not fully comprehending the content of information, or how certain factors work to contribute to obesity.With regards to examining childhood conceptions of disease, an accepted, holistic and current framework is the common-sense model of illness representation (CSM; Leventhal et al., 1980). The CSM is primarily designed as an explanatory framework for the way people perceive and react to disease threat (Leventhal et al., 2003; Conner and Norman, 2005). It is hypothesised that these \"lay views\" of illness are formed along five dimensions, or interpretive schemas (Hagger and Orbell, 2003). The five dimensions of the CSM of illness representations are:1. Identity. Individual statements, beliefs, and labels for the illness. Leventhal et al. (2003) posit that this domain is critical as it joins feelings of vulnerability to general symptoms.2. Cause. Perceived causative agents of the disease, which may include genetics, lifestyles or infections.3. Timeline. The perceived duration of the illness.4. Consequences. The perceived impact that the illness has on overall lifestyle.5. Control/cure: Refers to perceived efficacy of treatment (Hagger and Orbell, 2003) as well as perceptions of how preventable, controllable or curable a condition is (Leventhal et al. 2003).Empirically, the CSM has been validated as being applicable to many illnesses, as it was developed primarily to apply to the health field (Leventhal et al., 2003). When applied to children, the CSM forms a good alternative to the Piagetian framework which is frequently used in the study of children's perceptions of illness (Eiser, 1989). First, the CSM addresses more domains of illness than simply causative factors, a criticism made of applications of the Piagetian model (Eiser, 1989). Secondly, the CSM allows for these five schema structures to be reshaped and develop in breadth as new information is gained from experience and other sources (Leventhal et al., 2003), a notion especially pertinent to children as they age and become more sophisticated in their cognitions.Empirically, previous studies have found that the CSM can be used to effectively describe children's perceptions of illnesses. For example, Goldman et al. (1991) reported that responses given by children aged four to six about the common cold tapped into the five domains articulated by the CSM. In addition, Paterson et al. (1999) also discovered that seven to 14 year olds' discussions on the common cold and asthma could also be conceptualised in terms of the illness representations model.\n2. Aims: The aim of the current study is to examine children's understandings of obesity. The current study aims to explore childhood perceptions of the identity, cause, timeline, consequences and cures/control of obesity.\n3. Method: The current study recruited a total number of 33 children. Participants were as follows: 12 children aged seven to eight (36.4 percent), 13 were aged nine to ten (39.4 percent) and eight were 11-12 (24.2 percent). Age groups correspond to primary school grades 4, 5 and 6 respectively and are the group for which childhood obesity has shown the greatest increases over time (Behn and Ur, 2006; Wang and Lobstein, 2006). There were 20 boys in the sample. The final sample represented nine overweight/obese children (27.3 percent) and 24 normal weight children (62.7 percent). Children were recruited through the Catholic Schools system as well as a sample who were seeking appetite awareness training in Sydney, Australia. Children in this latter option were included in the study on the basis if their body mass indices fell within the childhood \"overweight\" or \"obese\" range defined by Cole et al. (2000). Children were interviewed using a semi-structured interview protocol which was designed to reflect the five dimensions of the CSM. Ethics approval for this study was granted by the University Human Ethics committee as well as the CEO of an Archdiocese of Catholic Schools in Sydney, Australia.The final sample is shown in graphical form in Figure 1.3.1 Materials\n4. Results: 4.1 Identity\n5. Discussion: In the current study, children of primary school age were interviewed on their views of obesity as guided by the five dimensions of Leventhal et al.'s (1980) common sense model of illness representations. In general, it was found that children were quite knowledgeable in all areas.The most obvious identity feature of obesity depicted by the children was a large stomach. If the negative connotations of stereotyping are ignored, this is encouraging as children may be referring to a large waist circumference, which is associated with the most health complications in obesity (Wardle et al., 2008). However, the other identity features of obesity listed by the children were also primarily negative in nature. Such findings are consistent with previous research that have found negative societal attitudes of overweight people found in adults (Bell and Morgan, 2000; Pingitore et al., 1994; King et al., 2006; Hebl and Xu, 2001), and children (Hill and Silver, 1995; Staffieri, 1967).Children correctly identified consumption of junk food, overeating and a non-engagement in activity and exercise as prominent causes of obesity, reminiscent of findings by Eiser et al. (1983) whereby children were able to identify being \"healthy\" as exercising, having a balanced diet and being energetic in general.Almost half of all children interviewed did not mention sedentary behaviour as a cause of obesity. A similar finding was reported by Johnson et al. (1994). This finding has also been reflected in a recent study conducted by the NSW Schools Physical and Nutrition Survey (SPANS) (2004) (see Booth et al., 2006). The study reported that despite there being a recent increase in school-aged children fulfilling recommended exercise requirements over the year 2004-2005, there was also a corresponding increase in children undertaking sedentary activities such as television, videos/DVDs, and electronic and computer games (Booth et al., 2006). This generally poor understanding of sedentary behaviours is of particular interest as sedentary living is one of the major tenets in recent media campaigns by the NSW government to decrease the childhood obesity rate. Perhaps such interventions need to directly address how sedentary behaviours lead to obesity, and encourage children to identify their own patterns of sedentary behaviours.The majority of children in the current sample stated that the timeline or duration of obesity was reliant on people undertaking positive health behaviours. This could also be interpreted as reflective of an internal locus of control whereby the person is seen as being responsible for their own weight loss. As such, it may be that children believe that by either not engaging in these positive behaviours, or, alternatively having failed in weight loss despite these behaviours, that people may have \"done the wrong thing\". On the basis of their understanding of the causes of obesity, it appears that children seem to believe that the duration is short if people take appropriate action. This internal attribution to weight loss may mean that they fail to capture the multifactorial complexity of the issue.It was noted that normal weight children were more adept than their overweight counterparts at detecting the most severe consequences of obesity. First, it may be possible that the parents of overweight children protect them from such negative consequences, as it is understandable that parents would aim to minimise distress in their children. Second, it may also be that overweight children and their parents underestimate the true risks of obesity, as found by Jeffery et al. (2005).Lastly, the cures/control section of the interview yielded the finding that most children endorsed the idea that exercise was a potent cure for obesity. This finding may be seen as reflecting a general sense of an internal locus of control - in that it is seen as a person's own responsibility to carry out this behaviour to lose weight, and that exercise, being a vigorous, visible activity, is the most obvious behaviour to contribute to this. However, this is also limiting in that exercise is not the only component contributing to healthy lifestyles, and needs to be undertaken in conjunction with other positive health behaviours. Hence, the multiple components of obesity and overweight also seem to be underappreciated by children in the current study. Further interventions should make clear the multifactorial complexity of obesity to children, and further highlight the nature of sedentary behaviours in maintaining this condition.The current study was limited in that most of the sample came from the Catholic education system in Sydney's eastern suburbs, which are more affluent in terms of socioeconomic status and therefore impacts on the study's external validity. Nonetheless, recent figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (www.abs.gov.au) indicate that obesity and overweight actually tends to be more prevalent in low income households and living areas of greatest disadvantage. Future research in this area should therefore aim to recruit participants from areas of lower socio-economic status. In addition, a broader sample could also be obtained from public education settings. On a related note, the treatment-seeking sample in the current study also presents with limitations in the sense that results may be biased and not representative of the wider population. With this respect, wider sampling in a number of areas would be a further avenue to consider in future studies.In conclusion, this study has qualitatively examined children's views on facets of obesity as pertinent to the common sense model of illness representations. Results found that children do indeed have well developed perceptions of the identity, cause, timeline, consequences and control/cure of obesity but which nevertheless have some qualitatively different deviations from \"expert\" or \"adult\" understandings of these facets. Future obesity prevention interventions should take these childhood perceptions into account when considering improved adherence to regimes.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The aim of this paper is to qualitatively examine the ways in which primary school children, aged between 7 and 12, perceive various facets of obesity as defined by the common sense model of illness representation (CCM).\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study was qualitative in nature. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 33 children on all dimensions of the CSM. Twenty four children were normal weight and nine were overweight. A drawing task formed the methodology for the \"identity\" section of the interview.\nFindings: - Although children identified food intake as a main cause of obesity, almost half did not name sedentary behaviours as a cause of obesity. Duration (timeline) of obesity was regarded by most children as reliant on a person's undertaking of positive health behaviours. Normal weight children were found to list more severe consequences of obesity than the overweight group. It was found that experience contributed to the detailed knowledge of overweight children's perceptions of cures of obesity. Overweight children also spoke of personal incidents of barriers to cures.\nPractical imlications: - The findings suggest that the CSMs can be used to classify children's perceptions of obesity. Future childhood obesity interventions can utilise these findings to create campaigns and strategies that are more consistent with children's understandings of this condition.\nOriginality/value: - To the authors' knowledge, no previous study has examined children's perceptions of obesity beyond perceived causes.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The hegemonic gender order in politics	[ "Gender", "Discourse analysis", "Politics", "Critical feminist perspective" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Despite the ongoing increase of women in the top positions of hierarchy, they continue to be underrepresented in politics occupying 19.5 percent of seats worldwide, 22.8 percent in Europe, 22.6 percent in the Americas and 42.0 percent in Nordic countries (Inter-Parliamentary Union, 2017). In 2017, Italy ranks 44th out of 193 in the world classification compiled by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (2017), with a participation rate of Italian women to res public between 28 and 31 percent. Although the number of women elected in central institutions is increased compared to the past, in Italy women are still low represented in politics (Massa, 2013), and the number of women politicians decreases in the hierarchy of power (Fornengo and Guadagnini, 1999; Bonomi et al., 2013). Every president of the Italian Republic has been a man and women who have served in the institutional role of president of the Chamber of the Italian Republic from 1948 to date are 3 out of 14 (Italian Parliament, 2017). This position of women in politics, characterized by both a numerical increase compared to the past and a numerical decrease at the top of the power hierarchy, is well represented by the current government. The XVII Legislature of government, which started in 2013 and close to conclusion, is the legislature with the largest number of women in Parliament, in fact the women account for 32 percent of deputies and 30 percent of senators, but only 16 percent of women cover the roles of leader, president of the commission and the office of the presidency. Analyzing the composition of the Italian Parliament, it is clear that the disparity between men and women in politics is recognizable when roles are more prestigious. This condition is also confirmed at the regional level: women are present in the joint sessions in 29 percent of the councils and hold key positions (departments and offices with greater decision-making power) in 18 percent of the councils, while only 10 percent is president of the region and only 2 percent are leaders of the municipalities in the capital city (Openpolis, 2015).\nGender, power and discourse in politics: The studies on women and politics continue to focus on women' numbers in politics and on sex differences, and with difficulty, they are able to embrace the concept of gender (Kenny, 2007) as a category that structures and makes sense of particular social practices. However, feminist studies have developed complex theories of gender, including both patriarchal and discursive conceptions of power. The power inequality between gender relies on the concept of patriarchy, a system of social structures and practices of domination founded in the subordination of women by men (Walby, 1990). Gender relations are power relations involving formal public structures as politics and private structures as the family. The distribution of power between gender, based on hegemonic patriarchal culture, which associates naturally the female to the house and the male to the labor and political activities, has determined an asymmetry in which the historical forced absence of women from prestigious positions, such as politics, would involve a vicious circle whereby the greater female participation in domestic work has become cause and consequence of their exclusion (Walby, 1990). Through the internalization of gendered norms produced routinely in discourses of everyday life, this gap of power between men and women has become invisible, misrecognized and recognized as legitimate and natural (Bourdieu, 1991), contributing to the consolidation of \"hegemonic masculinity\" that preserves, legitimizes and naturalizes men power and, consequently, women subordination (Connell, 1987, 2016; Connell and Messerschmidt, 2005). Discourse, therefore, plays a significant role in the reproduction of dominance, which is considered as an exercise of social power by elites, institutions or groups that have the effect of increasing social, political, class and gender inequality (van Dijk, 1993, 2011). Social power is enacted, reproduced or legitimized by the discourse of dominant groups or institutions (van Dijk, 1996).\nMethodology: This study is based on 30 biographical interviews conducted with local Italian politicians, 15 of whom were men, 15 women. We chose to involve local politicians because figures on the number of women in local Italian institutions are lower than those at the national level (ISTAT, 2017).\nWho is to blame for the gender gap in politics?: Data analysis show how the dominant gender order is performed and reinforced through the discursive practices of the politicians interviewed. The participants tell their experience as politicians and produce discourses that clarify the norms that regulate the political field. These discourses are part of a wider social context in which choices, roles and careers are gendered.\nConclusions: This paper explores the topic of the gender gap in politics through a discourse analysis of a group of Italian politicians and shows the patterns whereby a dominant gender order is constructed and reproduced. Discourse analysis discloses some interpretive repertoires used by men and women to confirm and reinforce the hegemonic gender order.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Despite the ongoing increase of women in the top positions, they are still underrepresented in politics. The studies that primarily focus on women's underrepresentation in politics neglect the role of gender as a category that structures and makes sense of social practices. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mechanisms that regulate the contemporary gender order in politics through discourse analysis and the contribution of the critical feminist perspective.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study is based on 30 biographical interviews with Italian politicians and focuses on the account of their political experiences and on the meanings attributed to these.\nFindings: The results of this paper underline the tendency to either absolve or blame women for gender inequality in politics through different interpretative repertoires: \"Women's disinterest toward politics,\" \"Politics as masculine context\" and \"Politics-family unbalance.\" The analysis allowed to unravel the way in which the discursive practices create and reproduce the hegemonic gender order in politics.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research is limited to 30 qualitative interviews, and so results cannot be generalized.\nPractical implications: The findings of this paper highlight the importance of exploring issues relating to the gender gap in politics and stress the need to implement actions to promote gender equality in politics.\nOriginality/value: The paper contributes to an understanding of women's underrepresentation in politics and offers causes for reflection on a phenomenon that has profound implications for our society.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The role of frequent engagement in alliances in firm likelihood to patent: First wave alliances in UK bio-pharmaceuticals	[ "Innovation", "Pharmaceutical industry", "Strategic alliances", "Patents", "Biotechnology", "C33", "M10", "O32", "D74" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: As the popularity of strategic alliances is increasing and such alliances are becoming an integral component in business development, attention in the research community has moved towards an exploration of their role in firm performance and innovation. Formal and informal interactions with external actors have long being argued to play a fundamental role in firm innovation (Von Hippel, 1988; Frankort et al., 2012; Rice et al., 2012; Colombo et al., 2011; Demirkan, 2018). However, it is accepted that alliances carry coordination costs and risks of misappropriation, and these frequently diminish chances of success or preclude full acquisition of anticipated benefits (e.g. De Man and Duysters, 2005; Gkypali et al., 2017; Faems et al., 2010). A substantial body of literature finds a positive relationship between the extent of alliances and firm innovation performance, whilst other work identifies diminishing and even negative returns (Hoang and Rothaermel, 2005; Sampson, 2005; Laursen and Salter, 2006; Rothaermel and Deeds, 2006). As a result, a growing strand in the literature has examined the factors enabling firms to generate and capture value from alliances. One such factor is alliance experience accumulation: as firms develop greater experience in managing alliances they become better at coordinating cross-organisational tasks and knowledge flows (e.g. Sampson, 2005). Another factor that can improve performance in alliances is developing formal and codified processes and routines for alliance management (e.g. the establishment of dedicated alliance functions), which are argued to capture, or to be reflective of, firm-specific alliance management capabilities (Kale et al., 2002; Kale and Singh, 2009, 2007; Heimeriks and Duysters, 2007; Sampson, 2005; Schreiner et al., 2009; Di Guardo and Harrigan, 2016; Shukla and Mital, 2018). Whilst these contributions offer useful insights, much the greater part of current theorising has been constructed via the use of cross-sectional data. Longitudinal explorations are scarce, thus we lack a nuanced understanding of the type of changes that occur within firms over time with respect to enhanced innovation potential from engaging in alliances.\n2. Theoretical background: alliance experience and alliance capabilities: To explain heterogeneity with respect to firm's abilities to benefit from alliances, the alliance literature resonates strongly with knowledge and capability-based theories of the firm (e.g. Kogut and Zander, 1992; Helfat and Peteraf, 2003). Here, we adopt a perspective that is informed by both evolutionary theory of the firm (Nelson and Winter, 1982) and dynamic approaches to the resource-based view (RBV) (Helfat et al., 2007; Helfat and Peteraf, 2003). These approaches take a dynamic view of organisational development, emphasising the role of experience and knowledge accumulation in supporting improved management and coordination of organisational tasks and activities. Given their dynamic and longitudinal orientation, they are closely aligned with our own analytical approach, informing our exploration of the roles of alliance experience accumulation and frequent engagement in alliances in organisational learning and enhanced innovation.\n3. Alliance experience and firm returns from alliances: Firms with greater experience can draw from a greater pool of situations about what has worked in practice, when making decisions and inferences with respect to the performance of organisational practices (Levitt and March, 1988; Argote et al., 1990). Alliance experience (cumulative number of alliances) improves firms' abilities: to manage and coordinate alliances, to improve coordination of inter-organisational relationships and joint tasks, to form efficient arrangements for knowledge sharing, to deal effectively with unforeseen contingencies and to identify ways to overcome and resolve inter-partner conflict (Anand and Khanna, 2000; Sampson, 2005; Belderbos et al., 2015; Rothaermel and Deeds, 2006). Due to the link between alliance experience and organisational learning, experience is seen as a fundamental antecedent to both alliance and alliance portfolio capabilities (Wang and Rajagopalan, 2015; Kale and Singh, 2009; Shukla and Mital, 2018). Literature suggests that firms may not be in a position to benefit from learning from experience and superior coordination of alliances, when facing power asymmetries and resource dependence in alliances. Conflict is more frequent in such alliances which affects value creation and capture, especially for the weak partner as they are at a comparative disadvantage (Diestre and Rajagopalan, 2012). Power asymmetries are likely in the bio-pharmaceutical sector, as large pharmaceutical firms may be collaborating with small-dedicated biotech firms and due to their longer commitment to alliances and historic investments in downstream capabilities may be at a comparative advantage in deriving value from alliances (Caner and Tyler, 2013).\n4. Frequent engagement in alliances as an antecedent to alliance capability: Deciphering, coding and measuring capabilities is notoriously difficult (Godfrey and Hill, 1995). As a result, the alliance literature has, in the main, relied on identifying alliance management practices (e.g. alliance functions) as a way of documenting alliance capabilities (Kale et al., 2002; Kale and Singh, 2007, 2009). An exception is found in the work of Rothaermel and Deeds (2006). They explore an inverted U-shaped relationship between cumulative alliance experience and new product development. They argue that, as the inflection point of the inverted U-shaped curve corresponds to the level of experience beyond which firms start experiencing inefficiencies in alliance management, it can reflect the level of their alliance capability.\n5. Sample and methods: 5.1 Sample\n6. Estimation and results: Table I presents descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations.\n7. Tests of robustness[6]: The results suggest that there are diminishing returns to cumulative alliance experience. This can signal that ageing experience contributes less to current outcomes and that recent experience may have a higher contribution (Shukla and Mital, 2018; Sampson, 2005). Following Sampson (2005), we explore the contributions of recent and past alliance experience. We develop a set of variables capturing alliance experience between 1 and 6 years prior to our year of observation. So, for example, in 2001 alliance experience of one year corresponds to the number of alliances initiated in 2000 and alliance experience of two years corresponds to those initiated in 1999 and so on. None of these variables appear to be significant, with the exception of alliance experience of four years prior to the year of observation, which appears with a negative and significant sign. Therefore, the diminishing returns to cumulative alliance experience identified in our paper cannot be attributed to decreasing contributions of distant experience. Our results most likely reflect that firms, by just forming more alliances and learning from experience how to improve alliance management and coordination, cannot experience improved efficiency ad infinitum.\n8. Discussion: The paper contributes to the literature on the role of alliances in innovation and alliance capabilities by using a longitudinal analysis which enables capture of the impact of organisational learning in managing and coordinating alliances on innovation. As it is difficult to capture learning, the paper uses a longitudinal approach to capture dynamic changes within firms and it observes learning through its impact on outcome variables such as innovation. The paper adds to a slender body of work exploring antecedents to firm-level alliance capabilities and their impact on enhancing firm's abilities to innovate (for a review see Wang and Rajagopalan, 2015).\n9. Implications for management theory and practice: Our research contributes to the literature on the antecedents of alliance and alliance portfolio capabilities and on the conditions that shape superior firm outcomes from alliances, such as innovation. It suggests a need to delve into the antecedents to alliance capabilities, a thin body of research and to identify nascent factors that provide potential foundations for alliance capability development (Helfat and Peteraf, 2003), shifting attention away from the role played by alliance management practices (such as dedicated alliance functions) that have dominated existing research. This is particularly important as firms may establish such practices during the advanced stages of the alliance capability development process (Kale and Singh, 2009), and as such they may not appropriately reflect the foundational stages of alliance capability development. Here, we echo calls to delve deeper in understanding alliance management capabilities and the antecedents to alliance portfolio capabilities (Wang and Rajagopalan, 2015), especially in the context of alliances involving a higher learning potential (Heimeriks, 2010). Moreover, recent research shows that codification of alliance learning and systematic approaches to alliance management contribute to efficient partner selection and alliance termination, but may restrict flexibility and adaptability which are important for efficient management during the course of the alliance (Heimeriks et al., 2015; Wang and Rajagopalan, 2015).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of alliance experience in firm innovation; it argues that, while cumulative alliance experience has a marginally diminishing contribution to likelihood of firm innovation over time, frequent engagement in alliances and an expanding alliance portfolio inhabit an enhancing role. This reveals new dimensions to the role of alliance experience as an antecedent to firm learning in managing alliances and to the development of alliance capabilities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The paper estimates a range of models identifying the relationship between alliance experience and firm innovation. The panel data sample captures the full range of firms active in the UK bio-pharmaceuticals sector during the early stages of its development observing them from 1991 to 2001. An exploratory case study analysis is employed to shed light on the nuanced factors linking frequent engagement in alliances to the development of practices for efficient alliance management.\nFindings: The paper shows that cumulative alliance experience has a marginally diminishing contribution to likelihood of firm innovation over time, while frequent engagement in alliances and the ensuing expansion of alliance portfolios enhance firm innovation. The exploratory case analysis demonstrates a link between frequent engagement in alliances and the development of processes for alliance management that could collectively reflect alliance capabilities.\nOriginality/value: Contribution derives from a longitudinal analysis of an original panel data set that maps the UK bio-pharmaceuticals sector over the initial period of its development. The paper sheds light on factors that can compel firms to form alliance capabilities, and extends a currently thin body of work on the foundations and antecedents to alliance and alliance portfolio capabilities.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Smartphones and wine consumers: a study of Gen-Y	[ "Wine", "M-commerce", "Social Networks Systems", "Y-generatio" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: \"Omnichannel\" has become a buzzword in retail for good reason. New technologies, such as mobile devices and social media, combined with better data, bring the long-time dream of a unified cross-channel shopping experience within reach. In practice, however, most retailers still fall short of achieving this vision, especially as it applies to Generation Y (\"Gen-Y\" - those people born between 1980 and 1991) and their use of smartphones. Mobile users are increasingly accessing social media using mobile devices, whether via browsers or apps. A study by Adobe (2013) among mobile users in the USA, Canada, UK, France and Germany found that most had accessed social networks using a mobile device, ranging from 94 per cent for those 18-29 years of age to 75 per cent of those 50-64 years of age. In fact, Facebook was the second most visited Web site/application that was accessed by smartphones and was the top smartphone app in the USA in August 2013 (ComScore, 2013). In countries, such as Italy and Germany, penetration rates of mobile phones exceed 100 per cent, with some consumers owning more than one mobile phone (Kaplan, 2012). Mobile phones and devices are increasingly used in conducting mobile commerce (Venkatesh et al., 2003, Ngai and Gunasekaran, 2007). Reputation is one of the reasons why customers rely on particular Web sites, apps or Web-apps, and some studies have investigated trust and reputation issues in a mobile ad hoc network environment (Lax and Sarne, 2008). Newman (2010) found that some 700,000 people view wine-related videos every month; there are over 7,000 wine tweets per day and > 300 iPhone apps for wine. Breslin (2013) estimated that 90 per cent of wine drinkers use Facebook 6.2 hours per week.\nBrief presentation of Gen-Y's usage of social media embedded on smartphones: Who is a member of Gen-Y?\nConfirmatory study of Gen-Y behavior with social media and m-commerce: Research method\nTime and access to the Internet: Among the 190 respondents, 68 per cent of them connect to the Internet using their mobile and 38 per cent spend between 10 and 19 hours a week on the Internet, whereas 41 per cent spend more than 20 hours a week. Nearly all of them (95 per cent) access the Internet every day.\nPurchase behavior and influence of peers' recommendations: Only 43 per cent purchase on the Internet at least once a month. They mainly use the Internet to stay in touch with friends and relatives (95 per cent), but also to look for information on a product (69 per cent). They also access discussion groups (29 per cent) and chat rooms (21 per cent).\nWine purchase and consumption: Regarding the wine consumption and habits, 7.4 per cent of our respondents are members of a group dedicated to wine. Wine purchases range from \"don't buy wine\" (32.6 per cent) to 36.8 per cent \"buy wine several times a year\". With regards to wine buyers only, they mainly buy it in supermarkets (56.3 per cent) and hypermarkets (19.5 per cent), but also in wine shops (19.5 per cent). They prefer to consume good wines:\nWine purchase and m-commerce: The Gen-Y consumers (56/190) who frequently buy wine (several times a month or more) consider the usefulness of the information regarding a specific wine (3.2/5) as important when looking up information through their mobile. This generation also rates highly:\nDiscussion, limitations and future research: As novice or potential wine consumers, members of Gen-Y are becoming increasingly significant targets for wine marketers (Mueller and Charters, 2011). This paper looks at the current state of m-commerce, the consumption of smartphones and social media and the transformation of the consumer into an omnichannel shopper. It also examines some responses to this emerging way of doing shopping which enriches the in-store experience with digital integrations, especially in relation to Gen-Y consumers. Armed with smartphones and tablets, wine shoppers go back and forth effortlessly between the real (whether in hypermarkets or supermarkets, convenience stores, wine shops, at the estate/winery or during a wine fair) and digital worlds (through the Internet, mobile app, wine club or by mail order). They are using their phones while in stores to research products and compare prices, and they order online and then pick up in person. At the same time, they consult friends near and far whenever they may find themselves contemplating a purchase, such as a nice bottle of wine. Every day, more of them come to expect a mobile or an \"omnichannel\" experience.\nLimitations and future research: This topic is promising because France AgriMer (2012) shows that wine consumption is composed of 45 per cent of occasional drinkers (once or twice a week) for consumers below the age of 25, and between 25 and 34 years, 50 per cent are occasional drinkers. The Wine Market Council has also published data showing that the millennials (Gen-Y) were consuming 24 per cent of the total volume. Finally, based on AC Nielsen (2011) in March, Internet and mail-order are representing 10 per cent of the total sales in UK. Those data show that the Internet is more and more important, that Gen-Y members are occasional drinkers, and therefore to link those occasional drinkers with wine, it is important to develop pleasant platforms and interactive social networks. The advantage of providing good service on an m-commerce Web site translates into satisfied customers who will become brand advocates: they can refer other people to the wine grower. Internet consumers talk to other consumers about a good customer service experience. For a service, such as the purchase of wine from a particular wine grower who is already selling online and thinking of expanding into m-commerce, providing good customer service is a must. When customers tell other people about a bad experience, they do it on social networks to reach a large audience. This is why social networks must also be taken into account when planning an m-commerce strategy to avoid any negative buzz and therefore leverage a good e-reputation.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the potential of m-commerce (mobile commerce) combined with social media for the wine industry in order to reach distinctive customer segments Differences about access to information and shopping habits on the Internet seem to exist according to the cohorts users belong to.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on a study of 190 respondents, this paper describes the consumer behavior of the Y generation regarding several variables: level of Internet sophistication and orientation, brand loyalty, risk aversion, involvement, shopping behavior and perception of authenticity.\nFindings: Results of the study show that m-commerce and e-commerce applications using social media platforms may prove greatly efficient in the foreseeable future for wine growers. Different ways of selling and disseminating information about their products are observed.\nResearch limitations/implications: The infancy of m-commerce implies a relative difficulty to gather data about m-consumption. Active users on m-commerce browse and purchase a few items on the mobile web and many brands still don't have the proper interface of their website to fit with mobile screens. As a result, it is not easy to find users with similar interests on the mobile web based on product preferences, directly linked to their browsing and purchasing history.\nPractical implications: Results of the confirmatory study show that m-commerce and e-commerce applications using social media platforms may in the foreseeable future, offer wine growers greater efficiency to expand their selling opportunities and reach a wider audience.\nSocial implications: This topic is promising since various data show that wine consumption is composed of 45% of occasional drinkers (once or twice a week); and between 25 and 34 years old, it is composed of 50% are occasional drinkers.\nOriginality/value: Y-Gens are occasional drinkers and therefore, to link those occasional drinkers with wine, it is important to use social media as a communication tool and maybe a distribution channel to better reach this potential target.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Towards global music digital libraries: A cross-cultural comparison on the mood of Chinese music	[ "Digital libraries", "Cross-cultural", "Chinese music", "Mood perception", "Music digital libraries", "Music mood" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Music seeking and consumption are no longer confined by the boundaries of country, region or culture today (Lee et al., 2013). Music, as a cultural object, may be perceived differently by people from different cultural backgrounds, imposing a challenge on music digital libraries (MDL) in meeting the needs of a diverse audience (Weissenberger, 2015). Consequently, an increasing number of researchers have started to investigate various cross-cultural issues in the music information retrieval (MIR) and MDL fields. As people often seek music for emotional goals (Lavranos et al., 2015), music mood[1] has increasingly become a popular access point for music information in many MDL and online music services (Hu, 2010; Hu and Downie, 2007). This trend has raised questions regarding the applicability of music mood across cultural boundaries. Probably due to its subjective and context-based nature, music mood perception is often regarded as culture-dependent (Wong et al., 2009). A number of previous studies have compared mood perceptions of music in various cultures by listeners from different cultural backgrounds (e.g. Balkwill and Thompson, 1999; Fritz et al., 2009; Hu and Lee, 2012; Lee et al., 2013; Singhi and Brown, 2014; Egermann et al., 2014). Although specific findings vary, a general trend found in these existing studies is that listeners' perceptions of music mood can be influenced by their cultural backgrounds.\n2. Background and related work: 2.1 A brief history and types of Chinese music\n3. Mood representation models in MIR: There are mainly two kinds of models to represent mood in music psychology and MIR: categorical and dimensional. The former uses a set of discrete terms (e.g. \"passionate,\" \"cheerful\") to represent the mood of a piece of music. The most classical model of this kind is Hevner's (1936) adjective circle where eight mood categories placed in a circle, with a set of terms in each category. The dimensional models, in contrast, represent mood with continuous values in a low dimensional space. Different models may have different dimensions, yet valence (i.e. level of pleasure) and arousal (i.e. level of energy) are among the most popular dimensions. The dimensional model used very often in MIR is Russell's (1980) model. The categorical and dimensional models have their own pros and cons. Yang and Chen (2012) summarize that categorical models are more user-friendly as they only consist of terms in natural language; whereas dimensional models are advantageous in terms of quantifying the intensity of moods. Notwithstanding the importance of dimensional models, categorical ones are more suitable for this current study, for the purpose of validating and comparing the values of mood metadata in the context of cross-cultural MDLs.\n4. Research design: 4.1 The participant groups\n5. Results: 5.1 Characteristics of participants\n6. Implications for cross-cultural MDL/MIR design: As advocated by Weissenberger (2015), a flexible organization system is needed for MIR/MDL to meet the needs of different musical traditions. The results of this study have important implications for designing MDL of this kind.\n7. Conclusion and future work: This study compares Hong Kong and US listeners' mood perceptions of 29 Chinese music pieces, with the goal of investigating whether and how mood perceptions of the two groups of listeners differ, and how the differences can inform the design of cross-cultural MDL. Music mood was modeled with the MIREX five mood clusters and the results suggested further refinement of this model. The selected music pieces included six genres and styles of Chinese music, ranging from traditional folk music to several sub-genres of C-pop.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to compare music mood perceptions of people with diverse cultural backgrounds when they interact with Chinese music. It also discusses how the results can inform the design of global music digital libraries (MDL).\nDesign/methodology/approach: An online survey was designed based on the Music Information Retrieval Evaluation eXchange (MIREX) five-cluster mood model, to solicit mood perceptions of listeners in Hong Kong and the USA on a diverse set of Chinese music. Statistical analysis was applied to compare responses from the two user groups, with consideration of different music types and characteristics of listeners. Listeners' textual responses were also analyzed with content coding.\nFindings: Listeners from the two cultural groups made different mood judgments on all but one type of Chinese music. Hong Kong listeners reached higher levels of agreement on mood judgments than their US counterparts. Gender, age and familiarity with the songs were related to listeners' mood judgment to some extent.\nPractical implications: The MIREX five-cluster model may not be sufficient for representing the mood of Chinese music. Refinements are suggested. MDL are recommended to differentiate tags given by users from different cultural groups, and to differentiate music types when classifying or recommending Chinese music by mood.\nOriginality/value: It is the first study on cross-cultural access to Chinese music in MDL. Methods and the refined mood model can be applied to cross-cultural access to other music types and information objects.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
An integrative model for understanding team organizational citizenship behavior: Its antecedents and consequences for educational teams	[ "OCB", "Educational teams", "Team innovation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Today schools operate in dynamic environment, each struggling to gain a competitive edge (Orr and Orphanos, 2011). This environment reinforces the understanding that schools should strive to employ teachers who are willing to go the extra mile, namely to engage in organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). OCBs are behaviors and actions that go beyond the formal role and what is laid down in the teacher's job description, and contribute to the achievement of the school's objectives (Oplatka, 2006). OCB in schools is commonly taken to be an individual phenomenon, namely a personality trait or a social response to the behavior or attitude of superiors or to other motivation-based mechanisms in the workplace (Zeinabadi, 2010). This individual approach seems wanting: teachers perform or fail to perform OCBs not in a vacuum but in an organizational context, which most probably serves to encourage or discourage them (Somech and Drach-Zahavy, 2004). Only in the last two decades have some scholars studied OCB as a team or organizational-level concept (e.g. Ehrhart, 2004). Put otherwise, the individual approach probes the possibility that teacher OCB can be better understood as a team or an organizational feature that thrives in a context. This development is important because the aggregate OCB level, not sporadic actions by some individuals, influences organizational effectiveness (Organ, 1988). Moreover, the several studies that have captured OCB as a collective phenomenon examined either its antecedents (e.g. Hu and Liden, 2011) or its consequences (e.g. Yen et al., 2008). Very few researchers, if any, have explored the mediating role of team OCB in relation to specific antecedents and outcomes. The present research seeks to address this deficiency by examining OCB as a team phenomenon. The first premise of the research model is that it is important to measure OCB as a collective structure. Next, the mediating role of team OCB is investigated. Specifically, the research model posits that the contextual variable of a team's justice climate, and the team's collective psychological state (psychological capital), will be positively related to team OCB. Furthermore, team OCB will be positively related to the outcome of team innovation. The model also suggests that team OCB will mediate the relation between the antecedents and the outcome.\nTheoretical background and hypotheses: Teachers' OCB is defined as \"[...] teachers voluntarily going out of their way to help their students, colleagues, and others as they engage in the work of teaching and learning\" (DiPaola and Hoy, 2005, p. 390). OCBs are essential because formal in-role job descriptions cannot cover the entire array of behaviors needed for achieving school goals (Zeinabadi, 2010). They operate indirectly: they influence schools' social and psychological environment, enhance school effectiveness by freeing up resources for more productive purposes, help coordinate activities within the organization, and enable teachers to adapt more effectively to environmental changes (Sesen and Basim, 2012). Teachers manifest OCB, for instance, by staying after school hours to help a student with learning materials, aid a colleague with a heavy workload, volunteer for unpaid tasks, or make innovative suggestions to improve the school (Somech and Oplatka, 2014).\nMethod: Sample and procedure\nResults: Table I shows the means, standard deviations and correlations for the study variables.\nDiscussion: The present study explored team OCB from a context perspective. This course is important because to date most studies on OCB in schools have focused on teacher OCB as an individual feature, without regard for its contextual nature (Somech and Oplatka, 2014). Put simply, although OCB is performed by individuals, willingness to engage in OCB is not generated in a vacuum, and the team context most likely serves to encourage or discourage people in respect of exerting these extra-role behaviors (Vigoda-Gadot et al., 2007). In this regard, our findings highlighted the importance of team-level antecedents and outcomes for better understanding how between team differences in OCB are developed and what their consequences are. The results contribute to the educational administration literature in several respects.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to use a model to broaden the understanding of the organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) phenomenon in educational teams and examines team OCB's mediating role in the relation of the contextual variables of team justice climate (distributive justice, procedural justice, interpersonal justice) to team psychological capital (PsyCap) and team innovation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected through a survey consisting of validated scales. The sample covered 78 disciplinary teams, 78 coordinators and 13 school principals at 13 junior-high schools.\nFindings: The PROCESS test confirmed the mediating role of team OCB, showing positive relations between team procedural justice and team PsyCap and team OCB, and also between team OCB and team innovation.\nResearch limitations/implications: By taking a team perspective, the findings offer evidence that despite the usual approach treating OCB as an individual phenomenon; it may be regarded as shared norms of behaviors at the team level.\nPractical implications: The team-level approach may urge principals and other educational leaders to realize that teachers' willingness to invest extra effort in school is mainly the result of an appropriate team context, which can be shaped and developed.\nOriginality/value: The present study explored team OCB by from a context perspective. This is important because to date most studies on OCB in schools have focused on teacher OCB as an individual phenomenon, disregarding its contextual nature.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Decision '08: event marketing or product sampling?	[ "Sampling methods", "Marketing strategy", "Product trials", "Target markets", "Direct marketing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Recent trends in the evolution of marketing have delivered return on investment (ROI)-driven brand managers to an important crossroads. Should they choose event marketing or consumer sampling? Can it ever be both? If so, under what circumstances?\nIf sampling results are strongest when the trial opportunity is the greatest for the product category, why are so many brands risking the positive ROI of a targeted, direct-to-consumer sampling program, to invest in event marketing programs?: Most marketers believe they need to do something more to win over today's young adults - the target of most brand samples. Many marketers developing promotion plans hope to make a mark on the business by creating \"cool\" newsworthy promotions. Some brands choose to sample at events in the hope that interest in the event will deliver additional brand loyalty. Some marketers believe that integrating all elements of the marketing plan will deliver optimal results. This leads them to believe that their sampling results will be strongest in a program that has tied various promotional activities together.\nIs the added expense of an event necessary?: More importantly, does it provide a better ROI? Here are some instructive case studies.Situation no. 1\nSummary: Even when a targeted, direct-to-consumer sampling program has higher distribution costs, due to using a highly targeted list or having to mail the sample, it is unlikely that an event-sampling program could return a better ROI. That's because sample controls are not as good and trial numbers are likely to be lower, resulting in lower purchase numbers. It is also highly unlikely that any other benefit derived from an event could increase ROI enough to cover the substantial trial and purchase differences.What steps should marketers take to achieve the highest ROI behind product sampling?\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine commonly relied upon product sampling strategies, direct-to-consumer sampling and event sampling, to determine which method can deliver the greatest return on investment in a variety of situations.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper explores information and data collected via case studies in actual programs presented to brands. The trial, sample, and purchase numbers were actual averages from sampling effectiveness studies for these types of programs.\nFindings: - The paper identifies and segments different types of products and the method by which the products are most effectively implemented into trial and sampling programs. ICOM reveals hard statistics on the return on investment of programs utilizing multiple methods of sampling including point-of-use, direct mail and event sampling.\nPractical implications: - Marketers should follow the STEPS outlined in this study to apply the best brand sampling strategy for a given product. Knowledge of targeted consumer base along with careful pre-event analysis will deliver the best return on investment for a trial campaign.\nOriginality/value: - The paper reveals reasons for a growing shift in corporate budgeted marketing dollars from event marketing to direct consumer product sampling. While event sampling is not always an ineffective or inferior marketing method,the reader can discover methods for a pre-event return on investment analysis that will reveal the sampling strategy sure to deliver the most \"bang\" for the marketing \"buck\".\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Future employment selection methods: evaluating social networking web sites	[ "Selection", "Recruitment", "Social networks", "Internet" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Within the past few years, the phenomenon of social networking web sites (SNWs) on the internet has exploded into the mainstream. Further, this online information has begun to be used for purposes beyond its intended use. Owing to the vast amount of personal information on these web sites, employers have begun to tap into this information as a source of applicant data in an effort to improve hiring decisions. This study evaluates the use of the SNWs in employment selection. Specifically, can trained judges consistently and accurately assess important organizational characteristics such as personality, intelligence, and performance using only a target's SNW information? In addition, the use of this information may lead to discrimination against applicants, given the wide range of available personal information such as gender, race, age, religion, and disability status otherwise illegal to use when making employment decisions.Social networking web sites\nMethod: Participants and procedures\nResults: The as for the judge ratings of personality were calculated for each of the six ratees. These six as were then averaged for each of the big-five to estimate the overall internal consistency of the scales. In order to assess H1, interrater agreement in the form of average measures intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for the judge ratings are included in Table I. The scaled scores for the big-five personality traits and the single item scores for IQ and performance were evaluated for interrater agreement. The 378 total ratings (63 ratersx6 ratings each) were used to calculate the ICCs. The ICC values were all adequate, ranging from 0.93 for extroversion to 0.99 for conscientiousness and performance. Since ICCs are expected to be higher with a larger number of raters, Table II also includes the number of raters for each characteristic which would be necessary to achieve a 0.50 ICC value. Although there are no guidelines for level of agreement, 0.50 was used in the analyses as it should provide a minimum level of acceptable agreement across judges. The Spearman Brown prophecy formula was used to determine how many raters would be required to obtain an adequate (0.50) ICC value. Based on the 63 raters from this study, it was determined that between two (for conscientiousness and performance) and six (for emotional stability and extroversion) raters would be required to obtain a satisfactory level of interrater agreement.H2 was evaluated by conducting t-tests on score means in order to determine whether or not the means are statistically different from one another. In order to determine which means to test, the true scores (self-reported big-five personality scores, intelligence scores, and GPA) of the six rated subjects were evaluated. For each of the seven characteristics, the individual with the highest true score and the individual with the lowest true score were selected for analysis. Judge mean ratings for these subjects were then compared to determine whether or not raters are able to distinguish individuals high on a characteristic from those low on the same characteristic. This method also allows for evaluation of the direction of the relationship, such that (in addition to evaluating mean differences) the judge rating of the subject with the higher true score should be higher than the judge rating of the lower true score. Results demonstrate that the mean judge ratings for the subject highest on the seven characteristics were statistically different from the subjects lowest on those characteristics. In addition, with the exception of openness to experience, the judges mean ratings were higher for those with the highest true score, indicating the ability of judges to distinguish the traits of conscientiousness, emotional stability, agreeableness, extroversion, intelligence, and performance by evaluating SNWs[6].Post hoc analyses were conducted to determine the impact of intelligence and personality on judge consistency and accuracy. Prior research has demonstrated mixed findings related to the impact of personality traits of the rater on rating accuracy. Ambady et al. (1995) found that less sociable (extroverted) raters were more accurate, while Lippa and Dietz (2000) found that only openness indicated more accurate raters. In addition, narcissistic raters have been found to be less accurate (John and Robbins, 1994), which may be relevant to the big-five since narcissism relates strongly to neuroticism. Finally, intelligence has also been reported to positively relate to rater accuracy (Lippa and Dietz, 2000). In the current study, the 63 judges were asked to take the same intelligence and personality tests as the SNW subjects. The analyses conducted above were then re-evaluated based on high versus low groups based on intelligence and the big-five. Results show no difference in interrater agreement based on these characteristics. However, judges who are more intelligent and more emotionally stable were shown to be more accurate in their judgments. More specifically, when the raters were split into high and low groups based on intelligence scores (the 31 highest scores versus the 31 lowest scores), the high intelligence group significantly and more accurately differentiated between high and low characteristics for conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness, and performance. For example, with all 63 raters combined, the difference between rater means for conscientiousness in Table II is 0.38 (8.03 for the high ratee score and 7.65 for the low ratee score). When assessing high and low intelligence raters independently, the mean difference for the 31 high intelligence raters is 0.61, but only 0.14 for the 31 low intelligence raters. Thus, more intelligent raters seem to be more capable of assessing this trait than less intelligent raters. Similarly, raters who are the most emotionally stable also rate more accurately for conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness, and performance. For example, the mean difference across raters for high and low ratee conscientiousness is again 0.38, but is 0.73 for the 31 raters who are the most emotionally stable and 0.03 for the 31 raters who are the least emotionally stable. These results indicate the potential need for researchers to consider intelligence and emotional stability when selecting individuals who will serve as raters of characteristics such as personality.\nDiscussion: Based on the large volume of personal information available on SNWs, judges' ratings of the big-five dimensions of personality, intelligence, and global performance were consistent across the 63 raters in this study, demonstrating adequate internal consistency reliability and interrater agreement. In addition, the trained raters were able to accurately distinguish between individuals who scored high and individuals who scored low on four of the big-five personality traits, intelligence, and performance, providing initial evidence that raters can accurately determine these organizationally relevant traits by viewing SNW information.As stated earlier, other rated personality has been shown to predict job performance. Considering that other methods of other-reported personality are unlikely to be viable in an employment selection context, SNW ratings of personality may be a practical approach. Owing to the theoretical and methodological differences between self-reported and other-rated personality, it is likely that ratings of personality via SNWs will provide a context for incremental prediction of job performance beyond the predominant self-report approach. In addition, the differences in context between SNWs and a job interview (i.e. socially desirable responding in the job interview as well as the unique nature of information contained in SNWs) should similarly allow for unique prediction of job performance beyond what can be evaluated through personality assessment in the employment interview. This approach may be particularly valuable since these assessments take only a fraction of the time involved with other selection methods.This study is not without limitations. Although the analyses testing the consistency of the relationships of SNW ratings are based on 378 judge ratings from 63 raters, the analyses testing rater accuracy were conducted by testing for significant differences between the high and low performer on the seven characteristics for only six subjects. Future research should assess accuracy over a larger sample of subjects.We hope that the results of this preliminary study will not be used by organizations to support their use of SNWs in employment selection. Without further validation in a variety of studies, with larger samples and in a variety of organizational contexts, caution should be used when interpreting the implications of this study. This is particularly true given the potential for employer legal liability due to the vast amount of personal information available on SNWs. Information regarding gender, race, age, disabilities, and other criteria which should not be used when making hiring decisions will most certainly, consciously or not, influence who gets hired. Even if this information does not bias the hiring decision, disparate impact issues may still exist. Future research should also examine the potential issues of adverse impact and potentially illegal information in hiring decisions using personal information from SNWs. In addition, research should be conducted to compare assessments of SNWs to other employment selection methods, such as personality assessment, intelligence testing, and employment interviews.Based on the relative absence of research evidence in this newly developing area, particularly regarding the potential for adverse impact and the lack of validity evidence, we believe the most important practical implication of this paper is for organizations to use SNWs with these issues in mind. Organizational representatives assessing SNWs should ask themselves two important questions. First, is the organization assessing (or could be perceived as assessing) information which could lead to discrimination against a legally protected group? Second, is the specific social networking information used to help make a hiring decision valid in determining who will perform better on the job? The approach used in this paper of assessing personality traits, intelligence, or general performance begin to provide answers to these questions.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The use of social networking web sites (SNWs), like Facebook and MySpace, has become extremely popular, particularly with today's emerging workforce. Employers, aware of this phenomenon, have begun to use the personal information available on SNWs to make hiring decisions. The purpose of this paper is to examine the feasibility of using applicant personal information currently available on SNWs to improve employment selection decisions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A total of 378 judge ratings (63 ratersx6 subjects) are evaluated to determine if raters can reliably and accurately determine the big-five personality traits, intelligence, and performance based only on information available on SNWs. Interrater reliability is assessed to determine rater consistency, followed by an assessment of rater accuracy.\nFindings: - Based solely on viewing social networking profiles, judges are consistent in their ratings across subjects and typically able to accurately distinguish high from low performers. In addition, raters who are more intelligent and emotionally stable outperformed their counterparts.\nPractical implications: - Human resource (HR) professionals are currently evaluating social networking information prior to hiring applicants. Since SNWs contain substantial personal information which could be argued to cause adverse impact, academic studies are needed to determine whether SNWs can be reliable and valid predictors of important organizational criteria.\nOriginality/value: - This paper is the first, as far as the authors are concerned, to address the use of SNWs in employment selection, despite their current utilization by HR practitioners.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
What factors influence firm perceptions of labour market constraints to growth in the MENA region?	[ "MENA region", "Labour regulations", "Labour skill shortages", "Labour market constraints", "Bivariate probit model" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Stringent labour market constraints are expected to pose serious obstacles to firm performance and economic growth. A wide range of literature finds that rigid labour regulations would induce lower labour force participation and higher unemployment rates (e.g. Botero et al., 2004; Besley and Burgess, 2004; Amin, 2009; Djankov and Ramalho, 2009), and would prevent labour markets from being efficient leading to losses in productivity (e.g. Kaplan, 2009). Another strand of literature inspects the problem of labour skill shortages or \"skill deficits\", which can be defined as the divergence between the educational attainments of workers and the skill requirements of jobs (Kiker et al., 1997). This literature regularly indicates that accentuated labour skill shortages impose significant restrictions on employment creation and economic growth (e.g. Pissarides and Veganzones-Varoudakis, 2007; Bhattacharya and Wolde, 2012), and could eventually inflict severe impacts on economic performance and labour market outcomes (e.g. Allen and van der Velden, 2001).\n2. Review of related literature: 2.1. Labour regulations\n3. Some considerations about data: The empirical analysis is carried out for the perceived levels of labour market constraints as reported by the respondents (e.g. senior managers, business owners) through the World Bank's Enterprise Surveys database. Pierre and Scarpetta (2004, 2006) examine the relationship between the perceived and actual stringency of labour regulations using national labour protection indices (i.e. de jure labour laws). They find that the reported perceptions are closely related to the actual levels of labour regulations' constraints. Specifically, countries with higher national indices on the stringency of labour regulations are associated with higher proportions of firms perceiving labour regulations as being significant constraints.\n4. Data description and variables: We use a data set sourced from the World Bank's Enterprise Surveys database. This database represents a comprehensive source of firm-level data in emerging and developing economies. It covers firms operating in the manufacturing, service, and other sectors. It contains information on various aspects of the business environment such as, access to finance, corruption, workforce characteristics, innovation and technology, and trade. It should be noted that one of many advantages of using data from these surveys is that the questions are identical through firms across all countries. The basic data set used in this paper covers 5,052 firms located in eight developing Arab countries of the MENA region: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Syria, and Yemen[5].\n5. Empirical specification: Consider a given firm j (j=1, ..., J) belonging to sector k (k=1, ..., K) and located in country c (c=1, ..., C). Firm perception levels of constraints related to labour regulations and those related to labour skill shortages are depicted through the latent variables (Equation 1) and (Equation 2), respectively. These latent variables are not observed. However, we observe the perceptions of firms through dichotomous responses on whether labour regulations and labour skill shortages do or do not pose major/severe obstacles on firm operations and development. Let R\n6. Benchmark empirical results: Table III presents the marginal effects from the benchmark bivariate probit estimation carried out for the pooled data set covering existing firms' perceptions of labour market constraints. The Wald test rejects the null hypothesis of zero correlation between the errors in the two labour market constraints' equations and, hence, it indicates that the model should be estimated through the bivariate probit estimator rather than through the univariate probit estimator. The estimated coefficient of correlation between the errors in the two equations is positive and statistically significant at the 1 per cent level. Table III displays the unconditional marginal effects for Pr(R\n7. Empirical results by sector and by country: 7.1. Empirical results by sector\n8. Conclusion: Labour market constraints are often identified as main business obstacles facing firm operation and development in the MENA region. Therefore, they are naturally listed through the primary items on the labour policy agenda of the MENA countries. The comprehension of the factors influencing the perceived severity of labour market constraints is essential in the design of policies aiming at improving labour market conditions and enhancing business environments. This paper examines the implications of firm characteristics, national locations, and sectoral associations for the perceptions of firms located in the MENA region concerning two primary labour market constraints: labour regulations and labour skill shortages. The empirical analysis is carried out using firm-level data set sourced from the World Bank's Enterprise Surveys database. A bivariate probit estimator is used to account for potential correlations between the errors in the labour regulations' equation and labour skill shortages' equation. The empirical results are generated through overall estimations and by implementing comparative cross-country and cross-sector analyses.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Labour market constraints constitute prominent obstacles to firm development and economic growth of countries located in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The purpose of this paper is to examine the implications of firm characteristics, national locations, and sectoral associations for the perceptions of firms concerning two basic labour market constraints: labour regulations and labour skill shortages.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The empirical analysis is carried out using firm-level data set sourced from the World Bank's Enterprise Surveys database. A bivariate probit estimator is used to account for potential correlations between the errors in the two labour market constraints' equations. The authors implement overall estimations and comparative cross-country and cross-sector analyses, and use alternative estimation models.\nFindings: The empirical results reveal some important implications of firm characteristics (e.g. firm size, labour compositions) for firm perceptions of labour regulations and labour skill shortages. They also delineate important cross-country and cross-sector variations. The authors also find significant heterogeneity in the factors' implications for the perceptions of firms belonging to different sectors and located in different MENA countries.\nOriginality/value: Reforms in labour regulations and investment in human capital are important governmental policy interventions for promoting firm development and economic growth in the MENA region. This paper contributes to the empirical literature by analysing the factors influencing the perceptions of firms located in the MENA region concerning labour regulations and labour skill shortages. It provides policy-makers with information needed in the design of labour policies that attenuate the impacts of labour market constraints and enhance the performance of firms and the long-run economic growth.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Shared brands and sustainable competitive advantage in the Brazilian wine sector	[ "Marketing strategy", "Qualitative research", "Competitive strategy", "Brands", "Interviews", "Geographical indications", "Sustainable competitive advantage", "Shared brands", "Collective brands", "Sector brands" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: A brand can be seen as a strategic asset that helps a company to be more competitive. In the same way that companies invest in brands, countries can also be seen as such (Anholt, 2005; Huang and Tsai, 2013; Kotler et al., 2006). In considering the role that the image of a country can play in a buyer's behavior, constructs such as the country's brand, the country's image and the country of origin may be attributes that offer the potential for companies to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage (SCA), both in the internal and external market (Baker and Ballington, 2002; Hakala et al., 2013).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Sustainable competitive advantage\n3. Methodology: This study was based on a qualitative approach that, for Bauer and Gaskell (2000), aims to understand in detail beliefs, attitudes, values and motivations regarding the behavior of people in specific social contexts (Malhotra, 2006). The research was exploratory and the field study was conducted with in-depth interviews (Bardin, 2011; Cooper and Schindler, 2014; Sampieri et al., 2010).\n4. Results: 4.1 C1 - valuable\n5. Conclusions: It can be concluded that the proposition that shared brands - GI, collective brands and sector brands - provide SCA, according to the VRIA, can be confirmed, thus fulfilling the four conditions that form the acronym VRIA - valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable/replaceable and association. The value added to the product through the information contained in the shared brands facilitates the establishment of a relationship of trust between producer and consumer, being a source of competitive advantage.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate if shared brands provide sustainable competitive advantage according to an adapted valuable, rare, imitability/replaceability and organization (VRIO) model to the Brazilian wine sector in the opinion of the government agencies, associations and managers of the wineries.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study was based on a qualitative and exploratory research, based on in-depth interviews. Fine wines that have geographical indications and are located in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul were analyzed and content analysis was used to explore data.\nFindings: It was concluded that shared brands in the Brazilian wine sector can be considered a source of sustainable competitive advantage according to the resource-based view.\nResearch limitations/implications: Qualitative research has the aspect of the subjectivity of the researcher when analyzing the data.\nPractical implications: The government agencies, associations and wineries can improve the production process and seek certified products for commercialization in the domestic and foreign markets. These contributions may also, in practice, be used by other sectors and countries.\nOriginality/value: This work contributes to the understanding of the shared brand's concept, including geographical indications, collective brands and the sector brands. The proposition that shared brands provide sustainable competitive advantage, according to an adapted VRIO model was confirmed. Barney's VRIO framework (Barney, 1991, 1995) hitherto thought for individual companies, has the letter \"O\" of Organization replaced by the letter \"A\" of Association, becoming VRIA. The authors found that the four conditions that form the here proposed acronym VRIA are valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable/replaceable and association.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The role of the marketing function in small and medium sized enterprises	[ "Marketing strategy", "Small to medium‐sized enterprises", "Competitive advantage", "United States of America" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: A precept of the marketing concept contends that business achieves success by determining and satisfying the needs, wants, and aspirations of target markets. Few would argue that this determination and satisfaction of target market wants and needs is critical for firm success. These concepts, traditionally thought to be part of the marketing function of the firm, have fueled scholars' interest in the role of marketing within the firm (e.g., Becherer et al., 2003; Berthon et al., 2008; Moorman and Rust, 1999; Simpson and Taylor, 2002; Webster, 1981, 1992, 2003; Webster et al., 2003).Scholars have identified significant differences between large and small organizations. Large organizations tend to use a structured framework with a clear hierarchy in decision making. On the other hand, small firms tend to feature processes that begin with and highly involve the entrepreneur or owner. Furthermore, the entrepreneur or owner's personality and style help to shape decision making (Sadler-Smith et al., 2003).The small-firm sector plays a significant role in the world economy. In the United States a recent analysis of employment changes between September 1992 and March 2005 showed that 65 percent of the net new jobs created during that time are attributed to firms with fewer than 500 employees (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2005).Research investigating the competitive advantage of small firms has consistently emphasized the importance of marketing, strategic positioning, and entrepreneurship as key factors in business survival and growth. The ability to identify and operate in a particular market niche enables the firm to exploit a range of specializations and offers protection from larger competitors. Yet despite the widespread acceptance of the importance of the marketing concept, the precise marketing activities and competencies that contribute most strongly to business performance must be identified for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).Our study of SMEs revisits many of the questions Homburg et al. (1999) posed in their study of the marketing functions of large firms, but we direct our attention to SMEs. The definition of what precisely constitutes an SME differs widely. For the purposes of this paper, we follow the Journal of Enterprise Culture and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperative (APEC), who define US-based SMEs as companies with fewer than 499 employees (APEC, 2003). In this research, we seek to answer the following questions:* Relative to other business functions, how important is the marketing function in SMEs?* Does marketing in SMEs enjoy the same influence found in larger firms?* What internal and external factors influence the role of marketing in small firms?This paper reports the results of a study that employed an activity-based approach whereby demonstrable marketing competencies were related to the entrepreneurial orientation evident in the firms. The analysis demonstrated that certain competencies were more strongly associated with a marketing orientation, whereas others were associated with an entrepreneurial orientation. The results show differences in the role of marketing in small firms as compared with the role of marketing in the large firms that were studied by Homburg et al. (1999). SME marketing functions have a way to go before they enjoy the same degree of influence their counterparts have in large firms.\nLiterature review: Inquiry into departmental influence (such as marketing) is based on Cyert and March's (1963) work on subunit power. Cyert and March (1963) argued that managers have conflicting goals and seek satisfactory solutions as opposed to optimal solutions to business problems. The concept of \"dominant coalition\" has been used to explain differences in the power of firm subunits (Thompson, 1967). The relative power of subunits is a function of strategic choices made by dominant coalitions (i.e. power members) within an organization. Influence has been defined as \"a change in one party that has its origin in another party and this embodies the successful exercise of power\" (Stern and Scheer, 1992, p. 260). Our study focuses on the marketing department subunit. Various authors have examined the role and influence of marketing in firms (e.g. Becherer et al., 2003; Berthon et al., 2008; Moorman and Rust, 1999; Simpson and Taylor, 2002; Webster, 1981, 1992, 2003; Webster et al., 2003) and since the 1980s, the marketing department has been shown to have varying levels of influence in the firm. Homburg et al. (1999) directly studied the influence of marketing in large firms and uncovered a number of situational factors that affect the level of marketing's influence. These situational factors include a firm's strategic orientation (differentiation versus cost leadership) and background of the CEO. Although their study helped to define the relative level of influence of the marketing function for business, the authors focused on large organizations - firms with more than $25 million in sales.However, SMEs have characteristics that differentiate them from large organizations (McCartan-Quinn and Carson, 2003). These differences include advantages such as greater flexibility, innovation, and lower overhead costs. In terms of disadvantages, SMEs are limited by their market power, and capital and managerial resources (Motwani et al., 1998). These differences raise the question, \"does the marketing function in SMEs enjoy the same influence found in larger firms?\" Compared with the literature stream surrounding the role of marketing in larger firms, inquiry on this topic has been more limited for SMEs. Many studies have attempted to define marketing and outcomes of marketing for SMEs. Carson (2001) and Sui and Kirby (1998) traced the evolution of marketing and the various approaches to SME marketing. Other authors have attempted to develop hypothetical and empirical models of marketing for SMEs. Sui et al. (2004), Julien and Ramangalahy (2003) and Berthon et al. (2008) showed how strategic marketing practices such as knowledge of current market conditions and consumer tastes were positively related to SME performance. Becherer et al. (2003) examined internal environmental factors such as the background and decision processes of CEOs. One aspect of marketing, promotional efforts, was found to be a key influence in performance of SMEs (Wood, 2006). Market orientation as a driver of SME business performance has also generated scholar interest (Blankson and Stokes, 2002; Fillis, 2002; Pacitto et al., 2007). Finally, authors have studied underlying reasons for the characteristics of SME marketing practices. Simpson et al. (2006) examined drivers of marketing effort such as the presence of a marketing department and marketing representation at the board level. SMEs lack the resources to compete head-to-head with larger rivals and thus cannot do traditional marketing (Gilmore et al., 2001).Because SMEs lack the resources to compete head-to-head with larger rivals, some scholars have questioned whether SMEs formally practice marketing at all (Carson et al., 1998; Gilmore et al., 2001; Shepherd and Ridnour, 1996). In a typical argument, Hogarth-Scott et al. (1996) considered most marketing theories to be inappropriate for SMEs and not helpful in the understanding of their markets. However, in the same article, the authors found that the marketing function contributed positively to small business success and the ability to think strategically. Clearly, marketing department exert influence in SMEs, especially in SMEs that succeed. Larger firms achieve better competitive positions than smaller firms when they have greater marketing capabilities (Grimes et al., 2007), so SMEs must maintain strong marketing departments to effectively compete.Evidence has shown that although marketing activities in SMEs may be different, marketing departments are still critical to firms' success. Many firms carry out business via highly informal, unstructured, reactive mechanisms, whereas others develop, over time, a proactive and skilled approach where innovation and identification of opportunities gives them a competitive advantage (Fillis, 2007). Romano and Ratnatunga (1995) observed that \"small firms face marketing challenges which can and will ultimately determine their future.\" Furthermore, Hill (2001) found that SMEs still engage in many traditional marketing functions, especially marketing planning. A widely cited marketing activity for SMEs is networking. Wincent (2005) showed that the size of a firm matters in regard to how a company conducts its networking activity. Networks are important during the establishment, development, and growth of SMEs. Siu (2001) found that SMEs rely heavily on their personal contact network in marketing their firms. Traditional economic structures favor size (large firms). However, today's economy is earmarked by relationships, network, and information, which play to some of the characteristics of SMEs.Our research adds to the SME literature stream by examining outputs and attributes of marketing (e.g. sales, percent of sales spent on marketing) and by considering how these are related to firm characteristics such as entrepreneurial orientation.\nConceptual foundation and hypotheses: Two theories provide a conceptual framework to explain the differences in the influence of the marketing function: institutional theory and contingency theory. Institutional theory states that organizational structure and design is inexorably linked to social networks and is shaped by conformity and legitimacy pressures (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983; Meyer and Rowan, 1977). Firm structure does not necessarily reflect efficiency but legitimacy (Meyer and Rowan, 1977). Thus the influence of a firm function such as marketing is a function of conformity/legitimacy pressures.Alternatively, contingency theory states that organizational structure and design is a function of external factors. Firms must \"fit\" to their environment, and characteristics of firms such as subunit power are a function of environmental determinants. Research on subunit power has explored relationships between environmental factors and organizational structures/power (Boeker, 1989; Hambrick, 1981; Hinings et al., 1974; Salancik and Pfeffer, 1974).This research tests elements of both theories. Hypotheses H1 and H2 are based on the contingency theory argument, and hypotheses H3, H4, and H5 are based on institutional theory.Consumer versus industrial markets\nResearch design: Sample\nFindings: The results from the two samples were analyzed (t-tests) and no statistical difference was found in means across all measures. Accordingly, the results were pooled.The role of marketing\nDiscussion/limitations: Our data suggest that marketing is not as well developed or influential in SMEs as it is in large firms. Marketing's scope or extent of responsibility is more limited compared with large firms. Two factors, type of market (consumer) and firm orientation (hierarchal), facilitate marketing's influence within a firm. These results indicate that both underlying theories - institutional and contingency - received support and neither theory can be dismissed, suggesting the influence of marketing is a multidimensional construct. Individual traits (e.g. charisma, power, authority) were not considered in this study. However, our findings show marketing's influence can vary systematically as a function of institutional and external factors.Although our analysis sheds light on some internal and external factors that influence marketing's role in a firm, a major portion of variance remains unexplained. Additional research is necessary to explore other potential influences on marketing's role in a firm. These might include personnel factors (background and experience of marketing department personnel) and firm politics. For example, Reijonen and Komppula (2007) studied SMEs in Finland and found the motivation of entrepreneurs are not solely financial and often are based on job satisfaction, control, and family concerns.Although this research fills a gap in the literature relating to the influence of marketing in SMEs, there is much work to be done. We did not address the relationship between marketing's influence and the performance of firms. Analyses done and conclusions reached in this research were based on a very limited sample of SMEs located in one region of the country. Sampling across all regions of the United States would help in generalization of the findings.\nConclusions: The results of this study are particularly troubling because marketing resources are one driver of competitive advantage, and although the studied firms have a formal marketing function within the firm, it would appear the function has not proven its value to the firm. For marketing to increase in influence, individuals leading this function must gain a seat at the table. Our findings would suggest that changing the influence of the marketing function might take considerable effort. One barrier to changing marketing's influence is the firm's entrepreneurial orientation, which can be a deep-seated cultural factor that typically requires time to change. An Indian proverb cautions: \"Under a bright lamp, there is great darkness.\" Although marketing departments have a responsibility to market the firm's products and services, the task of marketers marketing themselves to internal stakeholders remains unanswered. Marketing departments must do more to ensure that the voice of marketing is heard when key decisions are being made.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to examine marketing in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), its role as a driver of competitive advantage, and, therefore, its importance to the firm.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The study is conducted with 100 SMEs located in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States.\nFindings: - The marketing function is not as well developed or influential in SMEs as it is in large corporations. Two environmental factors, type of market (consumer) and firm orientation (hierarchal), facilitate marketing's influence within a firm.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Analyses conducted and conclusions reached in this research are based on a very limited sample of SMEs located in one region of one country. Broader sampling would help in generalization of the findings.\nPractical implications: - The results of this study are particularly troubling because marketing resources are one driver of competitive advantage. For marketing to increase in influence, individuals trained in marketing must gain a seat at the management table. Although marketing departments are responsible for marketing the firm's products and services, the job of marketers themselves internally remains unclear. Marketing departments must do more to ensure that marketing's voice is heard when key decisions are made.\nOriginality/value: - This research fills a gap in the literature relating to the influence of marketing in SMEs. More importantly, the findings differ from conclusions raised by a similar study conducted for larger firms.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Multivariate robust estimation of inequality indices	[ "Development", "Distributive justice", "Income distribution", "Welfare economics" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: A single \"extreme\" observation can make an inequality index estimator uninformative, i.e., meaningless. Frequently, survey data are used to calculate inequality within an economy; we expect that survey data will contain both outliers and so-called contamination points. The main purpose of this research is to provide a new methodology to estimate inequality indices robustly; that is, to provide an estimator of inequality that is not severely affected by atypical data (outliers/contamination points). Our procedure uses information from multiple variables (e.g. socio-economic and geographic variables) to eliminate the effect of atypical observations. To our knowledge, in the inequality literature this is the first methodology that is able to identify outliers and contamination points in more than one direction[1].\n2. Relationship to the existing literature: In an inequality framework, Cowell and Victoria-Feser (1996) used the concept of the influence function (IF) (Hampel, 1974) to assess the influence of an infinitesimal amount of contamination upon the value of an inequality statistic. They found that most inequality measures are not robust, i.e. a single arbitrary large observation can make an inequality index totally uninformative. This implies that the quality of inequality estimates derived from classical statistical procedures can be quite poor. It is therefore necessary to develop robust procedures in order to estimate confidently how the total income in a given society is distributed.\n3. Methodology: This research will produce robust inequality estimates by first trimming the \"raw\" data using robust procedures, and then calculate classical inequality indices using sample moments' analogues in the \"clean\" subsample (i.e. after dropping atypical data). This is an innovation in the literature. The next subsections explain the methodology applied to do this and the very last subsection in this section briefly discuss some alternative approaches.\n4. Results: Before applying our methodology to real data, we would like to compare our procedures vs the other robust inequality estimation (OBRE). Therefore, we conduct the same simulation that Cowell and Victoria-Feser (1996) proposed. The next subsection will describe that simulation exercise. We also performed artificial contamination exercises with real data to show that we can effectively tag contamination points, see Appendices 1 and 2 for those results.\n5. Conclusions: In this paper we consider the estimation of income inequality indices (such as Gini, Theil, Coefficient of Variation) using data with some atypical observations. It is shown that even when a small portion of the data are atypical, classical statistical procedures are not reliable in estimating income inequality indices. We propose two procedures to solve this problem: MCD trimming and LTS trimming. Both methodologies use all the information from a multivariate data set to remove atypical observations in order to estimate inequality indices robustly.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The data employed to measure income inequality usually come from household surveys, which commonly suffer from atypical observations such as outliers and contamination points. This is of importance since a single atypical observation can make classical inequality indices totally uninformative. To deal with this problem, robust univariate parametric or ad hoc procedures are commonly used; however, neither is fully satisfactory. The purpose of this paper is to propose a methodology to deal with this problem.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The author propose two robust procedures to estimate inequality indices that can use all the information from a data set, and neither of them rely on a parametric distributional assumption. The methodology performs well irrespectively of the size and quality of the data set.\nFindings: Applying these methods to household data for UK (1979) and Mexico (2006 and 2011), the author find that for UK data the Gini, Coefficient of Variation and Theil Inequality Indices are over estimated by between 0.02 and 0.04, while in the case of Mexico the same indices are over estimated more deeply, between 0.1 and almost 0.4. The relevance of including atypical observations that follow the linear pattern of the data are shown using the data from Mexico (2011).\nResearch limitations/implications: The methodology has two main limitations: the procedures are not able to identify a bad leverage outlier from a contamination point; and in the case that the data has no atypical observations, the procedures will tag as atypical a very small fraction of observations.\nSocial implications: A reduction in the estimate of inequality has important consequences from a policy maker perspective. First, ceteris paribus, the optimal amount of resources destinated to directly address inequality/poverty. Those \"extra\" resources can be destinated to promote growth. Notice that this is a direct consequence of having a more egalitarian economy than previously thought, this is due to the fact that poor people will actually enjoy a bigger share of any national income increment. This also implies that, in order to reduce poverty, public policies should focus more on economic growth.\nOriginality/value: To the knowledge, in the inequality literature this is the first methodology that is able to identify outliers and contamination points in more than one direction. That is, not only at the tails of the distribution, but on the whole marginal distribution of income. This is possible via the use of other variables related to income.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Learning about environmental issues: Postgraduate and undergraduate students' interpretations of environmental contents in education	[ "Environmental engineering", "Education", "Higher education", "Learning" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Looking across Swedish higher education, the last few years have seen an increase in the number of environmental courses being offered at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. According to a survey conducted by the National Agency for Higher Education (2001), 3 of 37 universities and university colleges offer introductory courses in \"sustainable development\" that are open to all students. Fourteen educational institutions offer specific environmental introductory courses to a select group of undergraduate students and another 16 universities give undergraduate courses that include environmental issues or sustainable development. Moreover, several Swedish universities offer programmes in \"Environmental science\" leading to a BSc or an MSc degree, and there are also a number of civil engineering programmes that focus on environmental engineering.In this paper, the results of which draw from a doctoral thesis (Lundholm, 2003), students' perspectives on environmental education are presented. It is based on three case studies in which the aim was to explore the students' conceptions of ecology and environmental issues, and the learning process. Learning is viewed from an intentional perspective, which means that the students' aims in their studies, here defined as \"projects\", are explored through analysis of their actions and utterances in educational settings or interviews.\nResearch on learners and learning about environmental issues: Previous research on learners and learning in environmental education has focused mainly on the learners' knowledge, attitudes and behaviour in relation to environmental phenomena and environmental problems[1]. A number of studies on young people's understanding of environmental problems were concerned with investigating their scientific knowledge (Gomez-Granell and Cervera-March, 1993; Gambro and Switzky, 1996; Ivy et al., 1998). Boyes and Stanisstreet (1993, 1994, 1998) have studied young people's knowledge of the greenhouse effect and ozone depletion in particular.Research on students' learning has focused on the effects of environmental education, and has often been conducted as pre-test and post-test studies. Only a few investigations have been concerned specifically with students' personal interpretations and experiences of environmental education (Lai, 1999; Rickinson, 1999) or with the learning process (Emmons, 1997; Mason and Santi, 1998; Grace and Ratcliffe, 2002).Research on subject-related knowledge in environmental education has had its primary focus on the natural sciences, whereas the social science disciplines have received little attention from researchers in this field (Rickinson, 2001).Within much of this work there is a very strong science education influence. The environment phenomena that have been investigated are ones from school curricula, the research participants are often from science teaching groups, and the implications drawn often take the form of strategies for science teachers (Rickinson, 2001, p. 219).\nPurpose of the study: The purpose of the study was to investigate and describe students' interpretations of various tasks concerning environmental issues and of course content in ecology. The purpose was also to investigate the students' learning, defined as a process of differentiation between contexts.The thesis attended to the following research questions:RQ1. How do six first-year civil engineering students interpret a course content in ecology and environmental issues; i.e. how do they contextualise the content?\nTheory: Learning as a process of differentiation\nMethod: Case studies\nFirst-year civil engineering students' interpretations of a course content in ecology and environmental issues: The engineering students' interpretations can be described in terms of a theoretical context in the sense that the students related the content to concepts and different academic subjects within the natural sciences[3]. The content also raised issues concerning human beings in relation to nature. The students discussed the notion of humankind as being within or outside the eco-system, and this seems to have led them to consider the moral aspects of human actions and the effects of these actions on nature. This means that the students' interpretations of the course content can be said to be embedded within a cultural context of values and norms. The students seemed to believe that the teacher had, implicitly, expressed the viewpoint that human beings have affected nature only in a negative way and that the teacher had neglected to highlight the positive effect which that impact has had on humans. In talking about these aspects of values, the students showed irritation and indignation and seemed to find the whole issue quite provoking.In the analysis of the different ways in which the students interpreted the course content, the results show that during the lectures the engineering students posed questions to the teacher concerning possible solutions to various environmental problems and whether these solutions were good or bad and could eventually lead to improving the environment. Finally, the students also focused on different aspects of the course content, such as the water cycle; they also stated that learning about such matters as the chemical formulas of the phosphorus cycle was irrelevant for their future profession as civil engineers.The students' different contextualisations of the course content, as well as their questions and focused aspects of the content, were analysed from an intentional perspective. The students' actions and utterances become meaningful if we interpret them in relation to their future goals, i.e. their projects. Their interpretations and reactions to the course content become intelligible and possible to understand in view of the professional project of becoming a civil engineer. As civil engineers they will inevitably affect nature in some way, good or bad. An ecocentric perspective that places a higher value on nature than on human beings, together with a view that implies that the effect humans have on nature is harmful, may come into conflict with the very notion of being a civil engineer. The questions that were posed in the classroom concerning solutions to environmental problems can also be understood as being both part of a professional project and a possible project related to a more general interest in wanting to know what could be done to improve the environment. Finally, the two students who stated that certain aspects of the content were irrelevant were arguing with reference to the civil engineering profession.\nBiology students' interpretations of a task on environmental reports: When the students were working on a task concerning environmental reports, different contextualisations as well as different problems were brought to the fore. The students decided to work on a problem about environmental reports as a general phenomenon and to collect reports from different companies and analyse and study the text they contained. While the students were working on that problem, another problem, this one concerning the environmental work of certain companies was brought to fore. In the students' discussion, this problem meant that the students analysed and discussed the companies' work as such, and not the texts presented in the reports. In particular, one of the students in the group, Hans, clarified and stressed this difference.The students' work on analysing the texts was contextualised into an academic and cultural context. By setting up 15 criteria for analysing the 14 reports, the students' aim was to describe the reports' content concerning the companies' environmental work and how these routines were presented to the reader. While solving the problem, the students' personal judgements about, for example, the environmental education given to the staff became a topic for discussion. One student in particular emphasised the importance of keeping judgements out of the discussion, and argued that the group should try to describe the reports in terms of \"what\" content was being presented and \"how\" it was being presented to the reader. He also stressed that the group should not evaluate the different aspects presented in the reports, for example, concerning environmental education, as being good or bad. Eventually, on the last day of working on the task, the students discussed the difficulty of trying to keep their values and judgements as well as their feelings about the different companies separate from the analysis.In analysing the students' interpretations of the task from an intentional perspective, the different contextualisations, as well as the different problems, can be discussed in relation to the students' projects. A possible project that can be ascribed the students is a concern for the environment and an interest in promoting and working towards a better environment. Whether this is a project of interest or of profession, or perhaps both, is difficult to say. The students' apparent interest in working with a problem that concerned the companies' business as such, and not just what was stated in the reports, is understandable in light of an environmental interest in finding out what is being done within the companies and if this will eventually improve the environment. The students' difficulty in differentiating between, on one hand, a cultural context of values and judgements about the companies' environmental work as it is described in the reports, and, on the other, an academic context can also be explained in relation to a project. If the students' project of interest is to promote environmental change, their will to not only describe environmental reports, but also analyse and judge them in terms of good and bad, becomes reasonable.\nPostgraduate students' interpretations of environmental research: For the six postgraduate students the task of writing a doctoral thesis raised different problems, which were possible to analyse in relation to the students' different projects. Firstly, the thesis was interpreted as an assignment to be attended to within the university and the scientific community. This problem can be understood as being part of the students' educational project. Second, for five of the six postgraduate students, the task of writing a thesis was commissioned by a company outside the university, and the research results were to serve as a means for companies to take action; writing a thesis was thus interpreted as a question of more or less producing a plan of action. Third, writing the thesis was a project of personal interest in the sense that the students felt they could contribute to improving the environment. Three of the students also stated that their postgraduate studies would benefit them in their professional work and that this was a contributory reason for their taking on postgraduate studies.In solving the problem of writing a doctoral thesis within the educational project, some difficulties arose. To be able to answer their research questions, two of the students, Elisabeth and Sofia, had to acquaint themselves with subject areas in the social sciences. These subjects were quite new to them, as were the qualitative methods they were expected to use in their research. They realised that knowledge about how to conduct qualitative research was scarce at KTH. Therefore, the students had to learn on their own and try to overcome this obstacle in different ways. Another student, Mikael, stressed that he had chosen to narrow down his research and exclude questions that would lead him too far afield into other subject areas. He argued that too wide a research question could not be handled in a doctoral research project.The field of environmental research evoked thoughts about identity and feelings of uncertainty. Elisabeth discussed the fact the her background was in civil engineering and that civil engineers traditionally had not engaged in the kind of environmental research that she was now conducting. Sofia, on the other hand, was not a civil engineer and was worried that her natural science background would pose problems. However, she stated that any student entering her research field and having to learn a new subject, in her case macroeconomics, would have been confronted with the same difficulties regardless of whether their backgrounds were in civil engineering or natural science.In working on her thesis, Elisabeth had come to realise that she and the Hydropower Company that had given her the assignment interpreted the concept of \"sustainability\" in different ways. She also discussed the fact that she had personal beliefs and values about the issues she was writing about and was worried that these would influence her research in an inappropriate way.\nComparison of the results in the three case studies: Contextualisations and differentiation\nDiscussion: The findings raise the question of how affects can influence the learning process, and the students' possibilities of differentiating between various conceptual frameworks. In relation to research on cognitive development as a process of conceptual change where the student abandons conceptions due to \"dissatisfaction\" (Posner et al., 1982, p. 214) and finds new conceptions \"intelligible\" and \"plausible\" (Posner et al., 1982, p. 214), it can be questioned if learning is such a rational and intellectual process. If we consider an intentional perspective when looking at learners and learning we can perhaps better understand the rationale and logic of their way of reasoning and understanding environmental issues.The results can be discussed in relation to educational practice and the content, as well as the purpose, of environmental education. If environmental education can raise these kinds of moral and ethical conceptions concerning nature and man's behaviour, as well as judgements about companies, ethics or discussions concerning values should be part of the curriculum or in some way highlighted and recognised. Perhaps the engineering students would have benefited from a discussion on different ethical perspectives on nature as well as the ethics of professional engineers and possible dilemmas they will meet in their future career. Furthermore, the students' focus on solving and finding solutions to environmental problems is an issue to consider in education. Whether the content includes aspects of the ways in which environmental problems are dealt with in society or not, this focus of interest will probably affect the learning process.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To present results from a research project on postgraduate and undergraduate students' learning about environmental issues in education.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Three cases were carried out with civil engineering students, biology students and postgraduate students. Discussions in classroom were tape-recorded, as well as discussions while working with assignments, and interviews were carried out.\nFindings: - Shows how differently environmental issues can be interpreted, i.e. scientifically, existentially and politically, and the way values and emotions become an aspect of the learning process and reveal the students' difficulties in differentiating between values and descriptions of phenomena. This is analysed and explained in relation to the students' various projects that come into conflict in the educational setting.\nPractical implications: - The paper can be of use to those who are engaged in environmental education and raises questions regarding the content of today's environmental education.\nOriginality/value: - Gives an insight into students' learning processes and experiences in environmental education and the difficulties they can experience when studying such a subject.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Improving ITIL compliance using change management practices: a finance sector case study	[ "Information technology", "Service management", "Information technology infrastructure library", "Organizational change management", "Organizational change", "Change management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Service firms are searching for ways to deliver higher levels of information technology (IT) service as well as demanding more from their information systems (IS) groups, expecting quick responses to new business opportunities, to support critical processes efficiently and to satisfy their customers and internal staff. Hence there is a growing interest in adopting IT service management (ITSM) and best practices such as the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) (Galup et al., 2009).ITSM is defined as \"the implementation and management of Quality IT Services that meet the needs of the business\" (ITIL, 2007). ITSM is a discipline for managing IT service operations, which is process orientated, sharing this theme with other quality improvement methods and as such it is different from traditional technology-oriented approaches due to its focus on customer relationships (Galup et al., 2009). A main benefit reported by ITSM adopters is an increase in customer satisfaction (Cater-Steel et al., 2009). ITSM concepts are often implemented through the ITIL framework; a sector specific quality and best practice guide on the management of information technologies (Iden, 2012). The operational benefits expected from ITIL implementations are the alignment of IT services with business needs, improved quality of the IT services themselves, and a reduction in the long term costs of service provision (McNaughton et al., 2010).One of the main challenges faced by companies during the adoption of ITIL is the organizational change required to attain a service-oriented culture (Cater-Steel et al., 2007; Spafford and Holup, 2010). Various practices to facilitate organizational change are proposed in the academic and professional literature (Buchanan et al., 2005; Kanter, 2001; Kerber, 2001; Kotter, 1995; Spafford and Holup, 2010), and most of this literature argues that the use of change management practices (CMPs) has a positive effect on the speed and quality of the change process and on results for the organization. Nevertheless, there is little published in terms of these practices as they relate to ITIL implementations.Therefore, this paper presents the findings of a multiple case study investigation, which examines the experience of four Peruvian financial companies implementing the ITIL framework. The cases offer insight into how the organizational change management processes supported the ITIL implementation and identifies which organizational CMPs were more frequently used.The paper is organized as follows; next Section 2 introduces the ITIL framework, followed by Section 3, a review of the literature on CMPs concluding with the study's research questions. Section 4 provides details of the methodology used. Section 5 provides the case profiles, the findings and the cross-case analysis. Finally, the conclusion sums up the findings, presents the studies limitations and offers a direction for future research.\n2 Information technology infrastructure library: ITIL is a framework that describes best practices and provides guidance on the management of IT processes, functions, roles and responsibilities in ITSM. It was first developed in the 1980s by the UK Government agency, the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) in response to the government's growing dependence on information technologies (Galup et al., 2009), to promote efficient IT operations and to improve IT service delivery and operations within government controlled computing centers (Salle, 2004).Version one of ITIL consisted of 40 volumes covering \"best practices\" in different areas of IT service provision. In 2000, ITIL version one was replaced by the seven volume ITIL version two (ITILv2) consolidating the practices within an overall framework. The two primary components of ITILv2 are service delivery and service support which consist of ten core processes and the service desk function (Table I).In 2007, ITILv2 was further enhanced to become ITIL version three (ITILv3), now consisting of five volumes: strategy, design, transition, operation and continuous improvement, which extend the ITILv2 model and processes by organizing them around a service lifecycle model.2.1 ITIL adoption and implementation\n3 Organizational CMPs: Kerber (2001) identifies three approaches used in organizations to enact organizational change:1. Direct change, which is motivated from senior management, wielded by authority and achieved through compliance.2. Planned change, which originates from any level in the organization but is managed through the top management layer and that seeks the commitment and involvement of the organization through CMPs that mitigate resistance.3. Guided change, arising from the within the organization and the through commitment and the contribution of staff toward the organizational objectives.Kerber and Buono (2005) argue that the effectiveness of the approach to the management of change depends on contextual variables such as:* the complexity of the business environment;* socio-technical uncertainty of the tasks or problems;* the ability to change the organization; and* the risks associated with the alternatives of not changing or changing slowly.Other factors may add complexity to the management of change, for example the cultural context (Martinsons et al., 2009) and the interaction between different agents of change namely; senior management, middle management, external consultants and work teams who have different experiences and perspectives (Caldwell, 2003; Choi et al., 2011). On the other hand, management support is considered key to the success of organizational change (Abraham et al., 1999; Spafford and Holup, 2010), as is the allocation of adequate resources (Becker, 2010). Although, following a change program is not a guarantee of successful outcomes (Choi et al., 2011).Kotter (2007) presents a set of eight sequential CMPs that allow for successful organizational change. Kotter's approach is well known and has been applied frequently (Aiken and Keller, 2009; Smith, 2011) (Table II).CMPs are commonly proposed in temporal sequences such as preparation, implementation and consolidation (Raineri, 2011). Research has found that change agents show a preference for CMPs related to the preparation stage because; it is easier to prevent errors in early stages, which lessens implementation failure at later stages (Holt et al., 2007); they have the ability to place more resources at the beginning of a change project (Raineri, 2011) and; the preparation stage requires more analytical skills of which managers tend to have more training in, compared with the more political and interpersonal skills required in the later stages of implementation (Shipper, 1999). Similarly, Raineri (2011) found a higher frequency of preparation practices in comparison with the implementation stage and that the use of CMPs has a significant impact on objectives and deadlines achievement. Abraham et al. (1999) found that the key factor in achieving change towards a culture of quality is top management support, with the lesser factors of the clarity of vision, participation, communication and appropriate resources. Becker (2010) found that the understanding the need for change, the level of organizational support and training, measuring the change, the positive experience and informal support, a history of organizational changes and the outlook previous expectations and individual feelings are factors that influence adoption.Considering the lack of focused research on ITIL implementation and managed change it would seem useful to investigate this phenomenon by studying firms that have implemented the ITIL framework and assess which organizational CMPs more frequently used and whether their influence on the ITIL implementation outcomes can be observed. Therefore, two research questions were formulated for this study:RQ1. How did financial companies in Peru that have implemented the ITIL framework use organizational CMPs?RQ2. How are the levels of ITIL compliance achieved by financial companies in Peru influenced by the CMPs that were used?\n4 Research method: The study employed the multiple-case design method proposed by Yin (2009) as the principal method to gather data to answer the research questions. The case study is an appropriate research method to analyze a phenomenon in its natural environment when the researcher has no influence over events and when the context is considered relevant (Benbasat et al., 1987; Yin, 2009). The case study methodology allows for in-depth questioning and the capture of important aspects of the complexity of an organization. But it is recognized that the conclusions of an investigation by the case study method can be limited, with the generalization of the findings being a common criticism (Gable, 2010; Lee, 1989). However, the problems of validity and generalisability can be addressed by using competent research methodologies (Meredith, 1998; Eisenhardt, 1989).The case study method was considered appropriate for this study as it allowed the phenomenon, the ITIL implementation, to be studied in its natural setting (Meredith, 1998), to have questions of the \"how and why\" type posed and answered (Yin, 2009) and it is an appropriate methodology for studying new topic areas (Eisenhardt, 1989). The design of the investigation involved four sites each studied in depth using multiple data sources and a range of collection methods (Eisenhardt, 1989).A single industry was selected for the study, in order to control the influence of contexts and for different environments and resource availabilities across industries. Four companies from the Peruvian financial sector that had implemented the ITIL framework were identified. The focus of this study is on the ITILv2 implementation for while the ITILv3 * was recently released, ITIL v2 is still the most commonly used (Pollard and Cater-Steel, 2009). The four companies had each implemented the 11 processes of ITILv2 and in all the cases, the ITIL implementation projects were supported by management and had been allocated sufficient of resources for completion.Data regarding the implementation were collected through separate, semi-structured interviews with various staff involved in the project including, top management, operations and IT managers and users of the IT services. Confirmatory data were gathered through secondary sources such as internal documents and progress reports.Through a review of the literature on research related to ITIL adoption and practice of organizational change management a list of questions based on the change management framework of Kotter (2007) was developed. The survey instrument was developed in the Spanish language by native Spanish speakers and all of the respondents speak and write in Spanish as a normal part of their work. The interviewees were given the set of open-ended questions about their strategy, motivations, problems and use CMPs used during the ITIL implementation, before the interview. During the interview, a discussion following the question format was initiated with the answers to these questions recorded digitally with additional notes taken by the researchers. Raineri (2011) found a likely bias from interviewees who were also project implementers that they would be more inclined to say they had used CMPs. Therefore, to reduce this bias the data were corroborated with other participants of the ITIL implementation.The interviews were transcribed verbatim and underwent content analysis. Responses were coded against the question structure and stages of CMPs implementation following the seven steps allowing the researchers to gauge CMP usage for each case. To guard against bias in the data analysis, each interview transcript was content analyzed twice to verify the results. Each case was then written up and subjected to a cross-case analysis, identifying the similarities and noting differences in themes and patterns across the cases.To determine the level ITIL compliance the researchers selected the itSMF self-assessment tool (itSMF, 2003). The itSMF instrument compares an organizations performance with the ITIL best practices, assessing the level of compliance with the ITIL processes, producing its results based on a framework of capabilities through a five point scale (McNaughton et al., 2010). Case firm IT managers were each given an itSMF questionnaire to complete. The questionnaire results provided each case with a score, between 0 and 5 for each of the ITIL core component's compliance to best practice, enabling case comparison.\n5 Results: 5.1 Case profiles\n6 Discussion and conclusions: This study aimed to investigate the importance of applying managed change as part of an ITIL implementation. To this end four Peruvian financial sector firms were chosen as cases and a multi case study investigation was undertaken. The study undertook to ascertain which CMPs were being used and their level of influence on ITIL compliance.This study finds that not all firms take full advantage of CMPs while implementing the ITIL framework. The cases showed that higher levels of CMPs achieved higher levels of ITIL implementation compliance. This result suggests that the use of CMPs has a positive impact on the outcomes of ITIL implementations. It was also found that the firms that used less CMPs reported the resistance to change during the implementation. However, it important not to discount that the higher scoring firms may have had valuable or rare resources and competencies which they utilized in times of change giving them an advantage over others (Barney, 1991).The case studies also demonstrate that more change practices related to preparation and fewer change practices related to implementation and consolidation were used during the ITIL implementation process. This result may be attributable to institutional strengths of the firm, for as case D showed, it seemed to have institutional policies and practices that supported the ITIL implementation across all of its phases, and case B seemingly having the least commitment in terms of resource allocation, sustainable change and staff involvement. Likewise, the participation of an external consultant during the adoption of ITIL may favor the more frequent use of practices related to all three change stages (Pollard and Cater-Steel, 2009) allowing those firms that used consultants to use more CMPs. In addition, the choice of implementation methodology may contribute to some practices being more evident than others. All of the four case studies presented applied a phased implementations; a strategy, which favors the use of the change practice the \"generation of short-term results\".The main limitation of this study is the small number of cases analyzed, so the findings should be viewed with caution. The cases support the theory that managed change assists the implementation of ITIL processes. However, it was undertaken in a single industry, which tends to have homogenous processes and systems and the firms were all of a similar size. However, when examining cases of different size, system processes and industries divergent results may be produced, but these results are necessary to properly extend the case theory in question (Meredith, 1998). Future research may wish to extend the themes of this paper to design and undertake research on which CMPs provide the most impact to the levels of ITIL compliance using a suitable quantitative research instrument and method.In conclusion this paper makes three contributions. First it provides an exploratory study of the links between ITIL implementations and the use of CMPs. Second in terms of results it provides evidence of a link between ITIL implementation and managed change, which is important information for practitioners who may be planning future ITIL projects. Finally, this study adds to the literature of ITIL implementations, particularly with respect to organizational change.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Although various practices to facilitate organizational change are proposed in the literature, very little is known about how these practices impact on ITIL adoptions. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to address this gap in the literature by offering insights on how change management practices impact on levels of ITIL compliance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This exploratory research reports on four case studies of completed implementations of IT service management using the process - based ITILv2 framework. The firms studied are from the Peruvian financial sector. Data were gained primarily through semi-structured in-depth interviews with managers involved in the implementation process. Compliance was measured using the itSMF self assessment questionnaire, which assesses the overall process capability.\nFindings: - This study finds that not all of the case firms took full advantage of change management practices while implementing the ITIL framework. The results show that the firms with a higher use of change management practices achieved higher levels of ITIL compliance. Additionally, change practices related to change preparation were used more frequently and fewer practices related to the implementation and consolidation stages were reported.\nOriginality/value: - Few studies have examined change management practices in the context of ITIL implementation projects. This study also uses the levels of ITIL compliance as an outcome measure.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Present and correct: Understanding the impact of mindfulness on leadership	[ "Leadership development", "Emotional intelligence", "Mindfulness", "Organizational leadership", "Leadership performance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nReview: When does a fad turn into a trend, and then an accepted habit or custom? We have all played our part in fad over the years, from looking after virtual pets (remember Tamagotchi, anyone?) to dancing the Macarena at some cousin's wedding. These all-consuming rushes of activities tend to define an era for people, and can often be resurrected with waves of nostalgia in the post-modern world we live in. From a business perspective, however, they can be a double-edged sword. If your product happens to be part of a craze, then it must be the most wild ride to keep pace with demand but also the most soul-destroying crash when the fad fades.\nAll in the mind: Some would argue that making employees feel good about working somewhere is a reward in itself for jumping on the bandwagon occasionally, but one wonders how often HR teams check the science of what they are about to change before making a leap of faith. It may be that there is none, or perhaps that whatever the fad is has an internal logic that makes sense and encourages people to go right ahead and adopt it. One fad that has arguably transitioned into a trend and is fast becoming a custom is mindfulness, and its adoption by executives as a way to improve their leadership skills has been widely reported in the mainstream media. But what is the science behind its perceived effectiveness?\nEmerging themes: To look at the adoption of mindfulness, the author questioned over 40 people in leadership positions in a wide variety of organizations. Transcripts of the interactions were reviewed multiple times to identify key themes in the text to explain how the subjects felt about mindfulness and its effect on their leadership capabilities. The first overwhelming finding in the study was that every particpant felt that mindfulness had helped them improve as leaders. Indeed, when you look at the seven themes identified in the interactions with leaders, the following had near universal coverage:\nWays forward: The second finding relates to the interpretation of mindfulness benefits as competences, and how the seven themes identified in the textual analysis implied that a wide range of corporate and social competences were improved. These competences do have a strong record in academic research, and so the evidence that mindfulness can improve leadership skills does look solid. Finally, there was evidence that specific cognitive faculties were enhanced through the adoption of mindfulness, such as environmental observation and information gathering. The implications for leaders, then, of using mindfulness to improve their performance is that it is at the very least likely to enhance how they feel about themselves and their own leadership capabilities and very possibly how the rest of their organizations feel as well.\nComment: The article \"Deconstructing the relationship between mindfulness and leader effectiveness\" (2018) by Lippincott is an extremely positive study of mindfulness and should banish any cynics who do believe it is a fad. The evidence presented shows that not only can leadership performance be improved but the perceptions of leaders can also increase, and this in itself should persuade many leaders and HR functions to think about its use in orgainzational training.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds his/her own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: Mindfulness adoption can improve a wide range of skills and behaviors for leaders.\nOriginality/value: The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Technology adoption for the integration of online-offline purchasing: Omnichannel strategies in the retail environment	[ "Technology and innovation management", "Digital transformation", "In-store technology", "Omnichannel retailing", "Pioneering strategy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The current retail scenario is characterized by a huge consumers' demand of entertaining and effective shopping experiences. This implies an extension of traditional offers through innovative technologies, by maintaining the same quality of service and products across different channels through which consumers can search, compare, choose and purchase products, interacting with the brand (Neslin et al., 2006; Pantano and Viassone, 2015). Consumers seek consistent, positive experiences, where all channels have complete and accurate information about customers' history in order to earn their loyalty. (PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and Kantar Retail LLC, 2012).\nTheoretical background: From multi to omni-channel retailing\nResearch design: Our research investigates the impact of IST on the customer's shopping experience, in the perception of store managers and employees. In order to address these objectives, this work employs a qualitative strategy of inquiry, involving a data collection from a set of retailers who introduced innovative IST as first-movers in the market.\nResults and discussion: By proceeding on our chain of evidence, the first step focused on the code frequency analysis.\nConclusions, limitations and future research directions: In the increasingly competitive retail scenario, the advancement of digital and mobile channels raises customer expectations for businesses to engage with them wherever, whenever and however. Retailers need to find innovative ways to connect with their audience and offer enriched shopping experiences and value propositions, making the motivation for an omnichannel strategy design ever more compelling.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Retail customers are now omnichannel both for attitude and behavior. Since individuals interact with multiple touchpoints throughout their shopping journey, retailers must consider all channels holistically as consumers do, in order to provide them with a unified shopping experience. Thus, recently retailers are showing an increasing interest in the deployment of advanced in-store systems aimed at enhancing the shopping experience by providing customers with innovative tools able to engage them for obtaining deeper insights, saving time and feeling more independent while shopping. Such technologies can help retailers to better react to those emerging settings by: acquiring a positive image and reputation, being perceived as innovator; reducing management costs; maintaining and acquiring loyal consumers; making imitation strategies as difficult as possible for competitors; and reaching a unique and differentiated positioning. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether and how store technology positively affects the customer experience in an omnichannel retail environment and if the early adoption of in-store technology by retailers produces a sustainable competitive advantage.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To achieve the research aim and deeply explore the phenomenon of interest, a multiple-case study involving 15 retailers, operating in different industries of the Italian market, was carried through 80 semi-structured in-depth interviews with store managers and employees.\nFindings: Results of the content analysis show that customers are increasingly willing to use the in-store innovations in order to obtain richer shopping experiences while retailers achieve a stronger brand loyalty as well as a better and updated brand image.\nOriginality/value: This paper contributes to the relevant literature by proposing two conceptual frameworks. It provides a deeper understanding of possible advantages and threats resulting from early technology adoption by retailers, which is becoming essential for improving the omnichannel customer management and increasing business performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The consumer's expectation formation process over time	[ "Service levels", "Customer service management", "Customers", "Perception" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this article.\nIntroduction: The concept of consumer expectations has a rich theoretical and empirical history in the marketing literature. Expectations have been viewed as benchmarks consumers use to determine satisfaction (Cadotte et al., 1987; Churchill and Surprenant, 1982) or appraise performance of products and services (Boulding et al., 1993; Churchill and Surprenant, 1982; Parasuraman et al., 1985, 1988). Consumer expectations may be multi-level benchmarks used for evaluation or appraisal (Boulding et al., 1993; Hamer et al., 1999; Parasuraman et al., 1991; Zeithaml et al., 1993). Within the process, antecedents have a direct effect on the formation of expectations (Boulding et al., 1993; Clow, 1993; Tse and Wilton, 1988; Zeithaml et al., 1993). The final part of the process is the formation of consumer intentions to repurchase a product or service (based on comparisons of service performance to expectations) (Oliver, 1980; Woodruff et al., 1983).Empirical research on consumer expectations has yielded substantial results, and a few researchers have taken the arduous route of longitudinal studies or simulated longitudinal studies (Boulding et al., 1993; Clow et al., 1998; LaBarbera and Mazursky, 1983; Oliver and Burke, 1999). However, scant studies have examined the consumer expectations process over time (Hamer et al., 1999). It would seem logical that the expectations process might re-form over service/product usage (Tse and Wilton, 1988) or that expectations would be modified and adjusted as consumers' experiences with a product/service increase or new information about the product/service is received (Boulding et al., 1993; Miller, 1977). If expectations are viewed as the central part of a process that has antecedents and consequences, one might expect that all components of the process as well as the relationship between the process components could change over time.The purpose of this research is not to offer yet another piece of research on expectations alone, but to examine the expectation formation and reformation process over time using a cohort of consumers in a field setting. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time this approach has been taken to examine the expectations process. By enlarging the focus of the research to include the expectation formation process, the results are intended to increase our understanding of consumers' expectations processes over time as well as to develop managerial strategies to influence the entire expectations process. The paper begins with a proposed longitudinal model. The model is grounded on the research and propositions of Boulding et al. (1993) and Zeithaml et al. (1993). The model is operationalized using qualitative research and tested on 440 consumers at three points in time over a year. In this case, students are the actual consumers and a university experience in the freshman year is the ongoing service encounter being. The findings are discussed, future research is suggested, and managerial implications are offered.\nModel development: Figure 1 illustrates the proposed model, which includes the components of the expectation process: antecedents (enduring intensifiers and self-perceived service role), two levels of expectations (\"should\" and \"will\"), appraised performance, and purchase/repurchase intentions. Three time periods or purchase periods are noted. Figure 1 also illustrates the relationships between components taking place within each purchase period. Figure 2 illustrates the relationships between components taking place across each purchase period. Usually models in the published research represent a slice of time with a starting and ending point. Our model begins at T=0 (or Time=0), prior to the first service experience. It continues over two successive repurchase periods (T=1 and T=2, respectively). We assume that at time (T=0), a service purchase has been identified and the consumer intends to proceed with the service purchase.Expectations and their antecedents\nMethodology: Analysis overview\nResults: As described earlier, based on the qualitative research, the survey was developed to measure multiple dimensions of both expectations, which were also reflected in the appraised performance items. The key issues in our analyses involve relationships between these two different expectations and the performance measures. Since the key issues in our analyses involve relationships between the different expectations and performance, we decided to identify factors/dimensions that would remain stable across the three time periods. Using exploratory factor analysis, we identified multidimensional factors of \"should\" and \"will\" expectations and appraised performance that remained stable over time (see Table I). Both the enduring intensifiers and self-perceived service role were found to be unidimensional constructs. A list of items for each dimension and construct is available by request from the first author.Second-order factor analyses were conducted to test whether the three dimensions of \"will\" and \"should\" expectations and performance map onto corresponding higher-order constructs. For all three time periods, the results indicated that the three dimensions map onto a higher order factor with the loadings of the three dimensions statistically significant at the 5 percent level. Therefore, it was decided to form overall scale scores for \"will\" and \"should\" expectations and performance by averaging all the items across the three dimensions. For the unidimensional constructs, scale scores were also constructed by averaging scores on the corresponding items. Table I reports the means as well as the reliability coefficients for each construct.Analysis of relationships within each purchase period\nDiscussion: Our research developed a model of the expectation formation process over time by integrating the literature on multiple levels of expectations, the antecedents of the expectation levels, and the influence of expectation levels on service performance and purchase/repurchase intentions. A cohort of 440 consumers was surveyed over three purchase periods to test the proposed model. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that a comprehensive model of the expectations process has been field-tested on a cohort of consumers over multiple purchase periods.Results of the research fully supported five out of seven hypotheses and partially supported two hypotheses. Over three purchase periods, consumers maintained two significantly different expectation levels, a higher normative level and a lower predictive level (as suggested by Boulding et al., 1993). As hypothesized, the lower predictive level was less stable than the higher normative level over the three purchase periods.Looking at the formation of the expectation levels, one hypothesis suggested that future expectations would be a function of previous expectations and the current appraisal of the service's performance. Although this held for the lower, predictive level of expectations, the higher, normative level was influenced only by the higher, normative expectations from the prior purchase period. Antecedents were also tested to determine their roles in forming both levels of expectations. Zeithaml et al. (1993) proposed that the enduring intensifier antecedent would only influence the upper level (our \"should\"), while the consumer's self-perceived service role would only influence the lower level (our \"will\") expectations. We found that both antecedents influenced the two levels of expectations - a new contribution to the expectation formation process research. With time and purchase experience, the enduring intensifiers strengthen their influence on \"will\" expectations while their influence on \"should\" expectations wanes. The consumer's self-perceived service role influence on both levels of expectations weakens over time. Although the relative influence of the antecedents on expectations changes over time, our findings indicate the two antecedents remain significant influencers of both levels of expectations. However, the finding that the variance explained for the two levels of expectations waned over time and purchase experience may indicate that there are other influencers or antecedents not measured in this study that become important as the consumer continues to repurchase the service (i.e. advertising, awareness of other alternatives, changes in tastes/preferences, etc.)The research found that the influence of the expectation levels on appraised performance varies over time with the effect of both levels of expectations decreasing over time. Two other findings were consistent over all purchase periods. First, purchase intentions were directly influenced by appraisals of the service performance. Second, purchase/repurchase intentions influenced both expectation antecedents of enduring intensifiers and the consumer's self-perceived service role.One interesting finding that was not hypothesized has to do with comparing the performance appraisal mean score to the mean scores for both levels of expectations. The \"Zone of Tolerance\" (Zeithaml et al., 1993), comprised of an upper level and lower tolerable level of expectations, was a target between which service evaluations are expected to fall in order for repurchase to take place. The current research found that for both purchase periods (T=1 and T=2), the average appraised performance scores (5.29 and 5.22, respectively) did not fall between the upper \"should\" expectations (6.38 for T=1 and 6.43 for T=2) and the lower \"will\" expectations (5.83 for T=1 and 5.80 for T=2). This may mean that \"should\" and \"will\" expectations may not be identical to the desired and adequate expectations as conceptualized by Zeithaml et al. (1993) or there is the possibility of more than two levels of expectations (as suggested by Miller, 1977). Another explanation is that the process may not be as simple as evaluations falling neatly between expectation levels. There might be other reasons as well for repurchase, outside the performance versus expectations comparison process. Finally, it could be, as suggested by Oliver (1996), that these expectations acted as contrast agents, resulting in exaggerated performance appraisals (in this case much worse than expected). Further analyses regarding this finding goes beyond the scope of this paper but may provide future research possibilities.Limitations and future research\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This research seeks to examine how the expectation process and its components evolve over time and purchase experience.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A longitudinal study was conducted over the period of one year using a sample of university students who were purchasing an undergraduate education. The sample was surveyed three times over the year. Structural equation analyses and regression were used to test various research hypotheses.\nFindings: - Key findings include confirming two significantly different levels of expectations: a lower, predictive \"will\" level and a higher normative \"should\" level. Expectation antecedents change in their degree of influence on expectations, weakening over time and service purchase experience.\nResearch limitations/implications: - There is a need to extend the results to other service contexts.\nPractical implications: - The consumer's expectation formation process changes over service purchase experience, thus indicating a need to segment on experience with the service firm.\nOriginality/value: - The application of an expectation formation process to a longitudinal study provides the first partnership of the theoretically-based model and longitudinal methodology.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The importance of confidence in leadership role: A qualitative study of the process following two Swedish leadership programmes	[ "Reflection", "Confidence", "Leadership development", "Developmental leadership (DL)", "Leadership programme", "Understanding Group and Leader (UGL)" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: As stated by the Swedish trade union for leaders (Ledarna, 2014) half a million people in Sweden hold leadership positions, 50 per cent of whom find the work mentally demanding and 40 per cent experience not having enough time to fulfil their leadership responsibilities towards their employees (Ledarna, 2014). If given a choice the Swedish leaders would like to spend less time on administration and more on development of their leadership skills (Ledarna, 2014). These numbers indicate an importance of offering leadership development programmes which are effective both in time and in improving leaders' skills in relation to employees.\nMethods: Study setting\nFindings: The emerging model\nDiscussion: The aim of this study is to understand UGL's and DL's influence on leadership and co-workers, as well as which mechanisms are involved.\nConclusion: This study contributes to an understanding of the effects of UGL and DL, which have not been studied before. The model presented identifies a number of potentially important psychological and behavioural aspects where increased confidence in leadership role is crucial for employee satisfaction, independent of gender. On the other hand, when confidence in own leadership role weakens the impact is likely to result in employee dissatisfaction. Thus, the programmes influence intra-psychological as well as overt behavioural aspects. Where an increase in overt leadership skills seems to be regarded as genuine by the employees if it is backed up by confidence in leadership role. Further research is needed to evaluate the accuracy of this model and to inform existing leadership theories.\nPractical implications: Confidence in leadership role seems important for having positive outcomes of leadership. Although this needs further research, it is something organisations should consider when working with leadership questions.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand the influence of leadership programmes on leaders and co-workers, as well as which mechanisms are involved in the process.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An analysis was done into 431 free-text answers to questionnaires given to 120 participants in two different leadership programmes and their co-workers six months after their participation, using a grounded theory inspired approach.\nFindings: The result is a model, linking internal psychological and external behavioural aspects, with the central outcome that leaders gained more confidence in their leadership role through theoretical models learned, and reflection.\nResearch limitations/implications: The course participants as well as the co-workers seemed to experience a positive leadership development indicating a value of participating in the courses.\nPractical implications: Confidence in leadership role seems important for having positive outcomes of leadership. Although this needs further research, it is something organisations should consider when working with leadership questions.\nSocial implications: The co-workers perceived their leaders to be calmer, more open for discussions, and willing both to give and receive feedback post training. There appears to be an increase in trust both in the leader and reciprocally from the leader in the co-workers.\nOriginality/value: Until now there has not been any systematic research into the effects on participants and co-workers following the programmes, despite the fact that over 100,000 have participated in the courses.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
"Fool me once, ...": deception, morality and self-regeneration in decentralized markets	[ "Markets", "Deception", "Morality", "Purchasing decisions", "Preferences", "Rumour spreading" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Markets are one of the most robust forces in nature and society. Even after the most calamitous tragedy, market relations will recover with an exceptional vitality as individuals engage again in trading relations that are crucial for their survival and wellbeing. To gain the confidence of the other players, market participants must avoid dishonest and deceiving attitudes, and therefore, one might infer that stable and long-lasting market equilibrium is inseparable from morality and honesty. Nevertheless, as insistently pointed out by non-orthodox thinking in economics, equilibrium is more an exception than the rule, implying that in many market circumstances, manipulation and deception might pay off. The aim of this paper is to discuss first through a brief literature review and second by assembling a straightforward simulation model, the ability markets have to self-regenerate, albeit they are systematically hit by individual behaviour that disrupts confidence and trustworthiness.\nMarkets: dangerous arenas or cooperation forums?: To reflect on the intrinsic and general properties of markets is a first fundamental step in the effort to understand how they benefit or penalize those who engage in exchange relations. An influential perspective on the nature of markets is Friedrich von Hayek's view about spontaneous orders. Bowles et al. (2017) reminisce that Hayek interpreted markets as complex systems where individuals endowed with a limited knowledge on the structure and dynamics of the market would compete to serve their own interests, allowing for the emergence of a coherent whole. In this view, markets need no regulation because free enterprise would be the best form to coordinate individual actions in a large scale.\nDrivers of individual purchasing decisions: price and variety matching: Markets are complex systems with multiple heterogeneous agents engaging in systematic interactions. Thus, as suggested by Bowles et al. (2017), agent-based computational models might constitute an adequate framework to approach market dynamics, when one wants to account for deceit, morality, gullibility, sympathy and related phenomena. Zhang and Zhang (2007) propose a model of this kind, where a motivation function for purchasing a variety of a good is presented. Motivation to buy depends on the price, on the preference for a given variety, on advertising and on the influence exerted by other consumers. Price and a matching with the intended variety are the structural factors leading an agent to acquire some good from a given firm, suggestion or manipulation through advertising or other factors might distort the expected outcome. Once eventual deceit is perceived, consumers and other market players may penalize the firms that do not follow a correct conduct both directly and by influencing the decisions of other consumers.\nNot so fair play: business manipulation and deception: So far, by maintaining productivity, preferences and production technologies constant, our analysis of the motivation to buy is static. We now introduce dynamics by attaching the main idea of our analysis: the possibility of manipulation by firms and, posteriorly, moral behaviour by consumers.\nMorality strikes back: consumers spread the word: Besides the direct impact analysed in the previous section, the deceiving behaviour of firm j might have reputational damages as well. Imagine that a single consumer considers that the deceiving behaviour of firm j is, in a first moment, worth being denunciated. The disapproval on the deceiving behaviour will then be eventually passed on to the other consumers, implying a transitory phase of pervasive resentment toward the firm with a less honourable behaviour. The action of consumers in this context is solely driven by the empathy toward others; this action contains no direct economic gain, and it is grounded in strict moral principles (not wanting others to suffer from the firm's misbehaviour that the consumer that spreads the word had to endure).\nConclusion: Markets are complex entities where agents endowed with distinct capabilities, preferences, moral codes and views of the world co-exist and co-evolve. To capture such heterogeneity in a straightforward, comprehensive and manageable analytical framework is a difficult and cumbersome task. In this paper, market relations were approached focussing the attention on deceiving behaviour, morality and the capacity markets have to self-regenerate after being disturbed by eventually opportunistic and deviant behaviour of some of the market participants.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to provide an overall review and assessment of the virtues and flaws of decentralized self-regulated markets, discussing in particular the extent to which deceiving attitudes by some market participants might be potentially diluted and contradicted.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To approach deception and morality in markets, the paper follows two paths. First, the relevant recent literature on the theme is reviewed, examined and debated, and second, one constructs a simulation model equipped with the required elements to discuss the immediate and long-term impacts of deceiving behaviour over market outcomes.\nFindings: The discussion and the model allow for highlighting the main drivers of the purchasing decisions of consumers and for evaluating how they react to manipulating behaviour by firms in the market. Agents pursuing short-run gains through unfair market practices are likely to be punished as fooled agents spread the word about the malpractices they were allegedly subject to.\nResearch limitations/implications: Markets are complex entities, where large numbers of individual agents typically establish local and direct contact with one another. These agents differ in many respects and interact in unpredictable ways. Assembling a concise model capable of addressing such complexity is a difficult task. The framework proposed in this paper points in the intended direction.\nOriginality/value: The debate in this paper contributes to a stronger perception on the mechanisms that attribute robustness and vitality to markets.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Employees master the Nuances of travel retailing: New learning system helps staff to stay up to date	[ "Retailing", "Employee development", "Travel industry" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Traditionally, businesses in the airport retail sector experience a high degree of labour turnover - or churn. Moreover, although similar in many ways to the rest of the retail sector, airport retail is a more pressured environment because customers who, by definition, are airline passengers, have relatively little time to browse and buy. Consequently, sales have to be transacted as speedily as possible.\nKeeping staff up to speed: Taking all of these things into account, the human resources (HR) department at Nuance - which operates retail outlets spanning more than 60 locations in 18 countries and territories across the globe - has a major, on-going responsibility to keep the company's 6,100-plus staff up-to-speed in terms of specialized sales techniques that are appropriate for this sector, knowledge of an extensive range of SKUs as well as complex customs issues. It needs to do this for a workforce with a high degree of churn.\nA keen challenge: Nuance's HR department felt that it faced a particularly keen challenge in ensuring that Nuance staff around the world could use SAP correctly.\nThe principal benefit: According to Nuance's HR manager: \"The principal benefit of the current Docebo-enabled system is that it centralizes knowledge within the company and makes it available as and when it is required. It provides all the basic knowledge a newly hired person needs in order to operate effectively - and productively. It also offers all staff solid training relating to customs regulations around the world as well as how to use SAP transactions in business units including buying, logistics, customs, airport sales operations and finance.\nWholesale and distribution business: Nuance serves more than 31 million travelling customers a year. In addition to an extensive portfolio of duty and tax-free stores, brand boutiques and concept stores - covering some 73,000 square metres - Nuance provides in-flight services and operates a wholesale and distribution business, supporting the travel-retail sector.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Examines how travel retailer Nuance keeps its employees up to date in terms of specialized sales techniques that are appropriate for its sector.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Describes some of the challenges of travel retailing and explains that Nuance's human resources department felt that it faced a particularly keen challenge in ensuring that staff around the world could use SAP correctly.\nFindings: Charts how Nuance realized that it needed something which would help it to build a single, always-up-to-date knowledge repository concerning key business processes related to SAP, and opted to install a learning-management system and deliver the various learning materials online to its staff around the world.\nPractical implications: Describes how Nuance came to select the Docebo Cloud SaaS-based e-learning solutions platform. Reveals that the principal benefit of the system is that it centralizes knowledge within the company and makes it available as and when it is required.\nSocial implications: Points out that a learner can follow a course as and when it is convenient - rather than be corralled into a classroom at the whim of someone else's timetable - and can learn anywhere that is convenient and via any relevant delivery device.\nOriginality/value: Provides a detailed examination of one aspect of staff training in one of the world's key travel retailers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Certifying a university ENT clinic using the ISO 9001:2000 international standard	[ "Quality management", "ISO 9000 series", "Quality standards", "Ear", "Nose and throat medicine", "Germany" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: To keep treatment efficient and quality assured, highly specialised treatments in some cases for rare illnesses with complicated healing processes have to be integrated into an overall quality plan. To cope with changing clinical routines, organisational and structural changes have to be realised and new regulatory mechanisms introduced. Against statutory duties in various countries to introduce internal quality management (QM) systems, the increased importance of this subject has led to numerous activities and successful health system certifications (Peters et al., 2004; Doebert et al., 2005; Jansen-Schmidt et al., 2001; Beholz et al., 2003, Staines, 2000).Goethe University Hospital managers decided to introduce an internal QM system using ISO 9001:2000. This standard favours a process-oriented approach and describes requirements for the QM system and gives advice about appropriate and suitable application, especially patient expectations. In this context the term \"process-oriented quality management\" is to be understood as follows. Patients, referring doctors and others place certain demands on clinic staff acting as service provider. In the clinic, these requirements are put to practice by certain \"processes\" (e.g. treatment paths) for which the clinic director is responsible. He or she makes personnel, material and equipment (e.g. to perform surgery) available. To do this appropriately, certain information on the rendered services (e.g. patient satisfaction) is necessary and must be provided using measurements and analyses. Traditionally, staff in each ward or clinic department developed their own rules for daily routines and handling certain problems. These rules were tested for effectiveness and practicability and, if necessary, amended. It then was decided in which clinic department routines would be most effective. Thus, superfluous work could be eliminated. All process sequences were defined, tested with respect to practical applicability, added to a written manual and finally authorised for use. An additional challenge was structuring and coordinating all work sequences, especially at their interfaces to form a general master plan. This led to rationalising the whole sequence of operations and avoidance of redundancies. Additionally, criteria on how staff, material and medical equipment can be used optimally became clear. The aim was to continuously optimise work flow within the QM systems (Figure 1).Goethe University hospital ear, nose and throat (ENT) staff then inaugurated its QM system. The aim was to implement binding, transparent and intelligible rules for all staff and in all work concerning patient treatment, teaching and research. The clinic's official external (ISO 9001:2000) certification was achieved two years after implementation; thus confirming that the clinic's QM system matches national and international standards regarding health insurance companies, patients and referring doctors. In this article, therefore, we hope to give useful information to others wishing to realise similar projects.\nMethod: The newly introduced QM system was based on ISO 9001:2000, an international standard applicable to many different professional groups. It defines the QM system certification requirements. We followed the so-called 12 steps plan to help us implement the QM system:1. Clinic managers decide to introduce a QM system.2. QM representatives are nominated.3. QM executive board convened.4. Staff informed and educated.5. Quality objectives defined.6. Actual state analysis completed.7. Actual state analysis outcome evaluated.8. Quality manual and other documentation established.9. System implemented.10. Internal audit realised.11. QM system externally audited and certified.12. QM system and repetitive audits maintained (after Kahla-Witzsch, 2003).Clinic director's decision to introduce a QM system\nResults: External audit and certification\nDiscussion: The basis of Goethe University Hospital ENT clinic's QM system is ISO 9001:2000, formulated generally for application to different businesses. At first sight, the standard's somewhat technical phrasing is rather unfamiliar to healthcare professionals. Furthermore, adaptation to public health service institution needs has to be made. Nevertheless, the ISO 9001:2000 standard's clear instructions for all sectors provide a good framework. How this frame is filled depends on the department's requirements, aims, size and structure. The ISO 9001:2000 aims at a process-oriented approach (Edelstein, 2001; Sweeney and Heaton, 2000). Not only is product or service quality (though this has priority) assessed, but also the processes that lead to the product/service have to be defined and must be controllable as well. Developing and introducing a QM system into hospital routines takes place in clearly defined steps. Design and implementation, however, take their cue from service user needs and expectations, the organisation's aims, as well as the clinic's or department's size and structure. Patients and staff alike profit considerably from re-organisation and re-structuring (van den Heuvel et al., 2006). The QM system gives transparency to wards and departments and enhances employees' awareness of the clinic's workflow. Involving all staff members in designing and implementing the QM system clearly results in a higher motivation as employees identify with \"their\" QM system. Positive views on internal changes and their willingness to improve influences job satisfaction positively. Consequently, this reflects favourably on patient handling. The process-oriented approach, which aims to be strongly patient-orientated in our QM system, can improve efficiency and quality outcomes considerably.The first phase between implementation and certification is work-intensive and time-consuming. However, two-and-a half-years after successful certification, we can point out that re-structuring and re-organising our services has enhanced efficiency in all sectors. In short, the whole clinic profited from this re-organisation. QM does not end with certification. It is no transitory task but has to be understood as continuous process. QM implies constant vigilance of non-compliance and reasons. Therefore, staff and patient evaluations are done regularly. Wrong or undesirable events have to be pinpointed, analyzed and evaluated, non-conformance causes identified and corrective actions taken. If these corrections are effective after four weeks then the ENT clinic QM board adds them to the quality manual. Thus, hidden or new flaws in the system are found early and amended immediately.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Against statutory duties to introduce quality management systems, the increased importance of this subject has led to numerous activities in various public health institutions. Following the International Standardization Organization (ISO 9001:2000) prerequisites, Frankfurt Goethe University Hospital ENT clinic staff introduced a quality management system. This paper aims to investigate this process.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Designing, planning and implementing the quality management system is described. Under the supervision of an executive quality management board, clinic quality goals were defined. Thereafter, several quality management teams performed an actual state analysis as well as developing and realising improvement proposals. Finally a quality management manual containing binding standards and working instructions concerning all patient care, research and teaching aspects was written.\nFindings: - Successful certification by a neutral body ascertained that the clinic's quality management system conformed to current national and international standards while restructuring and reform improved procedural efficiency.\nOriginality/value: - The paper shows that mplementing the quality management system requires considerable effort but patients as well as staff profit considerably from the innovation. On the whole, the positive impact on structure and workflow in a specialist clinic predominates. Therefore, implementing a quality management system in all the clinic's wards and departments is recommended.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Doctoral boot camps: from military concept to andragogy	[ "Writing", "Boot camp", "Education", "Research culture", "PhD" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: \"Publish or perish\" is an old adage in academia that embodies the pressure for academics to conduct research and publish. Such pressure is a direct consequence of universities' fervour to build a strong reputation, which according to Linton et al. (2011) is largely dependent on the output and quality of the research being conducted. Rizzo Parse (2007) argues that over the years, university leaders \"have been increasingly focusing attention on what they call building a research culture\". It is believed that having such common values and beliefs ingrained in the day-to-day practices would ultimately ensure a drive towards research and publications.However, building a research culture is not an easy task and even more so for teaching-focussed institutions. There is an overabundance of variables that can either positively or negatively affect the setup and progress of such endeavour. To this effect, Rizzo Parse (2007) argues that \"birthing a research culture requires at least three major essentials: a commitment to become known as a scholarly institution, qualified leaders to guide the planning and development of such an undertaking, and financial and other resources to support the endeavor\".Hannover Research's report (Hannover Research, 2014) contends that amongst others, \"successful [higher education] institutions provide significant support to faculty research efforts\". Although there is a plethora of strategies that can be used to develop a research culture, Hannover Research places faculty training and support programmes as one of the most influential factors for the development of a research culture. Freedenthal (2008) in a survey with 100 faculty members found that 97% would provide grant-writing support but that manuscript writing seminars were relatively common with nearly 55% of faculty members offering such support.Another example of such faculty training and support programmes is academic boot camps. Traditionally, boot camps have been confined to the military world designating a brief but intensive training programme aimed at bringing recruits or confirmed militaries up to the level. The same concept has later been transferred to other areas and recently academia where faculty staff members would come together for a short and intensive working session on a particular aspect of their research journey.Building on Rizzo Parse's notion of building a research culture, Hannover Research's training and support programme, and the growing momentum of academic boot camps, this research studies take a case study approach to explore the use of academic writing boot camps as a tool to building research culture in a teaching-focussed institution moving towards a research institution. This research is even more pertinent to the broader literature as it takes place in an institution within the Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Thirty-nine countries have been categorised as SIDS. In general, these countries are small, remote and share similar characteristics and challenges towards sustainable development (United Nations, 1994). The current study was conducted in the largest Mauritian private tertiary education institution, which has been offering courses from an Australian partner university for a nearly 15 years. With the partner institution seeking the \"Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business\" (AACSB) accreditation, it was imperative for the Mauritian counterpart to embark on research journey in order to meet the requirements of AACSB, which specifically needed staff members to conduct research. This situation constituted a significant challenge for the academics as they were suddenly expected to add another dimension (research) to their work activities, which had been focussed only on teaching for nearly two decades. To assist the academic staff members on this transition period, a number of strategies have been identified and implemented. Aligned with Rizzo Parse (2007) and Hannover Research (2014), some example of measures taken are (1) sponsorship on PhD study, (2) reduced lecturing workload, (3) setting up a dedicated research office and (4) running a number of workshops aimed at enhancing their research skills. One of these workshops consisted in running a writing boot camp.Although research to date on the effectiveness of writing boot camps in either strengthening participants' skills or enhancing individual and collective long-term academic goals is scarce, some authors have found positive outcomes from such interventions. However, many of these studies have relied solely on post-programme questionnaires rather than more longitudinal measures such as staged evaluation focus groups and assessments of the quantum of theses or journal articles produced over periods of time.The aim of this study is thus to bridge this gap by exploring \"Writing Boot Camp Cycles\" rather than a single event. In addition, this research brings in novelty by looking at a particular context. Whereas most research studies on boot camps are carried out in established institutions, this research brings in novel perspective from that of a budding research institute and even more so in the context of a small island developing nation.It is believed that the insights gained, and the results of this research can provide both established institutions struggling to improve research output and emerging research institute in building a sustainable research culture.\nLiterature review: Concepts and definitions\nMethods: The objectives of this study are twofold - first to examine the effectiveness of writing boot camps in helping early career researchers and PhD students in achieving their writing goals. Second, this study attempts to understand and explain the role of writing boot camps in building a research culture in institutions transitioning from primarily teaching to \"teaching and research\" roles. In addition, consonant with some of the shortcomings and challenges identified in the literature (Busl et al., 2015; Von Isenburg et al., 2017, p. 170), the boot camps were designed and conducted in such a way as to maximise successful writing outcomes.A case study approach was deemed as being the most appropriate method to gain insights into the effectiveness of the boot camp events. Indeed, Yin (2014, p. 50), argues that case study is best suited when \"a 'how' or 'why' question is being asked about a contemporary set of events, over which a researcher has little or no control\". In this case, the insights sought after revolved around the how and the why of boot camps in setting up a research culture and also that the researchers did not have any control over behavioural events.Yin (2014, p. 50) further argues that methods are not mutually exclusive in the sense that other methods, for example a survey, can be used within case studies and that case studies and in turn be used within other methods. The critical aspect is to ensure that the research question is well understood and is being answered rigorously through the selected methods.In the case of this study, getting participants insight into the usefulness and effectiveness of the boot camp was essential, and it was important to capture such insights at various points in time. Therefore, an initial boot camp with 33 academic staff members was run after which a survey questionnaire was administered to all participants. A follow-up focus group was later held with 36% of the initial boot camp participants to gauge the effectiveness of the boot camp in sustaining research activities after which a second boot camp cycle was run.The following section outlines the various steps in the preparation, implementation and follow-up of the writing boot camp.Initial boot camp\nAnalysis and discussion: The most appropriate analysis was carried out once the data was gathered. For the survey after the initial boot camp, simple descriptive analysis was carried out. Since it was an exploratory study and the aim was to get insight on the effectiveness of the boot camps on individual progress. The data were cleansed, and Microsoft Excel was used to generate the descriptive statistics. The amount of data and the rather exploratory nature of the research did not warrant for more sophisticated analysis tools to be used. Still using Microsoft Excel, thematic analysis was used to extract common themes from the open-ended questions. As for the focus group, a transcript of the session was generated and thematic analysis carried out.Perceptions of the initial writing boot camp\nConclusion: This study extended the concept of writing boot camps to writing boot camp cycles coupled with differentiated facilitation in supporting the creation of a research culture amongst academics. The research was conducted in a teaching-focussed higher education institution within a SIDS.Overall, the participants shared that the boot camp cycles helped them achieve their writing goals. The findings of this study indicate that it is crucial to have a proper environment for an effective boot camp session. The boot camp facilitator should be in a position to provide timely and individualised feedback. The study revealed that peer support is as important as facilitator support in the success of the boot camp. While participants who set clear and realistic goals were the ones who achieved their writing targets more easily, the study pointed that other factors such as self-discipline and focus were also important in helping the participants achieve their writing objectives. Furthermore, this study indicate that it is vital to customise writing boot camp sessions depending on specificities of the participants such as, field of research, early career versus experienced researchers or type of research output. In other words, there is no one-size-fits-all writing boot camp structure. Instead, it is imperative for institutions to gauge the needs of the researchers and provide adequate coaching for them to thrive. Writing boot camps can offer the right ingredients to promote research amongst academic staff members in such settings as outlined in this research.The outcomes of this study are pertinent to higher education institutions wishing to set up a research arm, and more specifically in developing countries with budding research culture and limited research resources. The main contribution of this study showed that using boot camp cycles with differentiated facilitation can help academics achieve their writing goals and consequently, help create a research culture. While the outcomes seem promising, a few avenues can still be explored. Since this study looked at two boot camps, future studies can consider running more cycles over a longer period of time. It is further recommended to conduct debriefing sessions after each boot camp and use the outcomes to refine the subsequent sessions. Moreover, it is also recommended for future researchers to classify and group participants based on their research interests or objectives.In essence, although building a research culture is a lengthy process, the current study indicates that writing boot camps cycles with facilitators can actually be used to activate a research culture and garner momentum for academic staff members to publish.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the use of writing boot camp cycles with differentiated facilitation in promoting a research culture within an academic setting by investigating its effectiveness and challenges amongst early career researchers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research takes a case study approach within a teaching-focussed private institution moving towards teaching and research. A mixed-method approach captured insights of academics' feelings and perceptions at different stages of the boot camps. Participants set their writing objectives prior to the programme. The initial writing boot camp was followed by a post-programme survey. Two months later, a focus group was conducted and the outcomes were used to refine the subsequent boot camp session.\nFindings: The findings confirmed that writing boot camps are beneficial in enabling staff members to progress in their writing and in building a research culture. The study further highlighted some of the associated challenges.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study used only the largest private institution in the country as a case.\nPractical implications: This paper highlights some of the key considerations and challenges for practitioners who wish to run effective writing boot camps, e.g. environment, facilitation, debriefing, frequency and duration.\nOriginality/value: This study introduces the concept of \"Writing Boot Camp Cycles\" coupled with \"Differentiated Facilitation\" to enhance the output of writing boot camps while at the same time promoting a research culture.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Capability, social capital and opportunity-driven graduate entrepreneurship in Tanzania	[ "Entrepreneurship", "Social capital", "Tanzania", "Capability approach", "Conversion factors" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In Tanzania, annually, about 700,000 graduates enter the labor market but only 40,000 of them find jobs at the government or established companies despite this being their preferred place of work (Ngalomba, 2013). The rest of them continue their education, find a low-profiled temporary job or enter into the informal sector. Despite significant government attempts to boost graduate entrepreneurship, and the introduction of entrepreneurship education at university level (Mwasalwiba, 2012; Weiss, 2015), few graduates actually embark on an entrepreneurial path. While this problem is not unique to the Tanzanian context, the country's economic-political history of the Ujaama (or African socialism) seems to amplify the problems (DeJaeghere, 2013) making Tanzania a suitable case for investigation.\nEntrepreneurship in Tanzania: Historical developments\nConceptual framework: Scholars have differentiated between necessity or subsistence-driven and opportunity-driven entrepreneurship (Bosma and Harding, 2007). Necessity-driven entrepreneurs are pushed into enterprising activities because all alternative options for work and income generation are absent or unsatisfactory. Alternatively, opportunity-driven entrepreneurship follows individual's personal desire and choice to exploit a particular opportunity and seek self-actualization (Smallbone and Welter, 2001). While entrepreneurship, in developing countries like Tanzania, is often understood primarily as necessity entrepreneurship, this particular study focuses on opportunity-driven entrepreneurship. Traditionally, scholars have attributed the difficulty to develop a fully functioning opportunity-driven entrepreneurial ecosystem in Tanzania to the poorly functioning institutional context. In line with Baumol's (1990) arguments that a country's institutional framework determines whether productive, unproductive or even destructive entrepreneurial activities will take place, the authors have suggested that overcomplicated paperwork (Haselip et al., 2015) and a non-supportive financial sector (Marwa, 2014; Mwasalwiba et al., 2012) are keeping young graduates from engaging in entrepreneurial activities. While valid, these institutional arguments do not fully explain why the majority of graduates continue to struggle while some are obviously able to overcome these constraints.\nMethodology: The qualitative nature of the research question prompted to conduct an interpretive qualitative research (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005) based primarily on interviews and supplemented by policy documents that were collected and analyzed in the Spring and Summer of 2016. The aim of the qualitative inquiry was to uncover the underlying mechanisms that stimulate and prevent Tanzanian graduates to consider a career in entrepreneurship.\nFindings: Entrepreneurship as a potential valued functioning among graduates\nDiscussion: This study explored why most Tanzanian graduates do not engage in entrepreneurial careers even in the face of a lack of alternative career opportunities, while some do and how we can explain such different responses to the same institutions. The empirical findings show that the entrepreneurial climate in Tanzania is clearly in a state of transition. In line with the work of Kabanda and Brown (2015), this study shows that increased positive attention from policy makers, educators and the media combined with the introduction of faster internet and mobile technologies have already spurred a small group of graduates into entrepreneurial action. As such, these findings reflect those of Lindeman's (2012) who already pointed to the importance of conversion factors like devices and external support in translating valued functionings into actual functionings. However, this study also shows that not all graduates are equally likely to benefit from such conversion factors. Indeed, the vast majority does not seem to be able to utilize their agency to translate entrepreneurial ambitions developed while in school into action once graduated. As stated by Sen (1980), the motivation to act as an entrepreneur depends on the personal conviction that success is possible, maybe even within reach. Based on the findings it is argued and shown that, in the Tanzanian case, access to social capital (e.g. Hite, 2005) plays a pivoting role in this process toward empowering graduates to develop such convictions In fact, the uneven distribution of social capital explains why few graduates can cultivate the personal freedom and power to develop entrepreneurial functions. For instance, one area where graduates clearly lack agency is the start-up capital: most of them lack both lack the skills and the connections to seriously pursue obtaining access to external funding from banks or venture capitalists and give up at the first rejection. Likewise, complying with government regulations or obtaining a lucrative government or multinational contract proves difficult without access to the right connections, thus limited in the entrepreneurial capability of the target group. Simultaneously, the inability to access funding and utilize connections contributes to the inability to develop products that meet the necessary standards to be granted government contracts or equally interesting contracts from foreign direct investors. This leads to vicious cycle that is particularly difficult to break, and leaves many graduates without actual entrepreneurial capability unless they have the appropriate social capital. Graduate entrepreneurs clearly lack the agency to change this situation on their own. Rather, it is up to powerful actors like government functionaries, managers of multinational corporations and established entrepreneurial families to change their behavior toward aspiring graduate entrepreneurs so that they can actually act upon opportunities in the Tanzanian environment. This means that unless such institutionalized actors actively start to facilitate graduates to establish more relevant and powerful connections and gain access to the necessary social capital the Tanzanian market is likely to continue to be dominated by a small number of specific and powerful groups with a clear competitive advantage. Stimulating dominant actors to become more inclusive toward startups may therefore turn out be a key conversion factor toward enhancing graduates entrepreneurial capability. This notion of social capital as a key conversion factor that enables aspiring entrepreneurs to translate valued functionings into actual functionings offers a novel way of looking at how entrepreneurial capability can be enhanced.\nConclusion and recommendations: Contributing to the literature on entrepreneurship incidence and entrepreneurial capability, this study concludes that entrepreneurship capability is unequally distributed amongst young educated Tanzanians. This study shows that conversion toward real capability in Tanzania depends on personal insight, reflection and resoluteness - in other words, personal agency which in term depends on the access to social capital. Lack of capability can be tackled when adequate conversion factors are detected, reforms that can take pace in policy, education and financial services and the improved coverage by social media.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into the reasons why most Tanzanian graduates do not consider entrepreneurship as an attractive career option despite dire labor market conditions, while a small number of them are able to benefit from local opportunities.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Utilizing insights from capability and social capital perspectives, a qualitative investigation based on interviews, group discussions and document analysis was undertaken to explore how this phenomenon can be explained and remedied.\nFindings: This study shows that many graduates value entrepreneurship as a potential career but many find their way to be act upon these aspirations blocked. Indeed, actual entrepreneurial capability is only available to a minority of graduates with access to powerful connections who are able to benefit from technological and financial conversion factors. Most graduates cannot benefit from these conversion factors due to the lack of the necessary social capital to break through to the legal, tax, financial and cultural systems. Hence, the authors argue that social capital itself is actually a critical conversion factor toward developing entrepreneurial capability.\nResearch limitations/implications: The insight formulated in this study are based on a qualitative analysis of the Tanzanian context and formulated specifically for this particular context. At the same time, the country shares many characteristics with other countries in Africa, many of which are struggling to move toward a more entrepreneurial society. Hence, the recommendations may partially be transferable beyond the specific Tanzanian situation. Theoretically, the notion that social capital should be considered as a key conversion factor enabling aspiring entrepreneurs in translating valued functionings into actualized functionings and thus toward enhancing entrepreneurial capability opens up novel avenues for empirical research into how entrepreneurship can be stimulated.\nSocial implications: This study searches for conversion factors from the actual \"functioning\" toward the real \"capability\" allowing to succeed as a new graduate and find that social capital itself might act as the critical conversion factor. That brings the authors to the recommendations for policy makers, educators and media, argued in such a way that the entrepreneurial capability of young graduates and their ability to tap into relevant social capital can be enhanced.\nOriginality/value: The combination and integration of the Sen's capability approach with social capital perspectives offers a novel way to explain difference in responses to the Tanzanian institutions and their ability to act upon a valued functioning such as opportunity-driven entrepreneurship.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Total quality index of commercial oyster mushroom Pleurotus sapidus in modified atmosphere packaging	[ "Modified atmosphere packaging", "Oyster mushroom", "Phylogenetic analysis", "Pleurotus sapidus", "Total quality index" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In the past ten years, the consumption and production of commercial oyster mushrooms (OMs) have been increasing globally (Jafri et al., 2013). The Pleurotus species are known for having a unique flavour, a good texture profile and for being nutritious (Wan-Mohtar et al., 2018), which increases consumer demand for the product (Sapata et al., 2009). Mushrooms comprise 32.7 per cent crude protein, 2.4 per cent crude fat and 47.7 per cent carbohydrate, thus representing a healthy dietary option (Akbarirad et al., 2013).\n2. Materials and methods: 2.1 Source of OM and fruiting body preparation\n3. Results and discussion: 3.1 Molecular characteristics of commercial OM for growers\n4. Conclusion: The present study has investigated the TQI on harvested OM using different MAP gas mixtures and determined that the HCP retained the best quality of OM. Compared with control and LCP, HCP recorded the highest TPC and showed the highest effectiveness in maintaining the colour and odour quality of OM. Our phylogenetic analysis revealed that the commercially grown OM from Malaysia was P. sapidus strain QDR. The acceptance of sensory panellists on the fresh OM varied for different MAP treatments, and the sensory reports suggested that HCP and LCP were more effective in maintaining the qualities of OM in terms of colour and odour. We believe that our findings provide significant evidence that low-cost HCP is the most ideal and efficient packaging technique for commercial OM.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the strain of oyster mushroom (OM) Pleurotus sapidus cultivated in a local (commercial) farm, and to generate a total quality index (TQI) on the strain using different modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) gas mixtures.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A phylogenetic tree was constructed using the MEGA software to identify the specific strain of P. sapidus grown in a local farm. The effects of MAP on fresh fruiting bodies of the identified strain were determined under three conditions: high carbon dioxide packaging (HCP: 20 per cent CO2, 15 per cent O2), low carbon dioxide packaging (LCP: 2 per cent CO2, 30 per cent O2) and high nitrogen packaging (HNP: 85 per cent N2, 15 per cent O2). All samples were stored at 4 oC for up to ten days, and subjected to total phenolic content (TPC), colour retention (CR) and sensory analysis. Quality parameters such as chewiness and odour were used to obtain the TQI.\nFindings: From the phylogenetic analysis, a new strain (P. sapidus strain QDR) with 99 per cent similarity to P. sapidus was identified. Among the three MAP treatments, HCP recorded the highest TPC (2.85 mg GAE/g) and CR (60.36) after ten days, although only its CR was significantly different (p<0.05) from the control. Feedback from 30 sensory panellists indicated that both HCP and LCP were generally more effective in retaining the colour-odour of OM. The optimum TQI for HCP was obtained based on the observed parameters, which is useful for the large-scale packaging of OM.\nOriginality/value: Scientific evidence has revealed that packaging trend for commercially grown OM affects consumer's acceptance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Knowledge retention and aging workforce in the oil and gas industry: a multi perspective study	[ "Oil and gas", "Knowledge retention", "Old age retiring workers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Knowledge retention has become an important and inevitable activity in organizations these days due to changing demographics and the graying of employees, and there is an inexorable threat to the organizations for knowledge loss when employees leave (Stevens, 2010; Levy, 2011; Jennex, 2014). Knowledge-based organizations use knowledge to generate revenue, and, for this purpose, knowledge workers possess, create and apply knowledge (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995) to generate income. Losing these workers means organizations lose the much-needed knowledge which is basis for their competitive advantage. The knowledge of these employees is of key importance, as it may lead to a decay of organizational memory when these employees leave, which in turn may reduce the firm's ability to identify and use past knowledge for competitive advantage (De Massis et al., 2016). The success of the organization depends on the combined capabilities of key individuals to achieve the organizational goals (Petruzzelli and Savino, 2014). Moreover, these employees possess organizational knowledge, knowledge of governance and knowledge of networks and relationships developed over a period within the organization, and this knowledge is the key to enhance and then sustain firm's performance (De Massis et al., 2016). Nerkar (2003) is also of the view that knowledge creation is an evolutionary process spread over time, and combining current knowledge with past knowledge evolved over time enhances the impact of new knowledge. Experienced employees who have been working in organizations for a long time can combine past knowledge and current knowledge to effectively manage the organizational goals. However, if they leave the organization, they will take away with them the knowledge accumulated over time. Researchers have identified retiring workers as key contributors to knowledge loss (Calo, 2008; Stevens, 2010; Ball and Gotsill, 2011), suggesting the application of comprehensive knowledge retention strategies to avoid this knowledge loss (Leibowitz, 2009). They are of the view that there has not been much work done regarding retention of employees' knowledge (Levy, 2011; Durst et al., 2015) and organizations, even when knowing that they are going to lose valuable knowledge due to retirement of employees, do not have formal procedures to handle this pending knowledge loss (Leibowitz, 2009). This study focuses on this aspect of knowledge retention from retiring workers, normally termed baby boomers. Studies (Ball and Gotsill, 2011; Joe et al., 2013; Levy, 2011) have shown that many organizations are going to lose a large number employees due to retirement in the next 5-10 years, thus creating a tremendous knowledge loss.\n2. Literature review: In the world at present, the workforce can be categorized into three groups namely X generation, Y Generation and Baby Boomers. According to Yu and Miller (2005), employees born between 1945 and 1964 are termed baby boomers, and they approach retirement in the next 5-10 years. In this article, they will be referred as old age retiring workers to make the understanding clearer. As stated by Johnson (2011), in a survey of Fortune 1,000 companies performed by Ernst & Young, 62 per cent of the employees stated that there will be labor shortage in upcoming years, revealing that proper strategies need to be devised to handle this crisis. Low fertility rates are causing a major shift in the demographics of workforce and competition for skilled labor force will be fierce in the upcoming years (Beechler and Woodward, 2009).\n3. Research context and motivation: Certain industries like manufacturing and oil and gas are suffering more with this issue of aging workforce and retirements as new generation isn't stepping up to join these industries because many of them don't want to be away from home and work in harsh environments in case of oil and gas (Ball and Gotsill, 2011) and others don't want to work in dangerous environments and dirty factories even though the remuneration is good (Inkpen and Moffett, 2011). The oil and gas sector will be significantly impacted because of the shortage of technical people in the next five to ten years, as the majority of employees will retire, thus triggering alarms for the success of future projects (Ball and Gotsill, 2011; McKenna et al., 2006). In 2011, Microsoft sponsored the third oil and gas industry collaboration survey, which showed that more than 40 per cent of people are older than 50, and 66 per cent are older than 40 (Figure 1). Moreover, due to fluctuating oil prices, there have also been issues of job stability in this sector (Ball and Gotsill, 2011). These factors intrigued the researchers to conduct research in this area. This article makes significant research contribution by considering factors not studied before as shown below:\n4. Methodology: To obtain a deeper understanding of the subject under study, qualitative methods such as interviews are considered more appropriate as compared to quantitative methods such as questionnaires. Therefore, interviews are the most appropriate method when detailed insights are required from individual participants (Bruce and Berg, 2001). This method also provides opportunity for interactive dialogue with the respondents to tap into their front-line experience. For the current research, data have been collected through semi-structured interviews by asking open ended and probing questions to gain a deeper insight of the research topic (Gill et al., 2008). Due to nature of the research questions, scattered knowledge and to cover a global perspective of the oil and gas sector, 20 interviews were conducted to gain practical insights into knowledge retention. The interviewees were selected based on their vast front-line experience and the available contact points of the research team. The participants represented \"elite informants\" working in key positions and involved in supervising KM activities. Elite interviewing is a common qualitative method with the benefits of yielding insightful information (Marshall and Rossman, 2011). The participants were contacted through emails, LinkedIn profiles and phone calls. Details on companies involved and experience, location and positions of the employees are provided in Tables II and III. The key informants selected were mostly senior persons working in oil and gas sector over a long period. Thirteen participants had more than 10 years of experience in respective organizations with only seven participants having less than 10 years' experience. Moreover, most of them were directly involved in KM initiatives within their organizations. All the participants had key managerial positions with teams working under them. Thus, these participants satisfied the criteria for relevance, experience and knowledge related to the central research question. The duration of each interview was around 50 min. Through the consent of participants, interviews were recorded and transcribed afterwards. Notes were also taken during the interviews and later matched with the transcribed data for the analysis purposes. The interviews were conducted in English apart from two interviews which were conducted in the local language of the researcher. These interviews were transcribed in English, and these transcribed data were then confirmed back from the interviewees. The study adopts grounded theory building approach (Charmaz, 2006) through the analysis of qualitative data. Grounded theory is a well-known qualitative technique; it is a systematic way of inquiry, which focuses on development of codes into categories and then determines the interaction and relationship among different categories to produce a cohesive explanation of the whole phenomena under study. This technique is suitable when there is scarce knowledge available on some topic, and the main aim is to produce some fresh knowledge on that topic through the lens of participants involved in the study; thus, the term grounded theory arises as the outcomes are grounded in data by following a systematic procedure (Strauss and Corbin, 1998).\n5. Results: 5.1 Current situation of aging workforce and impact of oil prices\n6. Discussion and analysis: The results provide evidence that knowledge loss due to retirement is more acute with companies in the developed countries as compared to companies in developing countries (Beechler and Woodward, 2009). Because of the financial crisis, organizations are focusing on short-term benefits and knowledge loss has probably accelerated (Ball and Gotsill, 2011) in these past 2 years. In these situations, firing the employees all of a sudden minimizes the chances of retaining the knowledge, and in such circumstances, employees are also not willing to share knowledge (Daghfous et al., 2013). It is also evident that employee knowledge is of the least importance for companies when it comes to reducing the costs and budgets of the organizations. Thus, it makes the things work temporarily but has devastating effects in the long run (Calo, 2008). The oil and gas industry is considered the pioneer in KM; yet, factors like costs and budgets make companies do their business in a traditional way and knowledge management initiatives are put aside. In developing countries, there are enough young people to replace the old age workers, and in most cases, there are young people working in all the positions, thus eliminating the knowledge retention and aging workforce issue. However, government-owned organizations tend to be influenced by politics and budget constraints due to which not enough recruitment is done, thereby creating an aging gap in the workforce. This can cause problems when junior people take over responsibility after a senior employee retires. Because of a lack of experience and expertise, they are not able to perform the tasks well enough, causing delays in the operations. Based on this, it is proposed that:\n7. Conclusion: Success due to innovation and competitive advantage depends on the skilled human capital of an organization. This study is one of the few empirical studies conducted on the topic of knowledge retention from old age employees, and probably one of the first ones in the oil and gas sector covering companies across different geographical locations, taking into account all the three sectors, namely, upstream, downstream and midstream. Oil and gas is a unique industry in terms of operations and geographical boundaries. This study provides managers and researchers an in-depth insight of the various challenges related to knowledge retention of old age retiring workers and how companies are handling these.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how companies are handling the issue of knowledge retention from old age retiring workers in the oil and gas sector. This is achieved by providing a detailed insight on the challenges and strategies related to knowledge retention through study of companies from different geographical locations across the globe.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study adopts a qualitative research methodology and 20 semi-structured interviews, with open-ended and probing questions, were conducted to gain an in-depth insight into the knowledge retention phenomena.\nFindings: Knowledge retention activities tend to be inconsistent in majority of the oil and gas companies, with not much work being done regarding knowledge loss from old employees, partly because of the fall in oil prices and layoffs. Oil prices turn out to be a decisive factor in oil and gas industry regarding workforce and knowledge retention activities. The political situation and geographical locations of the companies also affect the knowledge retention activities. Moreover, the aging workforce and retirement issue is more acute in the upstream sector.\nResearch limitations/implications: The focus of the study was on the oil and gas sector, and thus the research results may lack generalizability.\nOriginality/value: This paper fulfills an identified need for investigating the issues and challenges of knowledge retention regarding old age retiring employees by taking into account a global perspective and providing a comparison among different companies in different geographical locations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Be structured in managing talent: Don't leave sustainable competitive advantage to chance	[ "Leadership development", "Competitive advantage" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: So much of organizational life is structured: even \"flat\" organizations have hierarchies; once created, the management of knowledge is codified; customer loyalty is dependent upon collated and archived data. Yet, when the future of most businesses is reliant on the acquisition, development and retention of talented people, this essential element of organizational success can so often be haphazard at best. The question that strategists from human resources and more broadly need to consider is \"why is the management of talent so often left to chance?\"\nSeriously addressing competencies: Organizations need to start by seriously addressing the identification and development of competencies.Competency frameworks have been with us for some time now, and rather like old friends, are often overlooked. It is not just that society is hooked on the new, there are genuine reasons for a focus on competencies to appear somewhat dated. Old style approaches may have seemed fine in the good old, static days before change became a way of life - should such a time ever have existed. However, is there any point creating such rigidity when the competitive horizon for the majority of businesses contains so much uncertainty, so much dynamism, so much inherent need to be flexible and adapt? A better question might be \"can we afford not to?\"Since being identified by McClelland back in 1973, and encompassed within their \"core competence\" work by Hamel and Prahalad much later, competencies have been embraced, and no more so than in human resources. Definitions vary widely, one definition being \"anything employees have that contribute to organizational success.\" Well if employees have them, and the organization is progressing as a result, they are not something that can be ignored.Employee competencies are what connect the strategic vision of the organization to organizational competitiveness and effectiveness, with the context within which the organization is surviving and hopefully thriving. Desirable employee competencies need to be identified and then consistently implemented. Breaking things down from the conceptual to the operational is the key, with measurable, competency-based criteria at the heart of many successful organizations.Different frameworks have emerged to identify and develop employee competencies. The job-based approach is the most common one, in which competency criteria are developed following an analysis of job requirements. The future-based approach is more unusual, but popular in companies such as Hughes Aircraft and Siemens, as it concentrates on the development of necessary competencies to meet future strategic objectives.What has come into question is the extent to which each of these approaches is viable in a world of competitive chaos. The job-based approach appears static. The future-based approach is only attractive if change can be planned. New models have been needed and indeed have been found. The person-based approach, beloved of Microsoft, consists of identifying the individual attributes that will help the organization the most. The value-based, adopted by Baxter International, involves developing the competencies that support the core values of the organization.How the competency question is addressed is changing, but what is not in doubt is that competency approaches work. Time and effort needs to be extended on them, but the rewards for finding the right framework will follow.\nCreating talent development \"architecture\": Competencies frameworks provide the essential basic building blocks. Smart organizations think \"architecture\". Even on a global basis, talent is a scarce resource, the fight is on to get the best people, help them realize their potential, and keep them when the competitors come a-calling.The need has never been greater for organizations to develop architecture within which to develop talented people. The four basic steps are:1. having a clear picture of your organization's talent needs over the next several years;2. having the established learning and development pathways that turn raw potential into polished performers;3. having the HR systems and processes that enable potential to be realized as performance; and4. having programs that enable talented people to develop, and therefore enable talented managers to create the talent-rich organization.In management a new 4Ps has emerged - picture, pathways, programs and processes.As organizations struggle to find new ways to compete, there really is little substitute for hard work, but it needs to be inspired hard work. A talent development system will take effort to create and ongoing effort to maintain. It needs to integrate with career management, training and development, succession planning, performance management, compensation and benefits, strategic HR planning and recruitment and selection. Without attention to all of these elements it will not succeed.There are a number of pitfalls to watch out for:* without the personal involvement of the CEO, backed up by a strong HR department, it is unlikely to be successful;* talent needs to be developed for future needs, not past needs;* beware of budget cuts in training and development;* beware of hiring freezes when times are tight;* be brave in identifying and notifying those who are not of high potential and removing them from the program; and* ensure that you target talent at the right level in the organization.Talented people like to work in organizations surrounded by other talented people and in an environment where ability is nurtured. The hard work will have paid off, once your organization is a natural magnet for high potential people.\nTalent management at Johns Manville Corporation: One organization that needed to move fast in this area was Johns Manville Corporation (JM), the US building materials company. Quite simply, they would not have been able to achieve their corporate strategy without action. A high performance culture is unlikely to create itself. For JM, the approach was systematic.The first step was to redesign the annual business planning process to ensure ownership of issues by employees and broad involvement in the planning process. New goals set would stretch the organization. For the people involved, they too would be stretched, accelerating their development as leaders.Calibration tools were then incorporated into the talent management process. Managers were given standardized tools to assess talent. This took the need to generate results, identify leadership behavior, spot potential for advancement, and assess how experiential learning had been harnessed by individuals, and compare this against standards.The performance management process allowed for the following assessments:* accomplishments (the individual's results);* behavior relative to the company's \"Criteria for Superior Leadership\";* strengths and development needs for the current and future roles; and* potential for advancement, billed \"Next Moves\".The Annual Organizational and People Resource Review is the process in place to match strategies with talent and identify what new talent management initiatives are needed. The Talent Review Board is then in place with a focus on developing internal talent. Its three components are:1. Talent pipelines - or ensuring talent is coming through;2. Talent pools - or ensuring that people are ready to move up the pipeline; and3. Talent review board meeting - which assigns development experiences to people.Johns Manville's approach to managing talent is as holistic as it is systematic - and it works.\nIt's the structure, stupid!: Good things do happen by chance, but how much of a gambler with your organization's future are you prepared to be?The truth is that structured hard work is behind many organizational success stories. In a post-modern world, it does not grab the headlines. But how many headline grabbers prevail in the long run?Organizations that are willing to do what it takes to fully understand the competencies that drive their business, and have processes to develop the talent that delivers on them, are likely to have the edge in the end.And success breeds success. If you don't believe this, try failure.\nComment: This multiple review article is based upon the following papers.\"Competencies: alternative frameworks for competitive advantage\" by Robert L. Cardy and T. T. Selvarajan in Business Horizons provides a structured and thoughtful discussion of the competency debates. It is authoritative and convincing.\"Talent development: the architecture of a talent pipeline that works\" by Jeffrey Gandz in Ivey Business Journal is a useful, pragmatic paper, even if it may be something of a plug for a talent management program. There are ideas here that can be absorbed and lifted during the coffee break.\"Tools and dialogue set the stage for talent management at Johns Manville\" by Lily Ruppe in Journal of Organizational Excellence is a highly detailed paper, but will be of practical interest to those thinking of doing something similar.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: - So much of organizational life is structured: even \"flat\" organizations have hierarchies; once created, the management of knowledge is codified; customer loyalty is dependent upon collated and archived data. Yet, when the future of most businesses is reliant on the acquisition, development and retention of talented people, this essential element of organizational success can so often be haphazard at best. The question that strategists from human resources and more broadly need to consider is \"why is the management of talent so often left to chance?\" When it comes to getting the best from the best people, a little structure can go a long way.\nPractical implications: - Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.\nOriginality/value: - The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The governance of vulnerability: regulation, support and social divisions in action	[ "Vulnerability", "Welfare", "Agency", "Youth", "Social control" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Somewhat by stealth, the concept of vulnerability has crept into a raft of contemporary welfare and criminal justice policies and practices. The notion now occupies a relatively uncharted position in long-running debates about who requires or \"deserves\" support. Where an individual or group is deemed \"vulnerable\" this carries powerful normative undertones about constrained human agency, potential or actual injustice and a legitimation of resources being deployed. A vulnerability zeitgeist or \"spirit of the time\" has been traced in contemporary welfare and disciplinary arrangements (Brown, 2014, 2015), which now informs a range of interventions and approaches to social problems, both in the UK and internationally. As prominent examples, \"vulnerable\" people are legally entitled to \"priority need\" in English social housing allocations (Carr and Hunter, 2008), vulnerable victims of crime are seen as requiring special responses in the UK criminal justice system (see Hall, 2009; Roulstone et al., 2011), \"vulnerable adults\" have designated \"protections\" under British law (Dunn et al., 2008; Clough, 2015) and vulnerable migrants and refugees are increasingly prioritised within international immigration processes (Peroni and Timmer, 2013).\nElucidating the vulnerable citizen: There is a rich literature on how socially precarious or \"marginalised\" citizens are both regulated and assisted through welfare and disciplinary systems. It is well established that \"supportive\" provision and its delivery has long been linked with preoccupations and concerns with \"problem\" behaviour (Levitas, 1998; Young, 1999), from poorhouses and workhouses (Squires, 1990; Fletcher, 2015), to social work interventions (Wootton et al., 1959; Donzelot, 1979), homelessness initiatives (see Kinsella, 2011, this journal), welfare provision (Dwyer, 1998; Dwyer and Wright, 2014) and programmes for \"troubled\" families (Burney, 2005; Rodger, 2008; Welshman, 2013). Similarly, more explicitly controlling interventions delivered via the modern criminal justice system have elements of support and protection woven into them, especially perhaps in the case of youth justice (Muncie, 2006; Phoenix, 2008, 2009). Contemporary governance mechanisms which elevate notions of \"empowerment\" have also been as connected with similar processes (Clark, 2005; Adamson, 2010 this journal; Wright, 2016), with care and social control now increasingly intricately enmeshed in systems of governance (see Garland, 2001; Rodger, 2008; Wacquant, 2009). Against this backdrop, that certain citizens are \"vulnerable\" and require special support and protections has become a commonplace idea in politics, policies, practices and discourses.\nThe vulnerability study: Findings in the forthcoming part of the paper are drawn from fieldwork undertaken during 2010-2011 for doctoral research which investigated the concept of vulnerability and its use in the care and control of young people. The qualitative empirical element of the research involved a case study in a large UK city (population around 750,000) which explored how vulnerability was operationalised in services for supposedly \"vulnerable\" young people. In all, 25 young people aged 12-18 were interviewed, with interviewees included on the basis that they were considered \"vulnerable\" by their workers and that they had extended histories of receiving relatively intensive welfare and/or disciplinary interventions. Around half were male and half female, and a range of different ethnic groups were included in the sample, with seventeen participants being of white UK ethnic origin. Almost all of the young people lived in inner city social housing estates, with the exception of three young people who lived in private rented accommodation. Transgressive young people were deliberately incorporated into the sample; just over half of the young people had offending histories, criminal behaviours, close association with anti-social behaviour (ASB) and/or had been excluded from school.\nFindings: regulation, support and social divisions in action: This section provides analysis of practitioners' understandings of vulnerability and then moves on to consider insights from young people themselves. Synergies and tensions across the two groups are considered, with the empirical case study data highlighting the governance of vulnerability as a dynamic process, informed by policy developments and wider beliefs about social problems, and interpreted and modified by interactions between practitioners and young people.\nConclusion: governing vulnerability as a process: Like all governance philosophies, designing and delivering provision based on \"vulnerability\" has normative implications, which then play out on a day to day basis through the delivery of interventions (see Bevir, 2013, p. 4). Stories about social harm told through vulnerability narratives take multiple forms, and discernible patterns in these indicate that they are reconfiguring and reworking understandings of social injustice and disadvantage in new ways. Persuasions and prescriptions which operate in policy frameworks and narratives centred on vulnerability illuminate how power is not just regulatory but \"productive\" (cf. Foucault, 1980), with forms of subjectivity and agency in flux and changeable (Bevir, 2013). The governance of vulnerability is a developing strand in this wider process, arguably furthering traditional stereotypes about \"problem groups\" and reinforcing unequal subjectivities in superficially more palatable ways.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Diverse narratives and practices concerned with \"vulnerability\" increasingly inform how a range of social issues are understood and addressed, yet the subtle creep of the notion into various governance arenas has tended to slip by unnoticed. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of vulnerability in responding to longstanding and on-going dilemmas about social precariousness and harm.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Drawing on in-depth qualitative research into how vulnerability was operationalised in services for \"vulnerable\" young people in an English city, prominent narratives of vulnerability are traced, which operate in relation to a variety of often-dissonant service user responses.\nFindings: The paper shows the governance of vulnerability as a dynamic process, informed by policy developments and wider beliefs about the behaviours of \"problem\" populations, interpreted and modified by interactions between practitioners and young people, and in turn shaping lived experiences of vulnerability. Patterns in this process illuminate how vulnerability narratives re-shape long-running tensions at the heart of social welfare interventions between a drive to provide services that might mitigate social precariousness and an impetus towards regulating behaviour.\nOriginality/value: The paper argues that although gesturing to inclusivity, the governance of vulnerability elaborates power dynamics and social divisions in new ways. Resulting outcomes are evidently varied and fluid, holding the promise of further social change.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Ecologies of interests in social information systems for social benefit	[ "Network analysis", "Knowledge integration", "Collaboration", "Case study", "Community", "Social computing" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The recent explosion of social media applications has led to wide-ranging discussions of how these technologies can be integrated into more traditional information systems. Concurrently, there has been a rise in the use of the term \"social information systems\" to describe systems that facilitate collaboration through the use of social technologies (Schlagwein et al., 2011). This perspective of social information systems focuses on the capabilities of various technologies in enhancing social activity and collaboration among a community of actors - typically on a digital platform. An alternative perspective of social information systems, however, can be adopted. This focuses attention on the pursuit of social endeavours and illuminates a class of social information systems in which various technologies are applied to address concerns in wider society.\n2. Social information systems: All information systems are by definition, social systems in that they involve people communicating and taking action based on meaningful information. Therefore when referring to social information systems it is important to be clear about the meaning ascribed to the word social. \"Social\" can take several forms as an adjective but two distinct definitions are particularly relevant to defining social information systems.\n3. Social information systems, complex problems and policy networks: The objective of this paper is to explicate the features of, and issues surrounding, social information systems which are designed to address social concerns. Social problems such as unemployment, social housing, access to healthcare, the digital divide, etc., are usually wholly or partially the in the domain of public policy and the delivery of social programmes.\n4. Methodology and analysis: In order to investigate social information systems for addressing societal concerns, this paper draws on data collected in the course of a study into the role of ICTs in policy networks in an Australian context. The overall study has been ongoing since 2006 and for the purposes of this paper, the data examined focuses on an organisation which was established in order to facilitate internet-based information resources and promote collaboration and information exchange in different aspects of indigenous health. Given the objective of this paper is to explore and characterise this particular class of social information system, the case is considered to be revelatory (Yin, 2009) in that there are relatively few well-established social information systems that are available for observation and analysis. Following a largely interpretivist approach (Walsham, 1995, 2006), the data used to develop the following narrative is drawn from a variety of primary and secondary sources and has been collected over several years as part of an ongoing study. The description and discussion of the case study is presented in three sections.\n5. Case study: the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet: The Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet is an internet-based resource which represents the front-end of a research centre located in a university in Western Australia. The mission of HealthInfoNet is \"to contribute to improving the health of Australia's Indigenous people and assist in 'closing the gap' (between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians) by facilitating the sharing and exchange of relevant, high quality knowledge\" (HealthInfoNet, 2013). The Australian Indigenous Healthinfonet acts as a \"one-stop\" portal to research and information on a range of Australian Indigenous health issues. The roots of Healthinfonet can be traced back to 1981 when the founding director (a medical doctor with a deep interest in indigenous health issues), was appointed to a research fellowship with a statutory body which promoted understanding and knowledge of Australian Indigenous cultures. In this role, Dr Thompson recognised that the knowledge base in relation to indigenous health was fragmented, inaccessible and inappropriate for the individual communities who needed the knowledge to take action at a local level (Thompson, 2005). In 1997 Dr Thompson developed HealthInfoNet based around the key tasks of; translation research (involving primary data collection and analysis, and the synthesis of a wide variety of data and other information obtained from academic, professional, government and other sources); and the dissemination and exchange of information. With the development of the internet capabilities in the 1990s, the original information \"clearinghouse\" functions of the centre, evolved towards the current platform. In addition to providing access to research reports and data on a wide range of health issues from heart disease and diabetes through to road safety, HealthInfoNet supports online discussions through various \"yarning place\" forums and chat rooms, and integrates Twitter and Facebook accounts.\n6. Discussion: HealthInfoNet can be considered a social information system both in terms of its use of social and collaborative technologies, and the underlying principles and objectives of ameliorating the complex social problems associated with the health of Indigenous Australians. IRS is only one of over 60 indigenous health topics supported by HealthInfoNet. While some other topics directly related to indigenous health are widely used in their respective networks, HealthInfoNet did not become fully integrated into the underlying sub-networks of IRS.\n7. Conclusion: This paper has investigated a class of social information systems which pursue objectives associated with societal benefit. It is proposed that such systems often deal with complex social problems and need to be integrated within the wider public policy networks associated with that problem. Through the description of the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet case and analysis of the IRS policy network, it was illustrated that policy networks are comprised of many actors engaged in different forms of activity. Interactions among actors in the policy domain are seen to cluster around sub-networks of activity which have different priorities and interests and pursue different objectives. The context into which the social information system is integrated is therefore not homogeneous and the policy network can be viewed as an ecology of interests.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore a class of social information systems which are purposefully designed to address wider social objectives. Specifically, the paper investigates the embedding of ICTs into the wider networks of social policy action and explores issues associated with the integration of social information systems into complex problem domains.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A case study of a social information system and its integration into networks of actors with an interest in the underlying social concern is presented. The system under analysis is first described in terms of the emerging characteristics used to define this class of social information system. The wider policy network in which the social information system is implemented is then described and the integration of the social information system into the wider network is discussed.\nFindings: The case study illustrates that for complex social problems, there can be multiple interests embedded in an ecology of sub-networks. Each sub-network can make use of the social information system in different ways which creates difficulties in the social information system gaining sufficient legitimacy to be institutionalised into the wider policy network.\nOriginality/value: The paper extends understanding of social information systems by proposing that a class of social information systems are developed to pursue human benefit. Recognising the context in which these systems are integrated as an ecology of interests, shifts the focus of social information systems design from examining the requirements of a relatively homogenous community of actors to understanding how social information systems can be developed to enable information exchange within and across heterogeneous communities.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Probing the progress of the external dimension of the Bologna process	[ "Cooperation", "Harmonization", "Reform", "Internationalization", "Convergence", "Bologna" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Globalization of knowledge brought about a fundamental reconsideration of Europe's traditional systems of higher education through the signing of the 1999 European Bologna Process higher education reform. The attractiveness of this reform, 20 years after its launching, is seen in the significant growth in its membership - from 29 countries in 1999 to about 48 countries today, including Russia (EHEA, 2018). Trade in higher education services has become so strong that even countries not involved in reform need to be aware of what is happening because of the inevitability of collaboration among educational systems and institutions in the global education marketplace. According to Altbach (2001), higher education is increasingly seen as a commercial product to be bought and sold like any other commodity. Countries involved in such trade prefer commodities that are easily comparable; hence, the current global drive toward the Bologna model of higher education reform and harmonization in Europe, Africa, Central Asia and Asia-Pacific and Latin America.\nConclusion: The perspective that the ulterior motive of the Bologna Process external dimension was to promote European hegemony remains debatable. Notwithstanding, the reform has strengthened socioeconomic partnerships between European countries and between Europe, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Asia-Pacific. These partnerships are evidenced by the adoption of the Bologna models of education reform in these regions as well as in the European Union's funding of exchange programs between European universities and universities outside Europe. The spread of the reform has not only been along ex-colonial lines, as suggested by some research (MacGregor, 2008). Its influence has been worldwide - in regions where Europe's socio-political influence is not impactful; the Bologna Process has served as a model for regional integration (Clark, 2014). The internationalization of higher education has gained new momentum since 1999, thanks to the undeniable influence of the Bologna Process. The wide-ranging impact of the BP reform discussed in this paper seems to indicate that there is no end in sight yet regarding its influence. Scott (2009) argues that the global relevance of the Bologna Process will continue to grow with time. Clark (2014) analyzes the influence of the Bologna Process while underscoring its role as the model of regional integration in Africa, Asia and Latin America.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to assess the \"external dimension\" goals of the Pan European Bologna reform, almost 19 years after its launch. The influences of the reform on higher education in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia-Pacific are investigated. The paper analyses the appeal of the 1999 Bologna Process (BP), which, arguably, symbolizes an effort to strengthen the hegemony of Western European education and influence, has for the first time gone beyond ex-colonial lines, including areas where Europe's socio-political influence is not impactful.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper opted for an analytical review of the literature on the European higher education internationalization goals as stated in external dimension objectives of the Bologna Process reform. The literature search was complicated by the limited number of peer review articles focusing on the spread of the Bologna model beyond Europe. As a result, the inclusion criteria were flexible, and consideration was given to educational website reports/articles, dissertations, books, pamphlets, and internal EU/European Commission reports.\nFindings: The findings of this review indicate that, in spite of significant challenges, the internationalization objectives of Bologna Process are gradually being met in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Most notable is that some countries that historically did not have a European colonial presence are embracing aspects of the Bologna reform. Almost 19 years after, the BP reform now has a significant external influence not only in the former Portuguese, Spanish, British and French colonies but also beyond. In spite of the overwhelming embrace of the BP model in Europe and outside of Europe, its implementation, everywhere, has faced some administrative, political, and economic challenges.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study examined the spread of the Bologna Process models beyond Europe and not its acceptability by stakeholders such as faculty and students outside Europe. Future research could examine the satisfaction rates among higher education stakeholders in regions and countries embracing the BP models.\nPractical implications: The findings of this review indicate that the steady spread of the BP means that more countries and tertiary education institutions can explore opportunities aimed at developing more educational and socioeconomic partnership, including the exchange of knowledge, technology and resources.\nOriginality/value: While emphasizing the benefits and opportunities for cooperation, the paper identifies that the increasing internationalization trends influenced by the BP are leading to regional higher education cooperation in Asia, Latin America and Africa. Other higher education models around the world can learn from the marketing strategies of the BP aided by EU.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A pilot whole-school intervention to improve school ethos and reduce substance use	[ "Schools", "Substance misuse", "Social inclusion", "Australia", "United States of America" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Rates of tobacco, alcohol and illicit drug use (henceforth termed substance use, SU) among UK young people are among the highest in Europe (Hibbel et al., 2004; NatCen and NfER, 2007). While many young people experiment with substances, frequent/early SU strongly predicts harmful use in adulthood (Fergusson et al., 2003; Riggs et al., 2007; Viner and Taylor, 2007). School-based preventive education is now common (Ofsted, 2005) but reviews suggest effects are small and not sustained (Faggiano et al., 2005; Foxcroft et al., 2005; Thomas and Perera, 2006). Other approaches are possible. A sense of inclusion in and positive attitude to school, and engagement with education are protective factors against early use (Fletcher et al., 2008). The health-promoting schools movement has called for schools to become more inclusive, supportive environments, marking a shift from schools as sites for health education to viewing schools as settings that can influence health (Young and Williams, 1989; McCall et al., 2005; Bonell et al., 2007).Early studies of interventions to modify school settings in order to reduce SU were inconclusive because of variation in the completeness of implementation and weak evaluation design (Gottfredson, 1986; Gottfredson et al., 1996; Battistich et al., 1996). More recent studies report significant effects on SU. The US \"Aban Aya\" project aimed to increase social inclusion by \"rebuilding the village\" in schools largely serving African-American communities, informed by theory that increasing social ties and cultural pride in schools could reduce rates of SU and other problem behaviours. Its whole-school component involved a standardized process, convening an action group in each school comprising students, staff and others to review policies and undertake actions to promote an inclusive school climate. The trial of this intervention comprised three arms: a whole-school plus social-skills curriculum; a curriculum-only arm, and no intervention. A primary analysis that compared the intervention arms with no intervention, reported a substantial (34 per cent) reduction in boys' SU (p<0.05). A secondary analysis reported that the arm combining the whole-school/curriculum elements was more effective than the curriculum-only arm in reducing a composite behavioural risk measure, suggesting the whole-school component was an \"active ingredient\" (Flay et al., 2004).Informed by attachment theory, the Australian \"Gatehouse Project\" aimed to impact on SU and other health outcomes by promoting students' security, positive self-regard and communication with staff and other students. It was delivered in a range of school types and neighbourhoods in the state of Victoria. Again, this intervention convened an action-team in each school to review policies and plan actions, facilitated by an external \"critical friend\" and informed by data from a student survey. It also delivered a social/emotional-skills curriculum. The Gatehouse project reported consistent reductions in various measures of SU (Bond et al., 2004a, b; Patton et al., 2006). These studies demonstrate the potential interventions promoting a positive school ethos have for preventing SU.Process evaluation of the Gatehouse project found the various components (needs-survey, action-team, critical friend) functioned synergistically, and although specific actions varied between schools, these were well completed. Implementation was facilitated by supportive management and broad participation (Bond et al., 2001; Glover and Butler, 2004). However, this evaluation did not attempt to assess systematically how completeness of implementation might have been influenced by schools' baseline social climate or \"ethos\", i.e. the contextual characteristics specific to the school that distinguish it from other schools (Rutter et al., 1979; Gittelsohn et al., 2003).While many young people experiment with SU with little or no associated harm and for reasons that have nothing to do with their schooling, research in English schools (Fletcher et al., 2009) suggests three pathways whereby schools may inadvertently engender early and frequent SU among some students: schools with lower levels of student and parent engagement have more disengaged students who use substances as alternative status markers; unsafe schools lead to students using substances to facilitate protective friendships with substance-using peers; and unsupportive schools lead to increased numbers of anxious and unsupported students who use substances to self-medicate. By enhancing, respectively, social ties and pride, and security, communication and self-regard, the Aban Aya and Gatehouse projects might have worked by moderating these pathways. However, it cannot be assumed that these interventions are feasible or acceptable let alone effective in England, given cultural and policy differences. Feasibility is a particular concern because English schools experience pressures relating to government-set exam attainment targets, local league tables of attainment and regular external inspections which may constrain schools' abilities to engage in complex health-promotion interventions. Fostering a positive school environment is required within the National Healthy Schools Programme (DH and DfES, 2005) but there is no evidence-based guidance on how to achieve this (Warwick et al., 2004).We piloted \"Healthy School Ethos\" (HSE) a whole-school intervention strongly informed by the theories of change/processes used in the Gatehouse and Aban Aya projects as well as the research on pathways to SU in English schools. As recommended for the evaluation of complex interventions we took a phased approach to evaluation (Craig et al., 2008). In this initial phase of evaluation, we aimed to examine:* whether the intervention was feasible and acceptable in English schools;* the influence of schools' baseline ethos on implementation; and* awareness of the intervention throughout the school.Because of our formative focus and small sample, we did not aim to examine students' outcomes but intend to examine these in a subsequent phase.We piloted our intervention in two schools in the 2007/2008 academic-year. Using a structured process modelled closely on the Gatehouse project, we aimed to enable each school to carry out locally determined actions to increase students' security, positive self-regard and communication with staff and students. We provided various standard inputs (an external facilitator and guidance manual, a student-needs survey, and training) and asked schools to undertake a standardized process involving convening action-teams to meet ten times through the year to determine priorities for action and ensure delivery. At the funder's request, we required schools to engage in some pre-set actions (develop agreed rules for appropriate conduct; review policies on bullying and feedback to students; provide one-to-one pastoral care; facilitate events and displays). While staff training aimed to improve classroom management and inclusivity, our intervention, unlike the Gatehouse and Aban Aya interventions, did not involve a specific social/emotional-skills curriculum because of our specific interest in evaluating a whole-school approach rather than individual curriculum components. We provided PS4,000 core funding per school plus PS5,000 responsive funding with bids being judged by the research team.\nMethods: We employed a case-study design nested within a \"mini\" matched-pair randomised trial. Our facilitator contacted 174 schools, of which 20 agreed to participate in principle. From these we identified two pairs of schools, each matched on: being rated as \"satisfactory\" or \"good\" by the national school inspectorate; and high or low proportions of black/minority ethnic students and students receiving free meals. From each pair, we randomly allocated one to the intervention arm and one to the comparison. Soon after random allocation, our \"satisfactory\" intervention school opted not to participate after doing unexpectedly poorly in the previous summer's examinations. Since this was a pilot process study rather than a phase-III trial, we re-allocated the dropout school to the comparison arm and the original comparison school to receive the intervention.We thus retained two \"satisfactory\" and two \"good\" schools, one of each in the intervention and comparison \"arms\", of varying social and ethnic composition, allowing comparison of schools with different baseline ethos and student profiles. Our \"satisfactory\" school, \"Woodbridge\" (a pseudonym), is a \"community school\" where the local authority oversees the school's management. The student intake is 210 per year, 21 per cent of who receive free school meals and 45 per cent are of black or other \"minority\" ethnicity. Most teaching is in mixed-ability groups. Our \"good\" school, \"Hillside\" (another pseudonym), is a \"foundation\" school managed by a board of governors. The school's intake is 190 per year with 7 per cent receiving free meals and 3.5 per cent being of Black/\"minority\" ethnicity. Students are streamed by ability in most academic subjects from year-7.We undertook pre- and post-intervention surveys of year-7 students, ages 11/12, to examine awareness of our intervention actions. Questionnaires were piloted with young people aged between 11 and 12 from other schools. Surveys were conducted in private in classrooms with support from two fieldworkers. Across all four schools, 798 students were registered of who 605 (75.8 per cent) consented to complete baselines and 721 (90.4 per cent) follow-ups. This increase in numbers reflected fieldwork modifications (better explanations, teachers present in classrooms but not able to read responses).We also undertook in-depth qualitative research to examine feasibility, acceptability, awareness and contextual influences. We undertook semi-structured interviews with each head-teacher, the external facilitator and our two trainers, as well as with a sub-set of action-team members in each school sampled purposively by role. In Woodbridge, we interviewed three senior staff, one junior staff and one student, and in Hillside, we interviewed one senior staff, two junior staff and two students. We interviewed two staff per school participating in our training, including one experienced and one inexperienced staff-member. Additionally, we interviewed three Woodbridge students and five Hillside students participating in other intervention actions, and 17 students in each school not participating in specific actions, purposively recruiting young men and women. Those in Woodbridge were drawn from a range of ethnic groups while those in Hillside were white, reflecting the composition of each school. All interviews, were conducted by researchers, on-site, in school hours, in private rooms. Interviews used guides with themes and probes and discussed the participants' experiences of the school, HSE's aims and objectives, and their experiences and views of the process of implementation. Informed by educational literature on school ethos (Rutter et al., 1979; McMurtry, 2005), we took this to refer to schools' distinctive culture, priorities and beliefs. In exploring this empirically, we used open-ended questions to explore how participants' perceived their schools and how this may have affected delivery of the intervention. Interviews with intervention providers and staff lasted 45-90 minutes while interviews with students averaged 30 minutes. All were audio-recorded and transcribed in full.We also undertook unstructured observations of various meetings to examine processes of participation and enable triangulation with interview accounts. At Woodbridge we observed the initial meeting between the intervention facilitator and the school's senior leadership team, four action-team meetings and a training session. At Hillside, we observed the initial meeting plus six action-team meetings. Observational data comprised notes written during observations, sometimes augmented later that day from memory.We analysed survey data using Stata, summarising the proportion of students reporting awareness of various policies and actions in intervention and comparison schools. We produced crude and adjusted odds ratios (OR) to assess these differences, overall and among sub-groups (gender, baseline attitude to school) where overall OR were significant (p<0.05). All analyses adjusted for clustering except where small samples in some sub-group analysis did not allow this, and multivariate analyses adjusted for ethnicity and socioeconomic status, plus gender and baseline attitude to school when not stratifying for these.We undertook a thematic content analysis of qualitative data using NVivo. One researcher coded interview transcripts and observation notes primarily aiming to use an inductive framework based on our research questions, while another analysed transcripts primarily using codes deductively grounded in the data. Both drafted memos to explain and link codes. The two researchers then compared their analyses, refined codes and generated additional memos in discussion, each then coding data a second time, both now inductively and deductively. In the course of analysis, data, codes and memos were compared to identify cases of disagreement or where emerging interpretations did not match particular data. Where this was the case, codes were refined and/or differences reported. Key themes emerging from the analysis included the flexibility of the intervention, its feasibility particularly of locally determined actions, the broad similarity in the range of actions undertaken in each school, the importance of fit with various aspects of baseline school ethos in ensuring feasibility, the importance of key individuals with capacity to deliver, and the value of student participation (italicised in our results).All research participants took part on the basis of their informed, written consent. In addition, students' parents were sent a letter explaining the study and enabling them to withdraw their child from this, as indicated. All data were stored anonymously and securely with codes linking data. Funding came from the UK Medical Research Council, and the study was approved by the research ethics committees of the London School of Hygiene, and Tropical Medicine, and the Institute of Education, University of London.\nResults: In this section we first report on schools' baseline context and motivation to participate. This provides important background for our subsequent reports of how each intervention component (or \"input\") was delivered in each school, how schools convened action teams and how these worked, and how actions were planned, delivered and received in each school.Schools' baseline context\nDiscussion: Summary of findings\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Evidence from the USA/Australia suggests whole-school interventions designed to increase social inclusion/engagement can reduce substance use. Completeness of implementation varies but contextual determinants have not been fully explored. Informed by previous interventions, the paper aims to examine these topics in an English pilot of the Healthy School Ethos intervention.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This intervention, like previous interventions, balanced standardization of inputs/process (external facilitator, manual, needs-survey and staff-training delivered over one year to enable schools to convene action-teams) with local flexibility regarding actions to improve social inclusion. Evaluation was via a pilot trial comprising: baseline/follow-up surveys with year-7 students in two intervention/comparison schools; semi-structured interviews with staff, students and facilitators; and observations.\nFindings: - The intervention was delivered as intended with components implemented as in the USA/Australian studies. The external facilitator enabled schools to convene an action-team involving staff/students. Inputs were feasible and acceptable and enabled similar actions in both schools. Locally determined actions (e.g. peer-mediators) were generally more feasible/acceptable than pre-set actions (e.g. modified pastoral care). Implementation was facilitated where it built on aspects of schools' baseline ethos (e.g. a focus on engaging all students, formalized student participation in decisions) and where senior staff led actions. Student awareness of the intervention was high.\nOriginality/value: - Key factors affecting feasibility were: flexibility to allow local innovation, but structure to ensure consistency; intervention aims resonating with at least some aspects of school baseline ethos; and involvement of staff with the capacity to deliver. The intervention should be refined and its health/educational outcomes evaluated.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Unfold studio: supporting critical literacies of text and code	[ "Critical literacy", "Computational thinking", "Literacy", "Design-based research", "Computer science education", "Computational literacy", "Multiliteracies", "K-12 computer science education" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Literacy is about much more than learning to read and write. The practices which emerge within networks of people and texts often have prosaic goals such as conveying messages, documenting agreements and establishing authority, but they can profoundly reshape participants' cognition, identity practices and social relationships. Ong (2013) argues that privileged access to reading and writing led to the emergence of new social roles high in the status hierarchy, and that widespread literacy in a society \"restructures consciousness\" (p. 77) by synchronizing frames of reference such as dates, facts and perspectives on the world. In addition to supporting practices which define social roles and relationships, Scribner and Cole (1978) found that reading and writing were associated with changes in individual cognition such as improved abstract communication, memory and language analysis skills (pp. 27-29). It is not necessary to argue for a direct causal link between reading and writing and cognitive change, rather they may be seen as tools which have the potential to spur a different developmental path for the individual and for the society (Vygotsky, 1980).\nBackground: Literacy spaces\nWorkshops I and II: developing Unfold Studio: This section reports on the initial development of Unfold Studio through Workshops I and II with middle-school students. An iterative design process focused on emergent and imagined interactive storytelling practices helped develop the Web application and the analytical framework described above. These results framed a hypothesis that interactive storytelling could be particularly effective in supporting critical change within and beyond the classroom literacy space. Workshop III designed to test this hypothesis is reported in the following section.\nWorkshop III: toward critical multiliteracies: The result of Workshops I and II was a medium capable of supporting textual-computational literacy practices through interactive storytelling, and a hypothesis that these practices could be particularly effective in supporting critical change within and beyond the classroom literacy space. Following Schwartz et al.'s (2008) suggestion that design-based research ought to move from innovative design toward efficiency, we designed Workshop III to test this hypothesis.\nDiscussion: The design-based research reported in this article yielded fruitful answers to the initial research questions. The first two studies explored the potential uses of interactive storytelling and developed the Web application's affordances to better support participants' aspirations for the medium. Workshop III validated critical discourse models as tools for critical engagement and documented the role of textual and computational affordances. In each workshop, the participants were involved in planning the workshop, framing the questions and interpreting the results. Their participation was essential to the validity of the findings and also to ensuring that the research process could play an equitable role in the literacy spaces which were the focus of study.\nConclusion: As our society completes its shift from print text to digital media, schools must prepare youth to participate in new forms of literacy. It is clear that computational media do not necessarily lead to the just, peaceful and inclusive social structures imagined by the pioneers of personal and social computing. Indeed, computational media have enabled powerful new forms of surveillance, control and amplification of oppressive ideologies. If we want to support youth in self-authorship, critical agency and participation in designing socio-technical futures, it is imperative that our schools cultivate critical computational literacies which center the lives and identities of the community. The design-based research reported in this article yielded a concrete step toward that goal. As Unfold Studio makes its way into classrooms and writing clubs, future research will continue the project of developing a medium well-suited to supporting critical literacy practices.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This research aims to explore how textual literacy and computational literacy can support each other and combine to create literacies with new critical possibilities. It describes the development of a Web application for interactive storytelling and analyzes how its use in a high-school classroom supported new rhetorical techniques and critical analysis of gender and race.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Three iterations of design-based research were used to develop a Web application for interactive storytelling, which combines writing with programming. A two-week study in a high-school sociology class was conducted to analyze how the Web application's textual and computational affordances support rhetorical strategies, which in turn support identity authorship and critical possibilities.\nFindings: The results include a Web application for interactive storytelling and an analytical framework for analyzing how affordances of digital media can support literacy practices with unique critical possibilities. The final study showed how interactive stories can function as critical discourse models, simulations of social realities which support analysis of phenomena such as social positioning and the use of power.\nOriginality/value: Previous work has insufficiently spanned the fields of learning sciences and literacies, respectively emphasizing the mechanisms and the content of literacy practices. In focusing a design-based approach on critical awareness of identity, power and privilege, this research develops tools and theory for supporting critical computational literacies. This research envisions a literacy-based approach to K-12 computer science which could contribute to liberatory education.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Benchmarking company performance from economic and environmental perspectives: Time series analysis for motor vehicle manufacturers	[ "Benchmarking", "Performance measure", "Time series forecasting", "Motor vehicle manufacturer" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Growing concerns on the environmentally sustainable development call for data analysis from both economic and environmental (E&E) perspectives. For instance, to access the E&E performance of different countries, data analysis has been performed via analytical applications by the System of Environmental Economic Accounting. Unlike such data analysis which is at the national level or even broader global levels, this research focuses on E&E performance analysis at the company level.\n2. Company performance measurement: Stakeholder theory suggests that companies should go beyond shareholders' interests to include other stakeholders (Keeble et al., 2003; Pullman and Wikoff, 2017). In terms of company performance from E&E perspectives, key stakeholders of MVMs consist of customers, business partners, owners, employees, investors, government, non-government organizations (NGOs) and non-profit organizations (NPOs). The main concerns of stakeholders regarding company performance are listed in Table I. Based on different stakeholders' concerns and literature review, company performance measures from E&E perspectives are identified.\n3. Development of the performance measurement approach: Take the five limitations into account, this research aims to develop an approach with five requirements, namely, it is with an integration of measures from E&E perspectives; it is designed for MVMs by taking into the specific background into consideration; it is based on data which are available from public documents; it is mathematically constructed with transparency in generating time series data; and it provides a forecast value for benchmarking the future performance of MVMs in the following fiscal years.\n4. Case study: 4.1 Sample cases\n5. Discussion: This research develops an approach to measuring the performance of MVMs from E&E perspectives. An index IMVM is constructed as the performance from E&E perspectives. Its historical data during FY2008 to FY2017 is generated by Equation (12). In addition, its future data in FY2018 are generated by ARIMA models of the best fit. Benchmarking has been recognized as one of the most widely known improvement techniques or tools in the world (Al Nuseirat et al., 2019). The data out of this research can contribute to benchmarking the historical performance (during FY2008-FY2017) of MVMs relative to their competitors as well as the forecast performance in FY2018.\n6. Conclusions: This research developed an approach to measuring the performance of MVMs from E&E perspectives. The integration of eight measures from E&E perspectives answered the first sub-question. An index IMVM and ARIMA models of the best fit are constructed to generate the time series data of this performance. This answered the second sub-question as well as the main research question.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop an approach to measuring the performance of motor vehicle manufacturers (MVMs) from economic and environmental (E&E) perspectives.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Eight measures are identified for benchmarking the performance from E&E perspectives. A new company performance index IMVM is constructed to quantitatively generate the historical data of MVMs' company performance. Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models are built to generate the forecast data of the IMVM. The minimum Akaike information criteria value is used to identify the model of the best fit. Forecast accuracy of the ARIMA models is tested by the mean absolute percentage error.\nFindings: The construction of the index IMVM is benchmarked against three frameworks by six benchmark metrics. The IMVM satisfies all of its applicable metrics while the three frameworks are incapable to satisfy their applicable metrics. Out of 15, 4 MVMs are excluded for benchmarking future performance due to their non-stationary time series data. Based on the forecast IMVM data, GM is the best performer among the 15 samples in the FY2018.\nOriginality/value: This research highlights the environmental perspective during vehicles' production. The development of this approach is based on publicly available data and transparent about the methods it used. The data out of the approach can benefit stakeholders with insights by benchmarking the historical performance of MVMs as well as their future performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The eight imperatives of effective adult learning: Designing, implementing and assessing experiences in the modern workplace	[ "Assessment", "Adult learning", "Learning design", "Training effectiveness" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: A senior HR leader once commented: \"There is no getting around the fact that lots of us in HR and talent management are not really good at facilitating adult learning with our people... We tend to throw information at people and hope that it sticks. In the end, we only create trouble and problems...We do not take adult learning seriously.\"\nKey imperatives for adult learning: Imperative No. 1: relevance, importance and utility are paramount\nIn closing: We have shared these learning imperatives with the purpose of getting you to think through the specific things that can help to increase and accelerate learning across the spectrum of adult-learning opportunities in the modern workplace.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Advances the view that those responsible for leading adult learning and performance improvement needs to take into account how adults truly learn.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Lays out eight imperatives - based on the authors' research and experience with adult learners - which must be taken into consideration when designing, implementing and assessing adult-learning experiences in the modern workplace.\nFindings: Lists these imperatives as: relevance, importance and utility are paramount; hubris and ego can roadblock learning; the credibility of the information source is important; never underestimate the importance of clear learning objectives; adults learn by engagement and doing; accountability for learning is critical; adult learners need coaching and feedback; and plan to stave off learning distractions.\nPractical implications: Aims to get trainers to think through the specific things that can help to increase and accelerate learning across the spectrum of adult-learning opportunities in the modern workplace.\nOriginality/value: Claims that, when leaders incorporate these imperatives in their learning initiatives, learning is more productive and the likelihood of a good return-on-investment rises. When these imperatives are ignored or not taken seriously, time, talent and treasure are wasted and leaders risk damaging their own credibility.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Trust building in supply chain partners relationship: an integrated conceptual model	[ "Supply chain management", "Trust", "Channel members", "Channel relationships", "Supply chain relationships", "Concept of trust", "Trust building models", "Perspectives of trust", "Perspectives of risk" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Trust is often referred as an essential element for successful supply chain partner's relationship. Spekman and Davis (2004) argued that trust is at the heart of managing risk and a prerequisite (Kasperson et al., 2003) in supply chain. Agarwal and Shankar (2003) argued that one of the prevalent issues in the introduction of e-commerce system along the supply chain is the ability to establish the dynamic and flexible structures for buyer-supplier relationships and online trust that, deterministically, drive both the parties toward strategic partnerships and cooperation. Sinha et al. (2004) mentioned lack of trust is one of the major factors that contribute to supply chain risks. With the emergence of RFID-based u-commerce, the issue of consumer trust actually has gained additional importance because consumers are usually more concerned about the trust issue whenever new technologies are introduced in commerce (Lee, 2007). Reciprocal relationship of trust in management is vital for enhancing not only performance but perhaps also minimizing the incidence of charlatan behavior if morale and employee commitment are high (Gbadamosi et al., 2007). Thus, researchers and practitioners are turning their attention to the concept of trust as a mechanism enabling managers to achieve organizational openness and ultimately, competitiveness while reducing social uncertainty and vulnerability (Mollering, 2004).Despite the availability of vast literature on trust, there is no clear understanding of concept of trust referring to supply chain partner's relationship, as Halliday (2003) mentioned, there is no construct of trust with a clear definition, or even one complex definition. According to a number of guest editorial review articles of special issues of management journals (e.g. Harrison, 2003; Mollering, 2004; Arnott, 2007), there is a need for studies on conceptual issues and importance of empirical testing of multiconstellations of trust with respect to vulnerability and risk, nature and extent of uncertainty and urge to build an integrated view of trust. In supply chain management still there is an unresolved issue, i.e. how to build trust in supply chain partner's relationship?To address the above issue this paper has developed an integrated conceptual model for building trust in supply chain partner's relationship referring to various trust building models in the literature. Though the model represents the trust building process at dyadic level the concept can be simply extended to any number of levels and perspectives. The next section provides an understanding of concept of trust, the section next to that discusses various trust building models, further section provides an integrated conceptual model for supply chain partner's relationship. Finally paper concludes with directions for future research on trust building process.\nConcept of trust: From a careful analysis of various definitions of trust in the literature we can note that trust relation implies the participation of at least two parties, a trustor and a trustee. The trustor is the party who places him or herself in a vulnerable situation under uncertainty. The trustee is the party in whom the trust is placed, who has the opportunity to take advantage of the trustor's vulnerability. Similarly there are two concepts of trust in the literature. The first stream of concept is based on the argument that trust is embedded within the trustor (feelings, emotions and cognition) not in the trustee. For example, in psychology research, the frequently used definition of trust comes from Rotter (1967). In his definition, trust was conceptualized as a belief, expectancy or feeling that is deeply rooted in personality and has its origins in an individual's early psychosocial development. In social view trust is a belief that other people will honor obligations in varying context in an open commitment to promote social welfare through a mere conformity with conventions (Soroka et al., 2003). In management research, specifically, Zand (1972) described trust as a gradual, self-reinforcing phenomenon. McAllister (1995) believed trust is cognitive judgments of self about another's competence or reliability and an emotional bond of an individual toward the other person (referred as \"affect-based trust\"). Trust can refer to \"the expectation that a person can have confidence in, or reliance on, some quality or attribute when undertaking a business transaction\" (Small and Dickie, 1999). According to this stream of arguments trust is all about an individual's (trustor's) disposition to trust the trustee with benevolence and free will.The second stream of concept is based on the argument that trust is embedded within trustee. Trustee need not mean the other person. Trustee could be competency, ability, brand, a piece of equipment, technology, calculations, institutional system, or security, etc., depending on the context of trust. For example, Rousseau et al. (1998) interpreted trust in terms of perceived probabilities and suggest that in knowledge-based economy, a trustee's competence, ability and expertise become increasingly important as an indicator of his or her ability to act as anticipated. According to the definition of trust given by Doney and Cannon (1997), trust requires an assessment of the other party's credibility and benevolence, one party must have information about other party's past behavior and promises. According to Coleman (1990) individuals calculate the gains, which might result from their decision to trust another individual before they actually make their decision to trust each other. Bachmann (2001) argues that inter-organizational trust is especially dependent on and mediated by the institutional framework in which the relationship is embedded. According to Lippert (2001) technology trust is an individual's willingness to be vulnerable to the technology based on expectations of predictability, reliability, utility and influenced by an individual's predisposition to trust technology. Delgado-Ballester et al. (2003) define brand trust as \"the confident expectations of the brand's reliability and intentions in situations entailing risk to the consumer.\" According to this stream of concept trust is all about how trustworthy the trustee is and also it is partially a product of trustor's capacity to assess the trustworthiness of trustee.From both the concepts it can be noted that the trust is trustor's choice, either a rational or non-rational. Deutsch (1958) describes trust as a non-rational choice of a person faced with an uncertain event in which the expected loss is greater than the expected gain or a rational choice based upon optimistic expectations or confidence about the outcome of an uncertain event, given personal vulnerability and the lack of control over the action of others (Zand, 1972). Further trust cannot exist in an environment of certainty (Bhattacharya et al., 1998), some level of uncertainty is required for trust to emerge (Dasgupta, 1988). Therefore trust is a relatively informed attitude or propensity to allow oneself and perhaps others to be vulnerable to harm in the interest of some perceived greater good (Michalos, 1990) and hence it is a risky engagement (Luhmann, 1979). Finally as argued by Laeequddin et al. (2009) trust is a threshold level of a supply chain member's (trustor's) risk-bearing capacity related to trustee. Beyond the trustor's risk-bearing capacity the subject of trust turns into risk management rather than a matter of trust.\nTrust building models: Over the years researchers from different fields have developed trust building models considering various factors from three key perspectives emphasizing that the trust building process is dependent on trustee's characteristics (e.g. ability, benevolence, integrity, credibility, etc), rational (e.g. calculations, cost/benefit, technology, etc.) and institutions (e.g. contracts, agreements, control mechanisms, security, etc.) assuming that the trustor will perceive or evaluate them positively. Some of the most referred trust building models in the management literature are: Lewicki and Bunker (1995), Mayer et al. (1995), Doney and Cannon (1997), Sheppard and Sherman (1998), Tan and Thoen (2001), Nooteboom (1996), Bhattacharya et al. (1998) and Das and Teng (1998). In order to develop an integrated model of trust building in supply chain partner's relationship we have selected only five appropriate models and discussed within the limitation of space.Trust development model - Lewicki and Bunker (1995)\nTrust building in supply chain partners relationship - an integrated conceptual model: There are two important points to be noted in trust building process. The first point is \"information is pivotal to trust building.\" When the supply chain members have access to complete mutual information about partner's reliability, calculations, consequences, controls and they are certain that there is no risk involved in the relationship, then trust has no relevance; complete knowledge obviates the need for trust but it can be there (i.e. no risk=trust). On the other hand when the partners lack mutual information and they are in the state of total ignorance of future outcome of the relationship, there can be no reason to trust and it need not be there, as risk prevails (i.e. risk=no trust). The second point is that some level of uncertainty is required for trust to emerge (Dasgupta, 1988) and propensity to trust lead to risk taking.The other arguments in the trust building process that can be noted are in order to trust one does not need to risk anything, however, one must take risk in order to engage in trusting action. Trust is the willingness to assume risk (behavioral trust is assuming of risk). If the level of trust surpasses the threshold level of perceived risk, then the trustor will engage in the RTR. If the level of perceived risk is greater than the level of trust, the trustor will not engage in the RTR (Mayer et al., 1995). Individuals only engage in transactions if their level of trust exceeds their personal threshold (Tan and Thoen, 2001). Conversely, trust in a relationship will limit at the threshold level of a supply chain member's risk-bearing capacity (Laeequddin et al., 2009). Under power-based and highly dependent context, the weaker party may find the stronger party as \"risky\" (not trustworthy). However, under compelling situations of dependency, the weaker party may find the stronger party as not trustworthy but at the same time if the probability of risk is bigger than not engaging in the relationship, then the weaker party will evaluate the stronger party as not trustworthy but \"risk worthy\" for short-term financial/non-financial gains, staying in the relationship as long as the relationship context changes, knowing that they are being controlled and monitored. Research within social exchange has shown that the risk of being exploited in social relations facilitates some degree of commitment and attachment building as a way of reducing uncertainty (Molm et al., 2000). We can consider this relationship as \"risk worthy\" relationship. As trust is willingness to take risk (Mayer et al., 1995), risk worthiness can be interpreted as trust worthiness. Therefore trust and risk are complementary to each other (i.e. risk=no trust; no risk=trust; risk worthy=trustworthy). Since trust cannot be easily measured, we can evaluate the quantifiable perspectives of risk in relationship and map them in terms of trust.Step 1 - characteristic trust building\nConclusions: The main contribution of this paper is that it drives the idea that trust and risk are interlinked and trust cannot be built as one-dimensional phenomenon. In contrast to past approaches that often present trust as a complicated and multifaceted concept and portrays trust building as an incredible challenge to establish and may be even harder to maintain it, our integrated conceptual model suggests that, simple evaluation of supply chain member's risks from characteristics, rationale and institutional control/security perspectives and bringing them to within the bearable limits can lead to trust building. As trust is context-dependent phenomenon we cannot study trust under all possible business contexts to design trust building models. Therefore supply chain partners should approach trust building process from risk perspective and evaluate the relationships as \"risky,\" \"risk worthy\" or \"not risky\" and translate them in terms of trust perspectives as \"no trust,\" \"trustworthy\" and \"trust\".Since trust is a trustor's choice, a supply chain member is likely to engage in act of trust only when his rational risks, related to other member's technology, economics and dynamic capabilities are within his bearable limits. Therefore any amount of characteristic trust building such as commitment, credibility, integrity, emotion, etc. is not going to make trustor vulnerable to technology or economics risk of relationship. Even if the rational risk levels are less than the risk-worthy personal characteristics, or control mechanisms, members may not take the risks bigger than their bearable capacities and indulge in act of trust. Also it is important to note that the presence of strong institutional systems by themselves does not build trust but the presence of institutional system reduces the risk and risk reduction builds trust. If there are no risks, institutions have no role to play. Hence supply chain managers should evaluate various risk perspectives to build trust rather than attempting to build trust without considering the risk dimensions or reference points of trust. Often trust is assumed as long-term reinforcement process but our model proves that trust building can be an instant process if the risk levels can be evaluated.\nDirection for further research: Trust researchers seems to have focussed overwhelmingly on the trustee's characteristics such as integrity, benevolence, credibility, honesty, transparency, etc. to build trust and stereotyped the research identifying antecedents and consequences of trust in various contexts presuming trust as one-dimensional phenomenon. The problem is as trust is context-dependent phenomenon how many contexts can be studied to design trust building models. Under dynamic business environment how the contexts can be fixed. Trust building literature fails to address what is the trust threshold, what are the reference points of trust building in business relationship. Where does the starting, optimum and maximum trust points lie in trust building process. Further a fundamental question of debate in business management is should the managers strive to build trust or strive to reduce risk. Despite the availability of abundant literature on trust still trust is viewed as a complicated and multifaceted concept. To break such notion, get a conceptual clarity, for understanding which attitudes and behaviors drive the propensity, act of risk, etc. more studies based on case study, grounded theory or ethnography methods are needed.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated conceptual trust building model for supply chain partners' relationships. It is based on the literature on trust building models from various disciplines.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Various trust building concepts and models were reviewed and five widely referred trust building models were selected from the literature to analyze and integrate the views to develop an integrated conceptual model from supply chain partners' relationships point of view.\nFindings: - The conceptual frame work suggests that trust is a sum of risk-worthy characteristics, risk-worthy rationale and risk-worthy institutional systems of supply chain members. Though the model represents the trust building process at dyadic level, the concept can simply be extended to any number of levels and perspectives.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The model has considered the trust building perspectives from supply chain partners' relationships point of view. The discussions of the model lead to empirically testable issues.\nPractical implications: - The study results suggest that the supply chain members should strive to reduce the risk levels to build trust rather than striving to build trust to reduce the risk. As long as members' risk levels are within their bearable limits trust can be considered as a risk coping mechanism and when the risk levels exceed their bearable limits the subject of trust turns into risk management/security management.\nOriginality/value: - The trust building concepts developed through this model can be used by both practitioners and researchers on the subject of trust. However the model's application is not limited to supply chain management; it can be easily adapted to any discipline of management.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Why does bank screening matter? Private information and publicly traded securities	[ "Securitization", "Policy analysis", "Bank screening", "Information production" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: This paper develops a general equilibrium model to trace how privately produced bank screening information affects the prices of publicly traded securitizations[1]. The model demonstrates that while ex ante screening can reduce the risks of a securitized portfolio, investors require details of both publicly available and privately produced information to price the portfolio correctly. This requirement is significant because the model shows further that banks can profit by foregoing screening if their market share is sufficiently large and if investors have difficulty detecting changes in bank screening policy.\n2. Review of literature: It has long been held that banks and market financiers produce different kinds of loan information. DeLong (1991) and Ramirez (1995) both suggest that banks traditionally screened borrowers more rigorously than did market agents. Moreover, in recognition of the moral hazard and adverse selection problems stemming from these informational asymmetries, loan contracts have been proposed to mitigate their effects. For example, Gorton and Kahn (2000) show how banks' loan governance can affect borrowers' project choices and, consequently, loan default distributions. Holmstrom and Tirole (1997) show how either borrower-provided capital or collateral can reduce the default risk attributable to moral hazard.\n3. Model description[9]: This section develops a one-period model to find equilibrium prices for unscreened securities and bank-issued securitized instruments. In essence, banks reduce the risk of individual loan defaults through screening individual loan applications[10]. Assume there are K identical borrowing clients, all of unit size, wishing to sell their primary securities either to banks or to market agents, both of whom are assumed to be expected profit maximizers. We suppose that financial system demands for these primary securities are competitive in that when the original client sells her unit loan contract, either to the market agent or to the bank, she receives the same price SC. Each client thus presents a financier with a proposition to raise funds equal to SC in exchange for a security promising a payoff distribution C.\n4. Model implications: Section 3 shows that screening can reduce the risks of bank-sold securitizations. But this section shows that, depending on market share, a bank can profit by foregoing that screening whenever investors cannot detect the changes. The section shows further that \"skin-in-the-game\" and similar policies cannot fully offset these incentives. On the other hand, sale of the securities with recourse can, if appropriately structured, do so effectively. Finally, the section comments on reasons for tranching securitized issues as well as for the growth of securitization.\n5. Conclusion: This paper shows how bank screening affects the equilibrium price of securitized instruments: bank screening can reduce the risk of a portfolio at a cost of reducing its expected return. At the same time the relative prices of screened and unscreened portfolios also depend on such other factors as the proportions of each type as well as on the market conditions for funding the original loans.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to use an equilibrium model to identify the public and private informational requirements for equilibrium pricing and shows that unless these informational requirements are met, skin-in-the-game policies will not be fully effective against moral hazard for banks with relatively large market share. Selling securitizations with recourse can be.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The single-period model shows equilibrium prices depend on both public and private information, the latter produced as banks screen loans. If bank has a sufficiently large market share, it can profit by omitting the screening unless investors can detect the change. The author derives the profit function for not screening, shows that a skin-in-the-game policy cannot fully offset its incentives, and proposes a sale with recourse policy that can.\nFindings: To value securitizations correctly, investors require both publicly and privately available information. If investors cannot monitor banks closely, correct pricing can be frustrated by profit maximization incentives, since banks with large market shares can profit from not screening. Skin-in-the-game policies cannot fully offset these incentives.\nResearch limitations/implications: The equilibrium model identifies the public and private informational requirements for equilibrium pricing and shows that unless these informational requirements are met, skin-in-the-game policies will not be fully effective for banks with relatively large market share. Selling securitizations with recourse can be more fully effective.\nPractical implications: If it is difficult for investors to obtain private information, skin-in-the-game policies are not provide fully effective remedies against moral hazard. Sales with recourse policies offer promise because they are easy for investors to understand and difficult to evade.\nSocial implications: Trading on the basis of private information can create perverse incentives, and appropriate corrective policies can help offset them.\nOriginality/value: The general equilibrium methodology, the findings of incentives to avoid screening, the flaws with skin-in-the-game policies, and the proposal for sale with recourse are all new.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Multi-plant improvement programmes: a literature review and research agenda	[ "Knowledge transfer", "Literature review", "Process improvement", "Global operations management", "Improvement program", "Production system" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: Many multinational corporations (MNCs) have strategically used the steeply increasing globalisation of the past two decades to grow internationally through acquisitions, mergers and green field establishments in foreign markets. As economic conditions tighten and competition gets tougher, many MNCs find themselves struggling with a dispersed, heterogeneous and low-performing network of plants. Experiencing a legitimate need for continuous process improvement in all plants in the network, corporations seek to improve operational capabilities and, hence, increase the competitiveness of the MNC as a whole. With the knowledge that the ability to learn within international networks offers a potent source of competitive advantage (Shi and Gregory, 1998), the latest trend for process improvement sees MNCs going from plant-specific improvement projects to multi-plant improvement programmes (Netland, 2012).\n2 Theoretical background and definition of scope: We are investigating the union of multi-plant coordination literature and process improvement literature. In order to define our scope, these two topics are now introduced.\n3 Conceptual framework: The multi-disciplinary nature of the topic becomes apparent when reviewing influential theoretical studies in the broader field of knowledge and practice transfer in MNCs. This literature unveils two explanatory axes for how wide and deep multi-plant improvement programmes play out in subsidiaries - one stems primarily from international business and the other primarily from organisation science:\n4 Research method: A research synthesis summarises and cumulates the findings of different studies on a topic (Tranfield et al., 2003). To synthesise the state-of-the-art on multi-plant improvement programmes, we undertook a systematic literature review. Starting where Prasad and Babbar (2000) ended their 1986-1997 review on international operations management, this review spans the 14 years from 1998 to 2011.\n5 Presentation of findings: The review found 30 papers that explicitly address multi-plant improvement programmes in MNCs. The papers are summarised in the Appendix, which provides a short description of all the included papers in terms of publication channel and year, type of improvement programmes studied, methodological approach and research focus, and main finding.\n6 Discussion and research agenda: This study has reviewed the recent literature on multi-plant improvement programmes. It seems clear from the covered literature that a new field is in the making and will establish itself with a continuous flow of high-quality studies, in high-level journals, using a variety of methodological approaches and theoretical perspectives. Future research should address the several gaps and shortcomings in the literature.\n7 Conclusions: The past decade has seen an on-going trend among multinational manufacturing companies to implement multi-plant improvement programmes. Despite the evident popularity of such programmes among practitioners, the corresponding literature remains scarce and no coherent stream of literature has emerged to this date on this widespread phenomenon. Instead, research from several areas offers theoretical explanations and normative roadmaps for aspects of such efforts. This paper has brought together this research on multi-plant improvement programmes from 15 leading management journals to describe the current research frontier and suggest a research agenda for the future. We found a scattered interest across journals, where IJOPM still stands out as the primary professional journal for research on multi-plant improvement programmes.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: To advance the productivity of all plants in the network, multinational corporations develop and deploy multi-plant improvement programmes. In this paper, the authors systematically review and synthesise the emerging literature on multi-plant improvement programmes. The paper aims to discuss these issues.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Through a systematic manual search, the authors examine 15 top journals from operations management, general management and international business literature in the time span between 1998 and 2011.\nFindings: The authors found 30 papers that specifically deal with operational improvement programmes in a multi-plant international setting, of which only nine take a headquarter perspective. This low number contrasts sharply with the magnitude and importance of such programmes in industry. The authors discuss key dimensions that explain how multi-plant improvement programmes result in the adopting, adapting, acting or avoiding of programme practices in subsidiaries and propose a related research agenda.\nResearch limitations/implications: The authors affirm that a new field is in the making, with IJOPM as the leading professional journal. Further empirical research is called for, but particular methodological caution must be paid to the phenomenon of acting in subsidiaries.\nOriginality/value: No coherent stream of research has addressed multi-plant improvement programmes. This paper represents a focused review that supports the further development of the field.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Global careers in the Arabian Gulf: Understanding motives for self-initiated expatriation of the highly skilled, globally mobile professionals	[ "Expatriates", "Labour market", "Migrant workers" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Increasingly, people's careers are becoming global (Tams and Arthur, 2010). A growing number of executives acquire global assignment experience, at least in Western contexts (Andresen et al., 2012; Briscoe et al., 2012; Reiche and Harzing, 2011). Contemporary global labor markets offer greater variety and choice for those considering global career moves (Baruch et al., 2013; Tharenou, 2015). While a significant amount of expatriation is managed by MNCs (Collings et al., 2007), self-initiated expatriation (SIE) remains a growing phenomenon (Al Ariss and Crowley-Henry, 2013; Doherty, 2013). However, it is not always clear what distinguishes SIE from other types of global moves, like migration (Andresen et al., 2014). Being proactive, though, is critical for creating positive career outcomes (Seibert et al., 2001). People may opt for SIE to improve both their generic and specific human capital (Gibbons and Waldman, 2004), either for themselves alone, or as a springboard to corporate careers, where experience in large MNCs is indispensable (Hamori and Koyuncu, 2011).\nTheoretical underpinning of SIE: Prior literature informed our conceptualization of SIE in a number of ways. It is important to recognize that while SIE is a personal decision, it cannot be dealt with in isolation from the context. At the core of the decision of expatriates to stay (vs to return) in the host country lie the competing forces of push and pull, at the individual, organizational and cultural levels, as suggested by Baruch's (1995) push/pull model of international labor mobility (following Lewin's, 1951 field theory). It is important to examine the relevance of societal factors and, in particular, compare attitudes of people from a variety of origins in destinations other than Western countries.\nContext: The UAE has one of the highest shares of foreign nationals within its borders, with expatriate residents forming 89 percent of the labor market (Forstenlechner and Rutledge, 2011). Labor market segmentation is largely based on ethnicity (Abdalla et al., 2010), although common, this perception is informal and not openly discussed. The hierarchy of prestige ranks UAE citizens first, then Western (Europeans and North Americans) expatriates, followed by Arab and other expatriates of professional and managerial talent. At the bottom of the labor market are the laborers (mostly from India, Pakistan, and the Philippines).\nMethod: To answer such questions we opted for a mixed research methodology, with an emphasis on qualitative research design (Pratt, 2009), and added quantitative analysis, which is mostly descriptive, following Edmondson and McManus (2007). We used theoretical constructs to structure empirical observations. The method applied fits well with studying global business environments (see Birkinshaw et al., 2011). As recently suggested, scholars should \"engage with those living the phenomenon and attempt to understand it from their perspective\" (Corley, 2015, p. 2). This is of particular relevance when investigating phenomena undergoing constant change (Gioia et al., 2013).\nResults: General findings\nInterpretation: The clusters of views and attitudes are mostly based on the original national or cultural background of the expatriate. Similar differentiation across cultural cluster was recently noted in similar contexts (Sikdar and Vel, 2011; Tong et al., 2012).\nDiscussion and conclusions: We conducted this study to identify factors influencing the motives of expatriates to come to peripheral countries (using the case of the Gulf state of the UAE). Using cases within context helps to facilitate knowledge creation (Bamberger and Pratt, 2010) and contribute to both theory progress and practical development.\nTheoretical contributions: Our findings add to contemporary career theory and global HRM literature, which is a growing area of relevance in what is currently a fairly fragmented literature (Baruch et al., 2015; Lee et al., 2014). People of various origins and background are ready and willing to take their future in their own hands, by planning and executing non-traditional career moves (Arthur, 2008; Hall, 2004). The impetus for SIE is mostly individual, which lends support to the individualistic perspective of career studies, like the protean career (Hall, 2004). We expand the discourse of contemporary career theory and expatriation, and fits well with the theory of careers and labor markets as an eco-system (Baruch et al., 2016). SIE is a growing segment of the labor market that is characterized by individuals who plan and manage their career across national and cultural borders, benefiting from short- and long-term career gains and as a result, adding value to their employers and to the competitiveness of the countries in which they are employed. The length of time and the experience of the expatriation influence the self-identity of the expatriate (Scurry et al., 2013) and guide their future career options (Baruch et al., 2016).\nImplications for individuals considering expatriation: Expatriates tend to gain broader managerial experience, and to be recruited or promoted into positions that would not be possible for them in their home countries. It should be noted, though, that this might cause adjustment issues on repatriation (see Lazarova and Caligiuri, 2002). Receiving a high salary that cannot be offered back home is a type of \"Golden handcuffs\" or \"Golden cage,\" where people will be reluctant to return to their home country for financial reasoning (Richardson and McKenna, 2002). Our findings suggest that opting for expatriation in the Gulf can be a rewarding experience, leading to financial gains and new career opportunities. Subject to realistic understanding of the local conditions and habitudes, people can enjoy life and positive work environments. Depending on the long-term aim, people from different origins and cultural backgrounds will have different experiences.\nImplications for business firms: We distinguish between implications for local firms and for MNCs which operate or plan to enter these markets. For global employers, we highlight areas where positive professional people-management can gain better \"return on investment\" if the expatriates are dealt with via appropriate practice. UAE enterprises can be effective in targeting, recruiting, and remunerating expatriates. For example, in recruiting future expatriates, \"word of mouth\" was typical. Thus, the practice of \"referrals\" may be applied effectively. This might be contentious in an environment where locally the practice of Wasta exists. However, the more formal use of networks might be incredibly valuable and something that could possibly be encouraged when it comes to the recruiting of the highly skilled.\nImplications for policy options at the national level: Authorities need to understand that the highly skilled should be treated differently than the low skilled, in line with benchmarks from developed countries that actively distinguish between process and rules between skill groups. Despite the intense need and ongoing efforts to develop indigenous human capital (Ramady, 2013), we consider it important that policy makers should realize what is needed to fulfill this ongoing need. Based on our findings, we recommend the following policy options to increase the likelihood of attracting the highly skilled:\nLimitations and recommendations for further research: The study took place in one country in the Arabian Gulf, and was qualitative in nature. Future studies may replicate it in other peripheral locations, and using quantitative research design. Our study is limited to professional workers and managers, but this was done on purpose as such populations are of high interest for both career and global labor market studies.\nConclusions: Our study manifests the contingency needed in analyzing issues of relevance for global audience. National and organizational competitiveness depend highly on aggregate human capital. To attract and retain global talent, countries in peripheral geo-locations should find specific niches of the labor market they can reach and connect with. We pointed out a need not only to focus on reasons for expatriation, but to expand the framework to understand reasons for staying in the host country. In the process we identified different clusters of attitudes and reasoning, mostly following ethnic and national origin of the expatriates. The positive attitude of local individuals and governments can be instrumental in keeping expatriates in the host country.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding of expatriation, both firm-initiated and self-initiated. The authors identified factors influencing the motives of expatriates to locate to the Arabian Gulf, and possible factors that may influence their decision to remain.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Using a qualitative approach, the authors conducted 123 semi-structured interviews with expatriates in the United Arab Emirates, from various backgrounds. These interviews are analyzed based on the thematic analytic approach.\nFindings: The authors identified four clusters of reasoning for global assignments to the Gulf and the outcomes of the expatriation. Remuneration was the main motivator cited for the move, but an obstacle for returning to the home country. For Westerners, the second most important factor was career opportunities, whereas for expatriates from Muslim countries it was cultural fit.\nPractical implications: The findings may be a valuable source of reference for individuals and for policy makers, employers, HR practitioners, and career counselors to provide an understanding of expatriation in emerging economies.\nOriginality/value: The paper uses evidence from the Gulf to bridge the gap between current knowledge of expatriation and the context of emerging economies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of managerial commitment and Kaizen benefits on companies	[ "Kaizen", "Educational level", "Managerial commitment", "Partial least squares (PLS)" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Western companies tend to manage their business activities by establishing short-term benefits, but this may prevent them from identifying and meeting beyond their immediate needs; in addition, short-term process planning can limit the corporate vision, quality levels of production and profitability.\n2. Literature review: 2.1. Kaizen in the industry\n3. Methodology: 3.1. Questionnaire design\n4. Results: 4.1. Description of the sample\n5. Conclusions and industrial implications: This research analyzes four latent variables associated with the implementation of Kaizen in Mexican maquiladoras. On the one hand, two of these variables concern activities carried out at the planning stage in terms of managerial commitment and professional development of human resources. On the other hand, the two remaining variables involve benefits obtained by companies, both economic and for human resources. From the assessment of these variables the following conclusions are thus proposed:\n6. Future research: Results obtained from the model in Figure 2 show that R2 values for dependent latent variables (professional development of human resources, human resources benefits and economic benefits) are far from reaching the unit, which is the maximum value. As for future research, the following proposals can be considered to increase the explanatory quality of the model:\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of both managerial commitment and the professional development of human resources on the benefits obtained from Kaizen implementation at the planning stage in Mexican maquiladora companies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: As part of the methodology, a questionnaire is validated and administered to 423 workers in different companies from the states of Tabasco, Baja California, Sinaloa and Chihuahua. Moreover, a structural equation model is proposed to relate four latent variables: two concerning managerial commitment and the professional development of human resources, and two more related to the kinds of benefits obtained (economic and for human resources).\nFindings: Results demonstrate that managerial commitment has a direct and positive impact on economic benefits and those for human resources. The major contribution of this study is, however, the determination of dependency measures between these variables.\nPractical implications: This research contributes to the improvement and change, since the results of the research can be extended to the sustainability of other improvement activities, presenting additional areas for future research, such understanding will increase the likelihood that the results of application of Kaizen are sustained, eliminating waste and improving support within the organization. Finally, this research makes contributions to the field of industrial engineering and management disciplines of engineering and operations management, as it focusses on the improvement of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy, these systems they are integral to the modeling of this investigation.\nOriginality/value: This study tests the hypotheses and their relation to the sustainability of Kaizen in time for them to use the analysis technique of structural equations. For the author, this is the first study to determine the causal relationships between the critical success factors and benefits of Kaizen, determining a measure of dependence between them.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Raw vegetable salad consumers in full-service restaurants	[ "Consumer", "Food consumption", "Food service", "Restaurants", "Socio-demographic variables", "Food behaviour" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In recent decades an increase has been observed in various countries in the number of meals eaten away-from-home as also in the number of establishments in the foodservice sector. It was estimated in 2009 that of the total amount spent on feeding, 47.5 and 31.0 percent was spent on food eaten away-from-home in the USA and Brazil, respectively (Economic Research Service, 2011; Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica (IBGE), 2010a). The data available for the European Union revealed a similar tendency (Mitchell, 2004).\nMethods: Study design and sample\nResults: The majority of the population interviewed consisted of women (57.1 percent). The greater proportion of the consumers were between 26 and 40 years of age (40.1 percent) with a monthly family income of up to ten minimum salaries (55.1 percent) and a university or post-graduate education (69.2 percent). However, the majority of the consumers (82.4 percent) had not graduated in an area of health or food (Table I).\nDiscussion: For the sample of individuals frequenting full-service restaurants, 52.3 percent reported taking meals in this modality of restaurant at least once a week. Among adult Americans, those who reported frequenting full-service restaurants represented 90 percent of the consumers interviewed, and the survey registered that 68 percent frequented this type of restaurant at least once a week in 1995-1996 (Duffey et al., 2007). In Brazil, among consumers who reported taking meals in full-service restaurants, 51.4 percent did so weekly in Rio de Janeiro and 54 percent rarely in Campinas (Castelo Branco et al., 2003; Sanches and Salay, 2011).\nConclusions: For the sample of individuals studied in the city of Campinas, those most accustomed to having their meals in full-service restaurants were male, and those with higher family incomes and higher educational levels. Subjects graduated in the areas of health or food showed a significantly higher frequency for the consumption of salads in full-service restaurants (lunch and dinner at weekends). Social desirability apparently had no influence on the responses referring to the studied frequencies.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the profiles of those frequenting full-service restaurants and eating raw vegetable salads, as well as to analyze the influence of socio-demographic variables and of the tendency for social desirability in consumption frequencies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A non-probabilistic consumer sample (n=630) was interviewed in the city of Campinas, Brazil. Besides the frequency of eating in full-service restaurants and the frequency of eating salads (as a function of the meal type and week day) in this type of restaurant, the survey instrument was also composed by socio-demographic variables and a social desirability scale. To compare data, non-parametric tests were used.\nFindings: Of the interviewees, 52.3 percent were shown to eat in full-service restaurants at least once a week. The frequency of eating salads in full-service restaurant stood out as being significantly higher (p<0.05) for weekday lunches. Individuals who graduated in the areas of health or food showed a significantly higher frequency for the consumption of salads at weekends. Apparently the social desirability did not influence the responses of the consumers with respect to the frequencies studied.\nResearch limitations/implications: The sample was of a non-probabilistic type, bringing reservations with respect to generalizations.\nPractical implications: Socio-demographic variables should be considered in elaborating strategies for promoting vegetable salads consumption in restaurants. Health and nutrition education programs can be effective in aiding consumers to choose healthier food in this context.\nOriginality/value: Studies about frequency of salad consumption in restaurants are scarce. The influence of social desirability bias on reported frequency was analyzed in this paper.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Beyond accessibility: empowering mobility-impaired customers with motivation differentiation	[ "Motivation", "Disabilities", "Resorts", "Self-determination theory", "Effects comparison", "Seemingly unrelated regression" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: People with mobility impairments (PwMIs) is a fast-growing yet largely underrated travel market for hospitality/tourism businesses. In the USA alone, about 6.89 million adults are mobility impaired (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015), categorized as using aids such as wheelchairs or crutches because of their inability to walk, grasp or lift objects (NANDA International, 2012). They took 40 million trips annually in the USA and spent US$17.3bn on travel (Open Doors Organization, 2015). This market potential is multiplied considering PwMI typically travel with companions and the elderly population, as 27 per cent of people aged 65 and above in the USA are mobility challenged, whereas over 22 per cent globally will be over 65 years old by 2050 (World Health Statistics, 2016).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Self-determination theory-based motivation differentiation\n3. Methodology: Data collection was conducted using Qualtrics surveys designed to measure PwMI's psychologicalneed satisfaction, self-determined versus controlled travel motivations and travel-pursuit dimensions based on a given resort-package scenario, along with control measures. To evaluate the contextual consistency of results, an extreme groups design (Allison et al., 1997; Preacher, 2015) was adopted to create two significantly contrasting contexts in travel challenge levels for result comparisons. As travel challenge levels are shaped by individual travel abilities and environmental accessibilities (McKercher and Darcy, 2018), to maximize the between-context challenge-level differences, the challenging context was created by assigning a less feasible package scenario to the sample PwMI group with weaker travel abilities (i.e. lower physical functionalities and travel frequencies), whereas the unchallenging context paired the more feasible scenario to the group with stronger travel abilities. To control for between-group differences other than challenge levels, control measures (see Instruments) were incorporated as covariates.\n4. Conclusions: Intended as a promising supplement to the primary scholarly/industrial concentration on the facility/service accommodation of PwMI's travel pursuits, this study advocates empowering PwMI psychologically by intentionally cultivating superior motivations in travel-facilitating effectiveness and challenge resistance, which can be identified based on a proposed SDT-based motivation subdivision. The H1 examination supports the dominant effectiveness of self-determined motivations in facilitating PwMI's resort-travel attitudes and behavioral intentions given significant travel challenges. This echoes the non-travel SDT applications positing that self-determined motivations more saliently facilitate activity-pursuit attitudes and behavioral intentions when activities are difficult to achieve (Gonzalez-Cutre et al., 2018). The practical value of the SDT-based subdivision for identifying superior travel-facilitating motivations is thus confirmed (Q1).\n5. Theoretical implications: This research extends the predominant purpose-defined travel motivation typologies with an SDT-based subdivision. Future identification of travel motivations thereby should not only be confined to what travel purposes are pursued but also to why pursuing them (i.e. self-determined or controlled), to gain greater power in explaining/predicting travel attitudes/behaviors. Moreover, in establishing the value and feasibility of cultivating superior travel motivations, it supplements the prevailing explorations of structural challenge removals with the possibility of psychologically empowering PwMI's travel pursuits.\n6. Practical implications: It is crucial for hospitality/tourism businesses to identify strategies that effectively motivate PwMI to persist in travel attempts, especially when their PwMI-targeted accessibility/service offerings are gradually improving but not yet meeting market expectations. Study findings provide a valuable guide to more effective hospitality/tourism marketing for PwMI, by identifying and satisfying, or more powerfully, cultivating superior travel-facilitating motivations corresponding to both individual and environmental challenge levels. Although it is ideal to satisfy all personal travel purposes, it is only realistic to concentrate the limited marketing resources on the most effective and challenge-resistant motivations for the efficient empowerment of PwMI's travel pursuits. Such practices after validation may be extended to the general traveler market.\n7. Limitations and future research: Limitations of this study include its adopted extreme groups design, which is limited regarding generalizing to more fine-sorted challenge levels than the random assignment of two package scenarios within each participant group. Although potential between-group differences are controlled as covariates, the randomized design can also more restrictively control for influences irrelevant to travel challenges.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: To sufficiently fulfill the travel potential of people with mobility impairments (PwMIs), this study aims to propose a valuable supplement to facility/service accommodation by hospitality/tourism businesses by identifying and purposefully cultivating the superior motivation types for empowering PwMI's travel pursuits despite challenges. To this end, the study proposes a self-determined versus controlled motivation subdivision to the predominant travel motivation typologies, with its practical value, theoretical value and application feasibility verified.\nDesign/methodology/approach: To ensure the verification reliability across challenge travels, the study adopts an extreme groups design for data collection. Qualtrics surveys situated in two resort-package scenarios contrast in facility/service accommodation levels are paired with two US PwMI groups contrast in travel capabilities. An unconventional mix of analytical information and seemingly unrelated regressions are adopted for data analyses.\nFindings: Self-determined motivations are found as the superior facilitators of PwMI's challenging resort-travel pursuits, confirming the practical value of the proposed motivation subdivision. The theoretical value is verified given the subdivision's significant explanatory power for resort-travel attitude and behavioral intentions, after controlling for travel purpose fulfillment. It is also feasible to achieve the targeted cultivation of self-determined motivations by supporting the basic physiological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness.\nPractical implications: The study's context-based findings on the effective motivational mechanisms for PwMI can guide hospitality/tourism businesses to improve PwMI-targeted marketing effectiveness and efficiency.\nOriginality/value: Key theoretical contributions include expanding the explanatory power of travel motivation typologies, enhanced integration of self-determination theory into travel motivation conceptualization and more accurate reflection of the widespread presence of social factors in travel motivations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Ethan learns to be a learning organization: Culture change prompts greater openness and empowerment	[ "Performance", "Employee relations", "Recruitment", "Organizational Culture", "Learning organization", "Remuneration" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An Indian design, sales and manufacturing company that has grown significantly over the past 35 years became a learning organization through an unusual set of circumstances.\nSelf-managed development, empowerment and creativity: In other words, HR is promoting the establishment of a learning organization. A number of senior managers are still struggling to introduce these concepts. In general, though, the idea of a learning organization is proving highly influential. Its concepts have stimulated debate, and there is growing acceptance of self-managed development, empowerment and creativity. There is much more evidence in the company of effective teamwork and the principles of total quality management. And HR specialists are encouraging the processes of reflection and self-improvement that lie at the heart of organizational improvement.\nSelection and recruitment: The company recruits many of its employees through an agency. It advertises in the local press, with agencies and, sometimes, at assessment-center-type organizations for more senior positions. Applicants are tested on their verbal and numerical skills, and interviewed. Almost all operators join as temporary employees. The company endeavors to ensure that, in addition to specific job requirements, successful applicants' personalities fit the company ethos. A sense of humor, enthusiasm and flexibility are key requirements.\nAnnual performance appraisal: Each Ethan has an annual appraisal. Managers involve the individual in all stages of the process, and particularly in setting objectives and the steps to be taken to achieve them. Appraisal is usually conducted by the team leader, off-line and on a one-to-one basis. The format is explained and the importance of it being a two-way process emphasized. Employees can ask for more than one appraisal a year.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to describe the main human resource management policies at Ethan Power Private Ltd, an Indian design, sales and manufacturing company, and the specific circumstances that led it to become a learning organization.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper outlines the company's origins and growth and its policies in such areas as recruitment, induction, training, remuneration, performance management and industrial relations.\nFindings: This paper reveals that learning organization concepts have stimulated debate in the business, and there is growing acceptance of self-managed development, empowerment and creativity.\nPractical implications: This paper explains that there is much more evidence in the company of effective teamwork and the principles of total quality management, while HR specialists are encouraging the processes of reflection and self-improvement that lie at the heart of organizational improvement.\nSocial implications: This paper reveals that, in general, and while fully complying with industrial-relations legislation, the company prefers to employ people who are not members of a trade union.\nOriginality/value: This paper details the factors that led an Indian organization to change its organizational culture and how this change was achieved.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Responsible property investing: what the leaders are doing	[ "Corporate social responsibility", "Sustainable design", "Ethics" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Man really is the only animal that builds his terrarium around him as he goes and real estate is really the business of building that terrarium. So we have a tremendous ethical content, a tremendous social purpose (James A. Grasskamp, pioneer of modern real estate studies[1]).The purpose of this paper is to help those making investment decisions on existing commercial real estate portfolios understand how environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues impact the current value and prospective investment performance of the assets they own and manage. In our view, efforts to understand and respond to these issues constitute the practice of responsible property investing (RPI). We hope that this work will help property asset owners, managers and developers understand and react to financially sound RPI.As such issues grow in importance for governments, businesses, and society at large, they are increasingly influencing the context within which property investments are held and related decisions made. For example, if tenants exercise a preference for occupying more \"sustainable\" properties, then the income growth from such investments should prove superior to that from less sustainable, less desirable, stock. Similarly, if investors exercise the same preference, then less sustainable assets will prove less liquid, more risky and potentially less valuable than more sustainable assets. If new social standards based around improved sustainability lead to existing landlords having to improve the performance of their properties, then less sustainable assets will probably require greater expenditure and deliver poorer returns. Investors who preempt these new standards may be best placed to seize the opportunity they offer.Given this, it is the fiduciary responsibility of property investors to (at least) understand the implications of these issues and to seek economic ways to improve the sustainability of the assets they buy and hold.With this in mind, the PWG has brought together representatives from some of the foremost property investment organizations around the world, committed to improving the environmental and social performance or governance of their property portfolios. This paper collates examples of how they are meeting their social and fiduciary responsibilities while simultaneously \"doing well by doing good\". They provide robust evidence of emerging and innovative practice today, which we hope will become common practice tomorrow.In our view, responsible property investing (RPI) means property investment or management strategies that go beyond compliance with minimum legal requirements in order to address environmental, social and governance issues. Because so many factors relate to these issues, RPI touches upon literally dozens of property location, design, management, and investment strategies. To simplify things, we have grouped these strategies into ten underlying dimensions. Including these in building management decisions will improve an investor's performance on ESG issues:1. energy conservation - green power generation and purchasing, energy efficient design, or conservation retrofitting;2. environmental protection - water conservation, solid waste recycling, habitat protection 3. voluntary certifications - green building certification, certified sustainable wood finishes;4. public transport-oriented developments - transit-oriented development, walkable communities, mixed-use development;5. urban revitalization and adaptability - infill development, flexible interiors, brownfield redevelopment;6. health and safety - site security, avoidance of natural hazards, first aid readiness;7. worker wellbeing - plazas, childcare on premises, indoor environmental quality, barrier-free design;8. corporate citizenship - regulatory compliance, sustainability disclosure and reporting, independent boards, adoption of voluntary codes of ethical conduct, stakeholder engagement;9. social equity and community development - fair labor practices, affordable/social housing, community hiring and training; and10. local citizenship - quality design, minimum neighborhood impacts, considerate construction, community outreach, historic preservation, no undue influence on local governments.We have identified two types of financially sound RPI strategies: no cost and value added approaches. With the no cost approach, managers find ways to improve the social or environmental performance of their properties at zero added expense. Turning out the lights in unoccupied areas, for example, is a no-cost strategy that fights global warming and reduces energy bills. Value added strategies, on the other hand, require some initial financial outlays, but pay for themselves by either increasing net incomes (via higher rents or lower running costs) or reducing risk premiums (via lower environmental risks, less depreciation or less marketability risk). For example, designing in a childcare facility may cost more in architectural services and materials but the added costs may be offset by higher rents. Many of these measures have been shown to increase returns. In some instances, more research is needed to quantify their financial benefits.\n2. What investors are doing: The following are examples of RPI strategies being employed by investors or asset managers today.2.1 Energy conservation\n3. Final thoughts on responsible property investing: It is a truism that properties accommodate most human activity. However, the corollary of this is that properties are also the places where a significant proportion of CO2 emissions are generated. The Association for the Conservation of Energy in the UK estimates that, through their construction, use and demolition, built structures are the source for nearly 50 percent of such emissions. On this basis, any coherent strategy towards constraining and reducing CO2 emissions must place thought and action on the environmental impacts of properties at its core.Substantial and important work is already underway to identify practical ways and policy measures to ensure that newly constructed buildings are built and operated in environmentally sustainable ways. UNEP's own Sustainable Building and Construction Initiative is important in this regard. However, depending on economic and property market cycles, newly developed buildings typically replace up to 2-3 percent of the existing stock per annum. This means that any environmental program that focuses solely on new construction would leave untouched the current universe of built structures where most environmental and energy inefficiencies reside and, as such, make only slow progress in the crucial theatre of the built environment. Hence, there is a need for concerted thought and action to be given to finding ways to reduce the environmental impacts of the existing built stock. This is the specific subject area that the UNEP Finance Initiative's Property Working Group is committed to exploring. The complexities surrounding how properties are owned, leased and occupied are such that this requires specialist attention in dealing with the practical management and refurbishment of properties.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - This paper seeks to help those making investment decisions on existing commercial real estate portfolios to understand how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues impact the current value and prospective investment performance of the assets they own and manage.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The issues and literature related to ESG issues in property investing are reviewed and examples of what industry leaders are doing to address these issues are collected and reported.\nFindings: - Property investors can realize greater returns on their investments through considering and acting on a range of social and environmental issues. Lenders, owners, fund managers, asset and property managers, and developers can all incorporate RPI strategies into their own activities. RPI strategies can be categorized into ten elements covering environmental, social and community issues. There are two types of financially sound RPI strategies: no cost and value added approaches. More research needs to be carried out to understand the economic impacts of some strategies.\nOriginality/value: - Sustainability and corporate social responsibility are major and growing issues for property investors. The study demonstrates a successful example of how fund and asset managers are responding to these issues which can be considered by other managers in their own strategic planning.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Real estate private equity: the case of US unlisted REITs	[ "Real estate", "Equity capital", "Property finance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Private equity funding of institutional-grade commercial real estate in the US has historically come from wealthy individuals and pension funds. These sources remain dominate today as evidenced by the recent wave of real estate public-to-private transactions. Small-unit investors were provided the opportunity to purchase shares in publicly-traded portfolios of commercial real estate in 1960 in the US when the first REIT law was enacted and now in many countries throughout the world as the REIT concept proliferates.During the early 1990s, real estate fund sponsors in the US began raising equity for commercial real estate investment using broker-dealer channels. Replicating dividend networks established by mutual fund groups, sponsors offer real estate investment programs to the population of mostly small-unit investors who rely on the services of financial planners. Sponsors using broker-dealer networks to raise equity capital begin as private companies. While sometimes referred to as \"private REITs\", a select group of these companies and the mini-industry that now surrounds them, prefer the title \"unlisted REIT\" because sponsors follow the SEC's rules for publicly-traded REITs, but do not list shares on exchanges[1]. The success of the unlisted REIT approach is evidenced by the relatively high volume of equity flows to these companies, sometimes resulting in near-parity with inflows to publicly-traded REITs. During 2003, for example, the unlisted REIT group, raised $7 billion through broker-dealer channels while all publicly-traded REITs raised $8.1 billion through public stock offerings[2]. Similar broker-dealer networks are now used in the in US to facilitate tax-free exchanges through tenant-in-common (TIC) funds[3].1.1 Unintended consequences for unlisted REIT investors\n2. Institutional detail: Because no published papers have appeared on unlisted REITs, we provide selected institutional details about how these businesses operate[5]. As shown in Figure 1, the ownership entity is embedded in a fairly complex network of relationships with service providers and regulators. The chain that connects REITs to investors is our main interest. This chain begins with the establishment of an in-house broker-dealer affiliate that develops contractual relationships with national and regional managing dealers (e.g. A.G. Edwards, UBS Warburg, and Paine Webber). Local financial planners acting as soliciting dealers with or without affiliations to these national and regional broker-dealers then sell investment programs of unlisted REITs to the public. Managing brokers may acquire due diligence reports from third-party companies that inform about the capability, competency, and integrity of unlisted REIT sponsors prior to agreeing to sell their investment programs.Individuals invest as little as $1,000 after being given the prospectus of an unlisted REIT. The investment of $1,000 is reduced by the fees owed to the network including the in-house broker-dealer company. For example, with a 10 percent fee, $900 is actually invested in real estate. Investment programs qualify as securities and therefore must conform to the requirements of the SEC, NASAA (in most states), and NASD. Also, the actions of broker-dealers in their relations with the public must conform to NASAA requirements and are regulated by NASD. External advisors - usually subsidiaries of unlisted REITs - carry out day-to-day operations including relationship management with regulators, attorneys, and accountants[6]. Unlisted REIT prospectuses contain language about how companies will exit their current form to provide investors with a return of capital. Sometime the language gives a specific date (i.e. on or before). In other instances the language gives the unlisted REIT considerable flexibility for this exit. As shown in Figure 1, four alternative exit events could occur - private market liquidation of properties, exchange listing, IPO as the combination of exchange listing with public capital infusion, and merger with an existing company. Unlisted REITs may hope to capitalize on a favorable private-market-to-public-market arbitrage opportunity during latter stages of the investment period.2.1 Investor appeal and criticisms\n3. Modeling the problem of fixed share prices and wealth transfer: Our model captures how long-term investors who buy unlisted REIT shares with fixed offer prices are affected by the opportunistic actions of follow-on investors. Long-term investors in the model remain passive, buying shares of the unlisted REIT at origination and holding them until the unlisted REIT executes an exit either by liquidating in the private market, listing on a public exchange, or merging with another company. Follow-on investors behave in active ways, choosing whether or not to buy shares at a fixed offer price after properties held by the Unlisted REIT experience changes in values. Structuring the model in this way allows us to concentrate on the factors that enter into follow-on investors' decisions and isolate how their trading affects long-term investors' return on unlisted REIT investments.3.1 Model timeline\n4. Investment behaviors of follow-on investors: We show above that long-term investors' profit is a function of the number of shares bought by follow-on investors, n1. We consider two scenarios: prohibited follow-on investment, and profit maximization under perfectly competitive follow-on investment. In the subsequent analysis of the two scenarios, we denote the equilibrium values of n1 as n1 and n1, respectively.4.1 Follow-on investment is prohibited\n5. Empirical evidence of dividend policy distortion: In this section we provide evidence that the unlisted REIT structure leads to perverse dividend policies. These policies produce dividends well above comparable listed REITs and, more importantly, in excess of 100 percent of FFO. All data come from SNL Securities and cover the three-year period 2003 through 2005[9]. Prior to 2003, the unlisted REIT data were not considered adequate to form broad enough cross-sections by firm size and property type. Table III presents the sample of 11 unlisted REITs. All of these companies were started after 1995 and represent every major property type. Total asset size ranges from well under $1 billion to $8 billion. Unfortunately, dividend information is not available for all unlisted REITs during each year.The comparative analysis of unlisted REIT and listed REIT dividend dividends during the sample period begins with the formation of four shadow portfolios. The first portfolio (i.e. sector portfolio) consists of 41 listed REITs spanning every property type represented in the unlisted REIT sample. The firms were selected to achieve a balance by asset size. A list of these REITs and the REITs placed in other shadow portfolios appears in Table IV. To eliminate age bias, a second shadow portfolio (i.e. IPO portfolio) was formed that includes 23 firms with IPOs after 1996. This portfolio also is balanced by property type and asset size. Finally, we assembled two similarly balanced portfolios of differing sizes (i.e. small size and large size). The small size portfolio has 17 REITs with NAVs falling in the range of $400 million to $700 million and the large size portfolio consists of 30 firms with NAVs ranging from $1.2 billion to $3 billion.Table V provides comparisons of average dividend payout as a percent of FFO across the unlisted and listed REIT portfolios during 2003, 2004, and 2005. The dividend payout ratios for listed REITs fall within a normal range for REITs of between 60 and 75 percent (Farrell, 2006). Average payout ratios for the sample of unlisted REITs not only exceeded those of listed REITs by a sizeable margin, but were greater than 100 percent during all three years. This means that unlisted REITs paid out more in dividends than they received in cash flow over a three year period. Logic dictates that such a perverse dividend policy is unsustainable.\n6. Conclusion: The idea to provide Federal tax-exempt status to business trusts that invest in commercial real estate became law in 1960 due to the efforts of a diverse group of special industry and government interests (Lynn and Bloomfield, 2003). Beyond the motivations of these groups to increase capital flows for real estate investment and rehabilitation was the intent of making available to retail investors certain advantages previously reserved for investors with greater resources. These advantages include diversification through pooling of funds, access to the benefits of professional investment advisors, and the ability to collectively finance properties of a scale that most individual investors could not undertake by themselves (Fass et al., 2004). As the REIT market matured, firms became larger and more public. Average investors seeking these opportunities had to enter the public securities environment, which they may neither find familiar nor trust.Recognizing that a segment of the retail investor population was not comfortable with prevailing commercial real estate investment options, sponsors of unlisted REITs reached retail investors through existing broker-dealer channels to provide an alternative way of accessing institutional grade real estate portfolios. The programs of unlisted REIT sponsors, therefore, directly align with the spirit of the original US REIT legislation. In addition, these programs demonstrated substantial appeal as evidenced by the amount of capital flowing to unlisted REIT sponsors during recent years through broker-dealer networks.During the initial phase in the maturation of unlisted REITs, critics emphasized the size of the fees earned by participants in the broker-dealer network and the integrity of sponsors. As market conditions change, investors' holding periods lengthen, and the exit strategies of unlisted REITs come to fruition, closer scrutiny is being directed to more general problems, such as conflict-of-interest issues and structural problems of the investment programs. In this paper we identify one structural flaw present in unlisted REIT investment programs - the fixed share price. Our model provides a mechanism for analyzing the consequences of fixed share prices on fees generated through the broker-dealer network and the profits and returns received by both long-term (i.e. those who invest early) and opportunistic follow-on (i.e. those who enter late) investor groups.The model solutions using a fixed share price assumption provide several insights. First, opportunistic follow-on investors participate only during up real estate markets as the intrinsic values of shares rise above fixed share prices. Second, during periods of rising property values and with perfectly competitive capital markets, follow-on investors will buy shares as long as intrinsic share value exceeds fixed share price, driving long-term investors' profit to the level of dividends. Profits in excess of dividends are absorbed by participants in the broker-dealer network. Third, a high contractual dividend level can be used to mitigate the wealth transfer from long-term investors. A comparative analysis of the dividend payout behaviors of listed and unlisted REITs during recent years reveals that unlisted REITs have paid dividends relative to FFO well in excess of listed REITs and also approximately 110 percent of their own FFOs. This perverse dividend policy follows from the fixed-share price structure adopted by these firms.The basic structure of unlisted REITs has many desirable features and should be preserved, but with modification to the fixed share price feature to limit investor conflicts. A convenient parallel to unlisted REIT unit investment in commercial real estate is the commingled fund (see Fosheim, 1995). Ennis (1996) describes the institutional arrangement as follows:In a straightforward process each asset in the commingled fund is appraised periodically. The value of the properties are then added together to arrive at the value for the fund. As properties change in value, the fund value is adjusted. Commingled fund values are quoted as if the properties were sold at appraised value (at least on average across the properties in the fund) ... Intrinsic value is determined only by the asset appraisal methodology controlled by the fund manager (p. 36).Analysts following publicly-traded REITs use simpler and less costly NAV calculations (relative to appraisals) to mark the values of REIT assets to market. Regardless of the approach taken, the unlisted REIT business model needs adjustment to avoid the undesirable consequences arising from fixed offer pricing.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how fixed-share prices, as a structural flaw in private equity funds targeted to small-unit investors, economically disadvantages those investors in favor of sponsors.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The theoretical model incorporates fixed share prices with continuous investment opportunity and evaluates the wealth transfer from long-term investors to marketing affiliates and soliciting dealers in the form of fees paid on the sale of shares to follow-on investors.\nFindings: - This result holds in the presence of high-payout dividend policy that attempts to compensate for wealth transfer.\nResearch limitations/implications: - Should share prices be marked-to-market using real estate appraisals or another method, the unlisted REIT and related offerings, such as tenant-in-common funds, will be profitable for sponsors without economically disadvantaging long-term investors.\nPractical implications: - The findings from this research are useful to fund sponsors who design real estate investment products for small-unit investors. These products may retain the advantageous characteristics of existing products while eliminating the disadvantageous features.\nOriginality/value: - This is the first academic research on private equity capital raised from small-unit investors.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Revisiting the New Zealand apple industry: the impacts of change	[ "Agriculture", "Fruits", "New Zealand" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The pip fruit sector is a significant industry in New Zealand, the efficiency with which the industry uses its resources has been said to impact on the economy as a whole (NZBR, 2001). Unfortunately, recent times have seen New Zealand face a number of challenges as an apple-producing nation, with many growers now facing financial ruin (MAF, 2002). As a result, the number of growers has dropped substantially from approximately 1,500 in 1998 to around 900 in the 2005 season (Stringleman, 2005). With the majority of growers failing to cover their costs with their 2005 harvest and after barely breaking even in 2004, industry analysts predict this trend will continue failing a substantial and widespread industry pick up in market returns next season (Stringleman, 2005).This paper examines the state of the New Zealand apple industry from the grower's perspective. Following on from a previous study be Fitzgerald (2003), it addresses the effects of a number of changes which have taken place in the industry over the past decade and contributed to the position growers find themselves faced with today. These have ranged from daily operational issues such as packaging requirements, spraying regimes, quality standards, and technological improvements, to increased competition in Northern Hemisphere markets and the deregulation of the New Zealand apple industry (Fitzgerald, 2003). A sample of growers from one of New Zealand's major growing regions has been used to empirically assess the impact of these changes and gain further insight into the future outlook for New Zealand apple growers.\nLiterature review: New Zealand is a relative newcomer on the world apple scene; most of the industry's growth has taken place in the past 30 years. In that time, New Zealand production has tripled to over 20 million cartons/year, accounting for about one-third of the Southern Hemisphere crop and about 1 percent of world production (Ferree et al., 1999). The majority of orchards are owned and operated by families as a lifestyle-come-self-employment opportunity (Fitzgerald, 2003). There are currently around 900 orchards in New Zealand, operating in two large and seven smaller growing regions. The Nelson region in the south island and Hawke's Bay in the north island are the traditional areas for apple production in New Zealand accounting for approximately 30 and 55 percent of the countries total production respectively (Ferree et al., 1999).In recent years, the New Zealand apple industry has fallen upon hard times; a number of paradigm shifts have challenged the country's apple growers, leaving many staring in the face of financial ruin. Several factors including a world oversupply of fresh fruit, the increased bargaining power of retailers through the emergence of the supermarket industry and changes to the statutory framework governing the industry have contributed to the current position in which growers have found themselves (Fitzgerald, 2003; Stringleman, 2005).Industry deregulation\nMethodology: This research has focused on apple growers from the greater Nelson district, one of New Zealand's primary growing regions (including the areas of Riwaka, Brooklyn, Mariri, Lower Moutere and the Waimea plains). A sample of orchardists was obtained using a snowballing technique, with the researchers existing contacts within the industry providing an adequate starting point. All of the respondents were involved with the apple industry either as current orchard owners, or those in a position of corporate control (e.g. Business Manager).The research was conducted using structured interviews. Of the 30 responses achieved, 29 were administered in face-to-face interviews and one was completed over the telephone. In addition to this, an adapted set of the questions was used to interview a nurseryman (a supplier of apple trees to orchards), in order to provide the researchers with an informed third party perspective.\nFindings: Current state of the industry\nLimitations and future research: The major limitation this study is its sample, firstly as it was taken from only one of the country's many growing regions. In order to gain a broader understanding of orchardists' perspectives on the current state of the New Zealand apple industry a wider sample should be used. A comparison of perspectives between regions would be a valuable addition as it would allow for an analysis, of how different regions, have fared, under deregulation (Table I).Further, the research sample consisted only of respondents who were still involved in the industry; this meant that the perspectives of those growers who have already exited the market following deregulation were not gained. This group would provide an insightful viewpoint, as it is likely that they would have a differing opinion to growers that are still in the industry.The timing of this research is another issue, the study being conducted during what is a critical period for most growers. Many were in the process of deciding whether or not to reinvest in the 2005/2006 season. Therefore it is possible that some of the respondents have since exited the industry.\nSummary and conclusion: New Zealand apple growers have experienced a large number of changes over the past decade, some for the better and others making for decline, however regardless of these individual effects the industry is now identified as being in a state of turmoil. Following successive seasons with little financial return, most growers now face the reality that without a substantial pick up in the market next season they will have little choice but to close down their operations. While it may be that the uncontrollable factor of world competition eventually decides their fate, growers have identified a number of improvements (including improved industry cooperation, the introduction of new varieties, renewed quality standards and government assistance) that at the least will give them a fighting chance for survival.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The paper aims to show that in the past decade New Zealand apple growers have experienced a number of significant changes within their industry. It would seem that these changes have encompassed virtually every aspect of their production and the environment within which they operate. Probably the most significant development for growers was the decision to deregulate the industry, an issue which has continued to be at the forefront of much discussion since its implementation in 2001.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This paper shows that accompanying these changes there has also been a steady decline in industry performance. With many growers now staring in the face of financial ruin, further insight as to how they are being affected by the changing market and how they can be assisted is required to return the New Zealand apple industry to its once prominent position. Thus this paper examines the effects of change on the New Zealand apple industry as perceived by a sample of orchardists from one of the country's most prominent growing regions.\nFindings: - The paper finds that it has become evident from this research that in the majority of cases, technological improvements have come to the benefit of growers. However, a number of environmental changes (including a world oversupply of fruit, a high foreign exchange rate, etc.) and a significant change in structure are identified by growers as having a significant contribution to the industry's current state of turmoil.\nOriginality/value: - The paper finds that, as a result, respondents appear to be looking back at past sources of competitive advantage (including the development of new varieties, high quality standards, and a united view of the industry) as ways to recover from their current position.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Perception is reality: change leadership and work engagement	[ "Transformational leadership", "Mediation", "Work engagement", "Change leadership", "Organizational change", "Employee perceptions" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The world is dynamic. Globally, leaders assess the environment and enact organizational change to pursue opportunities and conquer challenges. Organizations that adapt and innovate remain viable. However, enacting change has had less than a stellar track record. Consider the following examples. The America Online/Time Warner Cable merger resulted in an estimated loss of $100 billion (Dumon, 2008; McGrath, 2015). Boeing's 787 Dreamliner project with an estimated cost and development timeline of $6 billion over four years instead cost $32 billion over eight years (Ausick, 2014). The UK government canceled its largest civilian information technology (IT) project after spending $4 billion and ten years on it (Gibbons, 2015). Examples like this illustrate that failed change is costly with reported failure rates of 70 percent (Beer and Nohria, 2000) to 20 percent (Weiner et al., 2008).\n2. Literature review and hypotheses: The literature approaches change leadership from either an organizational change theory (OCT) or leadership theory perspective (Herold et al., 2008). OCT proposes the need for change as originating from external and internal drivers, thereby focusing on the relationship between the organization and its environment. Resource dependency theory (RDT) (Hillman et al., 2009) and IT (Scott, 2007) are two OCTs identifying change drivers.\n3. Methods: 3.1 Sample\n4. Results: 4.1 Qualitative analysis\n5. Discussion: 5.1 Implications for practice\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how employee perceptions of change and leadership might impact work engagement following major organizational change.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Social media invited US workers recently experiencing major organizational change to anonymously complete a web-based survey requesting qualitative and quantitative responses. Values-based coding and thematic analysis were used to explore qualitative data. Hierarchical and linear regression, and bootstrapped mediation were used to analyze quantitative data.\nFindings: Analysis of qualitative data identified employees' perceptions of ideal change and ideal leadership were well supported in the change leadership literature. Analysis of quantitative data indicated that employee perceptions of leadership fully mediated the relationship between employee perceptions of change and work engagement.\nPractical implications: Study findings imply that how employees perceive change is explained by how they perceive leadership during change, and that these perceptions impact work engagement. Although these findings appear commonsensical, the less than stellar statistics on major organizational change may encourage leaders to become more follower-focused throughout the change process.\nOriginality/value: The study makes a contribution to an understudied area of organizational research, specifically applied information processing theory. This is the first study that identifies employee perceptions of leadership as a mediator for perceptions of change and work engagement. From a value perspective, leaders as successful change agents recognize significant cost savings in dollars and human welfare by maintaining healthy workplaces with highly engaged workers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Is there a silver bullet to career success for women?	[ "Diversity", "Engagement and learning", "Management development", "Gender difference", "Progression of women", "Retention of women" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Fixed Graphic\nMen and women are not the same: Review of the literature suggests that the key to career success for female talent is somewhere else. All of these diversity initiatives start from the premise that men and women are equal. I agree that men and women are equal, yet that does not mean we are the same. Certainly, women can do the same jobs, should be paid the same and are able to achieve the same results. However, they may well use a different route to that same result. In addition, women are inspired and motivated differently.\nTop sports coaches learn to adapt to women's needs: Sports coaches of top teams, for instance, find that challenging men is a useful strategy to motivate a team to perform better. Getting angry, setting challenging targets or setting up internal competitions are all effective ways to motivate men. It usually spurs them on to push on, aim higher, fight back and show what they are worth.\nResearch finds that men and women compete differently: The difference in response between men and women can probably be explained by findings in literature about how men and women compete and find security, such as described by Delfos (2010) in her book, De Schoonheid van het. Men compete on being the biggest, the best and the strongest. They find their security in being at the top - as when you are at the top, no one will attack you.\nLine managers need to change: Interestingly, these results are supported by the latest research into recruiting, retaining and advancing women. Research from McKinsey (2013), KPMG (2015) and the 30%club, KPMG, YSC (2013), all show that changing culture and line management is essential for women's progression. What line managers need to do is something I have called: \"Gender Smart Leadership\". It means adapting their style to gender needs. This may well be essential for the leader of the twenty-first century who works in an organization where over 50 per cent of the employees are women.\nGender Smart leadership in practice: When challenging women to progress, Gender Smart leaders would ask a woman to apply for a new position or promotion, rather than wait till she puts herself forward. This requires that managers regularly check-in with women to learn about their ambitions, and encourage them to move on. The manager can, for instance, use evidence gathered of their achievements, and a personal opinion of why the manager thinks they are ready for the next role (Table I).\nConclusion: Rather than looking for a silver bullet, organizations need to realize that they were originally designed for men. Women are different and organizations will need to adapt to maximize the progress and performance of women as well as men.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Organizations were originally designed for men. Women are different and organizations will need to adapt to maximize progress and performance of women as well as men. Line managers need to be aware of gender differences in their approach of a mixed-gender team.\nDesign/methodology/approach: In a review of literature, key gender differences that could play a role at work were identified. Five top sports coaches were interviewed to find how they had to adapt to improve performance of female teams. Practical application of their strategies in organizations was tested in four workshops and 15 interviews with women and managers.\nFindings: Six key gender differences were identified. Top sports coaches confirmed that they had to adapt their style to a female team, and could relate those to some of the differences from literature. The workshops and interviews showed that teaching managers to adapt their style is a promising approach.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research was set up to find if there is merit in being aware of gender differences in organizations. There is, but as it is exploratory research, it is now important to find further evidence.\nOriginality/value: Gender diversity efforts tend to be focused on equality, flexible working, and upgrading women's skills. This paper highlights that those initiatives are not enough, and organizations need to adapt to women's needs to maximize performance and progress of women as well as men.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
What firm characteristics determine women ' s employment in manufacturing? Evidence from Bangladesh	[ "Manufacturing firms", "Bangladesh", "Female employment" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: On 24 April 2013, Rana Plaza, an eight-storey commercial building in Savar, a sub-district of the Greater Dhaka Area, Bangladesh, collapsed. The building, owned by the family of a prominent politician, housed a large number of garment factories that employed approximately 5,000 people, of whom 1,129 died and 2,515 were seriously injured. In the days that followed this, the deadliest garment-factory accident in history, garment workers across the industrial areas of Dhaka, Chittagong and Gazipur rioted (according to a report on the BBC website from 3 May 2013; www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-22394094). However, the uproar did not end in Bangladesh, with political leaders, NGOs and religious organisations around the world not only criticising working conditions in the country, but also criticising multinational garment brands such as Benetton, Mango and Walmart for engaging \"sweatshops\" to manufacture their clothes. In the immediate aftermath of this tragedy, yet another terrible statistic emerged: more than half of the victims were women, children and many more who were at nursing facilities in the building (Nelson, 2013).\n2. The context of Bangladesh: Bangladesh is part of a region that practices extreme patriarchy. The societies in this part of Asia tend to be characterised by the practice of female seclusion, patri-lineal principles of descent and inheritance, patrilocal principles of marriage and strict patriarchal authority structures within the family. Restrictions on women's mobility in the public domain mean that they work either as unpaid family labour or in forms of paid work that can be carried out within the home. The invisibility of such work has meant that the female labour participation rates in these regions have tended to be extremely low. For example, official labour statistics show that women's share of the total employment in 1995 was five million (14 per cent), increasing to 16.2 million (30 per cent) by 2009 (BBS, 1996, 2011).\n3. Data and variables: The data used in this study were obtained from the World Bank's Enterprise Surveys. The surveys provide the most comprehensive firm-level panel data in emerging markets and developing countries, and include firm-level characteristics, gendered employment, annual sales, workforce composition, infrastructure, innovation and technology, business-government relationships and performance measures. In Bangladesh, the first wave of the survey was carried out in 2007, while the second and third waves were conducted in 2011 and 2013, respectively[2]. The survey respondents were the business owners and managers of 120 manufacturing firms that were interviewed in all three rounds, resulting in 360 observations. Of these firms, 117 are located primarily in the two main cities of Bangladesh: Dhaka and Chittagong. The manufacturing subsectors that are covered by the data set include food, textiles and garments, leather, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, electrical and other manufacturing. Data were pooled for the three years 2007, 2011 and 2013. After dropping observations with missing values for the dependant variables and other covariates, we end up with 303 observations. The estimating sample is an unbalanced panel, with an average of 2.9 observations per firm[3].\n4. Empirical strategy: In this section, we specify the statistical model that is used to estimate the determinants of female employment in manufacturing. The fractional nature of the dependent variable necessitates the use of the fractional logit model proposed by Papke and Wooldridge (1996)[9]. As was discussed above, our approach is closely related to that of Fakih and Ghazalian (2015). However, we extend this previous work in two significant ways. First, exploiting the panel dimension of our data, we estimate our specification with fixed effect model in order to control for the various unobservable and time-invariant features of the firm that tend to be correlated with female employment. This is done as follows.\n5. Estimation: This section discusses the estimation results of the specifications explained in the previous section. Table III shows the results for the model that explains the variation in the fraction of female full-time permanent workers. The results suggest that medium-sized and large firms tend to employ larger fractions of female permanent workers. This finding is consistent with our previous interpretation of the firm size variable, but runs counter to the results of Fakih and Ghazalian (2015), who find that, in MENA's manufacturing sector, full-time female workers prefer to work in smaller rather than larger firms. This could be due to factors such as more complex technologies and more unpleasant working conditions in larger firms.\n6. Conclusion and policy considerations: In recent years, Bangladesh, a country characterised by the practice of extreme patriarchy, has exhibited an impressive rate of growth in the participation of women in employment, particularly manufacturing. However, the recent tragedy in Rana Plaza, together with some emerging academic evidence, suggests that women are generally employed in low-skilled and low-paid industries within the manufacturing sector. This study sheds light on the demand-side determinants of a greater female employment in such industries, which existing studies have largely neglected.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the principal determinants of women's employment in the manufacturing sector of Bangladesh using a firm-level panel data from the World Bank's \"Enterprise Survey\" for the years 2007, 2011 and 2013. The paper sheds light on the demand-side factors, mainly firm-level characteristics, which also influence this decision.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors estimate a fractional logit model to model a dependent variable that is limited by zero from below and one from above.\nFindings: The results indicate that firm size, whether medium or large, and firms' export-oriented activities, have an important impact on women's employment in the manufacturing sector in Bangladesh. Moreover, the authors find that women are significantly more likely to work in unskilled-labour-intensive industries within the manufacturing sector.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research is limited to Bangladesh; however, much of the evidence presented here has implications that are relevant to policymakers in other developing countries.\nPractical implications: The study identifies factors that affect female employment, that is, where the main constraints to increase female labour force participation. The study focuses on the demand-side factors, which has been somewhat neglected in recent years. As such, it has practical policy implications.\nSocial implications: Focusing on female employment in Bangladesh also sheds light on the nexus between labour market opportunities and social change within a country that is characterised by extreme patriarchy, which has wide-reaching implications.\nOriginality/value: This is an original and comprehensive paper by the authors.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The learning conference	[ "Conferences", "Knowledge sharing", "Learning", "Learning methods" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nWhy do we pay to get lectured at?: Every so often, business managers, administrators, knowledge workers and professionals convene for events that are dedicated to learning and knowledge sharing but which actually produce very little learning. The \"professional conference\", as we shall call it, is the one- or two-day event called by government agencies, professional associations or independent conference organizers for the purpose of sharing information or knowledge about some topic of current interest to a community of professionals, be it business opportunities in South-East Asia, a narrative approach to corporate communications, the annual water industry conference or best practices in the food and beverage supply chain.Variously labeled summit, roundtable or forum, the professional conference is generally packed with PowerPoint presentations, with little time assigned for discussion, reflection or other audience participation. A common experience is that delegates listen patiently in the morning, but as the day wears on they seem increasingly bored, some sneak out prematurely and many leave the conference frustrated with having been kept passive for hours on end. Although educators generally agree that the presentation or lecture is a poor vehicle for learning, it is the mainstay of professional conferences everywhere.At scholarly conferences, where most delegates present papers, often in parallel sessions, the presentation serves several purposes: it is showcase of recent research and thus an important element of scientific communication, it pays the delegate's way (no presentation, no funding from one's home institution), and it is entered into the presenter's curriculum vitae and qualifies him or her for promotions and grants. These rationales, however, are absent at the professional conference where, typically, presenters are invited experts or practitioners who benefit little professionally from having made their presentation and hence often receive monetary compensation.In contradistinction to the recurrent sessions of management development programs, which often employ quite advanced instructional techniques beyond classroom teaching (coaching, peer one-on-ones, team work, reflective writing, experiential exercises, etc.), the one-shot professional conference is largely a relic of academic teaching practices in 19th century Germany: the all-powerful professor speaks to an auditorium of obedient students.The time is ripe for alternative types of professional conference. In the knowledge society, the managers and professionals attending conferences are often as well educated and experienced as the experts on the podium. Delegates are generally busy people engaged in important projects of their own, and they have just barely been able to free themselves from their interesting work to attend the conference. Chances are that they want opportunities to present their ongoing concerns and meet other people with like interests.This paper begins to address this need by introducing the idea of a \"learning conference\" that features many facilitated knowledge-sharing activities suitable for today's highly charged knowledge workers. The paper reports concepts and practical techniques developed as input to an explorative project titled \"Future meeting concepts\". The project was funded in part by the Danish Ministry of Economics and Business and in part by eight large conference venues in Denmark, most of whom derive a large part of their income from renting their facilities to conference organizers. The participating executives noted that since the introduction of the flip chart and the overhead projector in the 1970s, the meeting had seen no innovations. Hence, they formulated the need for a \"learning meeting\" that would involve meeting participants and not render them passive victims of PowerPoint overload.\nProblem showcase: an HR directors' conference: Here is an example of a fairly standard professional conference, identified more or less at random by googling \"conference\". Organized by Economist Conferences (2007), the Seventh Human Resources Roundtable, \"Global transformation and leadership\" is a one-day event. The website lists some current challenges to the HR director and suggests there will be ample opportunity for interaction: \"Discuss these and other key challenges with your peers from some of the world's most innovative and successful HR-driven organisations at our upcoming one-day roundtable in New York City.\"The event runs from 8.45 a.m. to 4.00 p.m., seven hours and fifteen minutes. There is an introduction and four 75-minute slots for presentations by eleven speakers, for a total of five hours. The remaining two hours and fifteen minutes are allocated to a break in the morning, luncheon and a break in the afternoon. Since each speaker has only about twenty-five minutes, there is unlikely to be much time for questions and discussion during the sessions. One hopes that the speakers make themselves available during the breaks, so as to enable the HR directors attending this conference to engage in the advertised discussion \"with your peers from the world's most innovative and successful HR-driven organisations\".The conference boasts the term \"roundtable\" in its title, suggesting a lively debate between a dozen participants seated around the same table, but it is a gimmick. This, too, will be a conference of passive listening, and it will probably see its share of exhausted delegates sneaking out mid-afternoon, unable to stand any more lecturing.\nResearch on the professional conference: Searches in the scholarly literature have failed to turn up studies on the professional conference as a forum for learning. Knowledge sharing at special types of conference, like search conferences (Emery and Purser, 1996) and consensus conferences (Andersen and Jaeger, 1999), is indeed discussed, as are several types of smaller meeting labeled conferences: medical case conferences, family group conferences, press conferences, electronic conferences, etc. More generally, alternatives to the classroom lecture as a vehicle of learning have been proposed for many years (Illeris, 2004), and PowerPoint presentations have been critiqued as well (Tufte, 2003). However, the literature is curiously silent on the learning opportunities wasted when six or twelve presentations are bundled into a conference for managers or other professionals to attend.\nAssumptions about knowledge and learning at conferences: When the organizers at Economist Conferences put their Seventh HR Roundtable together, what were their thoughts on learning and knowledge sharing? Well, part of the problem is that they probably didn't give it much thought, \"for this is simply how conferences are, you know\". However, the program is, of course, indicative of several assumptions:* Knowledge is held by the invited experts. Delegates have virtually nothing to contribute.* People attend to receive the experts' knowledge or enjoy their wit.* Experts best communicate their knowledge by speaking it and showing PowerPoint presentations.* When people seated on chairs hear the words and see the slides, they receive this knowledge.* Delegates will pick up the knowledge better if they are given just a little time for questions and discussion.Presented as starkly as this, these assumptions are unlikely to find backing in any quarters, even amongst conference organizers (their typical counterargument is commercial, not based on learning theory: \"Well, if we don't have prominent speakers up there, people are not going to show up. Having many speakers means that potential delegates are more likely to find one they'll want to hear\".)The learning theory implied by the traditional conference is the transfer model. Like the empiricist position, it assumes that people are blank slates on which the senses may write data about the world (Pinker, 2002). Minds are empty containers that are slowly filled during life, by parents, teachers etc. Traditional schooling presupposes that knowledge held by teachers may be successfully transferred to students if they simply tell the students what they know (Illich, 1971; Freire, 1972). The information theory of Shannon and Weaver (1949) reinforced these ideas by pointing out that information may be transferred from a sender to a receiver through a channel, and communication is effective when the message received is identical to the message sent.However, when teachers or professors are frustrated in their attempts to squeeze their valuable knowledge into their student's minds it is obviously because these minds are already filled with a thousand conversations, biological, emotional and intellectual. Any one of us harbors worlds of prior understanding and prejudice that filter and interpret incoming information to suit the intentions, inclinations and projects that constantly fill our minds and lives (Gadamer, 1975; Maturana and Varela, 1987). By nature, people are not passive receptacles; they are actively engaged in shaping their lives and trying to realize their potentials (Aristotle, 1962; Maslow, 1968; Snyder and Lopez, 2002).For teaching to be effective and learning to take place, educators must realize that students are always actively engaged in constructing their worlds (Piaget, 1926). Learners are geared to knowledge that produces practical results in their actions (Dewey, 1915). People learn in a holistic process that integrates their total sum of experience (Kolb, 1984), they learn best at the point where each individual is just about to go (Vygotsky, 1978), they learn from engaging socially with other people in real-life situations (Wenger, 1998) and so on and so forth. However diverse, textbooks on educational theory and practice will paint pictures of learning and knowledge creation that are pretty much the exact opposite of the professional conference.\nA forum for human co-flourishing: Future scholars of the professional conference will argue about which learning theory better undergirds the successful conference, and there will be many kinds of conference based on different learning theories. A first step, however, is simply to expect conferences to be founded on any modern kind of learning theory at all, that is, anything postdating the medieval - and still widely held - belief in the lecture as the medium of choice for knowledge transmission. For such a first step, let us collect a few strands of a modern and development-oriented view of human minds, knowledge and learning.What kind of people are the HR directors headed for the Roundtable presented above? Well, they are likely to be self-motivated and full of energy, and they probably have extensive life and work experience. They may be steeped in exciting projects and have lots of things they want to do. They are going to the conference looking for new and challenging input they can use in their work and they hope to connect with smart people with similar interests and share their concerns and thoughts with them. They want to be inspired, to talk and be listened to and to have fun with the other delegates.This is an early 21st-century rendition of the Aristotelian notion of human flourishing, adapted to the manager or the professional in the knowledge economy. Life is about finding one's telos (purpose) and unfolding the human potential, becoming what one is, as the Roman emperor-philosopher Marcus Aurelius put it.What is learning in such a view? Well, it is not what we usually think it is: a quantitative increase in knowledge, the storing of information, the acquisition of facts or skills, the making of meaning, or the reinterpretation of the world (Ramsden, 1992, p. 26). In a humanistic view, learning becomes indistinguishable from knowledge creation (Stacey, 2001, 2003) and thus becomes a key element of human development (UNDP, 2003). In this wider view, to learn is to expand the domain of capabilities, thus ensuring the progressive unfolding of the human potential, the flourishing of humankind.What is human flourishing in the very concrete context of the professional conference? Well, if I am going to a conference I want it to be relevant to my current concerns, I want it to help me use my resources and unleash my powers. I want to be inspired and empowered in such a way that I'll be more successful at doing what I already want to do within the area defined by the conference topic. Or, if I am sufficiently inspired by the conference, I will twist my current projects to accommodate the new aspects that so inspired me. In the rare case, I will even take up new projects or concerns that arise out of the social and intellectual interactions at the conference.So the key is inspiration, the enlightening experience that what I've just heard or realized or discussed with other people is new and exciting and will help me do what I want to do. Such sparks of inspiration may fly several times for me during a good conference; an excellent conference has sparks igniting again and again and the sublime event is one prolonged fireworks of enthusiastic inspiration between all delegates - the sort of meeting one may experience once in a lifetime or read about in the literature. In the domain of learning, this ideal for human interaction may be termed co-flourishing: when human potentials unfold and blossom in interaction with each other; when people have so inspired each other for individual or joint reflection or action that they become more fully what they are.\nDesign principles for the learning conference: If we posit the sort of ideal sketched in the previous paragraphs as the basis of the learning conference, what design principles may be derived for use by conference organizers? We propose the following principles:1. Expert input is fine, but it must be concise and provocative\nLearning techniques: These design principles may be brought to life in the learning conference through various process techniques.Individual reflection\nPotentials for change and research: It remains a challenge for a concerted research-and-development effort to ascertain exactly which concepts, designs and techniques produce desirable outcomes. Consultants, change agents and activists have always experimented informally with ways of meeting, interacting and knowledge sharing in groups, but the professional conference as an institution has remained surprisingly resilient - maybe because PowerPoint technology gave it a new lease on life ten years ago. It seems that every seasoned conference delegate is quite familiar with its shortcomings, yet the pattern is repeated every year.Those who wish to create conferences that help delegates learn can draw on the many extant techniques, activities and learning tools that are used by process consultants, mediators, family therapists, network agents and training and development specialists. There is a world of intelligent process facilitation waiting to be applied in the professional conference, if only more conference organizers and meeting planners would (dare) join the current revolution in learning and knowledge processes that is taking hold in business as well as academia these years.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to call attention to the fact that conferences for professionals rely on massive one-way communication and hence produce little learning for delegates - and to introduce an alternative, the \"learning conference\", that involves delegates in fun and productive learning processes.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A typical full-day conference is analyzed. It has six hours of podium talk and twenty-five minutes for delegates to become involved. What model of learning can possibly lie behind this? The transfer model, which assumes learners to be empty vessels. An alternative view is that conference delegates are active professionals in search of inspiration, and they also want to share knowledge with their peers at the conference. A theory of the conference as a forum for mutual inspiration and human co-flourishing is proposed, as are four design principles for a learning conference: presentations must provide concise input; the conference host must introduce processes that help delegates; interpret the input in the light of their ongoing concerns; talk about their current projects; and share knowledge with the other delegates.\nFindings: - Six learning processes for use during conferences are described: individual reflection; the buzz dyad; \"You have won two consultants, free of charge\"; facilitated group work; the knowledge exchange; and lunch with gaffer tape.\nOriginality/value: - This paper introduces learning theory and learning techniques into an educational context which has resisted innovation, the professional conference. It offers alternatives to wall-to-wall lecturing: some simple processes for involving delegates so as to help them derive inspiration from the material presented and from each other.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A hazard analysis methodology for the South African abattoir hygiene management system	[ "CCP", "Control point", "Hazards analysis", "HACCP", "Hygiene management system", "Meat safety" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. The South African hygiene management system (HMS): The adoption of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems to manage food safety hazards in the food sector has been widely reported. In the South African Meat Industry, the HMS is used at abattoirs to manage the safe handling and processing of meat. The HMS is a legal requirement as per Section 11(1)(e) of the Meat Safety Act, Act 40 of 2000 (South Africa (SA), 2000).\n2. Hazard analysis, HACCP and the HMS: The SANS 10330:2007 (HACCP) standard was published by the International Organisation for Standardisation and adopted in South Africa.\n3. Hazard analysis methodology: The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) presents a two dimensional health risk assessment model as a method of assessing the significance of food safety hazards by considering the probability of occurrence and the severity of consequences of hazards (Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), 2003). Table I presents a suggested hazard assessment matrix.\n4. Applying the proposed hazard analysis methodology in HACCP: 4.1 Flow diagram and hazard analysis\n5. A legal basis for, and the necessity of, hazard analysis within the regulated HMS: 5.1 The need for hazard analysis\n6. Steps to implement the HMS: The steps suggested in this section incorporate processes followed in this paper. They are suggested to identify CPs towards the development of a HMS. Pre-requisites must be considered before HMS implementation, e.g. people commitment, resource allocation and education and training of personnel. In total, 19 implementation steps are presented here:\n7. Conclusion and further research: The necessity to conduct hazard analysis as part of the HMS development at South African abattoirs is implied in regulations. If hazard analysis is not done, then the alternative would be to establish critical limits as well as monitoring systems for each hazard listed. As this is impractical, the HACCP approach is suggested. In this approach, PRPs are implemented to offer general control in the prevention of hazards. Hazard analysis is done to identify significant hazards and using the CCP decision tree, CCPs are identified and managed as part of a HACCP plan. The HMS adopts HACCP steps that justify benchmarking of HACCP.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) systems facilitate a preventative and systematic approach to control food safety hazards through critical control points (CCPs). Hazards are prevented, eliminated or reduced to acceptable levels. The regulated South African abattoir hygiene management system (HMS) has adopted HACCP principles. Control points (CPs) represent the central feature of control within the HMS. However, there are no guidelines to conduct hazard analysis within the HMS. There is also no guideline to identify CPs. The purpose of this paper is to present a hazard analysis methodology that may be used at South African abattoirs to overcome these shortcomings.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A review of SANS 10330:2007 (HACCP) and the regulated HMS standards was undertaken. A generic HACCP plan was developed for a hypothetical bovine processing abattoir. A proposed hazard analysis methodology was used to analyse generic hazards to determine its significance. Thereafter, CCPs were identified using the CCP decision tree. This was done to enable meaningful comparison between HACCP-based CCPs and HMS-based CPs. The hazard analysis methodology suggested by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) namely, the two dimensional health risk assessment model used to assess the significance of food safety hazards was used as a benchmark.\nFindings: The management of CPs in a HMS plan is similar to control contemplated in a HACCP plan. It was found that regulated CPs are not specifically stated as CPs, they need to be identified. Also, not all regulated CPs addressed the significant hazards that were identified using the proposed methodology in this paper. Managing only regulated CPs in the HMS plan may likely offer limited control over hazards. Therefore, hazards analysis is important to identify significant hazards and in turn, CPs that provide more comprehensive control within the HMS in addition to exercising control using only regulated CPs. It was observed that there are no decision criteria available to identify CPs, unlike HACCP. It was proposed that because CPs are defined similar to CCPs, that the CCP decision tree be used to identify CPs.\nOriginality/value: A hazard analysis methodology was proposed to develop the HMS as well as steps towards its development. A decision guideline was also presented to facilitate extracting CPs from regulations. Important definitions lacking in regulations, and relating to the HMS, have also been proposed in this paper. More robust HMSs may be developed by identifying regulated CPs as well as identifying them through hazard analysis.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The humanitarian imperative for education in disaster response	[ "Disaster", "Education", "Protection", "Humanitarian", "Response", "Emergencies", "CFS", "EiE" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The growing number of humanitarian crises around the world that have multiple contexts and forms has caused renewed thinking about how we go about the business of disaster response and humanitarian aid. This is true not just for how we deliver aid, but also who we deliver it to, and what we deliver them.\nDisasters and education: Disasters continue to have a major global impact on the lives of people, affecting millions (UNHCR, 2017). From 1994 to 2013, 218 million people were affected by natural hazards, annually. Geophysical disasters accounted for the highest number of deaths over the same 20 year period for total affected populations, at 750,000 (CRED, 2015). This has resulted in a complex field of emergency response.\nEducation as a global concern: Access to education as a global priority is a cornerstone of recent development agendas. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were instrumental in placing education as a necessary objective, taking the view that there were no circumstances in which people could be denied basic rights to education. After mixed success, MDGs were replaced with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Sachs (2015, p. 53) determined that, despite not achieving all that they could have, should have, or what we were told they would have, the MDGs had \"made a real difference\". For the SDGs, the goals of education and gender equality are considered complimentary to achieving educational objectives. Goal 4 - inclusive and equitable quality education, and Goal 5 - gender equality (UN, 2015, pp. 17-18), combine to deliver development goals that require nations to ensure that all boys and girls have access to free, inclusive, quality primary education. This is true also during crises, directly referring to the needs of the vulnerable, which are identified as including \"persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations\" such as complex humanitarian emergencies (UN, 2015, p. 17).\nVaried benefits of EiE: In many ways, education owes its status as a response activity not to the act of formal education itself, but to the associated benefits that come along with it. EiE is inclusive, and encompasses all levels of education including for adults and vocational education, however the biggest drivers of funding and advocacy relate to children, highlighted by attempts to mainstream \"universal primary education\" into the discourse. Being one of the more visible, vulnerable groups, arguments regarding the benefits of education to children are often more persuasive. This includes the impact of EiE on child protection, as well as both mental and physical health, which will be discussed here.\nConclusion: The above analysis indicates the holistic merit of education in disaster response and that, even though the instruments of international law compel education to be considered from a rights-based perspective, the humanitarian imperative presents a more coherent framework as to why education should be given a greater role in humanitarian response. Yet, despite the growing coverage of the multiple benefits of EiE, education still receives only a limited share of humanitarian funding - approximately 2 per cent. The commitment to increase this funding to 4 per cent has not been met, and specific disasters generally receive less than 40 per cent of the resources requested for education. Meanwhile, the number of children in emergency situations unable to participate in education reaches into the millions, and continues to grow.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present an argument showing the importance of education as a disaster response activity, and why it must figure more prominently in financial and material support for humanitarian disasters.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A critical review of the literature and case studies that have considered humanitarian response activities is carried out, drawing together conclusions on the varied impacts of Education in Emergencies (EiE) on affected populations and identifying the need for more research in this area.\nFindings: Despite rhetorical commitments to education as an emergency response activity, it is often dismissed as non-life saving, and receives the poorer share of funding and resources from humanitarian budgets. It places lower in the consciousness of states and donors than traditional response activities, yet rates highly by affected communities. However, education is both life-saving and life-sustaining when taking into account the impact of education beyond teaching and learning. The processes and effects of education as part of emergency response need to be better understood, and further research that links education and its life-saving capability will strengthen its case.\nOriginality/value: This paper argues how immediate response to restore education functions in affected communities after an emergency can significantly contribute to child protection and health. It provides compelling reasons for the status of EiE as a response activity, adding to the voice of more than 200 million people affected by disasters every year, many of whom continue to prioritise education.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Understanding "disengagement from knowledge sharing": engagement theory versus adaptive cost theory	[ "Knowledge sharing", "Adaptive cost theory", "Disengagement", "Engagement theory", "Knowledge hoarding" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Knowledge sharing is critical for organizational success (Alavi and Leidner, 2001; Birkinshaw and Sheehan, 2002), yet there have been a variety of reasons why employees fail to share their knowledge. For example, employees' desire to protect their knowledge or an employee responding to organizational expectations to protect their knowledge are two reasons why employees hide or hoard their knowledge (Webster et al., 2008; Connelly et al., 2012; Ford, 2008). However, in more cases, knowledge sharing fails to occur even when employees feel no need to protect their knowledge (Ford, 2008).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Disengagement from knowledge sharing\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Participants and procedure\n4. Results: The data analysis for this study proceeded as follows. First, we assessed the psychometric properties of each construct. Second, the relationships between the independent variables (job engagement, meaningfulness, safety, availability) and disengagement from knowledge sharing were examined through a series of structural equation models. Our research objective was to test hypotheses and compare two competing models (Figure 1). H1-H4 were tested by examining the significance of the paths between the constructs. We further examined the relationship between independent variables and disengagement from knowledge sharing by using a nested-models approach (Anderson and Gerbing, 1988) and report the parameter values, chi-square, Bentler's comparative fit index (CFI), the Tucker Lewis Index (TLI or NNFI) and the standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) for the series of structural models.\n5. Discussion: This paper sought to address the question of why people do not share their knowledge with others at work; why do they become disengaged from knowledge sharing. First, it should be noted to what extent disengagement from knowledge sharing occurred within this sample. On average, participants reported being disengaged from knowledge sharing one to two times in the previous four weeks. Of all the participants, 74.6 per cent reported having been disengaged from knowledge sharing at least once in the past month, of which 7 per cent reported being disengaged from knowledge sharing at least once a week. In comparison to the other \"lack of sharing\" behaviors, like knowledge hoarding where the individual actively protects the knowledge and does not share it, this appears to be more frequent as other research has identified knowledge hiding (i.e. protecting requested knowledge) and hoarding to be low-base rate behaviors (Connelly et al., 2012; Zweig and Trougakos, 2008). Thus, it is relevant to examine the causes of disengagement from knowledge sharing as opposed to confounding this behavior with knowledge hoarding or hiding.\n6. Conclusion: Currently, there is an assumption within the knowledge management literature, that when individuals do not share their knowledge, they are intentionally withholding and protecting it. However, this study illustrates that it is more likely that individuals are simply disengaging from the sharing process (i.e. not communicating their knowledge but also not protecting it). Furthermore, the results from the study presented indicate that Adaptive Cost Theory, infused with Engagement Theory, explains the lack of sharing within organizations and that disengagement from knowledge sharing is likely a common problem instead of the malevolent, opportunistic behavior of knowledge hoarding. The key predictors of disengagement from knowledge sharing are availability (i.e. health), job engagement (as a demand) and meaningfulness (which becomes fully mediated by job engagement).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is using competing hypotheses (a spillover hypothesis, based on Engagement Theory, and a provisioning hypothesis, based on Adaptive Cost Theory) to help explain why employees become disengaged from knowledge sharing.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Employed knowledge workers completed an online questionnaire regarding their job characteristics, their general health and wellness, perceived organizational support, job engagement and disengagement from knowledge sharing.\nFindings: The findings provide empirical support for Adaptive Cost Theory and illustrate the relationship between Engagement Theory and the Disengagement from Knowledge Sharing. In particular, this research illustrates the importance of health and wellness for preventing disengagement from knowledge sharing. In addition, the findings introduce a new finding of tensions between job engagement and knowledge sharing, which supports knowledge workers' complaints of \"being too busy\" to share.\nResearch limitations/implications: This study uses cross-sectional methodology; however, the participants are employed and in the field. Given the theoretical arguments that disengagement from knowledge sharing should be either short term or transient, future research should follow-up with diary methods to capture this to confirm the study's conclusions.\nPractical implications: The findings of this study provide some insight for practitioners on how to prevent disengagement from knowledge sharing. New predictors and an interesting tension between job engagement and knowledge sharing are identified.\nOriginality/value: This study examines an alternative explanation for the lack of knowledge sharing in organizations, and uses competing theories to identify the reasons for the disengagement from knowledge sharing.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Antecedents of innovation in industry: The impact of work environment factors on creative performance	[ "Work environment" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Ongoing uncertainty in the modern business environment requires managers to strive to find suitable alternatives for a business to survive and develop. Creativity and innovation are increasingly important in relation to developing skills in organizations, underscoring the critical role that fostering creativity plays in management for effective innovative performance.\nReview of the literature: This section presents a review of the research on which this study is based and is divided into three topics: determinants of creative performance in companies; the componential theory of creativity; and the KEYS research instrument. The aim of this review is first to present various studies, including the most recent, which establish a connection between practices and behaviors that promote creativity in the business environment at both the individual and working group levels. Next, the theory on which this study is based is presented in greater detail, followed by a description of the KEYS instrument. The componential theory of creativity underlines the KEYS instrument.\nMethod: To answer the questions posed by the study, an exploratory study was undertaken, which nevertheless included a test of the hypothesis. The research consisted of a field study designed to explore individuals' perceptions about their work environment at a particular moment (Amabile et al., 2010). In light of the limited information about organizations that actually foster creativity in Brazil, the sample was chosen for heterogeneity and is based on openness to participation in the study.\nResults: In light of the goal of assessing the impact of various measures of the work environment on creativity, a multiple regression analysis was used to estimate a model. The values for the work environment dimensions were examined and the behavior of the dependent variable creativity was observed and compared using the regression formula.\nDiscussion: The theoretical foundations presented and the results obtained show that companies should be organized in a manner that strengthens the dimensions that foster a creative social work environment (Amabile et al., 1996; Ensor et al., 2001). This study is based on the guidelines of the componential theory of creativity and the KEYS instrument, and the use of this instrument along with accepted premises and solidity contributed to the data obtained.\nConclusions: In this study, the factors that were shown to have a significant impact on the creative process in the sample were organizational encouragement, challenging work and work group support. The analyses performed made it possible to select these variables as having the greatest impact on creativity. Factors such as freedom, supervisor encouragement, sufficient resources, realistic workload pressure and absence of organizational impediments were not significant. The reasons for this counter-intuitive result are unknown, and only additional studies can shed light on the problem. The data collected do not allow one to draw conclusions about the reasons for the results, which is one of this study's limitations. The complete absence of Brazilian studies based on componential theory makes the search for an explanation even more difficult. It is possible, however, to speculate that the cultural factor certainly must have contributed to the results (Zhou and Su, 2010). A follow-up study with a new questionnaire aimed at further analysis of a qualitative nature focusing on the cultural aspect and differences between the USA and Brazil could shed new light on the results. An alternative explanation for the counter-intuitive result is that the sample may have had too little variety, so a confirmatory factorial analysis based on a large sample of Brazilian individuals and companies could find more broad-based support for the factorial structure proposed in Amabile's model.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Today, organizations must be able to create innovative strategies, and creative performance depends on knowing what hinders or stimulates creativity. This paper aims to determine which factors in the workplace environment positively or negatively affect creativity by analyzing individuals' perceptions in a sample of Brazilian industrial companies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The discussion is based on the componential theory of creativity and the use of a recognized research instrument (KEYS). A regression analysis was carried out, using eight environmental factors related to creativity. The purpose of the collection is to observe the statistical relationships between the scales of the factors and the results related to creativity.\nFindings: Among the eight factors of the original componential theory, only three were found to have a significant impact on the creative process: organizational incentives, challenging work and support from the work group.\nResearch limitations/implications: The sample in this study was relatively small, and a larger sample will be required to undertake factor analysis.\nPractical implications: Possible implications for the management of innovation in the Brazilian context are discussed in light of these results.\nOriginality/value: This study contributed to the production of knowledge, still scarce in the country, about the search for creative solutions through the work environment by confirming which factors are significant and determinants of creative performance and challenging factors that had already been proven by other studies in non-Brazilian contexts.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Human resource management impact on knowledge management: Evidence from the Portuguese banking sector	[ "Service sector", "Knowledge management", "Training", "Human resource management", "Career development", "Retention" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: This paper focuses on questions of organizational knowledge, human resources and the dynamics of relations developed between them, within the dominant perspectives and assumptions in people management. The literature suggests that knowledge management (KM) is not alien to the orientations adopted in the management and application of processes related to people.\n2. Theoretical background: In the current context, where change is the main factor affecting evolution at the most varied levels, the greatest challenge organizations face is in their capacity to create, improve and manage new knowledge as a valuable asset (Pinho et al., 2012). As stated by Akhavan et al. (2013), successful organizations will be the ones that are able to improve and develop their knowledge. This implies thinking of people as creators and holders of knowledge, with potential and competences that should be directed and collectively organized, besides reorienting management practices according to the demands of the emerging knowledge society. Therefore, people take on increasing importance (Ubeda-Garcia et al., 2013).\n3. Empirical study: 3.1. Implementation\n4. Discussion: Attempting to interpret the results relating to the sub-scales in analysis (CMPA, PTPA and RPA), we find that for career management, F1 - career management based on merit and development presents a positive predictive capacity for the KM scale as a whole and for each of its constituent factors. It stands out, however, that the predictive capacity shown is greater concerning Factors 1 and 3 of KM (knowledge-centred culture and formal KM practices). F2 - career management based on length of service and tenure only allows a forecast of F1 - knowledge-centred culture, this forecast being negative. Therefore, the more an organization adopts career management practices based on length of service and tenure, the lesser the presence of a culture oriented to knowledge. Indeed, whereas F1 - career management based on merit and development is a factor promoting and facilitating knowledge-centred culture, F2 is seen to inhibit this.\n5. Conclusions, main contributions and limitations: 5.1. Conclusions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explain and empirically test the dependence of organizational processes related to knowledge on the nature of assumptions operating in processes of human resource management (HRM) in organizations. It concentrates on practices related to training, career development and retention.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This empirical study as a quantitative nature and the sample is made up of 5,306 collaborators in 634 organizations belonging to an economic group in the banking sub-sector. Data were collected through two questionnaires: human resource management practices questionnaire and knowledge management questionnaire - short form. The model was tested by applying univariate and multivariate multiple regression analyses.\nFindings: Findings provide support for the proposed model and show the predictive capacity of the HRM practices regarding knowledge management (KM) processes, revealing a strong direct relationship between the two constructs. It stands out that the people management practices adopted from an organic and valued perspective possess a particular and distinctive capacity to predict and impact positively on KM processes.\nPractical implications: The findings may be used by human resources and KM practitioners interested in the development of organizational knowledge through human resource practices.\nOriginality/value: The main contribution of this study is to confirm the close relationship of dependency between organizational management processes regarding people and knowledge, showing the positive effect of best practices of HRM on KM processes, as opposed to traditional or transactional practices.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Role of virtues in the relationship between shame and tendency to plagiarise: Study in the context of higher education	[ "Emotions", "Graduate education", "Plagiarism", "Virtues", "Quasi-experiment" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Plagiarism is the unlawful use of another author's ideas or words and representing them as one's genuine work. A Roman, Martial, defined the term \"plagarius\", a Latin word, which means kidnapper. Martial claimed that another poet had \"kidnapped his verses\". According to Mallon (1989), \"the Elizabethan playwright Ben Johnson was the first person to use the word 'plagiary' to mean literary theft, at the beginning of the 17th century\".\n2. Theoretical background: Most universities around the globe consider plagiarism, in the form of copying other's work and representing as one's own, as the most serious offence. This is increasing day by day because it is challenging to notice such acts. Even if some of the cases are caught, then there are no proper rules in some universities to take actions against them or to punish them. This, in return, gives an impetus to such kind of copying activities for gaining grades. Detection of plagiarism is time-consuming and requires a lot of efforts. Presently, there is an increase in plagiarism in varied types of academic texts. It is very difficult to measure the attitude of students towards plagiarism; researchers should use psychometrically tested instruments for the better understanding of plagiarism behaviour among students (Ehrich et al., 2015).\n3. Measures of the study: In this study, the questionnaire is taken from the previous research done by Halimin Herjanto (2013) on digital piracy. The seven-point Likert-type scales are used with anchors ranging from 1=I do not feel anything at all to 7=I feel this very strongly for felt emotions (shame) and 1=I definitely would not to 7=I definitely would for individual virtues and outcome behaviour. It contains the questions related to the felt emotions (external and internal shame), individual virtues (influence, competitiveness and equality) and outcome behaviour (repair, discontinuance and avoidance behaviour). Along with scale items, respondents were also asked to provide basic demographic information related to their gender, age, programme enrolled and religion.\n4. Data analyses: The partial least square (PLS) based structural equation modelling (SEM) is an advanced statistical technique that includes factor analysis and regression analysis simultaneously to examine the relationship between measurement indicators and constructs (Hair et al., 2017). SEM is commonly used in social science research to develop and test theories using survey data. SmartPLS software was used for testing of measurement model as well as for hypotheses testing (Ringle et al., 2015).\n5. Results of hypotheses testing: H1. The feeling of shame is associated with the outcome behaviour (i.e. avoidance, discontinuance and repair).\n6. Discussions and conclusions: In this study, a conceptual framework is developed to show the relationship between the emotion of shame and plagiarism-related outcome behaviours. The framework based on recent psychological research is tested on graduates. The results show strong support for the scenario-based effect of felt emotions, i.e., shame on outcome behaviour for plagiarism with moderating effect of specific individual virtues. We found that manipulated shame resulted in feelings of both internal and external shame. When individuals feel internal shame, they discontinue plagiarism. They also try to repair the damage that they cause by plagiarism. However, feeling of external shame encourages individuals to discontinue plagiarism but does not influence their avoidance and repair behaviour. Virtues such as influence, competitiveness and equality weaken the relationship between internal shame and plagiarism-related outcome behaviour. At the same time, these virtues do not affect the relationship between external shame and outcome behaviours. When individuals have high value for influence and competitiveness, they may be justifying the act of plagiarism even if they internally feel ashamed. Similarly, they may be justifying the act of plagiarism when they have high value for equality. This may be because, in a country like India, they may think that they are deprived of resources which are easily available to their counterparts in well-developed economies and therefore they may perceive the act of plagiarism as a means for achieving equality.\n7. Implications: The findings of the study have significant implications for the management of scholarly work at educational institutions and universities. It is important for universities to understand the role of specific emotions in influencing individuals' plagiarism behaviour. Specifically, the study suggests that universities should provoke the emotion of shame to control plagiarism and encourage pro-social behaviour among scholars.\n8. Limitations: In order to conduct the theoretically and empirically sound research, all efforts were made. Despite this, no study can be free from the limitations. Geographically, India is a varied and vast country; this study is limited to certain geographical regions. There is scope to analyse the plagiarism issue at the sub-national levels (Gaur et al., 2014). Another limitation in the study is the use of the narrative description of fictitious scenarios to generate the self-conscious emotions among scholars. In future studies, use of videos and real-life examples may enhance the degree of realism of manipulations and generate stronger emotions (Xie et al., 2015). Due to time and fund constraints, the sample size is small for such type of study. There are clear differences across different developing countries and between developing and developed countries (Judge et al., 2010; Singh and Gaur, 2009). For instance, the role of regulations and government intervention, as well as perceptions about what is ethical and unethical, differs significantly between India and China (Gaur et al., 2018; Li and Gaur, 2014; Pattnaik et al., 2018). A person who plagiarises is not just a consumer but also simultaneously a producer. However, our research considers only consumer's perspective. We have not included producer's perspective in our study. This is another limitation that future studies may like to address. In Middle Eastern countries, very less amount of significant research has been carried out in the area of education management. Many research papers have been conceptualised to provide solutions to the problems being faced by policymakers and educational institutions in the Middle East region (Singh, 2017), but empirical studies are scare. Our study can be replicated in the context of Middle Eastern countries to understand the plagiarism phenomenon.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Plagiarism is an epidemic for scholars that needs to be managed. Penalties do not seem to be able to stop people from indulging in it. Manipulation of emotions and values may help in discouraging people from plagiarism. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to understand the association between felt emotion and plagiarism outcome behaviours. Another objective of the study is to see the role of virtues in discouraging people from plagiarism.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A scenario-based quasi-experimental method is used to collect the data. Graduate students from various Indian universities were invited for the experiment. The partial least square based structural equation modelling is used to test the measurement as well as path model.\nFindings: The authors found that manipulated shame resulted in feelings of both international and external shame. When individuals feel internal shame, they avoid and discontinue plagiarism. They also try to repair the damage that they cause by plagiarism. However, feeling of external shame only encourages individuals to discontinue plagiarism behaviour. Virtues such as influence, competitiveness and equality weaken the relationship between internal shame and plagiarism-related outcome behaviour. At the same time, these virtues do not affect the relationship between external shame and outcome behaviours.\nPractical implications: This study has important implications for the institutions of higher education. The study suggests that universities should provoke the emotion of shame through various communications to students to control the act of plagiarism by their students.\nOriginality/value: No study seems to have examined if the manipulation of emotions and values can help reduce the problem of plagiarism. This is an attempt towards bridging this important gap in literature. Therefore, findings of this study are of great value to scholars and content developers.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A study into the reasons for process improvement project failures: results from a pilot survey	[ "Process improvement", "Survey", "Project management", "Continuous improvement projects", "Project failures", "Six Sigma project failures" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: The need for business process improvement (BPI) has become indispensable to overcoming contemporary challenges and achieving and sustaining competitive advantage (Antony and Gupta, 2019). Various structured continuous improvement (CI) approaches that were originally based on the philosophies and methods of Total Quality Management (TQM), developed into Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma (LSS) and have become a core strategic element in organizations to improve internal and external process performance and to succeed in competitive markets (Adebanjo et al., 2016; McLean et al., 2017; Tewari et al., 2017). Today, BPI initiatives such as Lean and Six Sigma are an integral part of the overall business strategy for many organizations across a range of services and a range of industry sectors (Adebanjo et al., 2016).\n2. Literature review: Studies on project failures are imperative as everyone, in general, is associated with various financial and non-financial losses which can impede the development of other potential projects. Additionally, learning from a project failure can play a key role in the planning and monitoring of future projects to ensure the long-term success of any organization implementing and sustaining CI initiatives such as Kaizen, Lean, Six Sigma or LSS.\n3. Research methodology: Data were collected through an online survey which targeted Six Sigma practitioners and project leaders in various manufacturing organizations including Six Sigma BBs, MBBs, GBs and champions. An online survey method was selected, due to its low cost and the ability to deploy the questionnaire in a standardized way, using self-administered methods by the respondents (Couper and Miller, 2008). The questionnaire was piloted with five academics, who are experienced in Lean and Six Sigma topics and who have published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, as well as three Lean and Six Sigma practitioners who have significant experience with projects. The purpose of the piloting exercise was to identify those questions which needed improvement from a practical standpoint as well as ensuring that none of the constructs were omitted by the researchers (Forza, 2002).\n4. Pilot survey key results: 4.1 Internal consistency analysis\n5. Discussion: The reasons provided for CI projects failure are not well explored in the literature and are limited in terms of empirical studies (Arumugam et al., 2016). The CI approaches, such as Lean, Six Sigma and LSS are directly related to the execution of projects and success may be defined through successful project management (Laux et al., 2015). Therefore, this study aims to contribute to filling this literature gap, especially since there are direct managerial implications in practitioners' awareness of the reasons for process improvement project failures. We identify and describe ten factors that can influence the failure of process improvement projects based on the literature. These factors were then investigated empirically through an online pilot survey, completed by specialists who had experience in process improvement projects in manufacturing organizations.\n6. Managerial/practical implications and limitations: This research has some important implications for managers, process improvement projects leaders and process improvement project members in all organizations. The findings suggest that failure in improvement projects cannot be ignored as the cost to organizations may include the loss of significant resources in terms of time and manpower. This implies that it is vital for senior managers and project leaders such as Six Sigma MBBs and BBs to identify and understand those factors which cause process improvement project failures so that remedial measures can be taken to mitigate against the impact of these failures. Moreover, CI or process improvement champions play an immense role in the project selection and completion of projects led by Six Sigma MBBs/BBs/GBs. The awareness of reasons for failures at the project level, team level and organizational level for such champions can be very beneficial to reduce the chances of failures which result in significant cash, time and energy loses by several individuals who play a role in project execution. This paper illustrates the main causes of failures which occur when process improvement project leaders execute projects at strategic and operational levels. The role of senior managers and process improvement project leaders play in reducing the chances of project failures are also highlighted.\n7. Conclusions and agenda for further research: Improvement initiatives such as Six Sigma and LSS are increasingly widespread in manufacturing companies and other types of organizations, but there is still a high drop-out rate for companies, mainly due to the high costs and absence of results. Project failure occurs when there is no return on investment or time invested which can undermine interest and efforts required for any process improvement initiative. This paper reports on the results of a Six Sigma pilot survey carried out with Brazilian CI specialists from manufacturing companies. The results of the study showed that there is a moderate rate of project failures and that one of the most worrisome stages is control, the stage where projects are discontinued and results are not maintained. This could cost organizations several thousands of dollars or in some bigger multi-national corporations this could be several multi-million dollars. The paper also presents the factors and variables which identify the main reasons for failure. This study was carried out with some limitations such as the sample size (pilot study) and a focus on Brazilian companies and specialists with manufacturing experience. Due to limited sample size of the study, the authors could not perform any advanced statistical analyses (e.g. factor analysis). Moreover, the authors did not carry out a separate analysis with different sizes of the firms participated in the pilot survey to determine if the firm size has any impact on failure rate of process improvement projects. Moreover no analysis has been performed to understand if companies with high degree of maturity on Six Sigma implementation have less impact on project failure rates or not.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Process improvement initiatives, such as Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma, typically have common characteristics that are carried through projects. Whilst a project's performance is an important determinant of the successful implementation of continuous improvement (CI) initiatives, its failure can undermine the impact of any CI initiative on business performance. As a result, an understanding of the reasons of process improvement project failures is crucial. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a pilot survey highlighting the most common reasons for process improvement project failures.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper presents a pilot survey of 42 Brazilian manufacturing specialists who have been involved in process improvement projects. The participants of this survey were Six Sigma Master Black Belts, Black Belts, Green Belts and Six Sigma champions from manufacturing companies in Brazil. The survey questionnaire was piloted with five experts in the field in order to ensure that the questions were valid and technically sound.\nFindings: The execution of Six Sigma projects in organizations results in a moderate rate of project failures. These failures can cost organizations several millions of dollars especially within the context of larger organizations. The main reasons for project failure, as cited by the specialists include: resistance to change, lack of commitment and support from top management and incompetent teams.\nResearch limitations/implications: The authors report the findings from a pilot survey having a limited sample size. Moreover, the data have been collected from one country and primarily from large manufacturing companies.\nOriginality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first empirical study looking into the reasons for process improvement project failures. The authors argue that if the top reasons for such failures are understood, a framework can be developed in the future that can mitigate the chance of project failures during project execution. This could potentially lead to significant savings to the bottom-line of many organizations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Dynamic benchmarking methodology for quality function deployment	[ "Benchmarking", "Quality function deployment", "Analytical hierarchy process", "Competitors", "SWOT analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1 Introduction: A competitive advantage, generally, can be gained if a company produces a product that not only addresses what the customer values most, but also performs better than its competitors in terms of quality, cost, and timeliness. However, these two factors, namely, the customer needs and competitors' performance, change over time, and yet most product-design processes seem to have oversimplified this fact. In the quality function deployment (QFD) literature, which is known as one of the most important tools in customer-driven product and service-development process (Bergman and Klefsjo, 2003; Xie et al., 2003; Raharjo et al., 2008; Miguel and Carnevalli, 2008), the former factor has been quite well addressed (Shen et al., 2001; Xie et al., 2003; Wu et al., 2005; Wu and Shieh, 2006; Raharjo et al., 2006). Unfortunately, there is too little attention paid to the latter, which is equally critical. To design or upgrade a product successfully using the QFD, it is not sufficient to only observe the change of customer requirements or attributes importance over time because during the product-creation process, competitive condition, especially, competitors' performance changes as well. Therefore, to improve the likelihood of success of a product design or upgrade process, both of these factors and their dynamics should be taken into account.This paper aims to address this issue, that is, how the dynamics of these two factors along with their interaction can be integrated into a QFD analysis. For simplicity, it is referred to as dynamic benchmarking methodology. This proposed methodology essentially comprises of two novel technical approaches. First, it is the use of an exponential smoothing-based forecasting technique, as described in Raharjo et al. (2009), to model the trend of the importance rating values and the competitive benchmarking information. Note that, in contrast to the traditional practice which mostly uses a direct rating scale of, for example, 1-5 or 1-9 (Hauser and Clausing, 1988; Cohen, 1995), the importance rating values and the competitors' benchmarking information are obtained using the analytic hierarchy process's (AHP's) relative measurement. Second, it is the approach, which is called the strength-weakness-opportunity-threat (SWOT)-based competitive weighting scheme, to derive weights by analyzing the interaction between the two factors. In addition, this proposed weighting scheme also serves as a more systematic way to substitute the traditional QFD customer competitive target setting and sales point value determination.The following sections are organized as follows. Section 2 will describe the need of dynamic benchmarking in the QFD based on what have been done in the literature. Then, the proposed benchmarking methodology is elaborated in Section 3. The AHP pairwise comparison is used as the main tool to elicit the knowledge, opinions, and judgments of the customer on the two factors mentioned above. To illustrate how the proposed methodology works practically, an illustrative example is provided (Section 4). Section 5 will elaborate how the competitive weighting scheme is used to derive the final customer requirements' weight, namely, the strategic importance rating (SIR) (Chan and Wu, 2002), by considering the two factors' interaction. Finally, the novel contribution and possible extensions are discussed (Section 6).\n2 The need of dynamic benchmarking: literature review and research gap: A benchmarking process can be regarded as a continuous and proactive search for the best practices leading to a superior performance of a company (Camp, 1995). Successful benchmarking may lead to an improved return on investment ratio, increased market competitiveness, cost reductions, higher chance of identifying new business opportunities, and enhanced transparency and performance (Ramabadran et al., 2004; Braadbaart, 2007). It provides insights necessary to effectively pinpoint the critical success factors that set the most successful firms apart from their competitors, or to a greater extent, that separates the winners from the losers (Cooper and Kleinschmidt, 1987, 1995). Specifically, the benchmarking information can serve as a foundation for a company to formulate strategic decisions effectively (Spendolini, 1992).An important fact worth highlighting is that, as the passage of time, the company as well as the competitors' condition will certainly change. Therefore, benchmarking process should not remain static. The importance of dynamic benchmarking has been realized by several researchers. Min et al. (1997) used the AHP for competitive benchmarking and substantiated the need of dynamic benchmarking that is capable of evaluating the changing degree of clinic's patient satisfaction over time. In attempt to identify tools, methodologies, and metrics that can serve as enablers for making benchmarking in agile environments effective and efficient, Sarkis (2001) highlighted the importance of forward thinking (proactive) approach in benchmarking, such as by using forecasting techniques, on the basis of historical data, to obtain future benchmarks.Min et al. (2002) analyzed the changing hotel's customer needs over time and demonstrated the importance of dynamic benchmarking to strive for continuous service quality improvement. Unfortunately, they only focused on two data points in time, namely years 1995 and 2000, which is very likely inadequate for observing the change over time. Salhieh and Singh (2003) proposed a dynamic framework using principles of systems dynamics to incorporate benchmarking for university effective policy design. However, their approach can be considered \"reactive\" since they relied on a feedback mechanism. Tavana (2004) proposed a dynamic benchmarking framework, which uses the AHP and additive multiple criteria decision-making model, for technology assessment at NASA.In the existing QFD literature, the issue of benchmarking has been, to some extent, oversimplified. Some previous attempts can be found in Lu et al. (1994), Ghahramani and Houshyar (1996), Gonzales et al. (2005), Iranmanesh et al. (2005) or Ginn and Zairi (2005). Using a real world case study, Kumar et al. (2006) demonstrated that there is a synergistic effect in integrating benchmarking with QFD methodologies for companies that seek higher levels of financial and strategic performance through product improvement. Gonzales et al. (2008) demonstrated the effective application of QFD and benchmarking to enhance academic programmes. More recently, Lai et al. (2008) showed the importance of competitor information for deriving QFD's customer requirements ranking. With respect to this, they developed a new ranking method that is based on fuzzy mathematics.Nevertheless, almost none of the existing studies have adequately addressed the need to provide a more formal and systematic approach to use dynamic benchmarking in the QFD. As mentioned previously, the competitive condition may change during product-creation process, therefore how to appropriately deal with such change is of great necessity. Pursuing the \"proactive\" stream of research in dealing with the market dynamics first initiated by Shen et al. (2001) or Xie et al. (2003), this paper attempts to fill in this gap by proposing the use of a forecasting technique for monitoring, apart from the change of customer preferences, the change of the benchmarking information in the QFD.It is worth noting that the AHP relative measurement is suggested for deriving the competitive benchmarking information and the customer preferences. Examples of the use of the AHP-based approach for benchmarking can be found in Korpela and Tuominen (1996), Min et al. (1997), Chan et al. (2006), Chen and Huang (2007), Dey et al. (2008), Tavana (2008) or Raharjo et al. (2008). In the end, it is expected that having known the timely update of information on the change of competitors' performance and the change of customer preference over time, along with their interaction, the QFD decision-making process can be improved.\n3 The proposed dynamic benchmarking methodology: This section describes the proposed dynamic benchmarking methodology for the QFD. Section 3.1 provides necessary information on how one may obtain the input data from the customer through the use of the AHP. Then, the step-by-step procedure to use the proposed methodology is elaborated in Section 3.2.3.1 The input\n4 An illustrative example: To illustrate the proposed approach, consider the following example. Suppose that there are three DQs being monitored. It is assumed that the historical data for a period of nine months for the importance rating priorities and the competitive assessment priorities are already available. These data are generated from a simulation of AHP reciprocal matrices using the fundamental scale of 1-9. All the generated matrices have consistency ratio value of less than 0.1. For the sake of simplicity, it is assumed that there is no problem in Steps 1 and 2.4.1 The input\n5 The competitive weighting scheme: a SWOT-based approach: Taking into account the interaction between the forecasted importance rating and the forecasted performance of the competitors, a competitive weighting scheme is proposed. The basic idea is to assign a multiplier to the DQ based on the forecasting results obtained from previous section. As compared to the traditional QFD, this approach may provide a more formal and systematic way for QFD practitioners in carrying out the customer target setting and sales point determination in the house of quality.The proposed competitive weighting scheme is based on the idea of SWOT analysis. The framework is shown graphically in Figure 6. The x-axis denotes the forecasted competitors' relative performance (CRP), while the y-axis denotes the forecasted importance of a customer need (DQ). Note that both axes use relative values as a result of the AHP procedure. The weighting scheme can basically be divided into four groups as follows:1. Strength. This case is for the situation when both the future CRP and the future importance are rather low. In other words, the competitors are doing relatively worse than the company on a relatively not so important attribute. Thus, a multiplier value of 1 is assigned to this type of attribute.2. Weakness. This is for the situation when the competitors are doing much better than the company on a relatively not so important attribute. Thus, a multiplier value of 3 is assigned. In the case when the CRP is equally good compared to the company, a multiplier value of 2 is assigned.3. Opportunity. This is for the situation when the future CRP will be relatively worse than ours on a very important attribute. Thus, this case is regarded as an opportunity for the company to differentiate itself from the competitors. A multiplier value of 7 is assigned.4. Threat. When the future CRP is relatively much better than the company on a very important attribute, then this signals a threat. The QFD practitioner should place a special attention to this case. Thus, a multiplier value of 9 is assigned. A multiplier value of 8 can be assigned for the case when the future CRP is equally good compared to the company's.For the in-between multiplier values other than described in the paragraph above, such as, 4, 5 and 6, a similar interpretation can be used accordingly. Take for an example, a multiplier of 6 is assigned when the future CRP is relatively much better than the company on a moderately important attribute. Table V shows the complete information on the proposed weighting scheme based on the x- and the y-axis.The \"IR\" here refers to the forecasted importance rating of the customer attributes, while the \"CRP\" stands for competitors' relative performance. A multiplier value (weight) is assigned according the IR and CRP level, for example, a weight of 2 is assigned when the IR level is low and the CRP level is medium. The \"Note\" column indicates the position of the weight in Figure 6, for example, \"S-W\" indicates that its position lies between strength (S) and weakness (W).Step 6\n6 Conclusions: The aim of this paper was to demonstrate how one may incorporate both the dynamics of competitors and the dynamics of customer preference into a QFD analysis. The ultimate goal of analyzing the dynamics of these two factors as well as their interaction is to come out with better strategies when using the QFD for dealing with dynamic market, such as the consumer electronics market. Stalk and Webber (1993) wrote that:Managers, to be both effective in their work and, ultimately, successful in sustained competition, must continue to push their strategic thinking to keep pace [...] Strategy is and always has been a moving target.The importance of keeping pace with the change when formulating competitive strategies is precisely the main message of this paper.Compared to the previous research, this paper has extended the traditional QFD in three ways. First, it is the use of the AHP relative measurement in eliciting the judgments of the customer not only for the importance rating, but also for the customer competitive assessment. As explained in Section 3, a relative measurement may be regarded as a better approach to assess the competitive condition compare to an absolute measurement. This is because a \"good\" performance is, to some extent, determined relatively by the best-in-class competitors.Second, it is the incorporation of the competitors' dynamics in terms of the change of customer competitive assessment over time. A timely update of customer competitive assessment information can be very useful to continually evaluate the current performance, identify areas for improvement, and eventually set goals for the future. Another advantage of considering the dynamics of competitors is to tackle the change of competitors' performance during product-creation process as to avoid producing unwanted products or products that are more inferior than the competitors'. Third, it is the use of the SWOT-based competitive weighting scheme to analyze the interaction of both factors taking into account their dynamics. It is expected that using the weighting scheme may improve the accuracy of the DQ's priority, which in the end may increase the likelihood of success of a product design or upgrade process.The limitation of the proposed methodology is that it might take a certain amount of time and efforts to collect the necessary data over time. However, it might be justified considering the improved accuracy of the QFD results. It is worth noting that the data collection should be carried out in a specific customer segment.There are several areas worth pursuing in the next steps. From a practical standpoint, a case study to showcase the effectiveness of the proposed methodology is certainly of great value. One potential extension is to apply the approach in developing innovative products using the QFD (Miguel, 2007). From a methodological standpoint, some possible extensions to the current work may include an analysis of the subsequent steps in the QFD, that is, the continuation of the first house of quality to the next matrices or houses, a comparison study between the AHP-based approach and other methods for eliciting customer's judgments, and an application of the proposed methodology in service design context.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to provide a methodology to integrate both the dynamics of competitors' performance and the dynamics of customer preference, along with their interaction, into a quality function deployment (QFD) analysis.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A systematic dynamic benchmarking methodology is proposed with an illustrative example.\nFindings: - The analytic hierarchy process's (AHP's) relative measurement might serve as a better way to elicit the customer's judgment over time in the QFD, not only in the importance rating part, but also in the competitive benchmarking part. It is also possible to quantitatively model the AHP priorities' change over time, and incorporate it in the QFD decision-making process.\nResearch limitations/implications: - It might take a certain amount of time and efforts to collect the necessary data over time. However, it might be justified considering the improved accuracy of the QFD results. It is also important that the data collection should be carried out in a specific customer segment.\nPractical implications: - QFD practitioners may find a more systematic method to continually evaluate the current performance, identify areas for improvement, and eventually set goals for the future.\nOriginality/value: - There are two novel approaches used in the methodology. First, it is the use of an exponential smoothing-based forecasting technique to model the trend of the AHP-based importance rating values and the competitive benchmarking information. Second, it is a strength-weakness-opportunity-threat-based competitive weighting scheme, which serves as a more systematic way to substitute the traditional QFD customer competitive target setting and sales point value determination.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Ensuring environmental performance in green leases: the role of facilities managers	[ "Landlord", "Tenant", "Environmental performance", "Green lease", "Split incentive", "Green lease schedule", "Facilities manager" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Improving the environmental performance of commercial properties is very challenging due to the range of stakeholders involved in its operation; for example, tenants may not be interested in maintaining the original sustainability features of a building if there are no direct benefits for them. Further, traditional lease agreements would not recognise the importance of sustainability unless they are specifically included in the terms of the agreement. A green lease is an addition to the standard contract between the landlord and tenant in which environmental sustainability is formally recognised (Janda et al., 2017). In previous studies, key drivers for the uptake of a green lease were identified; these drivers included an increased rental return from the building; stakeholder demand for environmental accountability; energy savings; environmental responsibility to reduce carbon emissions; and water conservation (Rameezdeen et al., 2017; Burroughs, 2011). Collins and Junghans (2015) divided these drivers into voluntary motivators and obligatory motivators, with corporate social responsibility (CSR) identified as a powerful voluntary motivator for green leasing. The key barriers to the implementation of a green lease were also identified in these early studies; some of the barriers include uncertainty regarding new laws untested in the courts, the need for a green lease schedule (GLS) to be tied to an environmental rating tool, uncertainty surrounding the consistency of these rating tools, and the need for large investments for the retrofitting of low rated buildings (Rameezdeen et al., 2017; Burroughs, 2011).\nLiterature review: Green lease\nResearch methods: This research is exploratory in nature. Creswell (2009) observed that exploratory research is more suitable for situations with limited previous work on the subject area. This study approached the research topic by applying a qualitative method of inquiry; the aim was to identify incentive gaps and information asymmetries between the landlord and facilities manager of a green lease targeting GLS-based green leases that are popular in South Australia. Due to the relatively limited adoption of sustainable buildings in South Australia, a qualitative method was more appropriate and the exploratory approach enabled the collection of perceptions and experiences of those involved in green leases (Du Toit and Mouton, 2013). A sequential research design involving three stages as described below was utlised for data collection.\nFindings: Effectiveness of a green lease\nDiscussion: In addition to the split incentives between landlord and tenant, this research confirmed the existence of an incentive gap between the landlord and facilities manager in a green lease, thus giving rise to a principal-agent problem aggravated by the asymmetry of information. These two incentive gaps form a typical 'double principal-agent problem' as illustrated in Figure 6. While past research has dealt extensively with the first incentive gap, very little is done on the second. Although the focus of this research is on the second incentive gap, the first gap cannot be ignored due to the expectations of a facilities manager to serve the tenant.\nResearch limitations: While the study makes several contributions to the field of green leasing, in particular to understand the operational performance of green leases, some limitations should be noted. The major limitation is the small sample size of the interviewees participating in the study; therefore, this qualitative study may not be fully representative of green leases implemented in Australia. The interviewees consisted both landlord representatives and facilities managers based in Adelaide, South Australia; therefore, the views expressed by these professionals would be biased toward the South Australian real estate and facilities management practices. In addition, Adelaide being a smaller market, the issues faced in larger property markets such as Sydney and Melbourne would not have surfaced in the discussion. However, the team took every effort to ensure objectivity in interview design by conducting six telephone interviews with property professionals from other states of Australia to test the conceptual framework and research tool prior to the main data collection stage. In addition, the interviewees were senior personnel in their respective organisations with extensive experience in that field, thus were well qualified to speak about green leases and sustainable building practices. Efforts were also made to explore additional details during the interview by asking probing questions to eliminate potential biases discussed above.\nConclusions: While facilities managers are striving to achieve sustainability in their operations, the topic of green lease is largely neglected in the extant literature. Ensuring operational performance, particularly regarding environmental efficiency, is the cornerstone of a green lease agreement between a landlord and tenant. The job of ensuring this performance rests mainly with the facilities manager who looks after the operation and maintenance functions of a building. As green leasing become more widespread, the future facilities managers will increasingly be exposed to this concept in their day-to-day operations. The literature has been highlighting operational performance of a building as a major barrier in implementing a green lease. As facilities managers are part and parcel of the team that is responsible for operational performance, research into the reason for such poor performance is highly warranted.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: A green lease incorporates sustainability practices to reduce a building's negative impact on the environment. Facilities managers play an important role in ensuring these best practices are implemented during the operational stage of a building; however, green leasing is an under-researched area in the emerging field of sustainable facilities management (SFM). This paper aims to investigate the common barriers encountered in ensuring environmental performance when a green lease agreement is in operation between a landlord and tenant.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This research was conducted in three stages using the principal-agent problem as the theoretical foundation for data collection. Stages 1 and 2 used semi-structured interviews to collect data with policy/corporate-level professionals, landlord and facilities management representatives who have considerable experience in green leases. Stage 3 used document reviews based on summative content analysis to further evaluate the extent of the contextual use of green leasing concepts as used within the facilities management community.\nFindings: The study confirmed a strong incentive gap and information asymmetry between the landlord and facilities manager, forming a typical double principal-agent problem when the split incentives between the landlord and tenants are also taken into consideration, which results in agents acting on their own self-interest rather than the interests of the principal. Goal alignment is found to be key for the successful operation and management of a building throughout its life; when present, these goal conflicts can lead to disharmony between the parties to the contract.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study proposes a few practical measures to close the gaps in incentive and information asymmetry that create the principal-agent problem, while providing recommendations to the facilities management professional community. These recommendations could be included in future revisions of the SFM guidelines or code of practices used by the industry. Although this study exposed a rather neglected area of the facilities manager's role in green leases, the findings are limited by the relatively small sample size used for the interviews.\nOriginality/value: This study contributes to the SFM body of knowledge from a green lease perspective, and the theoretical framework in the double principal-agent problem introduced in the study could be used in future research endeavours.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Healthcare managers' perception of economies of scale	[ "Economies of scale", "Hospital size", "Qualitative content analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: This paper presents findings from a qualitative study of how healthcare managers perceive economies of scale and the underlying mechanisms. Previous research on economies of scale in healthcare is dominated by quantitative approaches and does not draw on experiences and insights of professionals familiar with the phenomenon.\nMethods: The exploratory nature of the research question lends itself to a qualitative research design. In this study, a number of decision makers in the healthcare sector have been interviewed, and the interview data has been coded and analysed.\nResults: Scale effects are perceived at both department level and overall hospital or clinic level. The impact of scale and related mechanisms as described by the participants are summarized in the following section. When the participants described how scale affected the performance of healthcare organization (in particular their own workplace and previous workplaces), it was evident that the description was very much dependent on the operating mode (Lillrank et al., 2010) of their workplace. It was possible to identify three types of service contexts with similar operating modes and where the descriptions of scale dynamics concurred. The first type of service context was departments where patients arrive, meet with a doctor or other healthcare professional for a session of diagnosis, treatment, or follow-up, and then leave the healthcare facility (i.e. outpatient care). The second type of service context was surgical wards where patients are treated by a team of healthcare professionals. (The participants did not distinguish between outpatient day surgery and inpatient surgery.) The third type of service context was inpatient wards where patients are admitted for overnight care.\nDiscussion: Most mechanisms for economies of scale that are found in this study are in line with previous literature (e.g. Dranove, 1998; Gandjour and Lauterbach, 2003; Hayes et al. 2005; Lillrank et al. 2015). The geometric properties of processing capacity (proportional to volume) and cost (proportional to surface) were not reported in this study, but it seems natural that this is not as relevant for services as for process industries. Additional mechanisms found in this study include reduced vulnerability (from a staffing perspective) and improved recruitment and retention for economies of scale, and lower staff involvement for diseconomies of scale. These additional mechanisms are related to personnel, reflecting both that personnel cost represents a large share of total cost in healthcare operations, and that healthcare services are highly dependent on skilled professionals, which increases complexity. Spreading of fixed costs is the most commonly reported mechanism in the study, and as important as the fixed cost of facilities and equipment is the fixed cost of having doctors from all medical specialties available on-call at all hours.\nConclusion: Healthcare professionals perceive the effect of scale on performance to be very different in different types of healthcare services. They report many of the scale mechanisms that are recognized in previous literature and some mechanisms that are specific to healthcare delivery. While some mechanisms are reported for all types of services, others are exclusive to, or more significant in, one type of service.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how healthcare managers perceive economies of scale and the underlying mechanisms for how scale/size affects performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected in 20 in-depth interviews with healthcare professionals from 13 healthcare delivery organizations and from a public authority that finances and contracts healthcare services. Data were coded and analysed using content analysis.\nFindings: The study concludes that the impact of scale on performance is perceived by healthcare professionals to be different for different types of healthcare services: For surgery, significant scale effects related to spreading of fixed cost, the experience curve, and potential for process improvement. For inpatient care, moderate scale effects related to spreading of fixed costs and costs of doctors on on-call duty. For outpatient care, small or no scale effects.\nResearch limitations/implications: The small sample of interviewees from a single geographical region and healthcare system limits the applicability of the findings.\nOriginality/value: The paper provides insights into how healthcare managers experience scale effects and how they consider economies of scale when planning hospital configuration. Also, past studies of economies of scale in hospitals proffer mixed results and the findings in this paper indicate a possible explanation for this inconclusiveness, i.e. differences in service mix between different hospitals.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Robust-optimum multi-attribute age-based replacement policy	[ "Replacement control", "Maintenance", "Costs", "Age‐based replacement policy", "Multi‐attributes", "Robust design", "Optimization" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The age-based replacement policy is known as the most common maintenance policy (Wang, 2002). This policy consists of replacing an item when it reaches a certain time of life, topt (the optimum replacement time), or when it fails, whichever occurs first. A common approach in determining topt is to consider the minimum cost. However, minimizing the cost is not the only goal of the maintenance activity. The goal of the maintenance activity is to support the production process with adequate levels of availability, reliability and operability at an acceptable level (Coetzee, 1997). It emphasize that all the attributes are significant and in determining topt, the decision should be based on the multi-attribute approach. Gopalaswamy et al. (1993) argued that a preventive maintenance policy based on a single criterion (the cost rate) is rather unreliable and forces the decision maker (DM) into a \"corner\" by making him/her take decisions based on the cost rate alone. Similar results were obtained by Azaiez (2002), who identified that, in the eyes of the DM, cost is not the only parameter in selecting the appropriate replacement policy, but other parameters such as the quality of the output, labor productivity and cash flow availability should also be considered. Furthermore, the problem becomes more complex when considering the fact that not all the aspects can be translated into monetary value. Failure will result not only in a tangible impact which can be directly captured as financial loss, but also in an intangible impact which cannot be directly captured as financial loss (Madu, 2005). Companies are realizing the importance of the intangible impacts (especially damage to the company's reputation) and, in spite of the difficulties, they are attempting to include them in the costing scheme (Schiffauerova and Thomson, 2006). It can be concluded that DM prefer to take a broader view of the problem and to visualize all the important aspects simultaneously, rather than treat one aspect in isolation (Cavalcante and de Almeida, 2007).In the age-based replacement model, a common assumption is the parameters for the model are known and deterministic. However, in practice, they must be estimated from a limited historical data (Kobbacy et al., 1997; Van Noortwijk, 2000). This estimation will bring uncertainty in the model. Mauer and Ott (1995) demonstrate that uncertainty in the cost attribute can significantly change topt. Halim and Tang (2009) construct a 90 percent confidence interval (CI) for topt of relays and found that the spread of the confidence bound for topt is large; the upper limit of topt is approximately four times the lower limit of topt.In the field of engineering design, one approach dealing with uncertainty in models is to use the robust design technique which is a philosophy popularized by Taguchi in the 1950s. A model solution is considered as robust if the output is less sensitive to the perturbation of variation in the model parameters. Thus the solution may not be the one that has the optimum output, but it is the one which has the lowest variance of the output.The objective of this paper is to develop a method for determining a robust-optimum interval of preventive replacement, a solution which is not only optimum, but also robust.\nOverview of the proposed method: In this study, a method for determining an interval of preventive replacement is proposed based on a combination of the multi-attribute age-based replacement policy and the robust design technique. A brief description of this method is presented in Figure 1.The proposed method begins with the formulation of the optimization problem for the cost attribute, kh(t), and the reliability attribute, r(t). The next step is the normalization of the objective functions by using the upper-lower-bound method. Normalization is performed to avoid an incorrect solution point due to different orders of magnitude. The objective functions are combined into a single aggregate objective function (AOF) of the optimum multi-attribute age-based replacement policy, fopt(t), and an appropriate weight is assigned. The next step is to formulate an objective function for the robust multi-attribute age-based replacement policy, frob(t), by using the robust design approach. The problem is then formulated as a bi-objective optimization problem with the two objectives are the optimum multi-attribute age-based replacement, fopt(t) and the robust multi-attribute age-based replacement, frob(t). The next step is to assign a priority for each objective so that a bi-objective optimization problem with priority can be formulated. The interval for the replacement time (trob-opt) of the robust-optimum multi-attribute replacement policy is determine by using the Waltz lexicographic approach. First, the optimization problem for the objective function with a higher priority is solved. The acceptable tolerance (d) is assigned for the first objective function. Second, the optimization problem for the objective function with a lower priority is solved with respect to the acceptable tolerance assigned. After d is assigned for the second objective function, the interval for the replacement time (trob-opt) can be determined.\nDescription of the proposed method: Attributes of age-based replacement policy\nCase studies: To illustrate the application of the proposed method, two case studies are provided. In the first case study, the historical data are limited and the cost ratio is not high. In the second case study, we have a sufficient amount of historical data and the cost ratio is high.Case study 1: the hydraulic hammer of a scaling machine\nConclusions: In the present study, a method for a robust-optimum multi-attribute age-based replacement policy is proposed. The proposed method can be used by DMs to determine the interval time for preventive replacement that provides a robust and optimum solution.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - A common model in the age-based replacement policy is based on the cost attribute and assumes that the model parameters are known. In practice, the model parameters are estimated from limited historical data, which brings uncertainty into the model. Moreover, minimizing the cost is not the only goal of the maintenance activity. From the decision maker's point of view, the multi-attributes and the uncertainty of the age-based replacement policy are two important aspects to take into consideration in the decision-making process. The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach for a robust-optimum multi-attribute age-based replacement policy.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The proposed approach is based on a combination of the multi-attribute age-based replacement policy and robust design problem philosophy. A case study is provided for illustrating the application of the proposed method.\nFindings: - It is found that the proposed approach can determine the interval time for preventive replacement that provides a robust and optimum solution for a multi-attribute age-based replacement policy.\nPractical implications: - The proposed approach can be used by the decision maker in determining a robust-optimum interval time for preventive replacement of multi-attribute age-based replacement, a time interval which is not only optimum, but also robust.\nOriginality/value: - This paper presents an approach that simultaneously considers the multi-attributes and the uncertainty in the age-based replacement policy which is, to date, not available.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
All the world wide web's a stage: Improving students' information skills with dramatic video tutorials	[ "Information literacy", "Library instruction", "Videos", "Academic libraries", "Marketing", "Turkey" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Academic libraries have been using video, in various changing formats, for more than three decades as a means of library instruction and orientation. However, the recent expansion of the internet, and particularly of video-sharing websites such as YouTube, has resulted in a veritable explosion of online video as a method of communication and conveying information, and libraries have sought to keep pace with these changes. The project outlined in this paper was an attempt by Bilkent University Library, Turkey, to produce a series of videos that are at once both instructional and informative, but also serve to market the library to the wider university community. This paper will firstly explain the theoretical underpinnings of our project: why dramatic and online videos are an effective way of stimulating students' memory and learning. Secondly, we will consider the problems of promoting the videos and then of evaluating their effectiveness as pedagogical and marketing tools.Bilkent University was established in 1984-1986 by the late Professor Ihsan Dogramaci as Turkey's first private university. With the exception of a few departments and programs, formal instruction at Bilkent is predominantly through the medium of English, so most undergraduates are ESL students. Furthermore, admission to universities in Turkey overall is regulated by a national entrance examination, based on multiple choice questions, and as a consequence of preparing for this test, many new undergraduates have little experience of independent and analytical study and research. There is clearly scope for the promotion of information literacy among such students, and there is a definite role for academic libraries (Thornton and Kaya, 2010). In the light of this, Bilkent University Library is at present actively seeking to promote information literacy and library skills throughout the student body, through face-to-face instruction and by developing its use of Web 2.0 tools. The video project described here is a direct product of this work.\nLiterature review: As stated above, the main aim in producing the videos described in this paper was to facilitate student's information and library skills. The American Library Association, in a very well-known quotation, has defined information literacy thus: \"To be information literate, a person must be able to recognise when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information\" (American Library Association, 1989). As will be seen below, most video projects that relate in some way to information needs, rather than a virtual library tour, have sought to facilitate locating information, usually by means of specific screen-casts that illustrate in some detail how to use a particular resource (e.g. Oehrli et al., 2011; Birch et al., 2010; Small, 2010). On the other hand, some videos, especially those with a dramatic element (\"movies\"), are normally more general in their purpose, and seek to illustrate the basic principles of using the library or locating information (Islam and Porter, 2008; Mizrachi and Bedoya, 2007). In addition to locating information, video can to some extent be employed to demonstrate ways of using that information effectively. For example, there have been a number of videos addressing the problem of plagiarism and how to avoid it, perhaps most notably the spoof \"A Plagiarism Carol\" produced by the University Library and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies at the University of Bergen (2010) (see also Kellum et al., 2011; Stanton and Neal, 2011). Most of the following discussion will, however, focus on videos that facilitate locating information.It is not the intention here to offer a detailed review of existing papers about academic library videos, as a useful annotated survey of library videos was published relatively recently by Islam and Porter (2008). Here we will review existing online library videos to determine what form they have taken, and secondly we will examine the underlying reasons why videos in general are potentially an effective medium for online instruction and developing information literacy, with special reference to memory and learning.What videos? A survey of existing library videos\nProduction process: The video project outlined here grew out of a series of short sketches acted out by reference librarians during information literacy workshops for first-year undergraduate students (ENG 102) held at the Library during the Fall Semester 2010-2011. The purpose of the sketches was to present in dramatic form a common reference \"problem\" faced by students relevant to the theme of the particular workshop. Each sketch involved one reference librarian playing \"herself\" and another playing the role of the student with the query or problem. These five-minute scenarios proved to be relatively popular with the students, both as a means of conveying the solution to the particular problem and as a way of starting the sessions on an informal and friendly tone. It was subsequently proposed that these sketches could be recorded and put online.This proposal was then presented to the Department of Communication and Design (COMD) in December 2010 as a possible student project and, after some discussion, it was assigned as a formal course project for a group of students in the Master in Fine Arts (MFA) program for the coming Spring semester (February-May 2011). During January 2011 reference librarians prepared a list of possible basic topics, which was soon reduced from 13 to seven themes, and draft scripts were then prepared by the librarians and sent to the MFA students. In early February 2011, we met the students, who recommended that the scripts needed to be more humorous and visual, and they argued strongly that the final videos should be watchable not only for library instruction but also for their own sake as pieces of entertainment. After an attempt by the Library to meet these recommendations, it was then suggested that the students themselves should prepare scripts that the librarians could edit according to their needs and priorities. The students prepared new scripts, now five in number, which involved a series of \"interesting\" characters coming to the Library with a particular problem which the librarian or library staff character would then help to solve. The students envisaged the videos as a coherent \"series\" - rather than as five separate and independent films - with certain characters appearing in more than one video. After some discussion, it was also agreed that the role of the librarian would be played by real librarians and it was therefore proposed that they attend a few \"workshops\" in March to develop their acting skills. Five librarians agreed to act, along with one security guard. The decision to use \"real\" members of the Library, and to film the videos in the Library itself, was partly to give future viewers a point of connection or familiarity, and also as a way of marketing the librarians. It was also decided to record the videos in Turkish (with English subtitles), in order to make them more attractive to our undergraduate and outside (walk-in) users. Costumes and other extras were made or acquired from various local sources, except for a special polar bear costume, which was purchased from the USA and was briefly delayed in Turkish customs! The students' scripts were edited by librarians: some elements, humorous in themselves, were changed as they involved, for instance, behaviour which we considered inappropriate for librarians. Filming was due to start in early April 2011, once the bear had made it through customs.The final list of videos was as shown in Table I.The videos were shot in the Library during April and May, with some inevitable disruption to the normal quiet of the reading rooms. \"Fine cut\" versions were ready for viewing by the end of May, and a few changes were suggested by librarians and members of COMD. The videos were shown to a group of students, librarians and academics on 1 June, when feedback was formally collected (see below). One video - General Rules - was subsequently shown during the annual LIBER Conference at Barcelona on 30 June 2011. The same video was also used by librarians during a series of library orientations for new undergraduate students between 16 and 21 September. The remaining videos were finalised during the summer, and uploaded to YouTube on 28 September for use at the start of the new academic year. The relevant URL is: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL821974BA0B9ABEF9\nResults: Technically, the \"results\" of the process described above are of course the five online videos, and we will accordingly briefly discuss them here and consider the importance of collaboration in the development of the project. However, it should be stressed that the actual production of the videos is only the first stage of the project: making sure that our users watch the videos and, hopefully, learn from them is the ultimate goal. Therefore, we will also discuss the problem of promoting and evaluating the videos below.Broadly speaking, the five videos fall into two categories in terms of their main purpose. Firstly, there are three which seek to show how to locate information by searching relevant library resources: these videos focus on the basic principles of locating information rather than presenting in detail how to use a specific resource or database. Thus, the video entitled Starting Your Research is intended to stress the need for varied searching strategies when seeking information. In this video, a polar bear is seen fruitlessly typing at a computer terminal in the library. He is approached by a librarian and explains to her that his home has melted away and that he wishes to discover why. However, he cannot find anything relevant on the computer when he types \"melting icebergs\". The librarian verifies this and then proposes using alternative keywords/phrases, such as \"global warming\" or \"greenhouse effect\" instead. They then search for \"global warming\" in Turkish and are rewarded with results. The video Catalogue Search focuses on a supposed \"treasure\" belonging to the seventeenth-century sailor Christopher Newport - presented here as a pirate - and the attempts of a student to locate it, with the aid of a disembodied voice who gives him advice. Searching the library catalogue for Stevenson's Treasure Island and, with help, finding the book on the shelf, the student is finally informed that the real treasure is, of course, knowledge, and we discover that the disembodied voice is that of a librarian! The relatively short Finding a Journal seeks to outline the basics of the periodical collection, which is less frequently used by younger students. The video begins with Sir Isaac Newton sitting under a tree when an apple suddenly lands on his head: experiencing a \"eureka\" moment, Newton sets off for the library. He informs a librarian that he wishes to see the London Royal Society Proceedings, adding that he is himself a member of the Society. The librarian checks the system and explains the print and electronic holdings for this journal, and they then leave to find the print volumes on the shelves. On the other hand, the two remaining videos are less concerned with locating information and more with explaining specific library rules and policies. The video General Rules depicts a series of short scenes in which a librarian informs various bizarre readers (characters from the other videos) about certain library rules. Outside Users illustrates how non-Bilkent University users can enter the library and access its print and electronic resources by showing the clumsy attempts of an alien to join the library. This is an important topic as each year the library has up to 80,000 visits by students and academics from other Turkish universities as well as by members of the public.\nDiscussion: collaboration, promotion and evaluation: Library-student/faculty collaboration\nConclusion: We have argued here that dramatic online library videos, such as those described in this paper, are in theory an excellent medium for influencing young library users. An entertaining and humorous style especially serves as a means to facilitate memory and thereby encourage viewers to learn the instructional message of the videos. The format and style of such videos are also in tune with current \"Web 2.0\" tools and with the habits of young internet users today. The collaborative nature of this project furthermore served, in a small way, to develop the relations of the Library and librarians with the wider university community. Such marketing was one of the explicit aims of the project and it is hoped that the videos themselves will be popular and thus improve the image of the Library within the university. However, measuring this in terms of changing attitudes among students especially is difficult to measure, and this is even truer for the other main aim of the project, i.e. to improve the information and library skills of our users. It is impossible with any degree of certainty to determine in the future a causal connection between the instructional content of the videos and any improvement in the usage by students of library resources. Clearly, videos should not be used as the only method for academic librarians to promote information literacy but should be employed in conjunction with other means. It is likely, however, that such videos can make a contribution to the overall perception and usage of a library and its resources.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this article is to describe a collaborative project organised by Bilkent University Library, Turkey, to produce a series of instructional videos that are both informative and entertaining and also serve to market the library.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper will outline the theoretical basis for the use of videos for library instruction, especially with reference to the habits and preferences of so-called Generation Y students and to the potential value of video for facilitating memory and learning.\nFindings: - The use of humorous and interesting content, in a dramatised style, were found to improve Generation Y students' learning and enjoyment of instructional videos.\nPractical implications: - The development of the project demonstrates the practical and marketing benefits of collaboration by academic librarians with students and faculty. However, it proved more difficult to evaluate the efficiency of the final product in terms of influencing the attitude of students toward the library and library resources and thereby changing their behaviour when studying.\nOriginality/value: - The authors recommend that such library videos should definitely form part of an academic library's information literacy programme, but should not constitute the sole element.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Interorganizational drivers of channel performance: a meta-analytic structural model	[ "Relationship marketing", "Meta-analysis", "Relational view", "Interorganizational governance", "Marketing channel performance", "Political-economy analysis" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Identifying and managing interorganizational drivers for superior marketing channel performance are critical to a firm's success in the market. These interorganizational drivers not only result in greater value to customers through enhanced channel performance (Stern and Weitz, 1997) but also contribute to a firm's interorganizational competitive advantages and financial performance (Frazier, 1999; Weitz and Jap, 1995). A large body of channels literature over the past decades has examined how channel structure and channel coordination influence channel performance from diverse theoretical perspectives (Anderson and Coughlan, 2002; Frazier, 2009). For example, political-economy (PE), relationship marketing (RM) and interorganizational governance (IG) suggest various drivers of channel performance in terms of channel design, coordination, governance and relationship management, respectively. Although these performance drivers improve our understanding of enhancing channel performance, we need to further identify and manage the immediate performance drivers across theoretical perspectives to more efficiently enhance channel performance by determining the true effects of each driver.\n2. Multiple theoretical perspectives of channel performance: In this section, we first review the effects of often studied channel performance drivers from three theoretical perspectives. Then, we propose a post hoc structural model of performance drivers aligned with the RV. Finally, we discuss the moderation effects. Figure 1 displays a model that summarizes these performance drivers with moderators.\n3. Methodology: 3.1 Data collection and coding\n4. Results: 4.1 Effects of performance drivers\n5. Discussion: 5.1 Findings and theoretical contributions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This meta-analysis aims to explore the true effect sizes of major channel performance drivers from different theoretical perspectives and how these true effects are organized in a theoretically integrated structural analysis to predict performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: First, it offers a quantitative summary on the drivers of channel performance through pairwise correlation analysis. Second, it tests an integrative framework of various performance drivers based on the relational view by using structural equation modeling. Last, it examines the potential moderation on the effects of performance drivers.\nFindings: The synthesized effects of various channel performance drivers confirm the effectiveness of underlying theoretical perspectives of channel performance. The relational view is effective to identify immediate interorganizational drivers of channel performance. The contexts and methods of performance assessment have an impact on the appraisal of performance drivers.\nResearch limitations/implications: The performance drivers included in this meta-analysis are constrained to variables that exist in empirical channels literature and have sufficient primary data for analysis. Moderation tests are constrained by the report of research contexts and methods in original studies. Future research should broaden the theoretical perspectives on channel performance.\nPractical implications: First, leveraging key routines and processes embedded in marketing channel relationships is critical to improve channel performance. Second, more targeted effort to manage channels in different markets may improve the efficiency of channel performance enhancement. Last, a comprehensive performance assessment process is necessary to avoid biased estimation of performance drivers.\nOriginality/value: This meta-analysis provides a systematic review of factors influencing marketing channel performance by synthesizing and correcting the effect sizes of performance drivers from different theoretical perspectives. It further develops and tests an integrative model of four immediate interorganizational drivers of channel performance.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The impact of social and contractual enforcement on reseller performance: the mediating role of coordination and inequity during adoption of a new technology	[ "Performance", "Coordination", "Mediation", "Contractual enforcement", "Inequity", "Social enforcement" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Network theorists have observed that firms are embedded in a web of dyadic relationships that span geographies and industries (Anderson et al., 1994). Networks of business relationships are thought to be systems of information sharing and dissemination that could benefit the strategic interests of actors in the network (Hohenthal et al., 2014). Business network researchers realize that the actions of a dyad or one actor in the network may have a ripple effects on other actors in the network (Vahlne and Johanson, 2013). Researchers also note a shift from internally developed innovations to innovations developed within the firm to innovations developed by a network of firms (Nambisan and Sawhney, 2011). In the business-to-business (B2B) and channels of distribution literature, the emphasis on interorganizational coordination and joint decision-making has always been the focus of empirical research. The embeddedness of dyadic relationships in the network has been widely acknowledged (Anderson et al., 1994); however, practical difficulties in gathering network-wide data have been hampering empirical research. Reflecting the industrial marketing and purchasing (IMP) group perspective on the relationship atmosphere this empirical study examines the impact on a relationship when a radical change in interactions in the relationship takes place because of the adoption of e-business tools. More specifically, we demonstrate how coordination and inequity may play mediating roles with respect to the impact of social and contractual enforcement on reseller performance.\nEquity theory: Equity theory deals with the norm of distributive justice in dyadic relationships and reflects the desire of members of a dyad to have a fair distribution of benefits in a dyadic relationship (Adams, 1963; Huppertz et al., 1978). In marketing, equity theory has been applied by Huppertz et al. (1978) in the context of a retail exchange situation to examine price inequity perceptions and consumers' intentions to resolve perceptions of inequity. Channels research suggests that equity perceptions impact satisfaction/dissatisfaction with a relationship (Frazier, 1983), relationship quality (Kumar et al., 1995) and relationship continuity (Scheer et al., 2003). Following prior research, we distinguish between overall perceived inequity within a relationship and issue specific perceived inequity (Kumar et al., 1995). In this study, we focus on the reseller perceptions of specific inequity regarding online arrangements with a manufacturer, specifically the adoption of Web-based software to streamline communication between manufacturers and resellers.\nMethodology: Data collection\nData analysis and results: The data analysis follows a standard procedure in structural equation modeling recommended by Anderson and Gerbing (1988). First, using Amos 5.1 software, a confirmatory factor analysis with 21 items was conducted to statistically assess the discriminant and convergent validity of the five constructs in question. Means, standard deviations and correlations among constructs are provided in Table II.\nManagerial implications: This research reaffirms the importance of developing strong business relationships with downstream channel partners and demonstrates that relationship norms affect both directly and indirectly the success of the downstream partner. Essentially, cultivating good relationships can help the manufacturers to motivate resellers.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of social and contractual enforcement on the performance of business-to-business relationship. The research also tests the mediating role of perceived inequity and coordination.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A survey methodology was used to obtain responses from 224 decision-makers at reseller organizations. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.\nFindings: It was found that both social and contractual enforcement impact relationship performance. Perceived inequity and coordination are important moderators of those relationships, as social enforcement increases coordination and reduces perceived inequity, while contractual enforcement increases perceived inequity.\nOriginality/value: While previous studies examined enforcement impact on coordination and conflict, this study links it to relationship performance. Importantly, enforcement's relationship with perceived inequity is also examined in the context of B2B relationship.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The effects of value appropriation strategies in channels on intangible firm value	[ "Value appropriation", "Marketing channels", "Channel integration", "Channel compression", "Franchise", "Intangible firm value" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Value appropriation is an important goal for strategic marketing planning (Mizik and Jacobson, 2003). Few studies have explored the value appropriation role of marketing actions and programs, except appropriability regime in product innovation management (Hauser et al., 2006; Srinivasan, 2006), advertising (Mizik and Jacobson, 2003) and sales force (Balboni and Terho, 2016; Blocker et al., 2012). Despite the achievements, the research on marketing strategies (e.g. channel strategies) from a value appropriation perspective remains very limited and warrants further research in business exchange (Ellegaard et al., 2014).\n2. Mechanisms of value appropriation in channels: 2.1 Profit appropriation and resource appropriation\n3. Hypotheses development: The level of value appropriation in marketing channels is determined by the effects of various value appropriation strategies used in channels (Levin et al., 1985). This section aims to link value appropriation strategies in channels with intangible firm value by illustrating how they drive the profit appropriation and resource appropriation processes. Figure 1 presents the theoretical model of this study.\n4. Methodology: 4.1 Research context and data sources\n5. Results: 5.1 Effects of value appropriation strategies\n6. Discussion: 6.1 Findings and theoretical contributions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to examine the role of channel strategies in value appropriation and their effects on firm value with the consideration of situational factors.\nDesign/methodology/approach: An empirical study with secondary data is conducted in the context of public franchised channels. The authors use Entrepreneur Franchise Top 500 (2012) as the sampling frame and merge the data from three sources to create the final data set. A set of models are built to test the hypotheses in a hierarchical manner.\nFindings: Value appropriation provides a solid rationale to link marketing channel strategies to firm value. Channel integration is an effective strategy driving intangible firm value. The influence of channel compression on intangible firm value depends on its interaction with other marketing environmental variables.\nResearch limitations/implications: First, the sample size in this study is relatively small though these samples show high representativeness. Second, the empirical analysis in this study focuses on the franchised channels because of data availability.\nPractical implications: Managers should consider the role of value appropriation when developing new channel strategies. A channel strategy deserves firm-level attention and resources because of its relevance to firm value. Managers should examine channel environment carefully and deploy internal resources to augment the potential of value appropriation strategies in channels.\nOriginality/value: This study is among the first to investigate the value relevance of marketing channel strategies from a value appropriation perspective. It identifies profit appropriation and resource appropriation as two mechanisms of value appropriation in marketing channels and uses these two processes to link channel integration and channel compression strategies with firm value.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Resale pricing as part of franchisor know-how	[ "Franchising", "Know-how", "Resale pricing", "Knowledge management", "Capabilities", "Pricing strategy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Franchising has been growing in many countries and in many industries (Hoy et al., 2017). Even though US fast-food franchise chains are the archetypal franchise chains, franchising is neither limited to the US market nor to the fast food industry. Rather, it is steadily developing worldwide and in many industries, such as clothing, supermarkets or homecare services.\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Resale prices in franchising\n3. Methodology: To assess if resale pricing can be considered part of the franchisor's know-how, we conducted an empirical study using a qualitative approach. This empirical study dealt with the French franchise market. France is one of the leading markets in franchising in Europe with 2,004 franchisors, 78,218 franchised stores, EUR67.80bn of total revenues (French Franchise Federation, 2020). Franchising has been continuously growing in France in both the retail and service industries. Its international dimension should be highlighted, too, as France is not only attractive to foreign franchisors (e.g. Burger King, Five Guys, Papa John's, Pita Pit in the fast-food industry), but also exports many franchise concepts to foreign countries (e.g. Brioche Doree, Carrefour, Ibis).\n4. Findings: 4.1 Recommended resale prices as part of the business know-how\n5. Discussion: 5.1 Summary of findings\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: As franchisees are independent entrepreneurs, one important part of the business format that franchisors are not allowed to impose on their franchisees is resale prices. They are only allowed to indicate a recommended or a maximum price. This study aims to look further into the capabilities underlying the calculation of resale prices and suggests that price-setting is part of both the \"business know-how\" transferred to franchisees and the \"organizational know-how,\" that is, capabilities developed and kept at the franchisor level.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study adopted a qualitative methodology with a total of 65 interviews, 19 with franchisors and 46 with franchisees, all operating in the French market.\nFindings: The findings show that resale pricing is a process that involves know-how. The complexity of pricing leads to develop specialized and broad capabilities. The first type of know-how, i.e., business know-how transferred to franchisees, deals with operational implementation of recommended resale prices in the stores. The second type, i.e., organizational know-how, not transferred as a safeguard against opportunism, connects across other functions of the franchise chain such as R&D and communication.\nOriginality/value: This study confirms the existence and relevance of another kind of know-how apart from the business know-how that is transferred to the franchisees. Organizational know-how at the chain level, though often neglected, is a necessary determinant of sustaining a competitive advantage. This know-how is not transferred to the franchisees but contributes to the success and sustainability of the franchisor/franchisee relationship. Franchisors should thus work on improving their capabilities to better support their franchisees. Moreover, this study highlight the complexity and extreme importance of setting the right resale price.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Brazil's image and Brazilian personality: a systematic review from the viewpoint of cordiality	[ "Personality", "Country image", "Brazilian people", "Cordial man" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In an age of increasing globalization, countries around the world face intense competition for development factors: exports, investment, tourism, students and skilled labor (Rojas-Mendez, Papadopoulos, & Alwan, 2015). Thus, to be successful, countries must be distinctive and improve their image (Hakala, Lemmetyinen, & Kantola, 2013).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Organizing the literature: theoretical perspectives and backgrounds of residents' personality\n3. Methodology: A systematic review of the literature was carried out for this research. Churchill (1991) argues that one of the most efficient ways to better understand a problem is by searching the literature. In addition to the systematic review performed by collecting and analyzing scientific articles, secondary data were also obtained through the book Roots of Brazil by Sergio Buarque de Holanda for comparison and discussion of the content of those articles based on the concept of the cordial man.\n4. Results and discussion: The results are divided into four parts. The first consists of the basic characteristics of the papers found in journals, the second covers the analysis of the definition of Brazilian personality in journals, the third part deals with the relations between the personality traits found in journals and the cordial man of Roots of Brazil and, finally, the fourth part presents an agenda of future studies relating the Brazilian personality to several managerial areas.\n5. Final considerations: This research showed through a systematic review of studies about the Brazilian country image and its dimensions over a period of 16 years (2001-2016) that the main characteristics of Brazilian personality are: sensual, cheeky, cheerful, creative, hospitable, friendly and cordial. These were the ones that appeared the most in the articles found.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the characteristics of Brazilian personality, associating them with the cordial man of the book Raizes do Brasil (Roots of Brazil). In addition, it aims to present an agenda for future management studies, suggesting works in several managerial areas which may be influenced by traits of the Brazilian personality.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A systematic review of studies on Brazil's image was developed, so that it was possible to identify the main characteristics of the Brazilian personality. The main personality traits found were compared to those identified in the cordial man, from the book Raizes do Brasil.\nFindings: The results indicate the main traits of Brazilians' personality: sensual, cunning, cheerful, creative, hospitable, friendly and cordial. These traits are directly related to cordiality, mentioned in some studies, and also indirectly through words alluding to the character of the cordial man. These traits are related to the Brazilians image abroad and have created a confused image of Brazil.\nResearch limitations/implications: Regarding the theoretical contribution, the future studies agenda presented suggests the development of papers that relate Brazilians' personality traits to other areas besides tourism, such as negotiation, organizational culture, exports, foreign direct investment, talent attraction and public diplomacy.\nPractical implications: This study indicated that in practice, the Brazilian Government should develop marketing actions to promote a more consistent image of Brazil, reinforcing its positive aspects and creating new associations that allow Brazil to bring not only tourists but also residents, companies and investors for the country. These positive aspects, regarding the country citizens, can be their affability, hospitality, extraversion and generosity, which can improve the foreigners' impressions on Brazil.\nOriginality/value: The originality of the study is to relate the concept of cordial man to the Brazilian people, showing the main features of their personality and also in the elaboration of an agenda indicating suggestions for future studies that relate the personality traits of Brazilian people with other areas.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Pragmatic thought as a philosophical foundation for collaborative tagging and the Semantic Web	[ "William James", "Charles Sanders Peirce", "Pragmatism", "Folksonomy", "Collaborative tagging", "Semantic Web" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: When it first appeared, collaborative tagging, or folksonomy, was celebrated for the diversity of perspectives it was capable of representing and its expression of those perspectives through natural language. More recently, however, concerns about the ability of tags to help users find specific resources have led to proposals to rein in that diversity. Such proposals would threaten to mold folksonomies into, at very least, semi-controlled vocabularies, thus restricting the same traits for which they initially drew praise. Moreover, these limitations were proposed within less than a decade of folksonomies' first appearance.\n2. Discussion: 2.1 A pragmatic view of the long tail\n3. Conclusion: This study has served both as a reaction against recent efforts to control the diversity of folksonomies and a response to recent calls for philosophical foundations for the emergence of collective intelligence through the Web. It has proposed the pragmatic philosophies of William James and Charles Sanders Peirce as a foundation from which to argue for increased appreciation of the value of the full range of tags in a folksonomy and for allowing the variety of perspectives it encompasses to be articulated over time. As a result, the full potential of folksonomies can be realized in order to link resources and advance understanding.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to use ideas drawn from two founders of American pragmatism, William James and Charles Sanders Peirce, in order to propose a philosophical foundation that supports the value of collaborative tagging and reinforces the structure and goals of the Semantic Web.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The study employs a close analysis of key literature by James and Peirce to answer recent calls for a philosophy of the Web and to respond to research in the LIS literature that has assessed the value and limitations of folksonomy. Moreover, pragmatic views are applied to illustrate the relationships among collaborative tagging, linked data, and the Semantic Web.\nFindings: With a philosophical foundation in place, the study highlights the value of the minority tags that fall within the so-called \"long tail\" of the power law graph, and the importance of granting sufficient time for the full value of folksonomy to be revealed. The discussion goes further to explore how \"collaborative tagging\" could evolve into \"collaborative knowledge\" in the form of linked data. Specifically, Peirce's triadic architectonic is shown to foster an understanding of the construction of linked data through the functional requirements for bibliographic records entity-relation model and resource description framework triples, and James's image of the multiverse anticipates the goals Tim Berners-Lee has articulated for the Semantic Web.\nOriginality/value: This study is unique in using Jamesian and Peircean thinking to argue for the value of folksonomy and to suggest implications for the Semantic Web.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Questioning worth: selling out in the music industry	[ "Marketisation", "Authenticity", "Worth", "Inspired worlds", "Musicians", "Selling out" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: At a time when society craves authenticity, the notion of selling out presents significant challenges (Beverland, 2005b; Hede et al., 2014; Hietanen and Rokka, 2015). This is pertinent when consumers yearn for alternatives to the offerings created by capitalist social relations of production or institutional arrangements controlled by capitalism (Edwards, 1975; Marx, 1967). In such contexts, consumers may draw upon the inspired world of uniqueness, morality and independence to interpret the worth of an artist and reject influences of the market world that signify capitalist social relations (Boltanski and Thevenot, 2006). We examine such a situation in which consumers stigmatise as \"sell outs\", artists who are marketed under the influence of capitalist social relations of production. We contribute to the debate on authenticity by attending to the question of worth that is under-examined in existing literature, by drawing upon French pragmatic sociology with specific attention to convention theory to understand conflicting interpretations of worth.\nTheoretical background: Authenticity has been explored in a variety of contexts ranging from brands (Beverland, 2005b, 2006) and celebrities (Moulard et al., 2015; Preece, 2015) to music genres (Strand, 2014). Benjamin (1968), posits that the location of an original piece of art in a particular time, space and tradition contributes to its aura, which is necessary for authenticity. A reproduced artwork is never fully present without an original and leads to a desire for authentic experiences. Miller (1995) suggests that capitalist social relations create a rupture between production as an authentic ideal and mass consumption. As a result, consumers are forced to overcome this schism by seeking authenticity in commodities that create a sense of rupture in the first place. Fine (2003, p. 153) asserts that the desire for authenticity \"occupies a central position in contemporary culture. Whether in our search for selfhood, leisure experience, or in our material purchases, we search for the real, the genuine\". This quest for authenticity manifests as a particular desire for real, true and/or genuine experiences that consumers try to situate in everyday objects of mass consumption (Beverland and Farrelly, 2010).\nMethod: This study utilised an interpretive research design to explore both the internal and peer-to-peer debates fans go through when considering artists. Twenty-two in-depth interviews allowed the expression of non-conformity, as quite often in the music industry the type of music one likes or believes to be authentic is judged as a reflection of that person's character (Beverland and Farrelly, 2010). After initial analysis of the interviews it was evident that selling out often occurs in the context of peer-to-peer discussions. Two group discussions with 20 participants to unpack the interpretation, debate and group negotiations surrounding artists was undertaken. Participants all identified as fans of a variety of rock artists and a cross section of perspectives was canvassed (see Tables I and II) (Table III).\nFindings: Three themes emerged from the data: \"Authenticity and Worth in the Inspired World\", \"Selling Out as Loss of Worth\" and \"Signifiers of Selling Out\". These themes help us understand the dimensions of market and anti-market forces, along with individual artists' morality and politics that lead to consumer perception of selling out.\nDiscussion: We investigate the notion of worth that shapes consumers' decision-making, considering authenticity and selling out in the context of contemporary music artistry. Exploring the clash between the inspired and the market worlds with impact on the world of fame helps us understand the role of worth and how it is valued by consumers in an increasingly marketised space. We identify issues of change of artistic expression in music, image, behaviour and originality due to marketisation, which drives a shift from an anti-capitalist to a market ethos in artists' motives and integrity. This results in a loss of worth by the musical artist, and therefore, the perception by consumers that the artist has sold out. The key role that worth plays in this phenomenon amid the tensions among the inspired and market worlds and the world of fame is one that has not received explicit attention in prior marketing literature. French pragmatic sociology and convention theory also aids in understanding authenticity and worth.\nImplications for marketing theory and practice: We extend the discussion beyond music discourse to the general marketing arena surrounding human brands. As professional athletes in the sports world must span both professional athletic (inspired world) and commercial domains (market world), accusations of selling out naturally follow. In applying the findings of this current paper we would expect sports fans to use similar cues when assessing an athlete's authenticity and changes in behaviours may bring authenticity into question. Consumers or fans may question whether an athlete has sold out and consider the athlete's motives in such verdicts. One possible illustration of how this authentication model in music discourse has application is to consider the sporting sector of skateboarding (Hawk and Mortimer, 2002, 2008). Denunciations of selling out have been linked to skate board professional Tony Hawk (CEO of Tony Hawk Inc). and his multimillion-dollar endorsement deals and products. Fans questioned Tony Hawk's extension of his name and brand to the video game arena with Tony Hawk Pro Skater and the accompanying perceived loss of worth as he purposefully moves from the anti-establishment ethos found in the inspired world of skateboarding subculture to the capitalist ethos of the market world.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to illuminate the way in which consumers question the authenticity and worth of musicians, leading to a classification of selling out. The authors contribute to the debate on authenticity by attending to the question of worth that is under-examined in existing literature, by drawing upon French pragmatic sociology with specific attention to convention theory to understand conflicting interpretations of worth.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The considerations music fans go through navigating whether artists are selling out and the loss of worth were explored through 22 semi-structured interviews, complemented by focus group discussions (20 participants) and analysis of an online video blog.\nFindings: The study identified three key themes: \"Authenticity and Worth in the Inspired World\", \"Selling Out as Loss of Worth\" and \"Signifiers of Selling Out\".\nPractical implication: The emergent themes enable us to understand the worth that consumers place on musical artists, and the clash between the ideologies of the market world and the inspired world. The ideas regarding selling out and the signifiers may apply to other consumption experiences where the clash between the inspired and the market worlds exists and the conflicting ethos of each can lead to a loss of worth and selling out.\nOriginality/value: In this research, the authors examine situations in which consumers stigmatise as \"sell outs\", artists who are marketised under the influence of capitalist social relations of production. As a result, these artists lose their authenticity and worth in the eyes of consumers. In doing so, this research contributes to the debate on authenticity by attending to the question of worth that is under-examined in existing literature.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Social media monitoring: aims, methods, and challenges for international companies	[ "Social media", "Monitoring", "International companies" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: This research paper aims at clarifying social media monitoring from the perspective of international companies. A systematic literature review was used to seek current insights on the methods used, and so illuminate not only the benefits but also the difficulties attached to the monitoring process.\n2. Method: This exploratory paper is based on a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed journals. It aims at elucidating the use of social media monitoring or tracking and what benefits and difficulties this may entail for international companies. In the databases of EBSCOhost and ProQuest, after several tryouts, the keywords \"social media\" and [company or organization] and [monitoring or prognosis or metrics or tracking or analytics] were selected. The search spanned a 10-year period, 2003-2013, although the earlier years yielded no results, and was restricted to peer-reviewed papers. The search results were copied in RefWorks software for further analysis. After checking the title and abstract to see if they matched the keywords, and confining the search to papers in English, 38 articles remained. These articles were read thoroughly with the further selection criterion that they discussed monitoring or tracking of social media interaction by companies or other organizations. This resulted in a sample of 30 articles, published during the years 2008-2012 (these titles are marked * in the reference list) (Table I).\n3. Findings: The findings are presented below. In each section, the findings are presented and summarized.\n4. Conclusion and discussion: Social media have apparently allowed users and companies to experience the magic of interaction. Traditional advertisements in TV or magazines are not able to incorporate user experiences, and the performance of feedback is lower than in social media. The unique characteristics of social media allow companies to capture information with immediacy (Billington and Billington, 2012). Therefore, the new integral services for social media monitoring need to provide output in real time (Hipperson, 2010), for example, sending alerts when words of interest are noted (Rappaport, 2010).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to clarify the aims, monitoring methods and challenges of social media monitoring from the perspective of international companies. Trends in the literature are also investigated.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on a systematic literature review, 30 key articles from 2008 to 2012 were further analysed.\nFindings: International companies need real-time monitoring software, expertise and dynamic visualization to facilitate early detection and prognoses supporting strategy making. This is a costly affair, prompting questions about return on investment. A recent trend in the research literature concerns the development of models describing how issues spread in social media with the aim of facilitating prognoses.\nResearch limitations/implications: The online databases used comprised refereed peer-reviewed scientific articles. Books were not included in the search process.\nPractical implications: Because information spreads fast in social media and affects international companies, they need to identify issues early, in order to monitor and predict their growth. This paper discusses the difficulties posed by this objective.\nOriginality/value: Social media monitoring is a young research area and research on the topic has been conducted from many different perspectives. Therefore, this paper brings together current insights geared towards corporate communication by international companies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
A risk analysis model for mining accidents using a fuzzy approach based on fault tree analysis	[ "Risk analysis", "Fuzzy logic", "Fault tree analysis", "Chrome mining" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Upon evaluation of the long-term accident statistics, it is inferred that the mining sector carries the risk of accidents above average when compared to the other sectors (Azapagic, 2004). Because the mining sector includes many high-risk activities, revealing that some features such as environmental conditions with a significant presence of humidity, dust or falling rocks have an important influence on the number and severity of accidents or incidents (Sanmiquel et al., 2015), maintenance of the mining processes uninterruptedly and safely is an important issue. For an acceptable level of risk in mines, it is crucial to specify all the accidents and incidents comprehensively and observe the causes of the undesired events carefully. In this way, the priority fields might be specified and the improvement plans might be constituted to minimize the risk in mines. One of the systematic methods for analyzing the cause of risks is the fault tree analysis with graphic expression by adopting a deductive method, in which a specific risk is only qualitatively recognized from a proper primary system (Hyun et al., 2015).\n2. Literature review: There is a crucial relationship between the hazards, risks and the accidents. The risk is the effect of uncertainty on objectives caused by variability and specific uncertain events, and it is often measured concerning consequences and likelihood. Hazards are the prerequisites for risks, and when all the hazards are safely controlled, there is no risk for unwanted events (Liu et al., 2015). The focus of risk analysis concentrates on evaluating the undesired events that have hazardous conditions by considering their occurrence probabilities and possible consequences. In this way, it might be possible to manage them by constituting the control measures and prevent or mitigate the risk situations. And because of the limited resources for managing the risk in an organization, it is crucial to find out the underlying events regarding its occurrence frequency and possible consequences.\n3. Methodology: In underground mines, there are a considerable number of hazards which include specialized equipment, humidity, rock stresses, dust and harmful gasses. These hazards have the potential to trigger accidents that can lead to injuries, multi fatalities and/or major asset losses unless risk control measures are implemented that effectively manage them (Liu et al., 2016). To perform a risk analysis by specifying the risky situations that vary across mine types, the variety of geological, managerial and technical infrastructures, a methodology is developed within the scope of the study. And when a high risk is considered in the mining activities, such kind of approach and methodology which is able to reveal the all possible accidents and incidents in a mine is inevitably necessary to generate the right risk mitigation strategies.\n4. Application of risk analysis methodology for an underground chrome mine: The proposed methodology within the concept of the study is implemented in an underground chrome mine located in the middle of the Turkey. Since the past accidents' data are limited to mining firms, to provide the accuracy of the analysis, just activities in underground loading and conveying processes of the mine are handled to perform risk analysis. According to the methodology, the four stages of risk analysis are presented as following.\n5. Conclusion and recommendations: Important technological innovations beginning from the seventeenth century have pioneered significant developments for the sustainability of mining (Suppen et al., 2006). Stages of use of high technology for mining activities in the world are mechanization, remote steering systems, automation and robotization (Kizil et al., 1995). There are also some studies that consider the mining sector with the advanced automation technologies (Boudreau-Trudel et al., 2014, 2015; Bellamy and Pravica, 2011). However, operations of the mining sector in many countries are maintained by small-sized enterprises and by labor-intensive activities. In all mines, there are many hazardous conditions need to be analyzed for preventing and mitigating them. No matter how severe and probable they are, preventing the underground mining accidents and incidents is one of the most important objectives of mine administrators. It is inevitable to urge upon the issues such as necessary audits, accident preventing systems and appropriate technology for the avoidance of occupational accidents and physical injuries in the mining sector (Paul and Maiti, 2007; Maiti et al., 2004). To reduce and prevent the occurrence of the accidents and incidents, reasons of these undesired events have to be understood and mastered fully to provide a reference for further corrective measures (Jiang et al., 2012).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Risk analysis is a critical investigation field for many sectors and organizations to maintain the information management reliable. Since mining is one of the riskiest sectors for both workers and management, comprehensive risk analysis should be carried out. The purpose of this paper is to explore comprehensively the undesired events that may occur during a particular process with their main reasons and to perform a risk analysis for these events, by developing a risk analysis methodology. For performing risk analysis, discovering and defining the potential accidents and incidents including their root causes are important contributions of the study as distinct from the related literature. The fuzzy approach is used substantially to obtain the important inferences about the hazardous process by identifying the critical risk points in the processes. In the scope of the study, the proposed methodology is applied to an underground chrome mine and obtaining significant findings of mining risky operations is targeted.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Fault tree analysis and fuzzy approach are used for performing the risk analysis. When determining the probability and the consequences of the events which are essential components for the risk analysis, expressions of the heterogeneous expert group are considered by means of the linguistic terms. Fault tree analysis and fuzzy approach present a quiet convenience solution together to specify the possible accidents and incidents in the particular process and determine the values for the basis risk components.\nFindings: This study primarily presents a methodology for a comprehensive risk analysis. By implementing the proposed methodology to the underground loading and conveying processes of a chrome mine, 28 different undesired events that may occur during the processes are specified. By performing risk analysis for these events, it is established that the employee's physical constraint while working with the shovel in the fore area, the falling of materials on employees from the chute and the scaling bar injuries are the riskiest undesired events in the underground loading and conveying process of the mine.\nPractical implications: The proposed methodology provides a confidential and comprehensive method for risk analysis of the undesired events in a particular process. The capability of fault tree analysis for specifying the undesired events systematically and the applicability of fuzzy approach for converting the experts' linguistic expressions to the mathematical values provide a significant advantage and convenience for the risk analysis.\nOriginality/value: The major contribution of this paper is to develop a methodology for the risk analysis of a variety of mining accidents and incidents. The proposed methodology can be applied to many production processes to investigate the dangerous operations comprehensively and find out the efficient management strategies. Before performing the risk analysis, determining the all possible accidents and incidents in the particular process using the fault tree analysis provides the effectiveness and the originality of the study. Also, using the fuzzy logic to find out the consequences of the events with experts' linguistic expressions provides an efficient method for performing risk analysis.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Attitudes towards aging and older people's intentions to continue working: a Taiwanese study	[ "Elderly people", "Attitudes towards aging", "Subjective norm", "Intention to continue working", "Attitudes", "Personal experiences", "Taiwan" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Population aging is one of the most challenging issues of the twenty-first century, facing both developed and developing countries worldwide. In the developed world, there has already been a substantial amount of research on aging and work to help understand the capacity and potential of older people. There is an emerging view towards maintaining ability, developing potential, and continued competence (Ross, 2010). Older workers can compensate for a reduced ability to meet job demands by drawing upon experience and applying their resources in a more economic way. Thus, addressing the needs, wants, and well-being of older people is essential for maintaining a healthy productive workforce in an aging society. A recent series of review articles in Occupational Medicine (Ross, 2010) provides a valuable contribution to the knowledge of aging and work in the Western context. A special edition of Career Development International (Van de Heijden et al., 2008) presents some state-of-the-art contributions to research on the topic from a European perspective, as an alternative to the abundance of Anglo-Saxon studies in the literature. However, there is still a pressing need for cross-national and multidisciplinary approaches and for a higher involvement of scholars from other parts of the world outside the USA, UK and European continent in research on aging and work (Ross, 2010; Shultz and Adams, 2007; Van de Heijden et al., 2008). The present study examined a possible psychological process explaining the intention to continue working in a sample of Chinese older adults living in a developing economy (Taiwan, East Asia), thus answered the call by the above Western scholars.Though a similar trend of population aging is observed in Taiwan, the issue of employment of older workers has largely been overlooked. Adopting the United Nation's criterion, the proportion of those aged over 65 exceeded 7 percent in 1993 and further reached 9.7 percent in 2005. This trend will exacerbate when the post-civil war (1949) cohort enters older age in 2014. The official projected figure is 14.6 percent in 2018, and 20.6 percent in 2025 (Taiwan Census Bureau, 2006). A similar demographic change related to the aging of Boomer Generation and its resultant impact is observed in the Taiwanese setting, though a few years late as happened in the West, and set in a different historical context. The large-scale forced migration of soldiers and government employees (mainly young males) to the Taiwan island following the defeat of the Nationalist regime in the Chinese Civil War (1945-1949), has contributed to the rapid rise of the proportion of aging sector in Taiwan and its unique demographic profile (more older, single males). The Taiwanese setting is thus very different for an aging worker from that of the West: continue working may be an economic necessity rather than an individual career choice (Council of Labor Affairs, 1999). Lacking of adequate institutional welfare safety net further makes early retirement a luxury many Taiwanese older workers cannot afford (Lu, 2010a). Consequently, the knowledge on aging and work built on research conducted in the developed Western countries with well-established institutional welfare regimes needs to be reexamined in the Taiwanese setting.The realities of a rapidly aging society with a developing economy make the needs/desires of people to continue working in older age an increasingly important social issue. In fact, working in older age is not an exception in Taiwan: government figures showed that 31.6 percent of those aged 60-64 and 7.6 percent of those aged 65+ were working in 2006 (Taiwan Census Bureau, 2006). A recent nationwide study (Lu, 2010a) found even higher percentages (41.5 percent and 26.5 percent) of those working over 60 (60-64 and 65-69 respectively). However, the employment rate for Taiwanese workers aged 60-64 (33.49 percent) was still lower compared to that of developed countries (e.g. US: 50.9 percent), and our East Asian neighbors (e.g. Japan: 54.7 percent; Korea: 53.6 percent) (Wu, 2006). To compliment the emerging policy debate on encouraging continued employment and hiring of older workers in the hope of injecting more human resources to tackle the worsening problem of labor supply shortage in Taiwan, we purport that individual-level psychosocial factors should be taken into account. After all, decisions are made by each individual to stay in or quit the labor market when getting older. Our purpose of this study, therefore, was to explore some of these potential psychosocial factors that may affect the decision of continue to work in older age, specifically people's attitudes towards aging in general and their perceived social sanction to continue working.While older age may be defined in many ways, for instance, 65 as the internationally adopted marker used by the United Nations, or 60-65 as the statutory retirement age in different countries. One nationwide survey in Taiwan revealed that Taiwanese people generally regarded 60 as the defining age of being \"old\", not the official criterion of 65 (Lee, 1999). To better represent this culture-specific psychological reality, in the present study we defined \"older workers\" as those who were over 60 years of age.The employment plight of older adults in the West\nMethod: Samples and procedures\nResults: Before testing the hypotheses, we computed Pearson correlations among all research variables. Table I reports correlation results along with scale means and standard deviations. Attitudes towards aging, subjective norm, and personal experiences all significantly correlated with the intention to continue working in older age. All relations were in the expected direction.Among control variables, sex, age, current employment status, and personal health correlated with the intention to continue working in older age. Other variables such as education, rank, employment prospects, spouse health, and family members needing care did not correlate with the dependent variable.We proceeded with testing the structural model using AMOS 5.0 applying the Maximum Likelihood technique. The initial model (all paths in Figure 1) was streamlined deleting non-significant paths as shown in Table I. Specifically, paths from education, rank, spouse health, and family members needing care to the intention to continue working in older age (shown as dotted arrows in Figure 1) were not included in the model testing, thus no path coefficient could be shown. We followed suggestions by Bentler (1990) and Raykov et al. (1991) regarding criteria for evaluating SEM models. Specifically, the fitness indices (GFI and AGFI) should be in the upper 0.90s, and residuals (RMSEA) need to be small (<0.08). Results for our modified model (kh2=42.38, df=16, GFI=0.96, GFI=0.92, RMSEA=0.07) showed a good fit. All path coefficients shown in Figure 1 were statistically significant. Thus, our three hypotheses were all supported.Regarding why they would continue working in older age, our participants gave as many reasons as they wanted. At the top of the list, it was \"keeping intellectually active\" (19.8 percent), followed by \"keeping social contacts\" (19.2 percent), \"physically still able\" (19.2 percent), \"filling time\" (18.2 percent), \"economic gains\" (12.80 percent), and \"contributing expertise\" (10.7 percent). The average age they would work for full-time jobs was 67.33 (SD=9.81), and that for part-time jobs was 72.40 (SD=9.93).\nDiscussion: From attitudes to intentions in aging and work\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The aim of this research is to examine attitudinal correlates of older adults' (aged 60 and above) intentions to continue working in older age.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Structured questionnaires combined with home interviews were used to collect data from a sample of community older people (n=289) in Taiwan.\nFindings: - The study found that positive attitudes towards aging held by older people themselves and perceived subjective norm were related to stronger intentions to continue working in older age, as predicted by the Theory of Reasoned Action, in addition, more positive daily personal experiences with non-older people enhanced intentions to continue working in older age through fostering more positive attitudes towards aging, as predicted by the contact hypothesis. Finally effects of some known demographic correlates of aging and work were also demonstrated in the structural model, namely, age, sex, current employment status, and personal health were all associated with intentions to continue working in older age.\nOriginality/value: - This is the first study in Taiwan testing hypotheses derived from well-established social psychological theoretical models explaining links between attitudes and behavioral intentions of working in older age with a non-Western (Chinese) sample. The results highlight the importance and urgency of more concerted research to inform public and organizational policies to facilitate continued employment and better management of careers of older adults in an aging developing society.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Apprehending mindsets in employee development	[ "Mindset", "Performance", "Motivation", "Coaching" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: The psychological concept of mindset can inform HR practitioners and managers about important elements of employee personality with regard to goals, performance, motivation, and attitudes. While the concept of mindset has been studied extensively for the past 20 years, it has not received much attention in management or HR literature, perhaps owing to few people clearly recognizing the linkage between mindset behavior and employee functioning. What follows is information that expresses: a description of what mindset is and how it normally functions; how mindset behavior is found in employee behavior on a day-to-day basis; and how managers and HR practitioners can use mindset information, in general and with individuals, in coaching and mentoring employees to improve functioning and performance.\nImportance of mindsets in the organization: Why it matters\nThe bases of individual mindset: How the concept functions\nTwo common forms of mindset: Fixed and growth\nSome interesting features of mindsets: Growth mindsets offer attractive payoffs\nSpringing mindsets to life: Expressions of mindsets and possible reactions\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to provide pragmatic guidance to HR practitioners and managers in the understanding and use of the psychological concept of mindset. This paper expresses a description of what mindset is and how it normally functions, as well as information about how mindset behavior is found in employee behavior on a day-to-day basis. Finally, examples are provided which show ways that managers and HR practitioners may use mindset information in coaching and mentoring employees to improve functioning and performance.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Academic research is reviewed. A brief summary of the relevant literature provides support for the descriptions, manifestation, and examples of mindset behavior.\nFindings: Available academic research can provide useful information for practicing HR professionals and managers in encouraging and motivating employees toward enhanced performance.\nOriginality/value: Practical information is derived from academic research to equip managers and HR practitioners with helpful tools which can be used in real situations involving supervision of employees.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Twitter and TV events: an exploration of how to use social media for student-led research	[ "Twitter", "Facebook", "Experiential learning", "Social TV events", "Student-led research", "Television audiences" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Since it became a main part of our domestic lives, the way we watch television has gone through a number of changes. From the 1950s where the whole family would gather around the television set in the living room to watch a limited number of programmes at set times (Fowles, 1992), it has developed into a pursuit that is characterised by the fragmentation of audiences around niche programming, multiple television sets in the home in different rooms for different family members, video recorders to allow for time-delayed watching of programmes at one's own convenience and the skipping of adverts - much to the bane of broadcasters. Nowadays, a variety of different devices, such as laptops, smartphones and tablet computers, can be used to watch television content, and live broadcasts compete with video-on-demand or download services (Gillan, 2011) - both legal and illegal. Social online media like Twitter, Facebook and online discussion forums have now become an important part of the viewing experience. They are used by audiences to comment on a programme and interact with friends, relatives, like-minded fans, other audience members, even producers or the cast of programmes, in an exchange around the content of a broadcast. This trend is said to bring back live TV events (Goldman, 2011; Gillan, 2011; Wood and Baughman, 2012, cited in Highfield et al., 2013) where it is becoming important for viewers to watch a programme while it is being broadcast (a trend that had previously been falling due to the availability of video recorders) so they can take part in the online discussion with others while watching and in order to avoid \"spoilers\" (Gillan, 2011) - much to the delight of broadcasters. Especially sporting events have become prolific trending topics on Twitter. Eight of the top ten traffic spikes in the UK in 2013 focused on sporting events, seven of them national or international football matches, according to a Twitter report (cited in McGuinness, 2013).\nRelated research: In the following section recent research in the area of Twitter use around television programmes will be reviewed, followed by a brief overview of academic papers on the use of Twitter in higher education.\nMethodology: The following section is an account of the research methodology adopted for the Twitter and TV student research project and how it was evaluated from a pedagogical perspective.\nDiscussion of findings: Before embarking on their Twitter analysis, the students attempted to gather data by conducting a small-scale survey of the audience and via user diaries in order to find out how, when and why people interact with social media in connection to TV events. The lectures had given them an overview of research methods for audience studies, focusing mainly on traditional methods, such as the ones they had first used, but also introducing approaches to online research, e.g. analysing messages from an online forum or conducting an online interview. Data collection via Twitter was not covered per se. However, using a survey and diary approach the students felt that they were \"missing the point\", as they commented in their presentation. It did not provide them with enough answers to their research problem. However, the survey results indicated to them that Twitter and Facebook were popular online channels for viewers to comment on a live TV event. At this point, the students took their own initiative and began to innovate rather than simply be lead by the prescribed learning material. They decided to use the social networking sites as sources of data for their research, the results of which will be presented in this section. Here they chose to enter an environment for their research that they were familiar with from their own everyday experience, all four being frequent users of Facebook and two also users of Twitter. Their thinking was furthermore influenced by some self-directed reading around the topic, for example a paper on spikes in blog activity surrounding real world events (Gruhl et al., 2004) that they had found themselves (it has to be noted that the studies on Twitter and TV programmes reviewed above were not available at the time the student project was underway or had not been identified by the students).\nConclusion and recommendations: In conclusion, this paper identified similar trends and patterns of viewer engagement in relation to different types of television programming (Reality TV and sport). This corresponds to, and therefore confirms, findings from previous Twitter-based research on two further types of programming, live entertainment (Highfield et al., 2013) and current affairs (Anstead and O'Loughlin, 2011). Moreover, this paper adds to knowledge in this emerging field of research by identifying similar trends of user activity across different social media platforms, i.e. Twitter and Facebook. It also demonstrates that exploring how to use Twitter as a research tool can offer students a valuable learning experience. Their newly won expertise allowed the group of students discussed here to present their research to professionals working in the industry and discuss it with them on an equal footing.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it investigates the relationship between television, its audiences and Twitter around the creation of social TV events. Here it contributes to knowledge by charting usage in relation to different types of programmes and by comparing Twitter to Facebook data. Second, it evaluates the way in which student-led research can be used to conduct audience studies with the help of Twitter.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The research applies a quantitative approach, measuring the volume of Twitter messages before, during and after two different types of television programmes, i.e. Reality TV (The X Factor and The Only Way is Essex) and sports broadcasts (football and Formula One). Brief comparisons are also drawn with data collected from Facebook. The pedagogical evaluation of the research is based on self-reflection by the author/tutor.\nFindings: The research established similar trends and patterns of viewer engagement for both types of television programming, with key activity during and towards the end of a broadcast which points to viewers using Twitter, or Facebook, while watching the event. The findings are compared to previous studies on television programmes and Twitter use. The study also identified that student research using Twitter can lead to a valuable learning experience as it allows students to use their own knowledge of social media to inform the research process.\nOriginality/value: This research makes a contribution to the small yet growing body of studies examining Twitter activity in relation to TV events. It also contributes to knowledge on the educational use of social media by providing an account of how Twitter can be applied as a research tool by students.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Cellular manufacturing versus a hybrid system: a comparative study	[ "Cellular manufacturing", "Job production systems", "Simulation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In the last four decades, many challenging problems related to design, planning, monitoring and control of manufacturing operations have been addressed or solved, and many others still remain as the scope of extensive research. New difficulties are continuously emerging as new manufacturing technologies evolve. Lower unit cost and higher quality are among the main objectives, and flow time and lateness are among the most commonly used performance measures of efficiency. Previous work in improving these performance measures and consequently maximizing the efficiency of manufacturing systems, has led to the development of many scheduling heuristics and processing layouts.Extensive research has been done on the performance of traditional production systems; also, new trends in manufacturing systems are being developed and tested for application in different types of manufacturing scenarios. These innovative production systems present constraints and are limited to certain applications within the industry and mostly do not consider setup times either for simplicity or because they are not part of the system.Major changes in production processes in the industry have created new opportunities and challenges in the scheduling area. These changes are inspired by the introduction of new process technologies, such as flexible manufacturing systems (FMS). Technological flexibility acquisition requires significant initial investment where decisions are characterised by being risky and strategic in nature. There were several attempts by researchers in the field to configure flexible systems and integrate them into production planning and control systems (Garg et al., 2001). For a comprehensive literature review of manufacturing flexibility, see De Toni and Tonchia (1998). To address the capital investment of FMS, many researchers and practitioners have considered cellular manufacturing systems (CMS) as an alternative. The advantage of CMS is that it improves the flexibility of the manufacturing system, to some extents, without replacing the traditional machines with expensive sophisticated equipment. For several decades, CMS has attracted the attention of many researchers and practitioners particularly for small to medium size batch production. Many researchers have focused on the design related issues of CMS such as machine cell and part family formation problem (Burbidge, 1975; Chandrasekharan and Rajagopalan, 1986; Seifoddini, 1987; Zolfaghari and Liang, 1997), and many others have studied the operational issues such as group scheduling problem (Ham et al., 1979; Sinha and Hollier, 1984; Flynn, 1987; Mahmoodi et al., 1990). Despite having a rich literature on both traditional manufacturing systems and innovative systems such as FMS and CMS, limited analysis has been carried out on the suitability and measurement of a combined manufacturing system. Among these studies, the virtual cellular manufacturing (VCM) has gained more attentions from researchers. The VCM is an attempt to address poor utilization of machines that sometimes operate in a dedicated mode in a CMS to process part families. Irani et al. (1993) suggested a VCM that focuses on reducing duplicate shared machines by using adjacent cell layout and merging part families that have overlapping machine requirements. Other researchers have suggested another version of the VCM in which a traditional process layout (or sometimes product layout) is used in conjunction with a cellular manufacturing scheduling/production scheme (Kannan and Ghosh, 1996a, b). Using group scheduling rules (GSR), machines are assigned to the process of part families without being physically placed in a machine cell. In other words, machines are allocated to virtual cells in order to process a family of parts. After a family is processed, machines are re-allocated to another virtual cell to process other part families. While this approach benefits from added flexibility and machine utilization, it compromises the savings in material handling and some setup times that are available in a pure cellular manufacturing. A major rationale for the VCM is the fact that in a pure CMS, machine cells are ideally independent from each other. That is, each cell has all the resources to process the entire part family. Such independent processes, however, sometimes mean a poor utilization for some machines. Flynn and Jacobs (1987) used a simulation model to compare a traditional process layout with a cellular layout. They concluded that a cellular layout was poor in terms of flow time and queues, and they suggested that the poor performance was because of the permanent dedication of machines to cells rather than the layout itself. For this reason, this paper attempts to maintain the proven benefits of a cellular layout such as low material handling costs and reduced setup times, while the operation planning/scheduling may not be restricted to those of a CMS.In this study, a traditional CMS is compared with a hybrid system that processes not only grouped parts but also non-family parts within a cellular manufacturing layout. In other words, the proposed hybrid system takes a direction opposite to the VCM. In the VCM, as discussed above, physical cells do not exist and the operation planning follows a cellular approach. In the proposed hybrid system, however, machine cells exist, but they may operate temporarily in a non-dedicated mode in order to process some non-family parts. A simulation study has been conducted to investigate the performance of this hybrid system as compared to a pure CMS with respect to mean flow time (MFT), tardiness and throughput.\nJustification of the hybrid system: In this section, the basis for development of the hybrid system is presented. The proposed hybrid system is a combination of the traditional job shop and CMS. Cellular manufacturing is considered as the implementation of group technology (GT), which is a philosophy that searches for similar processing and design characteristics in the components of the system, and then divides them into part families and machine cells according to these characteristics. This grouping of parts into part families, leads to minimization of setup times and material handling cost in the system. In order to benefit the most from these part similarities, machines should also be grouped into manufacturing cells. Each of these cells, consisting of a group of different machines, is dedicated to the manufacturing of particular part families. When part families are to be processed, a major one-time setup is required for the entire family, and then a minor setup is needed before processing each part. Since this major setup is attributed to the entire family, it is referred to as family setup, and since the minor setup is part-specific, we refer to it as part setup.CMS have demonstrated superiority over job shops particularly in terms of material handling and setup cost (Shafer and Charnes, 1993). Job shops, functional layouts, or process layouts as they are sometimes called, are manufacturing systems designed to accommodate variety in product designs in relatively small batches. Job shops typically use general-purpose machines that can be changed over rapidly to new operations for different product designs. These machines are usually arranged according to the type of process being performed. For example, all turning operations would be in one department, all drilling in another department, and all milling in another one. Simplification of machine tools changeovers, reduction in material handling cost and work-in-process inventory, minimization of mean flowtime and setup times, as well as easiness of production automation are among the main benefits of implementing cellular manufacturing over a job shop manufacturing system.The job shop, however, has also some distinctive advantages that keep it attractive to many manufacturing companies. Among these advantages, its flexibility in processing a wide range of products is significant. There are many companies that receive small orders from occasional customers as well as from some regular and frequent customers. For them, adopting a pure cellular manufacturing policy means loss of occasional customers and thus a decrease in sales. It was the main motivation behind this study to address such issues by developing a hybrid system that has both advantages of CMS and job shop. Such a hybrid system, would allow the companies to assign their regular and frequent customers to the CMS, and at the same time be able to accept orders from casual customers. The aforementioned advantages of cellular manufacturing were decisive elements in selecting the cellular system configuration as the layout used for the proposed hybrid manufacturing system (HMS). In the same manner, these advantages and superiorities were key in selecting the cellular system as the manufacturing method being compared with the proposed hybrid model. The proposed hybrid model functions within a CMS layout. Its main characteristic is that parts do not necessarily have to belong to a family in order to be processed in the manufacturing cells. The hybrid model consists of both family and non-family parts. The setup time of a part family in the hybrid system is assigned in the same way as in the CMS. It consists of a family setup and a part setup. For non-family parts, their part setup consists of the total setup time of the part. That is, the total setup time of a non-family part is not divided into family setup and part setup.In terms of flexibility, the hybrid model is preferable in several ways. First, the production layout of the hybrid model has the ability to be used either as a HMS or as a CMS. Secondly, the layout flexibility of the model allows for a variety of products to be processed. These parts could be a mix of grouped parts and independent (i.e. non-family) parts. Therefore, it allows for more parts to be processed in the same CMS. In other words, the hybrid system is a combination of the CMS and job shop.\nDesign of the cellular manufacturing and the hybrid systems: As mentioned above, the layout of the proposed hybrid system is the same as CMS. The difference between the hybrid system and CMS is the existence of non-family parts. That is in addition to grouped parts that belong to certain part-families, there are some parts that do not belong to any family. These parts can move between existing cells to receive their process requirements. As both systems have many characteristics in common, a brief introduction to the CMS design is provided as follow.Cellular manufacturing systems\nSimulation model: Simulation is defined as the imitation of the operation of a system or real-world process over time, and in many cases, manufacturing provides one of the most important applications of simulation. Simulation has been the dominant modelling tool of FMSs, that has been used effectively in design, implementation and operation of FMSs (Barash et al., 1981; Jeong and Kim, 1998). Other studies have used simulation to compare the performance of a variety of group scheduling heuristics in CMS (Mosier et al., 1984; Flynn, 1987; Wemmerlov and Vakharia, 1991; Mahmoodi et al., 1990). This study uses simulation as the modelling tool to compare a hybrid and a CMS, and this section introduces the concepts used for the simulation, such as the main assumptions of the hybrid and CMS. The characteristics of the simulation package employed in this paper, AweSim!(r) with Visual SLAM, are also introduced. In developing the simulation model, the following assumptions were made:* Each machine can perform at most one operation at a time.* Each part may visit each machine only once.* Preemption is not allowed.* Setup times are not sequence-dependent.* At each machine, there will be a separate queue for the family parts and non-family parts.* In comparison of different scenarios, it was assumed that one worker is assigned to each machine that makes different scenarios with the same number of machines identical in terms of labour cost. Therefore, labour is not considered in the analysis of the system.Setup times\nAnalysis and discussion of the simulation output: In any simulation study of an stochastic system, an initial output analysis is required for two purposes:1. to determine the length of a warm-up period to deal with initialization bias; and2. to determine the number of replications or the length of each replication in order to estimate the performance measure with a desired accuracy and significance level.In this study, an extensive analysis of the initial output was carried out to determine these parameters. Using five replications, this analysis resulted in a warm-up period of 11,680 min and a simulation length of 29,200 min. Owing to the space limitation, the details of this initial analysis are not provided here (interested readers may refer to Lopez Roa, 2003). Once these parameters were identified, the final runs are made in order to obtain an estimate of the performance measures. Also, observations were made on the number of parts being produced. The performance measures in this study are MFT, average tardiness and average earliness as defined below.Mean flow time\nDiscussion: A discussion of the performance of the hybrid and cellular heuristics with respect to each performance measure is presented below.Mean flow time\nAnalysis of effects: In order to identify any significant effect of the factors, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted on the experimental results. These results are presented in Tables IV and V. In these tables, the letters A, B, C and D correspond to the g, b, GSR and the TMS factors, respectively. Model p-values for all performance measures (flow-time, tardiness, earliness and parts produced) in Tables IV and V indicate the significance of the model. The ANOVA results in Table IV indicates that C, D, BC, BD and CD are significant model terms, especially for flow time. For tardiness, C, D, BC, BD and CD are significant model terms. Notice that p-values of B for flow time and tardiness of 0.0561 and 0.0633, respectively, make this factor very close to being significant. For earliness, A, B, C, D, BC, BD, CD and BCD are significant and for number of parts produced, B, D, BD, CD and BCD are significant (Tables IV and V).In the following, the main effect of each of the factors is discussed in details.Effect of g\nSummary and conclusions: This paper presented a comparison of two manufacturing systems: a conventional (pure) CMS and an innovative hybrid system. Both systems were tested for identical cellular manufacturing layout environment. The main distinction between the hybrid and the CMS is given by the type of parts they can produce, e.g. family or non-family parts. The hybrid system allows the process of independent non-family parts while the cellular system manufactures family parts only. Two groups of scheduling rules are considered in this study. These scheduling rules, also helped construct combinations of manufacturing-group scheduling scenarios for the purpose of simulation.Several observations were made from the results of this study. The GSR and the manufacturing system design factors have a significant impact on the performance of the system. In particular, the hybrid system shows its best performance when the MSSPT GSR is applied, whereas the cellular system is superior to the hybrid system when DDSI (due date truncated shortest processing time) is implemented. This study provides evidence of the value of adding flexibility in manufacturing systems. The results demonstrate that, by adding non-family parts to the production schedule of the HMS, significant benefits in the performance measures can be derived.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - To compare the performance of a new hybrid manufacturing system (HMS) with a conventional cellular manufacturing system (CMS). The hybrid system is a combination of the cellular manufacturing and job shop.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - A hypothetical manufacturing facility with eight machines and 20 parts is used as a case. Simulation models are developed for two manufacturing systems. A multi-factor comparison is carried out to test the performance of the systems under different scenarios.\nFindings: - It was found that group scheduling rules (GSR) and the manufacturing system design factors have significant impact on the performance of the system. In particular, the hybrid system shows its best performance when the MSSPT GSR is applied, whereas the cellular system is superior when DDSI is implemented. The results also demonstrate that, by adding non-family parts to the production schedule of the HMS, significant benefits in the performance measures can be attained.\nResearch limitations/implications: - The conclusion cannot be generalized, as the result is dependent upon the input data and the size of the problem.\nPractical implications: - The application may be limited to certain industry sectors. Further studies may be needed to identify the appropriate industry.\nOriginality/value: - While the majority of the literature focuses on either a job shop or a pure CMS, this paper has a distinctive approach that allows the combined use of both systems. This could be a useful transitional approach from one system to the other.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Leveraging sport as a venue and vehicle for transformative sustainability learning	[ "Sport", "Undergraduate", "Experiential learning", "Transformative sustainability learning", "Living laboratory" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report on the harrowing effects and potential future impacts of climate change (IPCC, 2018). Current impacts include, for example, increased days of extreme heat, linked with prolonged periods of drought and more frequent wildfires, and more violent storm activity, especially in tropical regions (IPCC, 2018). These impacts have caused health issues such as heat-related illness (Gronlund et al., 2018), exacerbated hunger (Woodward and Porter, 2016) and caused damage to important infrastructure (Kim et al., 2017), impacting supply chains across all industries (Halldorsson and Kovacs, 2010). However, for many people living in developed countries, these impacts are less damaging, thus, easily ignored (Page, 2008). As a result, apathy and disinterest are prevalent attitudes toward the natural environment and the ongoing climate crisis (Antadze, 2018; Chang, 2015).\n2. Theoretical framework: 2.1 Transformative sustainability learning\n3. Teaching interventions for transformative sustainability learning: In this paper, we advance three types of teaching interventions for TSL in sport management, based on our teaching experiences (Table 1). The three TSL strategies are venue tours, green teams and living laboratories. Each differ in terms of student and instructor involvement, the length and amount of work and the level of academic rigor in the desired learning outcomes. These interventions apply to varying levels of education including undergraduate and graduate coursework. TSL interventions can also be customized to a specific course and even integrated with blended assignments, leveraging course topics across the curricula.\n4. Discussion: Leveraging students' interest in sport can be a useful inroad to TSL, with many beneficiaries. The students benefit from an exciting, hands-on learning experience. The organization benefits from an opportunity to promote their sustainability efforts and engage in discussions about how they can improve. Then the sustainability movement benefits from increased awareness and interest, both among student participants and fans who may engage with them.\n5. Conclusion: This paper explored three TSL interventions suitable for inclusion in sport management curriculum. While empirical data supporting the long-term outcomes of these interventions is yet unavailable, early anecdotal evidence from several iterations of each intervention, implemented across universities and departments, shows TSL interventions benefit several parties: students, sport fans and sport organizations. Moreover, each TSL intervention presented carries the strong potential for meeting multiple student learning outcomes, including improved critical thinking, workforce readiness, and enhanced understanding of local and global challenges, such as climate change.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Given greater awareness of environmental issues and the acceleration of climate change, universities are increasingly requiring undergraduate students to complete coursework in environmental issues. Research has shown that environmental courses hosted in science departments can be too challenging for students with no science background. Thus, new approaches to general environmental education at the undergraduate level are necessary. This paper aims to advance three transformative sustainability learning (TSL) interventions that leverage sport as the living laboratory for environmental education through examining green teams and in depth sport venue tours.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper details the experimental application of three TSL interventions in undergraduate sport courses.\nFindings: Each intervention produced lasting benefits for several parties. Students benefit from greater exposure to sport management organizations and a hands-on learning opportunity. Sport organizations benefit from a promotional opportunity to showcase their sustainability efforts, improved sustainability practices at their facilities and the opportunity to leverage the students' involvement for fan engagement initiatives\nResearch limitations/implications: The interventions presented in this paper were developed in a North American sport context, however, there is a considerable opportunity to develop similar interventions in any region where sport organizations exist.\nOriginality/value: Despite being one of the most universally appreciated and visible industries, the sport industry has yet to be used as a site for meaningful sustainability learning interventions. The interventions presented herein introduce the opportunity to leverage students' love of sport for outcomes for all parties: the students, the host organization and sport fans.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The Chinese market as an opportunity to innovate distribution strategies? Evidences from Italian firms	[ "China", "Innovation", "Distribution", "Internationalization", "Emerging markets", "Reverse innovation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: As the world's second's largest economy, China represents an increasing market for foreign firms and their products owing to the rise of its middle class and a strong consumer spending (Euromonitor International, 2018a; Orr, 2016). In this context, imported goods can leverage on a higher image compared to local products owing to quality, modernity and safety attributes associated with them (Ortega et al., 2011; Zhou and Hui, 2003). On the other hand, China still remains an emerging economy characterized by a complex business environment and a strong regional disparity (Cui and Liu, 2000; Jiang and Prater, 2002), which challenge international firms' strategies. Only organizations with multinational orientation that have a thorough understanding of cultural values and differences among different countries can succeed in globalization (Singh, 2017).\n2. Literature review: 2.1 Characteristics of emerging markets and China\n3. Research objective and methodology: The objective of this research is to analyze the marketing strategies of foreign firms in China in relation to distribution. As the objective of the contribution is both empirical and analytical in nature, the appropriate methodology is the case study (Eisenhardt, 1989; Yin, 1994). An exploratory methodology is adopted as this has been acknowledged as being particularly useful for researchers interested in examining strategies in emerging economies (Hoskisson et al., 2000).\n4. The study: The case studies relate to four Italian firms that operate in the Chinese market. China was selected as empirical setting because of its unique characteristics as an emerging market (Gu et al., 2008; Sheng et al., 2011; Walters and Samiee, 2003) and its market opportunities for international companies from various sectors. In fact, despite the recent economic slowdown, consumer spending has continued to grow together with rising disposable incomes (Euromonitor International, 2018a).\n5. Results: 5.1 Distribution access and development\n6. Discussion: Findings discuss key issues in foreign firms' distribution in China, confirming previous research on the role played by institutional voids in emerging markets (Cui and Liu, 2000; Khanna and Palepu, 2000; Khanna et al., 2005). This study also contributes to the recent literature about emerging markets as enablers of reverse innovation in the field of distribution (Govindarajan and Ramamurti, 2011; Immelt et al., 2009).\n7. Managerial implications: For foreign firms, China represents a potential market, as products from various sectors (i.e. food, luxury or baby products in this article) have only recently started to become available, in particular for higher status consumers. The results of this study suggest that even if several areas of China have reached high levels of modernization (especially in first-tier cities such as Shanghai), the distribution system still represents a key issue for foreign firms that wish to enter this market or for those that already operate there. Therefore, local partners hold a primary role in managing the administrative aspects and accessing distribution channels, as foreign firms do not directly control the relationships with governmental officers, retailers and sub-distributors. Delegating these activities to local players with a deep knowledge of the market allows foreign firms to quickly reach points of sale in different areas of China. However, foreign firms should monitor the local partners' management, as they might lose control of the distribution of their products, and they should also provide adequate support for their activities, especially in the case of new products (for example, firm C has activated training for the JV partner's employees).\n8. Limitations and future research directions: This study has investigated the distribution strategies adopted by four Italian firms in one emerging market, China, discussing the primary critical issues and recent opportunities. Two propositions relevant for international distribution are presented. It is assumed that findings could be extended to other emerging markets that are characterized by institutional voids, market and distribution segmentation (e.g. India). However, future research should verify the generalizability of the results presented here.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the distribution strategies implemented by foreign firms in emerging markets, and to investigate whether they represent an opportunity for firms to innovate their practice. China is selected as the setting of the investigation as distribution is a critical determinant of business success for international firms operating there.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A multiple-case study approach is adopted by investigating the distribution strategies of four Italian firms in China. The collected data consist of interviews with firm managers and their distributors. To ensure triangulation and cross-verify the findings from the primary data, secondary data consisting of sector reports and newspaper articles were analyzed.\nFindings: Results discuss how foreign firms develop their distribution system in China and suggest that emerging markets can enable reverse innovation in their distribution strategies.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research suffers from the limitations of the generalizability of the findings as the study was carried out on a restricted number of firms, and it considered their strategies in one single market.\nPractical implications: Managerial implications are discussed on the extent to which the Chinese distribution system still represents a key issue for foreign firms, but it also provides with opportunity for innovation.\nOriginality/value: While previous research on innovation in emerging markets has mainly focused on product innovation, this study suggests some areas for distribution innovation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Overview of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act (2015): Implications and opportunities for occupational therapy	[ "Risk", "Occupational Therapy", "Capacity", "Decision-making", "Cognitive assessment", "Client-centred practice" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In most democratic countries, there is a basic assumption that adults have the right and capacity to make decisions around issues affecting their lives, such as where to live, social engagement choices, personal care preferences, financial decisions and healthcare decisions, based on the premise that adults have adequate understanding, appreciation, reasoning and choice (Wong et al., 1999; Charland, 2015). When there is concern about the decision-making capacity (DMC), an ethical dilemma may arise between two core principles of respect for autonomy (self-determination) and need for protection from harm (beneficence) (Aldous et al., 2014; Wong et al., 1999).\nAssisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015: The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act was signed into law in 2015 (Department of Justice and Equality, 2015). A presumption of capacity underpins the new Act. It recognises and maximises the rights of all adults, regardless of age, disability or diagnosis, to make decisions about their personal welfare, property and affairs, regardless of age, disability or diagnosis, with legally recognised supports. It repeals Ireland's existing capacity legislation, the Lunacy Regulations (Ireland) Act 1871, which utilised a status approach to capacity, equating certain disability or impairments with loss of legal capacity and has been criticised for being overly protective and discriminatory (National Safeguarding Committee, 2017).\nFunctional approach to DMC assessment: Section 3 of the Act sets out a functional approach to DMC assessment: The person's DMC must be assessed on the basis of their ability to understand the nature and consequence of the decision at the time of decision-making. DMC is therefore an ongoing and fluctuating process that is time-, issue- and context-specific (HSE, 2017, 2018).\nSupported decision-making: Recognising that a person with cognitive difficulties may be able to exercise legal agency, if they are given adequate support to express their wishes and preferences, requires DMC assessments go beyond identifying a person's decision-making impairments, to identify the necessary support required to exercise legal capacity. Therefore, HSCPs must develop understanding of their roles, to ensure that individuals are given the support and accommodations that they require to maximise their participation in decision-making about their lives.\nDecision-making: To date, the substantial focus of the literature and practice relating to decision-making has focused on cognitive aspects, such as identifying and describing the nature of deficits in decision-making. More recently, research and debate has highlighted that an individual's values and prior life experience need to be taken into account when considering cognitive and emotional processes for DMC assessment (Knox et al., 2013).\nOccupational therapists' involvement in DMC assessment: Occupational therapists commonly receive referrals to conduct assessments to assist in determining the DMC of individuals to make decisions. Of the eight areas identified by Moye and Marson (2007), it's likely occupational therapists have definite involvement in at least four of these: consent to treatment, driving, financial management and independent living. Occupational therapists can make important contributions to decisions about individual's abilities to live independently (Darzins, 2010). McNally (2016) explored DMC assessment practice of occupational therapists in acute hospitals regarding independent living for older adults and found occupational therapists tended to utilise standardised and non-standardised assessments to evaluate cognitive ability and functional performance. While many different assessment methods are used by occupational therapists, no guidelines exist regarding the most thorough way to approach these DMC assessments to ensure client-centred, occupation-based practice.\nCurrent issues: Assessment approaches\nConclusion: Approaches to DMC assessment and ways to support decision-making are becoming increasingly critical (Moye and Marson, 2007). HSCPs have an ethical duty to ensure that judgements of capacity are unbiased and accurate (McCormick et al., 2017). Research is required to investigate current occupational therapy practice in Ireland, to explore professional issues and to identify training and resource needs for professionals involved in capacity assessment. Unless it is given thorough consideration, the implementation of the Act may not serve people as intended, and the contribution of occupational therapy to this population may not be realised. As a profession trained in evaluating the occupational strengths and needs of clients, the contexts and environments in which occupations occur, and clients' personal and social factors, occupational therapy has an opportunity to contribute greatly in this area. We have expertise to share with other HSCPs, researchers and policymakers. Occupational therapy should disseminate our insights of occupational performance in areas relevant to DMC assessment, contribute to the research agenda, and ensure our competence in client-centred practice, aligned with the priorities of legislative and health reform. Occupational therapy needs to be part of the discussion around implementing and scrutinising the Act, not only to prove the profession's worth in an evolving system but also for the benefit of our clients.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: In Ireland, the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act 2015 provides a statutory framework to adults who are experiencing difficulties with decision-making. This legislation has significant implications for all who work in health and social care. Increasing age and life expectancy, alongside the rising incidence of chronic health conditions and dementia-related diseases, indicates that more individuals are likely to experience challenges regarding decision-making capacity. Therefore, the need for more consistent, best-practice processes to assess decision-making capacity is likely to increase. To ensure occupational therapists are responsible in their contributions, and to ensure those with disabilities are supported, clinicians must be well-informed of the principles underscoring the Act. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of this multidisciplinary issue, including recent legislation, and consider how occupational therapy can contribute.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors reviewed current literature and considered occupational therapy's role in decision-making capacity assessment.\nFindings: Occupational therapists have potential to play a key role in multi-disciplinary assessments of decision-making capacity for clients. Further research is required to explore professional issues, identify clinical best practices and determine training and resource needs.\nOriginality/value: This paper seeks to provoke consideration of how occupational therapists can contribute to capacity assessment from a client-centred, occupation-based perspective that is mindful of ethical and legislative considerations.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Transformational leadership development: Connecting psychological and behavioral change	[ "Self-efficacy", "Transformational leadership behaviour", "Perspective taking", "Positive affect" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Annual corporate spending on leadership development has now reached $45 billion (cf. Gomez, 2007). Unfortunately, research suggests that leadership training achieves only modest effects (Burke and Day, 1986; Dvir et al., 2002; Frese et al., 2003; Hazucha et al., 1993) with a sizeable number of leaders actually showing lower ratings of leadership effectiveness after leadership training (Atwater et al., 1995; Hazucha et al., 1993; Kluger and DeNisi, 1996; London and Smither, 1995; Spreitzer and Quinn, 1996). Thus, there is a need to better understand the processes through which training interventions achieve change in leaders' behavior.\nLiterature review and theoretical foundations: Although efficacy beliefs are central to social cognitive theory, Bandura (1986) suggests that different personal attributes will be important for learning, depending on the domain of functioning that is being investigated. Below, we draw from both social cognitive theory and transformational leadership theory to identify three psychological attributes that should differentiate between leaders whose transformational leadership behaviors are improved by training and those whose are not.\nMethod: Participants\nResults: Correlations among measures\nDiscussion: This study was informed by Bandura's (1986, 1997, 2001) social cognitive framework, which conceptualizes learning as a triadic reciprocal interaction involving personal, behavioral, and environmental factors. The study is unique in that it illustrates the interplay of personal, behavioral, and environmental factors in a leadership development context. That is, we found that leaders who were participating in a transformational leadership development intervention exhibited both psychological and behavioral reactions, and that these reactions were inter-related, such that leaders who experienced more positive psychological reactions were also more likely to exhibit positive behavioral reactions. Adopting this framework therefore reveals the importance of considering leaders' psychological well-being when attempting to promote change in leader behavior.\nConclusion: This study, informed by social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986, 1997, 2001), reveals that leaders' reactions to transformational leadership training include psychological as well as behavioral changes. Furthermore, the psychological changes that leaders experience over the period of the training are associated with the amount of improvement or decline that leaders experience in their transformational leadership behavior. These findings extend both our understanding of the effects of leadership development interventions, and the processes underlying change in leader behavior. By continuing to investigate the nature of the relationship between psychological changes and change in transformational leadership behavior we should be able to design leadership development interventions that are more effective in supporting leaders' development.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to investigate whether leaders whose transformational leadership behavior improves after training exhibit different psychological reactions compared to leaders whose leadership behavior does not improve.\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors followed 56 leaders taking part in a transformational leadership training program. Questionnaire measures of leaders' self-efficacy, positive affect, perspective taking, and transformational leadership behavior were obtained pre- and post-training.\nFindings: Leaders whose self-efficacy, perspective taking and positive affect increased over the training period also reported improvements in their transformational leadership behavior. In addition, leaders whose positive affect increased were more likely to receive improved transformational leadership behavior ratings from their supervisors, team members and peers.\nResearch limitations/implications: The study supports the proposition, derived from social cognitive theory that change in transformational leadership behavior is related to change in leaders' psychological attributes. Further research is required to establish the direction of this relationship and whether leaders' psychological reactions represent a means through which the effectiveness of leadership interventions can be improved.\nPractical implications: Leaders' psychological reactions should be monitored and supported during developmental interventions. Effective leadership training interventions are important not only to achieve change in behavior, but to avoid negative psychological outcomes for leaders.\nOriginality/value: The study is unusual because it explores the relationship between leader attributes and leadership behavior longitudinally, in a training context. The longitudinal analysis, focussing on change in leaders' psychological attributes, allowed us to explain more variance in leaders' reactions to training.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Skill development research in India: a systematic literature review and future research agenda	[ "India", "Systematic literature review", "Technology adoption", "Skill development", "Demographic dividend" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: With the increased demand for competitiveness amongst nations, the concept of skill development has gained international importance. Skill development can solve two major developmental challenges in the world: poverty reduction and unemployment (King and McGrath, 2002). Skill development is regarded as the solution for emerging nations like India, which faces enormous transitional problems. Prominent problems include building democracy in accordance with human rights and tolerance while undertaking continuous and quick development of its human resources to focus on competition from the external environment (Horwitz, 2013). Hence, skill development gains significance in this context and can be explained as the process of determining a workforce's skill gaps and developing and refining such skills for a trade or occupation.\n2. Research methodology: 2.1 Experiential learning theory\n3. Descriptive analysis: 3.1 Results of the literature analysis\n4. An overview of skill development research in India: Skill development is defined as \"acquisition of practical competencies, know-how, and attitudes to perform a trade or occupation in the labour market, either through formal public or private schools, institutions or centres, informal, traditional apprenticeships or non-formal semi-structured training\" (King and Palmer, 2010, p.10). Skills have been viewed in the studies from various perspectives. Shanmugham and Kishore (2012) state that skills constitute core skills and higher-order skills. Core skills include interpersonal, entrepreneurial and life-coping skills, while higher-order skills include problem-solving and presentation skills. Mishra (2014) delineates skills as core and foundation skills, soft skills, life skills and risk-bearing skills. The four prerequisites of skill development are economic, technical social and political aspects. Regarding economic elements, skill development co-creates value in people, optimum utilisation of resources, and employment opportunities. The technical element includes capacity-building and continuous learning to adopt technologies, while the social element consists of developing self-reliant and self-sufficient people and job mobility. Last, the political element consists of good governance and developing a sense of responsibility among people (Mishra, 2014). In recent years, due to the advent of a gig economy and the Indian economy being driven by the service sector, skill development has been redefined to focus on soft skills. Hence, soft skills were integrated as a significant dimension of skill development initiatives and are regarded as a means to provide employability (Rao, 2015).\n5. Implications: 5.1 Implications for academicians/researchers\n6. Conclusion: The current study has carried out a systematic literature review on skill development research in India to analyse and synthesise the literature and provide insights for future studies. The objectives of this study are twofold. First, based on the classification framework, this study carried out a descriptive analysis. In terms of the geographical context, Pan India studies need to be considered rather than confining the work to one state. Regarding research methods, the conceptual studies will provide clarity on the concept of skill development. Studies on skill development of the labour force engaged in agriculture are vital because this sector provides 15 per cent of the total GDP and 52 per cent of employment for the Indian population. Studies on informal and non-formal training need to be considered for future studies, and collaborative research with African and South American countries will be beneficial for adopting best practices.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to conduct an in-depth analysis of the literature and provide new insights on skill development research in India. Objectives in the study are twofold. First is to conduct descriptive analysis in terms of structural dimensions such as geographical context, focus on skill development, research methods, economic sector, type of training and origin of the study. The second objective is to conduct thematic analysis on importance of skill development, institutional and regulatory mechanisms, skill development as an antecedent for technology adoption, role of skill development in women empowerment, integrating skill development with secondary education and labour market reforms for skill development.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Systematic literature review method is employed to review 45 articles on skill development research in India conducted between 2004 and 2017.\nFindings: The review discusses about the importance of skill development, the role of institutions such as NSDA and PMKVJ, skill development as a necessity in the advent of technological changes, an effective measure to empower women in the country and the need of integrating skill development with secondary education. Labour market reforms are required to overcome challenges such as mismatch between theory and practice, low quality of skills assimilated, the mismatch between demand and supply of skilled labour force, low level of in-house training, low cooperation from students and employees due to lack of incentives and lack of qualified teachers.\nOriginality/value: This study is the first to offer a systematic literature review on skill development. The study provides insights into the concept of skill development, specifically for academicians to carry out research in a niche area and for government authorities in policy formulation.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Ashridge Business School: Implementing a successful blended learning solution	[ "E‐learning", "Learning", "Group dynamics", "Training", "Business schools" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: E-learning has experienced significant growth in recent years, and has become particularly popular in the worldwide MBA market. The most common benefits of e-learning include continuous learning, time saving and a reduction in travel costs.\nFirst year experience: Initially, there were positive experiences concerning:* well structured and engaging teaching material;* realistic simulations;* well received interaction with faculty and peers; and* an appreciation of the ability to work at an individual pace.However, there were some technical issues with computers and network connections as well as use of the virtual classroom tool. The difference in expectations between the candidates and Ashridge on \"support\" was also significant. Nervousness in their first module, frustration at not having onsite help and struggles with isolation all had an impact. On the Ashridge side the faculty themselves did not know what to expect, and quite commonly in this area assumed that having created a module they would not need to monitor it actively. The challenge for the first year was therefore high.There was also an attitude that this experience was a cost-cutting exercise and was more effort than a conventional classroom, which resulted in an overall negative view by participants in the beginning. However, by the end there was valuable learning from the module both in terms of the academic subjects and in their understanding of remote communication.\nSecond year turn around: There was a high level of communication between the first and second groups, which resulted in the latter group starting with a negative impression that required a huge effort to turn around. By the end of their first virtual module, there was mixed feedback ranging from high praise to high criticism. Most of the criticism was leveled at the virtual classroom tool - Lotus Sametime. In fact the problem was more one of network bandwidth between all the participants, but given that the tool was complex and had a bad reputation it was decided to change it, both for technical and psychological reasons.Despite their reluctant attitude in their first module, the first group tackled their second module with more drive and came out with a far more positive result. Familiarity with the approach and a greater feeling of self-control and confidence may have been the major factors. Evidence was demonstrated in their approach to time management. Although they had been told about managing their own time in the first module, nearly all followed the timetable provided. They had the confidence to tackle the second module in a different way, managing their own and group's time to achieve the critical deadlines.The second module was designed deliberately to be an intellectual step up in e-learning. It contained more challenging tasks, self-directed exploration and far more discussion and group work. It also included some business simulations that were both interesting and fun. The group demonstrated a greater volume of discussion that was of a higher quality, often providing interesting examples of their own experience to add to the learning of others.\nA positive third year: In the third year, the second group emerged from their second module with a more positive attitude and sense of achievement.Major people-related changes took place for the final new group in the third year. Two years of feedback forms provided empirical evidence that faculty who played an active part in their modules through discussions, support and virtual classrooms had higher ratings than those who did not. It was therefore easier to persuade the remainder to become more active.A step up in technical support added to the positive attitude of the experience. The technical pre-tests were made compulsory in this year and followed up rigorously. The aim was to ensure everything was functioning before the module started. The face-to-face introduction given to new participants was more intensive and covered key issues and queries. Additional training and information was given to help desk staff and a skilled support person manned the desk over the weekend - committing to results and getting back promptly with answers.Finally, it appears that the first two groups were less inclined to pass on negative attitudes to the third team. This program was routine by now, and the improved experience of the second virtual module had lessened the negative approach. The third cohort came in with an open mind to the whole experience and that is what made the difference. They criticized when things went wrong, but they worked to solve problems, they took control of their own learning from the outset and they showed enormous levels of activity in the chat and discussion amongst themselves and with the tutors.\nLessons learnt: * Care should be taken with balance in terms of blended learning. Most want the e-learning option, without losing the classroom experience.* E-learning should not be positioned or perceived as a cost cutting activity. Cost-cutting sets the wrong tone for successful motivation to learn, and also fuels the perception that cheaper equals second best.* The investment in human resources is also considerable. There will always be competing demands on scarce resources, but the support and participation of the tutors, facilitators and technical team are all critical success factors.* Initial impressions last a long time. From the outset, participants in virtual learning need to start with the right approach. They need to have open minds and grasp ownership for their own learning success.* It takes time for people to become comfortable in the online environment. Early activities are important for generating confidence. It may take multiple runs before people participate fully. Once a few become active, it raises the activity level of others.\nFrom teaching to learning: The foundations - technology and the learning design - need to be of the highest possible quality. However, with technology becoming a secondary issue as organizations become more e-enabled, the most critical factors are the people with the right attitude and ownership of their learning success.The success of e-learning depends on a three-way partnership between the organization, the learner and the supplier. E-learning has strengths and weaknesses, and needs to be used appropriately. It has the potential to promote the shift from teaching to learning, but its adoption is a change process, and to be successful it needs to be built on a learning culture across all players. Encouraging the right human conditions for a successful learning environment is perhaps even more important in the virtual world.\nComment: This is a review of \"Criteria for successful blended learning\" by Anthony Mitchell and Sue Honore. Certain factors need to be considered when implementing a blended learning solution in a group environment. This article provides an insight into the experience of Ashridge Business School when, over a period of three years, they delivered a blended learning module to successive groups of international Executive MBA candidates. The article is clear and concise, and employs an interesting and readable style. It is of benefit to e-learning developers or development specialists who are considering blended learning approaches.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.\nFindings: - E-learning has experienced significant growth in recent years, and has become particularly popular in the worldwide MBA market. The most common benefits of e-learning include continuous learning, time saving and a reduction in travel costs.\nPractical implications: - Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.\nOriginality/value: - The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Formulating service business strategies with integrative services model from customer and provider perspectives	[ "Resource management", "Customers", "Service industries", "Service delivery", "Integration", "Corporate strategy" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: To gain competitive advantage in a fast changing environment, firms must continuously adjust their business strategies to fit that environment. One important strategy is to maintain good customer relationships through customer satisfaction (Gwinner et al., 1998; Storbacka et al., 1994). A good way to ensure customer satisfaction is to provide what customers really need and want. But customers' needs and wants change over time. For a service firm, it is critical to cope with this problem.This paper develops a static mathematical model of service based on the customer co-creation concept (Normann, 1984; de Baudt and Gadrey, 1994; Remirez, 1999; Edvardsson et al., 2005) and the resource-based view (RBV) (Barney, 1991; Penrose, 1959; Ray et al., 2004; Rubin, 1973; Wernerfelt, 1984). The basic unit of the model is the service module (Liu and Wang, 2008), which we will obtain from a review of the service classification literature. A service module stands for a service delivery process. Through the customer co-creation concept, a service represented by service modules is divided into modules from the customer perspective and modules from the provider perspective. The service modules of these two perspectives are then summed together to form the core service. Based on the RBV concept, the service modules representing the service processes of core services can be integrated together to generate synergies.The rationale of combining these two concepts is to control efficiently the internal costs of the firm from the supplier perspective while offering differentiated services to customers from the customer perspective. Under such a rationale, the salient attributes identified through our model - which combines these two concepts and optimization heuristics - are used with existing business frameworks to formulate business strategies. In so doing, the strategies will direct the use of resources to the most significant elements that are needed to perform efficiently and to maintain customer satisfaction.To increase competitive advantage in terms of cost, the service provider (or the firm) will have to focus on how to utilize internal resources in the most efficient way, and how to integrate the internal processes to generate synergies that increase productivity and reduce waste. But just reducing costs is not enough to win in fierce competition. The firm needs to differentiate itself by providing services that are really needed and wanted by customers. To achieve this, the firm must also arrange its resources and their utilizations from the customer perspective.To determine customer perspectives, this paper suggests that firms do three things. First, they can forecast customer preferences with the service modules developed in the paper, since the employees of the firm are also customers of the services. In so doing, firms may sometimes create innovative services that customers have never thought of but would love very much. Second, firms can conduct customer surveys (Sampson, 1999) periodically to understand what customers really want. Third, firms will often receive complaints and suggestions (Sampson, 1999) from customers and can use them to improve service processes. These three ways of determining customer perspectives can be used in an interleaving way to update each another continuously. Then the resources prepared and the strategies formulated can always fit customers' real needs and wants. These processes are long-term tasks that have to be accumulated bit by bit over time. By doing long-term hard work, the arranged resources and the resulting strategies will become unique and inimitable, and will generate differentiation. Therefore, through processes of using the RBV and customer co-creation concepts alternatively, the firm is able to gain competitive advantage.The integrative service model is constructed by integrating (based on the RBV concept) the service modules of the services offered from the firm's perspective and the customers' perspective. The service modules are formed by the attributes of the four static service classifying dimensions derived from a generic service delivery process (SDP). The four dimensions are provider, process, customer and place. The integrative service model is expressed in a mathematical form that can be used to formulate the firm's business strategies after extracting the salient attributes and using them together with the existing business frameworks. The objective in identifying the salient attributes is to find the most important elements in maintaining customer satisfaction so that the strategies formulated can bring the firm the highest benefit with the most effective usage of resources.The fifth dimension of the SDP, i.e. feedback, generates the dynamic mechanism to enable the service firm to continually adjust the resources and the strategies formulated from the developed model to fit customers' actual needs and wants. The processes that service customers can thus be continuously improved and upgraded, and service quality can always be maintained at a high level. Thus, customer satisfaction, and consequently customer relations and customer loyalty, are enhanced.We review the literature on an existing service classification model that relates directly to the construction of our model. A few key topics related to the business processes of the RBV are reviewed, and the relations of the different processes in a firm are investigated. Then we look at how the feedback dimension contributes to maintaining customer relationship, and also the dynamism of the feedback dimension. A retail bank example is used to explain the applications of the developed model in marketing and quality strategy formulation. Then development processes of the whole strategy are summarized to make the linkage of the concepts and processes of the paper clear.\nLiterature review: 3P+C service classification model and the operational dimensions\nClassification of processes and their relationships: Greig (2003) proposed that content, context and process are the three criteria that can be used in the classification methodology. As summarized in Table I and illustrated in Figure 1, in the 3P+C model, the provider and customer dimensions correspond to the content criterion, which means \"what\", \"who\" and \"whom\"; the process of the transformation dimension corresponds to the process criterion, which means \"how\"; and the place corresponds to the context, which means \"where\". The fifth dimension of the SDP, which is the feedback dimension, appears after the service has been delivered and thus has a time delay. It can be seen as the dimension related to the temporal criterion that means \"when\". Each dimension contains its attributes. Each attribute consists of many internal processes that are handled by the responsible departments in the firm.In Table I, we can see that the SDP is constructed by the five dimensional processes, which means that the SDP is a system-level process. Each dimensional process is subsequently composed of two to three attributive processes. Each attributive process includes many internal processes that dominate the firm's daily operations. Internal processes are the basic processes that are actually operated and executed to serve customers. Hence, we can divide all the processes that are shown in italics in Table I into different hierarchical and functional levels as shown in Table II. From Tables I and II, we can see very clearly the relationships of these four processes. For a single service firm, the integration of many individual internal processes would form an efficient and effective SDP. For a multi-service firm, the integration of several SDPs would generate synergies. This explanation is consistent with what the resource-based view (RBV) emphasizes, i.e. integrating internal business processes to generate synergies. This is the theoretical foundation that we will use to develop our integrative service model.Feedback: dynamism of the processes and root of the customer relationship\nIntegrative services model: Conceptualization of this study\nApplication of the integrative service model: Obtaining the salient attributes of the retail bank example\nConclusion: General\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to construct an integrative service model from customer and provider perspectives so that it can be utilized to formulate service business strategies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The concepts of the resource-based view (RBV), customer co-creation and service modules obtained from a literature review are combined to construct a mathematical model. Based on the model, business strategies are formulated by utilizing existing marketing and service frameworks.\nFindings: - Innovative services can be generated from the model after combining different core services. To gain competitive advantage in a changing environment, a feedback mechanism should be used to provide dynamism.\nResearch limitations/implications: - An empirical test of the model could be undertaken as a future study to test the validity of the model. Adding more attributes to give the model finer resolution will increase the complexity of the model. Extending the application of the model to firms' internal departments will mean that the relationships between departments have to be reinvestigated.\nPractical implications: - Obtaining the salient attributes with the heuristics of the 80-20 rule and the large number principle means optimization of resource utilization under the condition of customer satisfaction.\nOriginality/value: - The model, developed by combining the concepts of RBV, customer co-creation and service modules, is an innovative tool for the formulation of service business strategies.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The quality of prescription drug utilization five years after the 2003 Bam earthquake	[ "Bam", "Drug prescriptions", "Drug use", "Earthquakes", "Iran", "Drug administration", "Quality standards" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Medical studies on the long term effects of disaster situations on survivors often concentrate on mental health, drug abuse, psychological issues and the disaster's social consequences (Boscarino and Adams, 2009; De Bocanegra et al., 2006; Laugharne et al., 2007; Parvaresh and Bahramnezhad, 2009; Slottje et al., 2008a). Few reports consider drug use patterns and the most frequently prescribed drugs among earthquake survivors (Boscarino et al., 2003; Petrini et al., 2005; Sareen and Shoaf, 2000; Sepehri and Meimandi, 2006; Slottje et al., 2008b). One behavioral response after traumatic events is increased tobacco, alcohol and drugs use (Boscarino et al., 2006; Sareen and Shoaf, 2000; Vlahov et al., 2004) because earthquake survivor quality of life is significantly lower (Ceyhan and Ceyhan, 2007). Increased alcohol, cigarettes or marijuana use also has been reported in Manhattan residents following the World Trade Center (WTC) attacks (Boscarino et al., 2006; Bleich et al., 2003; Vlahov et al., 2004).The Bam earthquake in Kerman Province, Iran, occurred on December 26 2003, at 05:26 hours, local time. The 6.5-magnitude earthquake epicenter was Bam city. Fatalities were estimated at 35,000; more than 50,000 people were injured and about 100,000 were homeless. The Bam earthquake's immediate and long-term impact has been extensive. Most studies about Bam disaster focused on its psychological consequences and long-term impact on drug use patterns has not been determined (Hagh-Shenas et al., 2005; Montazeri et al., 2005; Movaghar et al., 2005; Najafi et al., 2008). We have previously reported drug prescription and drug use patterns during the first six months after the Bam earthquake. Results showed that respiratory drugs were most frequently used during the first six months after the 2003 Bam earthquake, followed by analgesics/non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), antibacterials, gastrointestinal (GIT) and central nervous system (CNS) drugs (Sepehri and Meimandi, 2006). However, currently, no reports exist about drug use and prescription patterns during the five-year period after the Bam earthquake. Therefore, we examine the disaster's impact on prescribing patterns and drug use among Bam residents, five years post-event.\nMethods: A total of 297,104 prescriptions (including at least one medication) prescribed by general practitioners (GPs) during a one year period (2008) were selected (Sepehri and Meimandi, 2006). Only prescriptions issued by GPs contracting with the Medical Services Insurance Organization (an Iranian public insurance company) were included.Bam city is located 160 km from Kerman at the provinces' center, 1000 km from Tehran, south Iran. The WHO (1993) GP prescribing indicators were used to assess prescribing. Prescriptions were analyzed using information recorded on standard prescription forms: drugs per prescription; generic or brand name; drug category and when injections were prescribed. Drug use was calculated as mean drugs per prescription x total prescriptions (297,104). The percentage drug use was calculated as: Equation 1 The percentage patients receiving drugs were calculated as: Equation 2 Data were processed using EPIinfo statistical software.\nResults: Total drugs used by Bam residents was 921,023. The mean drugs per prescription was 3.1 five years after the 2003 earthquake (Table I).Most (65.6 percent) prescriptions had less than four drugs per prescription. Almost 14 percent of the patients received more than four drugs per prescription. Drugs affecting the CNS were the most frequently received drugs, representing 25.1 percent; followed by antimicrobials (18.2 percent); respiratory (14.2 percent); cardiovascular (6.9 percent); and gastrointestinal tract (GIT) drugs (6.1 percent) (Table II).Drug categories five years after the earthquake are presented in Table III.Benzodiazepines were used most (7.5 percent) among CNS medications followed by narcotic analgesics (5.7 percent) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCA) (4.5 percent), (Table III). The most frequently CNS drugs prescribed by GPs for residents five years after the 2003 Bam Earthquake are shown in Table IV.Analysis shows that penicillins were the most frequently prescribed antibiotics (16.7 percent) followed by cephalosporins (5.5 percent), (Table III). Corticosteroids were received by 16.1 percent, constituting 5.6 percent of the drugs (Table II). The ten most frequently prescribed drugs are listed in Table V. Dexamethasone (ampoule) was the most frequent received corticosteroid (7.7 percent) among Bam residents, followed by acetaminophen codeine (Acetaminophen 300 mg+Codeine 20 mg) prescribed for 7.1 percent (Table V). About 45.8 percent were prescribed by the oral route. The mean percentage receiving injectable drugs was 30 percent, followed by local (17.8 percent), suppository (5.1 percent) and inhalation (2.1 percent) route (Figure 1).\nDiscussion: Our study suggests that drug prescribing and drug use has changed during the five years since the 2003 Bam earthquake. Drug use and most frequently prescribed drugs showed that drugs affecting the CNS were most frequently used (52.7 percent), followed by antimicrobials, respiratory, cardiovascular and GIT drugs. These data underline psychiatric drug use after disaster situations in other parts of the world in which an inevitable increased use of drugs affecting CNS is reported (Bodvarsdottir and Elklit, 2004; Boscarino et al., 2003; Montazeri et al., 2005; North et al., 2005). However, these latest data contradict previously published drug prescription patterns during the first six months after the Bam earthquake in 2003, which showed that respiratory medicines were the most frequently prescribed (81 percent), followed by analgesics/NSAIDs (63.8 percent), antibacterials (63.3 percent), GIT (52.26 percent), and CNS drugs (40.1 percent) (Sepehri and Meimandi, 2006). Our results are dissimilar to pre-earthquake data, which showed that the most frequently prescribed drugs by Bam city GPs were antibiotics (37.4 percent), sedative/hypnotics (20.2 percent), NSAIDs (13.7 percent) and corticosteroids (9.8 percent), (Sepehri and Meimandi, 2005). Our results, however, are comparable with previously published drug use studies in disaster situations, which show that more CNS drugs were used (Bodvarsdottir and Elklit, 2004; Boscarino et al., 2003; Montazeri et al., 2005; North et al., 2005). Psychological disturbances among earthquake survivors include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, inability to express one's thoughts and feelings and emotional coping (Bodvarsdottir and Elklit, 2004). Others reported increased anxiety and depression among earthquake survivors (Groome and Soureti, 2004; Karakaya et al., 2004; Wang et al., 2008a, b; Yuan et al., 2008). Also, increased alcohol, cigarette or marijuana use has been reported in disaster situations such as earthquake and terrorist attacks (Adams et al., 2006; Boscarino et al., 2006; Vlahov et al., 2004).Analysis shows that 45.5 percent of Bam residents received at least one antimicrobial drug, which is less than the reported value in the first six months of the 2003 Bam earthquake (63.3 percent), but it is higher than prescriptions in the Bam city pre-earthquake situation in which antimicrobials were prescribed for 33.95 percent of Bam outpatients (Sepehri and Meimandi, 2005, 2006). The reasons for increased antibacterial medications in the present study aren't clear but it could follow poor sanitation and poor healthcare services. Inappropriate antibiotic use, which increases the risk of resistant organisms and side effects, is reported even in developed countries such as the USA, Canada and Australia (Anandkumar et al., 2003; Hanberger et al., 2009; Hogerzeil, 1995; Malafiej et al., 2009). Hospital-acquired (nosocomial) infections in the USA account for 40,000 deaths a year, which are almost always caused by drug-resistant microbes (Williams, 2000). Penicillins constituted 6.4 percent of total used drugs, followed by cephalosporines (2.3 percent). Ciprofloxacin and metronidazole were the most frequent used antibacterials, followed by amoxicillin (Table V). Penicillins and cephalosporines were also the most frequently used antibacterials pre-earthquake and the first six months after the 2003 Bam earthquake; however, in the present study, ciprofloxacin and metronidazole were among the most frequently used antibacterials (Sepehri and Meimandi, 2005, 2006).Respiratory drugs were used in about 30 percent, significantly lower than the first six months after the 2003 Bam earthquake in which 81 percent received a respiratory drug. Since the biggest health challenge facing the 2003 Bam earthquake victims was threats posed by the cold, which means that pneumonia and respiratory tract infections were common, particularly among vulnerable children (Sepehri and Meimandi, 2006; Moszynski, 2004). Our results are dissimilar to pre-earthquake prescribing in which respiratory drugs were not among the main drugs prescribed during the pre-earthquake study period (Sepehri and Meimandi, 2005).Corticosteroids were prescribed for 16.1 percent, which is higher than pre-earthquake values (9.8 percent). Corticosteroids were not among the frequently prescribed drugs in the first six months following the earthquake (Sepehri and Meimandi, 2005, 2006). These data reveal that corticosteroids were used inappropriately, which is comparable to other developing countries in the same region such as Bahrain (13.0 percent) and Iraq (7.9 percent), but it is much higher than developed country values such as England in which GPs prescribed oral corticosteroids for only 0.9 percent of the adult population (Imam and Halpern, 1994; Lazarou et al., 1998; Al Khaja et al., 2007; Al-Dhalimi and Al Jawahiry, 2006; Coureau et al., 2008; Van Staa et al., 2000). Dexamethasone injection was the most frequent received corticosteroid (7.7 percent); corticosteroids possess anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects, which alleviate diseases but mask their underlying causes and despite their efficacy, long term corticosteroid treatment is associated with adverse events including peptic ulcer, diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis, glaucoma, behavioral changes, Cushing syndrome and adrenal suppression, which are life-threatening. Carefully assessing risks and benefits in each patient is essential therefore (Bruni et al., 2009; El Maghraoui, 2004; Kontovazenitis et al., 2009; Lamisse, 2009; Soen, 2009).Acetaminophen codeine was the most frequently prescribed and used drug among narcotics, which is comparable with both pre-earthquake and the first six months after the disaster (Sepehri and Meimandi, 2005, 2006). Alprazolam, chlordizepoxide, diazepam, amitriptyline, nortriptyline and fluoxetine were the most frequently prescribed and used CNS drugs.Injectable drugs (30 percent) were used less than in the pre-earthquake situation (40.3 percent), but similar to the first six months after Bam earthquake and the injection rate in 12 developing countries (36.8 percent), which show that injectable drugs were overused by GPs elsewhere in the world (Hogerzeil et al., 1993; Simonsen et al., 1999; Sepehri and Meimandi, 2005). Half the world's 15 billion injections per year are unsafe, so patients requiring parenteral therapy, except in emergency situations, should be referred to a hospital (Quick et al., 2002). Also, a national drug policy addressing safe and appropriate injections is an important element to prevent overuse and unsafe practice (Logez et al., 2004).\nLimitations: Our study has limitations: we studied drug prescribing by GPs employed by an insurance organization; however, data from patients visited by other GPs and other health professionals (especially psychiatrists) are not included. Therefore, data about CNS drug use are probably lower than real consumption levels. Our data did not include patients' main diagnoses and co-morbidities that may affect how prescription patterns are interpreted.\nConclusion: Our study showed the inevitable increase in CNS drugs among Bam residents five years after the earthquake, which is comparable to other studies. Other frequently used drugs were antimicrobial, respiratory, cardiovascular and GIT medicines. Also, our data reveal over-prescribed antibacterial drugs and overusing injectable drugs, so health authority staff should provide strategies to improve rational drug prescribing through standard treatment guidelines and continuing medical education (Akici et al., 2005; Doupe et al., 2004; Greene and Podolsky, 2009; Pedersen et al., 2008).\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - Few reports considering drug use among earthquake survivors exist. The present study aims to examine the Bam earthquake's impact on prescribing patterns and drug use among residents five years post-disaster.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - In this study, 297,104 prescriptions, issued by general practitioners in Bam city in 2008, were investigated for drugs/prescriptions, drug name, drug category, using WHO appropriate general practice prescribing indicators.\nFindings: - Mean drugs per prescription was 3.1. Drugs affecting the central nervous system were the most frequently used among Bam residents, representing 25.1 per cent, followed by antimicrobials, respiratory, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal tract drugs. Benzodiazepines were the most frequently used central nervous system drugs (15.8 per cent) followed by narcotic analgesics and tricyclic antidepressants. Penicillins (6.4 per cent) and cephalosporines (2.3 per cent) were the most frequently used antimicrobial drugs.\nOriginality/value: - Results emphasize increased drug use for psychological disturbances and the need for strategies to improve mental health among disaster survivors.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Cross-cultural correlates of career and parental role commitment	[ "Cross-cultural management", "Careers", "Work family issues", "Role commitment" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: Research on work and family role commitment continues to provide new insight into the complexity of the work/family relationship. The role of national origin on the work and family relationship has begun to gain some attention (e.g. Grzywacz et al., 2007; Lyness and Kropf, 2005; Spector et al., 2004; Yang et al., 2000), but most of the research uses the lens of the non-Hispanic white experience (DelCampo et al., 2011; Hartung, 2002; Spector et al., 2004; Triandis, 1995) limiting its generalizability. Much work remains to be done before the importance of variables such as country of birth and ethnic culture on the work and family relationship is understood (Aryee et al., 1999; DelCampo et al., 2011; Grzywacz et al., 2002; Lyness and Judiesch, 2008; Powell et al., 2009).\nTheoretical framework: Individuals engage in numerous roles over the course of their life span (Stryker and Serpe, 1982). Their commitment to these roles can be linked to numerous factors. Role salience, the strength or importance of these life roles (Super, 1980, 1990), is related to how an individual defines self, the social relations the individual has with others, and the individual's behaviors (Callero, 1985). Simultaneous involvement in multiple roles that have high salience can lead to role conflict and role strain (Niles and Goodnough, 1996; Perrone and Civiletto, 2004). For instance, role strain results from having high work salience and high family salience (Niles and Goodnough, 1996), most likely because of incongruent expectations created by these different and often competing roles (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985; Michel and Hargis, 2008). Further, work and family strain have been found to be reciprocally linked with each other, creating a spillover effect (DelCampo et al., 2011; Frone et al., 1997). Therefore, continuing to study what defines commitment to these roles is important to develop programs that help individuals manage this role strain.\nMethod: We collected data from 941 individuals enrolled in six community college or equivalent programs in the USA and in Mexico. For this study, we include only female respondents who were born in the USA or Mexico, and who self-identified as being non-Hispanic white or Hispanic aged 16 years or older.\nResults: Table II provides descriptive information about the respondents. Overall, the Hispanic females were more likely to be younger (M=18.56, SD=3.20 vs M=24.18, SD=8.09; t=6.98, p0.001), single (M=1.08, SD=.26 vs M=1.31, SD=0.46; kh\nDiscussion: The study addresses a stated need in the management literature to provide a better understanding of work and family role commitment for other than non-Hispanic white professionals (Grzywacz et al., 2007) and the need to understand more about work and family roles of Hispanics (DelCampo et al., 2011). It adds to the small but growing body of literature (e.g. Grzywacz et al., 2007; Yang et al., 2000) identifying how ethnicity can be linked to how work and family roles are experienced (Stone et al., 2006). Moreover, our study responds to the call to examine the role of psychological dimensions assumed to relate to employees' work attitudes and behaviors in cross-national research (Brockner, 2003; Powell et al., 2009). By incorporating two psychological constructs - family achievement orientation and gender role attitudes, we begin to pinpoint the cultural dimensions that really make differences, offering an important contribution to the literature of work and family roles.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between country of birth or ethnicity (cultural proxies) and career and parental role commitment, and whether or not that relationship is mediated by two psychological dimensions known to differ across Mexican and USA cultures. These mediators are family achievement orientation and gender role orientation.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 372 working female students at community colleges in the USA and Mexico. The survey focussed on career and parental role commitment, family achievement orientation, and gender role attitudes.\nFindings: Both country of birth and ethnicity predict career and parental role commitment. Females born in Mexico and Hispanics have higher career role commitment and lower parental role commitment than females born in the USA and non-Hispanic whites. Family achievement orientation and gender role attitudes partially mediate these relationships.\nResearch limitations/implications: Cross-cultural research of work and family issues needs to incorporate psychological dimensions in accounting for country/ethnic differences.\nPractical implications: Employees' cultural backgrounds should be considered in designing programs to support family and work balance.\nSocial implications: Assistance programs designed to enable Hispanics to work will be valued and fit with the Hispanic cultural focus on working as a means to care for family.\nOriginality/value: This study addresses a stated need in the work/life literature for research that addresses cross-cultural differences, and research in the cross-cultural research that calls for the inclusion of psychological dimension mediators between culture and the variables of interest.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The integration between Balanced Scorecard and intellectual capital	[ "Intellectual capital", "Balanced scorecard", "Human capital", "Customers", "Communication technologies", "Taiwan" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The development of intellectual capital (IC) can be traced back to the nineteenth century. Lawrence R. Dicksee, a leading economic theorist, made a lecture about intangible assets in 1896. In the following years, its transcription was recorded in The Accountant, titled \"Goodwill and its treatment in accounts\" (Brief, 1980). However, over a long period of time, there was a measurement problem in IC (Canibano et al., 2000; Caddy, 2002; Mouritsen, 2004).In the fast-changing business environment nowadays, the only way to create a competitive advantage is by managing IC, which is commonly known as knowledge management (KM) (Arora 2002). Moore et al. (2001) designed the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) in a knowledge-based firm. They pointed out that the development of BSC incorporates both traditional and non-traditional performance measures within the strategic context of a knowledge-based organization. Arora (2002) discussed how to use the BSC approach to implement KM effectively and concluded that organizations that use BSC for strategy deployment, can effectively implement KM. After several years of development, many organizations use BSC to help use resources effectively based on the implementation of a strategy. Some companies, such as AT&T, BMW, DUPONT, MELLON, and UPS, etc.[1], have shown excellent performance based on BSC. BSC has been regarded as a powerful strategic management tool (Bontis et al., 1999; Johanson et al., 2001a, b), and is complementary to IC (Bukh et al., 2002). In addition, BSC is also deemed an important tool to solve the problem of IC measurement (Andriessen, 2004).Although the above literature has mentioned the importance of the relationship between IC and BSC, few studies discuss about how to integrate BSC and IC. Kaplan and Norton (2004a) emphasized how to align intangible assets to an enterprise's strategy. However, they only focused on the learning and growth perspective of BSC. In this study, we will discuss how BSC integrates with IC, and adopt a case study to illustrate how BSC affects the creation, formation, measurement, and even reporting of strategic IC (SIC).Based on the exploration of the integration between BSC and IC, this study contributes to the field of IC in the following ways:* Developing a framework to clarify how BSC directs the creation, formation, measurement, and reporting of IC and even strengthens the management of IC.* Using a case study to illustrate how BSC solves the issues of SIC.This study is begun by reviewing the literature about IC and BSC. Next, we discuss the relationship between BSC and IC in two aspects:1. BSC directs the creation, formation, and measurement of IC.2. BSC strengthens the management of IC.We then introduce a case study to examine how BSC affects the creation, formation, measurement, and reporting of SIC.\nLiterature review: We classify the research studies about BSC and IC into three themes as follows.The comparison between IC and BSC\nBSC directs SIC: Figure 1 shows the relationship between BSC and IC. We can clearly understand that firms' strategies can be implemented by BSC, and the strategic objectives of BSC not only lead the creation and formation of SIC (including customer capital, process capital, innovation capital, human capital, IT capital, and organization capital), but also affect the content of measurement, valuation, management, and reporting of SIC, and eventually create the maximized value for companies.Based on the above description, we can divide IC into two types:1. general capital; and2. strategic capital.General IC is basic requirement and SIC is directed by BSC. The content is shown in Figure 2. In this study, we focus our analysis on SIC, because we think that BSC has the deep relationship with SIC.\nBSC strengthens the management of IC: We can use the framework of BSC to strengthen the management of IC (see Table II). The four perspectives of BSC strengthen the financial and customers' benefits, the management of the value chain, and the future development and direction for each IC.Based on the above discussion, we can use BSC to investigate how to manage an individual IC in effective and efficient ways in order to improve the value of IC.\nThe integration between BSC and IC: a case study: The case company background\nConclusion: In the knowledge economy age, the creation, formation, and utilization of IC have become the key issues for companies to keep their competitive advantages. More and more researchers are focusing their efforts on IC research; however, there are some related important concepts of IC that lack a consensus (Canibano et al., 2000). Therefore, the important issues of IC, such as creation, formation, measurement, valuation, and reporting, are still at an early stage. In general, the IC community is still in a new and developing phase.In this study, we have provided a framework to discuss how BSC integrates with IC, and have adopted a case study to show how to integrate IC with BSC. Based on the framework, we suggest that BSC can lead the creation, formation, measurement of SIC, and strengthen the reporting for SIC. We also suggest that BSC's financial, customer, internal process, and growth and learning perspectives can strengthen the management of IC. All in all, how to integrate IC and BSC together for implementing a company's strategy effectively and maximize the value of a company deserves more further discussions.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The paper aims to discuss how to integrate the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) with intellectual capital (IC); and handle the issues of creation, formation, measurement, reporting and even management of strategic intellectual capital (SIC).\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper adopts a case study to illustrate the integration between the BSC and IC, and to handle the significant issues related to SIC. The case company is a car dealership in Taiwan, which is one of the largest automobile dealerships in Taiwan. In addition, according to the firm's management philosophy, the company treats customers as the bosses and employees as the precious assets to the company. The company also treats quality as one of its important competitive advantages, hence implementing ISO 9002 in 1999.\nFindings: - The main findings of this study are: BSC can lead the creation, formation and measurement of SIC and strengthen the reporting for SIC; BSC's financial, customer, internal process, and growth and learning perspectives can strengthen the management of IC; and, all in all, how to integrate IC and BSC together for implementing a company's strategy effectively and maximize the value of a company deserves further discussion.\nPractical implications: - Based on this study, companies need to integrate BSC to IC in order to strengthen the creation, formation, measurement, reporting and management of SIC. While BSC directs IC, then the value of SIC can be improved.\nOriginality/value: - Based on the literature review, the authors note that BSC is an important tool to measure and manage IC. However, no research illustrates how BSC directs the creation, formation and management of IC. In this study the authors fill this gap and introduce a case to illustrate how BSC affects the creation, formation and measurement, and even reporting of IC.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Estimation of reliability characteristics of general system configuration	[ "Reliability management", "Failure (mechanical)", "Configuration management" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: The main concern of a system engineer is to estimate various reliability parameters of systems he is dealing with. The system may vary from a simple one consisting of one or two components to complex systems having thousands of components. One approach for analyzing such systems is to decompose them into sub-systems of convenient sizes, each representing a specific function. Reliabilities of sub-systems are then estimated and combined to determine the reliability of the entire system using certain probability laws. This approach requires a complete knowledge of the physical structure of the system and the nature of its functions sufficiently well to determine the behaviour of the system in the event of failure of a sub-system. The sub-system may consist of one or more components whose reliabilities are known or unknown. Balagurusamy (1984) and Dhillon and Singh (1981) have discussed these concepts in detail. In this paper, all models are based on the assumptions that the components are identical and fail independently of each other.At the time of designing a system the parameters of the lifetime distributions are unknown. To make inferences on the reliability characteristics of the whole system we are to conduct the lifetime experiments on say, \"n\" systems and collect the failure time data on systems. It is certainly more expensive and time consuming to collect failure time data on whole system, whereas it is much cheaper and time saving to collect lifetime data on components. In the literature various reliability models have been used such as exponential, gamma and Weibull, see for example, Lawless (1982) and Mann et al. (1974).In this paper, we conduct a lifetime experiment on n identically and independent (iid) components and note their failure times. Then, using the relations between reliability characteristics of components and of systems, we shall make inferences on the reliability characteristics of the whole system configuration. Here, we consider General System Configuration (GSC), whose particular cases are the popular system configurations like series, parallel and k-out of-m etc. The lifetimes of components are assumed to follow the most popular and widely used Weibull distribution.\nSome basic system configurations: The most commonly used systems are series, parallel and k- out of -m. Some other more complex but frequently used configurations are bridge, mixed model, series-parallel, and parallel-series, etc. In this section we define some of these basic system configurations briefly for ready reference. Here, it is assumed that a system consists of m components with iid lifetimes. The component lifetime distribution has its probability density function (pdf) f(x), cumulative distribution function (cdf) F(x), reliability function p=R(t), failure rate h(t) and the mean time to system failure (MTSF) is m. Also, the system lifetime distribution has its pdf fs(x), cdf Fs(x), reliability function Rs(t), failure rate hs(t) and MTSF=ms.(a) Series system: A system in which m components are arranged in a series network or a chain such that the failure of any one of its components leads to the complete breakdown of the whole system is called a series system. For this configuration, the system reliability is given by: Equation 1 (b) Parallel system: In this system configuration, m components are arranged in parallel form such that the system failure occurs only if all components of the system fail. For this system: Equation 2 (c) k- out of m- system configuration: A k- out of m- system operates successfully as long as any k out of its m components operate. The system reliability of this system is given by: Equation 3 where: Equation 4 Note that, a k- out of m- system reduces to a parallel system with k=1 and to a series system with k=m.(d) Series parallel system: This system consists of n subsystems arranged in series and each subsystem has m parallel components. For this system: Equation 5 (e) Parallel series system: In this system configuration there are m parallel subsystems, each having n components arranged in series. For this system: Equation 6 (f) Bridge configuration: In practice systems are not always simply series or parallel structures. A complex system can produce a non-series parallel structure also. The most widely used non-series parallel structure is bridge configuration. Such cases can be handled by using another approach known as logic diagram technique. For reference see Balagurusamy (1984, p. 78). An example of this configuration is given in Figure 1.If all the components in the above figure are assumed to be iid with common reliability R(t), then by using probability laws, the reliability of the whole system is obtained as: Equation 7\nGeneral system configuration (GSC): This is interesting to note that in all the system configurations given in section 2, Rs(t) can be expressed as a polynomial in p=R(t) (see also Barlow and Proschan (1975)). Thus, we can say that any system configuration with m iid components having reliability function R(t), the system reliability Rs(t) is given by: Equation 8 Also, the MTSF ms of the system will become: Equation 9 Theorem 1: For GSC, Equation 10 Proof: See the Appendix.In the Appendix, some particular cases of GSC have been given as examples. It is shown there that the system reliability of Series, Parallel and k- out of m- systems can be expressed in terms of the component reliability.\nSystem reliability characteristics with Weibull life times of components: Let the lifetimes of m components of the General System Configuration (GSC) be iid. Weibull random variables W(l,b) with pdf: Equation 11 The reliability characteristics of component are: Equation 12 and: Equation 13 also: Equation 14 where G (k)=Gamma function=[?]0[?] xk-1e-xdxThe reliability characteristics, for GSC are thus, given by: Equation 15 Equation 16 The pdf of the system lifetime, becomes: Equation 17 Then: Equation 18\nEstimation of reliability characteristics of GSC: In this section estimates of the parameter l of the Weibull distribution with shape parameter b known, and the reliability characteristics like reliability and failure rate functions and MTSF of both component and the General System Configurations have been derived. The estimates are considered from both classical i.e. maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), uniformly minimum variance unbiased estimation (UMVUE), and Bayes estimation approaches.The data used in the estimation here, are Type II censored samples on components and then MLEs, UMVUEs and Bayes estimates for the GSC reliability characteristics are obtained.MLEs of reliability characteristics in GSC\nNumerical explorations: The estimates developed in this paper have quite lengthy expressions for reliability characteristics of GSC. The sampling distribution of these estimates is very complicated to derive. Therefore, the study of properties like unbiasedness, efficiency and risks of such estimates are hard to make.In view of above, we perform in this section a simulation study by writing a C++ program for the actual values and various estimates of the parametric functions, which represent the reliability characteristic of components and GSC. The study is performed over one hundred samples of size n=20 censored at r=10, with b=2 i.e. Rayleigh distribution, g=2 and the prior parameters a=1, b=2. The mission time taken here is t=0.4. The C++ program was run separately three times, once for series system i.e. a1=a2=0, a3=1. The results of this run are given in Table I. Another running of the program with a1=3, a2=-3 and a3=1 that is a parallel system, gives the estimates in Table II. And finally, with a1=0, a2=4, a3=-3, for 2- out of 3- system, the estimates have been tabulated in Table III.From the three tables it is observed that the ML estimates are quite satisfactory in each case in terms of both expected value (Ev) and expected risk (ER). The Bayes estimates at certain places are better than MLEs in terms of risks. It is due to the fact that additional prior information is used in the estimation process. The UMVUEs are considered to be the best estimators in theory, but in these studies, they do not seem to be so effective. More so, they are more difficult to compute as they have more complicated expressions.Thus, the estimation using MLEs is strongly suggested in this case. If prior information is also available regarding the parameter gl the Bayes estimators can also be considered.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this paper is to consider a General System Configuration (GSC), whose particular cases are all the popular system configurations. In reliability engineering one comes across various system configurations, for example, series, parallel and k-out of-m system models, which consist of a number of components.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - The paper gives a general approach to express the reliability properties of the whole system in terms of component parameters. The reliability of a GSC is expressed as a polynomial of the component reliability. Lifetime data on components have been used to estimate the system reliability characteristics through classical and Bayes estimation procedures.\nFindings: - The paper finds that the underlying distribution is assumed to be Weibull and, in view of cost constraints, Type-II censored information has been used.\nPractical implications: - The paper is useful for reliability practitioners as well as theoreticians. It provides an easy method to estimate the reliability of any system configuration.\nOriginality/value: - Three types of estimation procedures for a general system configuration have been developed for the first time. The lifetimes of components are assumed to follow widely used Weibull distribution, whose particular case is the most popular exponential distribution.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Malicious web domain identification using online credibility and performance data by considering the class imbalance issue	[ "Particle swarm optimization", "Imbalance class distribution", "Malicious web domain", "Synthetic minority oversampling technique", "Online data", "Credibility and performance", "Information security", "Internet users" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Online malicious attacks represent a big threat to internet users' privacy and security (Dong-Her et al., 2004). Phishing attacks, which deceive users into sharing passwords and their private information, and malware attacks, which secretly access and infect users' computers by distributing viruses and malicious software, are two main types of malicious attacks. These attacks not only result in immediate monetary loss but also shatter users' trust of engaging in future online activities (San-Martin and Jimenez, 2017).\n2. Related work: In this section, we first review related studies on identifying malicious web domains in general, and later discuss studies related to the use of resampling methods for imbalanced data.\n3. The proposed approach: This section describes the proposed integrated resampling approach, which is composed of SMOTE-based oversampling and PSO-based undersampling.\n4. Experimental settings: 4.1 Data set preparation\n5. Experimental results and discussion: 5.1 Performance comparison\n6. Conclusion, implications and future research directions: Machine learning models have performed well in identifying malicious web domains on balanced data sets with online credibility and performance data in our previous study. By focusing on the imbalanced class distribution problem, which is a common obstacle in malicious identification modelling, we proposed an integrated resampling approach to address the class imbalance issue and improve the performance of malicious web domain identification. In our proposed approach, the SMOTE is first used to oversample malicious web domains, then a PSO-based undersampling technique is applied with the aim of selecting the optimal subset of benign samples and getting a balanced data set. With eight well-known machine learning methods, we built malicious web domain identification models with different resampling approaches and evaluated their performances in terms of F-measure, GMean and AUC. Comprehensive experiments using six resampling approaches with different classifiers over four data sets showed that the proposed integrated approach performs significantly better than other approaches in most cases. The experimental results were validated via two-stage statistical tests.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: Malicious web domain identification is of significant importance to the security protection of internet users. With online credibility and performance data, the purpose of this paper to investigate the use of machine learning techniques for malicious web domain identification by considering the class imbalance issue (i.e. there are more benign web domains than malicious ones).\nDesign/methodology/approach: The authors propose an integrated resampling approach to handle class imbalance by combining the synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE) and particle swarm optimisation (PSO), a population-based meta-heuristic algorithm. The authors use the SMOTE for oversampling and PSO for undersampling.\nFindings: By applying eight well-known machine learning classifiers, the proposed integrated resampling approach is comprehensively examined using several imbalanced web domain data sets with different imbalance ratios. Compared to five other well-known resampling approaches, experimental results confirm that the proposed approach is highly effective.\nPractical implications: This study not only inspires the practical use of online credibility and performance data for identifying malicious web domains but also provides an effective resampling approach for handling the class imbalance issue in the area of malicious web domain identification.\nOriginality/value: Online credibility and performance data are applied to build malicious web domain identification models using machine learning techniques. An integrated resampling approach is proposed to address the class imbalance issue. The performance of the proposed approach is confirmed based on real-world data sets with different imbalance ratios.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
How social media can fuel innovation in businesses: a strategic roadmap	[ "Social media", "Strategy", "Innovation", "Value", "Framework", "Open innovation", "Innovation process" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: Social media (SM) has changed the way firms engage and interact with their internal and external environments. New business strategies have emerged to harvest and benefit from the social capital of employees and external stakeholders to foster open and collaborative business models based on purposeful access, combination and integration of new knowledge.\nConnecting social media and innovation: Innovation has been conceptualised in several ways. One view is to think of it as a process that involves the creation and use of knowledge for the conceptualisation, development and implementation of a new product, service or practice. More than a decade ago, Sawhney et al. (2005), through case studies of Ducati and Eli Lily, demonstrated how firms could harness the power of the internet and delve into the social dimension of knowledge by enabling and creating virtual communities. Today, SM has become a mainstream tool for information exchange and has transformed the role of those traditionally distant from R&D, such as suppliers, customers and non-R&D departments, by providing a mechanism for inclusion through expression of ideas, opinions, judgements, evaluations and eventual adoption of new products, services and practices (Roberts and Piller, 2016).\nUsing social media for innovation: what is the hurdle?: If knowledge is the \"cart\" then SM is the \"horse\". To facilitate mobility of knowledge in the process of innovation, managers need to put the horse before the cart. However, driving this horse has its own challenges. First, using SM tools implies taking advantage of a phenomenon that seems impossible to fully restrict or control at the individual level. Resources flowing out without checks can represent critical breaches of confidentiality for firms. Second, spillover effects, such as release of critical information on a firm's core competencies and technologies, can pose a direct threat to competitive advantage. And, to make decisions even more complex, no SM tool fits all purposes and innovation processes from conceptualisation to commercialisation, at least for now.\nA roadmap to social media strategy for innovation: Helfat and Peteraf (2009) explain that a roadmap that aligns routines and resources towards achieving a competitive advantage \"might well be characterised as the Holy Grail of strategic management\". The resulting business strategy should then be guided by a clear purpose, coupled with indoctrination programmes, to orient others about its meaning, value and use (LugoSantiago, 2018). A coherent SM strategy is how a firm can integrate its innovation gap, including ways to reach users and develop innovative solutions, its collaboration gap (identification and capture of knowledge from wide and distributed sources) and its broker gap (the capability to sort through streams of knowledge to drive innovation activities) (Hitchen et al., 2017). In an open and collaborative environment, coherence is essential. The following sections draw insights from literature to develop a typology of SM in and for innovation, followed by a framework to guide organisational diagnosis in developing, implementing and managing the SM strategy for innovation.\nDiscussion and conclusion: Research on SM adoption and the extent of its use for innovation purposes is still at its infancy (Bhimani et al., 2018). To advance this contemporary phenomenon, which resonates with the instantaneous character of the world we live in, this article aims to give SM and innovation the managerial attention they deserve. Throughout the discussions, a comprehensive list of literature provides an in-depth investigation to allow firms to fully capture the prerequisites, benefits and obstacles of exploiting SM strategy for innovation. The proposed framework has significant implications from both theoretical and managerial perspectives.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to present a framework to guide managerial action for social media (SM) strategies for innovation by exploring its constituent elements - the \"what\" (SM types), the \"who\" (stakeholders to be reached), the \"for\" (innovation types) and the \"how\" (innovation process stages), as well as the value, benefits and barriers.\nDesign/methodology/approach: A comprehensive and critical review of literature at the intersection of SM and innovation guides the development of a typology of SM types and their use across innovation types and stages.\nFindings: SM type and use tend to differ across innovation processes. The authors identify four types of SM in use across four stages of innovation, supporting six types of innovation, influenced by five categories of barriers, benefits and stakeholders each.\nResearch limitations/implications: The research provides an integrative set of building blocks to consider for developing further studies of SM and innovation.\nPractical implications: By highlighting the intertwined aspects of SM and innovation in an open and collaborative environment, the paper calls for development of an SM readiness organisational diagnosis. It empowers managers with a coherent framework of different elements they should take into consideration when defining their SM strategies for innovation.\nOriginality/value: Research on SM adoption and the extent of its usage for innovation purposes is still at its infancy. Given the increasingly open and collaborative innovation settings, the authors draw managerial attention to the need of SM strategies for innovation activities and provide a coherent analytical framework to guide action for organisational diagnosis.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Entrepreneurial framework conditions and business sustainability among the youth and women entrepreneurs	[ "Youth", "Business sustainability", "Women", "Entrepreneurial framework condition" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\nIntroduction: In this paper, we report the results on the influence of entrepreneurial framework conditions (EFCs) on business sustainability among youth and women entrepreneurs using the institutional economics as the theoretical framework. There is a growing concern that most African countries including those ranked with high total entrepreneurial activity rates post equally high business mortality rates (Afunadula, 2018; Ojiambo, 2016). For example, it is frequently reported that about 64 per cent of small businesses in Uganda collapse in the year of birth, and 30 per cent do not live to celebrate their third anniversary (Afunadula, 2018). About 70 per cent of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in East Africa collapse within 24 months (Ojiambo, 2016) and in Kenya alone, about 46 per cent of SMEs close within the year of founding and another 15 per cent in the year after that (Kangethe, 2018). In South Africa, over 70 per cent of small businesses collapse within the first 5 years of operation (Solomon et al., 2013). The unanswered question is \"what drives sustainability of businesses in developing countries?\" This is a puzzle that academicians and policymakers are still trying to solve. Business sustainability is about ensuring that a business does not run out of resources (capital, human or material) it needs to thrive. This also means that a business does not only take a short-term view of profit but also instead, operate in such a way that it is profitable now, and it will be profitable in the foreseeable future (Solomon et al., 2013). Sustainability of a business is not possible without looking beyond the profit motive and taking into account the people and the environment (Al-Khouri, 2013; Elkington, 1998).\nTheoretical review and hypotheses development: Sustainability theory (triple bottom line)\nMethodology: Design, population and sample\nResults: Principal component analysis of sustainability engagements\nDiscussion: If businesses among youths and women in Uganda are to be sustainable and survive beyond their first birthdays, finance and proper infrastructure are key. The descriptive statistics in Table AI (see appendix) show that the respondents' capital base ranges from shs 250,000 (US$67) on the lower side to shs 2,850,000 (US$766) on the higher side. Moreover, personal savings form the largest source of capital (41 per cent), followed by lending institutions such as banks and savings cooperatives (SACCOs). This is possible given that most of the youths and women are into trade business, specifically dealing in general merchandise, selling second hand clothes, shoes, handbags, phone accessories among other items. Finance to a business is like oxygen to man, in that without oxygen, one cannot survive. Lack of access to finance is still a major constraint faced by the youth and women entrepreneurs. While there is evidence that the youth and women have benefited from government initiatives and have been able to start and run joint businesses, the effect of the initiative is still insignificant given that very few have had access to the initiatives in place. In most cases, the youth and women entrepreneurs fail to meet the compliance costs by both formal and informal institutions, thus making access to finance a real challenge. Our findings corroborate the previous studies (Makena et al., 2014; Sandhu et al., 2012; Akudugu et al., 2009; Jamali, 2009). These studies report that youth and women entrepreneurs are the most vulnerable group when it comes to accessing finance. They do not own property, which they can possibly use as collateral to obtain finance, as such they lack the trust and confidence of funders. Besides, the kind of businesses they start is not attractive to attract funders and their networks are limited.\nConclusion, implications and areas of further research: The results of this study imply that a number of issues call for the attention of researchers, youth and women business owners, practitioners and policymakers. First, an examination of EFCs from the perspective of the consumers/beneficiaries can offer reasonable results. The results of this study demonstrate that not all the conceptualized nine factors explain the entrepreneurial environment. Thus, researchers are advised not to downplay the contextual issues. Second, there are policy gaps that have a bearing on business sustainability. There is a need to revisit the education system to make it more practical rather than theoretical. The world is rapidly becoming digital in every aspect. As such, there is a need to make IT communication more user-friendly than a deterrent. Finally, youth and women entrepreneurs need to become more self-driven, take personal initiative other than being dependent. Most of the businesses today have been contaminated by the \"copy-cat\" or \"me-too\" syndrome, which only stifles progress. It is possible to come up with innovative strategies and survive in a competitive environment other than wait to be swallowed up.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This study aims to investigate the relationship between entrepreneurial framework conditions (EFCs) and business sustainability among youth and women entrepreneurs using the institutional theory.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This study is cross-sectional and follows an explanatory research design using 390 youth and women entrepreneurs in Mbarara district (Uganda). A principal factor analysis was conducted to single out the particular constructs of business sustainability and EFC. Inferential analysis was conducted to test the relationships.\nFindings: First, the constructs of business sustainability are stakeholder engagements, people and skills, ecosystem management, market and sales and innovation. Second, the constructs of EFC are education, government program and policies, IT infrastructure, market openness and finance. Finally, finance and IT infrastructure are significant predictors of business sustainability among the youth and women entrepreneurs.\nResearch limitations/implications: The examination of EFCs from the perspective of the consumers/beneficiaries can offer reasonable results when compared to the national expert perspective.\nOriginality/value: This study generates initial evidence on the applicability of EFCs from the perspective of the individuals as opposed to the national experts.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The value of gift personalization: current insights from the gift recipient's perspective and future research directions	[ "Critical incidents", "Personalization", "Semi-structured interviews", "Gift appreciation", "Gift recipients" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Research on gift-giving suggests that to be successful a gift should:\n2. Giving and receiving gifts: Gift exchange is a universal form of interpersonal communication across human societies (Areni et al., 1998). As ancient times, gift exchange has been used to celebrate key life events and to show gratitude and love, with the aim of building and cementing relationships (Schwartz, 1967). Today, gifting rituals still play a central role in cultures around the world, which have adapted ancient and traditional ways of gifting to suit modern consumption practices (e.g. online shopping, online gift customization, experience gifts and frenzied holiday shopping).\n3. Personalizing something for others: Personalization entails the production of individually customized products or services. It is based on online platforms that allow consumers to personalize standard products by selecting features from wide sets of options. Over the past few years, personalization has been of interest to marketing scholars given its trade-off between obtained benefit (e.g. a product tailored around the consumer) and cost (e.g. mental energy required to personalize something). Asking consumers to co-design a product positively influences their evaluation of the product (Franke et al., 2010) because of the increased utility, preference fit and uniqueness (Franke and Schreier, 2008). Furthermore, a consumer may voluntarily decide to expend energy personalizing a product because of the experiential utility of personalization, which consists of the enjoyment, pride and self-empowerment derived from the personalization process (Buechel and Janiszewski, 2014; Franke et al., 2010; Fuchs et al., 2010).\n4. The present research: The purpose of this research was to shape initial understanding of the gift-exchange behavior associated with receiving gifts that are personalized for recipients by gift givers. As the first study dedicated to the receiving of personalized gifts, this research aims to:\n5. Analysis: The semi-structured interviews and the critical incidents were analyzed simultaneously through an iterative process, following Ruth et al. (1999). Combining the two data sets enabled us to triangulate our findings across the two methods, stressing the depth and the breadth of both and to maximize construct validity.\n6. Insights into personalized gift receiving: 6.1 Dimension #1: match with recipient's preferences\n7. Propositions: This study provides exploratory insights into the gift recipient's experience with gifts that have been personalized online by givers. The narratives suggest that the personalization process itself makes the gift more valuable in the eyes of the recipient, who is willing to accept, keep and take care of the personalized gift, even if he or she does not like the gift. Although tangible benefits such as aesthetic features or functionality are appreciated by recipients, when the gift is personalized, recipients are eager to overlook any deficiencies in favor of the personalization process. Indeed, personalizing a product is highly valued by gift recipients because it is seen as an effortful and risky activity the giver performs to express affection to the gift recipient. Gift personalization has a direct effect on the product, which is not only permeated by high utility but also is able to express the gift giver's personality. On the basis of these insights, research propositions are advanced in this section. We propose a research agenda and propositions aimed at addressing the key emergent research issues and to further investigate the receipt of personalized gifts.\n8. Managerial implications: Several repercussions for the firms using mass-personalization platforms arise from this research. Because the findings ultimately show that the recipient's happiness with the personalized gift depends on the expressive value of the personalized gift, managers can provide design support to suggest givers to make their contribution more prominent. This goal can be obtained by suggesting givers to include signs of their personalization efforts, such as writing the giver's name in short sentences like \"Made by\" or \"Designed just for you by.\"\n9. Limitations: One shortcoming of this investigation is the size of the interview sample. Although authors stopped the interviews when they felt they had reached the theoretical saturation, and the data from the interviews are supplemented by those of the critical incident survey, a larger sample would provide a richer understanding of themes that partially emerged in the interviews. For instance, the role of the relational intimacy with the giver, or of some emotions (e.g. surprise, anxiety), would extend the knowledge of gift receipts.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to explore gift personalization, i.e. the design of gifts by givers on mass-personalization platforms, from the perspective of the gift recipient.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Given the exploratory objectives of this study, the qualitative approach was deemed suitable. Two complementary qualitative studies (i.e. semi-structured interviews and critical incidents) have been conducted, and the narratives have been thematically analyzed.\nFindings: Gift recipients value gift personalization because of the utility they derive from the product, as well as the ability of the personalized gift to express the giver. Recipients recognize the capacity of the personalized gift to communicate symbolically the giver; they appreciate not only the enhanced attributes of the end product but also the process that led to it, which is imagined as creative and risky. The inherent expressivity of the personalized gift makes it highly valuable in the recipient's eyes, even when it fails to please him or her.\nOriginality/value: This research redefines the boundaries of personalization value based on the perceptions of consumers who are not involved in the design process; highlights implications of personalization for firms targeting givers as users of their mass-personalization platforms; and proposes a research agenda to further investigate personalization in marketing.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Modeling patronage behavior: a tri-partite conceptualization	[ "Consumer behaviour", "Customer surveys", "Modelling", "United States of America" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n__NO_TITLE__: An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this article.\nIntroduction: Few retailing topics have captured the fancy of researchers and practitioners alike and have been examined, described, criticized and celebrated as much as patronage behavior (Bell et al., 1998; Bellenger et al., 1977; Bloch et al., 1994; De Juan, 2004; Dellaert et al., 1998; Finn and Louviere, 1990; Ganesh et al., 2007; Gautschi, 1981). This interest is not without reason. An understanding of patronage behavior is vital to retailers in identifying shopper typologies, targeting those consumers most likely to purchase (El-Adly, 2007; Pan and Zinkhan, 2006), anticipating customer traffic flows and determining frequency of visits to a shopping venue (Roy, 1994).Purpose and study contribution\nRelevant literature: The roots of research on patronage behavior can be traced to the so-called gravitational models that, in one form or another, attributed consumer patronage decisions to distance, travel time and size of a retail center (Bucklin, 1971). The basic premises of gravitational models, however, have been challenged since they assume similar patronage decisions from shoppers with comparable demographics and contend that shopping centers are pretty much similar except for size and distance. Taking issue with such assumptions, researchers within the past three decades or so have devoted considerable attention to the study of patronage behavior and discovered that a number of motives ranging from economic considerations to recreational ones are at the root of consumers' patronage decisions (see Bell et al., 1998; Bellenger et al., 1977; Dholakia, 1999; Finn and Louviere, 1990; Gautschi, 1981; Moore and Carpenter, 2006; Roy, 1994; Shim and Eastlick, 1998).While the differences in the foci of prior studies (cf. Bellenger et al., 1977; Christiansen and Snepenger, 2002; Nevin and Houston, 1980; Ou et al., 2006) and the individual attributes they use in their conceptualizations preclude a definitive taxonomy, our review of this body of research suggests that patronage motives can be decomposed into utilitarian and hedonic motives. Utilitarian motives reflect the acquisition of products and/or information in an efficient manner. They are more task-oriented, cognitive, and non-emotional in nature (Babin et al., 1994; Michon and Chebat, 2004; Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982). Consumers high on utilitarian motives, for instance, seek convenience, good prices, and are predominantly interested in goal-oriented activities such as purchasing products or gaining product knowledge, market information, or being able to make price level comparisons in an efficient and timely manner. Hedonic motives (e.g. fun, amusement, fantasy, sensory stimulation) refer to the value received from the multisensory, fantasy and emotive aspects of shopping. Consumers high on hedonic motives are more interested in the act of shopping itself independent of task-related activities (Arnold and Reynolds, 2003; Babin and Attaway, 2000) and view self-expression and personal gratification associated with shopping important.Both utilitarian and hedonic pursuits contribute to the total value a consumer expects to receive from the shopping experience. In chasing this end, consumers must contend with various spatial, temporal barriers, effort costs (see Reimers and Clulow, 2004) and inconveniences discussed in prior relevant research (Berry et al., 2002; Brown, 1989; Brown, 1990; Yale and Venkatesh, 1986). In other words, accessibility to the experience is a must before an individual can derive various forms of utilities and satisfactions from the experience. Yet, navigational challenges in the forms of wayfinding in a venue, crowding (whether perceived or caused by human density) (Michon et al., 2005), and poor traffic flow may severely hamper accessibility and lead shoppers to abandon shopping or withdraw their patronage permanently. This is particularly true today, where malls are becoming increasingly bigger and consumers are becoming increasingly \"time-famine\" (Chebat et al., 2005). Wayfinding, for instance, directly affects the temporal costs of shopping (Chebat et al., 2008). Similarly, crowding including cluttered aisles, crowded racks, subjective estimates of people relative to available space (Eroglu and Machleit, 1990) and congested walkways contribute to shopper dissatisfaction and adversely influence search (identifying and selecting products), possession (obtaining desired products) and transaction (amending transactions) conveniences discussed by Seiders et al. (2000).Accessibility has been traditionally associated with such proximity indicators as distance to home or work or driving time to the shopping venue (see De Juan, 2004). Recent thinking, however, separates it from locational convenience (Haytko and Baker, 2004). Included in accessibility as a distinct patronage dimension are such attributes as ease with which shoppers can get into and out of a mall and find their way around once they are in the mall (see Dogu and Erkip, 2000; Haytko and Baker, 2004). Based on related research we contend that additional attributes may be closely associated with accessibility. One is parking facilities. Having adequate parking and an easy time parking minimizes excessive walking distances and can be instrumental in reducing temporal costs. Another attribute is security. On one hand, security is closely related to feelings of being comfortable and safe. On the other hand, as Dogu and Erkip (2000) cogently argue, security is closely associated with feelings of getting lost that, in turn, hamper wayfinding in complex environments such as malls.\nMethod: Sample\nAnalysis and results: Initially, to determine if the items designated by the panel to reflect utilitarian, hedonic and accessibility dimensions do indeed decompose into the tri-partite taxonomy, the weighted attribute scores were subjected to principal components analysis with oblique rotation. The analysis produced a three-component solution with eigenvalues greater than 1.0. The three components extracted 63 percent of the variance. Our inspection of these initial results revealed that while a majority of the attributes loaded heavily on their a priori expected components, four attributes demonstrated strong cross-loadings and/or weak loading on their respective underlying components. After discarding two items from utilitarian and one item each from hedonic and accessibility components, we repeated the factor analysis and again obtained a three-factor solution with eigenvalues greater than 1.0. These factors collectively accounted for 59 percent of the variance and all items loaded heavily on their intended underlying dimensions. The first factor accounted for 39.5 percent of the variance, suggesting that common method variance may not be a problem (Podsakoff et al., 2003). Internal consistency reliabilities of the measures were 0.77 (utilitarian), 0.81 (hedonic) and 0.82 (accessibility) (see Table I). These values are well above the recommended minimum threshold for scale reliability (Nunnally, 1978).Having ascertained the viability of our tri-partite conceptualization, we developed the totally disaggregated first-order model in Figure 1a. In this model each individual attribute has potential meaning, but the items are hypothesized to measure a single dimension of the construct and the dimensions are allowed to correlate among themselves. This model permits managers to analyze respondents' behaviors at two levels of abstraction, the individual attributes and the latent variables (i.e. the dimensions of patronage behavior). Since the model corresponds to the standard first-order confirmatory factor model, rigorous assessment of construct validity is possible. We examined the convergent and discriminant validity of this model via confirmatory factor analysis using LISREL 8.5 (Joreskog and Sorbom, 1993).The overall fit statistics in Table I indicate that the model fits the data reasonably well (kh273=158.3, p=0.000, NFI=0.89, NNFI=0.92, CFI=0.94, and RMSEA=0.068). As Table I shows, all of the standardized loadings were significant (t > 2.0) and ranged from 0.60 to 0.85. Anderson and Gerbing (1988) suggest that evidence of convergent validity for first-order models exists if all observable indicators (attributes) load significantly on their respective latent variables. As shown in Table I, all observable indicators (ls) loaded significantly on their latent variables (all t-values >2.0). Hence, the measures meet Anderson and Gerbing's (1988) criteria for convergent validity.An important issue involving multidimensional constructs is the establishment of discriminant validity (Parasuraman et al., 1994). To test for discriminant validity, the three-factor model was used as the base or standard model. Then, a second model was compared to the standard model where the correlation between two factors was fixed at 1.0. This constrained model will always fit worse than the standard first-order model since it has more restrictions (i.e. more degrees of freedom). The statistic of interest in this case is the change in kh2 between the two models. For instance, the test of discriminant validity between the hedonic and accessibility dimensions involves fixing the correlation between them to 1.0. The null hypothesis is that the two factors are indistinguishable. That is, the indicators of these two factors may be modeled as indicators of a single underlying factor. If the null hypothesis is rejected, then discriminant validity is evident. This test must be conducted separately for all pairs of latent constructs in the first-order model.The difference in kh2 between the standard first-order model (df=73) and the constrained model (df=72) was significant (p<0.01) in all three tests. Thus, the scales representing the dimensions of mall patronage behavior proposed here exhibit discriminant validity. In addition, we examined the average variance extracted (AVE) by each underlying dimension and shared variances (Ph2) between each pair of the dimensions. The average variance extracted by each underlying dimension was consistently larger than the shared variances (Fornell and Larker, 1981). These results collectively suggest that the measures of the three proposed first-order dimensions of mall patronage are reliable, and exhibit convergent and discriminant validity.Table I also presents the results of the tests of the second-order model depicted in Figure 1b. In this model the dimensions are specifically viewed as distinct facets of the overall construct. This approach gives managers the opportunity to analyze respondents' behaviors at three levels of abstraction while still allowing for the same strict assessment of construct validity as the first-order model. Bagozzi and Heatherton (1994) argue that second-order models are especially useful when the dimensions are distinct, but contain a significant amount of shared variance (i.e. discriminant validity is of the \"weak form\").As shown in Table I, the model fit statistics are identical to those of the first-order model, indicating the best possible expected model fit. This is because the goodness of fit of a second-order model can never be better than the first-order model. In second-order models there is an additional condition that must be met for convergent validity. That is, the relationship between each of the endogenous latent factors (i.e. utilitarian, hedonic and accessibility) and the exogenous overall factor (i.e. mall patronage construct) captured by the g coefficients in Figure 1b must be significant. As can be seen from Table I, all three g coefficients were significant (t > 2.0). In addition, given that the sizes of the g coefficients signal the relative reliabilities of the first-order factors in the model, our results suggest that accessibility is the most reliable indicator (g3=0.87) followed by hedonic (g2=0.83) and utilitarian (g1=0.74) dimensions.After developing and validating our tri-partite model, we examined its ability to predict the choice of a shopping mall. In doing this, we computed composite dimension scores (average of weighted attribute scores for each dimension) and used them as independent variables in a two-group discriminant analysis. The dependent variable in our analysis was a binary choice variable which was obtained by asking respondents to indicate which of the two malls in the study locale their favorite mall was. The discriminant function was significant (Wilk's Lambda=0.879; p=0.000) and the hit ratio (percent of cases classified correctly by the discriminant function) was 71 percent. These results provide further evidence to the viability of our model and attest to its predictive ability.\nDiscussion: The purpose of this study was to develop and empirically test a tri-partite patronage model. We used mall patronage as our study context and residents in a Southeastern SMA in the US served as the study setting. Our results suggest that the model we developed consisting of hedonic, utilitarian and accessibility dimensions represents a valid framework for evaluating consumers' patronage behaviors. Our rigorous analysis also demonstrates that shoppers' patronage behaviors can be examined at three levels of abstraction and provides mall administrators with rich insights and direct, actionable information.Managerial implications\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - By using mall patronage behavior as its context, this study aims to develop and test a patronage model consisting of three dimensions.\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Data for the study are collected through self-administered questionnaires from residents in an MSA in the USA. Usable responses are obtained from 319 residents.\nFindings: - Results suggest that mall patronage behavior can be represented as a global construct with three viable components (utilitarian, hedonic and accessibility).\nResearch limitations/implications: - The study is limited to a particular sample. Replications among other samples in the study locale and elsewhere are needed to validate the current findings.\nPractical implications: - The results enable management to look at shoppers' patronage behaviors at three levels. At the individual attribute level (first level of abstraction), management may identify areas that need special attention. At the second level of abstraction (the latent construct), choice attributes can be combined into reliable and valid composite scores across dimensions and can reveal information that is not readily available by the individual attributes. At the third and highest level of abstraction, the one second-order factor with three first-order factors as its reflective indicators provides management with a single metric for comparing a mall with its competitors or other malls owned by the corporation.\nOriginality/value: - The model tested here explicitly recognizes accessibility as a distinct patronage dimension and expands the domain of inquiry beyond the initial attribute level to the first-order and the second-order composite levels.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The dynamics of risk premium: the case of the Taiwan real estate market	[ "Taiwan", "REITs", "Real estate", "Rolling GARCH-M" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: In recent years, Taiwan's housing market has gained the reputation of being one of the most expensive housing markets in the world, with Taipei (capital of Taiwan) specifically being the most expensive housing market, as established by a comparison between Taipei and two other expensive real estate markets, London and New York (Guilford, 2014). The media is filled with stories about the bubble-like nature and unaffordability of houses in Taiwan (Tsai and Peng, 2011; Lee, 2014). Many reasons have been suggested for the high housing prices, including the income repatriation rule, the lowering of borrowing costs from the central bank, a cut in the land value incremental tax rate, speculation, low bond yields and deposit rates and the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with China. A few studies have used indicators to prove the expensive and unaffordable nature of housing prices and real estate in Taiwan, such as the price-to-income ratio, the price-to-rent ratio, housing prices-to-credit, the rental yield and the gross domestic product-to-debt ratio (Tsai and Peng, 2011; Global Property, 2014; Wei et al., 2013).\n2. Brief introduction to the Taiwan real estate market: The Real Estate Securitization Statute was enacted in 2003 in Taiwan, making a way for REITs in the public market. Taiwan has two types of real estate securitisation: the REIT and the real estate asset trust (REAT). REITs in Taiwan are very similar to REITs in any other part of world; they raise funds first and acquire assets later. REATs deal with the asset securitisation business, and both REATs and REITs work as closed-end funds. Nine REITs are traded on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE)[1]: Cathay No.1 (Taiwan 01002T), Cathay No.2 (Taiwan 01007T), Fubon No.1 (Taiwan 01001T), Fubon No.2 (Taiwan 01004T), Gallop No.1 (Taiwan 01008T), Kee Tai Star TWD10 (Taiwan 01006T.TWO), San Tin (Taiwan) and Shin Kong No.1 (Taiwan 01003T). However, in Taiwan, REITs are smaller in comparison with those in Japan and the USA, and investors in Taiwan receive tax-free incentives for dividends from REITs. Hence, Taiwan has developed a reputation for low-risk/low-return investment assets (see Lee et al., 2012, for more information).\n3. Literature review: A review of the literature suggests that many studies are available regarding the risk-return relationship and the return-generating process for the US equity market (Sharpe, 1964; Lintner, 1965; Fama and French, 1992, 1993; Campbell, 1996; Jagannathan and Wang, 1996). Similarly, many studies related to the time-varying risk premium are available for the US equity market (Bollerslev et al., 1988; Ng, 1991; Turtle et al., 1994; Jacobsen and Liu, 2008). In contrast, only a few studies are available on the time-varying risk premium in the Taiwan equity market (Tong, 1992; Fang, 2001; Chiang and Yang, 2003; Zhu, 2008). When it comes to the application of time-varying risk premium models in the real estate market, only three studies are available (Devaney, 2001; Guirguis et al., 2005; Najand et al., 2006). No study exists, to our knowledge, on the time-varying risk premium with the application of rolling heteroskedastic models in the Taiwan real estate market.\n4. Data and methodology: Consistent with Devaney (2001) and Bollerslev et al. (1988), this study also uses monthly frequency data for the analysis. The data used in this study is from Taiwan, the USA and the UK for the period from March 2006 to November 2014. Specifically, this study uses real estate data from New York (USA) and London (UK). In reviewing the results, it should be kept in mind that, while Taiwan, New York and London may be comparable in population and size, New York and London are clearly cities that are governed by a larger country. Conversely, Taiwan's status as a sovereign state or province (of the People's Republic of China) remains a political issue. All data used in this study are obtained from Thomson Reuters DATASTREAM data set. The data for Taiwan include: Interbank Call Loan Market Weighted Averages of Overnight Interest Rates (IB), Standard and Poor's Taiwan Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Price Index (S\n5. Results: The descriptive statistics for all of the data used in this study are presented in Table I. The descriptive statistics for Taiwan's data are presented in Table I, panel-a. Related graphs are also present in Figure 1 and 2. Figure 1 will give us a rough idea about similarities and differences in S\n6. Summary and conclusions: This research examines the risk premium of the Taiwan real estate market while also providing results for the real estate markets in New York and London for risk premium to provide a general sense of other competitive markets. Taiwan has a unique socio-cultural-economic situation. This situation has a direct implication on the investor's expectation of the risk premium in the Taiwan real estate market. The risk premium is the excess return that investors request to hold risky stock in the economy. The risk premium not only has a wide implication on the investor's allocation of money in his or her portfolio in the short run but also in the long run. Additionally, it indicates the market's future sentiments. This study uses data from S\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to examine the risk premium for investors in a changing information environment in the Taiwan, New York and London real estate markets from March 2006 to November 2014. This study attempts to quantify behavioral expectations regarding (or motivation for) investment in the Taiwanese real estate in a changing information environment.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper uses the rolling generalised autoregressive conditionally heteroskedastic in mean (GARCH-M) methodology which fixes the problem of conventional GARCH-M methodology.\nFindings: Empirical evidence suggests that the time-varying risk premium changed for the Taiwan real estate market with a new information set. The risk premium changed from 1.305 per cent per month to -7.232 per cent per month. The study also found persistent volatility shocks from March 2006 to November 2014. No such evidence was found for the New York and London real estate markets. Overall, this study finds evidence of a time-varying risk premium, partly explainable by governmental policies and partly unexplainable.\nResearch limitations/implications: The use of the index of Standard and Poor's Taiwan Real Estate Investment Trusts to study the Taiwan real estate industry may have aggregation effects in result.\nPractical implications: The present study will provide guidance to investors as well as policymakers regarding the Taiwan real estate market.\nOriginality/value: This study uses the rolling GARCH-M model, which is a first for the Taiwan real estate market.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Productivity vs security: mitigating conflicting goals in organizations	[ "Organizational context", "Goal setting", "Information security compliance" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Every organization is concerned with information security nowadays. In some organizations (e.g. high-reliability organizations like aviation), the core business is to provide safety and security. In most organizations, however, security is only one goal among many. If an organization's main goals compete with security goals, employees have to walk a fine line to perform well in their jobs without breaching security too much.\n2. Theoretical background and hypotheses for the survey: 2.1 Theory of planned behavior\n3. Study 1: survey: We conducted an online survey with 200 German employees. All questionnaires were implemented in SoSci Survey (oFb - der onlineFragebogen, 2016) and presented in German. It took participants about 20 min to complete the whole survey with a total of 115 items.\n4. Concept for security goal setting in organizations: From the findings of our survey, it became apparent that setting information security goals is required to mitigate the detrimental effects on security compliance of setting productivity goals. Therefore, we developed a concept for setting information security goals in the organizational context. To maximize the effectiveness of our concept, we base it on the prerequisites needed to reliably reproduce the positive effects of goal setting as defined by Locke and Latham (2002):\n5. Study 2: concept evaluation: We conducted a study to gauge the impressions of potential users and the practicability of our concept for setting information security goals in organizations. To this end, we derived goals from existing information security awareness materials and captured the impressions regarding our concept in a user study. In this section, we will first describe the creation of the goals used in the study, then the overall study design, and finally, present the results.\n6. Conclusion: In this work, we presented our findings regarding the effects of goal setting in organizations. The findings of our survey regarding the implications of conflicting goals are twofold. First, it provides additional evidence for the relationships between the constructs of the theory of planned behavior. Second, it revealed that the presence of rewards for performance goal achievement is strongly associated with a decrease in security compliance and thereby provides evidence supporting the assumption of conflicting goals in the workplace.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of goal setting in organizations, especially regarding the mitigation of conflicting productivity and security goals.\nDesign/methodology/approach: This paper describes the results of a survey with 200 German employees regarding the effects of goal setting on employees' security compliance. Based on the survey results, a concept for setting information security goals in organizations building on actionable behavioral recommendations from information security awareness materials is developed. This concept was evaluated in three small- to medium-sized organizations (SMEs) with overall 90 employees.\nFindings: The survey results revealed that the presence of rewards for productivity goal achievement is strongly associated with a decrease in security compliance. The evaluation of the goal setting concept indicates that setting their own information security goals is welcomed by employees.\nResearch limitations/implications: Both studies rely on self-reported data and are, therefore, likely to contain some kind of bias.\nPractical implications: Goal setting in organizations has to accommodate for situations, where productivity goals constrain security policy compliance. Introducing the proposed goal setting concept based on relevant actionable behavioral recommendations can help mitigate issues in such situations.\nOriginality/value: This work furthers the understanding of the factors affecting employee security compliance. Furthermore, the proposed concept can help maximizing the positive effects of goal setting in organizations by mitigating the negative effects through the introduction of meaningful and actionable information security goals.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
Adoption and implementation of new technologies in hospitals: a network perspective	[ "Innovation", "Network", "Technology", "Health care", "Adoption and implementation" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Health care has experienced an increase in complex innovations throughout recent decades (Colombo et al., 2011; Rye and Kimberly, 2007; Tordrup, 2013). Despite optimism, innovation processes are often associated with failures due to professional and organizational barriers as well as a range of different complexities (Currie and White, 2012; Garud et al., 2013). Recent studies emphasize that the role of hospitals in innovation processes goes beyond adoption of ready-made solutions (Gulbrandsen et al., 2016; Thune and Mina, 2016); however, these studies mainly focus on the leading hospitals (Consoli and Mina, 2009; Metcalfe et al., 2005). Meanwhile, hospitals vary substantially from large and research-intensive academic hospitals to small hospitals with less focus on research. Previous research has emphasized the issue of the uneven rates at which advanced technologies are distributed among hospitals, where large hospitals on average adopt medical devices quicker than smaller ones (Blume, 1992; Russell, 1979). Indeed, several studies have indicated that health care organizations encounter major difficulties in spreading and sustaining innovations (Barnett et al., 2011; Berwick, 2003; Ferlie et al., 2005). However, the dissemination and sustainable implementation of advanced technologies across hospitals, including smaller regional hospitals as well as highly specialized centers, provide better access to new treatments and benefit a larger portion of the population (Glasgow et al., 2012). The challenges of adopting and implementing a new technology in a small hospital with limited resources cannot be overstated, as new advanced medical solutions require significant investments from the hospitals (Kapoor and Lee, 2013; Teplensky et al., 1995). This paper will take a closer look at this issue.\n2. Related research and analytical framework: In this section, I will present research related to how innovation processes in health care may unfold. Because health care innovation research mainly focuses on intra-organizational changes within the process of technology adoption and implementation, I look at the interactive approach developed by the IMP scholars to understand how the inter-organizational network dynamics influence these processes. The first section of the review discusses the main characteristics of the health care system affecting innovation adoption and implementation. The second part elaborates on the interactive network perspective, which explains the user-supplier relationships within the industry landscape.\n3. Context of study and methods: This study is a part of a research project conducted between 2012 and 2017 on how the innovation processes of technological development, adoption and implementation evolve in Scandinavian hospitals. The research group has used a combination of interviews, observations and document analyses on TAVI implementation at ten hospitals in Norway, Denmark and Sweden (Mikhailova and Olsen, 2016, 2018; Mork et al., 2016; Nicolini et al., 2017). Alborg University Hospital (AUH) was chosen as an intriguing case because it was the last hospital to adopt TAVI in Denmark. In addition, this case provides insights into the adoption and implementation of complex technologies in relatively small hospitals that are in the later stage of technology development. A case study is particularly relevant to exploratory research (Miles and Huberman, 1994) of a contemporary phenomenon in a real-world context (Yin, 1984) and when there is a complex phenomenon (Gummesson, 2003). Furthermore, IMP researchers recommend the case study approach when it comes to tackling dynamics related to business networks and network processes (Dubois and Gadde, 2002, 2010; Easton, 1995, 2010). Dubois and Gibbert (2010) assert that case studies can be used to address the complexity of network relations among actors and to detect the course of changes in the network development over time.\n4. Findings: 4.1 An early history of TAVI development\n5. Discussion: In this paper I analyzed the process of adoption and implementation of a technology-based innovation in a hospital and focused on the role of inter- and intra-organizational interactions. On the one hand, in health care innovation literature, the adoption and implementation of new technologies have been widely considered as a process of fitting new solutions within organizational boundaries (Greenhalgh et al., 2008; Robert et al., 2010; Rye and Kimberly, 2007). On the other hand, taking a symmetrical perspective on the medical innovation process, evolutionary scholars emphasize the role of networks and interactions among multiple actors, including practitioners and providers (Consoli and Mina, 2009; Nelson et al., 2011). While the relevance of interaction within health care organizations and across multiple domains is apparent, the connection between them is not sufficiently described.\n6. Conclusion: Investigating the issue of uneven distribution of advanced medical technologies across hospitals, this paper has addressed the challenges faced by a small regional hospital with a limited ability to adopt and implement new advanced medical technologies. Building on health care innovation management literature (Greenhalgh et al., 2008; Robert et al., 2010; Rye and Kimberly, 2007), I attempted to understand whether this inequality of distribution can be solely explained by the processes and structure of health care systems. This study demonstrates that understanding the health care aspects of innovation processes, including the characteristics of the professional and organizational barriers and various complexities (Ferlie et al., 2005; Currie and White, 2012; Garud et al., 2013), it is necessary but not sufficient to explain the complex, context-sensitive nature of the phenomenon. This study shows that the adoption and implementation of a medical innovation required substantial networking (Ford et al., 2003; Hakansson et al., 2009) not only within the health care organizations but also in a broader industrial network. By taking an interactive network perspective, this study has explored the role of internal and external networking during innovation adoption and implementation in a hospital.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to address challenges and opportunities that smaller hospitals with limited resources may face when they are adopting and implementing innovative technologies.\nDesign/methodology/approach: Based on a single case study with interviews and document analysis, this paper focuses on the recombination of resources, actors and activities during the process of technology adoption and implementation at a Danish hospital. Theoretically, it takes an interaction perspective for exploring the interplay between inner and outer networking during the innovation processes.\nFindings: This study illustrates how the adoption and implementation of advanced medical technology requires significant investment, which is particularly burdensome for smaller hospitals. Constrained by limited resources, they have to develop creative combinations of resources through negotiation and embrace collaborative approaches to join and sustain themselves in the user-producer network.\nOriginality/value: This paper contributes to the innovation field by suggesting ways in which practitioners at smaller hospitals can align with technology providers' strategies and succeed by positioning their hospitals in relation to extended user-producer networks. This study further emphasizes the necessity of a broader discussion regarding the importance of user-producer interactions during innovation processes in health care settings.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The perception of dividends by Canadian managers: new survey evidence	[ "Dividends", "Surveys", "Managers", "Canada" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction: Dividends remain one of the greatest enigmas of modern finance. In fact, Black (1976) wrote that there was no convincing explanation for public corporations paying cash dividends to their shareholders. He referred to the interest in dividends by shareholders and the practice of dividend payments as the \"dividend puzzle.\" The inability of theoretical and empirical studies to resolve this intriguing puzzle stems from several possible sources[1]. A major reason for this ongoing debate is the heavy reliance on economic modeling approaches without an in-depth understanding of how investors and managers behave and perceive dividends. Researchers cannot measure such crucial elements by merely modeling market data, but must use other interactive tools such as interviews and surveys. Bruner (2002) notes, \"The task must be to look for patterns of confirmation across approaches and studies much like one sees an image in a mosaic of stones.\" To resolve the dividend puzzle, Chiang et al. (2006) conclude that the cardinal thrust of academic research must turn toward learning about motivation and on what perceptions this motivation is based.To provide further insights on managers' perception of dividends, we survey managers of dividend-paying firms listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). The Canadian capital markets present a unique case in the study of corporate dividends. Similar to the US and UK equity markets, the Canadian equity market is well developed. While the ownership of US and UK public firms is widely diffused, the ownership of Canadian public firms is highly concentrated (Rao and Lee-Sing, 1995; Morck et al., 2000; 2004). In Canada, a small group of large blockholders and affiliated groups of investors are the dominant form of ownership structure. In fact, Morck et al. (2004, p. 1) note \"family controlled corporate groups have superior political rent seeking skills.\"[2] In addition, they find that Canadian dividend-paying firms appear to have a higher level of ownership concentration compared to their counterparts that do not pay dividends.There are two likely explanations for the high ownership concentration in dividend-paying firms. First, the Canadian legal system empowers minority shareholders to force companies to \"disgorge\" cash (La Porta et al., 2000). Cheffins (1999) also notes that Canadian public firms are subject to legal remedies that protect minority shareholders from corporate expropriation, especially in the presence of high ownership concentration. Second, management of highly concentrated firms favors dividend payments to maintain a good reputation (Dutta et al., 2005).We explore the perception of Canadian managers with respect to dividend policy and investigate the uniqueness of the Canadian context. Accordingly, we address five major research questions in this study:1. What are the most important factors influencing the dividend policies of dividend-paying firms listed on the TSX?2. Does the importance of the factors influencing dividend policy differ between Canadian and US firms?3. What views do managers of TSX-listed firms have on dividend processes and patterns, dividend policy and firm value, and residual dividend policy?4. What level of support do Canadian managers give to various explanations for paying dividends?5. Do the characteristics of Canadian dividend-paying and non-dividend-paying firms differ?This study is important because it updates and expands previous survey-based research on dividends and provides new evidence from managers of Canadian firms[3]. For example, the study by Jong et al. (2003) uses survey data from 1997 and excludes financial firms whereas our survey data are more recent and includes financial firms. In addition, we query managers about their views on several issues not expressly addressed in the few existing studies about dividend-paying Canadian firms. Finally, the study offers a comparative analysis of the views of Canadian and US managers about factors influencing dividends. Given differences between the two equity markets, our survey results may differ from those reported in previous US studies. Since high ownership concentration is the norm rather than the exception around the world, our study should be of general interest. Although mechanisms for investor protection in other countries with high ownership concentration have been of questionable value, minority shareholders in Canada have the benefit of strong legal protection.The remainder of this paper has the following organization. Section 2 reviews pertinent literature involving dividend policy. Section 3 explains our research method and its limitations. Section 4 presents the survey results. Section 5 provides a summary and conclusions.\n2. Literature review: 2.1. Factors influencing dividend policy\n3. Research design: 3.1 Sample and survey\n4. Results and discussion: 4.1 Factors influencing dividend policy\n5. Summary and conclusions: This study presents new evidence on the perceptions of managers of dividend-paying Canadian firms listed on the TSX about the factors influencing dividend policy, issues involving dividend policy, and explanations on why firms pay dividends. According to these managers, the most important determinants of dividends are the level of expected future earnings, stability of earnings, pattern of past dividends, and the level of current earnings. The evidence suggests that many managers of TSX-listed firms are still making dividend decisions consistent with the survey results and behavioral model of Lintner (1956). A comparison of the overall rankings of determinants of dividend policy by managers of Canadian and U.S. firms reveals a high level of similarity. Yet, significant differences exist between the perceptions of managers of TSX-listed and NYSE-listed and NASDAQ-listed firms on specific factors influencing dividend policy. Overall, the highly concentrated ownership structure and high corporate ownership characteristic of Canadian firms appear to have little impact on how managers of TSX-listed firms perceive the factors influencing dividend policy relative to US managers.Our findings do not imply that the same factors influencing dividend decisions are equally important to all firms. Because various factors may affect firms in different ways, no universal set of factors is likely to be applicable to all firms. Thus, the importance that managers attach to various factors differs across firms. Nonetheless, our research, when coupled with other empirical studies and mathematical models, strongly suggests that certain factors are consistently important over time.Our results also suggest that managers of TSX-listed firms pay careful attention to their choice of a dividend policy. The interest in having a properly managed dividend policy apparently stems from the concern about the perceived relation between dividend policy and firm value. Little support exists for a residual dividend policy. Because dividend decisions can affect firm value and shareholder wealth, dividend policy is worthy of management attention.Our survey evidence shows that managers of TSX-listed firms express greater support for the signaling and lifecycle explanations for paying dividends than for the bird-in-the-hand, tax-preference and dividend clientele, agency cost, and catering explanations. Compared with non-dividend payers, Canadian dividend-paying firms are significantly larger and more profitable, have greater cash reserves and ownership concentration, and fewer growth opportunities.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: - The purpose of this research is to analyze survey results on the perception of dividends by managers of dividend-paying firms listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX).\nDesign/methodology/approach: - Managers from a sample of 291 dividend-paying TSX-listed Canadian firms were surveyed about their views on dividends.\nFindings: - The most important factors influencing dividend policy are the level of current and expected future earnings, the stability of earnings, and the pattern of past dividends. Despite dramatic differences in the level of ownership concentration between Canadian and US firms, their corresponding managers' views on the determinants of dividends are similar. Canadian managers believe that dividend policy affects firm value but express little agreement with the theory of a residual dividend policy. They express strong support for the signaling and lifecycle explanations for paying dividends, but not for the bird-in-the-hand, tax-preference and dividend clientele, agency cost, or catering explanations. Compared with non-dividend payers, Canadian dividend-paying firms are significantly larger and more profitable, have greater cash reserves and ownership concentration, and have fewer growth opportunities.\nOriginality/value: - This study updates and expands previous survey-based research on dividends and provides new evidence from managers of Canadian firms.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]
The concepts of big data applied in personal knowledge management	[ "Big data", "Personal knowledge management", "Data collection", "Data storage", "Implications of big data for personal applications", "Value of data" ]	[ { "content": "Summarize the following paper into structured abstract.\n\n1. Introduction and background: Big data can be understood primarily as the huge amounts of data generated by the internet, mobile phones, tablets, etc. They are unable to be stored and retrieved by a traditional database management system. From a management perspective, it also can be characterized by volume (about 2.5 exabyte of data were created every day in 2012 and it seems to be much more nowadays), velocity (real time information creates competitive advantages) and variety (data from different sources) (McAfee and Brynjolfsson, 2012). Research on big data has been growing rapidly, but there are still many knowledge gaps left unidentified and unfilled (LaValle et al., 2011; Watson and Marjanovic, 2013). Research by the McKinsey Global Institute identified data collection, implementation of a data-driven business and the diversity of data as possible difficulties impeding application of big data in various sectors (Zhai et al., 2014).\n2. Literature review: PKM is a relatively new knowledge management concept and methodology. Individuals can process all types of information, and readily available information can be translated into more valuable knowledge that can ultimately be connected to their work and life (Pauleen, 2009). Through management of personal knowledge, one can develop good study habits, enhance information literacy, improve professional knowledge and improve capacity and competitiveness to realize personal value and sustainable development and, finally, establish a solid foundation for knowledge development (Pauleen and Gorman, 2011).\n3. The implications of big data for personal applications: Traditionally, PKM is handled by non-electronic tools, such as checklists, calendars, desk diaries and appointment books (Jones and Thomas, 1997). Those tools only support creating, but not searching, reminding, reusing or collaboration (Liao, 2003). With the wide adoption of information technologies, recent studies have sought to situate PKM in the context of the internet and Web 2.0 and have investigated the potential role of information technologies in harnessing and managing personal knowledge (Rao and Chen, 2013). In particular, about big data, there are some important concepts of its applications in PKM, such as people having the ability to generate a certain type of data for a particular application for having certain effects. Conventional knowledge management systems are mostly confined to the scope of document management, which is limited to the \"shorten vague\" and \"clear\" stage. In the future, big data will be able to develop a system that could mine knowledge based on automatically learning and classifying artificial intelligence or other advance technologies. The concept will upgrade the level of PKM for innovating and using knowledge effectively to achieve personal goals to help people create higher-value knowledge management. Considering big data applied to PKM, this study aims to discuss the following aspects.\n4. Research methodology: To investigate the extent to which usage of big data is proposed for personal applications that can foster and support social innovation, we adopted a qualitative method (Maylor and Blackmon, 2005; Miles et al., 2013) based on interview studies. According to Yin (2013), interview studies are the appropriate research method for investigating \"a contemporary phenomenon in depth and within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident.\" Maylor and Blackmon (2005) emphasize that the probability is not the appropriate sampling logic when conducting interview research. Instead, researchers are encouraged to use purposive sampling to support generalizations from interview findings to theory (and not generalizations to a population of similar cases). The sampling logic in this study is to select and analyze certain situations. We used the technique of concept extraction (Maylor and Blackmon, 2005) to identify the key concepts that emerged from our data according to short interviews. Interviews conducted were semi-structured, face-to-face and took an average of 0.5 h. They enabled researchers to learn how informants perceived and interpreted situations and events (Bryman, 2008).\n5. The concepts of big data applied in personal knowledge management: In this section, we integrate theories and implications in Sections 2 and 3 with interviews to indicate the concepts that big data might apply in PKM and demonstrate the following categories practically.\n6. Summary: We conclude the preceding discussion and suggest what individuals can do in the era of big data based on PKM.\n", "role": "user" }, { "content": "Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the applications of big data in personal knowledge management (PKM).\nDesign/methodology/approach: Five conventional knowledge management dimensions, namely, the value of data, data collection, data storage, data application and data presentation, were applied for integrating big data in the context of PKM.\nFindings: This study concludes that time management, computer usage efficiency management, mobile device usage behavior management, health management and browser surfing management are areas where big data can be applied to PKM.\nOriginality/value: While the literature discusses PKM without considering the impact of big data, this paper aims to extend existing knowledge by demonstrating the application of big data in PKM.\n", "role": "assistant" } ]

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.